Little Miss Crabby Pants Explains Why Print And NY Aren't Dead Just Yet

This is a blog post I've been cooking on for a while, and one that I had to let percolate before I went off half-cocked with a full head of steam.  Why?  Because it's bound to bring out the self-publishing trolls.

You all know the ones I'm talking about.

I should preface this post by saying that I am a librarian, and librarians do not, generally, hate self-published writers.  It's just we've been on the front-lines for a very looooooong time.  Back in The Dark Ages before self-publishing was The New Black.  Fielding calls and visits from people who looked, and smelled, like the Unabomber and were "publishing" various "manifestos" in their basements.  There's still a crap-ton of dreck out there in the self-publishing world, but it's no longer just a territory for the crazy, delusional, and all-out kooky - although yes, they're still there.  So yeah, if you ever run up against a librarian who turns up their nose at self-publishing?  That would be why.  We have battle scars that the Knights Templar can only dream about.

Here's my problem though: If I hear one more thing about how digital is taking over the universe, print books are going to be obsolete tomorrow, that publishers are on their last legs, I'm going to punch the misguided soul who utters it in my presence right in their face.  And here's why:

If self-publishing is so super-gee-whiz fantastic why are so many self-published authors willing to sign deals with traditional New York publishers?

Yeah, riddle me that.

Bella Andre has signed a deal with Harlequin to release her originally self-and-digital-only-published Sullivan's series in print.  "New Adult" writers Cora Carmack and Tammara Webber have inked deals.  There's Amanda Hocking (of course) and the mother of all self-published authors jumping ship to traditional New York?  Yeah, E.L. James.

And these are just the folks I thought of off the top of my head without breaking out my Google-Fu.

So if self-publishing is so great and writers can make oodles of money that they get to keep all to themselves and don't have to share any of it with an Evil Publisher - why ink these deals with traditional publishers?

I'll tell you why: Expanding Your Reach.

Or in simpler terms, it's All About The Distribution Baby.

Because if the nightmare that is Fifty Shades taught us anything it's that print is nowhere near dead.  That series sold crazy tons of copies in print.  And no matter how much a segment of the self-publishing community likes to rail against Evil Publishers?  There's not a one of those folks that wouldn't cough up a kidney if Random House came knocking on their door promising them Crazy E.L. James Numbers.

Fifty Shades taught us not everybody is reading digital.  No really, they aren't.  These readers (active or casual) also aren't necessarily spending their free time online, mindlessly trolling Amazon, blogs, whatever looking for that next great undiscovered self-published author.

Shocking, I know.

You know where these people are?  Other places.  Oh, like WalMart and Target and Costco.  And even though there are less places to distribute books these days?  Yeah, publishers can still distribute the hell out of them (not only to brick and mortar outlets, but online ones as well).  I want to meet the first self-published author who cracks the WalMart nut as a self-published author.  Because that person?  That person will truly have changed the face of the publishing industry as we currently know it.

Here's what I think: I think self-publishing is very quickly morphing into a marketing gimmick.  A strategy that publishers can use to feed the hype machine.  To exploit the human tendency to love an underdog.  See!  E.L. James is just like you and me!  And she wrote this book!  And published it herself!  You go girl!  Publishers just need to sit back, wait to see what books are generating a modicum of buzz, swoop in, sign the deal, and they've got built-in, ready-made PR.

It's genius.

And for the self-published author?  I think we've already seen that they don't necessarily need to write a well-written book (zing).  They just need to write the book that generates enough of a buzz to get some publisher's attention.  Are the days of toiling on craft and working your ass off going the way of the dinosaur?  I don't think that will ever entirely go out of vogue, but I do think we'll see more Lottery Ticket Mentality creeping in to self-publishing.  "Let me play these numbers, throw up a digital version on Amazon and see what happens...."

Which, for the self-published author who truly feels that self-publishing is the right choice for them and genuinely feels that traditional NY isn't their scene (and yes these writers do exist)?  Yeah, I feel sorry for them already, because I totally can see this Lottery Ticket thing becoming really annoying really quickly (assuming my theory has any merit whatsoever).

So yeah, Little Miss Crabby Pants is just about full up on the whole Publishers = Evil Goliath, Self-Published Writers = Shining White Knight David.  Until I start reading about droves of authors telling New York to go screw themselves, which I don't see happening anytime remotely soon, I refuse to believe traditional publishing as we know it has boarded the Titanic.

Because.....they haven't.

Oh sure, they'll continue to engage in practices that piss me off (Hello, Digital Content Practices For Public Libraries) - but they do these things because, for right now, they can.  There is no incentive to change (well, until Barnes & Noble goes belly-up and then maybe they'll start being nicer to libraries since, you know, WE DISPLAY AND HAND SELL THEIR PRODUCTS).

But yeah, color me skeptical that self-publishing is going to take down the Evil Traditional Publishing Empire.  Unless New York Publishing has a vulnerable exhaust port I'm unaware of.....

I Want My Bromance

Dear Justified,
I have been patient long enough.  We are now four episodes into the new season and I have yet to get one single, measly scene with these two together.  In the same room.  Speaking dialogue to each other.

This is a problem.  This is not good.  More Boyd and Raylan together, less everything else.

Sincerely,
Me

Wendy Talks Her Way Around The Hype Machine

Liz has a great post over at her blog called Social Reading, Up and Down which covers (among other topics) the circle-jerk that is the promotional echo chamber that can occur among the online romance reading community.  The phenomenon where seemingly everybody in your circle (and even those on the outside fringes) seem to be reading and squee'ing about the same book and/or author. I love hype and excitement when it comes from a genuine place (KristieJ is The Master of this), while I'll admit to getting more than a little annoyed with people who blindly squeee! about something without giving me any back-up as to WHY they're squee'ing. 

But I'll be honest - when it comes to the hype machine I'm not overly concerned with those readers I encounter online.  Why?  Because these folks are R-E-A-D-E-R-S.  They constantly read.  They finish a book, they immediately pick up a new one.  I wouldn't classify anything about their reading habits as "casual."

Where hype does tend to concern me is with "casual" readers.  People who aren't active readers in a sense, but pick up a book to read every once in a blue moon.  These are the folks who I consider the bread-and-butter of the hype machine when the media gets a hold of something.  While active readers sometimes get sucked in, I know just as many who turn up their nose and wade back into their TBR piles.  However casual readers are more likely to think, "Well everybody is talking about it and reading it, so it must be good - and golly, I haven't read a book in a while, so I'll try it."

I always worry that we're losing these potential active readers.  No really, I do.  Because try as I might, the mystery of what gets hyped completely baffles me most of the time - and this is coming from a librarian.  Dudes, trust me - I'm really looking for the why and sometimes I come up with a half-baked reason, but it still doesn't explain the mysteriousness of word-of-mouth half the time.

Let's take The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson.  After endless years of hype, I finally listened to the first book, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, on audio.  I have seen the American movie version and this is one instance were I can honestly say - the movie is better.  Even factoring in that the movie changes some key elements (oh, like the ending) - David Fincher and whomever the screenwriter was really made that story better.  How?  They cut out all the crap.  Oh Lord, the excessive amounts of crap in that book!  Endless talking!  Pacing as slow as mud!  I'm no editor but if I had had the print version in front of me I would have likely run out of red ink.  Bloated and with a tendency to "tell" - it kept me reasonably engaged enough to try the second book on audio, which I DNF'ed after five or six CDs because it wasn't going anywhere.  Also, the characters were starting to defy logic.  Oh sure, Lisbeth Salandar, the girl who the authorities think is mentally challenged and unable to care for herself shot that couple gangland execution style.  You can stop looking at the owner of the licensed firearm that was used in the murders because you know - he's only an intelligent man (a lawyer) with a history of gun-club membership and a reputation for being an excellent shot.  Yeah, it must have been the idiot girl who you all think has a basement level IQ!

(I barely tolerate stupid people in real life, I can't spend my leisure time reading about them.....)

I have no idea why that trilogy was popular.  None.  It's fat.  It's bloated.  And good Lord, people give me crap about the suspense novels I love being misogynistic and promoting violence against women?  The one thing the Larrson books taught me?  Never visit Sweden.  Ever.  (Kidding Swedes.  I'm only kidding!).  I'm half convinced this series got popular for the sole reason that the author is dead.

But one thing I will give the Larsson trilogy - as a library, we had just as much demand for the later books in the series as we did for the first one.  I can't say the same for the ultimate example of hype, the Fifty Shades trilogy by E.L. James.  Part of this is that a lot of readers I've come into contact with had no idea there were other books after the first one.  Then there is the other reason I suspect: they hated the first one, or in some cases didn't even finish it, and had no desire to continue.  For the 600+ holds I had on the first book, the next two installments only peaked around 200.

I have not read Fifty Shades, and I'll be blunt - I'm not going to.  I know enough about the first book to know it will make me very angry.  And I generally refuse to read books that I know, going into them, are going to make me angry.  Have you heard about my giant TBR pile?  Life is too short.  However, that did not stop Lil' Sis from taking the plunge.  Our conversations about the first book can best be summed up in the following sentence:

Wendy......why?  Why?!?!?!?!  Why, why, why, why, why, why, why?!?!?!?!?!?!?

There also was liberal use of the F-bomb.  Which honestly made for very funny text messages from her while she was reading.  My favorites?

Yeah, almost done now.  Sooooo much talking.  Ugh.  Just f*ck please. 

and......

She f*cking cries through the whole damn book!

Lil' Sis (who has enjoyed other erotic romance authors and a smattering of romantic suspense) ultimately chalked up the experience to reading a "poorly written romance."  She has a pregnant friend who says her current condition is because of these books and I suspect my sister is planning an intervention as I type this. 

So two examples of books/series that got hype that I have a hard time figuring out why.  I suspect the Fifty Shades phenomenon tapped into a segment of readers who didn't know erotic writing existed.  Or those readers who sniff at romance, but happily will lap up poorly written tripe if you slap monochrome cover art on it.

Which makes me sound snobby and elitist, but it's hard to keep a sense of humor about stuff like this when people either 1) Squee! about Fifty Shades, then look disdainfully at my Harlequin Romance or 2) Use Fifty Shades as an example for all of Romancelandia (See?  This book sucks - ergo all romance novels must suck!).

Wow, this has turned into a rant, which was not my intention going into this.  Seriously, at the end of the day, I think people should just find books they like to read regardless of what anybody else thinks.  So yeah, if you liked Stieg Larrson and sleep with Fifty under your pillow?  More power to you.  It doesn't matter what I think.  It matters what you think.  It matters that those books spoke to you in some way that meant something to you.  Sometimes hype is good for this.  Hype can introduce you to something you love.  The flip-side of this coin though?  Hype can be detrimental.  It can make you feel clueless for not loving something that seemingly the whole world is entranced by.  Active readers are active, therefore have that ability to shrug their shoulders, dismiss the experience and move on.  But what about those casual readers? 

For all the readers erotic romance gained in the Fifty Shades hype, did we end up losing just as many?

Sweet Home Chicago

Disclaimer: The author won RWA's Librarian Of The Year award in 2010 and I know her.  We aren't BFFs or exchange Christmas cards, but we are, what I would consider, "professional colleagues."  We're also presenting together at Librarians Day at RWA 2013 in Atlanta.

I don't think readers are getting worn out on small town contemporary romances so much as they're getting sick of bland, tasteless, wallpaper.  World-building gets harped on a lot when talking about paranormal or historical romances, and yet not very many people talk about it with straight contemporaries.  This is what Jennifer Lohmann's debut romance, Reservations For Two, has in spades.  This a big city-set (Chicago) romance with a small town feel and it has an excellent sense of place. 

Chef Tilly Milek has come home to Chicago after a few years away to open her own restaurant.  Having grown up working in her family's Polish restaurant, Tilly's idea is to make Babka a bit more of an upscale eatery.  Her mother's restaurant is where you go to get Polish home cooking during the week, Babka is where you take your date on Saturday night.  It's been a lot of hard work, and there have been a few bumps along the way, including a scathing review by a mysterious food critic on one of Chicagoland's most widely read blogs.

The food critic in question is Dan Meier who freelances for the blog run by some of his college buddies.  His editor ran the post because he knew it would generate buzz, while there are others on staff who feel Dan wasn't fair.  For one thing, he typically eats at a restaurant on three separate occasions before writing his reviews.  He only dined at Babka once, and while his over-salted food is a legitimate critique, other events of that evening were beyond Tilly's control.  Dan's critical colleague essentially orders him to attend a demonstration Tilly is putting on at the Taste Of Chicago festival.  We all know where this is going right?  They "meet cute" at a hot dog stand and before Dan finds how who the mystery woman is, he's smitten.

The story pretty much follows the course that Dan behaved like a jackass, Tilly doesn't know who he really is, and he has to figure out how to make things right with her without sending his professional integrity down the toilet.  There's also the matter of some hijinks occurring at Tilly's restaurant - is someone trying to sabotage her personal dream?

There are other elements at play as well.  Dan has a strained relationship with his father, who expects him to wake up one morning and start running the family business.  It's because of this strained relationship that he may have jumped the gun with Tilly's review just a wee bit.  Tilly lost a brother, her father and an uncle in a tragic car accident, but is still close with her mother and two surviving siblings (Sequel Bait Ahoy!).  She hasn't dated since moving back to Chicago, what with her hectic work schedule and getting a new business off the ground.  I did wonder at times why she didn't knee Dan in his kielbasa 'n pierogi - but as the reader we see Tilly struggle with Dan The Unfair Reviewer vs. Dan The Really Nice Guy She Met At A Hot Dog Stand.

The author infuses this story with a deep love of Chicago, everything from the food, festivals, music and most importantly - the baseball (the Cubs and White Sox are their own religion).  She also takes a big city locale and gives it a small town feel by writing about an ethnic community (Polish) without falling into any unpleasant, insulting stereotypes.  It gives this book a lovely neighborhood feel, but gives Tilly and Dan a whole city of sights, sounds, and tastes to play around in.  The way the author writes about the setting, food, and the importance of both in her characters' lives is very well done.

There were some debut author-isms, mostly in the form of pacing issues for me.  I found the first couple of chapters a little uneven, especially when the guys that Dan works with at the blog were introduced.  But once our couple meets, and especially after Dan's Big Secret gets spilled, the story really starts cooking and the pages flew by.

This was a very strong debut with some nice originality to it.  I'm looking forward to the next two books in the series which will feature Tilly's siblings.

Final Grade = B

Note: This is a February release from Harlequin SuperRomance.  It is currently on sale at their web site in both print and digital formats.  It will appear at other retail outlets in February.

Addicted To....Cough Drops?

I was one of the lucky ones who enjoyed a long holiday weekend thanks to Martin Luther King Jr.  So what did Wendy do over her glorious, decadent three days off in a row?

I was sick. 

With the head cold from Hell. 

Which means I basically whined a lot, lazed about, and read.  I got a lot of reading done actually.  One book in particular was part of a last minute post I threw together for Heroes & Heartbreakers.

You can head on over there right now in fact, and read my "exclusive" (that might be overstating it just a wee bit) first look of Charlotte Stein's new erotic romance, Addicted.  It's got a frustrated librarian heroine in need of several orgasms, and a macho studly love machine hero who is hiding a big ol' secret past.  Oh, and it's funny.  What could possibly be better than all that?

Sinful Virgins And Murderers Afoot

I'm in the throes of "homework reading" for my library's upcoming literary event, although Anna Randol is an author I've had filed away under "I really need to get caught up on review obligations so I can try one of her books" since her debut novel appeared back in early 2012.  Sins Of A Virgin came out last fall and is the start of a trilogy.  I'll admit it, reading the back cover blurb, seeing the title, my eyes may have rolled back in my head just a wee bit.  Oh silly, silly Wendy.  Getting thwarted again by preconceived notions and your own prejudices.  I am so glad I read this story, it is by far one of the nicest reading surprises I've encountered in a long time.

The story opens with Madeline Valdan and her two compatriots getting unceremoniously dismissed by their employer.  All saved from the gallows, there were trained up and used as spies during England's war with Napoleon.  Napoleon now being defeated, their services no longer required, they're given a pat on the head, a pardon for past sins, and a one-time pension check that is paltry to say the least.  Madeline knows what it's like to grow up in the midst of poverty, as a woman with limited (OK, no) options at the mercy of others.  So she decides to take that meager government pittance and use it to secure a bigger score.  She's going to play the coquette, a scandalous whore who turns out is.....a virgin?  And she's going to auction off that virginity to the highest bidder.  She's sexy, charming, a virgin and nothing like their wives.  Yeah, the men of the ton start lining up to make their wagers.

Entering into this fray is a Bow Street Runner, Gabriel Huntford.  Born on the wrong side of the blanket, his mission the last several years is to find his twin sister's murderer.  There's been another murder in London, similar in modus operandi to his sister's, and now his superior is yanking him off the case (he's too close dontcha know) to guard Madeline Valdan.  Madeline is anything but stupid.  She knows appearance is everything, and having a watch-dog gives the impression that she has something to protect.  Also she wants to make sure that the men bidding on her have the means to pay, and she needs someone to look into their financials.  Gabriel is all set to tell her to bugger off when he gets a look at the bidding ledger.  Some of the names listed there are some of his prime suspects in his sister's murder.

I read a female spy novel last year for the TBR Challenge by an author who excelled at prose, but whose characterization of the heroine I found utterly unsatisfying.  Randol's prose doesn't sing like that author's does, but oh, her creation of Madeline hits all the right notes with me.  This woman.....this woman is a spy.  She's calculating, manipulative, and a cynic.  She's the kind of person who immediately sizes up an entire room of people.  She's the sort who never has her back to a door, always knows the nearest escape routes, and can tell you who is the immediate threat and who is the slobbering puppy dog not worth her concern.  She uses any and all weapons at her disposal, her charm, her abilities at seduction, even a good knock on the head with a heavy object.  She can save herself, but likes working with a team - and matching her with a hero like Gabriel really allows her to shine.  I also loved her dichotomy.  The question very early on is how could this woman possibly still be a virgin?  Hell, is she even a virgin at all?  The way the author addresses that mystery is one I found satisfying, and actually believable (go figure).

Gabriel is your classic wounded hero with an ax to grind and a mission driving him forward.  His sister's death not only haunts him for the obvious reasons, but also for those last moments they spent together - the words he said to her that he now regrets.  He should have listened.  Why didn't he listen?  He resents the hell out of being forced on Madeline's assignment, but he's smart enough to know that it's the closest he's going to get to having access to so many on his suspect list.  Because after all?  You simply cannot storm into a peer's home and start questioning the man.  It simply isn't done.

The suspense angle here is very solid.  Besides the identity of the murderer, someone starts threatening Madeline and her life is endangered more than once.  I had the murderer pretty well pegged, but the author does a lovely job of putting in twists, turns, red herrings, to keep you happily moving along in the story.  The romance here does take time.  Madeline isn't the sort to pour her guts out to anybody, even a handsome anybody like Gabriel.  Likewise, Gabriel is a professional investigator, he's not going to spill his guts to Madeline even though he deduces pretty quickly that she's not just a pretty, flirtatious face.  There's way more to her story than she's letting on, and he knows it.

I really enjoyed this story immensely.  I loved the characters, it kept me entertained, it was just an all around fun read.  With countless spy stories populating the romance landscape, this one was a nice treat - a breath of fresh air thanks to the author's characterization of the heroine.  I liked that she was smart, resourceful, and strong.  That she could unravel herself from sticky situations, but wasn't such a lone wolf that she couldn't see the benefit of team work.  Really, a very good show indeed.

Final Grade = B+

TBR Challenge 2013: The Things That Make Me Give In

The Book: The Things That Make Me Give In by Charlotte Stein

The Particulars: Erotica single author anthology, Black Lace, 2010, In Print

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: I was so blown away by Stein's short story in the multi-author anthology Obsessed: Erotic Romance For Women that I immediately went looking for more of her work.  This anthology was already on my wish list, so I bought it brand-spankin'-new.

The Review:  After reading and loving Restraint last November, I've been itching to go on a Stein binge - but alas, pesky review books waiting for me.  Luckily this anthology worked well with this month's TBR Challenge theme, so I could kill two birds as it were.  Read more Stein and complete my January challenge to read "short."  This anthology features 15 short stories that read like vignettes.  Yeah, if you're looking for deep character development, it just doesn't happen here.  Stein introduces her characters via their sexual identities, and given the short word count on all of these stories that's essentially as far as the reader gets to know them.  This sort of thing works for me as an erotica reader, although admittedly I can understand how it won't for others.  Here's a brief rundown of what's featured between the covers....

Because I Made You So features a female college student and a male professor who teaches a course on Romantic Literature.  She starts spinning fantasies, jotting down a purple-prose-bodice-ripper style story featuring herself and her professor as the "hero."  And naturally, she ends up turning it in to fulfill a class assignment.  Gee, wonder what will happen next?  A really sexy story that nicely tweaks old school romance conventions.

Spying is a voyeuristic story featuring a heroine who ends up spying on the hero in the building next door.  They enter into a "relationship" of sorts, putting on shows for one another.  A solid voyeuristic story, but albeit, kinda sad.  I felt sorry for these two people at the end.  They seemed incapable of moving forward.  Melancholy erotica.

Lessons is a role reversal story featuring a smarty-smart heroine tutoring two big dumb jocks.  I can see some readers having issues with the heroine "using" the two guys, and essentially not thinking very highly of them - but I liked it.  I like when erotica explores role reversals, and allows the heroines to be "just as bad" as the heroes.  On that score, this one works.

Yes/ is the first story in a duet featuring a married couple.  As per an agreement, the heroine gets a day where she's calling the shots.  Whatever she wants to do in bed?  Yeah, the hero does it.  Spicy, sexy, featuring a dominant heroine who is dominant without being tricked out in latex and leather.

Dirty Disgusting You features an unsatisfied married woman who enters into an affair with a friend of her hubby's.  Hubby ain't interested in her, BFF very much is - and the two men couldn't be more opposite from each other.  The woman screwing around with a guy who is "beneath" her is a theme Stein has explored before, and this story manages to be funny, sexy and sad all at the same time.  It also features this epic line, where the heroine describes her life while "dropping off files" to the BFF as a favor to hubby (which is how the affair begins): "I often drop things off.  This is my life - files, dry cleaning, my dignity."

Her Father Disapproves features a heroine hot for one of her father's associates, and now that they're all at Daddy's country house together?  Yeah, she's going to take the bull by the horns.  This is another story that is sexy and funny (she's pushing, he's resisting), although the ending strained a little for me.

For You is a really interesting, brave story that as a nurse's daughter I found really captivating.  Heroine is a nurse.  Hero is a patient, essentially near death hoping his number is called for a transplant.  He starts telling her naughty stories, and while she knows she shouldn't - she can't help listening.  Another story that was sweet and sad at the same time.  Might be my favorite in the anthology.

Just Be Good features a porn plot but is still interesting in the aspect that the heroine is in the driver's seat.  Starla is probably late teens and likes to get caught smoking pot by the local law.  There's a new sheriff in town that she's really hoping will punish her - uh, repeatedly.  The fly in the ointment?  The sheriff is a wee bit Beta and needs some coaxing....

Phoned In features a couple who have a "phone friendship," until one day when the heroine starts reading the hero naughty stories she's writing for a magazine.  A bit like the earlier Spying story in the respect that this one is kind of sad.  It features two people who seem afraid or incapable of having a tangible "in person" relationship.  However, unlike Spying, this one ended on a more hopeful note for me.

/Yes finds our married couple back in action, this time with the hero calling the shots.  His plan is to get the heroine really, really worked up.  A nice bookend story that compliments the couples' earlier appearance.

Sometime Soon is another story that is borderline sad.  "Plain" heroine gets her rocks off with a "grease monkey" mechanic.  She likes the whole use-me-baby-dirty-girl thing, and he's more than happy to oblige.  Again we have a heroine really going after what she wants, and taking control of her fantasies and sexuality.  It's the ending here.....it gives me pause.  It makes me worry that maybe she has "issues."

Different On The Inside is about a heroine who hangs out with a yuppie sort of crowd but doesn't really fit in.  It's while she's away with "the group" for a weekend that she has encounter with the hero, a slightly awkward geeky sort who totally has her pegged.  Lucky for them that someone in the group suggests a rousing game of hide and seek. 

All Ways is by far the most romantic story in the bunch.  Former military hero comes home damaged goods and reunites with the heroine, who was a girl he messed around with slash dated in high school.  Sexy, yet tender.  Also, it's very sweet in parts.  Could easily see a story of this nature being developed into a full-length erotic romance.

Toby Hood Tastes Candy was the weirdest story in the bunch, and probably my least favorite.  Hero is going to his grandmother's house when his car breaks down.  He encounters the heroine in the woods, and then later....in grandma's bed.  I suspect the author was shooting for Twisted Fairy Tale, but it just was a little too odd for me.

The Things That Make Me Give In is a meditation on the part of the narrator, looking back at past lover's and recalling what it was about each of them that made her "give in."  That moment when she knew, "Yes, I'm going to have sex with you."  Very good writing, but yes - very much a meditation.  There's not a lot of meat and potatoes to this particular story, but it does an excellent job of exploring one woman's sexual past.

A lot of folks who don't read erotica often say (incorrectly) that it's nothing more than sex.  It's not a "real story" - it's smut on the page.  In this instance, yes all of Stein's stories are very heavy on the sex, but that's pretty much the point.  It's about exploring sexual identity and fantasy.  It's about women who, even if they might be playing a submissive role in some cases, are "in charge" of their sexuality.  Every woman in this anthology is calling the shots, in some form or another.  Which at the end of the day?  Is pretty much why I read erotica.  It flips a feminist switch for me.  I also loved that Stein managed to convey many different moods here - funny, sexy, sad, sweet, it's all over the map.  While my enjoyment level for each story varied anywhere from "OK" (C) to really, really good (B+) - as a whole this anthology was extremely well done, well thought out, interesting and challenging.  Damn, Stein is talented.

Final Grade = B