Welcome to this week’s news post – albeit it a bit late due to server issues which we have been experiencing the past day or so. Hopefully things will settle down and we apologise for any inconvenience! In this week’s edition, we have more news on J.K Rowling and the lawyer who leaked her penname, while the DOJ is still looking at Apple but this time at their practices to ensure the ebook collusion doesn’t happen again and much more!

J.K Rowling has won a sizeable donation for charity from the lawfirm that leaked the confidential information that she was Robert Gabrailth and the book she wrote under his penname, THE CUCKOO’S CALLING. She sued Chris Gossage who is a partner at the firm,told his wife who then passed on the information to  a friend who leaked it on twitter won damages. All the parties involved have apologised to Rowling who was very upset about the leak will also  donate her royalties to a charity called Soliders’ Charity for the next three years.  Meanwhile since she was outed as the author, sales of the book have jumped with reports of delays of print version being available.

On the heels of the DOJ trial over ebooks and agency pricing collusion, it looks Apple is going to face more heat over competitive measures they have placed in their other digital mediums for their Itunes store. The DOJ is seeking an oversight to look and examine their practices is fair to their practices. However it looks like Apple is rejecting to abide by the terms and have offered their own terms which will overlook their new practices. But I suspect this wont go down well with the Judge Cotes and which will certainly lead to another trial dealing with this issue.

I think is pretty disappointing because I don’t think Kurt Vonnegut would have liked licensed fanfiction using his characters or the books he has written. But I suppose money talks and his estate has agreed to a partnership with Amazon’s Kindle Worlds for fanfiction to be sold using his intellectual property. This is the first big named author to attached to the new scheme and I bet there will be more to come in the future.

Meanwhile there is another book being banned by a mother who compared a book called THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN by  Shelman Alexie to FIFTY SHADES OF GREY. Now there were no whips, chains, or sparkly emo brooding billionaires in this book, but what the mother who went in clutches in pearls mode, complained the main character discusses masturbation which she felt her 6th graders should not be aware of because kids shouldn’t be aware of sex or sexuality at a young age. I think this is silly and hope the book is reinstated in the future and I think the furor over the book will help sales.

News in Brief:

Random House is looking for Bloggers for their Suvudu site which focuses on Fantasy and Science Fiction so if you are interested check here for more details!

I really enjoyed THE FIFTH WAVE by Rick Yancey and I am happy to hear that it has been picked up for a movie option. The book focuses on the aftermath of an alien invasion and a girl’s quest to find her missing brother.

Now for books to watch out for!

I am eagerly looking forward to REAVER by Larissa Ione, the 10th Demonica book. The last book left me at tenterhooks for to see what would happen to Harvester and and Reaver.

 

WARRIOR OF HEAVEN

Reaver is an angel with a past, a record, and a less-than-heavenly attitude. Powerful enough to fight alongside the fiercest battle angels-and crazy enough to risk his wings on a one-way mission to hell-he’s agreed to go where no angel has ever gone before…to steal the most seductive and dangerous prize of Satan himself.

ANGEL OF HELL

Harvester is one of the Fallen, a once-heroic angel who sacrificed her wings to work as an undercover agent in hell. But now her cover has been blown, and she’s been doomed to an eternity of agonizing torture. Even if Reaver can snatch her away from Satan’s lair, even if they can fight their way out of the underworld’s darkest depths, there is one thing Harvester can never escape-her newfound thirst for an angel’s blood…

 

DARKWALKER by E.L Tettensor looks intriguing which is the start of a brand new series. I also love the cover which is very atmospheric and gritty with a little hint of Sherlock Holmes.

 

He used to be the best detective on the job. Until he became the hunted…

Once a legendary police inspector, Detective Nicolas Lenoir is now a disillusioned and broken man who spends his days going through the motions and his evenings drinking away the nightmares of his past. Ten years ago, Lenoir barely escaped the grasp of the Darkwalker, a vengeful spirit who demands a terrible toll on those who have offended the dead. But the Darkwalker does not give up on his prey so easily, and Lenoir has always known he’d one day come back…

When Lenoir is assigned to a disturbing new case, tracking a grave robber, he treats the job with his usual apathy—until the body snatcher kidnaps a living boy who matters to Lenoir. Desperate to find his young friend before the worst befalls him, Lenoir will do anything catch the monster responsible for the crimes, even if it means finally confronting the evil shadow that’s been haunting him for years…

 

And finally we have the 6th book in Christina Henry’s Black Wings series – It looks like things are hotting up for Maddy in BLACK HEART.

 

As a former Agent of Death, Madeline Black is no stranger to witnessing violent ends. But being the one to cause them is an entirely different story…

Despite her having saved Chicago from a vampire invasion, the Agency wants to get Maddy off their payroll—permanently. With the deadly Retrievers hot on her trail, she has no choice but to trust Nathaniel to port her to safety. But even the exotic and dangerous world that she winds up in is not as peaceful as she would have hoped. Caught in a turf war between a group of fae and a disturbingly familiar foe, Maddy soon discovers that the twisted plots of her grandfather, Lucifer, and his brothers extend even into this unknown realm.

Now, with enemies gathering on all sides, Maddy’s fate is looking darker than ever. And to protect her unborn son from her adversaries, she may have to tap into a power she hoped never to access…

 

 

Do you think that other estates like Kurt Vonnegut will join Kindle Worlds? Do you think this will be a good idea?  

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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