Anita's comments (member since Feb 28, 2008)

Anita's comments from the Paranormal Romance group.

Regarding the lion discussion for Anita Blake, I don't think it's a continuity issue exactly. I read the LKH blog pretty often (I am a big fan of this series), and she's said that for her, the characters continue to have lives off stage. Anita Blake is from a first person perspective, so if there are developements that Anita does not witness during the time frame of the book, the reader is expected to catch up and fill in the pieces. For Cookie (aka Haven), there were a few hints that made the new Regina make sense (and personally, I don't remember any mention of a human marriage - just the animal mating, which isn't the same in Anita's world). Anita's been struggling with man overload for a while, and it's really getting on JC's nerves. Of course she would do her best to push new men away. Also, she doesn't have to have sex with a guy for him to help her with her inner were - the men can absorb the change from her. Maybe that's how Cookie helps her with her lion.

I went to a Richelle Mead book signing a couple months ago, and she said that she knows the the basic story art of each of her series in advance, including how many books until the end of the series. So eventually, the series will end. She didn't say what the magic number was, though.

I'm glad to hear someone else has trouble with that series. I forced my way through Bitten and got a few chapters into the second book, but then I gave up. I think it was that the author abuses and kills off likeable characters so often - it really bothered me. I like my good guys to prevail with less psychological trauma, I guess. Strangely, I loved all the free short stories the author has posted on her website, but none of those are extremely violent.

I hear announcements on the news regularly that area blood banks are running critically low on supply - and that's without vampires eating a pint or two every day. I'm surprised no one has worked that into a novel as a tension point, even a minor one. Or blood banks could sell diseased blood to the vamps, if they aren't affected by human diseases. Or highly moral vamps could go out of their way to feed from diseased humans, because they don't want to affect the available blood supply. I think something like that would make a good detail in a vampire novel.

Personally, I love Laurel K. Hamilton's books after they transitioned from the books she thought would sell (horror/crime) to what she really wanted to write (erotica with some horror/crime thrown in.) Obviously, there are many people on the other side of this preference. I do wonder, though, why so many people flame her (I'm sure you've all read some of the venom posted about LKH) when they could just stop reading. I've tried L.A. Banks and Kelley Armstong, and I happen to not like their books, but I don't trash talk them - I just avoid the books. It seems just as bad to me to be nasty about someone else's favorite author as it was for LKH to criticize Stephanie Meyers. (I wonder if I will start a hail storm of criticism with this comment!)

I had a silly thought, and I wonder if it's ever made it into a contemporary-setting vampire novel you've read. Has anyone every mentioned out-of-the-closet vampires affecting the Red Cross blood supply?

There was a great article in Entertainment Weekly this week about vampires, and it included interviews with Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Anne Rice, and a couple other big authors. http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/07/31/this-w...

I am a huge fan of LKH, but I have to admit, I thought she sounded unprofessional/a bit snarky when she commented on Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series. I've noticed that LOTS of readers have been introduced to PNR though that series, including me, and I know that I never would have discovered LKH if it weren't for Stephanie Meyers. I love both writers, though for different reasons. I think it's more professional of authors to be respectful of other writers, even the ones they don't like.

I saw Being Human and really liked it - for a first episode, it was well done. If you didn't catch it, set your DVR to tape it and give it a chance. It's on BBC America.

I promise that none of my books will go on ebay ;-) (Though it's possible some of them from authors I've never read will end up in Paperback Swap - it just depends on how much I like them. But won't that be a nice treat for the recipient?)Your book, Virginia, I have faith will be fabulous. Thanks for signing!

If anyone lives near Nashville, you are in luck next year:

RWA's 30th Annual Conference will be held July 28-31, 2010, at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN

2010 "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing
The "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing has become one of the most popular events at RWA's annual conference. More than 500 romance authors participate in this two-hour autographing event, and each year we raise thousands of dollars, which are donated to ProLiteracy Worldwide. Since 1991, RWA has donated more than $600,000 to literacy charities.

The 2010 "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing takes place on Wednesday, July 28, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. This event is open to the public; there is no admittance charge. Since the proceeds from this event are donated to charity, we ask that you purchase books at the event instead of bringing your own books. (RWA accepts cash, check, or credit/debit cards for book purchases at the event.) If you do bring books, please limit yourself to one or two books and consider making a cash donation to the cause.

So I went to this event last night and it was FABULOUS! If RWA comes to your city - go to this! I got there almost an hour early and there were maybe 100 to 200 people ahead of me. As soon as the doors opened, I made a beeline for J.R. Ward, and I was maybe #30 in line, but it took about 45 minutes to make it through that line. This was because J.R. Ward was incredibly kind to each and every person - signing everything they brought, having a short conversation, posing for photos. Super sweet, but if you ever go to a signing by her, plan on being in line for a long time. She looked amazing, by the way, and she wore the dark glasses that she wears on the book jacket for Lover Avenged. The most amazing part of the signing was that after J.R. Ward, I went in search of Kresley Cole, Jeaniene Frost, and Gena Showalter - and there was NO WAIT for any of them! I'm not a big Kelly Armstrong fan, but she didn't have a line either. You could walk right up and chat for quite a while, if you were so inclined. I also got autographed books from Jenna Black, Rachel Vincent, Shiloh Walker, Terri Garey, Virginia Kantra (from this group!), Michelle Rowen, and Kate Douglas. There were several more on my list, but once my bag was full, I cut myself off. The books are donated by the publishers (the proceeds go to charity), so it wasn't much of a surprise that everyone was signing only their most recent books - those are the ones the publishers want to market the most. Kind of a bummer, because I ended up with book 3 or 5 or whatever in several series that I haven't tried yet, and I don't know if I will like them out of order. Another observation: it was touching to see how excited each of the authors got when you told them you wanted them to sign a book for you - so many of them had a sad puppy dog face as people walked down the narrow aisles looking for their favorite authors. You know, the "pick me, pick me!" look. It reminded me of how personally invested each of them is in their book(s), and mirrored how I would feel in their shoes - especially the authors that don't have a huge following yet. Last observation: Personally, I don't like it when an autograph is made out to me - I prefer just the author's signature and maybe a little message - but I got the impression that most authors didn't like signing that way. Anyone had that experience? Thoughts on why? Oh, one more hint: the website says not to bring your own books, but you can, you just have to have the door guards put stickers on them to take them in (so they don't charge you on the way out), so if you go, bring the early books from your favorite authors and have them sign them all. They will only have the most recent for sale, anyway.

I just came across the album "Hombre Lobo" by the Eels. Every song on the entire album is werewolf/vampire themed. Some of them even sound okay. I was amused by how prevelant paranormal is becoming in American culture. Two other songs I've notices recently that could be considered "paranormal themed": Wolves by the Accidental and Summerland by the Woodlands.

I am SO excited that the Romance Writers of America annual convention is happening in Washington, DC this year (where I live), and that their annual autograph night will be on Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 5:30-7:30 pm. There are HUNDREDS of authors signing autographs for charity that night. I was hoping that you all could help me sort through the list to find the PNR authors. I certainly don't know all the good ones, so your help would be extremely appreciated. I'll be sure to tell you all about the ones I get to meet. I'm especially excited about Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter. Here's the full list: http://www.rwanational.org/cs/literacy_a...

So I tried lots of settings and somehow my feed to Twitter disapeared. And the Goodread box on Facebook doesn't seem to update itself - it's stuck on the day I set it up. This is why I'm a late adopter for most technology. I did learn that the Add to my Update Feed seems to only affect the homepage on Goodreads for my own account - not the group email digest. I barely ever notice the Goodreads homepage - does anyone ever use that for anything?

Here's my test from Goodreads to see if checking the Add to my Update Feed box from a group discussion board automatically feeds to Twitter/Facebook. I'll let you know the results.

I set Goodreads to feed to Twitter and Twitter to feed to Facebook. Funny thing, though, I didn't even notice that the feed was happening automatically for a couple days. I don't think I commented on anything lewd those few days, but you never know... Is anyone clear about how to keep your discussions on Goodreads, but your book reviews exporting out to other sites? Frankly, I don't want my Goodread discussions to be public - few of my Facebook friends read this genre anyway. I have a feeling that both exports are controlled by the "Add to my Update Feed" checkbox on Goodread, which might mean that no one in the PNR group receives this message in the email digest(because I left the box unchecked to keep it off of Twitter/Facebook.) I went to settings in Goodreads and unchecked discussion groups, but I'm going to test it both ways.

A thought occurred to me today about the werewolves in the Sookie Stackhouse series, and I was wondering if anyone can remember if this was brought up somewhere in the series. I recall that part of the reason Sookie didn't want to get together with the alpha werewolf dude (I forget his name) was because only the first born of a pair inherits werewolf genes, so the wolves have to be promiscuious to avoid extinction. Did the author ever mention why they don't just set up a sperm bank or do artificial insemination? It seems like an easy solution.

One of the more active members of the Urban Fantasy group has just started a new group for aspiring fantasy writers of all stripes. It's called Modern Fantasy Readers, and Jason says his goal is to encourage discussions that will help his writing craft and that of other writers. If you are a writer interested in any sort of fantasy - including contemporary/urban, you might want to give the group a try.

All of the Sisters of the Moon characters (Witchling, Darkling, Changling). Superficial, shallow, and irritating beyond belief - I HATE those characters. The world is ending all around them and they think it's a great time to talk about clothes. Gag!

Has anyone heard of any of the big name PNR authors doing book tours this year? I know Kenyon and Charlaine Harris both did extensive ones last year, and Stephanie Meyers did a shorter one, but I haven't found evidence of any tours on the author websites this year. Maybe the publishers are cutting funding??