Happy Anniversary!
Eeek, I just realized as I perused my archives that TODAY is Romancing Paradise's 1 year anniversary! It's been a fun, bumpy, interesting ride. 🙂
Aloha nui loa and mahalo for reading. 🙂
MCPs?
Apparently, the International Thriller Writers have just announced the nominees for their first awards. The nominees are all men. At least one writer believes this is sexism and wrote a post about it.
For a rebuttal and a post on blogging etiquette, see JA Konrath's blog.
For another perspective, see the always entertaining Lee Goldberg.
Gayle Lynds, co-founder of ITW, responds here.
As a long time RWA member, I'm just sort of snickering (not in a mean way, but I don't know another way to describe it). RWA seems to always be beset by one sort of controversy or another when it comes to the RITAs every year. Erotica can't get a fair break, Blazes aren't romances, etc. I'd point you to posts on this, but I'm too lazy to search right now. The Blaze controversy is recent, so go check out some Blaze author blogs (Alison Kent being one of the best blogging authors out there — see sidebar).
Erotica authors are still trying to get respect. See PBW's SOILs post (Sisters of the Immaculate Love Scene — you'll have to search). Okay, so maybe it ain't men v. women over at RWA, but awards seem to always bring out controversy no matter who's giving them out.
So ITW, take heart. You'll be okay. And not everybody's gonna like you, no matter what you do to correct the impression you're sexist or xenophobic or snooty or a bunch of hacks or whatever the topic of the day is. Maybe you deserve it, maybe you don't. Time will tell.
The Book Biz
The thing about being a writer, for me at least, is that it's my way of getting to have all the lives I want. What I mean is that I “try on” careers and lifestyles. I've always been the sort of person who imagines myself as a lawyer, or a politician, or a stockbroker, chef, etc. I think of that life and play it out, wondering where I'd be if I had chosen that particular path. Since I never really settled on a path, and seem incapable of it in fact, writing is the outlet for those imaginary lives. I can be a chef or a lawyer, a commando or a cop, and I can experience success or defeat without ever leaving the comfort of my home. It's pretty sweet, even if it sounds a bit insane. 🙂
One of the imaginary lives I've thought about is owning a little bookstore. You know, a slightly musty place with old leather volumes that soar twenty feet up on all sides. A place with a ladder and a loft and lots of sunshine. Cozy and intellectually stimulating. A place where I sit and read Herodotus and Pliney, where I have academic conversations with my clientele, where we discuss the nature of the universe and the future of humankind. (::snort:: Are you gagging yet?)
Okay, really, keep the bookstore with the musty leather volumes, but add some romance and adventure, some mystery, and it still sounds like fun. A life I could enjoy.
Ahem. Then Bookseller Chick points me to this conversation between Barry Eisler and an independent bookstore owner. Oh dear God. There goes the fantasy. Owning a bookstore isn't a literary walk in the park. It's not all fun and books all day long. It's worrying about survival, getting creamed by the big chains, and playing by rules that the big guys grind beneath massive boxes of endless books. And, speaking of endless books, BC has a post about shelf confusion that's worth a look.
Hmm, maybe an antique store would be more fun……..
(Now, from the writer's perspective, Eisler's exchange is worth a close look. While I understand the bookseller's concerns, the slightly hostile tone doesn't do him credit. If it's meant as humor, it falls flat. Who's right in this exchange? Is there a right and wrong, or do they both have valid points? Things to think about and be aware of if you're serious about a writing career.)
Aloha.
One good reason to leave the islands….
Okay, so leaving Hawaii and moving to Alabama seems a tad nutty, right? But look at this gorgeous house. This is my parents' house. It's on the National Historic Register. The price they paid for this house a year ago wouldn't even buy you a closet in Hawaii.
Half a million bucks will buy you around 1200 – 1400 sq feet about 15 miles from downtown Honolulu. If you want to live in town, forget it. Half a mil might get you 1000 sq ft in a condo, if you're lucky. If you don't mind the uncertainty of a leasehold property, you can pay half a mil for a really nice condo on the beach. The trick, of course, is that you don't really own it because someone owns the land beneath you. Once the lease expires, they get whatever is sitting on their property — i.e. your house or condo.
At least one non-nutty reason to leave Hawaii. But damn I'm gonna miss this weather!
Summer Reads
Continuing the theme from yesterday, here's a list from NPR on great summer reads. Also, the gals at LC have another list here.
USA Today's list is pretty interesting, too. The Washington Post has a best of list for kids, which is pretty cool don't you think? Heck, some of these books sound good to me.
Summer reading group ideas and guides can be found here.
Ms. Magazine gets into the act too. How about Steamy Summer Reads from Richmond.com?
Hot summer reads in Audiobooks can be found here.
UC Berkeley's faculty and students have their own recommendations to make (from last year, but the books are old anyway).
It's apparent there's no shortage of recommendations out there. Do you pick up books from lists, or do you decide based on cover copy or store positioning? Or a combination of factors? Last year, I picked up Julie Kenner's Carpe Demon based on a) the cover, b) its position on a table at the front of the store, c) the kickass blurb, and d) vaguely remembered hearing about it elsewhere. (It was a great read, btw.)
RP still in bidness, AW too
Romancing Paradise, soon to be renamed Romancing the South or Romancing NASA or Romancing Forrest Gump, is not defunct. I swear it's not! 🙂 But, the author has been taking care of a sick spouse this week, which takes much time and energy, and hasn't had time to think of anything to say.
Sue informs me in the comments section of the previous post that Absolute Write is back in bidness, so that's good. Whew.
I've been touring the blogs, albeit quickly, and there are lots of good conversations happening in all the usual places. Check out Miss Snark for the answer to what high concept means.
It's also time for Summer Reads, which you'll see talked about everywhere from the Borders catalog to NPR. What's hot this summer? What are the must reads? The ladies over at Lipstick Chronicles have some recommendations.
Me, I'm still trying to catch up on all the other books I want to read, so I never specifically go in for the summer market. But, I'm definitely planning on picking up a copy of Diana Peterfreund's Secret Society Girl. It just sounds too cool, and Diana's a neat lady — which you already know if you read her blog.
I am woefully out of the loop on recent books, mostly because of the last couple of months of soul-searching and plan-making, so if you have any recommendations, let me know in the comments trail. 🙂
Other books I'm reading right now are mostly due to my book group, whom I love and will miss like heck. 🙁 We're reading Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, which I don't particularly care for. It's like being forced to sit in Plato's cave and listen to him ramble on and on and on. Just give me the point already!!
Ahem. I know people love this book, and I guess I see the point, but it strikes me as clumsy. Just me.
We're gearing up for The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory, and for T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom (which I have read once before and loved). I also have a slew of romances to read, and it really is put up or shut up time for my thesis. No more procrastination. 🙂
What about you? What are you reading?