Whatcha Reading?

WHATCHA READING?  By Maree Anderson  (for Writers Gone Wild)

Hi y'all,

Mega-short post today--mind you, I tell myself that every fortnight and yet I seem to end up writing screeds. If only it would count toward my word count on my current manuscript! Ah well. Anyway, if you're wanting a serious post about writing issues--in particular, the changing face of publishing and how some of my self-published author friends have made a bit of a splash in the June edition of RT Book Reviews--then head on over to my website.

For those of you who don't have the energy to click through, I have a really simple question for y'all: What are you reading at the moment?

Currently I'm re-reading a favorite series of mine by Sarah Rees Brennan. I'd originally got this trilogy out from the library, and loved it to bits. In fact, I've raved about it and shared an excerpt from one of the books a few months back here on Writers Gone Wild. And so I decided I "had" to have the series for my bulging keeper shelf, and ordered the trilogy from The Book Depository *cough* free international shipping *cough*.

I happened to order the UK paperback editions and imagine my delight when I opened the first book in the series, The Demon's Lexicon, and discovered it had been signed by the author. And not just print-signing, either. I'm talking real live signing with a pen type signing. SQUEEEE! *cue total fan-girl moment and racing downstairs to show doubting family, who all opined the sig was just printed on, until I gleefully showed them the pen imprint and pointed out the way the ink had gone through on to the reverse side of the page and was uneven... God, I do so love being right ;-)*

Anyway, I finished The Demon's Lexicon and The Demon's Covenant, and couldn't remember where on earth I'd put The Demon's Surrender--don't you hate it when that happens???--so today I started on White Cat by Holly Black... and inevitably finally located the other book in my car. White Cat kicks off another of my favorite series (The Curse Workers) that I've ordered for my keeper shelf. I've ordered the second book, Red Glove, in paperback, and have requested the latest in the series, Black Heart from the library--I can't afford to buy hardbacks as they cost upward of $40 in New Zealand, so I'll have to wait for the paperback to come out to add that one to my shelves.

And on my TBR pile? Well, aside from a few more I've requested from the library and am eagerly awaiting, which include Kim Harrison's A Perfect Blood, Tessa Dare's A Week To Be Wicked, and Megan McCafferty's Thumped, just one of the books in my horrendously long TBR list is Master of Crows by Grace Draven.

Actually, make that two questions for you:

• What are you reading at the moment? 
• And, what's on your TBR list?

Cheers,

Maree

(Who is eagerly awaiting your responses!)

Darkest Caress Unleashed

My very first paranormal romance is out this week from Carina Press and I'm giving away a copy of it on their blog today. Darkest Caress is the start of a trilogy that blends Celtic and Baltic mythology with some historical facts to create a magical race known as The Empowered. I know it's a departure from my RS releases, but I hope you'll be sucked into my world nonetheless. Stop by Carina's blog today to enter the contest and learn more about the background behind this new series.

Blurb: Two-hundred-year-old Daegan Blackwell is one of the last remaining Empowered, an ancient magical race. Daegan’s duty is to lead and protect his remaining Brethren in the coming war foretold by prophecy. The last thing he expects is to meet the one woman who will either save or destroy him—his destined mate.

Fiercely independent Realtor Olivia Farrell believes darkly handsome Daegan is simply a prospective client. Until she’s attacked by a man with a strange aura—and Daegan fights him off, taking away her pain with just his touch. At first, Olivia refuses to believe she’s part of a magical race, yet mounting evidence and her powerful chemistry with Daegan are too strong to deny.

But as Daegan’s partner, Olivia becomes a target in the battle between good and evil that threatens her life, as well as the very existence of the Empowered. And the only one who can save her is the man claiming to be her destiny…

Posession, Kink and Only Child Syndrome

So not loving the new blogger. But I'm a professional, I'll hike up the big girl skivvys and cope.

I've been reading a lot this month. Not necessarily finishing everything but my credit card is smoking with the sheer volume of ebooks I've downloaded. You see, I read the most when I write the most and since I'm working on Zan the space pirate's story, I've been looking for the hottest erotic romances out there, to put me in the right frame of mind.

And while doing this, I've discovered something. One of the big trends with romance is Alpha male possession toward the heroine. Snarling/growling/shouting "MINE"whenever another man/were creature/ something with a woody strolls by. That happens in erotic romance but then for the sake of kink, the man is willing to share the woman with said well endowed secondary character.

Folks, I just ain't buying it. Well, I did buy it, but I don't believe it. Yes, I understand it's fantasy for the woman but when the credibility leaves so does my involvement in the story. And I think the reason this particular angle leaves me wanting is due to OCS, or Only Child Syndrome.

As an only child, the concept of "Mine" doesn't mean share. EVER. I share worth shit. That's not to say I'm not generous, but that's giving, not sharing. My glass of wine, my chocolate truffle, my man. And I am just not evolved enough to ever even want to share something I cherish. I will actually be insulted if someone who is supposed to cherish me wants to share me for the sake of an orgasm that lasts ten seconds tops. How can I believe your claim of possession when you are willing to lend out the thing you fought so hard to acquire?

There was supposed to be a menage scene in No Limits. Rhys and Zan with Gen. I couldn't bring myself to write it. Instead, I had Rhys push Gen into Zan's arms for one night as punishment for himself, a reminder that he couldn't be what she wanted. Hell, I just wanted to get Zan naked. And it's a hot scene even if I thought my heroine was a faithless skank afterward. But it's Zan, so I try not to judge.

There's supposed to be a M/M/F in No Mercy. Before Zan can get his Happily Ever After he needs to come to terms with what he did to Duffy in the short story The Ranking. And honestly I don't know if I can do it. Duffy might have to die instead to tie up that storyline. How f-ed up is that, that I have an easier time killing off characters than writing menage?

But that's who I am, and you know what? I'm okay with not being evolved. I really am. Because I have Zan. And he's MINE! You can have him when I'm done.

When Free eBooks Go Bad

WHEN FREE E-BOOKS GO BAD by Maree Anderson (for Writers Gone Wild)

Hi y'all,

Have you ever noticed that as soon as something's given away for free, it seems to spur people to react in ways they'd probably wouldn't if they'd paid good money for the product? It's like they suddenly have a... what's a good word to describe this? Maybe a sense of entitlement? By that I mean that even if it was a freebie, if the product doesn't live up to their expectations, they feel compelled to bad-mouth it to the world.

Since I'm an author, it's not a stretch to guess the products I'm referring to here are books. Specifically, eBooks. And even more specifically, eBooks that, for whatever reason, the authors have decided to make into "loss leaders" by offering them to readers via various e-tailers for free.

From my experience, authors usually select a "loss leader" (often the first book in a series) in the hope of encouraging readers to try other books from the same author. We're told offering a free book to potential readers is a good marketing ploy....

Or is it?

What I'm seeing more and more on forums and writing loops lately leads me to believe that offering that book you've slaved over for months--or maybe years--for free can backfire in a big way. I've seen many comments suggesting that if readers pay say, $4.99 for an ebook and then don't like it for whatever reason, they won't go to the trouble of leaving a less-than-complimentary online review. They'll just shrug and take it on the chin. But once a book is offered free, for some reason it becomes a whole 'nother story.

It's like as soon as some people (Wild Readers excluded of course!) see that $0.00 price-tag, they go mad "buying" the kind of stories they'd never usually look at in a million years, in genres they actively loathe with a passion that should only be reserved for consuming chocolate or your favorite alcoholic tipple. And then for some reason I can't yet fathom, these people get totally POed when they don't like what they've "bought", even though it cost them nothing.

Books that have garnered glowing reviews--and by that I mean genuine reviews from genuine readers who were moved enough by a story to log in and leave reviews because they loved the book--suddenly get a slew of 1-star reviews and somewhat scathing comments that'd make even my dead straight hair curl. It's almost as though some people feel its their duty to pull the book apart in a very public manner, and tell the world how much they hated it, solely because they got it for free.

Free books also seem to attract far more than their fair share of the kind of frustrating comments that make it blazingly clear the reader didn't take any notice whatsoever of the blurb and/or the genre of the book. For example, complaining about graphic sex in the story when it's clearly stated in the blurb etc that it's an erotic romance or erotica. Complaining the story is too short, when it's clearly stated to be a novella or short story AND the word count is clearly stated, too. Complaining about the lack of a HEA in what's clearly a series with a three-book arc. Or how about this one--my favorite WTF moment discussed recently on a loop--a reader complaining she bought an incomplete story that cuts off after chapter two... when the "incomplete story" was actually the excerpt from the next book in the series included at the end of the original (and totally complete) story. The mind boggles.

But the thing that floors me the most is hearing about readers on forums talking about how ALL self-published books blow chunks, and they shouldn't be allowed to exist. (They're a lot less polite than that, BTW.) Their solution? They make a point of "buying" free books and returning them as some kind of message to the authors about how much their self-published books suck.

Wow. That takes dedication. Who's got time to do that? Not me. And hey, it was, you know, FREE. So really, what's the big deal?

I appreciate reading honest reviews--everyone's allowed their own opinion. And so long as the reviews aren't all complaining about poor formatting and loads of spelling mistakes and grammar errors throughout, a 1-star review isn't a deal breaker for me. It's not going to stop me from buying a book I like the look of. And I don't know 'bout you, but honestly, if it turns out an eBook I've bought isn't to my taste, then that's tough. I figure I should have read the blurb and the product info page more carefully, perhaps perused the reviews, or even *gasp* used that handy dandy Look Inside the book feature to read a chunk of the book before buying. Okay, yeah: I admit I've got that whole caveat emptor thing going on *g*

Bottom line? For me, doesn't matter if I paid for the eBook or if it's a freebie. If it's not to my taste, the only action I tend to take is to delete the eBook from my eReader and move right on to the next one.

But that's me. And here's the thing: I'm considering making one of my published books a "loss leader". So I'm eager as all heck to get an insight into readers' minds when it comes to free eBooks. And you and I both know I'm such a Speshul Snowflake that I cringe at the prospect of 1-star reviews and people who don't usually read my genre tearing my books apart online because they didn't check out the product page properly and the story didn't meet their expectation. And the mere thought of all those soul-destroying returns just makes me want to howl. (I've only had two returns on Amazon to date, and each time I was gutted.)

• So tell me Wild Readers, what do you think about free books in general?
• Have you ever returned a free book?
• Have you ever written a review for a free book offered as a loss leader?
• Have you ever gone on to buy more books from that author?
• Would you bother writing a review for a free book you took a chance on, and ultimately disliked?
• Am I worrying about nothing, and is this entire post utter nonsense? (A distinct possibility considering I'm still detoxing after all that chocolate I scoffed over Easter *cough* amine challenge *cough*)

Thanking you in advance for your always insightful comments,

Maree

Luke won an Eppie

While I was away in Kauai, I found out some awesome news completely by accident. Through a random tweet I learned that Absolution had won the EPIC Award for best romantic suspense. I was thrilled because it features my favorite hero, who is 50, and I love the reunited lovers theme. Plus I'd been waiting to tell his story for five whole books!

I didn't actually receive official word from EPIC, and nothing's come in the mail for me either, but since I'm up on their website I feel pretty comfortable in saying publicly that I'm the winner :)

Of all the books I've written, Absolution was the quickest and the most painless. From start to submission, I pumped out that 95k work in just over two months. Never before or since has any other book come out so easily for me. I'm convinced it's because I have had an unhealthy crush on Luke.

My next release is a bit of a departure from the norm for me, as it's a paranormal romance. I've got plans for another 2 books in the series, but I'm going to wait and see what the reaction to the first one is like before I think about writing the others. I'm a very practical writer, you see :) (Um, and somehow still kind of thin skinned, despite having a bunch of books beneath my belt).

Darkest Caress has no vamps or shifters of any kind, but instead features a magical race stemming from some of the ancient folklore I learned about while in coastal Lithuania. Who'd have ever thought I'd write a story like that? It releases April 23rd from Carina Press.

Packing for RT

Ever heard the saying, procrastination is like masturbation because you are only screwing yourself? Well, I'm screwing myself right now. I thought I had this all under control. Laundry and packing for me and the kids, who will be staying with relatives while I'm in Chicago. Three bags, no biggie, right?

Wrong-o! Post-Easter the house is in shambles, despite all the spring cleaning I did last week. Candy everywhere, all of which needs to be handled before the ants come marching in. Medications for allergies, asthma, lactose intolerance and the dog's cranberry supplement so she doesn't catch another bladder infection all need to be located. This place is a pit, nothing is where it should be and I'm about ready to tear my hair out.

So instead of doing all the stuff that needs to be done I'm online. Screwing around. And I really don't want to get off. (Pun totally intended.) Two days from now, it'll all be done, the bubs will have what they have and I'll be on a plane. If something is forgotten, no biggie. My best friend always says bring keys, money/credit cards, i.d./ cellphone and charger and medication because anything else can be replaced. It sounds simple, so why am I putting it off?

Because I don't want to pack the bag fifteen times, like do every single trip, looking for an extra inch of space so I can add another belt/dress/pair of shoes. I know that the kids will forget something that will result in twenty seven phone calls and possibly tears. I remember the days when the only thing I needed to fret about was my manicure. Snort, that shallow beeyotch is still in there, rolling her eyes and going, why me?

Honestly, I'm going to be spent before I even get there. Just thinking about it all makes me tired. It's actually kinda like writing a book. The more you think about it, the less you accomplish. The only way to get to the end is to do it. So I'm off like a prom dress, ready to tackle the mess.

Just one more email....