And So It Goes

The Boyfriend is now officially out of town on business for the next 10 days. I hate it when we're apart mostly because I don't sleep. I've gotten used to the big lug being around. I've discovered the trick to sleeping while he's away is to stay up until I've hit exhaustion. Then I collapse in bed and fall right to sleep. None of the dreaded tossing and turning. I also try to keep myself busy. Today it's more laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, cleaning out my closet and ::drumroll:: starting the dreaded book cataloging project. Yeah, I'm going to do it. Now exactly where is my bottle of tequila? Here it goes:

To our left - the infamous Rubbermaid totes. I've actually got a very warped system with these. One for anything remotely contemporary, one for hard covers and trade paperbacks, 2 for historical romance, one for series romance, and the box? I ran out of totes. How sick am I?

And to our right - the books I have piled on top of our computer desk. The Boyfriend's job entails a lot of day travel and working out of home. One respectable earthquake and the man is buried alive. Good thing we live in an upstairs apartment. He can tap out S.O.S. to the people who live downstairs.

And I ask you, what respectable TBR mountain range is without a stash of Harlequin Historicals? I love me Harlequin Historicals and the vast majority of these are westerns. Well duh. Are you new to this blog?

So there we have it. I know. I need help. Serious, serious help. And before my sisters pop up to suggest that I'm mentally ill - just remember, you both have vices too. Mine just could topple over and crush me to death.

You can follow my cataloging process on my Library Thing account.

I Take Most Of It Back

After ten days (slow for me), I finally finished Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair. I can't be bothered to write my own plot summary so here's the back cover copy:

Can she trust a man who is half-machine?

The universe isn’t what it used to be. With the new alliance between the Triad and the United Coalition, Captain Tasha “Sass” Sebastian finds herself serving under her former nemesis, bio-cybe Admiral Branden Kel-Paten—and doing her best to hide a deadly past. But when an injured mercenary falls into their ship’s hands, her efforts may be wasted …

Wanted rebel Jace Serafino has information that could expose all of Sass’s secrets, tear the fragile Alliance apart—and end Sass’s career if Kel-Paten discovers them. But the bio-cybe has something to hide as well, something once thought impossible for his kind to possess: feelings...for Sass. Soon it’s clear that their prisoner could bring down everything they once believed was worth dying for—and everything they now have to live for…

This is a "big book" and it clocks in at a little over 500 pages. This suggests that we have a "big plot" and the author crams in a lot of stuff. Jace, Doctor Eden Fynn (Tasha's friend, Jace's love interest), these annoying pet furzels (think of them as telepathic cats), and a conspiracy plot. OK, that's fine - but it ain't what I want. I want Tasha and Branden. Especially Branden, who I'm now half in love with.

One of the criticisms of the genre that assholes detractors like to toss out is that romance novels give women unrealistic expectations when it comes to romantic relationships. Normally I say this is a bunch of bullshit, but there are times when an author writes a hero that I'm ready to run away with. This time it's a bit more pathetic than usual since Branden is half-man, half-machine. Geez, get a grip Wendy.

I still feel the plot was too big here. I kept rewriting this story to fit what I wanted. Drop all the other stuff, give me back story on Branden and Tasha and just their romance. But that's not what I got, and honestly all the other stuff isn't bad - I just wasn't particularly interested in it.

But once I sat down and started reading I got sucked into the story and dang it I even got a little choked up during the last chapter. The only real criticism I have is that for such a huge book the ending is a bit abrupt. Quite a bit of that "big plot" is left unresolved. Hell, it screams series.

Final Grade = B+

Ranty McRanty Pants

Latest column up over at Romancing The Blog. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em.

I Am So Not Reading

I'm in a slump. I'm getting desperate. All I want to do is dive into my stash of Harlequins, but I have 2 review books and about 3 library books heading my way. Probably a good thing the Tigers game was rained out in Chicago tonight. I might actually get some reading done tonight.

I'm currently slogging through Games Of Command by Linnea Sinclair. This has gotten some fairly positive buzz around blog land, and while I like it, I'm nitpicking it to death. First, it's over 500 pages long. I have this mental block for any book over 400 pages. Seriously, I know I need to get over it, but my palms start to sweat when I see a "big" book.

Also, I really wish the author would have dumped the secondary romance. It's starting to yank my chain, because the primary romance is oodles more interesting. We have a heroine with a shady past and a hero who started out life as human, but was later changed to a "biocybe." Yeah, that's right kiddies - more machine than human. And the poor guy is deathly afraid that he'll be reported as malfunctioning because he's desperately in love with the heroine. Sort of like Star Trek's Data except less annoying and way hotter.

But the other stuff is getting in the way. I don't care about the heroine's doctor friend. I don't care about the renegade who lands on board and starts communicating with her telepathically. There seems to be a lot of interesting back story for the heroine and hero - and that's what I want. I want them. Not any of this other stuff. Actually Rosario's got a very good review posted for this one. So far I'm agreeing with her on point, although unless I get deeply moved my grade will probably be lower (right now it's a B-).

Ah well, back to reading.

Playing Hookey

I'm taking the day off. Like any good American who loves baseball - I'm taking the day off to go to the game. That's right folks - my Detroit Tigers are in town to play the Anaheim Angels. And since I didn't get to see them live and in person last year (they were only out here once, it was during the week, and my brain was melting because I was working two jobs), this year I promised myself not to miss them. And having a very understanding (and tolerant) boyfriend - he's also taking the day off work to go with me.

So if the game is televised in your area - take a look down the third base line. I'll be the one throwing my panties at Pudge Rodriguez.

How It Went

So how did the "literary event" go on Saturday? My answer? Very well, especially when one factors in that it was the first time we'd ever tackled something like this. The venue was nice, the food was very good, and I thought the authors (those I had direct contact with) were great. It's hard for some writers because it's a very introverted life they lead - so actually dealing with people can be tricky. But the authors I dealt with personally or heard speak in other panels, I thought were really great. Funny, outgoing, gregarious.

Naturally there is room for improvement, but such is life. All in all, it was a good experience and I hope everyone who attended had more positive moments than negative ones.

In other news, this whole experience gave me an idea for my next Romancing The Blog column (Friday, April 27), so I need to get busy writing that. I had a comment afterwards from an attendee, along with other comments I've received from other "reader's advisory" things I've done on the genre. Hopefully I'll be able to keep my ranting and swearing to a minimum.

How's that for a tease? You'll just have to wait for Friday for all the details.

I also hope that now this is behind me I can get back to my "real" job (which is spending money) and reading. I am so behind on my reading - which some of you might have noticed. I haven't been talking about actual books lately....

My Mind Is On The Brink

So by now you're probably wondering, "What has happened to Wendy?"

Or maybe you're not wondering and I've just got a bloated sense of self-importance.

Either way, the reason behind the lack of blog posts this week is that I've been swamped at work with committee work. We're hosting our "first annual literary event" on Saturday. I landed on this committee when I took The Dream Job. My boss thought it would probably be a good idea for The Person Who Buys Adult Fiction to warm a seat on this committee. But like a dope (OK, my ego was stroked), I agreed to moderate the romance panel discussion. So tomorrow it's me, Jennifer Apodaca, Kathryn Jordan and Linda O. Johnston trapped in a room together with the select event attendees who want to hear us blather on.

This was actually fun to prepare for, even if I have had no time to read lately. However I'm also sitting on the sub-committee that's in charge of registration, which meant I spent all day Thursday either alphabetizing something or stuffing the registration packets. That was a little too much like work, and since leaving the branch (and working with the public), I've gotten softer.

All that and my regular work - which right now entails me spending money like Paris Hilton on Rodeo Drive. But it will all be over tomorrow, until I get back to work on Monday, sit through a "debriefing" session, and then think about planning for next year.

I think this is what is called Death By Committee.

Dealbreaker

Readers bring a certain amount of baggage (some of it irrational) to any fiction book they read. For example, my older sister has a hard time reading about "bad things happening to children" ever since she had kids. The only reason she got through Body Double by Tess Gerritsen is because I reassured her that "everything works out OK for that poor pregnant woman who spends the whole book buried alive."

Readers have all kinds of hot buttons. They don't want to read about animals getting hurt/killed. They don't want to read about adultery. They don't want to read graphic violence, "bad" language, or explicit sex. The list goes on and on and on....

So where does this leave the author? Confused. You can't please everybody all of the time. So basically the author is stuck writing the best book they can and hoping that it sticks to the reader like cooked spaghetti to the kitchen wall.

No reader is immune to this sort of thing. I like to think I'm a fairly open-minded reader. Not a whole lot squirks me out. I've yet to read sex scenes (we're specifically talking erotica written for women here) that have pushed any ick buttons, and I'm pretty OK reading about violence (watching it is another matter entirely). I'm such a heartless bitch that I'm even OK reading about a dog dying. But throw in a love triangle and all bets are off.

I really hate love triangles. So much so that I suspect I'm being irrational on the whole matter. I just wrapped up Duplicity Dogged The Dachshund by Blaize Clement yesterday. This is book two in a cozy series that features a former sheriff's deputy turned professional pet-sitter. It falls under my darker cozy umbrella. The heroine has serious baggage from the death of her husband and toddler, and the crime(s) /motive(s) are dark in nature. Everything was going along great until the last chapter. That's when the author introduces the start of what is sure to be a love triangle between the heroine, a cop and a lawyer. It left such a bad taste in my mouth that I'm not sure if I'll read the third book. I know, I know - my irrationality knows no bounds.

I've never been involved in a love triangle in real life. Why? Well besides the fact that I'm just not that irresistible - I can make a decision. I'm pretty indecisive about the little things. The Boyfriend asks me "what do you want for dinner" and I hem and haw. But something serious like relationships? I make a damn decision. Maybe it's a loyalty issue. I tend to be loyal to a fault (I probably could have avoided some less than stellar relationships if I wasn't), and I tend to pick one guy and stick with him. So when other people can't do this? I tend to get annoyed. To me it's creating unnecessary drama - and lawdy be, I hates me some drama.

The problem is that authors use the love triangle conflict and d-r-a-g it out ad nauseam. Yeah, I'm looking at you Janet Evanovich. This I find highly unrealistic, because unless the woman is in love with two pussies (yeah I said it), sooner or later someone is going to issue an ultimatum. Yeah, I can totally see Ranger not doing it - since he's not looking for commitment, but Morelli should have put his foot down about 7 books ago.

And that's why I hate love triangles. The heroine comes off looking like an indecisive idiot and the men come off looking like pussies because they put up with being led around by their balls. I know this is probably irrational thinking on my part (OK, it is), but we all have that little something tickling the back of our brains. That one thing that turns us off.

So where does that leave authors? Still confused.

Sold! To The Mild-Mannered Librarian With Too Many Books!

I work for a large enough library system that we do receive ARCs. When one of the warehouse guys brings in a new box, it's sort of like Christmas. Frankly, there's nothing more exciting than getting books in the mail - but I'm a dork like that.

I recently met with a library rep from Holtzbrinck Publishing, which are the folks who own St. Martin's, Tor, Henry Holt and Farrar, Straus and Giroux to name a few. Well this lovely rep (bless her heart), put me on the mailing list for their ARCs and earlier this week I got something really cool. An ARC for Heartsick by Chelsea Cain.

This is exactly how it showed up. The book is enclosed in a plastic evidence bag, like it was taken from the crime scene. The cover of the book just features a bloody hand print. Once you open the book, you also find a CD - which features a sample of the audio book recording and some really impressive author quotes. Normally author quotes on a book jacket don't do much for me (or most readers I suspect), but Cain has quotes from Tess Gerritsen ("an addictive read"), Chuck Palahniuk ("most compelling, most original serial killer since Hannibal Lecter") and Dominick Dunne ("utterly unforgettable").

Plot Description: It's much worse for Detective Archie Sheridan. He can't forget the woman who kidnapped him. For ten days, she tortured him to the brink of death, then mysteriously set him free and turned herself in. Now two years later, he's addicted to pain pills, estranged from his family, and obsessed with her. Gretchen Lowell is behind bars. But she still has all the power. Smart. Sexy. Vicious. She's a beauty. She's a killer. As Archie trails a new case, he needs Gretchen now in more ways than one - to catch a killer and to release his soul. Love hurts, sometimes in torture.

This is just the beginning folks. Two more books featuring Gretchen Lowell are to follow, and St. Martin's is rolling this one out with a $250,000 marketing campaign and a 200,000 copy first print run. 4000 of these ARCs were sent out, and the book is set to land in stores on September 4. Sometimes these big, splashy marketing campaigns tank, but between the clever ARCs, the whole female-serial killer thing, and the press this author is probably going to get in the media, it could be the start of something huge.

Give That Girl A Cookie

There's been endless debate in the romance community of late about Claiming The Courtesan by Anna Campbell, a debut novel from The Publisher Who Shall Not Be Named. The brouhaha stems from the fact that Campbell reached into her 1980s goodie-bag and pulled out the old "forced seduction" scenario.

For those of you who don't read romance, this is the moment in throwback, bodice rippers where the hero rapes the heroine and she naturally has a screaming orgasm. In other news, my two sisters just broke out in hives. To reassure my sisters that I haven't tossed off my feminist underpants - "forced seduction" is no longer the norm in romance. The bodice ripper days are well, well behind us. In fact, this is only the second book in 3 years (that I know of) that has featured it. In the meantime, how many mystery novels featured serial killers slicing and dicing female victims? I rest my case.

Now I haven't read the book in question. Yet. I had a patron request it at work many moon ago (before said brouhaha) and ordered copies, so my name is currently on the holds list. Which has got to be saying something because lord knows I can't remember the last time I read a historical romance set in England.

For a good summary on this spirited debate, Dear Author can give you the lowdown. I was most struck by a comment made by Robin Schone, which makes me very happy her legal dispute with her publisher is over and she's back on the writing scene.

I don’t think it’s fictional adultery or rape that impacts our lives . . . it’s the emotion that a writer generates, in showing us that there is hope and redemption through love, that stays with us.

That's it. That's why I read romance. Romance gives me something that no other genre can - when it's done right, it emotionally invests me. It speaks to me on a deeper emotional level. It has a lingering effect. Let us call it what it is - Reading Afterglow. With a good romance, I have total recall. I can tell you how I felt when I was reading it, and the emotional effect it had on me.

For the record, I am not a fan of "forced seduction" and I have no patience for old school romance readers who whine about the "good old days" and how romance today is a shadow of her former self. Not all the books that you read in 1985 were good. In fact, some of them were downright hideous. But as readers we tend to view the past, our reading history, with rose-colored glasses (yeah, I do it too). So while some readers applaud Campbell, others revile her book (and maybe her, hopefully she isn't getting too much hate mail).

Me? Well I'm wacky and think it's just fiction. The cries that this book will warp our fragile little minds (who will think of the children?) and promote abusive relationships is the biggest bunch of horse hooey I've heard in a while. And I used to work with the general public, so believe me I can smell bullshit like a fart in a car. If only our lives were that simple. If only fiction and reading had that kind of the power. The power to stop violence against women. The power to make the world Sunshine Happy Land. But it doesn't. Yes, fiction can speak to people. Yes, it can even empower people in the right circumstances, but ultimately people have free will. That is to say, they have a choice. And no book, nowhere, is going to take that away.

In the meantime, we have further proof that there is no such thing as bad publicity because I'm going to read this book. And I can firmly, and positively state, that I had no intention of doing so before this whole debate.

Poor Baby!

My brain is toast, and it's only Monday. It's crunch time here at work. I only have about two months left in this fiscal year and I still have a crap-load of money to spend. I know this sounds like a good problem to have, but it's daunting. The problem I'm running into is that we get a really deep discount on adult fiction. I'm talking 40%. So just when I think I'm making progress, in comes our discounts and I have more money than I started out with originally.

I have no clue how this happens, it just does. And since I work for a government entity, it's very important to spend, spend, spend. In fact, my boss wants to me to overspend. I have no idea how I'm going to accomplish this, but in the meantime I'm backtracking and ordering more copies of everything. We'll see if that puts a dent in it.

In other news, The Boyfriend is going to be out of town at the end of the month on business. He seems to think that I should use this time to inventory my books. All of my books. Yes, I'm dating a crazy man. Just the thought of such a task makes my heart go pitter-patter, in a very bad way. There's a lot to be said for living in ignorance. I'd prefer not to know. But he'll just nag me like a little old lady until I do it - no matter how much I kick, scream and say, "I don't wanna and you can't make me!"

She's so mature for her age.

But hey, maybe I can make a cool contest out of it. But be patient my pretties, because nothing is happening until May at the earliest.

Free At Last, Free At Last!

Thank God Almighty! The Boyfriend and I spent all day being lazy slugs, so I forced myself to finish For A Few Demons More by Kim Harrison. I'm free! Free to read something else! Here's my 30 second review:

Newbies = spend 450+ pages confused
Fans = will probably love it although a secondary character dies

My grade? Since I'm a newbie it landed in my D range. Plus, I had such an unpleasant experience trying to read this book, the first book in the series, Dead Witch Walking, will likely get weeded from the TBR. I'm unreasonable like that. Too many years of reading mystery novels, I just expect series books to stand alone.

Wendy Meets A Brick Wall

I started out life as a mystery reader and anyone who knows anything about the mystery genre knows that it's Series Heaven. You think finding a stand-alone romance is tough these days? Try taking a swim in the mystery genre. It's damn near impossible. However, I'm one of those readers who loves following the same character(s) over the course of many books (which you can't do in romance since that would make it a "saga" and not a romance), so the mystery genre fits me like a glove.

Plus I'm bloodthirsty and like dead bodies in my fiction.

One thing that very good mystery authors do is that they make their books stand-alone even if they're part of a series. I can easily state that most of my favorite mystery authors were discovered when I read their books out of order. I was browsing at the library and picked up book five to start with. Once I'm hooked, I go back and tend to read in order.

So why can't authors in other genres do this? Seriously. It's a rare non-mystery series that I can pick up in mid-stream and "get." I acknowledge that I'm a fairly dense individual, but how come mystery authors seem to have no issue with this, but other genre writers seem determined to flummox me?

Case in point, I'm currently slogging through For A Few Demons More by Kim Harrison. And damn her eyes, TRR's editor sent this to me which means 1) Wendy has to keep reading and 2) Write a review on the damn thing.

I dare anybody who hasn't read any of the previous books in this series to make it past the first chapter. I was confused before I finished page one and I'm still confused on page 102. I had to go over to Romantic Times and read the reviews for the previous books in the series just to get an idea of the back story and who all these people were. Color me crazy here, but I don't think you should have to do homework to enjoy a book. It kind of takes all the fun out of it.

So back I go to slogging. I have the first book in the series in my TBR, and I'm wondering now if I should even bother. I know some of you might think, "Well you shouldn't review a book when you aren't familiar with the author's series" but that's a bunch of horse hooey and we all know it. How many authors generate a large fan base with their debut novel? Not many. It typically takes several books, over the course of many years (are you authors depressed yet?) And most readers discover new authors several books in.

Plus, readers want instant gratification. We want to pick up a book, any book, and enjoy it. We don't want to hear, "Well you really need to read the first six books to appreciate that new shiny new novel you picked up off the library shelf." That's way too daunting. Book seven is the one that looks good to us; we want to read it and it enjoy now. Not after six other books. I'm certainly not asking for info-dumping the entire back story in every single new installment - but dang some hints would be nice. I know it isn't easy, but who said writing is?

I need to find my happy place. Either that or curl up into the fetal position and start sucking my thumb.

Those Loonie Canucks

And here I thought Americans had cornered the market on having absolutely no sense of humor. Canada's answer to the FCC killjoys are demanding changes to a baseball promo ad featuring lovable giant Frank Thomas (every time I see this guy all I can think is "Damn, he's huge!") Apparently, the killjoys are worried the spot will be taken seriously. That the child flying across the room leaves the impression that the kid was seriously injured (never mind he pops up at the end, obviously unharmed).

I watched a lot of stuff on TV as a kid. Scooby Doo, Bugs Bunny, the Road Runner, and of all things, the night-time soap opera Dallas. I never had the urge to solve mysteries, run off a cliff while using Acme explosives or cheat on my drunken wife, Sue Ellen, with a bevy of beautiful babes. That's just me though.

Seriously people. Get a sense of humor.

She's So Predictable

I'm stealing this from Sybil, who in turn stole it from Dear Author. I never said I was original, and I thought it might be fun to fill out. But dang, going through my keeper stash in my head I really show a strong preference to American historicals.

My Favorite Books:
Prairie Wife by Cheryl St. John
The Texas trilogy by Lorraine Heath
The Rock Creek Six series by Lori Handeland and Linda Devlin
A Reason To Live by Maureen McKade
The Nightingale's Song by Kathleen Eschenburg
The Firebrand by Susan Wiggs
Hearts by Stef Ann Holm
The Bride Fair by Cheryl Reavis
The Long Way Home by Cheryl Reavis (SSE) (Hey, look! A contemporary setting!)
Breathless by Laura Lee Gurhke
To Dream Again by Laura Lee Gurhke (Hey, look! Victorian London!)
My Darling Caroline by Adele Ashworth (Hey, look! Regency England!)
I Do, I Do, I Do by Maggie Osborne
Dirty by Megan Hart (Hey, look! A contemporary setting!)
Cooking Up A Storm by Emma Holly (Hey, look! A contemporary setting!)
Once A Pirate by Susan Grant (Hey, look! A time travel!)

Favorite Authors:
Maggie Osborne
Cheryl St. John
Cheryl Reavis
Kathryn Shay
Emma Holly
Laura Lee Gurhke (although I still have her entire Avon backlist unread and in the TBR)
Laura Levine (mystery)
Tess Gerritsen (mystery)

What I Like About Romance:
I like an "emotional intensity" in my books and I like to feel a connection to the character(s). As a general rule, I get this in most of the genre fiction I read, but when I discovered romance it was like a light bulb going off.

Also I'm a big-ole' wuss and like happy endings. Probably why I tend to read a butt-load of romance and mystery.

What I Don't Like About Romance:
Following the trends as opposed to creating them. When I started reading/reviewing romance you couldn't find paranormals anywhere and I was special ordering my erotica. Now, everyone and their dead grandmother is writing a paranormal book and every major New York publisher has an erotic imprint. So kudos to the folks who fought tooth and nail, breaking the mold. Boo hiss on the rest of you for jumping on the bandwagon and inundating me to the point where I'm just not that interested anymore. Hey, it's one thing to write that paranormal or sexy book because you want to - another to have the publisher say, "Gee, can you throw in some BDSM and could the heroine have sex with a wood nymph? Otherwise we won't be able to sell this."

And as I've expounded on numerous times in this blog - I'm tired of England already. I say this even though I have a British history degree currently collecting dust in my closet.

Oooh, and I want dark historicals. Lots of angst folks! Bring it on, this girl is always looking for recommendations.

Non-Reading Hobbies:
I really don't have any, but I adore baseball! Go Tigers!

Wendy's Hobby Besides Reading

Opening day. Baseball is back. And this year it's nice because I won't say my usual, "This is the year! This is the year the Detroit Tigers make it to .500!" My hopes are up boys - I want to be in the post season again.

I know about 90% of you who read this blog don't care about baseball, but I feel the need to chatter - so feel free to tune me out until tomorrow.

• I'm not freaked out about Kenny Rogers being hurt. Do you know how much pitching Detroit has? A lot. I think we're the only team in the entire league not desperate for pitching. And seriously, off the top of my head I can think of 4 guys who can fill in as a number 5 starter. I mean, it's not like we're starting Carl Pavano (yeah I had to get that jab in there - although with my luck Pavano will pitch a no-hitter today just to piss me off). Plus we will score more runs this year. That's a fact jack. But I do think we miss Rogers in the clubhouse. You can't easily dismiss the effect he had on our extremely young pitching staff last year.
  

• I'm a little more freaked out about Vance Wilson being hurt. For those of you who don't know, Vance is our most excellent back up catcher. He's also the guy on the team I'd love to go out drinking with (I don't even know if the guy drinks, but man I bet he'd be fun to bar-hop with). Pudge looks great, and was healthy all last year, but he's no spring chicken. So up comes one of our minor leaguers.

• Our opening day match up is actually a compelling one for a change - the Toronto Blue Jays. Which means The Boyfriend (a Jays fan) and I will be screaming at the TV and each other when we watch the game later (we had to TiVo it since the start time is 10AM out here in California). I adore Doc Halladay, but hopefully he won't make my team look stupid today.

• Curtis Granderson's next move is to run for mayor of Detroit (like anyone in their right mind wants that job!) Not only does he have a blog through MLB (check my side bar) and a MySpace page, he's now got a blog on ESPN.com.
  

The Boyfriend asked me during Spring Ball what my "hopes" were for this season. I told him I wanted in the playoffs again, and he proceeded to badger me until I said, "Well of course I want us to win the World Series! Leave me alone!"

Can you feel the love?