The Hazy Days Memoirs Hitting the Stands

In case you haven't been dead, you might have noticed Gov. "I'm a Gay American" McGreevy making the rounds with his new book. Yes, sordid memoirs are back in the black (were they ever not?) The New York observer has a piece on the lastest in the alcoholic memoirs, writers talking about their A.A. connections. As a person who has dealt with alcoholic friends or family, like everyone else in America, I'm not sure if taking their experiences public is a good thing, a bad thing, or a both thing.

A.A. works because of its anonymity, it's ability to even the playing field, maintaining that all alcoholics are created equal. It's that humility that serves as the keystone in holding up the mental load of a recovering alcoholic. So it seems to me that lowering the veil reduces effectiveness of the program. And how many people now scour AA meetings looking for a good story, or a celebrity autograph? My cynical side says that answer is no something more than zero.

On the other hand, I've read a good number of self-help books. Some self-helpful, some not, but there is value in reading about someone's experiences -- someone that has gone before you. However, at what point does the noise from the memoir set drown out the clear voices of those who have a tale to tell?

Just thinking....

Book Advertising. The Hackiest of the Hack.

Copyranter has a rant on book advertising that is a long on anger and short on content, however, it does raise an interesting question. Does traditional advertising sell books? In New York, you see book ads in the subway, and also at the MTA train stations, which makes a lot of sense to me. I don't pay much attention to book ads in newspapers, however, I do know that when a publisher puts in a print ad in USA Today or NYT, it's a Very Big Deal for the author.

I like the idea of a new concept in book advertising, but I'm not sure how to reach readers. I'm a big believer in book teasers at back of books because I like hearing about new titles. If it's interesting, I'll probably take a look.

I don't think a visual ad like a commercial is much use, however, I do think it would be interesting to hear an author read from their work, or maybe read outtakes from their work. Kind of a spoof on the writing process, and might make the book seem more approachable. I've often thought about trying to do a podcast or MP3 of a reading on my site, but time and fear of recording quality kept me from it, however, maybe I will give it a shot....

Opinions on advertising?

Dear Abby on Romance Novels

Advance from Dear Abby on reading romance novels. I started reading romance novels when I was a kid, and I loved it. I learned a lot of history and an optimistic outlook on life.

Back from Vacation

Just put another book in the DONE column, and I have to tell y'all, I love this book. It's the second of my Blaze trilogy, called Beyond Daring. It's fascinating to me that some books just flow like a river out of me and some are like pulling teeth. However, I've also discovered that there doesn't seem to be a coorelation between what readers think is a great book and when I think a book is easy to write. So, yeah, the one that readers love might be the root canal book. I'm going to be very curious to see how this one does.

I've done some vacation reading, too, and have a couple of really great books to report. I've just discovered Lori Landeland's Moon books, and have really enjoyed the mystery/romance aspect of them. Their werewolf books, but she does it well, in the old Laurell K. Hamilton way (as opposed to the new LKH way, which I don't enjoy as much). I accidentally started out reading Book 3 (Dark Moon), but out of the three I've read, I liked this one the best, and as a bonus, you're not too far out of it if you read them out of order.

Pet Peeve: When they don't properly indicate the ORDER of a series, and since every book that's on the shelves these days is part of a series, it's a real nit with me. I mean, how hard is it to list the books in order? Sorry, off my nit now...

I just read the new Nora. A funny story about how I got the book, went to my local Barnes & Noble on Tuesday the 22nd, and looked under the new releases, looked under Nora in Romance, and found nothing that looked new, other than her hardcover release last month. So I went to the desk and asked the guy, isn't there a new Nora book out today.
"Let me look it up."
Okay, my jaw dropped here. I mean, come on. She's sold more books than anybody else but God. Then he looked up in the online catalog. HUGE mistake. Have you ever looked up Nora in the online catalog? Theres's a million entries. I told the guy, "Don't worry about it." However, he was stubborn and was now determined to figure it out.

Lesson learned. Always know the title of Nora's upcoming books. Of course, the book came out the FOLLOWING Tuesday. Sigh. My life.

I enjoyed the book, but I can already tell that the third book will be my favorite, just because I think that couple is the best. Will read them all and judge.

I always finished Julia London's Highlander in Love (again with the third book in the series). I thought it was great and have the other two on my nightstand, waiting to be read (this time in order).

I think that's all for now! Happy Holidays, and stay dry.

Kathleen