On the upside, I managed to read the quite splendid Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson and Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why.

I’m completely out of the loop with all the Blogland gossip so if there’s any, please feel free to fill me in!

I want to know which authors have been throwing hissy fits, which e-book sites have closed down in mysterious circumstances, and which books people are currently raving about, that no doubt I’ll probably hate with a passion.

Oh, and a huge congrats to Katiebabs for finally achieving her dream of being published.

Catch you all later!

Well, apparently I was not the only one struck by the beauty of these spiders’ silk–look at what’s being exhibited right now at the American Museum of Natural History:

Go on, read more about this amazing, amazing textile–and if you are near New York any time soon, go see it in person!

(Thanks to Dances with Wools for the heads up)

I hope you get crabs and become allergic to them.

Enjoy your chuckle, asshat.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

In other news… still haven’t gotten my reviewing mojo back, and I have no idea when (if? *gulp*) I’ll get it back.

I just started working again–hourly employee in the food service industry. This translates into never having the same schedule two days in a row, let alone week to week. It also means more physical exertion than any other job I’ve ever held (and for less money than I’ve ever earned too).

On the other hand, in an economy where one in ten pers0ns is unemployed, I’m very grateful I’m one of the nine with a job.

According to one of their authors who shall remain nameless, she hasn’t been paid properly for over a year now.

Now either her books aren’t selling well, or there’s a cash flow problem at EC.

Does anybody have any further info?

And actually, when was the last time any of you lot bought a book from EC? I never recognise any of the authors there anymore, apart from the likes of Amarinda Jones who seems to have a book out every week. *g*

Also, my favourite author Carol Lynne doesn’t seem to be as prolific over there as she used to be, I wonder why??

By the way, the pic has nothing to do with this post, I just liked it

This was the old cover – Yep, nothing “dark-skinned” about that lady, even with the bad lighting.

This is the new cover. A definite touch of ethnicity there at least.

What do you guys think?

Via Angela over at Save Black Romance.

I’m very fond of Sharon Cullars’ books, and I was pleased to see that she has a new release at Loose-Id.

Here’s the blurb for Gold Mountain:

In 1865, the hope for gold has spurred many to seek their fortunes in California, the place the Chinese call Gum San or “Gold Mountain.” Amidst this backdrop, Quiang, a new Chinese immigrant, works the dangerous rails hoping to save enough money to send home to his parents. In town, Leah and Clara, two enterprising women from New York, have plans of their own to grow a restaurant and laundry business. However, both plans go awry when Quiang and Leah meet one fateful day. What starts as a budding attraction soon grows into tumultuous desire despite the cultural and language barriers between them.

Initially resistant, Leah succumbs to passion following a tragic loss that leaves her vulnerable and alone. With hopes for a future that now includes Leah, Quiang embarks on a perilous path as he leaves the railroad behind for a more profitable position as a courier for The Tong, henchmen for the dangerous Triad. Quiang soon finds that navigating the secretive life of a courier brings more danger than he has ever faced on the railroad, dangers that not only threaten to tear him and Leah apart, but may cost them their lives as well.

Sounds good, yes? Even for a hysterical.

By the way, it has been duly noted that Loose-Id seem to be trying to release more M/F books lately. Long may it continue. *g*

And seeing as it doesn’t happen very often in Romanceland, I’m gonna give a nod to Loose-Id for their wonderful homage to Black History Month. If you’re a reader who doesn’t mind reading books featuring heroines and heroes who aren’t white, you’ll find some decent stories there.

You can find my review of Sharon Cullar’s book, Again, here.

Angela has a really interesting post up entitled Religion and Interracial Romance. I have an idea that using the word ‘romance’ is a bit of a misnomer though, seeing as her column seems to really be talking about religious influence on interracial relationships, period, rather than the bookish side of things.

She starts:

The black church has a history of being the pillar of the black community, and admittedly, most blacks–that is, blacks who consider themselves Christian–are pretty religious and/or spiritual. I have observed, however, in online conversations between black women and the issue of interracial dating, that a few of the black women conversation who are married or who date white men, have mentioned their lack of religion.

So basically, the more religious you are, the less likely you are to enter into an interracial relationship?

I think this is in keeping with the way I view most organised religions to be honest. No matter how many times I hear the varying equivalents of ‘love thy neighbour’, the fact is, religion is designed to be exclusive. I don’t see many religions telling their congregations to love the differences in people. To me, all the different bibles that I’ve come across seem to be more about loving people like yourself. So if it emerges that religious people are less likely to marry/date outside their race, then I’m afraid, I wouldn’t be surprised whatsoever. I think the Church of England are probably more inclusive than many churches out there, but I’m still sceptical about some of its teachings.

Angela concludes:

After hearing about some crazed pastor who told his mostly black female congregation to stay single rather than marry a white man, I’ve begun to think about the role religion plays in subtly prohibiting interracial relationships.

I know that the average romance reader isn’t really interested in reading IR romances, but at least there are a few of them out there. Angela’s post makes me wonder how many inspirational romances actually feature black/white interracial couples?

How many of you out there who are ardent church-goers are actually involved in an interracial relationship?

For the full post and comments, pop over to Angela’s blog.

Oh look, another author who can’t take criticism.

*Yawn*

The difference is, this author decided to take a potshot at the reviewer’s weight.

Lord.

Here’s the author’s rant in its entirety, crossing a line that no man should ever cross:

Seriously….you’re just going after me on Twitter and Good Reads now after savaging me on DarkScribe?

what is your problem with me?

the typos are LONG gone and the book has all been re-edited. That verison hasn’t been available for almost a year. I sent you that copy a year ago…you JUST got to it.

enough with the typo thing.

and can you not see that your hyper interest in woman studies and equality are tainting your ability to review a book with an even hand?

Jeesh…if you hate my characters because some are sexist or bigots…what kind of books DO you like?

and for every character you mention that is a “weak woman” or ” idiot cop” there are others to balance them out…yet you don’t even mention them.

You are the first person who has absolutely hated my book. That’s fine. If i wrote a horror novel that EVERYONE liked…i’m doing something wrong.

it’s just that your hate is coming from the wrong places.

anyway…you’ve blasted me enough. Shut up and movo on.

I can’t help but wonder if you’re pissed because the character “Janice” in my book…the one you posted an excerpt about:

“…She needed a man. Hell, maybe if she bothered to drop down below 220 lbs she might find one. That, and she’d have to not talk. Basically she’d have to become an anorexic mute and then she could possibly attract the attention of a blind man with no sense of smell.”

…Hits a little too close to home. Don’t take that out on me.

Others on good reads like my book, even with the old typos (see Monster Librarian member on here- they put Under on thier best of 2009 list…up with many published authors.)

Your opinion is fine….but don’t pretend your hate comes purely from my book….your self loathing is creeping in far more than any typos.

but hey…that’s just my opinion.

how about we both just forget about each other, okay?

Wow, he actually went there.

The self-pubbed author was a chap called Brad Quinn. Somebody needs to tell him that implying that the reviewer reacted negatively to his book because she was a fat cow who couldn’t get a man, is so not the best way to win friends and influence people.

Wanker.

Via Katiebabs’ blog.

I’m so excited to read this book, as my regulars will know, I love Dorothy Koomson’s work.

Blurb:

As teenagers Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe were the only witnesses to a tragic event. Amid heated public debate, the two seemingly glamorous teens were dubbed ‘The Ice Cream Girls’ by the press and were dealt with by the courts.

Years later, having led very different lives, Poppy is keen to set the record straight about what really happened, while married mother-of-two Serena wants no one in her present to find out about her past. But some secrets will not stay buried – and if theirs is revealed, everything will become a living hell all over again . . .

Sarah has a review of this book over at her blog. She loved it!

You can read the first chapter here, and buy The Ice-Cream Girls over at The Book Depository.

I have reviews of Dorothy Koomson’s My Best Friend’s Girl, here, The Chocolate Run here, and Marshmallows For Breakfast here.

An anonymous commenter posted on an old thread entitled Romance Authors Can Be Victims Of Domestic Violence Too, yesterday, and I thought it was worth re-posting in its entirety.

“This starts pretty abruptly but its 5 am and I haven’t the energy to re-write the thing, so let me just preface by saying, as to the question of why women try, stay, and put up with abuse, even to the point of defending their abusers, this is my take on some possible (in my opinion) heavy contributing factors.

Abuse is horrific, but people on the outside oversimplify it, bring it down to a moralistic, rational idea of what’s right and what’s wrong, and it should be that simple. It really should. But like everything in life, if wishes were horses, you know?”

Interesting, right?