HelenKay Dimon

My general theory is that if you read 100 books, how good they are will range from meh to great in your basic bell curve shape. Some will fall on the “meh” end of the spectrum and some on the “great” end, but most will be in the good/not bad but forgettable range. That’s certainly been my experience.

In a happy surprise, the books I’ve read lately have been much better than average. When I sit back and try to figure out what sets these books apart from others, I think the difference is that each had a little something that seemed to set them apart from others. And, yeah, the craft part was impressive. For example, my last three reads went like this:

1. The Comeback Kiss by Lani Diane Rich – Premise: A reunion love story. Added twists: A hero who in some ways is decidedly unheroic. Serious subjects handled with intelligence and a respectful lightness. Strengths: Great writing with humor and charm. Impression: The same feeling I had the first time I read Jennifer Crusie in that I wanted to read Rich’s backlist and see what she has coming next.

2. Tall, Dark & Dead by Tate Hallaway – Premise: Witch and a vampire on the run and trying to be who they are while everyone is trying to destroy them. Added twists: A possessed and complex heroine. Very serious subjects delivered in a real and very readable way. Strengths: Great writing with humor and charm. Impression: If this is where paranormal is headed, I’m in.

3. The Spy With the Silver Lining by Wendy Rosnau – Premise: Strong woman with something missing. Added twists: Unusual heroine with a full and not so pretty history. Strengths: Great writing that tackles an it’s-the-end-of-the-world situation on a personal level. Impression: This kick-ass heroine is deeper than just a kick-ass heroine.

Seems to me the ingredients are, of course, great writing as well as a new and different take on the hero or heroine or both. All three of these had main characters who were a bit outside the norm but who were very human. No shallow treatment of issues or people here.

Just an observation. We’ll see how the books go in the next month.

I admit I was skeptical. A few years back at an RWA conference the editors of Silhouette starting talking about a line devoted to kick-ass heroines that did not promise a HEA and did not revolve around a romance. My basic reaction was: are they kidding? It sounded as if the line would amount to book after book of the save-the-world variety. The idea didn’t do much for me. So, I avoided the line (childish, I know). Then about a year ago, I read one. Then another. Over the last year I’ve read quite a few.

Here is the admission: I was wrong. The editors at Silhouette were right. The line has gotten better and better. The heroines are fresh. The plot lines are new and varied. The covers are eye-catching and the writing is strong.

My most recent Bombshell read was The Spy with The Silver Lining by Wendy Rosnau. Loved it. I reviewed it for PBR. The heroine is, as you may have guessed, a spy. Her skill is seduction. She’s been around. She’s complex. She’s conflicted. Again, I loved it.

For those who shy away from category romance but who love romantic adventure, pick one or two of these books up and try them. They may not have whatever “category feel” has kept you away. They are worth a try. Here are some other good ones:

-an accounting heroine in Stephanie Feagan’s Pink Series (the most recent is Run For The Money)
-the Medusa series by Cindy Dees (most recent is The Medusa Game)
-a medical thriller in Olivia Gates’ Radical Cure

Wonder if I’ll have to apologize for scoffing at the new Epic/Everlasting line at some point in the future. Hard to imagine, but I guess it’s possible.
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USA Today has done the groundwork for us. Both critics and authors weigh in with their summer reading choices. Now, be forewarned. Some of these don’t exactly scream “beach read” when you see them. The good news is that other lists will appear over the next week or two in almost every magazine and newspaper. Maybe you will find another list you like if these don’t work for you.

The Authors’ List is actually a list of author favs. I was a bit nervous to discover I’d read all of the books on Stephen King’s list except one. His list looks like this:

•The Ruins by Scott Smith
•18 Seconds by George Shuman
•All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
•Gone by Jonathan Kellerman
•The Black Ice by Michael Connelly
•Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
•361 by Donald E. Westlake
•Billy Budd by Herman Melville

The Critic’s List is a bit eclectic. The lead “beach read” – which I think is code for “girl book” – is Swapping Lives by Jane Green. Here’s the description:

During the summer, you should increase the SPF on your sunscreen — and decrease the wear and tear on your IQ. Swapping Lives is delightfully easy on the brain. It draws on pop culture obsessions such as Desperate Housewives and the mania for switching spouses. Green cleverly creates a scenario in which a wealthy American stay-at-home mom from Connecticut changes places for a month with a single London magazine editor. Amid the upscale brands and designer getups, both women discover truths about their lives. Readers will find themselves pleasantly diverted, with minimal mental exertion.

You can almost hear the waves and smell the sunscreen…

I’ve never been a celebrity memoir gal. For the most part, I don’t care enough about the “real” stories of these people to plunk down $26.00. Not when I can get the juicy details in Star or the National Enquirer by scanning the headlines while waiting in the check-out line…

There are those who would say Barbara Walters is not a celebrity – she’s a reporter. I say: uh-huh, you keep thinking that. This story in the Book Standard about her ditching her $6 million book contract because she thought the advance was too low made me think whether you believe she’s a celebrity or a journalist that maybe, just maybe, she’s lost some perspective. The basic point of the story can be summed up by the first paragraph:

A $6-million advance apparently isn’t enough for Barbara Walters, high priestess of The View and former 20/20 co-anchor. Walters ditched her book contract with Miramax Books and is looking elsewhere to publish her memoir, the New York Post’s Page Six reports today.

I reiterate my earlier statement: uh-huh.

In case you missed it:

Beginning February 2007, Silhouette Intimate Moments is changing its name to Silhouette Romantic Suspense. The books will have new covers, a new length (60,000 – 65,000 words or 240 – 260 manuscript pages) and an even stronger emphasis on romance. For more information, see the guidelines.

With or without the new name and new look, I am betting the following two questions will be asked 600 or 700 times at the RWA conference in Atlanta this July:

1. What is the difference between Harlequin Intrigue and Silhouette Romantic Suspense (formerly Silhouette Intimate Moments)

2. What is the exact percentage of romance to suspense in HI versus SRS.

As much as I would like for these questions to be banished forever I know they won’t be.

I don’t spend a lot of time on the AAR message boards. Honestly, I spend almost zero time on the AAR message boards. Not that I have anything against AAR or message boards, it’s just that I already have 400 ways to procrastinate and ignore deadlines. I really can’t afford to go looking for way number 401.

Having said that, I did pop over yesterday. While reading along on Karen’s site, I came across her entry: Extra, Extra, Laura Lee Guhrke Writes For EC… Sorry, My Mistake.. Being the nosy type, I followed the link and went over to the AAR message boards. The dust-up may be over now (let’s hope), but who knows.

It would appear Laura Lee Guhrke and Jaid Black ( aka Tina Engler and founder of Ellora’s Cave) had a bit of a public tiff. As someone who doesn’t know Guhrke or Black/Engler, one who doesn’t write for EC, one who doesn’t read that much EC and one who doesn’t have a dog in this fight (a terrible saying, I’m sorry), I offer the following for future debates such as these:

1. The General Rule. This one applies to EC arguments and arguments about any other topic you can think of: when you don’t know the facts, avoid the argument. When you don’t know the facts and happen to be arguing with those who do, don’t just avoid the argument – run from it.

2. When arguing about the success and money making ability of EC, do not argue with the founder and person in charge of EC then try to pretend you know more than she does. That’s just stupid.

3. When confronted with the fact you do not know what in the hell you are talking about concerning EC, do not challenge the founder and person in charge of EC to post her royalty statements in order to prove that EC is doing as financially well as claimed, all while insisting that you aren’t calling anyone a liar. This goes beyond stupid. And, yes, any way you look at it, asking for proof to back up a point is an implicit way of saying “liar, liar pants on fire.” Ask any 7 year old.

4. Do not get huffy and defensive if you launch the first grenade and someone actually has the sense to pick it up and lob it back at you. The defensive thing is human nature, especially when someone misspells your last name. Believe me, I know about name misspellings. But, you know what, it’s still stupid.

5. Once it is clear to everyone reading along that you have lost the argument and are trying to prove a baseless contention and one about which you have no personal knowledge anyway (even though your comments try to suggest you do), back down. Really, just back down. Continuing to insist your point is the correct one when authors of EC have tried to politely explain that you may have some misinformation (kudos to Kate Douglas, Sylvia Day and Sarah McCarty and the others who tried) defies comprehension. Re-think your debate skills.

6. Never again write on a public message board that earning $60,000 per year writing novellas (about 100 page books) is insignificant. Are you kidding me? The anthology that includes my first novella came out in April, was on the Borders’ Romance Bestseller list for 6 weeks and has been on Bookscan’s Top Romance list for 9 weeks and counting (all thanks to Lori Foster and Erin McCarthy and their amazing fans – thank you again, ladies). The great numbers and being combined in an anthology with a NYT (and everything else) Bestseller and a USA Today Bestseller translates to something more like $6,000 so far. So, writing novellas and earning a steady and consistent $60,000 per year for doing it sounds okay to me. Go visit Brenda Hiatt’s site and get a reality check.

7. And, when having your final say after all of this – concede. Yeah, that’s right, admit defeat and move on with grace. After being told your information and assumptions are wrong, absolutely do not say anything that even remotely goes like this (which, unfortunately, is a direct quote):

“As for EC, $3 million a year in sales IS a drop in the bucket of publishing, and I stand by that statement. It was not meant to be a put-down of EC in any way. As I said, EC may survive, they may grow, but IMO, their growth will be slow. Again, this was not meant to be a put-down. It’s just my view. As for my comment about EC authors being paid next to nothing, I based that conclusion on simple math and their channels of distribution. There are over 200 EC authors listed on their site and $3 million in sales last year. That means that on average EC authors make $5800 a year.”

8. Which leads to a point on the romance industry: Know what’s happening out there in your genre and others. Pick up a newspaper, watch the market trends or get a subscription to PW. Despite my limited experience with EC, I know what’s happening there and how impressive it is. Just like I know inspirationals and erotica are hot now even though I don’t write either. Just like I know about Silhouette Nocturne and Epic even though I don’t write category romance. Just like I know about the American Title contest over at Dorchester even though I’m not published with Dorchester and am not looking for this type of opportunity.

This is why I try to stay off message boards. Makes me crazed.

Technically, this doesn’t really relate to anything, but I thought it was funny (ie, too stupid to believe).

Eric Schlosser’s 2001 bestseller Fast Food Nation has been made into a movie with Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Bobby Cannavale and Avril Lavigne. The idea behind the book is to let us know what we’re eating when we eat crap. In other words, if you’re a McDonald’s fan, you might want to skip this one.

[Note: that was not the stupid part]

Well, as you might imagine, McDonald’s and its fast food bretheren are not happy. The Book Standard says:

In response to the books and film, McDonald’s has been working on a public relations campaign that focuses on the healthy items on the menu, like salads and healthier options, like fresh apple slices and juice or milk to drink rather than soda, in Happy Meals. Meanwhile, another group has launched a website called BestFoodNation.com, which praises the safety and quality of beef, potato and milk products produced in the United States.

[That was the stupid part in case you missed it]

No offense to the good people of this nation, but if we aren’t smart enough to know having a hamburger, french fries and a shake every single day is a bad thing then we’re idiots. No offense to the PR people in charge of changing the image of fast food, but praising the quality of beef, potatoes and milk is pure silliness.

Let’s all be informed, yes. But let’s also take some personal responsibility. No one forces the fast food in your mouth. Eat it or don’t – who cares. But, by all that is holy and good on this planet, please let’s stop pretending fast food isn’t really that unhealthy after all. It’s bad for you. You shouldn’t need a book to tell you that or be dumb enough to be swayed by commericals put out by said fast food chains professing the opposite.

Told you this didn’t relate to anything. Just felt like having a little rant on how stupid this is.

Publishers Marketplace noted this sale yesterday:

NON-FICTION: HEALTH
Oprah Winfrey and trainer Bob Greene’s fitness book, to Simon & Schuster, for publication in January 2007, in what the NY Post speculates as the biggest non-fiction deal ever.

And this one:

NON-FICTION: TRUE CRIME
People magazine writer Frank Swertlow’s WE, THE JURY: Deciding Scott Peterson’s Fate, written with seven members of the Peterson trial jury, to Michael Viner at Phoenix Books, for publication in fall 2006.

Hard to know which one of those deals scares me more. Jurors getting book deals – yeah, that’s not a good thing in my view. K ind of tips the scales of justice in a funny way. Not funny ha-ha, more like conflict of interest, bad taste and inappropriate funny. Not good at all.

Oprah getting a huge book deal…well, that just strikes me as cosmic injustice. Does the phrase “spread the wealth” not mean anything?

BEA is over. RT is over. For those who didn’t go to either, don’t know what BEA and RT are, and/or don’t care…well, today’s just another Monday.

For the “it’s just Monday crowd” I give you this on literary fiction. Historical romance writers complain about a shrinking market. Lest you think literary fiction gets all the review space, there is an essay in the New York Times Book Review as relayed by Publishers Weekly that suggests it ain’t that easy be literary either:

Rachel Donadio’s NYT Book Review essay takes on “the pride and joy of publishing, literary fiction,” which “has always been wonderfully ill suited to the very industry that sustains it. Like an elegant but impoverished aristocrat married to a nouveau riche spouse, it has long been subsidized by mass-market fiction and by nonfiction ripped from the headlines. One supplies the cachet, the others the cash.”

Janklow & Nesbit agent Eric Simonoff says, “It’s a zero-sum game and the publisher knows they can only push so many titles per season. There’s an enormous amount of internal triage that goes on. Rarely is a publisher surprised at the success of a work of fiction.”

But FSG publisher Jonathan Galassi counters, “A lot of preplanned successes turn out to be flops.” Donadio cites Benjamin Kunkel’s NYT-hyped INDECISION, selling 19,000 copies via Bookscan-tracked outlets, as “respectable…but disappointing for such a heavily promoted title.”

And agent Nicole Aragi remarks, “When I started, I used to think it was 80 percent hard work on the part of your author and 20 percent luck. Now, I think it’s 50 percent hard work and 50 percent luck.”

Donadio concludes: “It can become a vicious circle: publishers lament that literary fiction has trouble finding a foothold — then flood the market with overhyped and often derivative work in the hope of meeting some vague idea of reader expectations. In the end, what will rescue literary fiction from the crushing commercial demands of publishing today is exactly what has always sustained it: the individual writer’s voice. There is, after all, a difference between a reader and a market.”

Of course there’s a general pre-supposition that because something is “literary” (and therefore of “quality”) that it’s meant to sell a lot of copies in a short period of time, which literary fiction has rarely done.

Personally, I think the odd cover of Benjamin Kunkel’s Indecision and the vast over-hype didn’t help. There is such a thing as too much hype. But, the point is the grass is not greener over there despite what we want to believe.

There’s a new book out called Gatsby’s Girl by Caroline Preston. The idea of the book is to provide a glimpse into what happened to the (in)famous F. Scott Fitzgerald character Daisy from The Great Gatsby.

For the historical portion of this tale – Fitzgerald based Daisy on his first real-life love, Ginerva. She was 16, the daughter of a wealthy Illinois and attending a boarding school in Connecticut. Fitzgerald was 19, poor, not famous and on break from Princeton. They met at a country club party and carried on a love affair, mostly by mail. We know this because Fitzgerald kept her letters.

So, in the manner of all good love stories, Ginerva decided Fitzgerald was beneath her, threw him over and married a handsome pilot instead. Ginerva, apparently, was rich and shallow. Fitzgerald, we know, later finds Zelda. And, yeah, he was a drunk.

Here’s the fiction part: The novel starts 10 years after Fitzgerald’s death. His son tracks down Ginerva and wants to know the real story of the romance. By this time Ginerva’s life is pathetic and sad. She has followed Fitzgerald’s work hoping to find traces of her and is touched when she sees herself in Fitzgerald’s work. An odd thought for me since Fitzgerald is not always kind to his female characters, but whatever.

This one is based on a real person, but the book is fiction. I’m not sure where real ends and fiction begins. Maybe Ginerva’s life was this bad post-Fitzgerald. Not sure, but it does make for interesting reading and an interesting plot idea. Reminds me in some ways of Mary Reilly, the book by Valerie Martin about the maid to Dr. Jekyll (and Mr. Hyde). That one is all fiction. The book was good – the movie sucked. Stick with the book.