Welcome to this week’s news post! This week have news of  a new tablet coming from Google, more wtfery on plagiarism and a book being published via tweets on twitter as well more tidbits from upcoming books!

As I reported a few weeks ago, it looks like the competition for tablets is really heating up with rumoured devices coming out from Amazon and Apple which will be more affordable and having a 7 inch screen.  Well it looks like Google is entering the fray with its own 7 inch model  which is slated for release this July, although it hasn’t been fully confirmed. The specs are also rumoured to be close to either the Kindle Fire or the Ipad 3 and with a price range for $200 to $250 with the android Ice-cream platform. If any of you have held out to get one or is thinking of getting a tablet, I suspect there will be some good choices coming out in the next year or so.

Plagiarism again was the theme of the week, with The Story Siren holding an awareness week on this issue with guest posts and discussion on the issues. But many eye-brows were raised because much of the posts seemed to highlight or confuse the issue with plagiarism and copyright with other issues such as derivative works and fanfiction and including one which suggests we are all guilty of being a plagiarist. I  wont be linking to her site, because it will add to her traffic stats  but I will link to Smart Bitches, Beautifully Invisible (one of the bloggers TSS plagiarised) and Book Binge who have a good overview about this issue because  The Story Siren is the example on how not to deal with plagiarism and it is disappointing because seeing some of the comments from her followers, she has not apologised properly to the bloggers affected with this brouahaha. And the fact she has blocked them on twitter and refused to engage or respond via email since the original incident is disingenuous of her and her efforts to open a dialogue about plagiarism. Most especially since it feels like she’s using her followers and those guest posters to take the heat and deflect for the mistakes she made.

And talking about plagiarism this is  what happens when a blogger found out one of his articles was stolen and printed at a small newspaper in the US – I’m very glad he got he got compensated – but as the examples of The Story Siren and this incident, shows this is a serious issue and it shouldn’t be dismissed or condoned or excused.

News in Brief:

Author Jennifer Egan is publishing a story via tweets over the course of ten nights. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of tweeting stories and I’ve also seen role-playing and character Q and A’s done under this format, but I think it is the first time it has been done by a well known author.

Sylvia Day, the author of the hugely successful  Bared to You and which was self published scored a major deal with Berkley. The new ebook and print edition which will be out in June 16th will be slightly revised with a new cover. I highly recommend this book to those who loved the 50 Shades series  – I’m also glad that more erotic romance is starting to get more mainstream and I think that is a good thing although I have to say I like the original cover!

Now books to watch out for!

Linda Howard’s upcoming book, Shadow Woman.

Lizette Henry wakes up one morning and doesn’t recognise the reflection staring back at her in the mirror. She isn’t suffering from amnesia; she remembers who she is, what she did the day before, her parents, where she grew up – everything. But who she is, is not who she sees. Alarmed, she begins searching her house for something – anything – that will match what she remembers. There is nothing. And yet there is nothing in her life that seems abnormal, except herself. She could be crazy, but her instincts are telling her this isn’t the case. Some women might make an appointment with a psychiatrist, but Zette isn’t ‘some women.’ Deep inside she knows she isn’t the face in the mirror, and that she has to find out the truth, before it’s too late.

The cover and premise is pure and utter lushness! City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Foster

The girl with no past, and no future, may be the only one who can save their lives.

Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls when she was just a child. Now sixteen, she lives on the grounds of the isolated estate, where orphan girls apprentice as musicians, healers, courtesans, and, if the rumors are true, assassins. Nisha makes her way as Matron’s assistant, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. Only when she begins a forbidden flirtation with the city’s handsome young courier does she let herself imagine a life outside the walls. Until one by one, girls around her start to die.

Before she becomes the next victim, Nisha decides to uncover the secrets that surround the girls’ deaths. But by getting involved, Nisha jeopardizes not only her own future in the City of a Thousand Dolls—but her own life.

The cover and premise caught my eye! Dualed byElsie Chapman

Would you live through the ultimate test of survival?

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

 

So what do you think of a book being written via Twitter? Would you be interested in reading a story like that even with the constraints with 140 characters? 

About Has

Has is a bookaholic and feeds her addiction whenever she can. She usually can be found lost in a Romance or an Urban Fantasy novel. Her favourite sub genres are Paranormal, Fantasy and some Scifi. Her most treasured authors are, Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Ann Aguirre, Lisa Kleypas and Tamora Pierce. She loves that discovery of finding a brand new author and falling in love with their books. Has also blogs a The Book Pushers - Book chatter and reviews

• View all posts by Has →
• Blog
• Twitter
• Facebook