kate rothwell

stuff

2012-01-29T14:24:00.001-05:00

1. I really like Jeanne Ray's Step-Ball-Change. It's fluffy but dammit, the world needs more fluff, not less.

2. I'm reading books for a contest. A few are dumb. One is good. One is well-written but I loathe the main character. I can't seem to grade those books. I've lost confidence about what counts as an important factor. That must mean I'm becoming an expert.

3. I am tempted to look up how many times I whine about contests on this blog, but that will only depress me more.

4. If I number things in this blog, will they seem more significant?

5. Maybe, maybe not but this, definitely.

6. I'll link to this old one about contests but only because I like the song.

and one week later. . .

2012-01-24T07:27:00.001-05:00

Now if only Amazon would change the description so that people wouldn't be so annoyed by the sudden appearance of another book at the end. Also if only this was making the monies. Ah well.

Like my superb photoshopping? I am the PhotoShopQueen!

It's free! as in doesn't cost anything!

2012-01-17T14:40:00.001-05:00

Seducing Miss Dunaway has been free at Allromanceebooks for a while. It's been $0.00 at Smashwords for more than a week. AND NOW it's FREE AT AMAZON.

LOW AMAZON NUMBERS FOR THIS

**
So you have no excuse. Go pick up a copy. You don't read heart-warming Victorian romances?

Gowwan. Buy it anyway to make my numbers look good. I'm looking for a reason to celebrate so I can buy an expensive cup of coffee with whipped cream on the top.

__________
** book = yummy coffee for me, but you can buy some too with the money you save getting this FREE NOVELLA.

Victorian Psychics

2012-01-17T10:40:00.002-05:00

HAPPY RELEASE DAY! Go buy our book while it's discounted. Okay?

For the Psychic and the Sleuth I got to dig into some juicy material. Take a society obsessed with death, add a backlash against science and the age of Darwinism--and you have the makings of world in which spiritualism was bound to thrive.

The characters of that age seem so much more colorful than today’s mediums, showmen, and hacks. Here are two of my favorite famous psychics from the past:

LOOK DEEEP INTO MY EYES. (from here)

Madame Blavatsky, a Russian living in London, founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. Theosophy means “knowledge of the divine” It was (and still is) based on uniting practitioners with more enlightened spiritual beings from another plane.

From a website celebrating Madame Blavatsky:

In the 1800's they [the spirits from another dimension] had been searching for a century for the next messenger and finally settled upon Helena Blavatsky, born to a noble Russian family. She saw the master who would be her teacher in her dreams as a child. She met him in Hyde Park in London when she was 20. She managed to enter Tibet and was trained by those masters in Tibet from 1868 to 1870. From 1875 through her death in 1891 she spread that message around the world.

Not everyone is impressed by Madame B. though. Simon Doonan describes her as

Fantasist, fabulist, spiritualist, Theosophist and all-round bullshit artist, Madame Blavatsky was as savvy as L. Ron Hubbard and as batty as Anne Heche, circa 2001. Born in the Ukraine in 1831, Helena Petrovna Hahn inherited a vivid imagination from her romance novelist mother and a massively bossy disposition from her colonel dad. . .

Spiritual authority came to Madame via dead holy men, "The Mahatmas," via whom she channeled massive unreadable texts which she published as Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine, among others. . .

At various points in her career, she was busted for fakery and for plagiarism. Her worst moment came when some associates, a Mr. and Mrs. Coulomb, ratted on her, revealing all the trap-door tricks of her side-show Mahatmas and her “apparitions.”

(From the Daily Beast.)

Daniel Dunglas Home (he took the middle name to prove he was related to Scottish royalty) is probably my favorite because he put on such a good show. He was a Scottish medium who counted on more than just the words of the ancients to capture an audience.


the hair! the cloak! the skull!

During his sessions, he levitated--and sometimes furniture and other people did too. He spoke with the dead, and there were all sorts of rappings and noises as well as a mysterious accordion that could play itself. Harry Houdini described him as 'one of the most conspicuous and lauded of his type and generation'.

Home managed to impress Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who pointed out that the psychic (the first to use that term) was unusual in that he could manage all four different types psychic power:

direct voice (the ability to let spirits audibly speak); trance speaker (the ability to let spirits speak through oneself); clairvoyant (ability to see things that are out of view); and physical medium (moving objects at a distance, levitation, etc., which was the type of mediumship had no equal)

Whee!

Home conducted hundreds of séances with some fabulous spooky fun. Spirit hands of dead babies touched the visitors and appeared on Home's arm. Tables flew up to the ceiling and then floated down as lightly as a snowflake. Here's a great picture of some levitation action at one of his sessions (from an article when Home was only twenty-two).

Like Marsh, the medium we wrote about in the Psychic and the Sleuth, Home had relatives who were also supernatural—his own mother had a reputation as a seer. She supposedly even predicted her own death. The young Home eventually ended up in the custody of his aunt, who hauled him to the US. The aunt grew so upset by the “unearthly conversations” Home held with the spirits, she booted him out when he was seventeen.

Home gained a reputation as a medium in New England. Eventually he sailed off to Europe where he impressed people like Elizabeth Barrett Browning (though not her husband, Robert Browning, who wrote the funny dramatic monologue, Sludge the Medium, about Home. I love that thing.)

Here’s a description of what Home saw during one of his sessions. (This is from "The North British Review" Volume 39 from 1863) Channeling the spirit of the deceased, Hanna Britten:

“Mr Home began to exhibit signs of deepest anguish. Rising from his seat, he walked to and fro in the apartment, wringing his hands, and exhibiting a wild and frantic manner. He uttered bitter lamentations, exclaiming, “Oh, how dark! What dismal clouds! What a frightful chasm! Deep down, far down! –I see the fiery flood! Hold! Stay! Save them from the pit! I’m in a terrible labyrinth! I see no way out! There’s no light! How wild! Gloomy! The clouds roll in on me! The darkness deepens! My head is whirling! Where am I?”

Then, before his audience got too spooked, Home revealed that Hanna Brittan told him that she had “become insane from believing in the doctrine of man. The burning gulf with all its horrible imagery, existed only in the traditions of men! And in her own distracted brain.”

He, like the other mediums of the time, knew enough to offer his audience comfort--along with a good dollop of drama.

Hilary Sares

2012-01-12T08:18:00.001-05:00

Hey, Hilary Sares, I miss you. I'm the one who gave you Bosnian socks and some books, not the coffee mug (she had so many writers in her life, she mixed us up).

Also now that you're a ghost writer, I'd give you this shirt from woot.com

Saturday I'm doing a synopsis presentation

2012-01-10T07:56:00.000-05:00

I've done it before, a couple of years ago (!!) and I made an effort to ask editors and Successful Writers what they think should appear in all synopses.

Read the above links--I did actual work on them.

I'm kind of lazy today so I'll not bug the editors etc and hope they bug me. I'm a writer. Sitting and waiting for someone to tell me The Truth about Synopses. Hey, I know what--I'll look for hashtags on twitter. But still. If you have info about synopsis you'd like to share, I'll give you credit. Free promo, mo fo!**

_______
** I'd like to point out that Lauren Dane is one of the writers who gave me advice and since then (okay maybe around then, as well) she has turned into a best-selling author.

More than a coincidence? Give Kate advice and then become The BOMB!? I do not think so.

neo(l)culturnie

2012-01-10T07:46:00.002-05:00

I'm watching the UK version of Being Human these days, doing a glom. I tried Buffy but it was too high school, fake high school, I mean. TV's version of high school feels familiar only because it's always the same place TV always visits. Not the school I knew or my kids attend. Thank you God for that.

And Buffy might have been cutting edge a while back but now, eh, old stuff, cliche-city. Kind of like Shakespeare's full of cliches, maybe? Many people seem to love it, so there must be something there.

ANYWAY, the name of this post is a word my mother used to say. That's how I heard it, and I'm sure it's not spelled that way--couldn't be, since it's Russian. And the L? Was there an L? It meant uncultured, I think, but also vulgar, a galoot's choice. It's what I want these days. My mother considered television a wasteland, except PBS was occasionally all right. I want to like Buffy the vampire and I read/write romance. She wouldn't be caught dead in a ditch with a romance.

Every now and again I hear classical music or read a book that I might have read years ago and I'm brought back to the old world. I didn't fit there and I'm vaguely uncomfortable here because I know I'm ne--culturnie.

I wonder of everyone extant has that to a degree. You establish your own culture based on your past (or entirely rejecting it) and yet the differences - or similarities - to the way you're brought up mean you're sort of self conscious about your choices, or conscious of them, anyway.

You'd think past the teen years, this wouldn't be an issue. You're right, for the most part. I just notice it every now and then. First there was the attempt to appreciate Buffy. Then I heard some Chopin this morning and it seemed overwrought but then I remembered how much I'd once liked it. ....

and yo, I think it's time to call this maundering cliche train to a halt and find some coffee. If I'd stuck with my old culture, my mother's world, it would be tea. Not much difference there.

Look, they like my books.

2012-01-06T10:11:00.001-05:00

A review for Unnatural Calamities.

and one for

The Gentleman and the Rogue.

People like the books! Yay!**

I've written a lot of books and I think these two were the most fun to write. UC, because I was playing around and G&R because it was actually the first time Bonnie and I collaborated successfully (we had a half book or two lying around before this one.)

Except, hold the presses, now that I'm thinking back, I really got a kick out of writing Thank You, Mrs. M, and Irrational Arousal was a fun time too. And Somebody Wonderful, that was mostly a good time to write as well.

Lately writing has been a labor more than a labor of love, so it's nice to recall that sometimes sitting down and working is a good time. I'm trying to fish out the good times and plaster them on this wall to remind myself. Not exactly a New Year's resolution. More like a "while I'm waiting to make some money, there is this to recall" event. A form of motivation.

Although actually I already have some motivation, I'm looking for a job and that always reminds me how much I enjoy the job I already have.

Anyone want to hire me? I come pretty cheap.

________
**I want more stars for UC on that terrific review, but that's because they usually give me more at Night Owl and I'm a spoiled brat.

Underrated

2012-01-05T09:36:00.002-05:00

I've decided that Al Stewart should be better appreciated. He's got that plummy voice, the kind you think should be singing kids' songs, and the tunes seem pretty simple (not that I know) and probably out-dated. . . but here's the thing, his songs are great.

They're filled with ambiguity and loss and change and loneliness and history and whole stories and word play. . . . If he sang like Dylan or Waits, he'd still be played all the time and probably listed as Wildly Influential everywhere.

I've got Modern Times, The Dark and the Rolling Sea, Next Time, On the Border and Broadway Hotel on my MP3 player for running. I still like them all these years later--in fact I like them more. I wouldn't play them for my kids, though. There's that Top 40s voice thing.

Hey! Read the first chapter

2012-01-04T12:09:00.001-05:00

It's posted over at Renee Bagby's place.
The chapter is free; reading it is easy.

People who want Victorian-set historicals without titled types

2012-01-03T10:52:00.003-05:00

Listen. I got what you want. Seriously, if this is what people want to read, I should be a freaking best-selling author.** Most of my books are set in the 1880s -- I've done a lot of research about that era and feel comfortable there.

UPDATED: Joanna pointed out that links would be a good idea. These are all to Amazon, except the one that's only available via All Romance Ebooks.

Here's my list:
Somebody Wonderful--1880s hero=NYC cop/ heroine=wealthy but not a lady-like sort of a person (based on Pauline from Perils of Pauline)
Somebody to Love--heroine=mixed-race chef/ hero=brother of SW heroine. Granted the guy is wealthy, but he doesn't have a title. Okay? Good.
Someone To Cherish--hero=NYC cop/heroine=impoverished innocent

Powder of Love--hero=sort of a detective/ heroine=okay she's a wealthy heiress, daughter of nobility. But she's half American and she lives in NYC.
The Mad Baron--Does a baron have to count? He's hardly a duke or earl. She's a shop-girl and he's an addict.

novellas:
Seducing Miss Dunaway--She's a middle class person/he's ....oops. I can't even recall what he is.
Learning Charity--heroine=prostitute/hero=American businessman
Protecting Miss Samuels--heroine=daughter of mill owner/hero=man hired to protect her.

Claws on Silk--ha! a menage with both heroes=common as dirt. She is a commoner, though she does have money.

Male/male with Bonnie Dee:
The Nobleman and the Spy--yes, one's a nobleman. But he's not English! And the other is absolutely not even related to a peer of the realm.
Seducing Stephen--Stephen's so middle class it hurts. So what if the other guy isn't.
The Gentleman and the Rogue--One hero's a street lad/ the other is . . . Oh. it's Regency set, so never mind. But listen, a baronet barely counts.
House of Mirrors--one hero's a preacher's son, the other. . . something of a mystery.
The Psychic and the Sleuth--1880s Very middle-class heroes. VERY MUCH NOT NOBILITY. Good.

Well. There is more blue blood than I recall, but still. . . .My cowriters and I should be on best-selling lists big-time if this is what the reading public wants.**

____________

**based mostly on the fact that I want to be.

A late SBD

2012-01-03T09:56:00.000-05:00

I promised myself I would never, ever read another Jane Austen based book. No. Way. Anything by Austen, yeah, you betcha I'd read her books again (Maybe not Mansfield Park, but no one reads that book more than once, unless they're writing a paper.)

I liked Austenland by Shannon Hale as a bit of escapist fun but many of them? Ugh. I haven't finished any of them, except a Joan Aiken or two (and she had too much gothick action.) I've read better Potter fan fiction on the webs. Speaking of which, here's WTF fanfiction which should be examined when you're in the mood to laugh at pitiable writing.

At best the Austen-based books feel like a shellacking of a legend, as in applying a glossy surface to something that should remain lively and able to breathe. The worst ones are just. . . .no.Not my cup of tea.

But then I had to grab a book fast at the library, and the only one I could find was the Jane Austen Book Club. I'm only part way through it and I love it. I hope it can live up to this early promise but so far it's nearly as pleasurable as something by Jane herself. I don't even mind the voice of plural first person which usually feels forced and arty. It uses Austen perfectly as a jumping off point.

So okay, this will be the last one. No more fiction featuring Austen or her characters. I mean it, you'll have to pay me big bucks (five figures would do it) to read a book with "Mr. Darcy" in the title.

ANOTHER interview with Kate

2012-01-01T12:16:00.005-05:00

Hey, look it! There I am again! Go on over and say something because, once again, the world watches to see if anyone bothers to comment. And the world feels that I shouldn't be ignored. By "world" I mean me and the dog that's leaning against me. Except wait, no, never mind. She's closed her eyes and is snoring. Half the world has stopped watching. I'm still here though, watching, watching, watching. . .

I'm loving the Eloisa James books I'm reading. She follows a formula but what do I care? Answer: more power to her. I'm only sad that Carol Bly (her mom) didn't get it. I love Carol Bly's work--I read her essays years ago and they haunted me.

The idea that down-deep examinations of the darkness within is the only way to think and write properly seems sort of sad because it means that that's the only capital T Truth you can see. I think it's a bad idea not because I'm a (reverse) snob but because bleak doesn't provide total sustenance. You need some other vitamins in there now and then. I suppose people can get the fun and fluff in their lives without considering it worthwhile -- although we know better, of course. The nice thing about fun and fluff is that it usually doesn't care if you treat it with respect. It wishes to amuse and, if there's a challenge to your thinking, it's going to be disguised, wrapped up in pretty paper so you won't even notice.

But back to James's formula. The only thing I hope for is that one of her epilogues will not feature children. Do all of those people have to find happiness with off-spring? Do the kids have to be so 21st century interacting with the rents?

Eh, never mind. Whatever she wants.

the plot genie visited overnight

2011-12-29T11:47:00.001-05:00

and hey! maybe, perhaps, this stupid problem with these stupid people might be solved. I think we might have a Gordian knot which means a simple solution! Time to destroy a character, change a time-line, and maybe insert some scenery.

Suddenly they're no longer stupid people--they'll transform into beloved characters. And the stupidity in the story turns into something akin to cleverness (at least for this minute)

This THIS THIS is why I write. Hours of boredom punctuated by moments of pure ~~terror~~ clarity. **

Scuse me. Got to get back to work.
___________________

**the first time I heard that "hours of boredom punctuated by seconds of terror" I was doing a ride-along with a cop for an article; I was writing a portrait of a cop's life for a magazine. I thought she was amazingly insightful. Heh.

well. ..I Like It

2011-12-28T10:28:00.002-05:00

No, more than that. I love my Kindle Fire. I cuddle it to my bosom and call it sweetums.

My kid's response: "it's perfect for a 42-year-old lady." Can anything sound more insulting? He explained that he wasn't being dismissive, it just really is perfect for that particular demographic. Mom. (And could he just point out that I'm older than that? So really I've peeled away the years with this purchase. Yes, he could.)

No Kindle for him.

I keep reading these snarky reports about how unresponsive it is, how clumsy and thick and awful. I have yet to see a problem, so now I'm starting to feel a bit like a boho who wandered into a classy party and asked for a Bud Light. I don't have the savoir faire to understand the intricacies of a real electronic device. I have no tricks to make it sing like a well-tuned instrument. Although I do check the free apps every day.

And then I remember what people in my unenlightened world do to regain our sense of self-worth: become proud of our ignorance and return to the state of fuck-it-so-what-[you-effete-snobs].

I'm supposed to be working now, but I think I use my Fire to watch another old episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I missed when it first showed up. I was having a life back then.

Here's what I do with my free time: read books and watch stuff. Kindle Fire = perfect.

Contest over.

2011-12-20T22:19:00.001-05:00

The winner only had one entry--unlike Casey or Joanna (they had about a dozen between them!) Congratulations hotcha12. You're the winner of the contest!!

Only a matter of hours now.

2011-12-20T11:46:00.000-05:00

Hey, couldn't you use thirty extra bucks for that last minute shopping? Don't you want some fun escapist fiction? The answer is of course! Yes! So enter my contest. I'm telling you, it's easy-peasy. I think I'll end it at ten p.m. tonight because that's about the time I start falling asleep. I love the random picker I found. No more nagging a kid to pick a number.

Some people (CW, for instance) have entered over and over. You can too.

THE CONTEST!

I'm giving away a $30 gift certificate to Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner's choice) plus three Summer Devon titles also winner's choice. And if you live in the US, you can even choose paper of the books in print. I'll send your hard copies to you -- You'll have to wait until after Christmas though.

Entering is easier than pie (which isn't that easy unless you do a graham cracker crust)
To enter, you can:
1. Leave a comment in this blog. Below this entry works fine.
AND/OR
2. or you can make a comment at twitter or facebook about my my new book (and send me notice that you did at katerothwell@gmail.com -- or just reply to this newsletter)
AND/OR
3. you can blog about the release at your own place. That's fine--be sure to let me know though.

Every time you do one of these things, you get another entry. The contest ends December 20th! So you'll have time to use your gift certificate to buy presents. Winner will be chosen by random pick.

at the bottom of the pyramid

2011-12-16T12:47:00.000-05:00

I'll call this issue the Eifersucht-glück effect because German is always best for these things.

It's that stab of envy you feel at someone else's gain. It's the exact opposite of schadenfreude. (joy at sorrow vs. sorrow at joy)

Someone else achieves something great, and eventually you might get to a real-ish "hurray for you!" point... But before that, there's the inevitable sense of hey, wait, what about me? That's mine. Even when it obviously isn't yours--and it's equally obvious the lucky/smart person deserves the good outcome.

Here's the thing: no matter how clear it is to you intellectually that the lucky/smart person deserves this, the Eifersucht-glück effect will kick in (unless you're in the throes or after-glow of a major achievement yourself, then you can skip this conversation altogether. Chances are you're not here anyway--you're busy achieving, not reading dumb blogs).

Eventually the E-G effect must resolve or you:
1. collapse into bitterness.
2. abandon that aspect of your life
and/or
3. go after people with weapons.

The next stage, called the post-Eifersucht-Gluck phase of brain activity is perhaps called the "eh, it happens; get over it."

The best resolution, the absolute end of the effect, also known as the post-post-post-Eifersucht-Gluck phase is a genuine "yay! couldn't have happened to a nicer person. You deserve it."

This is something like reaching the top of the Maslow pyramid, only in a matter of seconds or minutes instead of years, one hopes.

This is not envy based on a sense of true injustice, by the way. That is something entirely different. I suspect the purest E-G occurs only when you like the person -- so there's also a sense of indignation because you can't feel entirely happy for them right off the bat. Another source of the Grumbly-Blues. (see also: "problems, first world")

* * *
Amy suggests that this be called Jealous Bitch Syndrome. This would also work.

Say you're supposed to go to an office party to spontaneously celebrate a co-worker's well-deserved advancement. You say, "Sorry. I can't make it. My JBS is acting up at the moment."

It just needs a name so you/we can label it and forget it.

________

**I think the "sucht" part of that is pronounced "sucks" even if it's wrong for German. Also I thought glück meant luck, but google babble thinks it's joy. Both work well.

SBD after these messages from our sponsor

2011-12-12T11:52:00.000-05:00

Message 1. Have you entered the contest yet? Easy to do. Easy to get multiple entries, too. ENTER THE CONTEST, and yes, that's shouting. I'm adding a megaphone of bolding, too. Win $30 and more Summer Devon books than you ever dreamed possible.

Message 2. We just got a review for House of Mirrors from Queer Magazine Online. Reviews come so slowly these days, which is fine in an age of endless shelf life. Just funny that in a world where everything has sped up, reviews have slowed down.
It's a good review--as in not just positive (which makes reviews wonderful) but also well-written. I mean how could you not like lines like these?

This is a wonderful, unusual story with delightfully complex characters, many of whom I grew to admire and love. The carnival world is a perfect setting for this engaging story, challenging us to think about reality versus illusion; it's an eye-opening look into the hardship and camaraderie of life on the road for carnival entertainers. I'd recommend 'House of Mirrors' to anyone who enjoys a well written story, full of angst, hate, deception, honesty, friendship and love.

Message 3. Hey, listen, If you write a review of my books, let me know, and I'll enter you into the contest. It does not have to be a positive review, okay? Leave your review at Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Fictionwise, your blog--anywhere. Of course if you give me a bad review with no reasons for why you thought the book sucked, I will enter your name but I'll be grumbling. Reasons, people. Reasons.

Funny thing, though. I just realized that if you write "I loved this book!" and nothing else, I won't be grumbling. People are so inconsistent.

SBD------ing
Speaking of inconsistent, that's what my reading's been like, although no non-fiction. YA dystopia, murder mysteries, a bunch of ghost stories and some vampire things.

I read the second YA book of the Matched series, Crossed, and I will read the third. The woman has an imagination. I didn't want to put the book down and got mad at people in my family who wished to interact with me.

But.... Two people tell the story, both in first person, and they sound a lot alike. And I found both a trifle annoying. Lots of poetic observations when there are people dropping dead all around them. When a book makes you aware of that arty voice as the big scary action is going down, then that's a kind of author intrusion that draws me out faster than POV switches. Perhaps I wouldn't have noticed if they hadn't been in first person. It's funny because you can't more intrusive like that than Chuck Palahniuk and his style doesn't bother me at all. Maybe because he isn't trying to show what a sensitive soul the narrator is.

I read an anthology of supernatural stories that were fun. Charlaine Harris, Maggie Shayne, Barbara Hambly. Harris's was the one I liked best. It has the simplest plot, and is the most slanted toward romance which is what I'd expect when I see Harlequin on the cover. I got why those two characters ended up together.

Hambly's was my least favorite, which is kind of weird since I think she's a freaking genius. I did enjoy her portrait of New York and, to an extent, the picture of the evil building. I've never read a writer who can make a city into an intriguing personality like that Hambly can. Her portraits of New Orleans in the Benjamin January series is always incredible. Worth the read right there.

I think I don't like the way she borrowed from the Triangle Shirtwaist tragedy without naming it. (Kind of like having a giant ocean liner that everyone declares is called unsinkable crashing into a giant iceberg and calling that ship the Bibanic, only not really) Having a socialist New Yorker family background, I've heard about that fire since I was a wee tot. Anyway, I didn't felt drawn to the romance part of the book. I didn't entirely believe the "I love you" part--although I did like the characters for the most part.

And this SBD is going on too long. Hmm. Must be the advertising at the start. I'll be glad when ~~NPR finally gets through its fund driv~~e I stop promoting my new book. Which you should read. And be far nicer than I'm being to these books.

Okay one more book: A Cassandra Palmer book that I'm still reading-- wait, okay, she's the character, the story is by Karen Chance.

I'm cheap and only get what the library will give me. They don't have books 1-4 on Kindle. This is book 5 and like all those sorts of series, the heroine's power has been escalating. All sorts of things have happened to her in those earlier books. She's been gathering hangers-ons and powers like kids gathered pokemon cards back in the day.

Those of us late to the show get snippets of it all, and it's slightly annoying to try to figure out who's who and why they hate/love her, and why that person wants her dead, but the story is hardly unreadable like some series books I've tried reading mid-cycle (Feehan=impossible)

I can't read it in one gulp, like I do a lot of books. These fast-paced never-let-up stories exhaust me. But I like the author's voice. I like the fact that not every penis rises when the heroine walks into the room (most do, of course). I'm already tired of the "I'm not pretty" description she gives when she stares in the mirror -- when I suspect that she's probably gorgeous. I'm waiting for some man to tell her she's irresistible. But hey! I like the fact that in a crowded world, I can tell one hanger-on from another and they have actual personalities.

Despite the fact that I'm burning out on first person urban fantasies with often Mary Sue heroines, this character seems funny and interesting and the world is intriguing. I might have to go buy some earlier books.

Romantic Times says. . .

2011-12-09T12:34:00.001-05:00

"If you're looking for a light read to breeze through that will leave you energized and smiling, Unnatural Calamities is the ticket!"
RT

Things to do list

2011-12-08T08:17:00.001-05:00

1. figure out a way to tell everyone on the planet that Bonnie and I had two books in Rainbow Rewards 10 best historicals. The Nobleman and the Spy tied for third and House of Mirrors is honorably mentioned in seventh place.

And Molly Winter listed one of our books in her top ten for the year.

2. get better numbers at Amazon and Samhain so that I can tag "best-seller" on my name. Actually, I have had best-selling books at Samhain before -- but this one hasn't made it yet. And I wouldn't really add that tag.

3. shake this godforsaken mind-set in which I check stats at Amazon and Samhain or look for reviews online. This sort of behavior leads to bitterness and frustration or elation and giddiness. None of these condition are ideal for #4 . . .

4. write a goddamn book.

I'm telling you there is no happy coexistence between the promo mind and the writing mind. They exist in different realms. I hereby shed the promo-brain, all that glittery goo is out of my ears to be replaced by hard-working but boring old grey stuff.

* * *

The rest of you? You have a TTD list too. One item! Enter the contest. Don't give me that "everyone does this same contest and it gets old" thing. Quit pointing out the obvious and enter it.

Please, optional item #2 for you is to write a glowing review of any of my books. I will not stand in your way.

Speaking of which, I have to go review this book I just read by Jeaniene Frost. It was pretty good, but I don't feel the need to every book in the series ASAP which is a relief because I'm supposed to be buying christmas presents for people other than me.

I know how I got that idea

2011-12-07T10:39:00.001-05:00

And you will know too, if you go to Delilah Devlin's blog.
ALSO another chance to win books!
Plus! If you don't go to the blog, and no one comments, and I end up all alone, sitting here (and there) in the dark, whining again, I will track you all down and eat your cookies. I can't eat the ones sitting here because they're reserved for a school sale. Drat.

FYI I currently hate TinyLetter

2011-12-06T13:20:00.001-05:00

That is all. I feel a white-hot, passionate hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. And to all newsletter subscribers: I'm sorry about the bad links and then the gibberish in the second attempt at correcting the link.

Hate.

Unnatural Calamities! Out today and of course, a contest.

2011-12-06T12:14:00.001-05:00

I'm going to lift this from my newsletter, but just to ~~be mean~~ provide a tiny incentive for you to sign up for my newsletter, I'm going to remove the recipe. (Subscription link is on the right.)

So about Unnatural Calamities....HEY! It's on sale today and when Samhain puts out a new book, they reduce the price. So if you want a copy at a lower price, now's the time to buy.

I'm very fond of this story and hope you enjoy it too.
Updated: I fixed this link. Every single dang link in that newsletter didn't work. The recipe is fine though.

She has a deft hand with banana flambé…and a touch that sets his body on fire.

Janey knows all too well she looks a wreck. What hard-working chef wouldn’t, operating on three hours of sleep? Stuck in a dull Connecticut town, taking care of her beloved niece, Rachel, Janey spends her days
looking for a job and her nights working high-end catering gigs.

Just her luck, she runs into Mr. Perfect two days past her designated laundry day. And she’s just found out her niece is passing her off as“Mom” to avoid the embarrassment of admitting her real mother, Janey’s identical twin, is serving time.

Despite Janey’s questionable fashion sense and the juicy gossip about her checkered past, venture capitalist Christopher Dunham finds himself drawn to her spark. And warmed by her obvious affection for Rachel, so like what he feels for his own daughter.

When sexy, way-out-of-her-league Toph offers her a business loan, Janey can’t believe her long string of bad luck with bad boys has come to an end. At least, until a blast from her sister’s shady past turns up the heat on their attraction. And sets off a chain of events that could snuff out the flame just as their love starts to come to a boil…

Product Warnings

A comedy of errors, mistaken identity, poor girl meets rich guy, kidnapping at gunpoint, and hot handcuffed sex in a hotel bathtub—and that’s all before lunch.

disclaimer:
The fact that I live in West Hartford, CT, and the story takes place in fictional West Farmbrook, CT, means nothing.

THE CONTEST!

I'm giving away a $30 gift certificate to Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner's choice) plus three Summer Devon titles also winner's choice. And if you live in the US, you can even choose paper of the books in print. I'll send your hard copies to you -- You'll have to wait until after Christmas though.

Entering is easier than pie (which isn't that easy unless you do a graham cracker crust)
To enter, you can:
1. Leave a comment in this blog. Below this entry works fine.
AND/OR
2. or you can make a comment at twitter or facebook about my my new book (and send me notice that you did at katerothwell@gmail.com -- or just reply to this newsletter)
AND/OR
3. you can blog about the release at your own place. That's fine--be sure to let me know though.

Every time you do one of these things, you get another entry. The contest ends December 20th! So you'll have time to use your gift certificate to buy presents. Winner will be chosen by random pick.

OTHER NEWS! Featuring lots of links!

Two Summer Devon books have come out in print--including the one with the most infamous cover, ever Irrational Arousal
Also you can find
The Nobleman and the Spy
both now in paperback!

Here's the Samhain's December letter. There's a piece about my holiday decor. After this came out, I learned I'm not the only one with a lobster on the tree.

Tomorrow (December 7) I'll be blogging at Delilah Devlin's place about Unnatural Calamities -- and how I got the idea for the story. I'll be giving away a book or two there, as well. (I can't remember what I promised to do. This is what the holiday season does to some of us.)

The newsletter article

2011-12-01T14:41:00.001-05:00

Remember when I got all like that? ** I grumbled about the freaking holidays. Gah.

Here's the newsletter containing the article that I mentioned, all about our fabu Christmas tree. My piece is the third or fourth one down and the tone is fairly chipper. I should actually read what other writers have to say in the newsletter.

First I have to finish destroying this heroine. I think she's going to have a really horrible fall off a roof.

______________________
** Me neither, but not because I didn't read my blog (your excuse). It's because I take off when bad moods strike. Years of practice and I'm getting better at dumping the depressive. Run away! run away!