Friskbiskit

Man Candy Monday: This One's for the Phade

For my buddies Aurora and Librarian over at The Phade:

Image ganked from FuckYeahSodomites. Posted in solidarity with Erotica Cover Watch.

All the Colors of Love: Chapter 8

Chapter 8 -- The Very Next Day

All the Colors of Love Main Page

Justice Department Weighs in on New Google Settlement

I just have time for a link to this article in the NY Times today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/technology/internet/05publish.html?th&emc=th

Amazon V Macmillan: Support the Authors

As many of you know by now, Amazon and Macmillan are duking it out over the price of ebooks.  A lot has been blogged about this already, and I've been too busy reading everyone else's posts to post one of my own.  Suffice it to say that while I see flaws in Macmillan's adherance to hardcover sales as the core of their profitability, and I take real issue with their measly 20% ebook royalty rate, I do support their wish to set their own prices for their products.  And Amazon is being a big douche.  They seem to like to throw their weight around, and use the buy button as a stick to beat anyone who disagrees with them into submission.  For those of you who may have forgotten, this has happened before.

So, while I'm glad overall that Macmillan is standing up to Amazon, I am also all too aware of the situation that I and all the other Macmillan authors find ourselves in. Though supposedly Amazon has capitulated, in a display of great maturity, they are still withholding the buy buttons for Macmillan titles, and no one seems to know when they will be restored. Particularly affected are those authors whose books are launching right now. Will their sales suffer? Yes. Did they have fuck-all to do with this dispute?  No.  Can we do anything about it?  You bet!

It's simple: buy a Macmillan author's book from another source.  My friend David Coe's book, The Horseman's Gambit, is out in paperback today, and Doranna Durgin's The Reckoners is also out.  And here's the Macmillan site for many, many more.  Including by the way, my other project, though I consider myself one of the lucky ones, having my eggs in more than one basket.

More online booksellers:

Barnes&Noble

Powell's

IndieBound

Borders

And I bet you can find even more.  Or go to a brick and mortar store. I know, Friskbiskit pimping print books and meatspace commerce.  What is the world coming to?

Man Candy Monday: Bathtime!

 

Image ganked from FuckYeahSodomites. Posted in solidarity with Erotica Cover Watch.

Rust Belt is on the Ballot!

The ballot for Best Book of the Week on the Whipped Cream review site, that is.  Woo hoo!  It's an honor to be nominated. :D

Here's how it works: Each week the lovely WC folks post the books that got 4.5 and 5 cherry reviews and you vote for your favorite book, based on the review. The winner gets a button to proudly display on their website and their book is featured at the top of the contest page all the following week. Pretty swell, huh?

The contest runs until Sunday. Please go take a look and cast your vote today!

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/WC/recentrev.htm

Reviews of Rust Belt

Rust Belt's been getting some nice attention lately. Fern at Whipped Cream Erotic Romance gave Rust Belt four and a half cherries. Meanwhile, Val Kovalin of Obsidian Bookshelf not only gave Rust Belt a favorable review, but also made it her top pick for January on All Romance eBooks' Wildfire newsletter.  I'm so proud. Thank you, Val and Fern!

All the Colors of Love: Chapter 7

Hey, here's your weekly installment of All the Color's of Love:

Chapter 7 -- Wotroya House

All the Colors of Love Main Page

ManCrunch: Coming to the Superbowl?

No, it's not a new, m/m themed breakfast cereal (though wouldn't that be fabulous?) It's a gay dating site that's trying to get their ad on the air during the Superbowl, and encountering the usual runaround.  The ad is great, and sure to make a lot of macho sports fan's heads explode.  Whether it makes in on the air or not, it's getting plenty of play online.  Help it go viral!

State of My State of the Union

Just finished watching Obama's state of the union address and I just can't overemphasize how refreshing it is to see a president who's not afraid to stick his neck out. I fucking love it when he gets righteous and calls people on their shit.  There were so many moments that just had me cheering inside.  Like when he made the Supreme Court squirm for selling out our democracy to corporate interests, and when he called it on the deficit toll of eight years of Republican fiscal policy.  I loved that he actually addressed the cynicism most of us feel, and how warranted it is.  Okay, I loved just about everything about the speech except for the nuclear power plants, but... you know, no one's perfect.

In fact, I'm so inspired, here's a little presidential fic. M/M/F this time cuz Michelle rocks the house.

State of the Union

By Jessica Freely

Applause echoed down the corridor as Barak made his exit from the congressional hall.  Michelle and Rahm met him in the vestibule.  Through the doors, he could see the car waiting to take them all home.  Home. To the Whitehouse.  Amazing how even after a year, after this year, the novelty, the flat-out-bat-shit-incredibleness of that could still sometimes sneak up and blindside him.

"You were great," said Michelle.

Barak wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.  "So were you."

A hand fell on his shoulder.  "Nuclear plants?" said Rahm.

Barak sighed and turned from his wife and best friend, to his best friend and lover.  "Can we discuss it in the car?"

"Listen, the rest of the speech was aces, but did you really have to mention the nuclear power plants?"

"Transparency, Rahm."

"But--"

"Come on, you two," said Michelle, grabbing Rahm by the collar and leading Barak by the hand.  "Dissect the speech all you want tomorrow. My mother's got the girls tonight and we haven't had one of our 'summit meetings' in far too long. Let's not waste time."

Of course, Rahm couldn't stop himself from analyzing and strategizing in the car and all the way up to the Lincoln bedroom.  Fortunately, Barak and Michelle each had their ways of shutting him up.

"Do you think Congress will ever understand what we can accomplish when we work together?" asked Michelle, much later, as they lay on either side of a sweetly sleeping Rahm. He looked like an angel.  Incredible.

"I don't know," said Barak, "but we could get Rahm to explain it to them."

The End

Author Spotlight: Ann Herendeen

I've been following Ann Herendeen's career since she published Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander with HarperCollins in Spring 2008. This was before Running Press started their m/m historical romance line and Herendeen's m/m, m/f combo (with one of those 'm's being the same gent) was the nearest thing I'd seen to m/m romance breaking into mainstream publishing. Now, Ann's back with Pride/Prejudice, also from HarperCollins and published just yesterday! I happen to know that the '/' in the title is no happenstance. Let's hear what Ann has to say about it, shall we?


Oh, and don't miss the excerpt from Pride/Prejudice at the end of the post.

Tell us about your recent publication.

Pride/Prejudice is what I call “the hidden story” of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It takes the same characters and plot and brings to light the homoerotic subtext. Most of us are familiar with the central romance, of proud Mr. Darcy and prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet, and how they learn the truth behind their mistaken “first impressions” (Austen’s original title). But I see a similar development in the relationships between Mr. Darcy and his “gentlemanlike” friend Mr. Bingley, and between Elizabeth and her friend Charlotte. In both cases, one of the partners has to learn to respect the other’s choices and to treat him or her as an equal. 


This is a bisexual love story: the same-sex relationships are in addition to the m/f ones, not instead of them. I’m not changing the story, only showing a part of it that couldn’t be seen in Austen’s time. I don’t think Austen was consciously writing “bisexual” characters; that’s a modern way of categorizing people. But the kind of friendship she portrayed between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley, the affectionate but domineering control that Mr. Darcy wields, can very easily support a sexual interpretation. Elizabeth’s sense of betrayal at Charlotte’s marriage to the loathsome Mr. Collins also carries an implication of jealousy. And the exploitative relationship between Mr. Darcy and Wickham practically requires a sexual aspect to make sense of it.

What gave you the idea for this story?

Writing my first novel, Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander. That story took a traditional Georgette Heyer form of the Regency romance—a witty, drawing-room comedy of manners—sexed it up, and queered it by making the hero “slightly bisexual” (as I described him in my presentation for a conference—see below). The idea was to use all the clichés or standard tropes of these m/f romances—the alpha male rakish hero, the marriage of convenience, and the Bertie Wooster-ish group of the hero’s friends—to tell an m/m/f romance, giving the hero a hea with his wife and his boyfriend. 


Phyllida has a minor subplot in which the hero thinks his wife is the author of Sense and Sensibility, which was published anonymously. (She actually writes trashy gothic novels.) And it got me thinking about Pride and Prejudice, because I saw the possibility in that novel for a similar m/m/f situation. Because P&P was published in 1813, it’s usually read as taking place in 1812, so it was a natural progression from writing an m/m/f love story set in 1812 to telling P&P as an m/m/f story—or slightly m/m/f/f.

Why do you write?

When I started, it was to write the kind of thing I wanted to read but didn’t see anyone else writing: an m/m/f love story in the form of a traditional m/f romance novel. I think of Phyllida as my fantasy autobiography—what’s sometimes called a “Mary Sue.” If I could go back into the fictional past and be the heroine of a Regency romance, this would be it.

Working on P/P was a very different experience. I wasn’t writing “my” story; I was writing Jane Austen’s story, trying very hard not to change it, but to bring out some of the hidden aspects. Writing about other characters, as opposed to a version of me and my fantasies, changed how I felt about writing. 


Now I think it’s more like what real writers do: they look for truths—about the world, about themselves, about relationships—by telling a made-up story. I see writing as a conversation with readers. It’s not just me talking to my computer. When we write something intended for publication we hope other people will read it and be moved by it. I’m still writing for myself, in the sense that writing fiction allows me to be completely honest—or as close as anyone can get. But I’m also putting this candid viewpoint out there and saying, “This is what interests me, what turns me on, what makes me laugh. What do you think?” Naturally I’m going to get negative responses as well as positive ones, but that’s what it’s all about—a way to reveal, through my fiction, the true self that feels hidden within my physical being and day-job existence, and see how other people react to it.

To what/whom do you credit your success?

First: to the fact that I write comedy within an old-fashioned narrative style. People can enjoy my stories on different levels: as genuine romance or as a humorous take on a familiar genre or story. Most of the books I read growing up were written at least fifty years ago (I’m almost 55), and many of them had a style that’s deceptively easy. The reader assumes it was as easy to write as it is to read. Only when you try to emulate it do you find out how hard it is to achieve. But I keep trying. 


Second: my editor at HarperCollins. He’s the one who, in his words, “came across” the POD Phyllida and liked it enough to give it a chance at real publication. It was the humor that attracted him. HC published Phyllida as regular fiction, not as romance, and I think my editor was surprised that some readers took it seriously as a love story. Many people assume I was one of the select few to be picked out of the slush pile, and want to know my secret. The truth is even stranger. I did send my manuscript to publishers and agents, but gave up after six months and did print-on-demand instead.

Third: I also have to thank some influential bloggers, especially Michelle Buonfiglio and her blog, Romance B(u)y The Book, and the Smart Bitches, Trashy Novels. They both gave the POD Phyllida great publicity, and I suspect this was one of the reasons my eventual editor decided it was worth a look. 
 


How did you start writing?


I had read a number of Marion Zimmer Bradley Darkover novels years ago. I especially liked The Heritage of Hastur with its homoerotic coming-of-age story and the villain, Dyan Ardais, who is primarily same-sex oriented but admits to being “a man of impulse”—desiring a woman, even marrying, on one or two occasions. Then, much later, I found a book of Darkover fanfiction. Like all overconfident neophytes, I thought I could do as well as some of those writers, and I sat down and wrote a story, told in the first person, about being one of Dyan Ardais’s “impulses.” (Yes, reader, I married him.)


The story sucked, but at the time I was quite pleased with it. I wrote several more, chronicling the adventures of the little family I created with Dyan, his boyfriends, and our two children. Eventually the stories became longer, then novellas. I had written two full-length novels and was halfway through a third when I realized two things: 1) Bradley had stopped permitting fanfiction, so all this work was unpublishable; and 2) while my first efforts were atrocious, I had gotten better with practice and could perhaps try to publish something. That’s when I switched to Regency romance. The comic mood of most regencies suits my voice, and it was a genre I felt comfortable working in. 



If you could change one thing about the publishing industry, what would it be?

Publicity. I would make it possible for new, marginal writers to get publicity, like readings, interviews—ideally, a book tour—if they want it.

When the big publishing houses pay an enormous advance to a celebrity or bestselling author, they obviously don’t want to lose that investment, so they’re willing to put additional money into publicity to make sure the book performs up to expectations. Authors like me, who get very small advances, aren’t worth the extra expense. If our books don’t sell, the publisher hasn’t lost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, only a very few thousand. There’s no point in throwing any more money down the drain after that initial small loss.


Blogging is just about the only way new authors have to promote ourselves, and I’m not very good at it. Public appearances and interviews are much easier for me. It’s something I enjoy doing, and I think most books sell better when the author is right there with readers, face to face, answering questions and sharing her pleasure in her work. But it only happens now for the few authors who already have the big sales or get a big advance, and can be counted on to fill seats. I would be willing to set aside some of my minuscule advance for PR instead of taking it as cash, but since I would need help making the arrangements and getting gigs, I suspect the publishers would still consider it not worth the trouble.
Of course, being featured in a special segment like this Author Spotlight is much, much more fun than trying to be a conscientious blogger or Twitterer—and I thank you for giving me the opportunity! 
 


What is your proudest moment as an author?


Being invited to be a panelist—a speaker—at the conference held at Princeton University last year called “Love as the Practice of Freedom? Romance Fiction and American Popular Culture.” My proudest moment was meeting the other panelists: multiply-published romance novelists like Jennifer Crusie and Eloisa James; and scholars like Stephanie Coontz, author of the pioneering nonfiction work, Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage—and then standing up and speaking about my one published book (at the time), and realizing I was, however briefly, part of this group.


Kirk, or Spock? 


Spock. I figure he must be bisexual, as it’s the most logical orientation, being open to relationships with both (or all) sexes ;)

Here's an excerpt from Ann's newest release, Pride/Prejudice:

Man Candy Monday Photo Caption Contest

It's time for another Photo Caption Contest!

The person who posts the funniest caption* to this photo wins a $5 gift certificate from Loose Id!

 

Image ganked from Male Submission Art. Posted in solidarity with Erotica Cover Watch.

*winner to be determined by an independent panel of judge (ie, my hub Steve.  Say hi to Steve everyone!)

Pro Choice Post

Today is the 37th anniversary of Roe v Wade and I find it as difficult to talk about my reasons for being pro-choice as I ever have.  But I'm going to try.

The reason I find it difficult is that I cannot get my head around the idea that some people think a woman should be forced to bear a child against her will.  That this is still a debate in our country is to me the most blatant illustration of women's lowly status.  Honestly.  If some guy can overpower me and leave me pregnant against my will, and then the state can force me to bear that child and spend most of the rest of my life caring for it, then, am I really any better than a slave?  I don't think so.

So I'm pro-choice.

Incidentally, I don' t know much about the Freakonimics books or their authors, but I happened to flip through one a couple of months ago and came across a chapter contending that the reason for the sudden, precipitous drop in the crime rate in the 1990s was down to the legalization of abortion.  They linked the low incidence of crime to fewer unwanted children growing up to be criminals.  So, you know, if just actually granting women sovereignty over their own lives isn't enough for you, there's lower crime to boot.  But the sovereignty is enough for me.

That's all.  Below is a nice story.  Go read it.

All the Colors of Love: Chapter 6

All the Colors of Love Chapter 6 -- Happiness

All the Colors of Love Main Page

1/20/10

The new White Collar episode makes me happy in all my special places. Early on you can totally read Peter as having this dark obsession with Neal, and he's talking about getting Neal's girlfriend out of the picture and everything, like as in so he can have Neal to himself.  And then in all the spy-betrayal doubletalk going on later, a nice healthy portion of homoerotic innuendo slips, uh, through the cracks. And it all wraps up with a lovely bit of I trust you, Peter/I'll save you, Neal/Neal, she's no good for you can't you see I'm the man for you?

Mmmmmmmmm.

Spent the whole dang afternoon on bills today.  Which sucks because yesterday, I actually got more done than I expected, which hasn't happened in I don' t know when. 

I'm first drafting a new m/m in the morning these days and that's going well. I take an apple and peanut butter w/ me when I go to the Y in the morning, and then I have breakfast w/ my pals at the coffeehouse, and then, since I've brought my notebook but not my laptop, I write longhand for a nice solid two hours or more.  I'm quite taken with idea of doing this every day for the rest of my life.

What I need are secretaries to type it all in somewhere.  Volunteer secretaries, preferably with armloads of White Collar slash.

Let's see, what else?  Oh yeah, here's an interesting story I ran across this morning about Amazon Kindle royalties, and did you hear about this shindig going down in New York next week? Digital Book World? It costs like $1000 to go but it would be so cool.  I'd love to cover it for Friskbiskit.  At least I can link to the blog.

And in other news, my close friend Sharon just got a kidney transplant a couple weeks ago.  It's been a pretty bumpy ride, but she's home now and doing better all the time. Send her some good vibes.