HelenKay Dimon

Taking a break from my deadline to let you know…

For those thinking of entering the Brava Novella Contest or who just want to get to know an editor or who are looking for something to do today, Kensington editor Kate Duffy (my editor) is answering questions over at the Fog City Divas Blog.

Also, remember that your Brava Novella Contest entries are due soon. You have plenty of time, but get moving. And, if you miss Kate Duffy at Fog City Divas today, keep in mind that she’s always available to answer questions on the Brava Authors Message Boards.

A guy lies about his book being nonfiction, ticks off Oprah, becomes the poster boy for literary scandal, and is considered a disgrace by most of the publishing and reading world. So, naturally, he gets a new book deal:

James Frey’s BRIGHT SHINY MORNING, to Jonathan Burnham at Harper, for publication in summer 2008, by Eric Simonoff at Janklow & Nesbit (NA).

The Wall Street Journal describes the book like this:

The new book is set in contemporary Los Angeles and tracks the lives of various characters from different backgrounds. These include a male movie star, a Mexican maid, and a homeless man from Venice Beach. Mr. Frey has lived in Southern California and worked as a screenwriter.

There’s an interesting lesson about morality in there somewhere.

I was paging through the newest Sundance catalog. Found something odd…well, something I thought qualified as odd.

You can buy packages of books. I don’t mean specialty books, though the catalog does have those. I mean bundles of books that seemed to have been put together in a “these are books other people should see you reading” sort of way. For example, the As The Sun Wanes & Leaves Fall Reading Collection includes, among others, White Teeth by Zadie Smith and Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. So, for about $100 (plus shipping) you get a bundle of books someone picked for you to read (or display in your house).

Am I the only one who finds this a little strange? Don’t get me wrong, if Sundance ever does a romance novel pack (which it won’t), I want to be in it. I guess I just always assumed people could pick out their own books. Maybe this is an “in case you missed these” thing. No idea.

I just got around to reading the Sunday paper. Kind of sorry I did. The front page of Sunday’s Business section of the San Diego Union Tribune included a story about a vanity publisher. Very frustrating stuff. Frustrating because these unpublished folks were paying this “publisher” $5,700 to get their books in print. This was a scam – of course!!! If you pay someone to publish your book, you are not published. Sorry, but you’re not. Publishers pay you and not vice versa. Really, isn’t that obvious?

For those considering going this route – stop. Also know the following from the article: “publisher” Ed Johnson praised the manuscripts, made all sorts of promises and took the money. Sound familiar? After giving hope, this guy ignored his wannabee authors. One scammed writer’s experience went like this:

…he was promised a preliminary copy of his book for editing review within a month, but several months passed before he received a copy that was riddled with hundreds of misspellings and editing errors.

He complained, but didn’t get his calls returned. Incensed, Wallace drove from Colorado to San Diego in January 2003 to confront Johnson, and was shocked to learn the firm was nothing more than a bedroom-size office in a converted motel.

A woman who worked for this supposed publisher said:

Karstens, a former Martell employee, said Johnson purposely deceived potential clients about the scale of his one-room operation. He used pseudonyms when answering the telephone or in correspondence to potential clients to “make it seem like he had a staff.”

Karstens also said Johnson instructed her to tell clients who telephoned him that he was “on the other side of the building” so they’d think the company was housed in a large facility.

Karstens said she was hired as an office manager. But Johnson soon had her editing manuscripts, a job for which she had no qualifications, she said.

Yeah, the office manager was editing the manuscripts. Not exactly what you want for your $5,700, is it? I know the drive to be published can be extreme. I do. Still, use your common sense and don’t get scammed. Try to get a legitimate publisher interested in your work, accept that it can be a long process and understand that maybe, just maybe, it’s not meant to be.

I’ll end with a quote from Victoria Strauss of Wirter Beware because she says it better than I ever could:

Vanity publishers don’t look for quality – they publish anyone who will pay, according to industry experts. And while they often promise to market and distribute books, such efforts are usually nominal to nonexistent because the firms make their money from the authors, not on book sales…

Uh-huh. What she said.

When the book Forget About It by Caprice Crane arrived in my mailbox, I got excited. The cover is this cool green cover. Loved the bandaid. Liked the idea of a contemporary romantic comedy. Problem was this book deadline of September 15th. Makes it kind of tough to do much other than writing. So, I asked for someone to read and review this one. Rachael stepped up…and did a fabulous job! Here’s her review:

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Jordan Landau wants a do-over. Her life is crap. She’s 25 and has a boyfriend, but he’s a cheater! She has a family but all they do is criticize her. She has a great job but her boss steals all her ideas and takes credit for them. Jordan’s life is going nowhere fast.

After getting into an accident, she realizes this is her opportunity to start over! Jordan decides to FAKE having amnesia and become the assertive person she’s always wanted to be. This will give her the opportunity to dump her cheating boyfriend and stand up to her family and boss.

While faking amnesia, Jordan learns a lot about herself and others that she didn’t know before. Such as how people will lie to your face and try to take advantage of you when they think you have amnesia! Well no one is going to take advantage of the new and improved Jordan. Everything is working out and she couldn’t be happier. Faking amnesia even brings an interesting new man into her life. Out with the old and in with the new! Will Jordan be able to fool everyone with her amnesia or will her lies catch up with her?

FORGET ABOUT IT is a hilarious, fresh new story that will keep you reading all night. I enjoyed the first person narrative which gave the reader a closer look into Jordan’s life and thoughts. The subject matter of the story is so different from any other chick lit book that I’ve read. It was very original and so funny at times. I could see this book turning into a movie. The characters are loveable and will have you rooting for Jordan to have her happy ending. I devoured and inhaled this book in two sittings and would definitely recommend it to fans of romantic comedies.

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What do you think?

Thanks again, Rachael!

I’ve admitted my love of a good book title. A few times this week I checked out a book solely because I saw the title on MySpace.

The first is The Dead Father’s Club by Matt Haig. I admit to being utterly fascinated by this book. The cover says:

A hilarious and touching novel narrated by an eleven-year old boy who is visited by his father’s ghost

Eleven-year-old Philip Noble has a big problem. His dad, who was killed in a car accident, appears as a bloodstained ghost at his own funeral and introduces Philip to the Dead Fathers Club. The club, whose members were all murdered, gathers outside the Castle and Falcon, the local pub that Philip’s family owns and lives above. Philip learns that the person responsible for his father’s death is his Uncle Alan. When Philip realizes that Uncle Alan has designs on his mom and the family pub, Philip decides that something must be done. But avenging his father’s death is a much bigger job than he anticipated, especially when he is caught up by the usual distractions of childhood—a pretty girl, wayward friends, school bullies, and his own self-doubt.

The next is A Gentle Axe by R. N. Norris. A book that uses “gentle” and “axe” in the title begs to be picked up. The publisher says of this one:

Just before Christmas, in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1867, police investigator Porfiry Petrovich faces his most challenging murder case since the events made famous by F. Dostoevsky in the novel Crime and Punishment-a case with disturbing parallels and even darker implications

Atmospheric and tense from its dramatic opening to its shocking climax, The Gentle Axe is a spellbinding historical crime novel, a book that explores the darkest places of the human heart with tremendous energy, empathy, and wit. As lucky as St. Petersburg residents are to have Porfiry Petrovich in public service, we are equally fortunate to have R. N. Morris on hand to chronicle his most challenging case to date.

What do you think? Are you in the mood for some suspense? if so, would you give these a try?

I am in the final few days before a deadline. Yeah, I’m a tad stressed over here. But, when the newest edition of Romantic Times landed in my mailbox this week, I took a few minutes to look it over. Thought I’d share a few highlights (or what I view as highlights):

*Julie Garwood’s new (ten years late, in my view) historical romance Shadow Music will be out in January ‘08. I squealed with joy over this.

*Harlequin Intrigue is expanding the line to include thrillers. These books will have the “thriller” designation on them and come out starting in March ‘08. Editor Denise Zaza says they are “definitely more intense.” Many of the books come from existing Intrigue authors like Ann Voss Peterson, but Kerry Connor’s debut Stranger in the Night will come out in June. I am, shall we say, intrigued. Good move to keep ratcheting up the tension in this line. I like it. Also love the fact a newbie author is in the mix. Very cool.

*Suzanne Brockmann interviewed J.R. Ward - talk about a fangirl dream – about the Brotherhood series. For those ready to know what comes next even though Ward’s newest Lover Unbound just came out…it’s Phury’s book, it’s called Lover Enshrined and it comes out next year. [Feel free to jump up and down with joy]

Even more interesting is the reminder in the interview that J.R. Ward is not an overnight success. She been around writing her butt off and building a following for years. The Brotherhood series hit for her, but she was not born a NY Times bestseller. Always good to remember that. Or, as my editor likes to say to me: “Your writing career is a marathon not a sprint.”

I’m blogging at Access Romance today. The subject is a recent study about men and women and which sex places a higher priority on romance…the answer is not what you think. Come over and say hello.

Also, if you haven’t done so already, check out yesterday’s post here. It’s a joint review of two Avon Red titles by author Darlene Ryan and her husband, Mr. Wonderful. Good stuff.

A few weeks ago, I issued a challenge. With four Avon Red mass market books in my hand, I asked for two volunteers to read two each and gives us some feedback. Several of you volunteered, winners were randomly selected and now we have some comments. In fact, we have a fabulous write-up by author Darlene Ryan and Mr. Wonderful (that would be her husband). They read Cathryn Fox’s Pleasure Control and Leda Swann’s Sugar and Spice and offer both a female and male perspectve on the books. They did an amazing job. Thorough and smart…and how often do we get a male perspective on erotic romance books? Check this out.

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Avon Red—Hot Stuff

When I told one of my friends that I was going to review a couple of books in the new Avon Red line she laughed. A lot. “Those are sexy books,” she said. “You’re not exactly the sexy type. You own more turtlenecks than any other woman on the east coast. You’ve never shown cleavage in public. And the only wild thing you’ve ever done with a guy was that time back in tenth grade when Tom Milne’s mouth had two tongues and yours didn’t have any.”

Okay, so people tend to describe me as organized and practical, not wild and sexy. In my defense, turtlenecks are very slimming and I get cold easily. I don’t show cleavage in public—or anywhere else—because I don’t have any cleavage. And sticking my tongue in Tom Milne’s mouth back in tenth grade is not the wildest thing I’ve ever done with a guy…but it’s close.

No, I’m not the type of woman who would rip a man’s shirt off in wild abandon. I think about things like who’s going to sew all those buttons back on, and if they don’t all get picked up they’re going to clog the vacuum cleaner. But just because I don’t do wild things doesn’t mean I don’t like reading about women who do. The only requirement I have is that the sexy stuff makes sense in the context of the plot. I’m coming to the story willing to set aside my disbelief. I promise not to wonder when the heck does the heroine shave her legs and doesn’t she ever have a fat day and wear granny underpants? All I ask is that the author make all the sex more or less logical. (Yes, I just used sex and logical in the same sentence.)

Both Pleasure Control, by Cathryn Fox, and Sugar and Spice, by Leda Swann, make the sex scenes an integral part of the storyline. Laura Manning and “Wildman” Jay Cutler in Pleasure Control are scientists working on a male libido suppressant. With funding for their project and their careers dependant on their lust-dampening formula, they decide to test the drug on Jay—and use Laura to test him.

Laura and Jay’s story is very sexy, but it’s also very romantic. And I liked the fact that they weren’t kept apart by contrived obstacles or a lack of communication.

Sugar and Spice is a trio of connected short stories which take place at Mrs. Bertram’s Sugar and Spice Health Spa for Married Couples in Victorian Cornwall. Mrs. Bertram’s establishment is a very sexy place. The combination of setting—Mrs. Bertram’s—and three troubled marriages, make all the sexual encounters a believable part of the storylines.

Obsessed is Gwendolyn and Adam’s story and it was my favorite. Gwendolyn is determined to win her husband’s heart by any means, although their problems could have been solved much sooner if they’d just talked to each other.

Lillian and Felix are featured in Enslaved. Felix blames his philandering on his wife’s lack of interest in sex, but he finds out her desire just needs to be properly stirred.

As a sexy, romantic hero Felix didn’t work for me. Although I know Victorian mores are very different from today’s, I didn’t like the scenes where Felix forced his wife into sex, even though she came to enjoy the encounters.

Cora and Gareth’s tale is Exposed and it’s the story with the most graphic sex, including voyeurism, group sex and multiple partners. I think I blushed all the way through this one. (Really.) Gareth may seem like a proper British gentleman, but he has desires that may be a match for his very sensual wife.

If I keep on reading books like these I definitely won’t need all those turtleneck sweaters. Both Pleasure Control and Sugar and Spice are hotter than anything I’ve read before and depending on your taste in sensual, wild reading that can be a good thing.

Mr. Wonderful Has His Say:

Being a noble, loyal, self-sacrificing husband I offered to read both Pleasure Control and Sugar and Spice and weigh in with a guy’s opinion and my opinion is: Nice. Very nice.

I can see the attraction of these books for women—there’s lots of romance along with the sex. The main thing that would attract most men to the stories would be the sex scenes. And they’re well done in both books. Some guys would probably skip over the romantic stuff. [Wife’s note: Big surprise here!]

Cathryn Fox in Pleasure Control was great at building anticipation. [Wife’s note: Aha! So he did read more than the sexy parts.] Does the formula work? Can Laura seduce Jay? And in both books the writers did a good job of creating motivation for all that sex—there was a plot in both books and in the case of Pleasure Control even a bit of a mystery. The three stories in Sugar and Spice are more graphic—voyeurism, bondage, group sex and might even turn some women off.

I probably wouldn’t go out and buy these books, but if my wife did I’d read them and I think a lot of other guys would too.

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Thank you both!! And, extra thanks to Mr. Wonderful for being such a great husband and terrific sport.

I’m over at the Brava Blog talking about my recent book purchases. Stop by and say hello.

In case you’re wondering, I picked up:

*The Royal Mess by MaryJanice Davidson

*Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

*Obsession, Deceit And Really Dark Chocolate by Kyra Davis