HelenKay Dimon

On the good news front, Viva Las Bad Boys! won the CAPA Award For Best Anthology of 2006 from The Romance Studio. Wahoo!!! Thanks to Jennifer Yates for the head’s up. And…fellow Brava author Sylvia Day won for Best Historical Erotic Romance for The Stranger I Married. Lori Foster from Kensington also won…oh, just go look!

Enough about me…for now. Here’s a brief look around the book sale world:

*Another Harlequin continuity series:

Elizabeth Bevarly, Wendy Warren, Kristin Gabriel, Joanne Rock, Barbara Dunlop, Kathleen O’Reilly, Maggie Price, Ken Casper, Jenna Mills, Loreth Anne White, Margot Early, and Bethany Campbell’s twelve novels in a new contemporary romance series set against the backdrop of the Kentucky horseracing community, to Marsha Zinberg and Stacy Boyd at Harlequin, in nice deals for Bevarly, by Steven Axelrod at The Axelrod Agency; Warren by Laura Blake Peterson at Curtis Brown; Dunlop by Evan Fogelman at Fogelman, Underwood, Perkins & Ralston; O’Reilly by Kim Whalen at Trident Media Group; Price by Pam Hopkins at Hopkins Literary Associates; and Mills by Roberta Brown at the Roberta Brown Literary Agency.

*Huge congrats for Diana on her new sale:

Author of SECRET SOCIETY GIRL and the upcoming UNDER THE ROSE Diana Peterfreund’s next two books in the series, following an Ivy League senior’s spring break on her society’s private island, and her final challenges in tapping a new class of knights, graduating from college, and maybe even falling in love, again to Kerri Buckley at Bantam Dell, by Deidre Knight at The Knight
Agency (NA).

*Since I read FATAL VISION more times than I care to admit, and since some folks think writers never help or are supportive of other writers, try this:

Joe McGinniss Jr.’s first novel THE DELIVERY MAN, a portrait of today’s lost generation, set in Las Vegas and involving a teenage-girl escort ring, with an unlikely love story at its heart, to Morgan Entrekin at Grove/Atlantic, for publication as an original trade paperback for Black Bat in winter 2008, by Katharine Cluverius at ICM (world).

(Recommended to the house by Bret Easton Ellis, it completes a circle that began when FATAL VISION author Joe McGinniss recommended to his former editor Entrekin the manuscript that became Ellis’s Less Than Zero in 1982.)

*This sale suggests that the television show CRIMINAL MINDS is doing pretty well. I’ve never watched it:

Original novels based on the CBS crime drama CRIMINAL MINDS, about an elite team of FBI profilers who analyze the country’s most twisted criminal minds and anticipate their next moves before they strike again, written by Max Allan Collins, to Kristen Weber at NAL, for publication beginning in November 2007, by Risa Kessler at Paramount.

There are more, but those are some highlights.

I know it’s heresy for a romance author to suggest that Valentine’s Day is a little dumb as a concept but, well, it is. Love isn’t limited to one day. I could go on and on but won’t since rambling always gets me in trouble.

Out of curiosity (and an inability to sleep), I did go searching on B&N for Valentine’s Day titles. You know, just to see. If you’re looking for recent Valentine’s Day reads, you can try these:

A category romance: Prodigal Valentine by Karen Templeton

A romance (non-category): Be My Valentine by Debbie Macomber

A mystery: A Catered Valentine’s Day by Isis Crawford

An erotic thriller: Be Mine by Laura Kasischke

Brenda Novak is a bestselling author and very nice lady. Somehow she finds the time to run an online auction to benefit juvenile diabetes research. Last year I bought a few goodies. There were other items I bid on and lost…booo!

Whether you’re a reader, published author or unpublished writer, there is something here for you. The auction hasn’t started, but Brenda has announced some big-ticket items, including trips, lunches, critiques and a spectacular outing with Kate Duffy. And, if you like books – and I know you do – many books will be up for auction. In fact, the Brava authors have donated more than 25 books for auction baskets. Yay, Brava authors! In addition to donating books, I’ll be giving away a big Hawaii-themed basket of goodies in honor of mu July ‘07 release set on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY.

Check out the Brava Message Board for a note from Brenda. Also check out Brenda’s site for the growing list of auction items.

Every now and then I hear romance readers grumble about their favorite authors writing series books. I don’t mean Harlequin/Silhouette category romance novels. I mean books in a series. Think J.R.Ward’s Lover series – though not many folks complain about J.R. Ward’s books.

The general complaint goes like this: I don’t want to get hooked and then have the book not end so that I have to keep buying to know what happens OR I want something new with new characters from this author. At least, I think those are the arguments. Frankly, if I like the author I’m fine with a series. My only caveat is that each book needs to have an end. I hate when I get to the end and then…fizzle…until four months from now when the next book in the series comes out.

Why am I babbling about this? I was reading through the March edition of RT. Looking at the “mystery, suspense & thriller” reviews, there are a huge number of books from continuing series. Fifteen of the twenty-seven reviewed were designated as “series” books. Others could books with recurring characters as well. I don’t know.

Is this just something more familiar in mystery/suspense? Are readers just more accepting of series in mystery/suspense? Or, is this just newer in romance and readers are getting used to it? Or…? Just got me wondering.

Over the weekend Maureen Dowd had an article in the New York Times about the evils of chick lit. You know the drill. For those who do not possess the NYT secret decoder ring – don’t worry. You’re not missing much. There is nothing new or original here from Dowd. The article basically went like this:

Chick lit has destroyed America, bookstores, publishing, motherhood and apple pie…blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah… Chick lit ruins women, blah, blah, blah… Chick lit is responsible for the dumbing down of women…blah, blah, blah. Went into a bookstore and saw all those pink covers and knew the books were crap… blah, blah, blah. “… chick lit…staged a coup of the literature shelves”…blah, blah, blah. [Yeah, that last one is a partial quote and, yeah, the full quote is just as dumb so don't bother.]

In what I can only assume was an effort to wow us with her cleverness, Dowd said this about the chick lit offerings she saw:

Please do not confuse these books with the love-and-marriage of Jane Austen. These are more like multicultural Harlequin romances. They’re Cinderella bodice rippers — Manolo trippers — girls with long legs, long shiny hair and sparkling eyes stumbling through life,
eating potato skins loaded with bacon bits and melted swiss, drinking cocktails, looking for the right man and dispensing nuggets of hard-won wisdom, like, “Any guy who can watch you hurl Cheez Doodles is a keeper,” and, “You can’t puke in wicker. It leaks.”

There for a second I thought she might not take a shot at romance fiction, but no.

::yawn::

How about this theory about what is really wrong here:

(1) the idea that women are too stupid to make reading choices on their own and, therefore, need to be protected from certain types of literature and certain book covers – next women will want the right to vote…oh, wait;
(2) the belief that only some types of fiction written by women should be deemed worthy or even readable, and that women who write or read anything “inappropriate” are uneducated or unenlightened;
(3) the assumption that book covers with the color pink are automatically a piece off crap;
(4) a general misunderstanding of genres preferred by many women (and popular fiction, in general), such that these genres are often maligned but rarely read by those screeching the loudest in horror;
(5) self-important journalists who, when faced with a looming deadline and not a single intelligent idea about which to write, then turn to the time-honored tradition of blaming the ills of the world on chick lit; and
(6) a general lack of lack of originality practiced by those who write about fiction and women’s role in it.

Blah, blah, blah…

I jumped over to Mrs. Giggles yesterday. She’s always good for…well, a giggle. Seems she read a book and didn’t really care for it. Actually, that might not be strong enough since she gave it a 01. Yes, that’s on a scale of 1 to 100.

Whenever Mrs. Giggles gives a grade below 10, I must go read the review. This was no exception. Now, note that Mrs. Giggles, not HelenKay, gave the 01. I’ve never read the book and have absolutely no idea if it’s any good or not. In other words: don’t get pissy with me since I didn’t give the grade.

The book: The Lady Killer by Samantha Saxon. Mrs. Giggles actually appreciates parts of the book. I know it’s hard to see that in the 01 grade, but she does. What she hates is the whimpering heroine (my term) syndrome. She says this:

But unfortunately, the author declares from the start that Nicole Beauvoire, the Scorpion, is the best assassin England has in its war against France and Ms Saxon will insist on this even when the story is commiting suicide, so to speak, by turning the Best Assassin Ever into a standard heroine who needs rescuing and most of her thinking done for her. In short, if Ms Saxon says that Nicole is a pretty average romance heroine – which is to say, pretty stupid, as usual – Nicole will be an acceptable heroine. But in this story, as the Best Assassin Ever, she is unacceptable.

Some say Mrs. Giggles is too harsh. That may be true, but this part of the review is just funny:

Nicole has just finished killing a Very Bad Guy in Paris, and she runs to a nearby boardinghouse to wait for her contact to get in touch with her. Oh, and she naturally cries buckets and laments about all those bad things she has to do to keep the world safe, so she’s really into pearl-clutching. Then she wakes up from her sleep when she hears a knock on the door. She happily walks to the door without a care, saying “What…” in English when she’s supposed to be a French lady, and gets caught when she realizes that it’s not her contact at the other side of the door. Since our Best Assassin Ever should realize that people will be hunting for the Scorpion, I really don’t know what to say about this horrifyingly stupid situation.

Apologies to Ms. Saxon, but the way Mrs. Giggles phrases that did crack me up.

The Brava Authors are having a Valentine’s Day Contest. Click on the link to check it out.

Also, the Brava Authors are chatting over at Joyfully Reviewed today. We’re everywhere!! I will be one of them – at least for some portion of the day. Don’t worry, there will be others. if you stop by, you won’t be stuck with only me.

So…just click those little link thingies above.

You’ve all heard the strange story about the female married astronaut and mother of three who developed a crush on a fellow male astronaut. The lady was so struck by love and jealousy, that she threw on a diaper, drove for hours and allegedly tried to kill, kidnap, maim or at least annoy another female astronaut viewed as the rival for the male astronaut’s affections. This male astronaut must be something.

I could go on for hours about how stupid this is, about how much psychiatric help the alleged attackers needs, and about the absurdity of going to jail over a guy you’re not even dating. Hours and hours. And, as if the case isn’t odd enough, how ’bout how quickly someone has capitalized on the mess and sold a book about it? Feel free to say “ewwww” here.

The book sale was listed yesterday – what was that, two days after the event happened? Here it is:

NON-FICTION: TRUE CRIME
Novelist and true crime author Diane Fanning tackles the bizarre case of Lisa Nowak, the astronaut accused of attempting to murder a fellow astronaut’s girlfriend because of her obession [sic] with her colleague, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin’s, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (NA).

No offense to Ms. Fanning, but was she present for the attack or something? This sale just seems a tad too quick to pass the Ick Test.

I’m having what can only be described as an identity crisis. Having just moved to a new state, I’ve introduced myself to new neighbors, the people who come to my house to fix stuff, the mailman and others about a thousand times now. Inevitably people ask what I do for a living. It’s mandatory or something. I never ask other people but, for whatever reason, I’m asked that question numerous times each week. In my former life the answer was easy. I’d explain that I was a divorce lawyer and then count the seconds until all conversation around me ceased. Something about the phrase “divorce lawyer” changed the mood at dinner parties. Go figure.

Today when I’m asked the question, I stumble. Yeah, what the hell do I do for a living? The answer isn’t really any harder today than it’s been for the last twelve years. It’s just a different answer – I’m a writer. But, see, I live I California now. Everyone here is pursuing some sort of artistic pursuit. Saying I’m a writer feels awkward. Feels kind of unfinished or not specific enough or something.

Maybe that’s because it’s new. Maybe that’s because I’m not used to it yet. Maybe it’s because people look at you like, “you poor deluded thing” which is the point at which I start rambling about how I’m published. Maybe…well, I don’t really know why I stumble, but I do. So, from here on out, I’m going with mermaid. I’m a professional mermaid. I’m betting that will stop conversation even faster than saying divorce lawyer.

I continue to be a tad confused by the James Patterson multi-person writing thing. According to USA Today, Patterson is set to introduce another co-author this week with the release of Step On A Crack. This is Patterson’s fifth co-author. When asked why he operates this way, he responded:

“They can’t keep up with me.” In fact, he says, “I’m not a fast writer. I struggle through the writing. I’m not a craftsman. I’m OK. I can get it done. But I know it’s not my strength.”

What is, he says, is his “amazing imagination.” He says the importance of his background in advertising and marketing is overblown. “In books or any business, advertising can work for a product once. But it can’t bring back customers if they don’t like it.”

Huh? Does this mean he views himself as an “idea man” and not a writer?

Now, kuddos do go to USA Today for mentioning Nora Roberts in an article about prolific bestselling authors. The mention went like this:

He has six novels coming out this year. Four were written with co-authors, including Step on a Crack (Little, Brown, $27.99), out Tuesday. Patterson also wrote or co-wrote eight novels among the 100 most popular books of 2006, based on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list. Only Nora Roberts, queen of romance, and Dan Brown, best known for The Da Vinci Code, came close, each with four titles in the top 100.

There is a lost point in there somewhere about Patterson having all these co-authors and producing six books and Nora producing four without any help. But, I digress. My main confusion (and, yes, I have much confusion on the subject of Patterson) came from the idea that Patterson runs something called James Patterson Entertainment. Congrats to him for his success. Congrats to his co-authors. But the whole licensing-out-the-name thing seems strange to me.

How Patterson came to pick his newest co-author is kind of an interesting story. Rather than paraphrase, I’ll copy from USA Today:

They met a decade ago when [Michael] Ledwidge was a doorman in Manhattan, trying to publish his first novel. Both had been English majors at Manhattan College in the Bronx (Patterson, class of ‘69; Ledwidge ‘92), and the would-be novelist used that connection to ask Patterson for advice. Patterson helped him find an agent, and in 1998, Ledwidge’s The Narrowback was published by Grove Atlantic. He went on to publish two more crime novels. With three children, he kept his day job and eventually became a telephone repairman.

When Ledwidge asked Patterson to look at a draft of what he hoped would be his fourth novel, Patterson had a counteroffer: Would he be interested in collaborating on a novel Patterson had in mind?

Kind of kills all those stories you hear about how you’re not supposed to slide manuscripts under bathroom stall doors to editors or bother bestselling authors with your ideas. Seems to have worked for this guy. Since Patterson earned something like 30 million dollars last year, I’m guessing he has his finger on the pulse of something.