Books by Bloggers

One of the things that I enjoy about blogs is that I have found new authors through their blogs. Some of the authors below I had already read before I discovered blogs -- S. L. Viehl and Rachel Caine are two.

Others I know I would have picked up without a blog -- like Lydia Joyce -- because their style of book appeals to me in general, but the blog made me more aware of them.

There are others who had been published earlier, but that I never got around to reading -- like Monica Jackson and Brenda Coulter -- but their blogs made me interested in their books.

And then there are the new authors, the ones just beginning in the publishing world -- like Meljean Brook, HelenKay Dimon, Sylvia Day, and Diana Peterfreund -- that I feel are my real finds in the publishing world. All of these authors are new, and have just had, or are looking forward to having, their first published book. Reading their blogs has made me aware of their talent, and ready to enjoy that talent as soon as it's available. I think blogs might be a small opportunity for a talented author to avoid slipping through the cracks that seem to open up for too many new authors in the publishing world. A blog helps them build a fanbase before they even make it into print.

So here's my nod to some of the authors whose blogs I enjoy -- a listing of some of their new and upcoming books. And I have more for another day.

The Music of the Night by Lydia Joyce
Signet Eclipse, 1 November 2005
Read Lydia's blog
I really enjoyed Joyce's first book, The Veil of Night, and its Gothic atmosphere. I also loved that she threw off a lot of the formulaic elements of romance and wrote a unique, mature story.


Hot Spell with a story by Meljean Brook
Berkley, 1 November 2005
Read Meljean's blog
Okay, a little bit of gushing is about to start -- last night I stayed up late and read Meljean's story in this book, and it soared above my expectations. I loved, loved this story. I love her presentation of the mythology of angels (or rather, Guardians) and vampires. I loved that her heroine wasn't conventional, that she had made serious mistakes, a detail that probably wouldn't fly in a lot of conventional romances. I loved that she was willing to do the unexpected with the story and with the hero. And I loved that Anthony loved Emily from the beginning and that her bad decisions didn't make that love waver for a moment. I just wished it was longer. Meljean, if you read this, please tell me you're going to write more in this world! (And how cool is it that with that company, the cover art is based on Meljean's story.)


Mr. Right Now by Monica Jackson
Dafina, 5 December 2005
Read Monica's blog
Monica Jackson is an author who had been around for a while, but who I had never read. Admittedly, I had never read an African-American romance before I read one of hers -- not intentionally, because I read SF by AA authors, but more because I didn't see it much on the shelves at the bookstore or the library. So I read In My Dreams (which I was surprised to discover was a paranormal, because that cover looks like straight contemporary) and discovered that she was very realistic, down-to-earth, and imaginative.


Devil's Due by Rachel Caine
Silhouette Bombshell, 1 January 2006
Read Rachel's blog
I starting reading Caine's books before I started reading blogs, and though she doesn't post as frequently as other bloggers, she does a great job of keeping readers up on what she is working on.


Rebel Ice by S. L. Viehl
Roc, 3 January 2006
Read Sheila's blog
PBW is one of the most interesting, regular, and useful author blogs out there, and probably one of the most frequented. Though I don't always agree with her opinions (about reviewers and industry awards, for example), I think her honesty, her candor, and her willingness to help new writers is invaluable.


Bad Boys Ahoy! by Sylvia Day
Brava, 1 February 2006
Read Sylvia's blog
This is Sylvia's first book and is a collection of three stories, one of which features a former courtesan, which combined with the fact that in real life Sylvia was a Russian linguist in the intelligence field in the US Army -- and since I was an intelligence analyst and my husband was a Persian linguist in the Army, I think that's just cool and something to be commended -- leaves me dying to read this book. And Amazon lists it as already shipping, but it isn't in my local bookstores yet!


A Family Forever by Brenda Coulter
Steeple Hill Love Inspired, 1 March 2006
Read Brenda's blog
I don't normally read inspirational romance, mostly because I was raised a Mormon kid with strict parents so Mormon fiction was about all I was allowed to read for a long time, which turned me off any religious fiction for a while. However, Brenda seems to be a very well-adjusted, un-self-righteous (I know that's not a word, but I couldn't think of something better) type of person, and I think I'll probably try this one.


When Good Things Happen to Bad Boys with a story by HelenKay Dimon
Kensington, 6 April 2006
Read HelenKay's blog
It seems like I've been waiting forever for HelenKay's first book to come out, and April still seems a long time away. And it features a female architect, which sounds really cool. She's also got a collection of stories, Viva Las Bad Boys, coming up in August


Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund
Delacorte, 27 June 2006
Read Diana's blog
Diana's book sold at auction for a what Publishers Marketplace calls a "significant deal" -- between $250,000 to $499,000 -- which is a lot for a first time author. Though cash paid only doesn't get my hopes up, the fact that she's represented by The Knight Agency (another online discovery) does interest me, because they represent a lot of good and promising authors.

Everyone Deserves to Be Loved

The idea that everyone deserves to be loved, and that everyone who wants love can have it is at the center of my reasons for reading and enjoying romance. It is partly because of this belief that I enjoy romances with heroines who are or were courtesans.

I can trace my enjoyment of the courtesan theme to my reading of Sleeping Beauty by Judith Ivory. In the hands of Judith Ivory, any theme, plot device, setting, or character seems fresh and new and believable, and she did an excellent job with Coco in Sleeping Beauty. She is such a well-crafted and interesting character, and not at all like the typical romance heroine who won't admit or go after what she wants, and half the time doesn't even know what she wants.

And that is the very reason that I like courtesan heroines. They are typically at little older, a little more mature, sexually experienced enough that their first orgasm is not the sole reason they fall in love. I feel like they are actually the hero's equal, whereas oftentimes in historical romances I don't feel like the hero and heroine are on equal footing. Quite frequently I feel like I am just watching a man fall in love with an almost-childlike woman who just wants to be protected and secure.

But not so with the courtesan, who typically has already managed to financially secure her own future, and who understands that the world isn't all roses, but that she can handle the things that are not rosy. She doesn't need a hero, she just needs love.

Here are a few new and upcoming books involving courtesans that I have found:

The Courtesan by Susan Carroll
Ballantine, 26 July 2005


Games of Pleasure by Julia Ross
Berkley, 1 November 2005


The Mysterious Miss M by Diane Gaston
Harlequin Historicals, 1 November 2005


The Courtesan by Julia Justiss
HQN, 1 December 2005


The Courtesan's Courtship by Gail Ranstrom
Harlequin, 1 January 2006


In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant
Random House, 14 February 2006

Heads up on Future Titles

Publishers Lunch has a lot of stuff for authors, agents, and editors that has to be paid for, but they also offer a free daily and weekly email that gives tidbits of book deals. Its only a fraction of what the full subscription contains, but sometimes I find nice little gems listed on that weekly email. Here are a few that I've gleaned lately:


Talia Gryphon's SHADOW THERAPY, the first of a series about a paranormal psychologist and sexy blonde, who is drawn into the case of a 'Fangxiety' ridden vampire who hopes to save his soul through therapy and, of course, her body, to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace, in a pre-empt, for three books, by Joe Veltre at Artists Literary Group (NA).

ENCHANTED, INC. author Shanna Swendson's next two books in her chick lit series, continuing the corporate adventures of a magic immune woman, her wizard boss, and their battle to capture a rogue wizard who now fancies himself the next Steve Jobs, to Allison Dickens at Ballantine, in a very nice deal, by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency (NA).

USA Today bestselling author Julie Kenner's THE GOOD GHOUL'S GUIDE TO GETTING EVEN, first in a series, in which a bookish high school junior seeks revenge on the cool group of senior class vampires who transformed her into one of the undead, to Ginjer Buchanan at Berkley, in a pre-empt, by Kimberly Whalen at Trident Media Group (world English).

Lauren Baratz-Logsted's VERTIGO, the story of a Victorian-era woman who begins an innocent correspondence with a prisoner, but soon finds herself trapped in an erotic web of intrigue and lust, to Danielle Perez at Bantam Dell, in a very nice deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Pamela Harty at The Knight Agency (world).

Jina Bacarr's BLONDE GEISHA, about an American girl who becomes a geisha in 1895 Japan, the men who loved her, and the geisha-sister who nearly died for her, and a second erotica, to Susan Pezzack at Harlequin Spice by Roberta Brown of the Brown Literary Agency.

Nalini Singh's SLAVE TO SENSATION, about a young woman born to a race without emotions and her encounter with a group of sensual changelings, and a second untitled book, to Cindy Hwang at Berkley, in a nice deal, at auction, by Nephele Tempest of The Knight Agency (NA).

Julie Kenner, Kathleen O'Reilly and Dee Davis's BOYS FROM HELL and GIRLS FROM HELL, two anthologies about the sons of Satan in a fight for the keys to hell and the woman that will get in the way and the follow-up featuring the daughters of Satan, in a pre-empt to Susan Allison at Berkeley, by Kimberly Whalen at Trident Media Group (world).