2013: The Year in Writing, In General, and the Year to Come

Writing

Happy New Year, readers! We've been through how I did as a reader and reviewer, but 2013 was also a really good year for me in terms of writing.

In 2013, I wrote 4 articles for Heroes and Heartbreakers:

• Villainesses in Romance
• Men Are From Mars: The Art of Writing Misogynists
• Love This Pain: Romance Novels That Twist the Knife
• Dr. Lovinkind's Guide to Common Romance Medicine

I also wrote two articles for The Huffington Post's Book Blog:

• The Legacy of Katniss, or Why We Should Stop 'Protecting' Manhood and Teach Boys to Embrace the Heroine
• Lovesick and Tired: Unnecessary Romance in YA

The biggest writing event for me, however, was selling The Duke of Snow and Apples (my genderbent retelling of Snow White) to Entangled Publishing! Yes, 2013 was the year I became a published - er, to be published author! Before you ask, it's coming out this year, but I have no idea when yet. We will see! 

2013 In General

So 2013 was an interesting year overall. I took some time in the summer to recap Fringe, Veronica Mars and Downton Abbey - although it wound up taking way more effort and time than I'd anticipated.

I went to Book Expo America for the second time, and I had an amazing roommate for it. I also got to meet my favourite author Alice Hoffman in person - and Jim Carrey! Extremely blurry Jim Carrey.

The Year to Come

As some of you may know, I've been blogging for a while. Going on ten years this June. I started out whining about my parents, then reviewing romances, and then I expanded to reviewing literally every book I read. I loved doing it, it strengthened my writing and editing skills and introduced me to a wonderful community of fellow bloggers, book lovers, writers, and publishing industry professionals.

However, for the last couple of months, blogging has started becoming a little overwhelming. What with my paying job, my non-paying publishing intern position, and my attempts to actually write another book of my own, my schedule has gotten pretty tight. I've had trouble juggling all these different responsibilities and while blogging has always come easily to me, it still takes up a huge chunk of my time. The average book review can take anywhere from two to four hours to write. And since I'll be starting the editing and revision process for The Duke of Snow and Apples soon, I'll have even less time. 

I can't help but feel a little guilty - after all, I'm already pretty low-maintenance for a blogger. I don't have a set schedule, I read whatever I want, I don't do blog tours or giveaways or memes or cover snarks, and I've never managed to review more than eight or nine times a month anyhow. I still have so many ARCs from Book Expos gone by.

It's also difficult because book reviewing is something I'm good at and know I'm good at. I'm way more confident of my reviewing skills than I am of my fiction-writing skills. It's so tempting to just give up the editing and the novel writing altogether in order to stick with the skills I already receive positive reinforcement for. In fact, that's pretty much what I did for most of 2013 - I used my blogging as an excuse to not write fiction. Not enough time! Can't do both! Sorry, I filled my writing quota for the week raging at Everything But the Moon! My fiction sucks and my blog is awesome - so why waste time on the novel? However - if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. And if I want something different, I have to do something different.

For me, 2014 is going to be about abandoning the Safe and Same. I'm not giving up blogging. I'll start slow with a blogging sabbatical for a couple of months. I'll still read, obviously - and I'll still review if a book is particularly excellent, interesting, or terrible (or if I've already promised to review it). But my schedule just can't support reviewing everything I read anymore.

However, I'll keep up the snark on Twitter and star-grade everything I read on BookLikes. I'll still be more than willing to discuss which books suck donkey balls on either of these platforms. I'll still keep up with and comment on other book blogs.

So I'll still be here - just not with constant reviews.

Here's hoping for an exciting and successful 2014!

December is: AnimeJune's Re-Read Rollout

December is fast approaching, I won NaNoWriMo (three days early, hollah!), and it's the time to relax. With Advent upon us and Christmas approaching, it's definitely a month to take comfort in the things that really matter to you.

It's the month where I spend time with my loving, wonderful family, watch comforting Christmas movies on a wide spectrum of cheesiness, laugh at all the terrible-awesome Christmas episodes of my favourite TV shows, and cuddle up under blankets while snow flutters down outside.

I decided that this year, December would also be a month of comfort reads. I have a huge TBR, which I compulsively add to every chance I get, so I often can't justify going back to re-read something when I've got a mountain of new reads to explore. But that's really not fair. Whenever I read something really wonderful, I shouldn't just let it moulder on a shelf and never read it again.

So come December (once I've reviewed Crewel), I'll be doing entirely re-reads, with select titles from different genres. If I've already reviewed the book, I'll write a post on whether it's held up, the important themes and ideas I derived from it, and other interesting things the author has written. If I haven't had a chance to review it on my site before - well, then I totally will.

The list is as follows - I've chosen a major title from each genre to read, and a secondary title to read if there are still December days remaining on the calendar.

The Classic Title:
Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery Seconds:
A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

The Literary Fiction Title:
The Birth House, by Ami McKay
Second:
Gentlemen and Players, by Joanne Harris

The Romance Title:
The Secret Pearl, by Mary Balogh Second:
Bet Me, by Jennifer Crusie

The YA Title:
Beauty, by Robin McKinley
Second:
The Greenstone Grail, by Amanda Hemingway

The Fantasy Title:
Fitzpatrick's War, by Theodore Judson Second:
The Innkeeper's Song, by Peter S. Beagle

The Gamechanger Title: (i.e. the book I didn't really like at first, but want to reread now that I've read and loved the author's other books)

Private Arrangements, by Sherry Thomas

Eight Years! Count 'em, eight!

It's true.

My blog is now old enough to enter the second grade (*sniff*). Blogs grow up so fast! During that time, I graduated high school, obtained a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature, got a job, moved out, had a story published, had a novel looked at by agents and publishers (but ultimately not published), and discovered a whole, wide, internet world of friends and fellow readers!  I've started and given up so many projects in my life, but I managed to hold onto this one, and I'm so glad you readers did, too. That being said, it didn't start as a book blog. Oh no. But there are still a few gems. 

Stay awhile, won't you, as we go down memory lane?

Year One
1. My absolute first blog post ever, where I muse about the end of high school and the lameness that is the High School Diploma Exam.

2. My exceedingly verbose attempt to find a summer job. with less-than-stellar results.

Year Two
1. Whoring for Candy, a post wherein I relate the surest way to my heart. Hint: It involves sugar.

2. I am the Butter Queen, wherein I lose four teeth but gain 11 movie passes and a free Madagascar watch.

Year Three
This was the year I started to review books - unfortunately, they were all the books I had to read during university for my English degree. Guy Vanderhaeghe, anyone? I was also very heavily into my short-story phase. Submitted a lot of stuff, got rejected a bunch of times.


1. Five Reasons Why I'll Never Be a Great Writer: thanks a LOT, MUM.

2. Ten Rules for Writing Epic Fantasy. I thought in multiples of five back then. For reals.

Year Four
This is the year I morphed into being a book blogger - starting with romance, thanks to the recommendations of the Smart Bitches.

1. My fiction is published for the first time!

2. My first romance review: "Bet Me," by Jennifer Crusie.

Year Five

1. I review a movie so bad it's good (with an Easy Bake Oven of Nazi DOOM): S.S. Doomtrooper

2. I discover Lost In Austen, one of the best Jane Austen adaptations of ALL TIME. ALL TIME.

Year Six

1. I accept a Guest Dare from The Book Smugglers and review Games of Command, the best romance with a virginal cyborg hero I've ever read!

2. I write a blog post that has seriously never lost its relevance, especially now: The Author's Attitude. Geared especially towards authors who get riled up about negative reviews.

Year Seven

1. AnimeJune's Guide to Exploiting the Dead for Fun and Profit - where I take on the recent glut of Jane Austen and insert-paranormal-creature-here fiction. 


2. A commenter under then name "Miss Manners" tells me how very disappointed she is in me for being a Mean Girl Blogger of Meanie Mean Blog Reviews - and I respond with Miss Manners vs. AnimeJune.

Year Eight 
This brings us to 2011 and the start of 2012. I slowed down somewhat in 2011 due to the circumstances of my moving into my first apartment that was close enough to my workplace to walk. No longer having to take the bus twice a day, every day, five days a week seriously cut into my reading time. But I brought it up again by 2012.


1. Against the warnings of my blogger friends, I read Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught and it seriously hurt my brain.

2. When the Blogger Who Shall Not Be Named Or Linked To was revealed as a plagiarist, I read the comments section in her (non-)Apology Post, which inspired my insanely popular: So Your Favourite Blogger's a Plagiarist.

3. I take umbrage at Jennifer Weiner's BEA Book Blogger con assertion that bloggers should just be shiny happy people and discover the book blogosphere is a small (snarky) world, after all: The Importance of Being Nice.

As you can see it's been quite an interesting eight years, and I have my readers, followers, and awesome blogging buddies to thank for keeping it up for so long! Here's to another eight years!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Deceiving Books

So part of my new focus on my blog is my decision to try and participate in more memes. Not every week, and maybe not always the same meme, but if the meme makes me think and examine how and what I've read, that's when I decide to put my feet in.

Today I'm participating in Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is the Top Ten Books That Were Totally Deceiving - i.e. books whose covers and/or descriptions are completely at odds with the book I wound up reading. I decided to jump in because for me, that's a challenge. I'm expanding my reading now, but before? I read almost exclusively romance, which is known for covers that use standard stock photos of shirtless dudes in varying period wear rather than anything that really imparts the plot. But eventually, I came up with a pretty good list:

1. Beguilement (Sharing Knife, Volume 1), by Lois McMaster Bujold

From the back cover, I was expecting this to be a fantastic, adventurous fantasy quest tale. IMAGINE MY SURPRISE when it turned into a slog of a roadtrip romance with loads of angst and little actual action or magic! Purchase here.

2. Games of Command, by Linnea Sinclair

This cover makes it look like a late 80s hard sci-fi rock opera, am I right? You'd never guess it was a romance novel with a sci-fi setting! That's how I tried to trick my dad into reading it (with a piece of scotch tape hiding the "romance" tag on the spine). In recent years, the publishers actually have tried to give it a more romance-y cover. Purchase here.

3. The Runaway Duke, by Julie Anne Long

I loathed this book, and romances are known for oblivious covers, but this one really takes the cake - it's a stock photo with cutesy pink and purple colours, it makes it look like a frothy Cinderella-esque comedy of manners. Instead, it's another (sigh) roadtrip romance, this time between a bubbleheaded heroine who wants to be a doctor and would probably never be caught dead in a dress that colour, and a creepy older hero. Purchase here.

4. The Hazards of Hunting a Duke, by Julia London

This one was a pleasant surprise - despite the pastel-coloured cover of vague Regency houses and the cloying title, both of which are traditionally given to lighter, historical romance comedies, Hazards was a surprisingly layered, darker, and more introspective read, with some well-drawn characters. Purchase here.

5. In for a Penny, by Rose Lerner

This cover still puzzles me - it's very unusual for an historical romance novel (no headless ladies in billowing gowns or heroes with their shirts billowing open), but at the same time, it's even more vague. This cover doesn't indicate anything about ANY plot, much less the entertaining, realistic, and historically relevant one of In For a Penny. I would never have glanced twice at this in a bookstore - thank God for a referral from the brilliant Booksmugglers! Purchase here.

6. Under Fire, by Jo Davis

Okay, so this was one where the description on the back was deceiving. The back cover blurb says it's about a shy, virginal firefighter who falls for an exotic dancer heroine. I was excited for this book, because I really love romances that turn sexual gender roles on their heads - i.e., pairing a dominant, sexually-experienced heroine with an inexperienced hero. Unfortunately, we get a lukewarm romance where the "sharp tongued" exotic dancer is only doing it to get through nursing school (that trope's older than I am!) and the hero's "nerdiness" is told rather than shown. Bleh. If you're still interested, you can purchase it here.

7. If His Kiss Is Wicked, by Jo Goodman.

LOOK at this cover. It's a big giant head. With fuzz on it. It looks like a cover for some scuzzy self-published erotic romance - not like the cover of a thoughtful and engrossing historical romance with a captivating mystery. Look past the sleazy man-model and give this book a try! Purchase here.

8. Lord of Legends, by Susan Krinard.

This one is also a Big Giant Head, but the reason this Big Giant Head cover is super-deceiving is that NEITHER main character looks like this guy. The hero is a unicorn who was turned into a human - a human with SILVER hair and bright blue eyes. So who's the schmuck on the cover? Purchase here.


9. How to Knit a Wild Bikini, by Christie Ridgway.

I LOVED this book, but the bright colours of the cover combined with the cute knitting-inspired title completely belie the surprisingly dark story and tortured heroine. This is a great emotional read with a secret-nurturer hero, but don't expect a fluffy beach read! Purchase here.

10. The Kiss, by Sophia Nash.
I could wax rhapsodic about the gorgeous cover and simple, suggestive title for hours, but the fact remains that a beautiful package doesn't guarantee equally good contents. The "kiss" in the book doesn't have very much chemistry, and the heroine is a sappy sadsack doormat. Best avoided. Purchase here

Blog Renovations!

No! Don't click away! You HAVE come to the right place!

Yes, I'm still AnimeJune and this is still Gossamer Obsessions. But I decided I'd update the look. Why? Well, because while evaluating my life and goals, I decided I wanted to dedicate more time to my blog. It started out as just a personal thing - it was just something for me, something I did only for myself because I loved reading and venting about what I read.

But I've become part of such a wonderful blogger community and actually acquired a readership. Having this blog helped me strengthen as well as discover my writing strengths. This blog has come to mean a lot to me, and to my writing, so in my re-design, I wanted to:

1. Make it cleaner and organized and
2. Give it a personal flair. I wouldn't just pick a template that a hundred other people have also done - hence the lovely Banner, made with my God-given skills with Microsoft Paint and photos of my favourite books and tea cups.

For future blogging, I'm going to look into doing more content as well. Not just reviews - I mean, it'll still be mainly reviews, who am I kidding? But for books that are larger, reviews will be slower in coming, so I'm thinking of participating in memes and also having posts with my favourite bloggers and their blogs, as well as OMG I WANT THIS BOOK BECAUSE OF REASONS posts to get everyone all excited about reading!

What do you guys think of the redesign?

Future Plans, and So Forth

So, it's been a while since I've done a personal entry on this blog. What's next for Gossamer Obsessions?

More reviews! Thankfully. I'm currently writing the review for The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin, but I have also started reading one of Judith McNaught's most infamous novel, Whitney, My Love and I am LiveTweeting it - click on the little origami twitter bird on the upper right hand corner if you would like to follow along as I explore that historical novel's unique brand of WTFuckery.

I've also started writing for Heroes and Heartbreakers - my first article came out on the 13th, but I've sent another one in. Not only do they publish my opinions - but they pay. Pretty much the closest I can get to free money.

I'm also participating in NaNoWriMo this year, and trying to get into the social aspect of it a well. I've actually tried to change the way I write my first draft of my latest venture, change it to the point of writing my first draft on computer and paper. Normally I just did it longhand, but it's frankly gotten too slow (I've been working on it - not very steadily, mind you - since July, and I'm barely a couple of chapters in) and my hand cramps, and it's inconvenient.

So yeah. When I'm out of the house, at work or a coffee shop, I'll write my novel in my fancy notebooks with florid handwriting. But at home? I'm going to actually try the laptop, and just discipline myself from overediting and becoming distracted. I don't know if I'll ever be as prolific as some of my favourite authors, but I need to move faster than this snail's pace I've been setting lately.

So let's see how that goes. 'Ta, readers.

Links for RWA 2010!

Oh, Blogging National - you were so cool. In 2008 and 2009 I could go to one blog and see the posts of dozens of other blogs all about the same thing: the RWA National Conference. Unfortunately, due to low readership, Blogging National won't be doing the same thing this year. It's a shame, because for the last couple of years it was a fantastic resource for armchair writing enthusiasts like to me to find out more about the conference beforehand (as I did for the 2009 conference by reading the posts from the 2008 conference), or to reminisce about the great time I had in D.C.

I've decided to try and pick up some of the slack by having a Mr. Linky page dedicated to all things RWA. Are you blogging about RWA 2010? Do you know someone who is? Get their link on down to the Mr. Linky page (in the above tab). What better way to experience RWA 2010 in the comfort of your own living room?

The Templates, They Are a Changin'

Yes, I'm like that child who can never sit still - I've changed my blogger template again, to allow for more pages, a little more sidebar room, and different colours. This is why I don't get tattoos - ten to one I'm going to be tired of the thing in six months.

Once again, the Comments are at the bottom of the post, in large font and clearly marked - one of the detriments of my previous blog template. You can follow my Twitter feed now by clicking on the little origami bird on the upper right. I'm still fiddling around with a few things (my TBR, for one thing, which will get its own page), but for now, this is the new and improved Gossamer Obsessions. Thoughts? Opinions?

Book Blogger Appreciation Week 2010 - My Post for the Categories

Well, it's that time again - time for Book Blogger Appreciation Week, where all types of bookworms with access to reliable internet come together to celebrate the joy of reading. This year, registrants can nominate themselves for categories, so, similar to last year, I am nominating myself for Best Romance Book Blog in the Niche Category, and Best Written Book Blog in the Featured Category. I have to admit to being a little disappointed that there's no Funniest Book Blog Category this year - I guess because humour is so subjective? I dunno, I love reading hilarious reviews as much as I love writing them.

Anyhoo, as part of my nomination, I have to make a blog post with the five posts I'll be submitting for each category that best represents the Best Romance and the Best Written. Three have to be reviews, descriptions, or an analysis of a specific title, and the other two are up to me.

Without further ado:
Five Posts for the Best Romance Book Blog Niche Category:
1. "Dreaming of You," by Lisa Kleypas (review)
2. "In For a Penny," by Rose Lerner (review)
3. "Immortal Warrior," by Lisa Hendrix (review)
4. History Vs. Romance - "The Duchess" (commentary)
5. "Going Too Far," by Jennifer Echols (review)

Five Posts for the Best Written Book Blog Featured Category:
1. Miss Manners Vs. AnimeJune (rant)
2. AnimeJune's Guide to Exploiting the Dead For Fun and Profit (rant)
3. "A Certain Wolfish Charm," by Lydia Dare (review)
4. "The Wild Road," by Marjorie Liu (review)
5. "One Week as Lovers," by Victoria Dahl (review)

Enjoy! And wish me luck!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Day Five

What do you MEAN they haven't announced Best Romance Blog yet?? What am I supposed to do with this post?

Oh, tell people what I love best about my blog, in 50 words or less? As wordy as I usually am, I only need three:

My review format.

As regular readers know, my reviews for the last two years have a specific format. While I've tweaked it a bit over the months (adding the Alternate Title for laughs), I've generally remained the same. If you look into my older archives when I was just starting out my blog in 2004-2006, you can see that I had a really, really loose way of reviewing things (I briefly had a Crush du Jour rating which I jettisoned because it used too many images and made no sense).

But my review format really reflects myself as a reader. You'll notice I start out with a break-down of the hero and heroine and the main problems that keep them apart, then I have a funny little synopsis of the plot and the romantic conventions, and then a lengthier, in-depth review of the book as a whole.

Whenever I remember a romance I read, I always remember the characters first. Romance is generally more character-driven than plot driven - a lot of plots are really similar (I stand by my belief that Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels and Celeste Bradley's The Duke Next Door have the same plot - although Lord of Scoundrels is by far the better book), but it's always the characters who stand out to me.

There are, in fact, many romances that have silly plots but are redeemed by loveable, empathetic characters, which is why all my reviews have a silly plot breakdown but can still be favourite reads.

But I like to go in-depth about what I care about, so after my plot descriptions and romance conventions I do a detailed review as well. There's nothing I hate worse than a review that states an opinion and doesn't back it up with an explanation. Sometimes this involves plot spoilers (in my review of Teresa Medeiros' Yours Until Dawn, I needed to spoil the ending because it was the ending that ultimately decided my review grade).

So, as you can see, I love my review format because it fits the kind of reader I am, and what my priorities are when I read. As well, the break-down format also forces me to analyse a lot of what I've read in hindsight, which helps me understand the books even more after I've read them.

Now, my task for BBAW today is also to describe in 50 words or less where I'd like my blog to be next year. Hmmm, that's a tough question. I like routines and schedules. I'm not really a fond-of-change person.

I think what I'd like to be next year is a blogger who has a more regular schedule. Right now, I read whenever I can and review whenever I'm finished, so that means reviews can be anything from two days to two weeks apart, because I have a 3-romance books, 1-regular fiction book reading habit. I guess I'd like to be a faster reader so I can get you guys funny reviews faster, but how I'll accomplish that is anyone's guess.

My posts for BBAW, and Other Updates...

So, I've been shortlisted for Best Romance Blog (and got a nifty button for it!), and for all the newcomers and regular readers, I thought I'd provide the five romance-related posts I sent to the panel that ended up with me on the short lists:

The Secret Pearl Review
The Year in Review - My Best and Worst of 2008
For My Lady's Heart Review
The Price of Desire Review
Just the Sexiest Man Alive Review

In other news - yes, my blog does look slightly different. I decided to find a new template, yes. Partly on a whim, and partly because while searching the shortlists of BBAW nominees I came across Rebecca's Reads and discovered she had the SAME template! I guess I just wanted to find a new style.

I like my new template, in general. The pros:

• Bigger font, centred posts - clearer to read, doesn't evoke frightening "wall of text" as much, makes reviews look nicer
  
• Pretty, pretty colours - to be honest, I wasn't a big fan of orange, maroon, or beige (my blog's old colours) so this was an easy choice
• It doesn't match any blogs I know
• It still looks artsy and has three columns for Widgets

Unfortunately, there are some things to adjust to:

• Smaller columns - lots of stuff has to be trimmed or has its edges nibbled off by smaller margins, thereby looking silly (but I don't know how to change - I used the "shrink to fit" option but that does bupkiss). I wish I could widen my columns
  
• Can't change the title font - gaaah, if anyone here is a master of font and HTML, do you know a code to make my title Georgia font instead of the whatever-it-is square font, without offsetting all the tags, etc?

I mean, my blog looks great but it doesn't look perfect. There is a part of me that whispers, "maaaaaybe you were a little hasty in changing your blog template, especially during awards week" but an equal part that likes what I've done differently. Maybe I just need a little computer help. Anyone with any knowledge of coding and computers know how to fix and edit my template? Let me know!

EDIT: This just in - fiddling with HTML for an hour does bring results! Hurrah!

I've Been Shortlisted! Vote for Me!

It's September 7th, and the voting has officially begun for those shortlisted in the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards. And GUESS WHAT?

*~I'VE BEEN SHORTLISTED FOR BEST ROMANCE REVIEW BLOG!~*

Whoo hoo! Happy dance! Happy dance! First of all, THANK YOU to the people who nominated me! THANK YOU to the panel who read my first posts and shortlisted me!

And THANK YOU in advance (wink, wink) to the people who will vote for me here, yesssssss?

For those of you who are only now discovering this blog thanks to the BBAW shortlists, I'm AnimeJune and I review romance. While my blog's been up for five years, it's only been a romance blog for about 2 (if you want to read personal posts about my writing progress and fun and games in university, my employment misadventures, informal movie reviews and occasional rants against my parents' supreme unfairness then by all means read the earlier posts, *lol*).

I tend to read mostly historicals, with some contemporary and increasing amounts of paranormal. I try to make my reviews funny as well as in-depth, analytical and illuminating. As my regular readers doubtless already know, I have a particular format in which I review which divides the book into the barebone facts before I go in-depth so if a wall of text isn't your thing you can get the gist from the first part. Feel free to check out my tags, where I've arranged my reviews according to letter grade.

My reading taste can be rather eclectic - sometimes I review newer books (especially after coming home with all that loot from RWA Nationals) and sometimes I review older books that I picked up in Used Book Stores and library sales because I am poor and cheap. All I can say is that I review every romance I read, regardless of where I get it from.

Also, yes, a caveat - I sometimes do reveal spoilers in my reviews. I have a general warning at the top of my blog but for reaaaaally big spoilers I do give some advance warning. Sometimes to express my particular reaction to a book I have to detail it and provide specific examples, so you have been warned.

So....like my blog? Then VOTE VOTE VOTE!

"Aaah," some of you will say, however, "but what about your competitors for the award?" My lovely, darling, and totally not-evil-ho-bag running mates are as follows. What? Highlight these entries? WhyEVER would you want to do that? What a silly idea:

Babbling About Books and More run by Katiebabs. This is SUCH a good romance blog. Katiebabs hasn't said she eats babies, but she's never come out and officially said she DOESN'T eat babies. Her reviews are great, and she's got cute sheep and kittens! Maybe that's because she's too busy - EATING BABIES. King MhoPho, her sheep mascot is hilarious! and the spawn of the devil! THE SHEEP DEVIL! The DEVILIEST OF ALL DEVILS!

Racy Romance Reviews, run by Jessica. Wow, this is a romance blog written by a philosophy professor who happens to like romance novels and is proud of it! A big poo-poo-head smarty-pants professor. Whenever she reviews romance, she always digs deep to see that, hey, underneath that torn bodice is compelling feminist cultural commentary! See, smarty-pants professor? I can use big words too! It's always a treat to read an intellectual's take on the romance genre. I've already got MY doctorate - a PH.D in ASS-KICKOLOGY. That's DOCTOR Kick-Ass to YOU, smarty-pants.

Reading Adventures, run by Marg. I wasn't aware of this blog before, so I'm only checking it out now. She does a lot of commentary, and even has a weekly event called Library Loot. *GASP!* She steals from LIBRARIES! Quick! Call the police! And she doesn't only review romance - she also reads a lot of historical fiction, mysteries, and YA. Funny how she's nominated for best ROMANCE review blog. Which is it, Marg? Can't keep your stories straight? It looks pretty interesting - and wow! Look at her blogger links! What? Gossamer Obsessions isn't linked? What's wrong with MY blog? Waaaaaaah.....

The Book Binge, run by Casee, Holly, and Rowena. These three women read like madwomen, with new romance reviews up everyday! Binge, eh? Does that mean there's a Book Purge blog out there? I can always depend on the Binge, they do so much I don't know how they can maintain regular lives. Ladies, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Not to mention they have lots of giveaways. Bookarexia's a dangerous disorder, ladies - here, let me give you to the address to this treatment facility located in Siberia. No, they don't allow internet access there - why do you ask?

Wow, what a great group of competitors! Still, I hope you guys enjoy reading my blog - I have a review for Meljean Brook's Demon Angel coming up pretty soon. Be sure to keep an eye out for it.

And, don't forget:

VOTE FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Another Award!

I've been having a pretty good week over all, entering contests, doing lots of writing - and Shaymeless Aymless put the cherry on the sundae by nominating me for The Lemonade Award! The information is as follows:

The Lemonade Award is a feel good award which shows great attitude or gratitude.

Here are the rules:

* Put the Lemonade Award logo on your blog or post.
* Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
* Link your nominees within your post.
* Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
* Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

Ten blogs, huh? Here we go (in no particular order):
1. Lusty Reader
2. Rip My Bodice - just discovered thanks to checking out the Book Blogger Appreciation Week 2008 awards winners page.
3. Janicu's Book Blog
4. The Booksmugglers - always the Booksmugglers. ^_^
5. Lurv a la Mode. Her blog design is gorgeous.
6. Racy Romance Reviews. Holy well-written academic reviews, Batman! I'm so intimidated!
7. The Thrillionth Page - also discovered thanks to BBAW.
8. The Misadventures of Super-Librarian - thanks for the Big Western Drive!
9. Romance Book Wyrm
10. The Julie James Blog. Pretty self-explanatory.

I will be contacting you all very soon, but I have to run - it's my parents' 25th wedding anniversary today!

I won another award!

Hurray! Thank you, Aymless! I've been rated E for Excellent!

My turn to nominate more bloggies:

The Word Wenches. I don't often comment on their blogs, but I lurv historicals and the blog is run by a group of historical authors (including Anne Gracie and Loretta Chase!).

Stacy's Place on Earth. Awesome blog - she's also fun to follow on Twitter.

Anna's Book Blog. She reviews fantasy, YA, and romance. I don't comment often, but I follow her all the time. Her blog, that is. Not in real life. 'Cause that would be weird.

Lurv a la Mode. Found her when by visiting commenters on the Booksmugglers' blog. Interesting commentary on both paranormal and historical romances, as well as straight fantasy reads.

Huzzahs to all!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week is coming up!

I didn't fully participate last year, but this year I'm diving hardcore into Book Blogger Appreciation Week!

In its second year, Book Blogger Appreciation Week runs from September 14th to 18th, and celebrates the contribution that book bloggers and reviewers make to the promotion, celebration, and popularity of literature - of all genres. They're going to have interviews, contests - even Awards for Bloggers in all different categories!

According to the website, you guys still have one week left (until August 15th) to nominate your favourite book bloggers for such categories as Best Romance Blog, Best Design, Best Name for a Blog, Best Reviews, Best Writing, even the Most Chatty (Kristie J was nominated for that one last year). Even if you aren't a blogger yourself, just a fan or a dedicated reader - you can still nominate the bloggers who meant a lot to you and who influence your reading habits!

So go ahead. Nominate a couple!

I won an Award!

The wonderful Lusty Reader, whom I met in Washington D.C. during the RWA National Conference, nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger Award! Awesome! This is the first time I've won any sort of blogger award, and I'm so pleased. I have been feeling really Kreativ lately thanks to RWA - I finally started work on my novel's second draft, and I've already finished three chapters (prologue included). Sometimes it's difficult to get started writing. To me, writing is like pushing a boulder down a hill - the initial push is really difficult, the rock looks really big and it's really heavy - but once you go ahead and do it, it's gets easier and easier to keep writing, until whenever you're not, you're itching to go back and do it.

But I can't just sit on my electronic laurels:

The Kreativ rules state that:

Once you receive this award you are to list seven of your favorite things and then nominate seven other blogs.

Okay! In no particular order, seven of my favourite things:

1. Canadian spelling. I'm a bit like Anne of Green Gables - I believe spelling really can affect how romantic or beautiful a word seems to you (to my Nana Ann's dismay, I do think the e on the end of Anne makes it a prettier name). To me, flavour and honour and parlour look so much classier than flavor, honor, and parlor. Plus, it's always a bit of a jolt to read books set in historical Britain that use American spelling.

Pronunciation, too - I'm an Elizabeth with a zed, not a zee.

2. Mary Balogh. Mary Mary Mary Mary. Love her. Love her. I've only read four of her books so far (I'm too damn slow!) but every time she astounds me with how she takes romance cliches and turns them on their ear. Plus, she lives in Canada, only one province away from me (Saskatchewan).

3. Dark chocolate Kit-Kat Bars. Yum.

4. Craig Olejnik. He's a Canadian actor who stars in CTV/NBC's The Listener. Now, when I created the hero of my novel, The Duke of Snow and Apples, I didn't have a particular actor or real-life person in mind. Frederick Snow started out as rather a type of hero I like and rarely see - he's tall, lanky (not beefy), nimble, with dark curly hair and is the complete opposite of tanned (he blushes and sunburns). He also has huge blue eyes that are a source of his secret magic power, but are also his most distinctive and beautiful facial feature. Again, I had no image in mind when I created him a year ago - but then here comes Craig Olejnik and I just went, "Holy CRAP - he's got Frederick's eyes!" Weird. But cool. And pretty.

5. Books. They are my heroin. And RWA was an enormous "Heroin? You like heroin? Have some free heroin!" festival for me.

6. Choral Music. Weird, I know - but this pertains more to singing it than listening to it. I've been part of my University's mixed chorus for going on five years (even though I'm no longer *in* University) and I never fail to feel awed by the feeling of singing these gorgeous, enormous, epic songs with a hundred and fifty other people. Find an example of a choir singing "O Magnum Mysterium" on YouTube and you'll know what I mean. I love being a part of a mixed chorus. I'm a Soprano II, and I usually sit on the far left, and back, because I'm one of the louder voices (I'm the choral equivalent of a linebacker). There's even a video of me somewhere of my solo from The Little Mermaid medley we put on in 2007.

7. Instrumental Film Scores. I love movies, and I know some scenes just wouldn't be the same without the score. I have a great time imagining scenes from my novels when I listen to them. I love the bombastic themes by Danny Elfman and John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith (love the Rudy soundtrack!), although the subtler ones are good too (particularly James Newton Howard's theme for M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable).

Now, for the bloggers! Lusty Reader's already nominated a bunch I already know and love, so I nominate (again, in no particular order):

1. Ramblings on Romance. Not only do I love Kristie J's take on romance (and So You Think You Can Dance), but she's a truly amazing woman in person, too!

2. The Misadventures of Super Librarian. Wendy is an inspiration in so many ways - first, I love her blog and her lightning reviews, but she also writes about the importance of romance in libraries (my public library, for all of its good qualities *cough*booksales*cough* has a sucky romance section it does not organize). Is also super-rad in person.

3. The Booksmugglers. Love these gals. They blog about three of my favourite genres - romance, fantasy, and YA. Their reviews are hilarious and often spot-on (although we've disagreed on things before). They asked me to do a Guest Dare and instantly turned me into a Linnea Sinclair fangirl. One of my favourite blogs ever!

4. Babbling about Books, and More. I got onto her blog thanks to her posts on Ramblings on Romance and Powerpuff Reviews with the Booksmugglers. Seriously awesome - and she's also a romance blogger who's trying to make it as a romance author (like me).

5. Leslie's Psyche. Just an all-round excellent blogger, who reviews both fantasy and romance, my main genres. At the same time, she also does reviews of much older books, which is very interesting to me, who is just getting into the genre and can usually only find the newer books. She's the one who piqued my interest in Westerns.

6. The Book Binge. They always impress me with the sheer number of reviews they do, always one or two a day. This means I always check in with them, even if a good chunk of the romances they review tend to be outside my circle of interest.

7. Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Last but certainly not least - are these gals. They don't review too often on their site anymore, now usually posting news in the industry and discussion topics, but these are the women who got me started in romance. They're the ones who suggested the first romance novel I ever read (Jennifer Crusie's Bet Me), back when they were still called The Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels, and they got me hooked. I can't even remember what website I was originally on when I clicked the link to the Smart Bitches, but the beautiful site design attracted me, and the hilarious reviews that kicked bad romance novel ass while celebrating wonderful, intelligent romance inspired me to start reading a genre I'd never thought of trying. They're pretty much the reason I am where I am today.

So that's about it! A big thank you to Lusty Reader and all my reader fans!

Looking for my review of It happened One Night?

Blogger's dumb - scroll down - the posting date is January 1st.

Whoring For Books

Regular visitors to my site will notice that I've added a few book widgets to my blog - first, I added Julie Anne Long's Like No Other Lover widget, and now I've added the Smart Bitches/Dear Author Buy a Contemporary widget. They've both had mentions about the book Flat-Out Sexy on their blogs, while bemoaning the fact that ordinary contemporary romances that don't involve spies, vampires, serial murderers/rapists, but are instead just extraordinary stories of love between two ordinary people, are becoming an endangered species.

I can relate. While I'm more of an historical fan myself, I love the books of Jennifer Crusie, Christine Ridgway and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I'm also a big ol' meanie when it comes to vampire/spy/thriller romances - I just don't like 'em (in general - there are exceptions).

So Dear Author and the Smart Bitches have started a contest with crazy prizes - one of which is a $100 gift certificate to Amazon to a random person who's posted this widget on their blog. Which is what I have done.

I don't care if I'm shameless - it costs nothing to post one on my blog and the books are free - my Julie Anne Long widget won me a signed copy of The Perils of Pleasure which is on its way to my mailbox as I type this.

Books books books. Free free free. I'm a simple-minded creature at heart.

My BLOG! It is BEAUTIFUL!

There are, apparently, a lot more than fifteen blogger templates.

They're just not on Blogger itself.

Thanks to the WONDERFUL help from the Comments section, I found out finding a cool customized template is frighteningly easy and completely free. Once again, my ignorance astounds me.

But don't mind me - look at my beautiful blog!

Concentration time!

As you've probably noticed, I've taken down my "Reading" and "To Be Read" lists. It seems only natural, as I'm now reading so many texts and books at once for University that there's no point in listing them all.

I'll be probably be posting less, too, as my fourth year is rapidly starting to materialize as my most difficult, and there are very few distractions which I can afford, and most of them have to do with my club work.

So feel free to peek in from time to time, but don't expect many new posts for a while.