New social media page

I've added a new social media page to my blog. On it you can find my facebook page link and my Goodreads page. I'll add my Twitter and (if I can figure out) a link to my Amazon page onto it tonight. You'll notice that my Goodreads page is advertising Whispers in the Dark which is out of print now. I tried to remove it and can't. Echoes in the Wind will be coming into my Goodreads page later today. I put a note on Whispers in the Dark's Goodread page informing people that it is (mostly) out of print now and the book to buy is Echoes!

Echoes in the Wind book trailer!

I present to you the Echoes in the Wind book trailer! Link is on the right hand side of the page. I finally figured out how to embed the YouTube clip on here. I'm not the sharpest pencil in the box sometimes.

Twilight fan fiction author gets 7 figure deal for erotic novel...and no it's not E.L James

Author Sylvain Reynard has signed a seven figure publishing deal with Penguin Publishing for his erotic novels Gabriel’s Inferno and Gabriel’s Rapture. The books began as Twilight fan fiction and will have a print run of 500,000 trade paper back copies. More twilight fan fiction getting published....

I shouldn't be surprised. This sort of thing happens all the time. An author will strike gold with a plot or a theme and for the next few months to a couple of years publishers will do their best to copy that author's popularity with clones.

It happened with Harry Potter. It happened when the Lord of the Rings movies came out. It happened with Anne Rice and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the "Bodice ripper" romances of the 80s and it's happening with now with erotica thanks to the success of Fifty Shades of Grey.

It's not just new authors hoping to jump onto the erotica band wagon. Publishers have started reprinting erotica novels that have been out of print for years and putting them back onto the shelves in a "Here's hoping!" moment that people will pick them up as well.

And it's not stopping there. Plans are in place to rewrite old favorites like Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice into erotica.

How thin is the line between inspiration and plagiarism? Is it wrong to write a piece of fan fiction and then try to get it published?

Yes and no. You cannot copyright an idea. The plot, theme, and characters in Twilight can be seen in tens of thousands of other books. Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey are too very different and at the same time very similar books. Edward and Christian are in my opinion completely different characters. Ana and Bella are very close but do have their differences. The relationship between Ana and Christian is radically different and at the same time similar between Edward and Bella. Both are intoxicating, intense and frightening.

Do we really need another clone of them though? I was watching the Hunger Games the other night and I said to my husband "You know what's good about this? It's not Twilight fan fiction. It's completely original." And he agreed.

You cannot copy right a character or a plot or a theme. But after a while things became stale and flooding the market with clones of Fifty Shades of Grey is eventually going to turn the public against erotica again.

We don't need more Twilight fan fiction being sold in bookstores. What we need is more original, thought provoking books like the Hunger Games that are so original, so fresh, that when you finish you go "Wow!" because you've been on a real adventure.

The myth of the rich author

I was watching a repeat of a show called "The Project" this morning and they had a segment about romance books so obviously it focused on "Fifty Shades of Grey" and then switched to the only other romance books anyone reads: mills and boon.

Ah, mills and boon. Does anyone here actually read them? I never see them in the shops. You know what I see? paranormal romance. I hate mills and boon. The books look like they were published in the 1980s and they are boring and corny looking.

What I hate more is the idea that writing mills and boon is a money maker and if I had any sense I would drop everything to write them because if I listen to the Project WELL THEN! I could be making thousands of dollars a year off them and develop a readership of millions.

Oh, and this is my favorite bit...anyone can do it. You heard me! anyone! No skill or devotion or knowledge of the publishing industry required! All you need to do is sit down at your computer for hundreds of hours, write a manuscript of publishable quality, and then somehow get noticed out of a sea of millions of other unpublished writers and get published, and here's the easy part: sell enough copies to be successful.

Sound easy? Of course it is. Anyone can do it. You don't need skill or even writing ability or a fondness for romance books. Writing should never be about the love of writing it should be about making money! money! money!

Okay, I'm being serious now...the advice the project gave was the worst ever. What Mills and Boon actually said was that they accept manuscripts for submission from writers who do not have agents. That does not mean that anyone can send them their scribblings and expect to be accepted.

I know writing might seem like an easy task but trust me it is not. I have barely written anything at all this year because my muse has been on holiday. I have had two stories published and I am not rolling in the dough yet.

The reality is that the odds of getting published are insanely high and then the chances of actually making a buck (and enough bucks to live on) are even higher. Making "thousands a year" might sound like a lot but it is not enough to live on. Do not go into writing thinking that it is easy and that is a quick ticket to making a quick buck. Saying that anyone can go into writing is insulting because it says that there is no skill in what we do.

The last thing publishers need is more manuscripts landing on their desks. They already have enough they do not need manuscripts coming from writers who don't know a thing about publishing and probably didn't even take the time to edit their book because, well, they were told anyone can write a book. Surely it's not their job to edit it too, right? Isn't that the publisher's job?

Another thing that bugs me is the delusion that the only romance books available to make a buck in are mills and boon and that if you wanna make it big that is where to aim. There are hundreds of different romance genres. Hundreds of different romance publishers. Don't listen to the Project. Writing is not easy and publishing is not easy to break into. You could make more money looking for gold in a river bank.

So I finally read Fifty Shades of Grey. Here is my review.

Meh. That about sums it up. I've posted a lot about this book in the past few months. I argued that erotica (or just one or two sex scenes) in a book does not make it porn. I've questioned the author's writing skill and if her publishers decision to publish a book that began as fan fiction was wise or not.

Was the book badly written? No, but it was rough. E.L James is not a bad writer. She has bad habits that could have been fixed with a good editor.

The first page was probably the worst page in the whole book. Never EVER start a book with a character staring in a mirror brushing her hair. Why? It's boring. And it's a poor way to describe their appearance. It's called telling not showing. The book is written in first person. Ana is telling the story. Ask yourself this: how often do you focus on your own appearance in your head and think to yourself "Oh, my shoulder length brown hair is being uncontrollable!" You don't. This is something I've learnt in writing. Yes, describe your character's physical appearance. But ask yourself this: one is it really important to the story and two how can you do it in a way that doesn't come across as boring and cliched?

James repeats a lot of words and phrases throughout the book. This is an easy thing to slip into when you're writing. Writing is hard and despite what some stupid TV programs might say not everyone can "do it" like there's no skilled involved. When you write a 300 page novel you will repeat certain phrases and sentences. You will probably not even be aware that you are doing it. A good writer will go back in edits and notice these mistakes and delete them. James did not and all of those "Holy craps!" and "Inner goddess" moments got really, really tiresome.

The plot. I don't think I've ever read a book with a thinner plot before and I read Mary Janice Davidson's "Undead" series. The "plot" of the book is Christian Grey tries to convince Ana to sign a contract allowing him to engage in rough sex. That's it. In between the pages and pages of fucking he slowly takes over her life and this is what i found most disturbing: started to frighten her.

Yes, that's right, Grey is so controlling, his temper so thin, that in several scenes Ana is actually afraid to be around him and is brought to tears a couple of times. He doesn't just like rough sex he wants to control her entire life and beat her when she displeases him not for sexual pleasure but to make him feel good as a control freak.

This was the biggest problem I had with the book. People are calling this a romance. Fear should not be in a romance novel. You should not FEAR the man in your life. You should not have to ask him NOT TO BEAT YOU.

This book has outsold all 7 of the Harry Potter novels. On one hand I want to go "Hooray! People are reading! This is good for erotica!" but mostly I just want to sigh, shake my head, and delete my copy of the book off my e-reader.

This book is not worthy of the height of fame it has achieved. It is not terribly written but it is not great either. JK Rowling's books were a master piece and deserved every penny they earned. E.L James has been lucky. Her book still reads like a piece of fan fiction. A good piece of fan fiction...yes...but still fan fiction. It is popular for one reason only: that it began as Twilight fan fiction.

It is a freak show. People are buying this book not because it is well written but because it has become so popular and they want to see what it is all about. In twenty years time what books do you think I'll still have in my bookcase? Harry Potter or...this?

Sex scenes = porn?

I realized I came off as a bit of a hypocrite in my last post. I write romance stories about "soul mates" searching for their other half destined to "complete them" so they can be happy. I'm full of shit, aren't I? Complaining about people wanting characters to get married and have kids when I'm guilty doing that to my own characters? Basically, what I was trying to say in my last post was it's perfectly okay to write about characters that want a hubby and kids. There should be stories about characters who DON'T want those things too. Why is it in fiction (and real life) if someone stands up and says they DON'T want to get married or they DON'T want kids people inch backward, wrinkle their noses, and an awkward silence descends? It's considered weird and sad because they are doing something different. It's expected for people to want to get married and have children. If you don't want those things there has to be something wrong with you, amiright? *looks around room*

So then! Porn! I've had many an interesting debate about good old porn with my husband in the past week. He's been reading up about Fifty Shades of Grey online and read an article that basically called it (and all erotica and romance books) ladies porn.

Why is it okay, the article argued, for people to be able to buy Fifty Shades (and other laddddiess porno books) in bookstores that children frequent (SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!)

Why is it okay for people to be able to read Fifty Shades of Grey in public but men have to place their bum and titty mags in paper bags and shuffle back to their cars casting nervous looks over their shoulders?

Why are men who like porn considered perverts and women who read erotica are not?

Are erotica books (and all other types of romance)porn because of the sex scenes in them? Does one sex scene = porn? How much sex does a book/film/etc need before it should be slapped into a paper bag and sold behind the counter in a shop?

And while we're on the subject it really irritates me that you can have topless men on the front cover of men's health magazines or girly mags like the Who but topless shots of women are considered too "pornographic" and slapped behind a paper bag? Why is it okay for children to be exposed to a man's naked chest but god forbid they see a pair of boobs?

It is weird that erotica books are generally more accepted by society than pornographic magazines and videos. You don't really hear about people whining for them to be removed from shops, don't you?

Weeeell...until Fifty Shades of Grey that is. It HAS been labelled porn by some groups and banned from some libraries in America.

Is it porn? Not in my opinion. But then again I have not read it...maybe I should do an update to this post after I read it?

You can't label erotica porn. Just because something has sex in it does not make it a porno. If erotica were re-classed as porn it would mean it would not be able to be sold in regular shops. It would be paper bagged and sold only in petrol stations and porno shops.

And that would shatter the careers of a lot of erotica writers.

I said to my husband it was insulting to call an erotica writer a pornographer.

Why, he asked? You're making sex and porn sound shameful and bad.

He has a point. As a society we're still veeerry conservative when it comes to sex. I went to a Lady Gaga concert the other week and saw a 10 year old dressed as a hooker and even I gasped and clutched at my pearls in shock. I always thought I was pretty cool and breezy about that sort of thing.

The problem with porn is there is too much variety in it. It ranges from sweet and sensual to illegal and disturbing and gross and wrong.

That is why you should not toss erotica into it. You're calling it dirty and wrong when it is harmless and tame and doesn't hurt anyone.

What is a happy ending?

I have started a new romance book by an author I've read A LOT OF over the past ten or so years. She has three series of paranormal romances out and they're all pretty much the same minis a few differences: a violent, powerful man with no emotions and a long history of killing or destroying monsters/or vampires/or spies/or enemy soldiers falls in love with a woman who is usually very small, with large eyes, a tiny waist and has some sort of psychic power. The woman is either feisty and tomboyish or she's delicate and fragile and likes to bake. Either way she'll drive the man nuts and teach him how to loooove again and how to connect with emotions. The man will be possessive and even slightly abusive towards her (all for her own sake) and totally dominate the relationship.

I used to love these sort of stories but lately I've been growing tired of the emotionless violent man falling for the woman who teaches him how to stroke kitties without crushing their heads in his massive gorilla paws.

Why do some many women want to read stories about men who are so unlikable? So violent? So possessive? Is that the fantasy? to be ruled by someone bigger, larger, stronger?

Another thing I've been growing tired of is the "Happily Ever After" that always happens in these books...they get married and have children. Oh it doesn't matter if the woman doesn't want to do those things sometimes. The man will just put his foot down and IT WILL HAPPEN GOD DAMN IT. HE DEMANDS IT.

Sailor Moon is being rebooted in Japan in 2013 as a new anime. I am so excited about this. Sailor Moon continues to be an obsession of mine. I was reading about this new anime on a message board and someone brought up Sailor Mars and Venus's decision in the manga to pledge off men forever and to devote themselves 100% to protecting Usagi. They said they hoped the anime would not honor that manga plot and give Venus a boyfriend.

Cause, you know, then she would be happy right? Cause having a man in your life and eventually getting married and having children is the dream of every girl everywhere, right?

I actually really love that Sailor Moon does not obsessively push that point home for all of the characters. Yes Usagi does fall in love with Tuxedo Mask. That is a major plot point. Their romance is a big story point of the whole show. I actually really like that Venus and Mars chose not to follow in Usagi's footsteps. They make the very mature decision to devote their lives 100% towards being senshi and protecting Usagi and that really is the best decision they could make.

How could they be in a relationship with someone else and keep their identity a secret from them? How could they keep them safe? How could they raise a child while at the same time being expected to save Sailor Moon all the time?

Is it so wrong that two female characters might chose not to get married and have children? Is that so hard for some people to wrap their heads around? That maybe you do not need those things in life to be happy?

I wish there were more characters like Venus and Mars who are happy enough being single and devoted to something in their lives that they do not need a man to make them happy. Cause frankly the ideal "Happy ending" of getting married and having babies is bull shit. You do not need a man in your life, or a ring on your finger, or a child to be happy in this life.