So I Went To See Sex And The City 2…

Monday, May 31, 2010
Posted in: Sex and the city

So me and some gal pals went to see Sex and The City 2 on Saturday. We did the whole dressing up bit, I wore a black puffy dress with yellow, red and blue edging, some black leggings (sooo pleased that leggings are back in fashion again) and some rather fabulous red shoes, with a matching DKNY blingy red handbag. I wasn’t purposely channelling an SATC character this time, but the look was probably closer to Carrie, as she has the most eclectic taste of all the ladies.

Of course I’d been hearing some pretty bad reviews of the movie from film critics, but I knew that I’d love it no matter what. And I did.

In this film, Miranda was the fun one, a refreshing change from the norm. Charlotte was a beleaguered parent, trying to cope with two kids and a nanny, Carrie was analysing the years ahead with just her and Big, and Samantha was trying to herbally circumvent the onslaught of the menopause, with some rather hilarious results.

It was a fun romp with amazing clothes, fabulous shoes, and a glam setting. And the odd shot of Samantha getting down and dirty with some good looking bloke.

If you were a Sex And The City fan before, this movie will not disappoint, however if you’re a hater/film critic who’s idea of fun is watching films about the war in Iraq, or somebody who doesn’t enjoy the more frivolous things in life, like shopping for clothes and shoes, this movie will not be your cup of tea, so do us all a favour, and avoid it like the plague.

I loved every minute of it, and Liza Minnelli’s cameo appearance as her botoxed-to -within-an-inch-of-her-life self was priceless.

What did you guys think of the movie?

11 Comments »

And The Winner of American Idol 2010 Is…. Cry…Lee Dewyze???????

Thursday, May 27, 2010
Posted in: American Idol, American Politics

I see that Americans went for the safe and sanitized rocker, Lee Dewyze, for the win. No doubt all the text-happy tweens, pre-menopausal women, and Christian evangelists had a hand in crowning him the winner. Nothing new there then.

I guess I was hoping that voters would choose the winner based on actual talent, rather than on who they’d most like to sleep with.

Listen, I liked Lee, I did, but there was no way he was more talented than Crystal. Even he knew that.

Last year when safe, and sanitized tween-magnet, Kris Allen beat out Adam Lambert, I knew how the script was going to go. Kris would probably die in obscurity, because the people who voted for him probably wouldn’t buy his records, whilst the decidedly unsafe and unpredictable Adam would probably dance amongst the stars. I wasn’t wrong was I? Adam will be Lady Gaga to Kris’s Taylor Swift. One is an American darling who will fade once her fans grow breasts, and the other is an international star, whose stock will continue to rise for a long time to come.

It’s funny how many of the losers have gone on to do better than the actual winners.
Chris Daughtry was on one of the earlier Idol shows with his band, and he didn’t even make it to the semis did he? I’m still convinced that the only reason Kelly Clarkson won was because Americans thought she was the safe choice. Nine seasons gone, and Americans have only gotten it right two times it seems.

I give American Idol one more season without Simon. Simon Cowell is American Idol. It would be like going to see the Beatles without Paul McCartney, and who the fuck wants to do that? (Actually, I wouldn’t want to see them even with McCartney, but that’s beside the point).

Good luck Lee, but I think you know as well as we do that Crystal will outsell you massively. It’s an American Idol tradition these days. At least Crystal wont have to turn into an Idol-Bot, churning out shit music, album after album.

I should be grateful that at least the pretty boy with the girly hair didn’t make it to the final. Now that would have been ridiculous.

14 Comments »

Random Thoughts Of The Day Part 29…

Sunday, May 23, 2010
Posted in: random ramblings

1. I’m far too hot to blog properly.

2. I haven’t read a book in two weeks.

3. I’m back on my annual holiday health kick and I managed to lose a whopping 9lbs this week, bikini here I come, whoop, whoop!

4. Derek Hough from Dancing With The Stars is a creative genius, and I think I have a slight crush on him.

5. Shemar Moore who plays Derek Morgan in Criminal Minds makes me want to squee like a girl.

6. TTG looks hot without his shirt on.

7. Why hasn’t Julia Spencer Fleming released her next Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne novel yet? I don’t want to wait until next bloody year!

8. My garden looks beautiful in this light.

9. I have some of the best female friends ever. Fact.

10. I have a new niece coming in September, and I’m so damned excited!

11. This weekend has been a feast of fun and it’s s shame it’s nearly over.

12. I have no idea what’s been going on in RomLand.

13. It’s the World Cup soon, yay!!! Come on England!!!

10 Comments »

On hypocrisy–and Rachel, formerly from AAR, is at it again…

Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Posted in: Azteclady Speaks, hypocrisy

Jessica, of the most excellent Read, React, Review (formerly, Racy Romance Reviews), posted a couple of links to a kerfuffle involving Dear Author. Since these days I skip more than I read over there, I hadn’t realized that a recent review of Sinful (erotic romance by Charlotte Featherstone) was written by a 15 year old.

I left a couple of comments over at Jessica‘s, but since I’m still thinking about the issue, I’m going to expand a bit here:

Unless there is clear danger–a kid is leaning over a bridge’s handrail and there is no adult keeping an eye on the kid… a kid is hanging upside down from a thin branch three six feet high, and there’s no adult below ready to catch him if the branch breaks… there’s a toddler running on the street and no adult in sight… there’s a barefoot child stepping on grass where you know there are nettles… there’s a bunch of children taunting, pushing, shoving, hitting another child… there are adults abusing a child…–unless the situation is clearly damaging to the child’s well being,

please do not parent other people’s children.

Perhaps I feel strongly about this because a few years back I got taken to task by a group of women–fellow readers, over the now-defunct Suzanne Brockmann board–for allowing my then-fourteen year old to read Linda Howard’s Mr Perfect.

OMG, how dared I! (more…)

42 Comments »

“Women aren’t interested in reading about this.”

Thursday, May 13, 2010
Posted in: Laura Resnick aka Laura Leone

Laura Resnick a.k.a Laura Leone left a very interesting comment on my review of Fallen From Grace. It was such an interesting tale that I’m going to post it on here for you guys to read:

Laura Resnick (a.k.a. Laura Leone) here. How nice to see someone discovering this book!

It was the last romance novel I sold (my fourteenth), and it was VERY hard to find a market for it. The agent I had at the time castigated me for writing the proposal. Other agents whom I approached declined to handle it, telling me that “women aren’t interested in reading about this.” Eight or nine publishing houses turned it down, all of them saying it was “too left of center,” “too wild,” and “too dark,” etc. I believed they were wrong, but I set it aside for about a year while I tried to rethink how to break through that market barrier (and meanwhile kept writing fantasy, which–due to years of having precisely this kind of problem when marketing my romance novels–had by then become my full-time genre).

Then one day a male science fiction and fantasy editor who happened to be temporarily acquiring romance for a small press was chatting with me, and he asked, out of idle curiosity, why I had left romance. And, having recently come off this experience, BOY, did I give him an earful! He was curious and asked to see the book. The upshot was that he loved it and was determined to acquire it; and although I had originally hoped to sell the book to a house capable of much wider distribution, I was by then just so glad to find an editor who was enthused and “got” the book that I was delighted.

This book that EVERY major romance program assured me that romance readers WOULD NOT WANT to read… became a Rita Award finalist in comtemporary single title romance; was named a Desert Island Keeper by AllAboutRomance.com; and was recently listed on DearAuthor.com’s list of the Top 100 Romance Novels.

However, my last two sales in the romance genre, which occurred years apart and only after the books had been rejected everywhere else, were BOTH sales I made to sf/f editors who temporarily happened to be acquiring romance novels for small programs that didn’t last. And I can’t build an audience or making a living that way.

I also tried to sell these same two books (FALLEN FROM GRACE and FEVER DREAMS) to a mid-size romance reprint program about 18 months ago. Not only did the editor reject the books… she actually telephoned me to tell me (at excruciating length) just how bad she thought they were and how sure she was that romance readers would hate them, finding it too much of an “effort” to “wade through” my turgid prose.

Meanwhile, I’m heavily contracted in fantasy, where the only thing editors want from me to that I write faster, because they want to release more of my books. (At the present rate of my fantasy publishers’ demands, I may be able to take a weekend off some time in 2014.) Personally, I think I’m a reasonably good romance writer… but in more than a decade of marketing my books, I never once found a romance editor who thought so. So I’ve been a full-time fantasy writer for quite some time now, and this seems likely to be a permanent situation. I’d -like- to write more romance… but barring a substantial change in how romance editors think of romance fiction, it doesn’t seem very likely to happen; and I am very fortunate to have a lot of commitments in fantasy, a genre I love writing.

However, thanks to new technologies, the out-of-print situation with some of my old romances will soon change. As soon as there’s a let-up in my fantasy writing schedule (currently, I’m coming off one killer deadline and immdeiately entering another), I’ll get these books into affordable e-publishing and POD format. That’s vaguely on my To Do list for this year. Updated information about that will be on my website!

Anyhow, thanks for reading and reviewing this book!

I find it hard to believe that so many romance publishers refused this book. The criticism about it being too left of the centre makes me wonder if the majority of romance publishers at that time had right-wing leanings?

Anyway, I found her story totally fascinating.

30 Comments »

Britain Has A New Prime Minister…

Thursday, May 13, 2010
Posted in: British Politics

Meet Dave (AKA Moonhead). He’s a Conservative.

He has a new best friend, Nick Clegg (AKA Just William), who is the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Dave Cameron didn’t win enough votes to form a majority government, so he has to share with Nick and his cronies. Thus, Britain has a new coalition government. Jesus.

I hope for the sake of the country, that this partnership works. I really do.

13 Comments »

Inglorious Basterds: The. Worst. Movie. Ever.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Posted in: movies

Two and a half hours of my life that I wont be getting back any time soon. I totally agree with Eve. What a shit fucking film. Jesus, talk about fucking overhyped. Urrrrgghhhh!!!!

I’d like to know how many women genuinely enjoyed this piece of shit film? Seriously, I was ready to shoot myself in the head after just twenty minutes.

24 Comments »

Dee Tenorio’s “Tempting The Enemy” Trailer Contest!!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Posted in: Contests

It’s finally here, Dee Tenorio’s fantabulous
“Tempting The Enemy” Trailer Contest!

May 5th-June 10th:
Enter this contest on two fronts–via a blog or twitter!
Winners to be announced June 11th!

Before we get to the rules, how about we get to the trailer?

Like it? Great! Share the trailer and win!

Blog Contest: Post the “Tempting The Enemy” YouTube trailer on your blog and link back to this post for your entry to be counted. Every pingback will be entered for the grand prize random drawing of an ARC of “Tempting The Enemy” from Carina Press and a $75.00(USD) gift card to winner’s choice of one of the following vendors: Apple, iTunes, Amazon, Borders or Barnes & Noble Bookstore.

Twitter Contest: Follow @DeeTenorio and post the following:

Seen the trailer for “Tempting The Enemy” by @DeeTenorio? Check it out: http://bit.ly/biCS9g #GetTempted and win!

All entries from followers with the #GetTempted hash tag & link will be accepted for the random drawing. Grand prize for the Twitter contest is an ARC of “Tempting The Enemy” from Carina Press and a $25.00(USD) gift card from winners choice of either Apple, iTunes, Amazon, Borders or Barnes&Noble Bookstore.

Please note: Winners can only win on one front–meaning you can win the blog prize OR the twitter prize, however entries for both are allowed and encouraged! Enter as many times as you like!

So…are you game?
Dee

No Comments »

With gratitude, Godspeed, Ms Horne.

Monday, May 10, 2010
Posted in: Azteclady Speaks, Gratitude

“I’m me, and I’m like nobody else.”

Amen.

4 Comments »

Stripping: Respectable Profession Or Morally Questionable Job?

Saturday, May 8, 2010
Posted in: Adventures with Blog people

As most of you may have noticed, Jane’s rather light-hearted Romantic Times conference recap got hi-jacked by one of the Mr Romance contestants after he took exception to….. erm….ahh who the fuck knows?

If I’m honest, his story changed so many times that I’m pretty confused about what his actual problem was.

Anyway, this post isn’t really about him.

Blogger, Sidhe Vicious wrote a long and rambling rant, firstly sympathising with Antonio Angeletti’s plight, having been sexually abused by a bunch of “disgusting drunk fat women”. (She swears blind her rant wasn’t aimed at anybody specifically, but we all know how that works.) Admittedly the use of the quote was slightly out of context, but I think you get the gist.

Anyway, she was also incensed about people treating Angeletti like shit, just because he was a stripper. I’m not even sure that holds any water seeing as the readers and commenters were perfectly fine with that other RT contestant, Andrew something-or-other. Maybe because he came across as lucid and rational, who knows?

Sidhe wrote:

Can I just say that I am truly disappointed in the human race today… I feel terrible for all the Mr. Romantic Times contestants, models, strippers, etc. Whether or not these men are paid to be there to entertain in whatever capacity they are, there is no excuse to treat any of them like a piece of meat! Sure, maybe there are 1 or 2 in every bunch who’s actions may invite it, but again, do not judge them all by that one or two individuals actions.

I consider myself pretty liberal-minded about most things, however there are some things that I refuse to be all lily-livered about. And strippers who bitch about being treated like pieces of meat are one of them. (more…)

32 Comments »

Letters From 30 Year Old+ Male Virgins, Part IV…

Friday, May 7, 2010
Posted in: Male virgins

Yet another over thirty year old male virgin writes:

I’m in the exact position of Chris #38. Hilarious how similar our stories are. Although, I have been on several dates.

I basically gave up on women in my 20s for that very reason. I got a late start as it is–only started dating in my mid ’20s. But by that time there was no such thing as ‘dating’, for the females it seemed like some kind of panicked progression on the ladder to marriage/kids that I wanted nothing to do with.

There have been a few close calls, but I could never seal the deal because I was pretty honest about me being a biological dead end.

It’s funny because occasionally I’ll attract some random chick out of the blue but once she finds out about my V-Card status it’s all over. I must be some kind of FREAK! The heroin addict, wife beater, or violent felon you were dating before meeting me was totally normal though. : ) Hilarious–but utterly predictable.

I recently got into shape (used to be really fat) and seem to attract attention from females, but I don’t have that pavlovian response to vagina that would get me to act on these supposed signs I’ve been noticing. Which is why I advise all men to get laid before they’re 20–if you plan on having any kind of passion at all.

Anyway–athiest, mid-30s, childfree virgins unite!

Are women in their twenties truly only using the dating game as a means to an end? Do they all really only want to date just to get married?

16 Comments »

“the practice of listening to opposing views is essential for effective citizenship.”

Thursday, May 6, 2010
Posted in: American Politics, Barack Obama

What a terrific speech:

“If you’re someone who only reads the editorial page of The New York Times, try glancing at the page of The Wall Street Journal once in awhile. If you’re a fan of Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, try reading a few columns on the Huffington Post website. It may make your blood boil; your mind may not often be changed. But the practice of listening to opposing views is essential for effective citizenship. So too is the practice of engaging in different experiences with different kinds of people.

For four years at Michigan, you have been exposed to diverse thinkers and scholars; professors and students. Do not narrow that broad intellectual exposure just because you’re leaving here. Instead, seek to expand it. If you grew up in a big city, spend some time with some who grew up in a rural town. If you find yourself only hanging around with people of your race or your ethnicity or your religion, broaden your circle to include people who’ve had different backgrounds and life experiences. You’ll learn what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes, and in the process, you’ll help make this democracy work,” – President Obama.

Via Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish

By the way, IT’S ELECTION DAY IN BRITAIN TODAY!!!

6 Comments »

Write What You Love or Write What Sells?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Posted in: random ramblings, Sharon Cullars Again

After reading Sharon Cullar’s latest post, I was very tempted to send her an email, urging her to get a new name, and to start writing romances featuring just white characters, because her books are obviously just not selling well.

It seems a bit drastic, but the fact is, money is an issue for her right now, so the question I think she needs to ask herself, is, is she happy writing the books of her heart, and not selling, or is she prepared to go the mercenary route and write where the money is.

I know that there are no guarantees, but the fact is, books featuring black or even inter-racial couples do not sell as well as books featuring all white couples.

Her ability to write is not in question here, I’ve read Sharon Cullar’s books, and she’s a fantastic author, however, with the way that books featuring black protags are constantly ignored by Jane Average Reader in RomLand, I think she’d be better off writing Carol Lynne-type books where the all-white protags shag at every given opportunity.

I think that we here in RomLand like to think that good plot development and good editing are essential to every reader, but if that were true, how do you account for people like Jamaica Layne apparently still selling? There are obviously people out there reading and enjoying what she writes.

I also considered perhaps advising Sharon to start writing ménage erotic romance, seeing as they seem to be as popular as ever.

I know that authors should really write what they love, but what if what they love doesn’t sell? It’s ok if money isn’t an issue for said author, but what if, as in Sharon’s case, it is? Should she really be expected to stick to her principles, and keep churning out inter-racial romances, that have a limited audience in the market place?

33 Comments »

KarenS Review: Fallen From Grace By Laura Leone

Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Posted in: Karen's romance novel observations, reviews

So after giving up on the steaming pile of shit that was Laura Kinsale’s Lessons In French, the postman did me a favour and delivered Laura Leone’s Fallen From Grace through my door a few weeks ago. It was very timely indeed.

I first heard about this book via Keishon’s (Avidbookreader) blog quite a few years ago, and I’ve been looking for it ever since. They had a copy at Amazon a while back, but I wasn’t prepared to pay £50 for it at the time.

The last book that I read and loved that featured a prostitute hero was Shelby Reed’s The Fifth Favor, and in fact I felt that there were quite a few similarities in terms of tone and overall feel of the book. As with TFF, the hero was the shining beacon in the book, ably assisted by a fine heroine.

Blurb:

While trying to save her spiralling career, writer Sara Diamond befriends her new next-door neighbour, Ryan Kinsmore. A soft-spoken younger man with charm and good looks, Ryan leads a mysterious double life which becomes increasingly hard for him to conceal from Sara as their intimacy grows.

Even after Ryan falls in love with her and stops pretending to himself that this isn’t wrong, that Sara wont be hurt by their relationship, he can’t give her up or walk away.

As Sara learns the truth about him, trapped in a world of lies, danger and sex-for-hire, Ryan becomes determined to find a way out of the life he was drawn into as a runaway minor, and equally determined to rescue a street kid whom he finds falling into the same traps which once caught him. But Ryan’s secret life is lived in a ruthless world which wont easily let him go. Having fallen so far from grace, can he find his way back?

(more…)

11 Comments »

Been Around The Blogs – On Beauty, The Misery of Not Selling, & Surviving George Bush …

Monday, May 3, 2010
Posted in: Been around the blogs

My Google Reader has been out of control of late, and I’ve been pretending that the posts on there will just read themselves. Not happening. Anyway here are some of the more noteworthy blog posts.

First off, Stacy has a really touching post on her blog entitled: We Are Our Own Worst Enemy:

She starts:

I have to rant a little here, about how frustrating it is to see beautiful, successful women like Kate Hudson having plastic surgery. Kate is a little bit of the kind of woman I wish I was (only a little, mind you). I was always envious of her vivacious personality, her cute looks, her ability to attract people to her. I’m so the opposite, so people who are so alive and full of energy intrigue me. I was disappointed when I saw these pictures because I really thought she was happier with herself. I guess that’s what Hollywood can do to you. Give the most well-adjusted person low self-esteem.

The part that really touched me was this bit: (more…)

2 Comments »

Latest Filings In The Christina Brashear v EC Law Suit…

Monday, May 3, 2010
Posted in: E-publishers at war, Elloras Cave

These are public documents, but they do make for interesting reading:

Motion for Reconsideration
Plaintiff’s Response

After the initial court appearances, it seems that EC have failed over and over again to show up to court, but they seem to be arguing that default judgements shouldn’t have been made without giving them time to respond, despite their lack of attendance.

Christina Brashear is also trying to claim money for Tina Engler not paying her the “value of her shares of stock, her pro rata shareholder distributions or her personal income tax liability attributable to her percentage interest in Elloras Cave reported in tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service.”

According to EC however, she “relinquished her “rights” to salary distributions from EC when she engaged in conduct that was detrimental to Elloras Cave“, conduct for which she was sacked.

Brashear is also trying to claim for breach of fiduciary duty against EC for depriving her of all EC related income. EC of course dispute this, by claiming that Brashear had no interest in any of the companies, such as Lady Jaided, Jasmine Jade etc, and was in fact putting all her efforts into Samhain Publishing.

It’s all very complicated, but it seems to me that the only people who are getting anything out of this are the lawyers.

Thanks to you-know-who for sending over the docs.

3 Comments »

Pick pick pick it apart…

Sunday, May 2, 2010
Posted in: Azteclady Speaks, Joss Whedon, Joss Whedon speaks out

As a devoted Whedon fan and as someone who watches all DVD extras with as much–if not more–attention as the actual movie/tv show… I’m tickled to have seen this:

“on sale now”