Sorry it’s been a while. I will finish my fics. I WILL finish my fics. Eventually. But first, democracy!
I was proud to participate in Romancing the Runoff from the beginning- see Vogue article for how that went. Nobody expected it to be as big of A Thing as it ended up being. The tipping point was probably when one of the organizers got an email from Neil Gaiman, and everyone collectively freaked out. (note: I am not an organizer, I am far too antisocial and disorganized to do that kind of work.) Anyway, it was fun, at a time when a lot of people were not having a whole lot of fun, and you should consider joining us if you like fun, democracy, and/or kissing books. Ideally all of the above.
If you haven’t experienced Romancelandia’s Wakanda royal guard-style enthusiasm, now is your chance! You don’t have to write romance, btw. See: Neil Gaiman. Nor do you need to be a famous author; they accepted my donation, and I’m a nobody.
*Note that donate an item, you must be a U.S. citizen and cannot be a federal contractor.
Last month I tweeted that Rian Johnson changed my life. Although I’ve been prone to Rian Johnson-related dramatic hyperbole over the last three years, this time I was very serious.
I’m so excited to finally share that my book has found the perfect home at The Dial Press / Random House!
You all gave me the support and encouragement to write and share my stories…plus countless hours of entertainment and angst and anticipation for updates. I adore the amount of imagination and creativity that’s been poured into this fandom.
Some time in the next two years (yeah, traditional publication takes a long time), the book will come out. Physically. It will have a cover and my name and blurbs and some unfortunate audiobook narrator will have to read my faux-Chuck Tingle passages without laughing.
Best of all, I get to spend more time in this little universe that’s so personal to me. Especially after this hellish last year, it’s been like escaping into a time and place that I can revisit when I need comfort. Or a knish.
While I get my website set up, I’ve created a beautiful and temporary mailing list at https://www.kategoldbeck.pizza/slice. I’ll be sending out fun extras to folks who sign up.
I’m back with another Mary Balogh romance novel! So let’s get right into my thoughts, feelings, and rambles on…
As a young man, Justin Wiley was banished by his father for mysterious reasons, but now his father is dead, and Justin has been Earl of Brandon for six years. A dark, dour man, he nonetheless takes it as his responsibility to care for his half-sister Maria when her mother dies. He travels to her home to fetch her back to the family seat at Everleigh Park.
Although she adored him once, Maria now loathes Justin, and her friend Lady Estelle Lamarr can see immediately how his very name upsets her. When Justin arrives and invites Estelle and her brother to accompany Maria to Everleigh Park to help with her distress, she begrudgingly agrees for Maria’s sake.
As family secrets unravel in Maria’s homecoming, Justin, too, uncovers his desire for a countess. And, while he may believe he’s found an obvious candidate in the beautiful 25-year-old Lady Estelle, she is most certain that they could never make a match…
This novel started out fairly strong. I was enjoying the set up of the story, what with a sort of enemies to lovers plotline, a mysterious family secret, and a country house party, there was lots to sink my teeth into.
I’m not sure what happened within the last few chapters of the book though, because I found that it was dragging on terribly for me. I’m not sure if Balogh is just tired of this series or what, and I couldn’t blame her, considering there are nine books in total! I don’t know, it just seemed that once the family mystery was revealed, and a certain missing character was found, the plot could only go forward to a wedding. This is fine, though. I’m used to this in romance novels, but it was as if the announcements and the planning and the wedding went on for those final few chapters. I don’t think it helps that Balogh insists on listing off every single family member, and for both parties in this book! Not only that, but she lists how they are related to one another, or not related to one another. It got incredibly repetitive after awhile, and it did feel like she did it more often in this book than she has in the others.
In the beginning, I found myself hoping that maybe Bertrand, the twin, would get his own book too. But now… well I’d say this is a fine enough send off for the Westcotts. Even the blurb in the back of this book seems to be promoting her next new series entirely, so I’d say Balogh seems to be finished with the Westcotts too.
All in all, I didn’t hate this novel. It was enjoyable enough, and while Estelle may have found her someone perfect, or rather, someone who was perfect for her, unfortunately I can’t say the same about this novel for me.
I managed to start a book this weekend, and nearly finish it too. Yay! I’m not sure if this is the last in the Wescott series, though a part of me hopes that we get a story for the other twin, but I suppose we shall see. I’m enjoying this one so far, and I think I’ve discovered one of my favorite settings is a country house party.
Hey all, this is just my annual, ‘I haven’t read in forever!’ post. Saturdays, and often Sundays are my usual big reading days, but it’s like I’ve been busy almost every weekend since the last book I’ve read. I have a couple books I need to get to eventually, but until then, just enjoy whatever else I end up posting! Hope all are well. What are some books you recommend?!
I was super lucky to get to do a print + sticker sheet for the release of THE HEART PRINCIPLE by Helen Hoang- one of my most anticipated reads this year! You’ll get both these items when you order ANY Helen Hoang book from The Ripped Bodice bookstore Today is the last day though so jump on that if you’re keen!
I’m not sure how familiar you are with this or not, but I want to bring a little more context into some of the posts I’ve reblogged today.
There is a romance author that has gone and gotten a trademark on “Cocky” both the logo (with a certain font) and the word itself in relation to book series titles in the romance novel genre. She then proceeded to send C&D letters to authors demanding they changed their titles if the word cocky was on it, claiming ™ infringement. This has gotten the entire romance novel world up in arms, as the woman continues to assert that she basically owns the word and has made it her established brand.
Now this is a whole can of worms that I can’t even understand myself as I know zilch about US ™ and copyrights laws. You can find lots of information in the hashtag #cockygateon twitter with people that can explain all of this better than me. Now the RWA is on it, they are consulting lawyers and chances are this will all be behind us eventually, but in the meantime, there have been author’s affected.
This woman didn’t target major publisher houses that would have thrown their lawyers back at her with her letters, she initially targeted small self-published authors who, out of fear of being sued and/or without having the funds to get a lawyer, have changed their titles (with the cost this involved to redo everything and not to mention, the awful time they have gone through).
I’m making this post in support of those authors, which you can find listed below. As I find more affected, I will be updating this post. So if you feel like it, and if you feel like supporting someone that probably went through a shitty week, take a look at the authors and books below and if something strikes your fancy, buy it! Please also consider reblogging this post so it reaches more people.
Cocky Nerd, from Kayley Loring, was retitled to Sexy Nerd
Cocky Fiance, by TL Smith and Melissa Jane, retitled to Arrogant Fiance
Jamila Jasper received a C&D letter for her book Cocky Cowboy and was also accused to hack the series of the other author. She’d initially took it down and now is relaunching it as The Cockiest Cowboy To Have Ever Cocked.
Nana Malone also received messages from this author. She has one book from 2016 called Mr Cocky. The book is out of print and there is no e-book available atm.
Claire Kingsley had her paperback edition of Cocky Roommate taken down by Amazon because this author filed a complaint without contacting her first. Her ebook is still up.
In addition, you can do any search for Cocky in goodreads and look any other titles. If you’re wondering the name of the author that initiated all this, it’s Faleena Hopkins. Feel free to ignore her books from the list. I’d also advise not to rate them with one star (we do have class after all) and not mark them as “do not read” because shelving them in any category counts a bonus for the author in GR.
Those of you who follow me, you know how much I love the word cock and all its relations, and how much this affects me. I was considering venturing from fanfiction into writing original work this year and the word cocky was going to be a big part of my books. This left me speechless and as I sit to plot and plan my books and wait for it to be resolved, I’m thinking it could have been me getting one of those letters and freaking out in my home here in South America, not knowing what to do. Out of respect for everyone that dares to put their work out there with kindness and respect is that I’ve made this post. Let’s spread the cock love.
I happily read dub-con and certain non-con, and yet I hate the dub-con I encounter in professionally published novels because I have no way of knowing if the author is aware & just likes to write dub-con into their books, or if they have no clue what enthusiastic consent (or lack thereof) actually looks like & therefore can’t recognize when they’re writing something that would be tagged for on AO3
Former (and hopefully again to be) professionally published romance author here. Be aware that what follows is my knowledge of the romance genre from having been published and having been an active reader in the genre since the late 70s. (Yes, I started very young reading adult romance books!)
Approximately 90% of professional authors know what enthusiastic consent is but they also know that it isn’t something that easily sells. Dubious consent, “forced seduction”, “dark” romance, etc. are all popular sellers in the romance genre with “consensual non-consent” also being a leader in the BDSM subgenre. Why that is, I have no clue, but that’s the current trend. Enthusiastic consent seems to turn up more in the M/M and F/F genres from what I’ve seen and heard about with a bit of bleed over into the various ménage variations.
Of course, considering how much non-con and dub-con/forced seduction there was in the early best sellers back when romance as a genre truly began it is honestly of no surprise to me that the writing of enthusiastic consent is taking a very long time to catch on.
There’s no singular way to write a genre. Vampires have different lore, some tragedy hits harder than others, sometimes sci-fi includes fantasy elements and sometimes it doesn’t.
But just because one book is about a vampire who sparkles and another is about a vampire who burns in sunlight, doesn’t make one book wrong. The fantasy genre covers all these deviations and validates each narrative.
So if someone’s narrative is different than what you might expect, they’re not wrong. They’re not out of genre or contradictory. They’re completely valid, just like you. They’ve got a separate story that in no way takes away from yours. It only expands the genre.
the only exception i can think of is in the romance genre
a romance has a happy ever after or a happy for now
if not, it’s not a romance (it may have romance! but it no longer fits the genre)
As a romance writer once upon a time - and perhaps one day again - I can totally confirm this… the only hard “you must do this” rule of the romance genre is the happy ending. No happy ending and the story is not a romance. The main characters - whatever sex and/or sexual pairing they are - must ride off into the sunset together to live happily together.
