Now that the kerfuffle surrounding Suzanne Brockmann’s latest Troubleshooters book, Dark of Night has died down a bit, we thought you might be interested in a discussion Lynne Connolly and I had about the book right after it was released.

The discussion topics are in bold, our comments are separated by our icons.

Must I say that there are SPOILERS??? Because, of course, there are. 

Here’s a “who’s who” in this, our first (and hopefully not our last), DUCKS DO A BOOK entry:
	C-Squared (a.k.a. C2) – Review Duck, blogger, reader, all around good gal.
	Lynne Connolly (a.k.a. LynneC) – author, blogger, reader, chief cook and bottle washer, Jack-of-all-trades, and occasional Review Duck.  Yet another good gal (we have lots of those around here).

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Are the Troubleshooters books romantic suspense or suspense with romantic elements? What about the balance between romance and suspense?

Definitely romantic suspense. No matter how suspense-y, Suz always gives us some romance. DoN was an okay balance but I wish it had been longer.  It all seemed a teeny bit rushed to me.  Maybe because I read it so fast.  :-D

That depends on what you expect, I think. In the latest JR Ward story, the main comment was that she was moving away from romance and toward urban fantasy, and the romance took a backseat to the rest of the story. Some readers liked it. With Brockmann, I can easily see her books in a different section of the bookstore, and doing well there. I like it. It gives her more freedom to develop the storylines and the action. I don’t think every reader can get away with it, but Brockmann does. . But in this book, “Dark of Night,” the romance was enough for me. Sometimes I like lush stories that are all about the romance, but I don’t look to Brockmann for that. . The romances are developed individually, that is, we get how each character feels about the other, but often, time together is limited. I enjoyed that Sophia and Dave had some time to get to know each other as a couple, for example, so they had a basis for their relationship. I want more, and I want to see how they interact more.

—
Were you satisfied with final couplings? Was the relationship development believable??

	Very satisfied, actually.  I never could see Sophia and Decker together so all I can say is YAY that she put Sophia with Dave and Tracy with Decker.  Although a bit more familiarity with Tracy would have helped going into the book.Believable relationship development, too. It isn’t like Tracy and Deck had just met or anything.  They’ve been working together for a while…so maybe they just started paying attention.  And Sophia and Dave have been moving toward their relationship the whole time.
	The HEAs were believable, on the whole, especially since Brockmann doesn’t end the romances in the books, they carry on. It’s a real pleasure to see Sam and Alyssa working out their relationship, and I did enjoy the Nash and Tess thing. She didn’t quite get hold of the BDSM power thing, though she definitely goes some way toward it (by the way, there is no actual BDSM content in this book, although there is a power relationship that echoes writers like Joey W Hill, but I think Hill does it better). This is just the book where the characters get together, and since she plans to write more TS books, we can be pretty sure we’ll see more of them. . I liked the way Sophia and Decker reconciled their relationship, and I think the reasons why they didn’t get together were explained pretty well. If they hadn’t had that scene in the bathroom toward the end, I wouldn’t have been so happy, but they talked it through and yes, I was happy with Sophia and Dave. Especially the Dave side. I actually loved the geek-into-spy thing, it’s a bit like a Cinderella story, and I really loved the conversation between Dave and one of my favorite characters, Wild Card Karmody. Geeks rule!
	Oh, I love Kenny! He’s one of my favorite SEALs. That conversation between him and Dave was tons of fun. LOL
	The Transformation of Tracy from ditzy receptionist to smart, in control woman was a bit problematic for me. I went along with it, because I could just about accept it, but it didn’t quite work. I’m not sure why, perhaps because Tracy hasn’t been explored properly before.
	Yup, Tracy could have been developed a bit more in prior books. I don’t think I had a good sense of her beyond the secretary stereotype…there wasn’t time for any development in DoN, though.

—
Were the villains believable?

	This was a not-so-much for me. The villains seemed a bit too all-knowing. Especially for such a small group. I know a small group of crazies can accomplish a lot but jeez…
	Okay, so one thing does bother me a bit. Most Brockmann stories take place in the US, and yet the bodycount is pretty high. We never hear any kickback about that, as in, who deals with the bodies on the streets? Aren’t there any enquiries or arrests? . What I could do without – the skimming over the realities. I want to know how TS Inc, which is, after all, a private organisation, deals with all the laws it breaks, not least the killings. But there are B and E’s and other transgressions, too. That’s why I made my Dept 57 part of the CIA, consultants and affiliates to the major government security forces, but even then I do dispose of the bodies!
	As far as the skimming over realities goes – I don’t mind so much. How would she ever research super-secret government organizations? And even if she found out exactly how they do their super-secret stuff, either they wouldn’t let her share it OR no one would believe they really run like that anyway. I guess that’s why I never thought about the body count, clean-up, etc. Since it mostly wouldn’t be her characters doing that, I don’t mind it going unexplained. And, really, unless it is something huge, I don’t think those things get a lot of play in the news here. Of course, I’m not a big news watcher so I could be totally wrong. A friend is a federal agent, though (not FBI or anything fancy) and there’s never anything about stuff she’s involved in – at least, nothing that is attributed to her office directly.

—
Fan grrl level?

	Not psycho stalker fan level…just enthusiastic. Seriously, she’s one of my very, very favorite authors.
	Big fan. I have all the books, and they all have to be keepers for me. I was in the minority in enjoying the last book in the series, but it wasn’t because of the Izzy story, as I just plain didn’t like him, and Vinh was a bit off, but the story was kicking.
	Now, moving on – you don’t like Izzy? Awww. I love Izzy! The last book was not my fave (Hot Target is!) – I don’t know what I was expecting for Murphy’s story but that wasn’t it. The Izzy story was the more interesting part, I thought. But the action/suspense part was good.
	What I really, really love and why I’ll read anything Brockmann puts out – Her men. They aren’t alphabetised, they’re not supermen, Brockmann’s heroes are real. I love that she gave Tom Paoletti early male-pattern baldness, I love that not all her men are over six feet tall, perfect of feature and their inner thoughts sound like women. They don’t angst all the time, and articulate that angst perfectly, some of them have a lot of problems articulating how they feel, and some bottle it up. But they are real people, and that is why she can write a large cast of characters and give them all life.
	I am SO completely in agreement that the guys totally make the books – she’s admitted that she struggles a bit with female characters and I think she’s improving but the guys are excellent! Totally, totally how guys are. Good and bad. LOL
	Her deep third point of view. Very few writers can really delve into characters the way Brockmann does. You live and experience with them. Her pov switches are instantly recognisable because they’re another voice. Each character has his or her own way of looking at things. I’d love her, just as an exercise, to describe the exact same event from several points of view. Sometimes she does this in the books, but the views tend to overlap slightly, instead of running parallel.
	The deep POV thing – what you said is almost exactly what I said in my review. Great minds!
	The romances are developed individually, that is, we get how each character feels about the other, but often, time together is limited. I enjoyed that Sophia and Dave had some time to get to know each other as a couple, for example, so they had a basis for their relationship. I want more, and I want to see how they interact more.

—
So, any other topics you think we should discuss?

Can’t think of any. Except what happens next. If the next book concentrates on Sam and Alyssa, I’m all for it. But I want more Jules, and if he’s moving from the FBI to TS, where will he fit in? Maybe share XO duties with Alyssa as TS expands? Jules is such a great character, I love his voice!

Jules is my very, very favorite character! I want a Jules of my own. ) Sam’s my second fave. I wouldn’t mind having a Sam of my own, too. . I’m thinking Jules needs to move to the LA FBI office, at least – good for him, being close to the TS gang, and good for Robin’s career. Or, if Jules does end up with TS, Inc. – maybe he could be their liaison person with miscellaneous government agencies? He can be very diplomatic, after all. Smooth out the ruffled egos, etc. Regardless, any book with Sam and Alyssa is going to have at least a little Jules and Robin – and probably a lot. And maybe LA needs its own branch office of TS. Hmm. Suz will work it all out for him – I think Jules is her fave, too.

—

What about you, readers and fellow Ducks?  What trips your trigger about the Troubleshooters books, or romantic suspense in general?  What IS IT about Brockmann’s books that is just so dadgum readable?  What do you not like about them?

all rules and regs below (as copied from teh nath if I screwed up in my copy and paste skills blame gwen)

1. The book you choose for the challenge must be one that you’ve already read

2. Review must be posted on the last day of the month.

3. At the end of each month, I’ll put up a post for the Re-Read Challenge. Please post the link to your review in the comment section – this way, it’ll be easier to keep track of all reviews so everyone can find them easily and enjoy them

To sweeten the deal, I’ll give away a 10$ gift certificate each month to one challenger. I’ll draw the winner among the challengers who will have posted their review link as requested in rule #3. The gift certificate is to whichever bookstore the winner wants, provided that I can purchase the gift certificate online and send it by e-mail.

*WARNING: if you don’t post your review link in the comment section, you won’t be eligible for the draw. I’m sorry, but this is supposed to be fun I don’t feel like running after all the reviews, especially not knowing at what time you’ll post it. This makes it easier for me

Nifty blog the awesome meljean posted about yesterday

great post for authors to read and might interest some readers: pimpin your book economics of galley

Or why you really don’t need or want that many ARCs or you want your ARCs to be cheaply made and fall apart after a few reads.  Or I would think you would

Mulder: “All this because I… because I didn’t get you a desk?”

Scully: “Not everything is about you, Mulder. This is my life.”

Mulder: “Yes, but it’s m…”

Great eppy…. and oddly fitting… as is the song

For When You Care Enough to Only Obsess Over The Best…

TGTBTU is a reader blog.  We are for readers by readers and everything I do – event, news or feature wise – is for readers just like us. 

TGTBTU is very author friendly or at least I think we are.  If you are an author that doesn’t like to see honest opinions, thinks there should be no such thing as bad reviews, think Average (a.k.a. a “C” grade) is a bad thing or only want sunshine blown up your arse, then this isn’t a good blog for you to hang at. 

So I can’t decide:

Is Deborah Macgillivray, stupid or clueless?  Or is it just me who thinks it is seriously stoopid and nervy for her to show up on a reader blog?  At this point do you think an endorsement from her helps an author or hurts them?  Is it like a cover quote you just ignore, or would you put the book down?  Honestly, I feel bad for Kathryne Kennedy.  

Until told otherwise I am gonna play Pollyanna and believe she doesn’t know that Mac is no reader’s friend, at least not to one who thinks she/he can like or dislike whatever the fuck he/she want.

I think Deborah should add this to her retaliation list: only ‘highly recommend‘ books you really don’t want people to buy.  Sort of like another way to harm the bitches that dare to speak against her work.

I like Dorchester and I happen enjoy a hella lot of their books, but it would be nice to see her dropped. It should be a rule: stalk a reader, lose a contract.  Of course I also think there is no excuse for an author to have reviews removed because it is bad or a low grade.  When I hear an author does it, I don’t buy them again much less endorse their work. For anyone playing the home game, I DO NOT Recommend paying for anything written by Deborah Magcillivray due to her long-term abuse of the Amazon rating system, due to her abuse of her status as a reviewer on Amazon, and due to her harassment of readers who dislike her books.

Maybe that is just me…

by Lynne Connolly, TGTBTU’s Author on the Spot at RT

Wednesday. The day started with bag stuffing. Lots of laughter as we got the Ellora’s Cave bags ready for tonight. Christine McKay, who did a lot of Not Sock Puppets (hint – it doesn’t go on your feet, but it rhymes) kindly did us some duckie puppets – I’ll try to take a photo once I can get my camera to work. Just for us ducks!

After a reasonably civilised lunch with my Samhain editor, the delightful Angie James, back to the decidedly savage Linnea Sinclair in her usual hangout of the Intergalactic Bar and Grille and some fiendish questions on SF romance and the genre. Not one Dr. Who question!Then the ebook signing, a new venture and one that was very successful. Along the same lines as the Saturday signing, authors at tables had the chance to meet and greet, as well as download some seriously cool books. I signed cover flats and postcards for the Dept 57 books, the Pure Wildfire books and the Triple Countess series and met some great people. But by then jetlag had hit and half my brain, what there is left of it, was hovering somewhere across the Atlantic. So to anyone who is still waiting for me to finish one of those sentences, sorry, you’ll have to wait until it’s all caught up, The ebook signing really showed how far ebooks have come since the old Wild West days. Serious investment in quality and cover art, as well as the sheer number of authors signing was a strong reminder to me, anyway of the commitment of everyone involved, especially at the larger houses.

Okay, I made you wait long enough. The Cavemen gave a rousing start to the Ellora’s Cave party by escorting the authors across the stage. Nobody fell over and the costumes, to celebrate the Golden Age of Hollywood theme, were something to see. And when I can snag some pictures (I was walking, not snapping) I’ll try and get them up here. The guys selflessly refused all offers to help them prepare for their routine: a tribute to the people involved in the 9/11 followed by a version of “Greased Lighting” you won’t see in “Grease”. Then everyone headed for the chocolate fountain. I think I’m getting the hang of this RT business!

Lynne Connolly, paranormal and historical romance author, is our author on the scene at the famous and infamous RT Booklover’s covention. Beefcake, Costume Balls, Authors and hundreds of rabid romance fans. Here’s a little article. Read on for Lynne’s first report..

After an exhausting 12 hour journey I finally arrived at the Hilton. It’s still being renovated, but it will be stunning when it’s finished. Our room is beautiful and the staff enormously helpful.

But that isn’t what you want to know about, is it?

Thought not.

Last night I went to the Ellora’s Cave Virgins party and met my fellow – erm – virgins. A nice place to unwind, catch up on gossip (what you think I’m going to spill without teasing a bit?) but as yet everyone is settling in and no definite news about anything. Except that we’re here, registered and ready to rock (and roll).

The Cavemen turned up at the party, a very nice set of men, but don’t you ever think that when you go out on a date, you want to be the pretty one?

All tanned and buffed and ready for action, they refused several kind and thoughtful offers of help oiling up for the stage, though how they’re going to manage that awkward bit in the middle of their backs without help, I’m not sure.

Unless, of course, they help each other.

Now that sounds interesting. I wonder if they sell tickets?

Does being gone count as an update?

Doesn’t really mean much since Karen Scott’s blog is down (again) too and she isn’t going anywhere. No really, sorry NCP no breaking out into song yet. Damn woman I can’t keep up, or is it Torquere wanting to drink on your cold, dead blog?

Whatevs.. No worries though until her site is back up you can find her here.

As for the professional writer… Your guess is as good as mine where you can find her. But, golly gee, nice of the hobby blogger to keep in touch – yes? Someone should maybe take notes? Oh is that mean of me?

Lisa Valdez: A Timeline

After I finished Lover Unbound, the first thing I did was read Lover Revealed again. And then decided to start with Dark Lover – followed by Lover Eternal, Lover Awakened and then yes… Lover Revealed *again*.

To end with a reread of Lover Unbound… 

My planning blows because I was doing historical guest days at the time so my head was so not wrapped around what was going on here at the time. The whole time I was rereading, I was thinking of things to talk about. Themes, characters, actions that made sense or didn’t and just ‘stuff’. The book doesn’t release until September 25 and J.R. Ward will be on blog September 26.

So I figured what the hell… lets discuss the Black Dagger Brotherhood…

We will have a post for each book, then a post on the females, the brothers and finish with a wish list. We can even have prizes. Do keep in mind this is just one of my many random ideas and any books given away will most likely not be signed (for that you need to be around on her guest author day) and with J.R. Ward’s schedule and active message board I doubt she will show up in any of these posts or be on board before September 26.

For all I know it will be just gwen and me talking to ourselves – while wendy laughs at us.

THE RULES:

1. NO SPOILERS FOR LOVER UNBOUND

2. In order to win (whatever I post is the prize for that post) you must leave a valid email address. I will try to keep it open to all but will note if the prize is US only (dude we don’t charge for the stuff we do here or run ads). And will make a note what the prize is in the body of the post – if nothing else some will be ebooks – that I can hopefully give out all over. You can enter by commenting in any “Let’s Chat: Black Dagger Brotherhood” post until 2am CST September 25, 2007 (unless otherwise noted on the post).

3. You can post as many times as you like and will be entered for each post – as long as the comment fits the post (and/or comments in the post). Meaning ‘me too’ every other comment will not count as an entry. AND If there is more than one person who live with you/uses your computer please email me [redwyne @ redwyne . com] – otherwise I will toss the names out when it comes time to draw winners.

4. This is a long way from pollyannaville but be respectful of ALL opinions. We not only respect your right to disagree, we want you to voice your views.

5. We want to discuss the books. We want to discuss the characters. We want to think about their actions and where we see/want/wish them to go. Hell you can just sqqquuueee over your favorite brother if you want but personal discussion or questions of J.R. Ward are not the aim here. You can email her.

6. If you have never read the books, expect spoilers for all of the novels EXCEPT Lover Unbound, V will of course be in the discussions but only up to what we know from the books. We will have reviews going up of the books, as I have only done Dark Lover. We will do one or two on Lover Unbound but closer to the date of release.

We can and will add to the rules as we see fit.

To start… rank ‘em (at the end we can see if you change your mind ). !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In order, starting with your fave ‘overall book’ and work your way through the four released novels. You can give your reasons if you want or wait until we post about the book. Then tell us your most reread book.

Order of the books from my most fave (rating’s aren’t here I will rambling on more in the book posts ):

Sept 2006 March 2007 Sept 2005 March 2006

BUT my most read is:

I love, love, love me some butch/marissa. And Z is such a hard read for me. But man I love him, like a fat kid loveseses cake (tm karens)

So what about you?

**prize awarded for this post will be an unsigned copy of Lover Unbound, to be awarded when I get my copy or when after the 25th date will be announced for the close of contest sometime next week**

This will prolly amuse, oh one or two people other than me but what the hell…

2004 Romance Author Roundtable 

AuthorsOnTheWeb.com brought together 17 romance writers in 2004 to dish on romance. I found it nifty to read and interesting that out of all the authors. They are all still writing and almost all of them are still writing romance. Tres cool. And Jane Feather still doesn’t have a website.

authors were:
Cherry Adair, Mary Balogh, Stephanie Bond, Susan Crandall, Jane Feather, Laura Lee Guhrke, Lisa Jackson, Beverly Jenkins, Nicole Jordan, Lisa Kleypas, Jill Marie Landis, Linda Francis Lee, Judi McCoy, Linda Lael Miller, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Kimberly Raye, and Karen Rose

2003 Romance Author Roundtable

same questions, still nifty, done in 2003… and Candace Camp doesn’t have a website!

Mary Lynn Baxter, Jo Beverley, Shirlee Busbee, Candace Camp, Leslie Carroll, Gaelen Foley, Dorothy Garlock, Rachel Gibson, Judith McNaught, Teresa Medeiros, Brenda Novak, Carly Phillips, Julia Quinn, Barbara Samuel, Christina Skye, and Kerrelyn Sparks

Romance Author Roundtable

The first one was in 2002, maybe you have heard of a few of these guys…

Shana Abé, Lauren Bach, Sherri Browning, Jacquie D’Alessandro, Madeline Hunter, Brenda Joyce, Donna Kauffman, Betina Krahn, Kat Martin, Glenna McReynolds, Nora Roberts, Sharon Robinson, Amanda Scott, Elizabeth Thornton, Sue-Ellen Welfonder, and Susan Wiggs

That is fun. I need to think of some questions and email people. heee

J.R. Ward book signings/discussions/readings for Lover Revealed:

March 10, 2007 @ 2pm to 4pm
The Bookstore-Radcliff

Location:
Radcliff, Kentucky

Details:
they will be talking with readers, autographing books, and giving away door prizes

It was only a matter of time before Godwin’s Law was updated. For those of you not use to flame wars and/or internet stupidity, Godwin’s Law:

As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

god this brings a tear to my eye… oh yes it is a single tear…

If you are not playing the home game. Holly Lisle said something stupid, jane dared to blog her opinion about it, linking to Holly‘s own post, holly had kittens, jane posted regarding a demand for sorry’s, hugs and air kisses, which ended with holly doing one of the worst things in online netiquette.

The comments on holly’s post are golden and filled with wisdom. My personal fave being from pugh7755, who seems to really love bloggers which is shown in his comment

…The more comments they receive the happier they are. A sad excuse for a life really. They are the Al Qaeda of the blog world.

Although Diana Peterfreund’s comment does run a very close second. I guess she wouldn’t blink an eye if someone fell on her land and said something like… ‘wow – you have a dangerous situation here and I was hurt by it. I wonder what a lawyer would say.’

Hmmm well I guess Holly beats pugh because she links to herself, her own words and thoughts and then has no issue with blaming jane for how bookstores (not sellers because she never ever addressed people just the ‘stores’, we won’t even get into how she thinks bricks sell books) misunderstood her post. She says in her comments

These two somehow managed to, and have managed to piss off a number of other booksellers and a whole bunch of potential readers toward me for no reason at all.

So I guess that means not only does holly hate chain bookstores, she thinks booksellers are too stupid to read and form an opinion but can only be spoon fed info from jane.

Oh who knows which is the best comment… they are all comic gold. No worries you can make up your own mind. Really! I do wonder though, when the fuck did jane get all powerful and why the fuck didn’t anyone tell me? I feel so out of the loop. I wonder if this has shown up on fandom wank yet.

Love Jo Goodman’s new format. 

Madeline Hunter’s site looks like it is still a work in progress.

As is Meljean Brook’s site.

Have you seen any new or updated author sites? Have you updated or changed your site recently?

What do you most want to see on an author’s website? I WANT what is next. I don’t care if it is a year away… just have something up. As for extra’s I love tidbits about the books and how the author came about the story. Goodman’s site is grand for this as is Elizabeth Boyle.

recently mentioned site recap:
Jennifer Ashley aka Allyson James

Renee Bernard

Donna Birdsell

Karen Ranney

<— well not me *g*

8. The editors find out what is said about them on the loops and they track it down. Brenda Chin said directly to the whole room – if you are an idiot on the loops or are difficult to work with and she knows about it – she won’t buy your book.

whole post here

I assume number eight is talking about the witch hunt from a while back… I still think it is stupid to ‘bash’ your publisher and such. It would be like me coming here and saying COMPANY X I work for blah blah blah. Then going huh, what? when I get fired.

And of course this is just a blogger saying what Brenda Chin said and not quoting (I think) but ‘an idiot on the loops’ is a touch subjective isn’t it? It reads like you better not be saying anything fucking bad about me or I will get you my pretty and your lil dog too!

If you haven’t read the review, how fucking big is your rock? I would STILL love to hear how that is a bash of the author, editor or publisher but since it isn’t I don’t see that happening any time soon. That is NOT a personal attack on the author. If anything it is a complement that she was able to get a publisher to publish what the reader found to be a shitty book.

Since I don’t believe in being coy unless a man and sex are involved I will spell out what I found.

review for Finders Keepers reviewed by J. Wallace “Voracious Reader” (Tennessee)

Captain Trilby Elliot has parked her rattletrap ship on an uninhabited planet to make repairs when an enemy ‘Sko ship hurtles into the forest nearby. Istead of salvaging useful parts from the crash, she salvages a Z’fharian man, Rhis Vanur, who turns out to be both very useful and very inconvenient. Rhis is useful in that he can help her repair her ship. Rhis is inconvenient in that he insists she change her schedule to return him to his squadron a.s.a.p, which Trilby is not about to do, not when she has a badly needed commission waiting for her at Port Rumor. However, there’s more to Rhis than Trilby knows, and between the two of them they manage to get involved in a huge political scandal involving Trilby’s sleazy former boyfriend, the ‘Sko, and Rhis’s secret identity. And before everything blows up in their faces, they manage to get involved with each other, which complicates matters greatly.Trilby and Rhis are well-rounded characters of the type you don’t consistently encounter in futuristic romances, or any romances, for that matter. They don’t fall fully into romance stereotypes, being more reminiscent of inhabitants of the novels of Anne McCaffrey or Tanya Huff.

More specifically, Trilby is tough, capable and independent and doesn’t need Rhis any more than she needs another hole in her spaceship. This makes it all that much more convincing when she begins to fall in love with him, plus her character doesn’t morph from Space Amazon.com to Space Bimbo once S-E-X enters the picture. Rhis isn’t a foil for Trilby, as they are alike in many ways, which allows them to respect and understand one another. I have few complaints with Trilby and only a minor one with Rhis — he’s such a hard and rather cold man that I wasn’t entirely convinced when he lost his head over Trilby.

The plot is pure, rollicking space opera, with suspense, computer programming, backstabbing, space battles and galaxy-wide threats galore. The secondary characters are neither too few nor too many, and the author doesn’t write any of them in such a way that you can tell she intends you to be intrigued and “demand” the next book. The worldbuilding is satisfactory, if focused on spaceships and technology instead of exotic climes and sexy alien men with psychic powers, but this novel is refreshingly stand-alone. Sometimes you just want to read a good space adventure instead of get trapped in a family saga.

We don’t get to know much about “the enemy,” the ‘Sko, but how much did you get to know the giant insects in the movie Starship Troopers? You didn’t care about the bugs; you just wanted the good guys to shoot bug heads until green goo flew everywhere. Finders Keepers is that kind of good time, without the tragic loss of the most interesting female character prior to the end of the work. A recommended read.

ETA: Has been re-released from Bantam Spectra — track it down!

review for Finders Keepers reviewed by Jody Wallace, Editor, SFROnline

“Captain Trilby Elliot has parked her rattletrap ship on an uninhabited planet to make repairs when an enemy ‘Sko ship hurtles in the forest nearby. But instead of salvaging useful parts from the crash, she salvages a Z’fharian man, Rhis Vanur, who turns out to be both very useful and very inconvenient in his own special way…Trilby and Rhis are well-rounded characters of the type you don’t consistently encounter in futuristic romances, or any romances, for that matter. They do not fall fully into romance stereotypes, being more reminiscent of inhabitants of the novels of, say, Anne McCaffrey or Tanya Huff. They dwell neither in angst-land nor cutesy comedy land, and for me characters I can like and understand will make or break a novel.

More specifically, Trilby is tough, capable and independent, which I just adore in a female protagonist, and doesn’t need Rhis any more than she needs another hole in her spaceship. This makes it all that much more convincing when she begins to fall in love with him…

The plot is pure, rollicking space opera, with suspense, computer programming, backstabbing, space battles and galaxy-wide threats galore… I recommend Finders Keepers… take it to bed with you and stay up late flipping pages.”

–Jody Wallace, Editor, SFROnline

drum roll please…

Ms. Wallace is active in RWA, serves as webmaster for her local RWA chapter as well as secretary, conducts training sessions for contest judges, and advises at Speculative Romance Online, which she edited for four years. In connection with the newsletter’s annual Zircon contest, she captained a speculative romance anthology due out from Zumaya Publishing in 2006.What does that mean?

A. Jody Wallace is J Wallace
B. Someone who really hates Jody Wallace is fucking with her.
C. Someone ripped a review off from a site thinking no one would ever know

It wouldn’t be the first time a review got posted at amazon by someone who didn’t first write the review.

The lesson to be learned here? If you are going to post on the internet make sure your ducks are in a row. Cuz this isn’t vegas and nothing stays secret for long. If you have something to lose, watch your back or stay off the net.

The review didn’t BASH the author as a person. I have no idea where Jody’s Wallace’s name first came from. The fact that she doesn’t list herself as an author or her website at amazon or her reviews on her website means that to me she wasn’t shouting out they were one and the same. And the fact that people kept repeating it WITHOUT facts to back it up or the desire to care if they were even right is a scary fucking thing.

I have nothing to hide. I have never in my 13 years on the internet posted under a sock or as anything other than redwyne/sybil. So I am not scared of being outed myself, I forget who came to the wonderful conclusion on Alison’s blog. If I want to say a book/author/reader/person sucks I will do it as me or I won’t do it.

This shit happened in philedom… over fucking fanfic. One author pissed in someone’s cheerios and they in turn ended up speaking to their boss. I remember wondering how anyone could be so fucking insane and petty.

This is a review. THEY ARE WORDS. Sticks and stones lovey. Even if that review called an author a stupid cunt that would be no reason to hunt someone down, out an alias or screw with someone way of life. Being called names is something you should get the fuck over in grade school. Two wrongs do not make a right and don’t bother with the crap that you were just trying to help a poor stupid newbie.

Call it what you want, wrap it up in shiny happy colors, but this shit stinks. If you had a hand in the witch hunt you should be fucking ashamed of yourself. And if you posted an authors name with no care to if you had your facts straight, you should remember what they say about glass houses and be more careful.

I don’t want to know who deep throat was. Good god what a wonderful support group the romance writers association has to go into its convention with. You can give knives away with ‘RWA 2006′ on them as keepsakes.

I am gonna go finish (reading) my book… stick a fork in me I am done.

In Stop Smoking Crack
anon said

No there’s nothing from Wallace on the Harlequin boards. That was a different scandal. This started from her RWA “friends”.A little cross referencing is a beautiful thang.

Look at the list of members here.

Then here.

And finally here.

Then look at the names of the commenters to labreque’s blog.

See a few names in common?

For extra credit go to the authors web pages & look at their photos.

I don’t really know how all these tie together or why anon would tie them together unless she googled the commenter’s names. And I am too lazy to read the authors sites to piece together their common org’s. So just going off the links given…

Rhonda Nelson

Julie Leto

Kimberly Raye

Alison Kent

Jaci Burton

Debra Webb

Kristen Painter

Evanne Lorraine

Jenna Bayley
***if I recall correctly, this is the chick who pissed off the same crowd at eharl, maybe she has sucked it up since then and is now playing nice… maybe cuz she sold a book

Since I recall her being told she would never eat lunch in this town again maybe it wasn’t her, I really should go look…

must suck to be a wannabewriter and watching things you say with people for fear you could piss them off and they try to wreck your career

Published Members:

Nicole Byrd (Cheryl Zach and Michelle Place)
Kendra Clark
Robyn DeHart
Anna DeStefano
Haley Elizabeth Garwood
Sherrilyn Kenyon/Kinley MacGregor
Janice Lynn
Kate Lyon
Beth Pattillo
Ramona Richards
Dianna Love Snell
Annie Solomon
Marie-Nicole Ryan (Mary Varble)
Debra Webb*****ding ding ding have a winner!
Jody Wallace w/a Ellie Marvel
Phyllis Bourne Williams

GRW

* Anna Adams
* Bridget Anderson
* Peggy Anderson
* Leanne Banks
* Beverly Barton
* Stephanie Bond
* Beverly Brandt (aka Jacey Ford)
* Adrianne Byrd
* Sandra Chastain
* Lynn Collum
* Jacquelyn Cook
* Betty Cothran
* Jan Dale
* Jacquie D’Alessandro
* Desiree Day
* Anna DeStefano
* Lyn Ellis (aka Virginia Ellis)
* Wendy Etherington
* Virginia Farmer
* Jane Forgey (aka Beverly Rae)
* Carla Fredd
* Bonnie Gardner
* Debby Giusti
* Seressia Glass
* Susan Goggins (aka Susan Hardy and Susan MacLand)
* Dorie Graham
* Jenni Grizzle (aka Jennifer St. Giles)
* Carmen Green
* Shannon Harper
* Shirley Harrison
* Karen Hawkins
* Patti Callahan Henry
* Rita Herron
* Joan Hicks
* Cynthia Homberger (aka Cindy Miles)
* Linda Hughes
* Nicole Jordan
* Sherrilyn Kenyon (aka Kinley MacGregor)
* Karen Kendall
* Martha Kirkland
* Nancy Knight
* Jennifer LaBrecque****ding ding ding we have a winner
* Amy Lanz (aka Amy Frazier)
* Jackie Manning
* Deborah Matthews
* Janice Maynard
* Carolyn McSparren
* Tanya Michaels
* Betsy Morgan
* Celeste O. Norfleet
* Mae Nunn
* Elsa Nystrom
* Carol Card Otten (aka C. J. Card and Tena Carlyle)
* Jacqueline Pennington
* Barbara Pierce
* Berta Platas
* Sari Robins
* Sherry Schlereth (aka Sherry Taylor)
* Gloria Dale Skinner
* Haywood Smith
* Jerry Lynn Smith
* Dianna Love Snell
* Donna Sterling
* Lynda Stone
* Pat Van Wie (aka Patricia Lewin)
* Wendy Wax
* Debra Webb****ding ding ding we have a winner
* Ann Howard White
* Karen White
* Pat Worley

Southern Magic
MEET OUR PUBLISHED AUTHORS
Bonnie Gardner – Website
Linda Howard
Martha Krieger aka Allison Knight – Website
Deborah Matthews – Website
Kristen Robinette
Sherry Sands
Lyn Stone – Website
Gayle Wilson – Website
Kelley St. John – Website
Sherrilyn Kenyon – Website
Rhonda Nelson – Website***ding ding ding we have a winner
Kate Lyons – Website
Debra Webb – Website***ding ding ding we have a winner
Lynn Collum – Website
Carolynn Carey – Website
Giselle Carmichael – Website
Kathleen Long – Website
Paula Graves – Website
Jennifer Echols – Website

Soooo that must mean…Sybil has too much time on her hands and really should go finish Bound before sasha goes after her with a big stick. Or maybe edit a review or five I have half done. Or something…

Really I have no clue what it means, you could guess Webb is deepthroat, maybe do a google search or twenty. Honestly don’t know if that is what anon meant or what axe she has to grind with these people.

Me? I like Alison Kent’s books and think she is a swell person. Leto’s book Making Waves was grand, the story in the baseball book not so much but more on that later. One I agree with in theory the other I couldn’t disagree with more but I would buy their books again in a second.

I liked The Player and something I read by Webb but their comments need to be bleached from my head before I can read them again. Raye is one of those authors I have SHIT loads of books from but never read. I still read MJD but did think about making these 7 or so books leave the house for the ubs.

Jaci is one of those people who I think butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. Really, I want to like her books because she just seems so fucking nice. So her being a don’t say anything if you don’t have something nice to say person doesn’t shock me.

The rest I have already forgotten… there are some readers a few so so so fangirlie… a couple of writerwannabes who really should watch their mouths in the company they keep and there could be more authors but I am lazy and only did the ones I knew of or had nifty links I could click.

So what have we learned today? Other than I can cut and paste like no ones business, really have to learn to use my time better and can click on a link with the best of them? Oh and anon has put a shitload of thought into this?

nothing really… well other than I amuse easy but we knew that long ago… oh and I didn’t bother with looking at the pictures cuz I was sure that was just added in the comments as a dig and really I could careless how authors look or don’t look.

Or pass it around so I can see things too! Share people!

hee

sorry… anywho the great and powerful fi posted about this so I had to go read the shit. And I have to agree with fi, which is odd cuz I tend to agree with Alison Kent’s posts.

Oh Look Amazon… again
The review is dumb. But it is an AMAZON review, which are more often than NOT dumb. So whatever.

Does it trash a book, author or publisher? I don’t see it.

If an editor would take that as a dig or trash of said editor, I would say editor needs a thicker skin and new job. Maybe I am not reading enough into the review but I think the line in question is:

“Some may rush out and buy it, and any author who can convince her publisher to run with this deserves the income.”

ok AND?

Sounds more like an author getting her knickers in a twist over a writer (psuedowriterwannabe) doing a bad amazon review because I can’t for the life of me figure out why it deserved attention. Uh so here is more attention…

I do have to say I agree with alison in theory but this review doesn’t trash any editor or publisher. And really the comments just make authors look silly, cliquish and petty.

Could just be me…

The Midnight Hour.  As they say:

Welcome to our blog! We’re a group of paranormal authors who want to show you what happens at THE MIDNIGHT HOUR. We’ll be posting about lots of things: from writing, to books, to paranormal subjects… we’ll even have some “professional” paranormal experts like psychics. And you never know, a sexy vampire or werewolf might just drop by as well…..

Click the prose for more info…

THEY be: Lori Handeland (who has two books I want: CRESCENT MOON and Date’s From Hell and the other three Rock Creek books tbr), Kathy Love (who has The Night Before Christmas and the Fang books I want), Stephanie Rowe (who has a book I think Jay would want ), Linda Winstead Jones (a la Sullivan, Jed, and Cash, books 2,4, and 6 in the Rock Creek Six series that I spend forever look for and now have and must read) and Michelle Rowen. BAD thing is, it is white text on black background. Which makes it a bitch to figure out how to post and read. But that might be my color being fucked up on my computer. Found the blog from the fab Amy Garvey… you know the author who Alyssa still hasn’t shared her five copies of . yeah yeah yeah she SAYS she doesn’t have five copies but I am on to her tricks.