From The Book Geek

I know I'm coming up on the final moments of this, but Banned Books Week is something I find interesting, to say the least. In my life, I don't recall ever having a book banned that I was assigned to read. I know there are controversial books out there (Harry Potter immediately comes to mind) but now that I'm a parent, I can say with quite a bit of certainty that if I don't want my child to read something, he won't be reading it. Now, I know kids sneak (my mother encouraged me to read John Jakes' North and South trilogy but she wouldn't let me watch the miniseries on tv -- I think I snuck in a couple of views on the old black and white I had in my room). And if there's ever a time my child wants to read a book I'm not too keen on, I hope I'm open-minded enough to at least discuss it with him. Right now, his reading world consists of the Sesame Street books I buy from my favorite used bookstore and his Imagination Library books (thank you, Dolly Parton!)

I'd love to bold the books I've read from the ALA list but that's a long post. Check out The Book Geek. I'll post it over there.....

Moving On Up

I'm going to share a bit of good news -- we bought a house. The bad news in this scenerio is that we have to move.

We've lived in our current home for 6 years. It has been a great first house. We bought it right after we married and I graduated from college. Needless to say, we didn't have a lot of furniture. We had college furniture. You know what I mean -- a futon, a recliner, a flea market table. These weren't real items of furniture. These were pieces we'd picked up along our 3 previous moves.

Since we've been living in our current house, we've acquired a lot of furniture. We've made the transition over these 6 years from college students to newlyweds, from newlyweds to old marrieds, from singletons to parents. And do you know how much stuff a toddler needs? Man, we've got toys coming out of every corner, and he would still rather play with pots and pans, boxes, or toothbrushes (don't ask).

I think he'll survive the transition well because there's a swingset in the backyard. If there's one thing our boy loves to do, it's swing (aka 'wing'). As for me, my mother-in-law and I will be spending this Friday painting and the weekend packing/moving what we can before the movers arrive next Thursday. Wish me luck!!

Fall is Here!

I'm not certain about the rest of the country, but in East Tennessee, fall is definitely here. Last week, we were experiencing temperatures in the 80s. Today, I think we'll be lucky if we hit 70.

It's hard for me to say if Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the colors of fall, and wearing scarves and gloves and my cute little black hat. And corduroy -- how could I forget my love of corduroy! What I don't love is raking the leaves, or freezing in the mornings and sweltering in the afternoons.

I'll give you an example of what I mean. Many of my fondest memories of fall happened the first year I was a member of the University of Tennesse "Pride of the Southland" Marching Band. (I spun a flag, thank you very much, and wore my sequins well!) We had practices in the mornings and afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The guard was usually there before everyone (well, except maybe the majorettes), and we'd all be in gloves and fleece and scarves and leggings (6 am came e-a-r-l-y). By the end of practice, you'd be down to your t-shirt and leggings. In the afternoon, however, it was all sports bras and shorts. I learned to dress in specific layers. I also became pretty good at shedding those layers while still marching and spinning my flag.

So it's time to dig out my clunky boots and corduroy (!!!) in preparation for another beautiful fall!

Finally Friday!

Wahoo!!! I love Fridays.

I'm having some family in town this weekend, as well as some editing projects I absolutely must finish. Plus house cleaning, laundry, watching Sesame Street and Playhouse Disney with my toddler....it makes the weekend practically disappear!!

I hope everyone has a good weekend, whatever you might be doing!

Authors Behaving Badly.....

It's a subject that crops up around the blogs I read every now and then, most notably after a conference or an event (i. e. selling ARCs on eBay) which slams into the publishing world head-on. Usually, authors who "behave badly" are labeled as such for speaking their mind(s), defending their opinions, or the like.

But what about authors who behave badly...during the editing phase?

I've been fortunate enough to be e-published 3 times. Wait, let me back up. When I write something, I struggle with it. When I submit it, I want whatever I wrote to be the best it can possible be. That's probably why I don't write drafts upon drafts upon drafts. I would also like to think that I'm open-minded enough to take constructive criticism. I always listen to what my editors have suggested; whether I take that suggestion is another post for another time.

As an editor, I like to think of my edits as suggestions or guidelines (insert Geoffrey Rush Pirates of the Caribbean quote now). I'm always willing to talk or discuss anything that I've commented on or taken away. I didn't write it; it's not my baby. But, I'm trying to do my dead-level best to make sure everything is as near perfect as it can be.

I put myself into the writer's shoes (which might be bad) and ask myself how I would feel reading these edits. Is that too nice? I'm not sure yet....

If you're an editor or publisher, how do you deal with authors behaving badly, even before their book is available? Is there a limit to your patience? Is there a point when you become fightin' mad?

And finally, is it okay to down a bottle of merlot before you start this author's edits?

Call Me Crazy

Seriously. Does anyone want to know why?

Because I've been thinking about entering the Ellora's Cave Caveman anthology contest.

I *know*! What is wrong with me?!?!?

First off, Jana doesn't write sex scenes. One of the criteria of the EC Caveman anthology is...you guessed it -- sex scenes. Wait, I take that back. Jana does write sex, just not under her own name.

I'm not embarrased. I like to think of it as a little experiment. I choose a pen name because my real life name has connotations and limitations. I am such-and-such's wife, so-and-so's mother, girly-girl's friend. These are connections I consider sacred, connections I would be really, really ticked about if someone said I had misused them for my own personal gain.

But I wasn't really talking about my pen names. Yes, I have more than 1. I was talking about how ridiculous it is for me to even consider the Caveman anthology. Unfortunately, that's where my brain is tilting. The deadline is the end of the month. Let's see how much trouble I can create for myself!!

Holy Sh!t Damn!

I just finished Lover Awakened by J. R. Ward. I'm cereal y'all -- Buy. This. Book. Buy the entire series. Holy Sh!t Damn is how I feel. I even thought that to myself once I finished Lover Awakened.

I know Book #4 (Lover Revealed) will be available in March but that's too long to wait!!!! This series makes me feel like I'm on crack (some really really good crack, like Whitney Houston good)!!

I mean, I love books, and I love series books even more. But when the release date for one of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books nears, I start twitchin' and itchin'. Then I buy it, inhale it, and begin twitchin' and itchin' for the next book.

I'm addicted...and I love it!!!

[By the way: Lover Awakened is Book #38 on my "50 Books Read in 2006" quest. I've got to do a mass update at The Book Geek. This total doesn't count books I've edited or written!]

Get Thee...

...to Romance Divas for a Q&A with THIS IS CHICK LIT authors. Joining the RD forum is F-R-E-E! Plus, these ladies are a hoot!