Latest News From Wendy-Land

Remember when I used to blog regularly and my posts were insightful and informative and just generally pretty good (what do you mean no?!).  One thing I've learned over the years is that blogging is a marathon, not a sprint - and where I was 15 years ago (yes this blog is 15 years old...) is not where I am today.  For one thing, I've done the whole "moving up the ladder" thing at The Day Job which let me tell you, really reflects in my blogging mojo these days.  Plus, you know, I'm mired in a reading slump right now - which is no bueno.  But I do have some random bits of news, so here I am (and here you are).

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First up is that the Encyclopedia of Romance Fiction edited by Kristin Ramsdell (another former RWA Librarian of the Year) is going to be published in August 2018 - and ::drumroll please:: yours truly is one of the contributors! 

As a reference book (read: expensive) and being one of several contributors, I figure my total royalties will be somewhere around $2.57, but you know what?

MY WORDS ARE GOING TO BE IN A PUBLISHED BOOK YO!

Plan on me being just as annoying about this as I have been since I was named RWA Librarian of the Year....way back in 2011.  No, I'm never going to let that die.  I'm getting it engraved on my tombstone.  You've all been warned.

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In other happy news, I have an update on the health kick weight loss journey.  As of the typing of this post I've lost 34 pounds.  I'm 11 pounds away from my "goal weight," which is what I was when I finished graduate school.  That equated (at the time) to a size 10 (nearly 20 years ago...) and I figure a size 10 on this side of 40 is totally realistic.  I started this journey in mid-August 2017 so yeah, it's been one of those "slow and steady" kind of things, which I hope bodes well for me keeping it off.

Exercise is still...well, the pits (I just don't like it folks) and I still miss bread - but being smarter about my carbohydrate and sugar intake has really been the key for me.

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Book #1 (1977)

I'm mired in a reading slump right now - mostly out of laziness and general tiredness.  But I have fallen into an audiobook hole by revisiting the Sharon McCone mystery series by Marcia Muller.  I originally read some of these when I was a teenager and then, fresh out of college, revisited the first 19 on audio (#33 is due out this summer).  But it's been nearly 20 years since I've "read" any of these and it's been a fun nostalgia trip.

Sharon is a single woman, living and working in San Francisco for a low-cost law cooperative as their in-house investigator.  The early books (I'm on #6 at the moment) largely serve as time capsules now, but in some ways they hold up remarkably well.  Although some of the character depictions are dated (Ask the Cards a Question (1982) being the best/worst example of this so far), in many ways Muller was ahead of her time and some of the conflicts are still (amazingly) relevant.  For example, gay characters aren't portrayed as deviants.  Yes, they're set in San Francisco, but it's still pretty radical when you figure these early books were published in the early 1980s.  However, there is some racial stereotyping.  Although, to be fair, not as egregious as I've read in other 35 year old novels. 

What I've found most remarkable as I've torn through these is how "current" some of the conflict has read - which I guess goes to show that the more things change the more they stay the same.  In The Cheshire Cat's Eye (1983) neighborhood gentrification figures into the plot (upwardly mobile white people buying up cheap property in minority neighborhoods...) and in Leave a Message for Willie (1984) there's a bunch of alienated white guys running around playing soldier and spouting off racist garbage (a precursor to the militia movement that came to the forefront during the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995).  I've found it fascinating, especially since I've only been able to remember small snippets of these books given it's been nearly 20 years since I've had exposure to them.

Would I recommend them to today's reader?  I don't know - possibly.  Like all things, it depends on the reader.  I think they're an interesting time capsule, and Muller's Sharon McCone predates Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone - which puts another interesting spin on these because while both characters are "independent women" - Sharon is less prickly and actually has a love life (Kinsey did too - but Grafton tended to keep it off page when she mentioned it at all).  There's actually been a couple of closed door sex scenes, which it also pretty remarkable since, in my experience, mystery readers get downright irritated when "love cooties" creep in to break up the discovery of dead bodies. The fact that Muller didn't have her hand smacked for including romantic entanglements for her private eye heroine (and the character hasn't been punished for them thus far) is interesting.

We'll see how long this audio glom lasts - but unless I hit an epic wallbanger, it's probably going to last for while.  Good thing too, since right now this series and resulting nostalgia trip is the only reading I seem to be getting done.

Link-O-Rama-Jama: Book Thingo Podcast, Unusual Historicals & Archives

One of highlights of attending the RT Book Lover's Convention was getting to meet fellow bloggers who I hadn't met in person yet.  One such blogger was Kat from Book Thingo, an Australian institution in the romance community.  She asked to record a podcast with me, and given that I never can seem to pass up an opportunity to blather on about romance novels (and there's a lot of blathering...), I said yes.  So we commandeered an empty conference room and viola!  This is the result.

A minor correction - I'm no longer selecting adult fiction for Orange County, but that's where I was when I was awarded RWA's Librarian of the Year in 2011.  I've since moved on, and up the ladder, with a different employer :)

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 I somehow managed to get my monthly column of Not-Your-Usual Historicals to Heroes & Heartbreakers in July.  Come for the books featuring "bad girls," steamy desert locales and Gothics - stay for the insidious Katy Perry ear-worm.

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And she e-mailed me an update ages ago - but my Real Life has largely been swamped so that e-mail got buried under a giant pile of other e-mails and well....

Here we are.

Some time back I had a nice chat with archivist Caryn Radick on a paper she was writing about how romance writers use archives in the course of their research.  You can access her paper online and completely nerd out on all things library archives and romance novel research.

News You Can Use: Blog Tweakage, Romantic Librarians & Harvey Girls

A couple of minor updates here around the Bat Cave that I want to share with you all.  First, look up.  See that underneath the blog header?  I finally tackled the back end of my blog (phrasing!) and moved the links to the various pages to a more prominent location.  No more being buried on the side bar.

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To coincide with that change, I've finally - at long last - provided title links on my Librarians in Romance Novels page.  A few things of note:

• Yes, I linked to the Evil Empire that is Amazon.  And yes, these are affiliate links.  So if you buy titles through these links Wendy gets kicked back a few pennies.  Hey, it was a lot of work!  Still, if you don't want me to profit, you've now been warned. 

• I linked to Kindle versions where I could.  I did this mostly to avoid out-of-print issues.  That said, instances where there's no Kindle version and the print is out-of-print - I linked to the OP print listing. 

• If I didn't provide a link, I give an explanation.  The prominent example is Lynne Connolly's two titles - which were originally published by Ellora's Cave.  She has since gotten her rights back, but these two titles haven't been self-published or published by another publisher as of yet. 

• I've also added a Library As Place category - for books where neither of the main characters is a librarian or library employee, but the library plays a semi-prominent role in the story.  For example: if Harry Potter were a romance?  Yeah, would totally be a Library As Place book.

I'm always (always!) looking for titles to add to this list.  Also, this list isn't an endorsement of any kind - so please tell me about librarian heroines (and heroes!) in books you loved and hated!  I'm taking them all!  My only requirement is that the books must be romances featuring a happy-ending or happy-for-now.  Dead librarians give us all a sad.

Also, I have a particular need for diverse librarians (POC, LGBTQ) and Inspirationals.  I'm also open to hearing opinions if you want me to highlight the books that feature diverse librarians.  Right now I'm leaning towards keeping them under their respective sub genre headings and adding a (POC) and/or (LGBTQ) at the end of the title (ex. Checking Out Love by R. Cooper (LGBTQ) listed under Contemporary).  Opinions welcome!

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And finally, in the Pleasant Surprise Category, remember back in the Dark Ages (uh, 2009) when I curated three digital Blogger Bundles for Harlequin?  Well Heroes & Heartbreakers blogger, Kate Nagy, recently wrote a post about "my" Harlequin Historical bundle featuring Cheryl St. John's Harvey Girls series!

Once you're done reading the post and (naturally) downloading the bundle for yourself - you can spend more money after checking out my latest Unusual Historical column featuring April 2016 releases.

Wendy News Round-Up: Home, On the Road and Finally!

It's that time again: Update Time!  So what's going on in the world of Wendy?  Well, first off - I died a few thousand deaths Saturday night while taking a break from Downton Abbey binge watching to check Facebook - only to discover that my hometown had made the national news.

Most blog readers know I'm from Michigan, but may not necessarily know I'm from the Kalamazoo area.  My parents still live there.  My older sister lives there with her family.  Not to mention the friends I still have in the area.  Oh, and there's an active shooter driving around randomly shooting people on a Saturday night.  

I was a little freaked.

I was more freaked when I found out after the fact that my entire family (Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-in-Law, the Two Kids) were all out that night taking in a show at Western Michigan University's Miller Auditorium.  On the same side of town where I used to live.  On the same side of town as two of the crime scenes.  While the active shooter was driving around and randomly shooting people.  So....yeah.

My nearest and dearest are all safe and sound, but there's something very disconcerting about having your hometown make the national news.  To see people politicizing your hometown on Twitter and Facebook.  Kalamazoo is a city, but it's a small city.  Almost cozy.  Certainly Kalamazoo has crime, it's not perfect, bad things happen there just like anyplace else, but a guy driving around just randomly shooting people?!  Prior to this we were known for our funny name, a song (I got a gal in Kalamazoo...) and a tornado that ripped through downtown in 1980.

Now, like so many towns in this country, we're known for a mass shooting. And that's messed up.

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I've had several blog posts and reviews go live over the last couple of months, and since I'm terrible about doing monthly recaps these days I thought I'd post them all now.

I've had two semi-recent reviews post over at The Good, The Bad and The Unread - both Harlequins.  Snowy Mountain Nights by Lindsay Evans (Kimani) and Holiday with the Millionaire by Scarlet Wilson (Harlequin Romance).

I've had two First Looks go live over at Heroes & Heartbreakers.  Countdown to Zero Hour by Nico Rosso (romantic suspense) and One More Night With You by Lisa Marie Perry (Kimani).

Also at H&H?  February's Unusual Historicals column.  Go forth!

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So guess what?  I finally saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Meh.

Look, it was OK.  The cast was good, but the storytelling was a lazy rehash.  Take two parts A New Hope, one part The Empire Strikes Back and add a dash of Return of the Jedi.  I spent the whole time watching it thinking, "Oh, so there's a cute droid wandering around the desert looking for someone - that's not familiar AT ALL ::cough cough:: and that's the new Luke and that's the new Han and that's the new Yoda..."  Then they completely skip the new villain's backstory entirely because OF COURSE!  They must have fodder for more movies which means we'll likely have to relive the whole prequel debacle again.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

It's a solid popcorn movie but y'all who thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread?  I mean, why not just stay home and watch the original first three movies over again?

Oh yeah, money.  Disney wants to make money.

But cranky Wendy is being cranky.  I'd probably feel differently if I had kids and took them to see the movie on the big screen - to let them have their very own Star Wars experience like I did back in the day. But yeah, for me?

Meh.  It felt like a remake masquerading as a sequel.

And tomorrow I take away candy from babies and rain on more parades.  Probably a C+ for me (the casting WAS good and I liked how they utilized Han in the story).

Back In The Saddle?

OK, so now it's been over a week since I last blogged.  Did Wendy fall off the face of the Earth?  Did her TBR Mountain finally collapse on top of her and she remained trapped under the crushing weight of paperback novels until a hunky Greek Tycoon arrived (don't I wish) to pull me free, sweep me in a passionate embrace and bruise my lips with punishing kisses?

Yeah, no.  Mores the pity.  No, I fell down the work-sleep-work-sleep-maybe-I-should-eat-something rabbit hole.  So to fill the blog void, I thought I'd provide updates.  I promise to keep the whining to a minimum (hey, first time for everything, right?).

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Reading.  What's that again?  I haven't really been reading.  At all.  And this is probably not a good thing since I promised two (count 'em two!) First Looks for Heroes and Heartbreakers for end of February releases.  You know, the shortest month on the calendar.  I foresee some power reading in my very near future.

What has been keeping my interest is audio books.  I discovered that work has three Barbara Michaels books on audio and I've been a swooning nostalgic mess ever since.  I pretty much read all the Barbara Michaels I could get my hands on during my teens, avoiding the books with blurbs that were more overtly woo-woo-ish.  I started with the audio book of Be Buried in the Rain, only remembering from my teen years that it was one that "I really liked."  I really liked it as an adult too, and was struck much more by the romance this second time around.  As a teen I read Michaels for the Gothic mystery "stuff" - the romances were incidental to me.

I'm now listening to Black Rainbow, which is a historical and well....not nearly as good as Be Buried in the Rain.  But it's amazing how nostalgia colors the reading experience.  I think if I was entirely new to Michaels and Black Rainbow (although I read it SO LONG ago, this is almost like I'm reading it for the first time) I'd be entering Minor Rant Mode, but here I am.  Swooning Nostalgic Mess.  After I wrap this one up, I need to take a break (my hold for the Burt Reynolds' memoir on audio came in - don't judge) and then I'll dive into Someone in the House.

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So I still haven't seen the new Star Wars.  And now I've just started watching Downton Abbey.

Yes, Wendy is JUST NOW starting Downton Abbey.  This is what hype does to me folks!  I bury my head in the sand until it dies down, y'all get ticked off that the show/movie/whatever "jumped the shark" and THEN, I figure it's safe to start watching.

I've got one episode left in Season One.  I figure by the time I'm through all five seasons on Amazon Prime, the final season will be available for me to stream or download or buy or whatever.

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Yoga.  Yeah, I was doing so well with yoga for a while.  I am a librarian, but these days my job is mostly administrative work which means Wendy sits at a desk.  A lot.  Yoga is a nice counter-balance to desk work.  Loosens up the hips, opens up the shoulders, and by the end of a nice one hour session I'm relaxed, loose and sleep like a baby.  A baby that had bourbon and Xanax slipped in with her formula.

But then work got busy, I got lazy, and fell off the wagon.  With a thud.  And not that I'm a svelte young thing anymore, but honestly it is possible, even for me, to let myself go even more.  So....

Back on the yoga wagon.

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Here in the States it's Super Bowl Sunday.  I have no pony in this race but will watch the game anyway while consuming completely regrettable junk food and hoping for some decent commercials.  It's also the signal that the most magical time of year is almost upon us.  That's right Bat Cave followers....

BASEBALL SEASON!

Depending on the team, pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training starting February 17.

Huzzah!

Notes from the Bunker

I haven't blogged in over a week and seeing that many days of inactivity in a row on the blog tends to make me twitchy.  For the past thirteen years of Bat Cave Gloriousness, I've tried to be fairly consistent with blogging - posting anywhere from once to three times a week.  And yet, here we are.  So to fill the void y'all are getting a hodge-podge.

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I spent most of 2015 mired in a reading slump and it seems to have carried over to the start of 2016.  It's not that I'm reading "bad" books.  It's more like I don't have the energy or mental brain power to pick up a book and actually read.  I'm traveling over the weekend so I'm hoping being stuck in airports and on airplanes provide a kick start.

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I still haven't seen Star Wars.  Yes, I'm an extra special kind of unicorn.

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In bookish news - I got through The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo on audio.  This was a recommendation from Keishon and I liked it, but wasn't over the moon in love with it.  I'm glad I listened to it because I truly don't think I would have lasted reading the print version.  It's a long book, with loads of set-up, dual time lines (World War II and early 2000s) and the mystery is fairly intricate.  There's a very deliberate pace to the story which made it slow-going at times.  I did end up enjoying it (it was a B read for me), and I'll continue on with the series - but Nesbo doesn't strike me as the kind of writer I'm going to be able to "binge" on...even in audio format.  I'm going to need breaks in between books.

I'm in the process right now of listening to When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning.  This is another book I'm glad I'm listening to on audio because I think it would be a slower read for me.  I have a lot of thoughts about this one - mostly when you juxtapose the history of the World War II home front against the current climate of the American public.  It's really striking.  Also I'll admit I'm highly annoyed that ultimately the librarian's efforts early on were dismissed out of hand when they were up against something they couldn't control - format.  World War II was really when the paperback format took off in popularity (in large part because of paper rationing and publishers having to adopt the format to fit the serviceman's unique needs), and librarian-organized donation drives mostly collected hard cover books, because that's what was widely available.  Also the profession, by that time, had shifted to largely female-dominated so yet another example of how "those in power" slapped down the librarians (who were a bunch of women anyway so what did it matter?) gets my hackles up.

Baggage, I haz it.

Anyway, I'm not massively in love with this book (yet - I'm only about halfway through), but I could see it provoking some good book club discussions if you have the sort of book club that could discuss historical vs. current events without breaking out into fisticuffs. 

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Speaking of book clubs - coming up in February I'm taking part in a webinar for the library database NoveList which will be all about romance book clubs.  It's being moderated by Lisa Schimmer, RWA Librarian of the Year 2014 (and the bee's knees) and we'll be joined by Jennifer Lohmann, Harlequin SuperRomance author, librarian and all around good egg.  Jennifer has run several book clubs for her Day Job (and has a romance-centric one!) and they've asked me to join the discussion to talk about the TBR Challenge!  That's right TBR'ers - we're going to be famous.

Also, I encourage you to check to see if your local library subscribes to NoveList.  It's what we in the profession call a "reader's advisory" tool - and it's fun to search subject headings, browse the lists of suggestions and hunt down titles that may interest you.  It covers all ages, and while it's predominantly known as being a fiction tool, they do feature non-fiction as well.  Lisa's been instrumental in overhauling the romance lists - where you can now find everything from Men In Kilts to Lesbian Love Stories.

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The plan was to spend most of 2016 catching up on ARCs I did not get read in 2015 (because I suck like that - SO MUCH TO READ!!!!).  I've got a pile of great books waiting for me and I'm at the point where I have things scheduled in a queue.  Here's hoping I find my reading mojo while turning over rocks in the Bat Cave bunker...

Chit Chat and Various Book Ramblings

It's been a while since I've done one of these updates.  Couple that with some books I want to mention that I don't have a lot to say about and general holiday brain-melt, here we are.  So what's going on with me?

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First, the big news - that Big Ol' Leadership Management Class Thing that I did for work?  Yeah, it's now done.  I survived 15 weeks, a group project (20 page written report + presentation), and had "graduation" last week.  Let me tell you how glad I am that's over.  Yes, it was a great experience, I learned stuff, and it looks shiny on Ye Olde Resume but....still.  I'm glad it's over.

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In other news?  Star Wars.  Meh.  Look, I'll go see it.  Eventually.  But I have not been excited about this thing since it was first announced.  Now James Bond?  Spectre?  I was twirling around in circles....months ahead of time.  Maybe they need to put Han Solo in a tux and shove a martini in his hand?  I'd feel like I was missing out but....meh. 

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I've gotten through some mystery/suspense reading and audiobook listening of late.  Chalk this up to buying a new car last year (built-in bluetooth!!!) and finally getting around to downloading the Overdrive app on my new phone which has WAY more memory than old phone.

I listened to Black Irish by Stephan Talty, mostly because the Buffalo, New York setting intrigued.  I went to college in Buffalo and lived there for almost six years.  Verdict?  Meh.  It was OK.  Mostly it was a Buffalo I didn't recognize (hey, I lived there almost 20 years ago and I was a college student pretty much "isolated" to campus life).  You know what this read like?  Like Talty wants to do for Buffalo what Dennis Lehane did for Boston.  It's on the gory side, so be warned, and while I didn't love it - I also didn't hate it.  It was also a fast listen.  I'll try the next book in the series.

On Keishon's recommendation I'm currently listening to The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo.  I'm glad she warned me about the slow start.  There's a lot of set-up and it seems to be all over the place.  I'm thinking I'm finally at the point where we're going to settle in for a more "linear" story - and think it will likely pick up for me now.  The Scandinavian crime "thing"  has largely eluded me - but I've been meaning to try Nesbo for a while and he's one of Keishon's favorites - so here I am.

Over the weekend I read The Sundown Speech by Loren D. Estleman, which is the 25th (!) book in his Amos Walker, Detroit PI series.  This was another OK read.  Estleman originally published it in a local paper as a serial about 10 years ago, expanded it, and now we have a book.  Amos is in Ann Arbor this time out so we have crunchy granola clients and a villain too smart for his own good.  It's not a book I would recommend to someone new to the series (Estleman's style is better suited for the darker noir world of rundown Detroit), but I read it in two gulps so....what am I complaining about again?

In the romance world, I tried but ultimately failed to listen to Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren.  As most of you already know, this book sprang to life out of fan-fiction and that actually isn't my complaint about it.  It also has a boss/secretary trope which, as we all know, Wendy loves despite knowing better.  No, the problem was I loathed these people.  Seriously.  The hero is an asshat and the heroine's body keeps "betraying her."  Seriously, those words are used in the text.  Her body "betrays her."  That's a romance writing tic that just needs to die a thousand burning deaths already.

Anyway, he's a jerk - keeps ripping her panties off - and even though she's a smart-mouth and fires back at him a lot - we still have Ye Olde Betraying Body thing.  I just couldn't see wasting my time on two characters that I literally loathed.  I've DNF'ed books for a lot less.

On the bright side?  While I normally have a hard time with romance on audio (it's a quirk - I have issues with someone "reading" me sex scenes), the narrator here (Grace Grant) was really quite good.  If you like romance on audio, you might want to look her up (my brief search turned up narrating for Christina Lauren, Lisa Renee Jones and Colleen Hoover).

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I'm hoping to squeeze out a couple more reads before the end of the year - which is time to remind folks that if you're waiting with bated breath for my Best of 2015 list?  Keep waiting until early January.  Outside of mentioning a mere three titles as part of H&H's round-ups - I always wait until the new year arrives.  Because, you know, I could read something awesome-sauce on December 31.

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If blogging doesn't happen again this week (and you know, it might not) - I hope that everyone has a nice, relaxing holiday.  Ho ho ho!

Paris, H&H, Bond, and Books

My knee-jerk reaction during times of great tragedy is to go dark on social media.  1) Because I never know what to say 2) Even if I thought I knew what to say there's always the chance I'll step in it and say the absolute wrong thing and 3) This is all assuming that any words I would say would be of any use to anybody dealing with a horrific tragedy like what has unfolded in the past couple of days in the cities of Beirut and Paris.

My solution is to stay positive, stay upbeat, and blog about something happy like love and romance novels.  And to leave you with these thoughts: positivity never hurt anybody.  Be good to each other Romancelandia peeps.  Hug your loved ones a little tighter, and don't let a wasted moment go by where you can kiss them, tell them how important they are to you, how life is a little better, a little easier, a little brighter, because you have each other. 

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I have a new post up over at Heroes & Heartbreakers, and surprise, surprise - it's about historical romance.  What would I love to see more of in historical romances?  Head on over and read Please Madam, May I Have Some More? to find out.

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You know how everyone on the Interwebs is losing their damn minds over the new Star Wars movie?  Yeah, that was me with Spectre, the latest James Bond / Daniel Craig offering, which I finally saw yesterday.

Final verdict: It wasn't terrible, but I was underwhelmed.  Probably a B- underwhelmed.  Here's my review in bullet points:

• I miss Judi Dench. A lot. Craig / Fiennes just don't have the same chemistry.


• Monica Belluci is criminally underutilized.


• There needed to be buckets more Craig / Waltz on screen together. 


• I never cared for the Moneypenny character in the old movies but love how they've rewritten her in the new movies.


• The opening sequence. Mexico City during Día de Muertos = inspired.  Horrible blue screen during helicopter sequence = really, really not good.  They couldn't have thrown some more money at that to make the blue screen look less obvious?


• I think I liked it better than Quantum of Solace, but nowhere near the caliber of Casino Royale or Skyfall.  QoS grew on me after I rewatched it - I'm hoping Spectre follows the same pattern.

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We had repairmen in the Bat Cave this week that required me to move my book case.  This required taking books off said book case, which in turn led to me doing a massive sort and weed as I was putting things to right after the repairmen left.

Stating the obvious, good golly I have a ton of books.  Between an addiction to used bookstores, library sales, and the multitude of books I get at conferences - it's no wonder I have TBR anxiety.  I finally admitted some hard truths to myself and got rid of things I know I'd never read.  Yes, you may be one of my favorite authors but I'm just not going to read your paranormals.  I read so few single title contemporaries, why did I pick this one up again?  Cutesy sounding historicals - that ship has sailed.  And on and on I went.  I didn't count, but I think I easily ended up weeding out a couple of hundred (did I stutter?).  Now it's just a matter of stealing boxes from work, taking them in to work, and finding them new homes.  Hopefully somewhere they won't be neglected.

This, That, The Other

As you can tell by the lack of activity, my life has been somewhat nutty of late.  The Too-Long-Didn't-Read Version = Work, Work, School, Work, Sleep, Exhausted, School, Work, Work.  Also my reading as slowed down to....what's slower than a snail?  A dead snail?  Yeah, that slow.  So, what's going on besides me whining?  Well, stuff.

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Hey, did you know I still post a monthly Unusual Historicals column over at Heroes & Heartbreakers?  Here's the latest one featuring October titles.  Go forth!  Find something good to read!

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Way back in May I was asked to do a webinar, geared towards librarians, on the romance genre - and now it's been posted online. So that explains why the "upcoming releases" section is kind of dated now.  Anyway, it's there.  Not sure it will be of much interest to romance readers as again - geared towards librarians - but if you want to know why I don't think LGBT or Multicultural are separate sub genres, it's kind of illuminating.  I guess.  Maybe.  OK, maybe not.

Also, yes - I use the dreaded BR word.  I know I just did a post railing against the adoption of the word "smut" by authors and readers, but I'm surprisingly cool with "bodice ripper" when it's used correctly (which it rarely is).  To me it describes a very specific moment in genre history and a very specific "type" of historical.  And since I whipped out the BR word when taking about genre history?  Yeah, well - that explains that.  But folks disagree with me on usage of the dreaded term in even this limited context and to each her own. 

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This is old news that I didn't blog about at the time because, see opening paragraph - but Dear Author/Jane Litte and Ellora's Cave have settled the defamation suit that's been dragging on in the Ohio courts for the past year.  After my initial post I haven't blogged about this - mostly because I didn't feel comfortable enough with all the legal mumbo-jumbo to do so.  Others have blogged throughout however, and for a recap of the settlement (as much as there can be a recap) - I'll direct you to this post at Dierdre Saoirse Moen's blog.

So what does this mean?  We'll likely never know because - you know - settlement.  Here's the positive: I'm happy for Jane (and her family) that the suit is over and I hope she's happy with whatever terms the settlement laid out.

What I'm disappointed about?  That so many authors are still left twisting in the breeze.  It was probably unrealistic to think that this lawsuit would somehow generate satisfaction for them (also, I think it was unfair to expect Jane to fall on that particular sword), but that doesn't mean there wasn't some hope.  What does this mean for them?  Who knows at this point.  But I think it's going to get messier before it gets better and frankly that's no good for anybody (including readers).

I'm also disappointed that the settlement has reactivated troll activity (avoid at all costs people) and that my own feelings regarding the online romance community have taken a hit during this whole affair.  Little Miss Crabby Pants hasn't been this vocal well....ever.  And I don't know if that's because I've changed (is it possible - have I gotten THAT much older and crotchety-er?), my wee corner of the community has changed, or I was simply naïve before and had my tiny bubble of optimism popped?  Maybe all of the above.

What does this mean for me moving forward?  God, I don't know.  I'm going to do my best to focus on books, finding my reading mojo, talking about books, and trying not to get sucked into drama.  Which is hard - because typically I only wade in when I get pushed over the edge.  People, y'all need to stop pushing me over the edge. 

So for me it's head down, back to work, and trying to find some sort of reading mojo.  Oh where, oh where could it be?

College Girl, RT and Baseball

It's been a week since I've blogged something (anything) - and since my reading has ground to a halt thanks to the previous week's shenanigans, y'all get an update post.  So what's going on at the Casa de Bat Cave?  Well....

In a previous post I mentioned that I was tapped to do this "leadership class thingie" for work.  Well, that's started.  What I've learned so far?  There's no way in heck I could be a "non-traditional student."  You know, those folks who go back to school in their 30s, 40s, 50s etc.  I was very traditional.  College right out of high school, four years to my bachelor's degree, straight to grad school, full time for three semesters to my graduate degree.  Done.  With no desire to ever, ever go back.  Ever.  This small taste of "back to school" has me wondering how the heck I ever did this the first go around.  My current theory is ignorance (I didn't know anything else at the time) and alcohol (self-explanatory).  So if you're a non-traditional student reading this post?  My hat's off to you.  Because there's no way I could do it - and I don't have children to wrangle.

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Registration for the RT Booklovers Convention (in Las Vegas) opened this week and yours truly will be there.  For my first RT ever.  Why now?  Vegas is close for me (I can drive - huzzah!) and I'm going to be on a panel (definitely one, possibly two, but jury is still out).  The definite panel has to do with "voice" in blogging, reviewing and advocating for the genre.  So if you want to experience the Bat Cave live and in person (and really, how could you not?) - be sure to look for me at RT. 

I have no clue yet day or time of my panel(s) - but more information will be forthcoming as soon as I have it.

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Baseball.  My Tigers have been dismal this year.  Last place in our division dismal.  Our General Manager got "let go" and fled to Boston (boo! hiss!).  Miguel Cabrera got hurt.  Justin Verlander forgot how to pitch until recently.  Ian Kinsler has been - well, I don't even know what's going on with him.  One day he looks great, the next he looks like a guy who found out his wife is cheating on him with his best friend.  Jose Iglesias and James McCann got into a fight in the dugout - on camera.  Bruce Rondon (for the record, a relief pitcher I have loathed from day one) got sent home for the season due to "lack of effort."  Yeah, it's just been bad.  But hey, doesn't mean I still don't want to talk about baseball.

Word came out today that despite rumors to the contrary that Brad Ausmus will be back as the manager for 2016.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  While our terrible, awful year isn't entirely Brad's fault, the Tigers have shown over the years that they just play better under managers who are cranky, old, and smoke like chimneys.  Leyland (with his Marlboros).  Sparky (with his pipe).  I'm not sure Detroit can handle managers who are as hunky and dreamy as Brad.  Sigh.  So hunky.  So dreamy.  For God's sake - the man surfs.  SURFS!!!  Now figure out what do with this nightmare of a team Brad and we'll be gold.

When Dave Dombrowski was "let go" - Al Avila was promoted to General Manager.  Fans of the Bat Cave's Tigers Meet Harlequin posts will know that Al is (now back-up) catcher Alex Avila's Daddy.  He also looks like Tony Soprano's cousin.  I mean, look at him.  If that doesn't scream "I work in waste management" I'm not sure what does.  If I was an under-performing player I'd sleep with one eye open.  Otherwise you might wake up next to a severed horse's head.  Just sayin'.

Could future Tigers Meet Harlequin stories be in the future for these two potential heroes?  Brad's dreamy and Al looks likes a villain (which in certain corners of the genre these days = prime hero material) - so don't count them out. 

The State Of The Bat Cave

Back in the day, when I wasn't seemingly exhausted all the time and could string semi-coherent sentences together to create interesting blog posts (no comment from the peanut gallery...), I would routinely put together chatty round-up style posts about what was going on in my life.  Hey, you're reading a one-person blog here.  Come for the narcissism, stay for the occasional romance novel reviews!  So what's going on at the Bat Cave these days?  Oh my, what isn't?

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So, yeah - work.  I'm not sure I disclosed it here yet, but I got promoted.  For those keep track at home, yeah - I've been working for this particular employer for a little over a year.  And yes, I was promoted.  This has largely been a good thing.  I mean, how can it not?  I'm Good Old-Fashioned Midwestern Worker Bee, so it's nice to be appreciated and to have my superiors believe in my abilities.  On the other hand?  There are days I sit in my new office and think to myself, "Self, what made you ever think you could possibly do this?!"  And then there are days when I feel like the master of my own universe.  Which I figure is just about par for the course whenever one takes on a new job, new responsibilities yada yada yada.

On top of this I just found out last week I've been tapped for a "leadership program."  Which means - more work. I know this blog hasn't been a hotbed of scintillating content of late, and while I LOVE my new job and am SO HAPPY I made the switch a little over a year ago now.....

I'm exhausted.  Not gonna lie.  I'm going to try to not have the blog dip down to one post a week, but this fall?  It could happen.  Seriously.  Busy, busy worker bee thy name is Wendy.

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So yeah - the Detroit Tigers.  My Last Place In Their Division Detroit Tigers.  Needless to say my baseball watching has mostly come to a close this season (there's masochism and then there's self-loathing) - although My Man is starting to watch more of his suddenly relevant Toronto Blue Jays and his favorite childhood team, the New York Mets.  So it's not a totally Baseball Free Zone at the Bat Cave just yet.

In light of my team imploding, I've taken to binge-watching Archer, an adult cartoon from the fine folks at FX.  My Man got hooked on it while I was away at a conference this summer and when I got home I got sucked down the same rabbit hole.  I've been binging via Amazon Prime and just started Season Four.  Favorite episode so far?  The Man From Jupiter from Season 3 which guest-stars Burt Reynolds.  I loved everything about that episode.

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My latest Unusual Historicals post went up last week over at Heroes & Heartbreakers.  A lot of Takes Place In England But Some Slightly Different Elements For A Change books.  Also, an appearance from The Dark Ages and some American settings (including two westerns).  Head on over and check out the shopping list.

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I haven't been very active in my usual Romance Land haunts of late because I'm finding myself more easily irritated than usual.  As in grabbing my computer monitor, shaking it senseless and sputtering, "Why?! Why?! WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?!" As I see it there are a few possible solutions to this conundrum for me:

1) I start writing scathing blog posts that would make Little Miss Crabby Pants blush and possibly alienate folks.

2) I swallow my irritation into a tight ball of rage and limit my time online for the sake of my own sanity.

3) I learn to let it go like everyone else seems to have done and instead write passive aggressive blog posts like this one.  Oh...wait a second....

Given that my Real Life is very full at the moment, and I'm still struggling to find some sort of reading groove, it's just easier for me to take the easy way out and lurk on certain corners of the Interwebs for a while.  Or, you know, just not visit at all.  Otherwise we're back to Passive Aggressive Wendy, and Lord, even I don't like her. 

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Back to sports - American football kicked off this week and....meh.  I used to really like football, but it's been on a downhill slide for me since the New Orleans Bounty-Gate fiasco which I found so repugnant that it makes my brain hurt.  Then there's the whole concussion thing.  Then there's the domestic violence thing.  Then there's the fact that I think the commissioner is a scumbag and I had to spend the whole off-season hearing about Tom Brady's deflated balls and honestly?  Tom Brady is a scumbag (IMHO).  So hearing about two scumbags fighting over deflated balls?

Yeah, I'm out.

On the bright side, maybe while My Man is watching football Wendy will actually get some reading done?  Hey, anything is possible, right?

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Lord, that was a big ol' pile of cranky.  Let's blame the heat, shall we?  The Bat Cave is located at the center of Hell at the moment, I'm convinced of it.  Days on end of 100+ heat.  As in, after dark - Wendy's going to bed - and it's still like 90 degrees outside.  I'm completely and totally over it.  And it's obviously making me a crankier crank than usual....which is just scary.

RWA Bar Bash, Book Binge And Binging On Books

The reason the blog has been a dead zone is because I spent most of last week traveling.  First, visiting my sister, then spending time in San Francisco for the ALA conference (more on that in a bit).  It also kicked off what is promising to be a very busy summer for me.  Next up?  RWA.

This year's Romance Writers of America conference is heading back to New York City.  The first time since 2011, also affectionately known as Wendy's Librarian of the Year year (and no, I never get tired of pimping out that award even though it's been four years.  I earned it folks. I'll be tooting that horn until I'm dead.  And even then I might come back as a ghost and toot some more.)

I'm a terrible hostess, but do think it's nice to set aside a time for a bunch of us who kick around online together to meet up at the conference.  So if you've got nothing going on after the big Literacy Signing on Wednesday, July 22 - stop by the conference hotel bar to have some drinks and laughs. 

I'll be kicking around the entire conference, including speaking at Librarians Day (again) - so if you see me, come on up and say howdy.  I'll teach you the secret librarian handshake. 

Even if you can't attend the entire conference, if you're in the area please DO attend the Literacy Signing.  It's awesome, open to the general public, is free of charge, and the only cost to you is any books you buy at the event.

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While I was away on my travels, I had a guest post go live over at Book Binge.  I'm featured in their awesome Five Books Everyone Should Read feature.  Go on over.  See me pimp out books.

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Speaking of books, by sheer dumb luck I seem to have had a couple of highly touted new releases fall in my lap.  You know, on top of the giant pile of ARCs already living on my Kindle.  Long-time readers of this blog already know that I don't read a ton of bestselling romance.  I lap up categories.  I devour midlist historicals.  I'm reading erotic romance written by people not named EL James.  But there are two releases coming up that even I, Wendy who ignores most bestsellers outside of work, am curious about.

Lord help me, the first is The Bourbon Kings by J.R. Ward.  I read exactly one Black Dagger Brotherhood book (the second one) and while I saw the attraction for other readers, it wasn't for me.  Mostly because of the insipid dialogue (you feel me?) and heroines (all the complexity of wet dish rags).  Plus I'm not a huge paranormal reader, so it was easy for me to move on.  But this series?  It sounds like Dallas and Dynasty got together and had a baby.  I am, without a doubt, an unrepentant sucker for soap operas.  The trashier, the better.  I put myself on the waiting list at work, but shot for the moon asking for a copy via NetGalley - which Penguin actually approved for me. So I have to try this.  We'll see how far I get.  Will I DNF or finish it?  Will Ward's writing ticks drive me insane?  Only time will tell.

Next up is Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas.  Now I'm not a huge squee'ing Kleypas fan girl.  I've liked some of her books. But she's been away from historicals for five years.  If you look at the genre in the past couple of decades (at least) - when a historical romance author goes contemporary, they rarely come back.  Kleypas is coming back (although yes, she's obviously still working on her contemporaries).  So naturally I cannot help but be curious, but figured that with all the anticipation that Avon would probably have a tighter rein on advanced copies.  So imagine my shock (literally, shock) when while wandering around ALA last weekend I saw a giant pile of Kleypas ARCs at the Harpercollins booth.

A giant pile.

And yes, I realize this is a horrible tease - but unlike some conference attendees, I try not to be an ass.  I took three.  And I felt like an ass taking the three.  One for a librarian at the conference stuck in a workshop, one for me, and one for KristieJ.  Because I could NOT not get one for Kristie.  Look up Squee'ing Kleypas FanGirl in the romance dictionary and there's Kristie.  It was my civic duty.  Plus, you know, she's my RWA roommate.  If I didn't get her an ARC she would have probably smothered me with a pillow.

So yeah.  Sorry to be a tease everybody else.  But thank you to Harpercollins for being nice to romance reading librarians.  Because really, it was a lovely surprise to see those ARCs.

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I'm slowly beginning to get my reading mojo back (thank you Charlotte Stein - review to follow), which is a good thing since I have a ton of books waiting for me.  Westerns, Harlequin Historicals, the above mentioned Ward and Kleypas.  Lots to read, little time to actually do it.  Story of my life.

New Photo And Reading Updates

I love it when the DC Comics universe decides to release new photos of yours truly.  Apparently there's a new video game coming out (after a series of delays) called Batman: Arkham Knights and fans have been criticizing the yearly subscription rate as being "too high" when very little information has been made available about what the game entails.  So to appease the fanboys and girls out there, the studio behind the game released this image of Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) that you can play in a "prequel story" as part of the game.

Or as I like to title this image: Wendy, Working a Sunday Shift at the Library.  Seriously.  Just. Like. This.

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So, in other news - how am I doing after my epic whiny post from earlier in the week?  Better.  Oh no mistake, I'm still whiny (Rome wasn't built in a day y'all) and my Tigers seem incapable of beating the Chicago White Sox at the moment, so blah.  But as for reading?  I'm getting there.

I burned through Anne of Green Gables on audiobook, which I enjoyed.  I think I'm going to go through the rest of the series, but am taking breaks in between so I don't gorge myself on Americana Goodness and hit saturation levels.

I'm also pretty well invested in Tiffany Girl by Deeanne Gist, despite reading reviews on GoodReads that made my head explode.  Gist has been moving away from inspirational with her last few books, but trust Auntie Wendy on this one - it's not like she's putting on latex, carrying a whip and going full blown Fifty on us. 

Ladies, I know filthy naughty times and this is so far away from that - well let's just say please do not come over to the Bat Cave and go merrily traipsing through my bookshelves.  The shock would either 1) kill you or 2) lead you to call a priest to perform an exorcism on me.  Wait, does the priest look like Ewan McGregor in Angels & Demons?  Maybe?

Anyhoodle.....

The "feel" of this story reminds me quite a bit of the Americana "sub genre" that existed in the 1990s and early 2000s.  Folks like Pamela Morsi, Stephanie Mittman and Stef Ann Holm.  That kind of vibe.  So while I wouldn't say this book is inspirational per se, I'd still classify it as a gentle read (thus far).  Time will tell, of course.  I mean, I've got several hundred pages left.  Full-length review will follow, I just need to read the whole book first.

I'm also finding myself hankering for Harlequin - which should shock no one.  Looking back at my reading year thus far, I haven't really read that many category romances yet and Lord knows the last Harlequin Historical I read.  I've got a couple library books I want to try, see if they hold my attention, but then I might go on a bit of a category binge.  I certainly have plenty to choose from.

Baseball, Hate Listening And Dubious Milestones

As should seem pretty obvious at this point, I've been struggling with my blogging of late.  There are a variety of reasons for this and coupled with a reading slump it's made for a pretty deadly cocktail.  I have an annoying tendency to backslide into self-pity and frankly I'm beginning to annoy myself.  So this recent blog post by KristieJ couldn't have come at a better time for me.  It was a bit like a kick in the teeth.  So I'm going to strive to do better with blogging, even if the posts may be pithy and inconsequential at times, but hey - at least I'll be posting.  Something.  No promises that they'll all be that enlightening, but when have my blog posts ever changed the world?

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I've been so out of my rhythm lately that my blogiversary went by without my notice.  For those keeping track at home, February 28 marked this blog's 12th anniversary.  Apparently the traditional anniversary gift for 12 years is silk or linen.  The modern gift is pearls.

Dude. 

My blogiversary is the equivalent to an erotic romance novel.  I am so proud! ::wipes tear::

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When Colleen McCullough passed away it occurred to me that not only had I never read The Thorn Birds, but I've also never seen the TV mini-series.  There are a few reasons for this.  1) I have this aversion to any book over 400 pages long.  I blame this on reading difficulties I had as a child and I think it just flat-out carried over.  Plus, I'll be honest - I'm a less is more kind of girl when it comes to fiction.  I see big, long, saga-like tomes and my first thought is "verbal diarrhea."  2) To totally date myself, I was in grade school when the mini-series was first televised.  And even though Mom did eventually own it on VHS, I never had the inclination to watch it.  Tragic love stories weren't really my bag as a teenager.  I preferred mysteries - so those Perry Mason TV movies were more my speed.

Anyway, I decided I would listen to The Thorn Birds on audiobook.  All 18 CDs of it.  I'm almost done with disc 15.  Oh people, I have so much to say.  Most it involving frothing at the mouth and sputtering nonsensically.  So. Much. To. Say.  So yes, expect a blog post riddled with spoilers in the near future.  You've been warned.  And yes, There Shall Be Spoilers!  Hey, you've had since 1977 to read the book - so I figure spoilers are totally fair game.

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Baseball is back!  Spring training games are kicking off this week and even though I'm already beyond tired of hearing about the butt-hurt Yankees and Alex Rodriguez.....

BASEBALL IS BACK!!!!

At this point I have no idea how my Tigers are going to do this year.  Max is gone.  That handsome young man, Rick Porcello is gone.  But Iglesias is back and we have another handsome Cuban joining the roster.  There will be another round of Tigers Meet Harlequin posts prior to the start of the season.  I just....need to figure out who those lucky Tiger players will be.  And, you know, come up with story ideas.  I'm not ruling out recycling some guys I've already "written" books for, but I'm hoping to avoid that (although I have potential new ideas for Miggy, Victor and possibly Verlander....). 

I'm currently pondering if this is the year I can work in an amnesia plot.  We'll see how clever I'm feeling.  Hopefully divine inspiration will rain down upon me.....