Laura's New Cover!

Laura's cover for Dark Oracle has been released! It's friggin' gorgeous! Woohoo Laura! I can't wait to read it!

Thriller Fest

Oooh Aaaah. Thriller Fest. I am seriously considering this one. What's cool about this convention is that you can get a day pass and just go for one day if you like. You don't have to buy the entire kit and kaboodle. I can't see me wanting to hang out with umpteen people for more than a day anyway.

I'm jazzed. I'm talking myself into it. Hmmm. Yeah.

I'll leave you with an entry from Nathan Bransford. I love this guy. He is so positive. A refreshing change from much of what you see and read in the current publishing market. Or any market, really.

But he thinks change is good, and I think he's right.

In the comments section of his blog entries a woman named Marilyn Peake comments that Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveller's Wife, had her latest book, Her Fearful Symmetry go to auction and sell to Scribner for a nearly 5 million dollar advance. "She said that she loved the indie press that had published her debut book, but felt that, with only three employees, they wouldn’t be able to handle all that her new book would require."

No kiddin'.

But 5 million? Holy hell. I wouldn't know what to do with it. I'd probably stash all my cash in an account somewhere and just let it gather dust. Or shove the check under a mattress and forget about it. So much a creature of habit. I mean, 5 million? That's a lot of quid. You know? I have no idea what do with that kind of money. None.

Of course, the likelyhood that I'll ever have to worry about what to do with that much cash is pretty slim. So I guess I'm in the clear. Ha!

Okay, back to work. Two new scenes written. Several more to go.

Saturday Ramblings

Up early. Made chocolate banana muffins. Got the bean in for this swine flu shot. Went shopping. Got the bean a new green race car, as he is already obsessed with race cars. Got the bean a snack. Put the bean down for his nap. Got a load of laundry in.

Now I'm ready to get to the next part of the process for Frost. My process, anyway. Today is new scene writing day, and although the bathroom needs to be cleaned, I'm going to wait until later, because I have silence and space now, and later I won't.

Another theme song for A Sudden Frost. Playing it now. I couldn't embed the video into this entry because the embedding was removed, but here is the link.

So here I go.

SQEEEEEE!!!!!

From Publisher's lunch:

Mystery/Crime
Dennis Lehane's untitled Patrick & Angie mystery, the 6th and final Patrick & Angie novel, a sequel to "Gone Baby Gone", to Claire Wachtel for William Morrow, for publication in 2011, by Ann Rittenberg at Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency (NA).

Oh. My. GOD! I'm am so excited! Dennis Lehane said he would probably not write another Patrick/Angie book. I'm so happy he's writing this one. Sad, though, that this will be the final one. I really hope it won't be.

I love Dennis Lehane. I think he's friggin' amazing. Love. Him. I was at the World's Mystery Convention in Philidelphia a few years back, and he was up for an award, can't remember which one now, for Mystic River, which I'd just finished reading. Twice I turned around and he happened to be behind me. I would've loved for him to sign my copy, but I couldn't utter a word.

He looked at me. I looked at him, breath caught in my throat, heart racing. Then I turned and walked away, both times. It's what I do when I'm in the presence of somebody I idolize. I act like a total dork. It's my version of giggling and falling all over myself.

I intend to go to more writer's conventions in the future. Maybe I'll get another chance, and hopefully this time I won't freeze up if I see him again. I'll say, "Well, hello, Mr. Lehane. You are a God. Please sign my copy of (every book he's written that I own), thank you. This is me not acting like a dork. Or. . . not as much of a dork as the last time I saw you, which you of course wouldn't remember, as you are a God, with many adoring fans, of which I am just one. Yes, did I say this was me not acting like a dork?

I can't wait to get my hands on this one. Wow.

Found My Stillness

Aaaah. The bean is down for the night. Did my work out at five a.m so that I could do the writing tonight. Not sure if I should swap that around, though. I have more energy and am more awake in the morning that I am at night. But we'll see.

So I have space and silence, and I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, just there in the distance. And this is a good day, as in, it's an, 'hey, I don't suck' day for the writing. I'll take it, because it flip-flops.

I'm getting antsy to finish this one. I still have a ways to go, getting it all down, and then pretty and snappy, but I'm on my way. And to help deflect the downer part of finishing a book, I have The Collectors to work on. New Characters, though, so I'm discovering, which is fun, but also nerve-wracking because I don't know them well.

Okay, enough procrastinating. Time to get 'er done.

The Newest

The newest from Amazon via Publisher's Lunch:

Dear Customers:

Macmillan, one of the "big six" publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.

We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it's reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don't believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.

Kindle is a business for Amazon, and it is also a mission. We never expected it to be easy!

Thank you, Amazon. This is a reasonable compromise.

And now I can continue to lust after the Kindle, which I can't afford yet, but some day will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine.

Amazon. Really? I Mean, Really?!

This is pissing me off. I buy from Amazon a LOT. I should have shares in that company, really. But they are acting like a bully, and have done in the past, as well. The New York Times article is here.

Publisher's Lunch stated in bold font that Amazon has deleted the "Buy" buttons from all of titan publishing company Macmillan's ebooks, in a dispute over ebook pricing. Macmillan is an umbrella publisher for several publishing imprints, including Tor. This is a lot of ebooks they are banishing. These ebooks have even vanished from online Amazon wish lists of many customers.

Amazon wants the ebooks to remain $9.99, which is not unreasonable. Macmillan wants the pricing at $15.00, which I think is outrageous, but there has to be a better way of coming to an agreement than completely pulling Macmillan's ebooks from their cyber shelf. Amazon is effectively shooting itself in the foot, because these are profits they are not making in an effort to strong-arm Macmillan into bowing under their power tactics.

The authors are the ones who are really losing in this dispute. It's just silly.

But hey, folks, there's always Barnes and Noble and Borders, and tons of other places to order from, including Indie books stores and the publisher's own sites.

I'm not a big fan of bullying, and this is bullying at it's best.

So until you learn to play nice, Amazon, I for one, am not playing with you any more.