Welcome to this week’s news post and  in this edition we have an epic authors behaving badly, Penguin facing another lawsuit, as well as our usual author updates and publishing news!

Anne Rice is no stranger to dramallamas on the internet, in fact I think there should be a special entry for her because when she’s in the midst of one they are truly epic. Last week a blogger called Miss Articulate who felt that Rice’s Pandora wasn’t that impressive and turned it into book art because the book was falling apart and it was an old copy. Anne Rice on her facebook page linked to the blog post and all hell broke loose. I liked how Miss Articulate fared with the critical onslaught and a few of Rice’s fans were disgusted by the attacks too and the fact that she made the book into art fares better than what I’ve heard of other reviewers burning books which they hated. But apparently this wasn’t the only case, and Anne Rice then linked to an open letter directed to her, explaining why she was not going to read anymore of her books and the comments are very interesting with another poster saying she was a target as well. This is a shame and this smacks of sending off the fan girls while the author sits back stating they aren’t blasting the critics.

And talking about dramas, Charlaine Harris’ last Sookie book, Dead Ever After was released accidentally early in Germany which didn’t make fans happy when they read the book and a few posted spoilers on tumblr, twitter and a dedicated thread in Amazon. I wont go into details or link to the spoilers but there is an epic spoiler thread summing up their reactions and I would also avoid visiting Harris’ Facebook page which is pretty crazy with the outrage and backlash which had comments removed or hidden. However there is an interesting article today from Wall Street Journal that covers the series impact over the years and fan responses which are eye raising scary. Although I suspect that next week will be an interesting one to see how critical and fan responses to the ending of the series with the release of the book.

I have posted about Author Solutions a few times here, especially with the bad press it attracted in the past and it looks Penguin who owns the vanity press arm is now being sued by a group of authors who claim ‘Despite its impressive profits from book sales, Author Solutions fails at the most basic task of a publisher: paying its authors their earned royalties and providing its authors with accurate sales statements.’ Whether the group of authors can win their case is another matter but I think signing up to a vanity press which most don’t have a good reputation is something to be wary of if an aspiring author wants to go that route. 

News in Brief:

James Patterson has decided to campaign to save publishing because the digital advances wont be able to publish classics and paid for a full page ads major publications. He feels that ebooks are ok but their popularity and adoption is too fast and is threatening publishing and libraries.

Nalini Singh has posted a snippet from Heart of Obsidian which will torture y’all – No clues though on the identity of the hero and heroine. But is June yet?

And finally – Sarah from the Smart Bitches Loves Trashy Books, attended an RT panel this week featuring Judge Deveraux who has said that the heroine from A Knight in Shining Armor was pregnant when she returned to the present and the baby will be the hero in a future book.

And now books to watch out for!

First up, Anne Whitney’s debut – The Art of Love NA looks pretty fun, sweet and quirky  which is set in the art world scene in New York. There is also an arc giveaway, if you are interested in the book via Book Brats.

 

 

Marina Phillips has spent her entire life as her father’s victim. But enough is enough. All it took was one moment of realization to send her fleeing across the country into the unknown of New York City with no plans and no money. A new life without the constant torture is all she wants, but what she finds waiting is something she never expected.

Fitz is New York’s premiere playboy artist. Sexy, tattooed, and coveted by women and men alike, his performances are heralded as the coming of a new god of modern art. But when Marina wanders into his show, she becomes the inadvertent piece he’s always waited for – a girl to sculpt, to change, and to craft in his own image.

She never expects to fall head over heels into the world of parties, drag queens, agents, and artists craving for her and her benefactor. She didn’t even expect to begin falling in love with someone like Fitz, the sexy, pretentious man of her nightmares.

Above all, Marina never expects her father to stage a cross-country mission to paint her as a kidnapped girl taken by a psychopath.

With her life on the line, Marina has no choice but to accept Fitz’s proposal – change everything she is, inside and out, for the chance to start anew. But Marina has plans of her own. Plans that will rock her world forever.

 

Stephanie Tyler has an upcoming mashup of cractastic elements, of an NA post apocalyptic motorcycle club series. Defiance which is scheduled for June and my preorder button is waiting for that evil one click!

 

 

Rebelling against her legacy as the MC’s princess, Tru Tennyson escaped the ruthless, male-dominated culture of the Defiance motorcycle club. Three years later, her newfound freedom is ripped away, thanks to a massive hybrid storm that killed millions. Now, in the post-Chaos world of semi-darkness and near-total anarchy where gangs rule, she discovers the dangerous world of Defiance may be the one thing that can keep her safe.

Tru is at the MC’s mercy when she’s dragged back to her former home … and to the only man she’s ever pictured a future with. Caspar is the bastard son of the club’s leader, her safe haven when life got rough — and her onetime lover the night she left. When Tru refuses to trade sex for power and be claimed by a rival club leader, she also dares to announce she wants Caspar instead, throwing the MC into turmoil.

Tru’s brazen revolt could start a gang war and destroy the club from within. Now both Tru and the MC must wait for Caspar’s response … and the inevitable fallout.

 

And finally Colleen Gleason has posted the cover and blurb for the next book in Gardella Vampire Chronicles, which is set in the 1920s. Roaring Midnight  is slated for June and I love that more and more books are set during this period which I adore!

 

 

From NEW YORK TIMES and USA Today bestselling author Colleen Gleason, the long-awaited spin-off of the international bestselling Gardella Vampire Chronicles.

Amid the glitzy age of Jazz, when gangsters and bootleggers control the cities, there lies another, more insidious threat … the undead.

Macey Gardella is a typical young woman of the Roaring Twenties: she works a job, has her own flat, and loves to dance the Charleston. But when a mysterious man named Sebastian Vioget informs her she belongs to a family of vampire hunters, Macey is stunned and disbelieving.

Yet, strange and frightening things begin to happen, and when Macey comes face-to-face with one of the fanged creatures, she has no choice but to believe Sebastian. And when she learns his own soul depends on her willingness to carry forth the family legacy and hunt the undead, Macey capitulates and joins the fight.

As she begins to learn about her new life, Macey meets the handsome newspaper reporter known as Grady–who seems to know more about vampires than he should. When he begins to ask too many questions, she has to juggle her strong attraction to him with the need for secrecy.

Slipping into speakeasies and sampling bootlegged whiskeys, dodging gangster gunfire and trying to keep her nosy landlady from finding the stakes in her flat, Macey Gardella must navigate through a world of stunning violence, passionate romance, and dark betrayal…

 

 

So do you think James Patterson has a point about new technological advances being a danger for publishing? And what do you think about the other stories I highlighted? 

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

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