Funky Fashion V

For $1.5 million dollars, you can buy a wedding dress that took eight people two months to make - using 2,009 peacock feathers.

To be honest, upon hearing about this dress, I built an image in my mind of what to expect, only it isn't this.

Hump Day Reflections!

It's Earth Day - go au nautrel!

eBook and Book Talk!

Earth Day is tomorrow meaning much of the media is spending this week focusing on green issues and I thought I'd take a moment to address something that falls in this arena and seriously bothers me about the book business.

Print runs.

Basically, they're ugly number wise and yet every author hopes they sell through their first and more than a second printing is needed. So let me give you a couple of numbers and see what you think.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling had 500 for the first run, 300 went to libraries. Ten years later, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows had 12 million. Interesting and shows what a great success the series was and still is. [Side note: Did you know they were published in the UK with one set of covers for children and another for adults? They were and the US should pay attention to this way of encouraging people to read outside their comfort zone.] Anyway, what strikes me as odd is that the Harry Potter series still isn't officially in ebook, but Lord of the Rings now is.

Why not?

Yesterday came news of the latest big print run and it belongs to Dan Brown, author of Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code, amongst others. He has a new Robert Langdon book, The Lost Symbol, coming out this September and it's going to have an initial run of 5 million. Hmmm, the series is a success bookwise and in movie theaters, but there are two things that bother me about the size of this run. One, will people buy even though so much time has passed since he released a book [2003], and two, will people not buy because of the ugly copyright lawsuit filed against him? Brown won, but after watching last night’s 60 Minutes, will be proven innocent be enough for the public?

Okay, those are big selling books, so let's bring it down a bit. A mid-list author's mass market paperback will have an average around 50k for a print run and rarely come close to selling through. What isn't sold are left to be stripped [pulling the cover off and throwing out the inside] - that's right, thrown out. This doesn't happen to a couple hundred or a thousand, but ten's of thousands. On the other side, small publishing houses that use the POD technology have much smaller runs, reprinting at a moments notice, and escape the necessity of stripping, wasting raw materials.

The book business has its ugly secrets, but a day without books would be seriously bad. Me? I think it’s time for a massive and well thought out revamping of publishing as a whole. In regards to print runs, maybe if houses moved away from their traditional selling plan of hardback for a year and then some form of paperback for the remainder of the contract [and with only a select few going into ebooks]. Here's an idea, smaller print runs and simultaneous print/ebook releases. This would make everyone happy: the print and ebook readers each have their format of choice, authors make money, publishing houses supply books and make money, and environmentalists can calm down about senseless waste - all good.

LIP gets 4 stars!

LIP is actually "Love's Immortal Pantheon Anthology" and it has my story "Hephaestus Lays Down the Law" between its covers.

A snippet from the * * * * review is:

Mythology is the inspiration for this collection, which resonates with lust, love and liaisons. These seven tales offer fresh takes on the gods, portraying them as flawed individuals with the same desires as the mortals they hunger for. Their randy love-play, include menages and orgies, makes for a titillating read.

Reviewed by Gail Pruszkowski, June 2009, RT Book Reviews

Pick up your copy today from Amazon, B&N, BAM, Powell's or your local bookshop

A bit of random ridiculousness...

Normally, I'm all about forgiving and moving on, not wasting time dwelling on the good or bad, except for when it comes to one issue in specific. I know this isn't good and I do feel bad because I had [and still am having] a happy glow when I heard about a certain someone seriously big, failed so horribly, so publically.

As far as I'm concerned, they deserve everything they get and will continue to do so until I hear about them doing something right.

Who am I talking about?

The Yankees! That's right, the New York Yankees [management, not the players] are going to continue racking up losses [old field or new] until I can get over their horrific behavior toward my cutie.

Karma, baby, may it keep on kicking you.

Funky Fashion Part IV

This past week I received some fabulous news, Highland Heat will soon be released in paperback - woohoo! As you can guess, my mind right back to Scotland and, well, I forgot I had this gem in my files.

There's still a nip in the air, do you need something to keep your nipples warm? These tartan pasties can be had through Etsy, along with a cute knitted set.

Hump Day Reflections!

Forget those ugly snuggly things, what you need is a a lovely soft blanket to ward off the chill.

By the way, another way to relax is with a good book and Phaze is celebrating it being April 15th with titles regularly priced $5-7 being offered at $4.01(k)! Use PHAZEWIN to save even more.

Book Talk!

It's a sad time in the usually fabulous world of books. This Saturday, Judith Krug, Founder of Banned Books Week, passed away.

As if this wasn't bad enough, the industry suffered another serious setback. It doesn't sound like much when someone says Amazon deranked a bunch of books, except it is, to everyone who loves to read. This particular deranking means authors and their books [for me it's Zandia and Hot Couture] in the erotic and GLBT categories are now difficult, if not impossible for a reader to find on the online bookstores cyber shelves and purchase.

Descrimination? Censorship?

For some people it is.

However, I'm someone who prefers to look at the positive side of things and have a great solution if Amazon's actions bother you and you don't want to support them, then don't worry, there are plenty of choices out there to ensure you have your books!

You can go directly to the publisher and their bookstores [Samhain has My Bookstore and More and Ellora's Cave has Jasmine Jade]. Then there are the shops like Borders, B&N, BAM or Powell's online bookstores...or you can go to IndieBound, type in your zip code and find independent shops near you to shop at. If they don't supply the books you're looking for, ask them to order them.

And, the best part of shopping locally? It boosts the economy on your doorstep!

Edited to Add: Amazon has re-ranked both Zandia and Hot Couture

Naughty Thought for Monday!

I eat tofu, but would I put it on my license plate?

Oh, wait a second, were you thinking it was something else?

Naughty, naughty!

Bad, bad, bad!

Censorship - bad!

Discrimination - bad!

Amazon - bad?

Amazon is deranking books with "adult content" [a couple of mine included] which means readers may not be able to find one of your favorite erotic/glbt authors latest or oldest books at Amazon. Dear Author and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books have explained it perfectly.

A few examples of how bad this move has been that I've seen on Twitter are:

Sex in the City book, deranked and Sex in the City movie, ranked.
Joy of Sex, deranked and The Anarchist Cookbook, ranked.
Heather Has Two Mommies, deranked and A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality, ranked.
Also deranked is Lady Chatterley's Lover and Lolita - CLASSICS!

I've read about two reasons for the mass deranking of erotic/glbt books: deranking those w/customer complaints for content [except it is happening to books not yet released] and the other is a technical glitch [no, it's been going on for some time].

Ick, not liking this at all but, maybe with the economy so bad, this is the perfect time to reintroduce yourself to your local independent bookstore.

Amazon Rank!

Looking for Something Interesting To Do?

Want to meet and talk with the author? Find out where the idea for the story came from? Find out what they have coming out next and get them to sign your copy?

Then come over to Unique Books [464 Broadway, Bayonne, NJ 07002] this Saturday [April 11] from 1-4:00pm and chat with Tilly Greene, Stella Price, Cat Johnson and Ciar Cullen!

A good hot read is the perfect choice.

What is Tilly doing today?

Talking about menages and inspiration.

Sounds like an odd mix, doesn't it? Welcome to a normal work day :-)

Actually, they are two different blog entries, in two different places, and were both a pleasure to write.

'To Menage or Not' lays out what it takes for a menage to work in a story and is to help celebrate Selena Illyria's Menage Week.

'How did you come up with that idea' peeks into what inspires me to write a story and is a guest entry on Shiloh Walker's Blog who is a seriously busy woman right now.

Funky Fashion Part III

Low-rider jeans that are so low the designers added a bikini [and some have thongs] to them.

Hmmm, there'll be no plumber pant problems that's for sure.

Hump Day Reflections!

Here's a taste of model Chad White in black and white, he's the star of my April Eye Candy. There's something about a b&w photo that draws me in, maybe it's how well the muscles are defined...anyway, it definitely helps that this man suits my Russians perfectly.

Main Street Magazine Debuts With Heat!

OH WOW!

Check out the fabulous new interview with Tilly Greene in the debut issue of Main Street Magazine - "The magazine that women have been waiting for-Where intelligence is sexy-Where the men are eye candy-Where you are the expert- And the attitude is free.".

What an honor and pleasure this was!

Make sure and drop a comment to the editor, Tilly Rivers [editor @ mainstreetmagazine. net - minus the spaces]. She did a wonderful job.