Sarina Bowen's Blog, page 29
June 15, 2019
My friends recommend: Scary books!
Author Carrie Ann Ryan: “Die for Me by Cynthia Eden.”
Die For Me: A Novel of the Valentine Killer
By Cynthia Eden
Amy Daws: “I never read scary books!”
Me: “LOL, well, thank you for playing.”
Julia Kent: “Does Colleen Hoover's Verity count? Because I SCREAMED AT ONE POINT reading that book!”
Verity
By Colleen Hoover
Skye Warren: “The Broken Girls by Simone St. James, such an adorable real-world romance amidst lots of scary stuff. “
The Broken Girls
By Simone St. James
And my pick is the original Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson! It’s both scary and remarkably droll, too! How does she do that?
The Haunting of Hill House (Penguin Classics)
By Shirley Jackson
June 14, 2019
Is this pandering? Or is it progress?
Graphic from Buzzfeed
I was poking around in a marketing forum on FB, as one does. One brand manager posted this graphic and asked for feedback from LGBTQ forum members. His question: Is this pandering? Or is this great representation?
And I love this question so much. Here’s why.
Four years ago when the Supreme Court stunned me by making marriage equality real in this country, I did what many people did that night—I made a rainbow version of my Facebook avatar and surfed the internet for photos of joy and victory. It was a great day.
The only dark spot was when I clicked over to the Facebook post of a Boston sports team. It was either the Patriots (I think it was the Patriots) or the Red Sox. I wish I remembered for sure. But one of those teams had made its logo a rainbow that day. And the ensuing comments were…not good. I mean, there were many joyous comments, but many awful ones. Some said “I don’t know why you have to make my sports team political!” (As if basic human rights were political. But I digress.) And some comments were downright awful.
The sports team left it up there a good long time. I remember that I checked.
So, on that night four years ago, that logo swap struck me as very brave. They really didn’t have to do it. Many fans hated it, and they did it anyway.
Fast forward four years and rainbow June is as ubiquitous as Pinktober. And now a marketer scratches his chin and asks…is this pandering? Are these companies showing support just to get more of my money?
The conversation on this thread went in lots of engaging directions. IE: the companies painting their logos in rainbow stripes should also be doing everything they can to support their LGBTQ employees. Once-a-year lip service isn’t enough. All true!
Yet, as I sit here in full view of some rainbow Starbucks merch, I am struck with joy that that these days the LGBTQ community can be pandered to by corporate America.
The question itself is progress!
To be clear, I’m not really qualified to answer the question of whether it’s pandering or not. (And I never do “Pride Promo” on my books because I don’t like the idea that we should only read diverse things in June.)
But I do enjoy the idea of some small-minded person getting into an Uber with a rainbow sticker or opening his vile Twitter account to find a rainbow splashed across it. I imagine he shrivels a little like the Wicked Witch of the West in a drizzle.
Taste the rainbow, friends. In June and all year long.
June 11, 2019
June 8, 2019
Four Giveaways you need to Enter Right Now
I don’t know how this happened but I’m involved in some fabulous paperback giveaways right now!
It’s an embarrassment of riches.
New on my Instagram feed: one winner gets this whole stack of books, and it’s open internationally! Winner must follow all the authors in the giveaway.
On Instagram: many winners for this one! Someone gets another entire stack of books! AND then there’s a second drawing for one copy of each title.
Interested in going to Apollycon? Avery Flynn is giving away two tickets in celebration of her new book Parental Guidance. You must join her email list and also follow the hockey romance authors in this instagram post.
And, finally, readers in the US and Canada can enter this Goodreads Giveaway for early signed copies of Superfan!
June 6, 2019
New on the Podcast! Melanie Harlow's Undeniable
Well, we did it again. We picked a funny one! This episode is full of humor. I know more about Tanya’s Barbie dolls than I really bargained for! Don’t miss this episode of the Story Bites podcast!
Listen wherever you keep your podcasts, including: Our website | iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | GoogleJune 4, 2019
New Releases: Week of June 2nd
I love new release day! Check out this week’s goodies!
May 28, 2019
Goodreads Giveaway for Superfan!
Enter below, and good luck!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Superfan
by Sarina Bowen
Giveaway ends June 19, 2019.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
May 21, 2019
May 14, 2019
May 11, 2019
On the Podcast: Fluffy
Sometimes you need to turn the page because you have no idea what’s going to happen. Or. Sometimes you need to read onward because you need to see it happen. And that’s the genius of Fluffy’s setup.
Also: Erin Mallon is amazing!
Listen on: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | Google
