Junk and Stuff
Dec
29
2005

I finished Red Lily last night. It was a nice end to the trilogy even if there were several plot points which left me incredulous and annoyed, which is very rare for me with Nora. I like Haley and Harper and I do like that Lily was a real character in the book unlike so many authors who throw a child into a book and no one ever seems to actually parent her or be sleepless or resentful or less than patient. I like that Harper loved that child too. I won’t go into much more detail because I don’t want to spoil the plot. Anyway, it was a good read but the Ardmore and Born in trilogies and her JD Robb books remain my favorites.

Anya Bast and I are hosting the EC Reader Chat on January 5. You should be there.

There’s an interesting discussion over at Jaynie’s blog that got started when an anonymous comment was made disparaging not just Ellora’s Cave but those authors who did well as “ass kissers.” Essentially the anonymous person said that she knew for a “fact” that EC “loved” to screw their authors over. Now here’s my thing and I said it there too, not every publisher is right for every author. No publisher, EC included, is perfect. But I certainly don’t kiss ass, not anyone’s ass, and I’ve never been treated anything but well by EC. They’ve been very good to me from the day that I sent my submission in and have been unwaveringly so since then.

I’m not an EC top seller (maybe someday), I’d like to think I was “midlist” but who knows? All I do know is that I am treated professionally but also like a member of the family and that I make a nice bit of royalties, I can write what I want and no one bugs me about those gawddamned rules (you know, multiple POV, etc).

I’m quite sure that those who are top sellers get through the process quicker. And? Hello? EC is a business and it makes sense that top sellers in any business go through more quickly. But that’s not making me feel less special in that each and every one of us is a special snowflake sort of way.

I do know what it feels like to feel at war with your “boss” or to not feel valued and supported and it sucks. And if anonymous had that experience at EC, I feel for her. But I don’t like anonymous attacks that generalize one person’s experience as the universal norm, because that isn’t so.

And lastly, seriously people, why would EC “love” to screw authors over? It makes no business sense to screw over your bread and butter and EC has good business sense or it woudln’t be at the top of her game. See, this is what happens with generalizations when they’re made anonymously, you overstate and get all wild because you can’t be held responsible.

Edited to add a bitch about romance authors who write nasty bitter “entries” at certain blogs about how “awful” it is that there are too many vampire and erotica books. Oh for fuck’s sake! Get over yourself! If you look at the romance section of your local bookstore as a whole you’ll see plenty of “traditional” romances, far more than steam. Here’s a clue – if your sensibilities are so damaged by the paranormal and steamy romance, don’t buy them. Don’t read them. But to hope the “trend” goes away, thereby removing the livelihoods of authors like me who write paranormals and erotica, that’s just small and petty and I’m sick of it. I’m sick of these authors who say stuff like that in a whiny voice with a fake smile on their faces.

Smart Bitches is doing a survey – best and worst books, best and worst covers, keepers, etc. Check it out.

You should read Making Light if you don’t already do so.

4 comments to “Junk and Stuff”

  1. Liz Walters
    December 29th, 2005 at 9:14 pm · Link

    Here Hear! I’m a reader, have no interest in writing–but am also sick of the ‘unknown’ person slinging mud. Publishing is a business, and if what is on the shelves wasn’t selling, it wouldn’t be there long…



  2. Charlene Teglia
    December 30th, 2005 at 4:58 am · Link

    I’m sick of hearing that, too. What’s wrong with erotica, other than the unsavory literary connotation of the word? And too many vamps, not hardly. Like you said, look at a bookstore. Paranormal and erotic are far from the only options on the shelves.

    I think what this comes down to in many cases is “my books aren’t selling”. Been there. Done that. Worked my butt off to improve until my books DID sell. Still working my butt off because I’ve still got a long ways to go.



  3. Karen Scott
    December 30th, 2005 at 1:34 pm · Link

    Oh Crap, have I missed a bruhaha somewhere? Godammit!

    OK, point me to the blog in question. Hopefully, it wasn’t another Elizabeth Bevarly rant!



  4. Anonymous
    December 31st, 2005 at 2:04 pm · Link

    Karen, check Romancing the Blog.