Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Rt
May 03, 2011 | Tuesday | 143 Comments
Angie James has become my cliffhanger warning sign. She’s like a giant “CAUTION! DETOUR!” sign at the edge of a literary cliff, warning me away lest I cast myself over the edge and get ripshit pissed off on the way down. She’s warned me off three books now that have cliffhanger endings in the middle of the series, thus ensuring that I will wait until I know the story is completed before I try the series. Why? Because I HATE cliffhangers. Some of it is based on Ye Olde Romance Reader’s Expectation, wherein I expect the ending to be, you…
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April 12, 2011 | Tuesday | 120 Comments
While I was at RT and at various parties or dinners in the evening, the topic of adult readers of YA came up frequently. Some authors and readers questioned whether adult books were being packaged and sold in the YA section in hopes of attracting the attention of adult YA readers who shopped there. I can tell you there were a TON of authors talking about their upcoming YA novels. The crowded high-school-hallway turnout of the Teen Alley at the book signing and the number of young readers I saw roaming the booksigning looking for books to read (I was…
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April 11, 2011 | Monday | 24 Comments
It’s time for Overheard at RT, where I collect everything that’s funny, silly, and out-of-context absurd, and present it for your snapshot pleasure. “Does anyone here have a book? *many kindles and nooks appear* No, I mean a PAPER book?” “…Then the dirty pillows came out.” “My 15 year old son read your book and loved it.” “Oh, thank you… but you know, my books have sex in them.” “Yes. That is why I am buying these two for him. Would you sign them?” “WOW. Dirty pillows AND muffin top that JINGLES?” “Shut up. All the ladies jingle here.” “Jane…
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April 11, 2011 | Monday | 28 Comments
I’m home from RT, I’m unpacked, and, in deference to the past 5 days I spent in heels, I’m not wearing shoes. It’s weird to go from hearing and seeing the people I talk to all day back to reading their comments online. It’s very… quiet in here. The roundtable Jane and I led focused on where and how readers discover books. Kat from the ARe Cafe has a write-up of the session. Most readers discover books they want to read online, either by recommendations or by reviews - or even seeing what people have recently bought. I said this…
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April 08, 2011 | Friday | 2 Comments
Congratulations to Lizzy at 8:55pm for being the randomly-selected winner of the Taste of RT giveaway. Lizzie, please contact me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom with your mailing address so I can send you your big box of RT booty.
Fear not - I’ll be doing one more giveaway on Twitter and hopefully one on Facebook as well, before I leave. Congratulations, Lizzy, and yes, I agree, Jackson Hole would be an awesome place to go for RT some year. Especially if there’s still skiing and snowboarding this time of year!
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April 07, 2011 | Thursday | 359 Comments
Greetings form RT, where the bar goes dead at about 430-5 so people can get dressed up for dinner, and the party doesn’t stop until well past midnight, no matter what time zone you’re in. I heard via Twitter that there were many people in the gym this morning from the RT conference crowd. I’m betting that gym will be a little more sparsely populated in the next few days, unless running with a hangover is your thing. I know a few people wish they were here, and I can’t say that I blame you for that feeling. I’ve been…
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March 31, 2011 | Thursday | 6 Comments
Next week I’m flying the long journey to LA, with two major questions. One, can I fit everything in a carry on, and two, what sessions do I absolutely not want to miss? I am really excited about RT this year because the conference has done some really smart programming things, like scheduling an entire day of YA authors. Last year at the book fair, there were teams of mothers and teenaged girls (and younger) roving in groups wearing matching fan t-shirts, eager to meet their favorite authors. This year, RT has set aside special sessions for those fans to…
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May 24, 2010 | Monday | 36 Comments
When Jane Litte and I hosted a session on “Save the Contemporary” at RT this year, in the middle of a discussion, we discovered that in the audience was contemporary romance author Susan Donovan. I think my literal response was, “Oh, cool!” So when she got in touch with me later, I suggested an interview, because I was curious what she thought of the contemporary market, and romance in general. You visited our Save the Contemporary panel and we were very excited to meet you - thank you for coming. What do you love most about contemporary romance, reading and…
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May 05, 2010 | Wednesday | 8 Comments
Gosh you’d think the internet was really for p0rn or pictures of cats, but really, it’s all about WOMEN. Heh. And not in the porny sense, either. From an article from Bob d’Awessome, women not only rule mobile social networking, but we rule social media, too. This doesn’t surprise me now that I’ve thought about it. I barely have time to return phone calls and have long conversations but I text all day with friends all over the country about new babies, Tylenol recalls (yes, my children’s pain relief options are now down to bourbon and schnapps), and whatever else…
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May 04, 2010 | Tuesday | 27 Comments
Usually with any conference or event I attend, there’s always one memory or item I remember best, something that sort of encapsulates the entire event. Sometimes, it’s not a good thing (Pittsburgh’s RT, while hosted by my home town, was a hot mess of groping and asthma attacks for many) and sometimes it’s something outside the script, like at RT in Orlando, when Beth Ciotta turned to Heather Graham and remarked that she couldn’t believe Heather’s daughter, who had just danced onstage, was no longer 3 years old. That moment reminded me that although many people disagree about RT and…
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May 01, 2010 | Saturday | 33 Comments
RT is difficult to describe to someone who isn’t familiar with romance novels, with fan conventions or with the way avid women readers feel about their books. For example, I told someone recently that romance novel readers have a noise they make when someone mentions a book they adore as well. Sort of a heavy sigh, like an extended, “Aaaaaaah.” I’ve said before that two romance readers might not have a single thing in common except the books they read, and that alone gives them hours of conversation. However, I am guilty of forgetting, and I need to be more…
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April 26, 2010 | Monday | 25 Comments
This year at RT, I will be presenting two sessions and helping out with a third. Along with Angela James and Jane Litte, I’m presenting a session on digital reading on Friday 30 April at 11:15am. We are going to have a veritable smorgasbord, dare I say, a cornucopia of digital reading devices for you to fondle and ask questions about. Jane, Angie and I will talk a bit about the differences and the challenges to switching to digital reading, and there will be a digital reading device to win for those who attend courtesy of AllRomanceeBooks.com and OmniLit.com. Plus…
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September 28, 2009 | Monday | 157 Comments
When I first met Kate Duffy, it was at RWA in Dallas in 2007, and I was 8.5 months pregnant. I waddled everywhere, and I was, literally, a torpedo. I gave birth 6 weeks later. Like any good pregnant lady at an RWA convention, I was in the bar when I was introduced to Kate Duffy. There was much squeeing. I was a fan of hers, and she was a fan of our site. She was drinking with one of her authors, but wanted to introduce herself and tell me how much she loved reading Smart Bitches. I was sort…
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August 21, 2009 | Friday | 36 Comments
There’s a great deal of “If you liked…” recommendations for romance readers. And most of the time those recommendations are much appreciated - especially when they come from the online community, which is hellaciously well-read. But thanks to Amazon, we have a new category: If You Didn’t Like This, How About Plagiarism Instead? Leslie Kelly noticed that because her book Slow Hands is one of the free Harlequins being offered as part of their 60th Anniversary, it is frequently in the top ten downloads for Kindle. Nice, right? Well, not entirely. There’s one review that lists an alternate title that’s…
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June 22, 2009 | Monday | 64 Comments
To promote her multiple projects across several genres, particularly the release of Darkness CallsMarjorie M. Liu has created a scavenger hunt of sorts - for a letter that will make you possibly weepy. The first part appeared two weeks ago at Romantic Times, and the second part appeared at Tor.com. We’re fortunate to host the third exclusive part of the letter, and the final installment will be online at Borders and BN.Com - links to come for the last part. The letter is from her urban fantasy Hunter Kiss (Ace Books) series. You won’t be able to find it in…
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