Apparently the Ferfelabat Cindy Cruciger/Meangirls truce is over. I was sent a link yesterday to a site called Snark Underground. Apparently it belongs to Ms Cruciger. I wont bother linking, because I’m sure you guys will find it easy enough.

There were a couple of eye-brow raising posts on there, but this excerpt caught my eye:

“Let’s check in, shall we? Earlier Karen Scott was having dreams about breaking every bone in a baby’s body. Last year we learned that she only has her period once every six months or so and, in addition to making it impossible for her to reproduce (a good thing given that she dreams about abusing babies), when it happens, it is apparently so profound that she requires tent sized undies to contain it.

Not wanting to feel like a freak (I am guessing), she asks her always-willing-to-reveal-material- to-be-used-against-them-later-when-she’s-ragging-it audience if they too switch out the stripper undies for more substantial granny wear when they are in non-reproduction mode.”

Wow…. I’d definitely say the truce was over wouldn’t you?

I was thinking the other day that I haven’t been as adventurous this year in terms of trying many newbie authors.

I used to try at least one new author a week, but just lately, I seem to be sticking to the authors I know and love.

I wasn’t sure what was so different about this year, but then I remembered that a lot of my newbie authors in the past have been at EC, and since EC have stopped producing quality erotic romance, and seem to be doing the whole porn thing, I’ve stopped spending my money there.

My favourite find this year without doubt has definitely been Dorothy Koomson, but I have to say, I haven’t found any other book that managed to move me the way My Best Friend’s Girl did.

So, how have you guys fared so far? Have you found many to-die-for newbies, or like me, have you been sticking to the authors you already know and love?

I’ve always wondered about folks who get fixated on people they supposedly don’t like.

Why would you constantly visit the blog of somebody who A, you don’t like, and B, who equally thinks that you’re the biggest fucktard ever?

Why?

Throughout this whole blogging lark, I’ve made it a rule to never visit the blogs of people who I think need to be put out of my misery. How is it that not everybody feels the same way? Is that not just common sense?

I don’t really get it. What happened to the good old days of obsessing over something or someone for a day or two, then moving on? This is Romanceland for Oprah’s sake. This is how it’s always worked before.

I assume that because I find it difficult enough to post daily, and keep an eye out for interesting tidbits on the blogs that I do like, never mind reading the blogs of people I loathe, that everybody else is the same?

Well, apparently I’m wrong. Some people literally have nothing better to do with their lives than to obsess over people who think they are a little bit loco. AKA, a crumb short of a full loaf.

How do I know this? Because some of these people love spending hours on my blog. And I mean, hours. I find it quite sad, yet at the same time, highly entertaining.

Does that make me a mean girl? *g*

Apparently Channing Crowder, Miami Dolphins linebacker didn’t realise that they speak English in London.

This is what Crowder had to say:

“I couldn’t find London on a map if they didn’t have the names of the countries,” he said.

“I swear to God. I don’t know what nothing is. I know Italy looks like a boot. I learned that.”

Ya see, this is why some Americans seriously need to get a passport and leave the country every now and again.

I wouldn’t mind, but he’s rich, so it’s not like money is an issue.

How does one not know that A, London is in England, and that B, Londoners speak English? Is this not general knowledge?

Caine’s Reckoning is here at last!! Yippee!

“Caine Allen is a hardened Texas Ranger, definitely not the marrying kind. But when he rescues a kidnapped woman and returns her to town, the preacher calls in a favor. One Caine’s honor won’t let him refuse.

From the moment he beds Desi, Caine knows turmoil will follow. Desi might have the face of a temptress, but she also has a will of iron and while she needs his protection, she’s determined that no man will control her again. They establish an uneasy bond, but it still isn’t enough for Caine. He wants all Desi has to offer. He wants her screams, her moans, her demands…everything. Yet there’s still a bounty on Desi’s head and keeping her satisfied is proving easier than keeping her alive.”


Read an excerpt, here, and buy the book here.

Erm… just in case you can’t tell, this is an erotic romance, thus it probably has the power to make you blush like a priest in a whore house. *g*

For Angels Fall winning the Quill Book of The Year Award!

Yay!!!

I have a friend who’s currently going through the adoption process.

Her and her hubby have been trying to adopt a little girl for the last 18 months, and it seems to me that the social workers are constantly coming up with ways to prolong things.

Last week, she was told by the social workers that she couldn’t have the little girl, unless she gave up smoking for at least six months.

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

She’s been trying to get this girl for 18 months, and they tell her this now?

In this country, there are thousands of children looking for adoptive parents, and the fostering and adoption agency are forever bitching and moaning about the lack of people coming forward, willing to take on somebody else’s child.

No fucking wonder, with all the roadblocks they put up.

What gets me mad, is cases like this, and this, where the social workers could have prevented the murder of both of the little girls, had they been doing their jobs properly.

I can’t help but think that being a good person doesn’t get you anywhere. It just allows you to be screwed over more easily by the authorities.

It makes me so damn mad I could spit. Fucking yogurt-knitting-tree-hugging-vegetarian-do-gooders.

I bet they’re the kind of social workers who believe that murderers deserve love too. Yech.

You know, it’s irritating enough finding typos and grammatical errors within the pages of a book, but to find these errors in the synopsis, on the back cover of said book, is simply unforgiveable.

Every time I ignore my prejudices against Genesis Press, and buy one of their books, the fuckers always manage to piss me off.

Had I seen The Color of Trouble at a traditional book store, rather than at Amazon, I would have left it on the shelf for sure. Wanna see what I mean? Check out the blurb:

For seven years Kari Anderson has lived a lie. Because she’s black, she assumes she can’t be prejudice. She ignores her heart’s reminder that she left Jonathan because he was white.

She also ignores the warning bells that tell her she’s with her fiance, doctor Steven Anderson, because her parents approve of the color of his skin. With him, she can have the babies her parents will love, the babies she couldn’t have with Jonathan.

Jonathan Steele finally has what he wanted, a promising career with a good law firm.
Love is the last thing on his mind. He thought he had it once, but spent seven months of his life in jail, betrayed by the woman who claimed she loved him. Kari’s purchase of a timeshare brings Jonathan and his firm back into Kari’s. Can they dismiss their past or will final judgment sentence them to try again.

(By the way, the paragraph breaks above are mine. In actuality, all the paragraphs were squashed together without relief.)

OK, for the people who may have missed the deliberate mistakes, let me talk you through them.

Deliberate Mistake 1 - the heroine wasn’t called Kari Anderson, she was called Kari Thomas. And no, she didn’t marry Steven Anderson.

Deliberate Mistake 2 - It should be prejudiced not ‘prejudice’, which is why the sentence, “Because she’s black, she assumes she can’t be prejudice” didn’t work.

Deliberate Mistake 3 - “Kari’s purchase of a timeshare brings Jonathan and his firm back into Kari’s.” Back into Kari’s what?

Deliberate Crappy Grammar 4 - “Can they dismiss their past or will final judgment sentence them to try again.” I know what the aim here was, but the attempt at cleverness totally fell flat on its face.

Now, if that’s not bad enough, the book itself was littered with shitloads of errors. Errors like: “Mrs Dobis, I’m not in the mood for sparing with you today”.

Sparing? Sparing? SPARING!!?

Good effing grief, the typos in this book made the mess that was Ben’s Wildflower seem like a grammatical masterpiece in comparison.

Luckily for Ms Davis, unlike BW, the book itself was able to hold my interest, and I was able to ignore the shit, and concentrate on the actual story. Having said that, the errors were totally inexcusable, and any editor worth her salt, should have been able to spot them, before the damn book went to print. Sheesh…

Seriously, I am bored with reading. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get up the enthusiasm, nor the energy required to finish a book. I’ve had more DNFs in the past month and a bit, than I’ve ever had. Something has to give.

Even Kleypas’ Mine Til’ Midnight, failed to keep my interest. Not to say that what I read wasn’t good, it’s just that I am going through the worst reading slump ever at the mo.

Anybody empathise with me? Anybody know a cure?

I watched a Panorama documentary the evening before last, about Barack Obama’s attempt at becoming the first black US president. Well, I say black, but actually he’s mixed race. The unfortunate thing for him though, is that people will still see him as black.

He comes across as a charming, articulate and most of all, conscientious man. A man who cares. All perfectly good attributes to have in a potential president, but I’m pretty sure it wont be enough to win over the majority of white America.

A political psychologist had this to say about Obama, and I found it quite interesting:

Obama is “every white person’s fantasy of what they’d like a black man to be.

He’s thoughtful, he’s articulate, he’s handsome, he doesn’t fit any of the stereotypes of the dangerous dark skinned black male that people see every day on television,”

I couldn’t help but think that this stereotype of the “dangerous, dark skinned black male” could also be one of the reasons why the black hero isn’t popular amongst white romance readers. Sorry, I digress…

Apparently, no American president has ever won the election, without getting the Louisiana vote, (erm, or something like that) so the documentary makers went to America’s deep south to see what the people there thought of Obama. The reception was not great. The blacks didn’t know what to make of him, and the whites seemed to be saying hell no. I think one of the people they interviewed actually called him Barack Osama. (Although the guy in question was sporting a shaven head, built like a brick sh*thouse, tattoos everywhere, and looked like he hadn’t washed in quite a while though, so I’m not sure he was ever gonna say anything positive about Obama. Judgmental? Moi? Never in a month of puffs.)

They also interviewed a black Louisianan (is that right?) woman, and she said her vote was going to Hillary.

The documentary makers also visited Jena, in light of Obama’s emphasis on a United America, rather than a black/white America. There was a lot made of the fact that he didn’t attend a rally organised by black campaigners, who were protesting against the imprisonment of The Jena Six. A black man trying to run a race-neutral presidential campaign can’t afford to be seen rallying with other black folks, unfortunately.

Jesse Jackson was there of course, and gave his thoughts on Obama’s style of campaigning. He wasn’t particularly complimentary, and seemed to contradict himself somewhat. Nothing new there.

Obama was described as a man before his time, and others lamented that America had not yet reached the stage, where a black man could run for presidency, and have a realistic shot at winning it. A sentiment shared by a cyber pal who I spoke to recently.

I liked Obama, I really did. I mean what’s not to like? He’s handsome, (don’t tell me that doesn’t make a difference to somebody somewhere) he’s well turned out, and he knows how to give a rousing speech. He struck me as somebody I could sit down with, and have a really good chin-wag.

The problem for Obama as far as I can tell though, seems to be that the black folks think he’s not black enough, and the white folks think he’s too black. Poor sod, he’s got no effing chance. Maybe in a hundred years time he may have had a shot.

Oh by the way, they interviewed a woman from the deep south, who was clearly way below the poverty line, and initially, I felt a great deal of sympathy for her, (as any decent person would) until the documentary makers revealed that she was a single woman who had eight kids. My sympathy died on the spot.

You know what, if you know you can’t afford to feed your kids, then it would have been a good idea to either go on the pill, or make sure you use an effing condom. Or even better, keep your effing legs closed. Having eight kids when you have no way of looking after them, is beyond selfish and irresponsible. Why couldn’t she at least stop at four?

Aaargghhh!