About Books

  • Pretty covers, covers pretty …

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    So today, my editor asked me to send her a description of Gin Blanco, the main character in my new Elemental Assassin series. Along with descriptions of the Pork Pit, the barbecue restaurant where Gin works, and some other big art elements in the book.

    Why, you ask? Because it’s finally time for the artist to start working on the cover for Spider’s Bite, the first book in the series, coming in February 2010. Things are finally starting to happen, and the release date is creeping closer every day. Huzzah!

    I’m especially excited about this because this is the first time I’ve been asked for input on one of my book covers. With the Bigtime books, my editor just sent me the cover and that was pretty much the end of it. Cover done. I didn’t really get any input.

    Of course, I was thrilled with the first two cartoon covers for the Bigtime trade paperbacks. Although I have to say, I wasn’t crazy about the paperback covers for Karma Girl and Hot Mama. The one for Jinx was pretty cool. The others … not so much.

    So today, I sent my editor about five pages of descriptions along with some Web site links and other info for Spider’s Bite. Will my ideas and info be used on the cover? I don’t know. But hey, at least they asked.

    Of course, as soon as I get the cover, I’ll post it here on the blog, in my e-newsletter, and on the Web site. It will probably be a while, though. Maybe June or July. Anyway, I’m excited to see it, and I hope you guys are too! :ww:

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    Amazon and other fails …

    I don’t know if you’ve been following all the talk about Amazon deranking books, but Dear Author and Smart Bitches have some interesting commentary up, as usual, and lots of links to other sites. So go forth and read, if you want.

    Whenever I hear stories about something like this or even horror stories about authors behaving badly, I always wonder what people were thinking. Seriously. Did Amazon think no one was going to notice what they were doing? Did they think the authors and publishers affected wouldn’t complain?

    The same thing goes for authors behaving badly. Yeah, we all get bad reviews and snarky comments. But posting your own snarky comments and arguing with reviewers or telling your fans to attack them or whatever isn’t going to help you any.

    Because someone somewhere is going to find your comments and bad behavior on the World Wide Web and point them out. Other people will see this and blog about it. And then, it’s going to go viral and be everywhere. And then, you’re going to look like the dumbass you are.

    And it’s not just Amazon or authors or folks on the Internet. I work at a newspaper, and you wouldn’t believe the calls we get just for reporting the news. Seriously. I’ve gotten calls about everything from my poor grammar skills (one guy told me I needed to take an English class) to those who wonder why we put so much bad news in the paper. Um, well, because the economy’s in the crapper right now, and it’s hurting a lot of people.

    Sigh. Can’t we all just get along? :rolleyes:

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    ‘Tis done … for now

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    So I finished writing/editing/polishing my young-adult fantasy, Quiver, this weekend. Now, it’s time to send it to my agent to read.

    Quiver word count: 74,000. I’m not quite sure if this is the right length for a YA or not. I’ve been reading some YA lately, and it seems to me like the length varies wildly from book to book. I wonder if maybe Quiver needs to be a little longer — 85,000 words or so. But then again, I didn’t want to bog the story down with needless description. 

    We’ll see what my agent says. She might tell me that the story sucks out loud and that it’s not even the sort of thing editors are buying right now.

    Up next? Well, I think I’m going to write a contemporary romance while my agent reads Quiver and another proposal I’ve sent her. I’ve already got my title in mind — Blackberry Falls.

    I’ve never written a contemp before, but I’ve been wanting to try ever since I read Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas. If you haven’t read Sugar Daddy, do yourself a favor and go out and buy it. Yes, it is that good. 😉

    What about you guys? Anyone working on anything interesting right now? Share in the comments.

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    Just a reminder …

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    That I’ll be doing a Q&A on writing and signing books tonight, April 13, starting at 7 p.m. at the Bristol Public Library in Bristol, Va. The event should last about an hour or so and is part of the library’s celebration of National Library Week, April 12-18.

    Even if you can’t come to my event, I hope you’ll go to your local library this week and check out all the wonderful books and programs that the library has to offer. And be sure to tell your librarians how awesome they are. Because they really do rock.

    Especially you, Super-Librarian Amy! :ww: