Comments on Borders Closing, plus Links

I was convinced that by now everyone would have heard the bad news about Borders closing, but I discovered the other day that Mr. Sportsfan, aka the DH, had NOT heard about this, so I thought I’d share my thoughts about what’s happening with the now defunct bookseller. I very much fear that many readers who depended upon Borders for access to print books will now find themselves in a situation similar to my own, limited to buying books at the local Walmart, traveling to the next town to visit a bookstore, or purchasing books through an ereader.

As recently as this morning I’ve seen bloggers blame the success of ereaders for Borders’ demise, but that strikes me as greatly overstating the case and underestimating the ineptness of the Borders CEOs. I’ve had such limited access to bookstores for so long that this probably won’t affect HOW I purchase books much, although it will no doubt affect the prices of books I buy and to whom publishers offer book contracts, since there will now be less shelf space for published books. I also should point out that all the store closings will have a negative effect on authors whose books will now be returned to publishers unsold. Less access to print books and decreased competition among booksellers means that Barnes and Noble will have even more power than it does now, but the sad truth is that because of where I live Amazon holds far more sway over my book purchases than anything else. Many have decried the death of the independent bookseller and with good reason, but I haven’t had access to a nearby brick and mortar bookstore for years. Since I live in a small town, my book buying options are limited to Walmart and Amazon. Hence my love affair with my Kindle.  

Blaming the Kindle, Nook, or Kobo for the death of any brick and mortar bookstore strikes me as extremely shortsighted. I have to drive 30 minutes to get to my nearest Barnes and Noble, yet every time I’m in town, I end up dropping by and purchasing a few books. Now that I have my Kindle, I still visit the B&N as frequently as before, because it’s located in the same town as the nearest restaurants. So I’m still buying as many, if not more, print books, plus all the ebooks I purchase for my Kindle. In fact, I buy waaaaaaaaaay more books on my Kindle than I ever did before I had my ereader. Hundreds more, although I’m too embarrassed to tell you how MANY hundreds more. I'm also more willing to try new authors on the Kindle than I ever was before. So for authors and publishers my Kindle has been a godsend without causing the “local” bookseller (or Walmart, for that matter) any revenue loss. Unfortunately, I suspect that this will not be the case for most of the readers who used to purchase their books at Borders. While any medium that increases access to consumers is a plus, the majority of readers still purchase their books in physical bookstores, which means that Borders’ closing will leave thousands with less access to books, and that is never a good development.

Links with Interviews, Self-Publishing Info, and Other Various and Sundry Goodies

I saw on Twitter today that there’s a New York Times article on how e-books are causing publishers to release the paperback version of Hardcover releases much more quickly than in the past. This doesn’t surprise me, although it does make me even less inclined to purchase a hardback than before (if such a thing is possible). I never buy hardbacks unless it’s one of my favorite authors, and even then I get the book on my Kindle. I did notice that last year’s Elizabeth Peters hardcover was released in paperback this April (a year after the hardcover release, the traditional wait), but the paperback was priced at $9.99 instead of mass market pricing. I wonder if the publishers will now be moving to a trade paperback format instead of mass market release.

Romance author Courtney Milan has an intriguing blog post about her thoughts concerning changes in the publishing industry. You may remember that she was very successful with her self-published e-novella, Unlocked. I loved the e-novella, and it encouraged me to check out many of her other books, which in turn resulted in profit for her publisher (one of her points). I would like to point out to authors considering self-publishing their work that her self-publishing success comes from her presenting such a polished piece. In general I think that authors who start out with a publisher then move to self-publishing are far more successful than the few who have gone the opposite route.

She also has an open letter to agents about what she perceives their role with self-publishing should be. It’s a two part post/rant, and she makes some excellent points, namely that agents should be focusing on creating a business plan that allows them to make more money for their clients than if said clients published on their own.



Maya Banks' upcoming book,
release date 8/30



My final link is an absolutely FASCINATING interview that Jane from DearAuthor.com conducted with author Maya Banks. What stunned me about this interview is the daily wordcount she sets for herself. She writes 5,000 words a day. 5,000!!!!!! She is a writing machine! I’ve read nearly all of her books, and they are outstanding, plus she writes successfully in numerous genres. Who does that?!!? This interview is chock full of information about how she receives sales numbers, advances and royalties, and self-promotion. And while I didn’t realize it at the time I read the interview, she also has kids. Yes, she writes 5,000 words a day and raises children. Superwoman, thy name is Maya Banks.

Some Great Reads from the Past Month

This month I’ve read a lot really great books, some of which are new releases and some only new to me. Here are a few short reviews of my favorite reads from this month. All of these books were either checked out of the library or purchased by yours truly.

Madeline Hunter’s Ravishing in Red This is the first of the Rarest Blooms series, and it’s an absolute winner. This is by far the best historical I’ve read in a long, long time, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. The heroine is Audrianna Kelmsleigh, whose father committed suicide when accused of negligence that led to barrels of unusable gunpowder reaching the troops fighting in France. Audrianna is determined to clear her father’s name, and when she spots a newspaper ad from someone calling himself Domino, she arranges to meet him to learn the truth. Unfortunately, Lord Sebastian Summerhays, who Audrianna believes hounded her father to death, also sees the ad and comes to confront Domino as well. The resulting scandal from their meeting requires the two to wed, and the two work to solve the mystery behind the faulty gunpowder. Both are reasonable, likeable people, and their romance is a delight to watch.

Julia Quinn’s Just Like Heaven If you’ve read any of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton novels, you are all too aware of the Smythe-Smith musicales. The Smythe-Smith girls are truly atrocious musicians, and the few exceptions among them with talent can’t be heard over the cacophony of the others. This novel features Lady Honoria Smythe-Smith and her brother’s best friend, Marcus Holroyd, the Earl of Chatteris. The two have known each other for years, and this novel is a sweet story of friends falling in love. Much time is given to Honoria’s relationship with the other Smythe-Smith girls “practicing” for the musicale, which is truly hilarious, since only some of the girls are aware of how awful their performances are. A bit too much time is spent on Marcus’ injury and Honoria’s nursing him to health, and there is very little conflict, but it is a light-hearted read worth the short time you will spend reading it.

Courtney Milan’s Proof by Seduction Don’t let the atrocious cover of this novel put you off. Ms. Milan’s first novel is not particularly accurate historically speaking, but it’s a charming fantasy and a truly enjoyable read. Jenny Keeble earns a living a “Madame Esmerelda” telling fortunes. One day Gareth Carhart, Marquess of Blakely, accompanies Jenny’s regular client, Ned, to his reading to confront her and expose her as a fraud. As Jenny and the Marquess spend more and more time together, they fall in love, and it’s painful to watch the socially awkward Marquess try to convince Jenny to become his mistress, truly the only socially acceptable way for the two of them to be together. Fortunately they find their happy-ever-after, and I’ve now added Ms. Milan to my list of must-read authors.

Candace Camp’s A Lady Never Tells (Willowmere #1) This romance has a few bumps, but it’s worth the time. The novel begins with the arrival of the four American Bascombe sisters in London. All four are named after flowers (Marigold/Mary, Rose, Lily, and Camellia), and they are there to throw themselves on the mercy of their maternal grandfather, the Earl of Stewkesbury, who disinherited their mother when she eloped with their father. Unfortunately, the old Earl has died, and the girls’ cousin Oliver is the new Earl. Thanks to the intervention of Sir Royce Winslow, the Earl’s step-brother, the girls are acquainted with the new Earl and he will provide for them to make their debuts among the ton. This novel focuses on the romance between Sir Royce and Mary. The best parts of the novel are the frequent misunderstandings caused by the American sisters, who have no clue how to comport themselves in high society.

Lynn Kurland’s One Magic Moment This is Ms. Kurland’s latest novel featuring the medieval DePiaget family. It’s a time travelling romance and typical of her style. If you’ve read any of the other novels, you’ll recognize the time travelling elements and some familiar characters from the 1240s, but that doesn’t detract from the story at all. Tess Alexander has just said goodbye to her sister, who has married Montgomery DePiaget and left her family in the present to live in the year 1241. Tess is currently living in a medieval castle in modern-day England, and she’s stunned when she drives into town to see the new mechanic and discovers that he looks exactly like her medieval brother-in-law. John DePiaget is Montgomery’s twin and has been living for the last few years in the present-day. Despite his best efforts, he and Tess fall in love and are faced with difficult decisions about where and “when” to live together. There’s a short mystery involved as well, but it’s truly secondary to the plot. I liked the book so much I’ve been catching up on Ms. Kurland’s backlist. Her books are definitely PG, so they make for good recommendations for the mothers and grandmothers looking for slightly less steamy romances.

Caitlin Kittredge’s Street Magic (Black London #1) This is the first book in the Black London series featuring Detective Pete Caldecott and anti-hero Jack Winter. A truly gritty urban fantasy with a stung-out junkie for a hero, Street Magic was intriguing and stunning in its world-building. At sixteen, Pete witnessed her older sister’s boyfriend Jack Winter get murdered by a demon, but years later she runs across him again while working a kidnapping case for the police. Ms. Kittredge’s use of punk rock and language in her dark version of London make this complex story with romance elements a pleasure to read.

Kim Harrison’s Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows #1) The beginning of the now long-running Hollows series was a bit rough to get into, but a few chapters in it really picks up and I couldn’t put it down after that. In a world where a bioengineered virus has killed off a lot of the human population and forced the exposure of Inderlanders (weres, vampires, witches, and others), Rachel Morgan is a bounty-hunter for Inderland Runner Services. She quits her crappy job for IS, striking out on her own with vampire partner Ivy and pixy Jenks. Her former boss puts out a contract on her, and the action of the novel revolves around her dodging assassination attempts while trying to bring in a big-time criminal in order to get the contract revoked. A solid start to what becomes a much stronger series, Dead Witch Walking is another urban fantasy well worth reading.

May Roundup of Books

Yesterday was so much fun that the rest of this week can’t possibly compete. First, two of my favorite authors, Ilona Andrews and Nalini Singh, released new books yesterday and they were both fantastic. It’s so rare to have your expectations met and exceeded, isn’t it? Both Magic Slays and Kiss of Snow were great books, and I highly recommend them. I also joined the 21^st century yesterday with the arrival of my new smart phone. I was pleasantly surprised by how tech savvy I am, considering my last phone was just a phone. We’ll have to see how pleased I am once I receive my first bill.

After basking in the glow of downloading the Kindle app to my phone and re-reading sections of the two aforementioned books, I was surfing the blogosphere and found one of my favorite bloggers had done a short post of some of her favorite reads from this month. Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I thought I’d do the same! She highlighted books that were new releases this month, but I’m going to list favorite books I read this month that were new to me. Some of these books were released as long ago as (gasp!) 1986. These are not all the books I read in May, but they’re some of my favorites.

Lois McMaster Bujold Cordelia’s Honor

This is an omnibus of two novels, Shards of Honor (1986) and Barrayar, published together in 1999. Even if you’re not familiar with Bujold’s Vorkosigan series or even a sci-fi fan, these two novels are outstanding. The hero and heroine are older than your typical lovers in a romance – she’s in her 30s and he’s 40 – and the development of their romance is a pleasure to read, particularly since they begin as adversaries, if not quite the out and out enemies their societies would like them to be. Cordelia’s Honor is considered more sci-fi than romance, but it has enough elements of both to satisfy any reader of either genre.

Stacey Jay Dead on the Delta

I really enjoy novels that take place in the South, and this one doesn’t disappoint. The action takes place in Louisiana after fairies have mutated because of a chemical spill, and Annabelle Lee is one of the few humans immune to the deadly fairy bites. Because of her immunity, Annabelle is forced to work with an antagonistic ex-lover to help find a possible serial killer. She isn’t a very sympathetic character at the beginning, but by the end you’re rooting for her. This novel reminded me of Diana Rowland’s Blood of the Demon in its setting and use of forensic science and the arcane, which is always a good thing.

Karen Hawkins Scandal in Scotland

Karen Hawkins’ novels are always a lot of fun, and the only thing disappointing about Scandal in Scotland is that it ends too quickly. This is the second book in her Hurst Amulet series, and if you’ve read any of her other novels, some old favorites make appearances to help Marcail Beauchamp and William Hurst get together. Captain William Hurst needs to sail to Egypt with the infamous Hurst Amulet to free his brother Michael, who’s being held for ransom for the object. Unfortunately, his ex-lover Marcail is being blackmailed and her blackmailer demands that she steal the Amulet from William. There’s an exciting race towards Scotland after the amulet is stolen from Marcail, and the two are forced to work together to recover it and free Marcail of her blackmailer. It’s a great read for summer, but I would have liked it to be a bit longer, and I’m still not sure exactly what the amulet is for, although we do get a hint at its purpose towards the end of the novel.

Courtney Milan Unlocked (novella)

I learned about this novella from several romance blogs, and I’m so glad I did! It’s only 99₵ at Amazon and was worth much more. Courtney Milan self-published the novella, and it is so clear that she is an experience, published author, because the quality of the story is infinitely better than the other self-published work I’ve read. In this novella, Evan Carlton, Earl of Westfield, is returning to London after nearly 10 years away. Before he left, he’d singled out Lady Elaine Warren and made her an object of ridicule and misery at the hands of the ton. He hopes for her forgiveness and to rectify past wrongs, but when you read the story, you’ll realize just how difficult that task will be. He made her absolutely miserable, and she’s suffered ever since. This is a sweet love story, and it has encouraged me to try other Courtney Milan books.

Carrie Vaughn Kitty and the Silver Bullet

This is the fourth novel in Carrie Vaughn’s series about werewolf talk radio host Kitty Norville, and so far it’s my favorite. I did an earlier blog post about the public library’s odd collection of this series: they have books one through three, then seven, so I had to purchase this book for my kindle, but it was well worth it. Kitty and her packmate Ben are forced to return to Denver and find themselves in a turf war between vampires and Kitty’s old pack leaders. The pacing of this book was just right; there was plenty of action and tension between the warring factions, plus some sexual tension between Kitty and Ben. I believe you could pick up the series at this point and still follow along, but I highly suggest you read all three prior novels as you’ll enjoy the characters more.

Jacqueline Winspear Maisie Dobbs

Maisie Dobbs is the first in Winspear’s series of mysteries set in post-WWI London. Maisie Dobbs is a young women working as a private investigator in London ten years after the First World War ends. She was at Cambridge when war broke out and left school to serve as a nurse, witnessing innumerable horrors and experiencing personal loss. The novel is fascinating in its depiction of class differences and the opportunities available to women at the time. I highly recommend it but feel I should warn you that because of the setting and the mystery dealing with injured WWI veterans, it’ll leave you feeling wrung out. I suggest you read it on a sunny day, because it’s fairly grim in places, even though any violence is implicit and there’s no sex or inappropriate language.

Ilona Andrews Magic Slays

This is the long-awaited fifth installment of Andrews’ Kate Daniels series, set in Atlanta. As I mentioned earlier, I love books set in the South, and this is one of my favorites, because I’m an Atlanta native. It cracks me up to see how the different Atlanta neighborhoods have changed after the tech fails and magic makes its unpredictable return. I adore the characters of Kate Daniels and Curran, the Alpha of all the shapeshifters in Atlanta, and this novel picks up where the fourth, Magic Bleeds, ends, with the two mated and living in the Pack’s Keep. Seeing their relationship develop is a delight, and Kate’s snarky comments and dry wit make an appearance at just the right moments to help alleviate any tension. When Kate is hired to investigate a kidnapping, she learns that the man kidnapped was creating a deadly machine that is now in the hands of an anti-magic terrorist group. As Curran’s consort and alpha to the thousands of pack members, she has to find and disarm the weapon. In her race to do so, she learns some shocking and uncomfortable truths about her mother and step-father that lead her to question her relationship with Curran. This is an outstanding addition to the series, and I loved it. I think you could follow along without having read the previous novels, but it’s a lot more fun to read the others first.

Nalini Singh Kiss of Snow

Kiss of Snow is the tenth installment of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series, and readers have been waiting for this book for a long time. Singh has been building the tension between wolf alpha Hawke and Psy Sienna Lauren for a long time. I wasn’t sure how this novel would turn out, because Sienna is only 19 while Hawke is in his early thirties. I’ve never been a big fan of large age differences between characters, even in Regency romances when it would be historically accurate. But Singh definitely convinced me with this one! Sienna is one of the most powerful Psy (psychic) characters we’ve seen to date, and she’s very capable of calling Hawke on his behavior and making him pay attention to her without acting immature. There’s also a secondary romance between Lara, the pack healer, and Walker, Sienna’s Psy uncle, that’s really touching. The tension between the pack and the Pure Psy factions that are threatened by the Psy-Changeling alliances has grown steadily throughout the series, and it reaches a critical point in this novel. It will be interesting to see where Singh goes next with the series, because the situations between the Psy and the Changelings and even among the Psy themselves have become chaotic. This is one of my favorites of the series, and I’ll be re-reading it many times!