So much to talk about that has nothing to do with my own writing but satisfies my need to comment on all the “big blog stories/flaps”

The Scarlet Boa issue – What I want to say most is that the way the contest is structured is going to create a situation where authors ask for votes. And why shouldn’t they? I’m not saying anyone should bribe or beg or coerce, but as an author, I see nothing wrong with telling my readers that I have a contest entry in and can they check it out and if they like it will they consider tossing a vote my way. To me, that’s just promotion. It’s how I got three books published. BTW, I do not have an entry in the SB contest.

The contest is inherently less fair with regard to the published and unpublished authors being in the same category because as someone (I think it was Dakota) pointed out, the published authors who use scenes from already published books which have been edited. Being edited really polishes your work and so there should be a difference.

I don’t think Sarah’s contest is bribery but I do love Shi and her opinions anyway. I’m just saying their names here because everyone is not saying them but both Sarah and Shi are talking about it openly and I don’t see why either of them should be ashamed to be named. Neither is doing anything wrong.

Next issue – Oh, Brenda Coulter’s post where she admonishes reviewers to be nice to romance authors because they are senstive and it’s hard to write a romance. Not to knock Brenda, she has a right to her opinion and she seems to be a very nice person, but I think it’s attitudes like this one that do a big disservice to romance as a genre.

We ALL cringe when we get a bad review. But that’s the way of the world when you put something out there for others to see. The attitude that we should get special treatment is why no one takes romance seriously. We’re all sensitive, our books are our intellectual babies. But you need a thick skin or you need to keep your books in a drawer.

Unfair reviews are one thing, asking for special treament because romance is hard to write and we’re delicate is just offensive and patronizing.

Sure it’s hard to write a book (of any genre), but so what? It’s hard to lay brick, too but there are loads of shitty contractors out there doing a bad job of it. A good review, even if it isn’t a postive one, will stick to the book – what worked and what didn’t and why. I don’t want special treatment although I do love good reviews and I’m sensitive, too.

I think Booksquare has an excellent entry on this issue that is worth a read (and Booksquare is worth a read on most days)

Agent 007’s recent entry about what she looks for when she’s in a bookstore. Now, I like her blog and I find many helpful and interesting tidbits in it but I have to say the emphasis on things which are utterly superficial like the author photo and things out of my control as an author like the cover are disturbing. Also, as a reader I can say that author blurbs are not very important to me but it’s certainly edifying to know that an industry professional looks at them with a critical eye.

Smart Bitches has a hilarious entry about 15 things that only happen in romances.

That’s about it for now.