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First up, I was uploading some cover images to the Upcoming Historical Romances wiki the other day and have spotted a new trend. The Only Having A Pretty Girl Wearing A Pretty Dress On The Book Cover trend. I have never been a huge fan of beefcake (when a guy has bigger boobs than I do, it's just not a turn-on for me), so I'll admit to digging some of this new cover art. Here is just a small sampling from some upcoming 2010 releases:
A rundown on the publishers? In order: HQN, Harlequin Historical, Pocket, Zebra, and Brava. Oh, and Suddenly by Candace Camp is a reprint should anyone be curious.
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On with the romance news, thanks to Mrs. Giggles for pointing me to a minor kerfuffle over at the I Heart Presents blog. Of late, Harlequin has been hosting a Presents writing contest, for those aspiring authors who dream of writing books with titles like Baby Of Shame and Wife: Bought And Paid For. Anywho, first and second place in the writing contest went to Susanna Carr and Maggie Marr. Um, both writers with published books under their belt. Which begs the question of what the definition of "aspiring" is. Aspiring Presents author? Or aspiring as in I've never had a book, short story or grocery list published?
I personally find it a little hinky that two published writers won this contest (I mean, how is that an even playing field?), but it all boils down to how the contest rules are set up - which I'll admit I haven't read. Why? Um, I'm not an "aspiring writer," and I'll admit that the Presents line really doesn't do it for me.
Neither here nor there, I read Pink Ice by Susanna Carr back in my TRR days, and liked it quite a bit. Just sayin'.
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Making the rounds yesterday in the Twitterverse and at various blogs was another author kerfuffle involving Amazon and "bad" reviews. This time it's author Candace Sams, who has published with Cerridwen Press and Dorchester. I'll admit I haven't read any of this train wreck mostly because I just don't care. Oh look, another author losing her +++++
Word came down yesterday that Roy "Doc" Halladay may be leaving the Land Of Excellent Beer And Donuts (uh, Canada) for the Land Of Excellent Cheesesteaks (uh, Philadelphia). My Man is a beleaguered Blue Jays fan and the trading of Doc (which he considered "inevitable") pretty much puts the nail in the coffin. I honestly think he's done with baseball. Unless of course the Blue Jays somehow managed to get "something" in return to Roy. That's still up in the air. But honestly, when you trade away the best pitcher your franchise as ever had? Ever. Ever, ever, ever. It's hard to find a silver lining.And neither here nor there, I frackin' love this picture of Roy.
Roy's Mama: Roy, your grandma is coming for dinner. Go upstairs and put on your nice powder blue uniform.
Doc: But Mooooooooooooooom......
Mama: Don't but me mister. Your grandmother bought you that nice powder blue uniform and you're going to wear it. Now git!
Doc: This is so unfair! You're the meanest Mom ever! ::stomping up stairs, slamming bedroom door::
Tee Hee
16 comments:
For this lifelong phan who has put up with far more ineptitude than anything else--we are the only sports franchise with 10,000 losses after all--do you know how frickin' cool it is that Halladay WANTS to come to Philly???!!! He told his agent to make it happen. Imagine! Philadelphia! The land of dreams. Oh be still my heart... I am so glued to espn.com right now. Which is way more fun than watching author train wrecks.
Oh, and dressy covers. Love them. Just love them. How about the covers Liz Carlyle has gotten since One Little Sin (partial shot of a red dress)? She had 7 in a row with just a woman in a dress until her last, Wicked All Day. Of course, now she writes for Avon, land of suck-a-licious covers.
I read the comments from that Presents blog and apparently the rules state unpubbed and pubbed authors can enter and that only currently contracted HQE authors cannot. Carr's contract with HQE ended in 2006 or something and thus she was currently eligible.
I think HP needs to do a better job of explaining the rules up front because expectations were that the contest was for unpubbed authors.
Pfui. I thought I was done with ordering April releases, and now I have to find things to go with the new Putney.
I had a few minutes to kill on lunch break yesterday, so I went over and gawked at the crazy lady on Amazon. Oh. My. God. Somebody who knows her needs to get her some Xanax, stat. And keep her far, far away from a computer.
I'm not a beefcake fan either, so I'm liking the covers with pretty, pretty dresses. That cover of Suddenly? I'm LOVING the bodice of that dress.
"or those aspiring authors who dream of writing books with titles like Baby Of Shame and Wife: Bought And Paid For. "
Gasp. Do I detect a bit of sarcasm?
Okay, I had to go over and gawk again. This just in: Candace Sams has claimed she's filed a complaint with the feds over this. Talk about taking crazy to a whole new level.
Phyl: The only thing that doesn't make a whole lot of sense about a move to the NL is that Roy will now have to hit. BUT, he apparently wants to be with a contender, and the Phillies have certainly been doing that of late.
Jane: Yeah, definitely need to explain the rules a bit better. Especially when the word "aspiring" gets tossed around. I know when I see "aspiring" I don't think "author who has already been published." I can't be the only reader....
Victoria: I love that new Putney cover. LOVE IT! WTG Zebra!
Katie: I have stayed away from the train wreck thus far. I will be strong! But from what I've gleaned from Twitter? Yeah, this one is pretty epic.
Jessica: Yeah - although I'm really not throwing stones. The HP line doesn't really do it for me personally, but I do "get" why some readers really love them. I just can't stand the titles, and now that HQ is implementing some of these eye-rolling titles in other lines (oh, like HH), I'm finding myself getting more annoyed.
Most of the time I try to just roll my eyes - although I gotta say "Baby Of Shame" is one title that crosses a bit of a line for me personally.
All the covers are pretty, I especially like the Willingham cover.
I had to click on Baby of Shame, it sounded sooo made up. LOL But for some reason Wife: Bought and Paid For doesn't surprise me. Why do they give these books such ridiculous titles? Is it any wonder "real readers" *heavy sarcasm* look down on romance readers with titles like these?
Roy's pic looks like it was taken at JCPenneys. :)
I like the cover lineup, too. While I occasionally like the beefcake covers, the responses I get from coworkers can sometimes make me feel like I'm reading porn. ::sigh::
Also, I know I should just ignore the authors trying to get themselves onto the "authors behaving badly" list, but I can't help myself. I think I may go take a peek at the train wreck.
I love this style of covers. I think it looks timeless which is good :D and yeah, I'm with you... beefcakes don't turn me on :( Ugh.
Leslie: LOL - about JCPenney!
I keep hearing that the titles "sell well." Although I wonder if the books sell "in spite of" rather than "because of" the titles. But hey - I'm not an HP reader, so really, what do I know? Maybe diehard HP readers lurve the titles?
Library Girl: I'm not totally immunte to beefcake but my eye always catches the pretty girl in a pretty dress covers. I like to ooh and aah over the pretty - even though in reality those dresses were probably a b*tch to wear.
Nath: You might be on to something with the timeless factor. Something to ponder....
Lol I never knew I lived in the country of excellent beer and donuts ;) good to know!
*holding back the tears*
No more Doc.
Alie: Have you ever had the misfortune of drinking American beer? Trust me, you Canadians have got it going on.
That being said, we Americans have been redeeming ourselves with our microbrews. When I drink American, that's the route I tend to travel.
Kristie: I know. 'Tis sad. Although inevitable, since it was highly doubtful Doc would have resigned with the Jays after his contract was up next year.
I'm loving the lady in dress covers, too. The clinches with weird acid-trippy backdrops and the sweaty looking male chest covers never really did it for me.
Re: trainwreck - just trying to avoid the Amazon drama. The holiday season is already crazy enough offline around here!
Lynn: I have a sick fondness for old skool romance covers. What always baffles me is how many of them feature demented animals in the background. Deer, eagles, horses....all of them looking slightly rabid and scary.
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