On Hiatus

I have a work project that made me realise that, having to juggle between the project and blogging for last two or three weeks, it's not working. So I have to choose between the project and this blog, and I choose the project because a) I just don't have the ability to squeeze my brain all day long and then squeeze some more for this blog, and b) the project earns me money. :) The work contract will end this December, so I expect to return to blog around that time. Until then, I'll stick to leaving comments at various blogs in romance blogland, generally making a pest of myself. To anyone who wants the reader interview series to continue, please do feel free to adopt the idea for their reader blogs. It'd be fun! See you this December. :) Be good, be bad & be safe.

Reader Interview: Bam

Bam works as an Administrative Assistant and student and lives in San Diego, CA, USA, where she spreads her lurve for romance novels at It's Not Chick Porn! and for romance covers at It's Not Porn, I Swear! When you were a child, what did you usually read? I started out with the Babysitters' Club series by Ann M. Martin, then I branched out to R. L. Stine, Christopher Pike, and eventually V. C. Andrews. When I got sick of the "kid stuff", I started looking through my grandfather's old paperback pile and found Sidney Sheldon, Jackie Collins, Stephen King, and Harold Robbins (can you tell I love lurid melodrama?). I was thirteen when I read Perfect Partners by Jayne Ann Krentz and I've been hooked ever since. Apart from romance novels, what do you usually read if any? I also like to read classic British literature like Austen, Dickens, Trollope, and Fanny Burney. For a while there, I was on a Henry Fielding kick. I also read Stephen King, Christopher Moore, Bentley Little, and graphic novels by Frank Miller and Alan Moore. And as a romance reader? I like paranormal romance, but for a while there, I was only reading Regencies. I go through cycles. Mostly, I switch back and forth between contemporary and historicals. Do you have any weaknesses for certain themes, storylines, settings or such in romances? If so, what are they? I love a good "secret baby" story, but ha ha, I kid. I read a few HPs with the amnesia storyline where the heroine wakes up with no memory of her former life where she was a vicious bitch who was mean to everyone, so I started looking for those old HPs, but then I got sick of it. All kidding aside, I would read anything with a truly strong, kickass, take-charge heroine and a male who is not too alpha and actually likes to "talk". How do you make your selection when you buy romances? There are certain authors who are automatic buys for me, but sometimes, I just follow what Amazon recommends (I know, I know, I'm sheep). Occasionally, I would go to a bookstore, make a beeline for the romance section, and basically look at (gasp!) the covers. If I like the cover and the back blurb, I read the first fifteen pages and if I absolutely cannot put it down, I put it in my basket. Name top five favourite romance authors if any. In no particular order:

• Jayne Ann Krentz
• Kasey Michaels
• Judith Ivory
• Connie Brockway
• Jennifer Crusie

What are your pet peeves with romance novels? I hate stupid misunderstandings that could have been resolved if the leads had only sat down and talked about the issue, especially if it were an issue that wouldn't have been an issue if the hero/heroine had confessed, "I'm not who you think I am. I'm actually the twin brother/sister" within five minutes of meeting the love interest. I also can't stand it if the male is too alpha to the point of ridiculousness, like he would risk his and the heroine's lives because he's too damned stubborn to let the heroine help. Also, this is a given, but I hate TSTL heroines. When discussing romance novels and/or the Romance genre with fellow readers, which issues interest you most? I would like to reveal something profound here, but whenever I find myself in other romance forums, I have to confess that I'm only there in hopes that someone would be talking about man-titty and I could jump in. If an influential romance editor asks you for an opinion on the romance genre, what would you say? My opinion on the romance genre changes with every book I read. Sometimes, I would read a book that is so awful that I'm tempted to set my entire TBR pile on fire, but there have been instances where I've read a book and find myself thankful that I'm a romance reader because at that very moment, I think it's the best genre in the literary world. Name up to five romance novels that left you lasting impressions.

• After the Night - Linda Howard
• Perfect Partners - Jayne Ann Krentz
• Goddess by Mistake - P.C. Cast
• Black Silk - Judith Ivory
• Stronger than Magic - Heather Cullman

What do you think of romance novel covers in general? Not to be blog-pimpin' or nuthin', but please see It's Not Porn, I Swear! Do you have any favourite romance covers? If so, which are they? I really liked the cover of Jennifer Crusie's Bet Me and the covers of the Goddess series by P.C. Cast have been absolutely fabulous.
Name top five favourite romantic films.

• Harold and Maude
• Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love
• Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (shut up, it's romantic)
• All About Eve
• Sin City (Marv and Goldie. Sigh.)

[Maili: Harold and Maude!! *squee* My favourite!] What was the last romance novel you bought? In My Dreams by Monica Jackson, First Kiss by Kylie Adams, and a few other Ellora's Cave e-books whose titles escape me at the moment. I haven't read any of them yet, but I'm hoping to tackle them this weekend. Thanks, Bam. :D Be good, be bad & be safe.

Still Swimming Thru a Sea of Words

My latest RTB column is up: Title My Love. Again, sorry about lack of blog posts. Due to a devil's deal I rashly made with a fellow reader, I'm writing yet another romance-related essay with an intention to write another essay, both for her blog. Yes, you read it right: not one, but TWO essays. Ha! Lucky me(!) Christ, why did I agree before my brain finally clocked implications of the agreement? *headwall* Looking on the bright side, we will have a reader interview up tomorrow. Hm. I have a question: When I say 'spinster', what comes to your mind? Many seem to think that a 'spinster' is almost by definition deprived of a man, and is incomplete without him, and that the connotations and associations [e.g. Miss Havisham of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations] suggest it's a woman who was jilted, who pines away for him, or prepares some terrible revenge, or waits indefinitely for his return. Invariably, she is old and bitter. I think it is a shame for people to have that view of the term because, for me, 'spinster' is an honourable term that refers to an independent woman who earns her own living, e.g. spinning [hence the word]. Sorry, all that came out of nowhere, let me take a couple of steps back -- a friend came by this morning for a coffee chat [I was very bleary-eyed, which amused her, the cow]. During our chat, she was filling in a job application form when she got to 'Martial Status'. She wasn't sure what to fill in as she didn't like 'single', so I suggested 'spinster'. Her instantous reaction was throwing a string of swear words at my head while giving me a series of dirty looks. I hastily explained that it's a positive term, but she strongly disagreed. We had a mini debate, but she wouldn't move from her belief that it's a nasty word. This brings up another question: why does this word still have negative connotations? It's occurred to me that I knew little about the origins of this term, so I had a look at the Online Etymology Dictionary to see what it say:

spinster 1362, "female spinner of thread," from M.E. spinnen (see spin) + -stere, feminine suffix. Spinning commonly done by unmarried women, hence the word came to denote "an unmarried woman" in legal documents from 1600s to early 1900s, and by 1719 was being used generically for "woman still unmarried and beyond the usual age for it."

"Spinster, a terme, or an addition in our Common Law, onely added in Obligations, Euidences, and Writings, vnto maids vnmarried." [John Minsheu, "Ductor in Linguas," 1617]

Hm. What is the male version? 'Confirmed bachelor' was a code for 'gay', apparently [actually, my gran once said it was a code for 'too soddin' drunk to know where to put his wooden friend in']. Is there even a term with negative connotations like 'spinster' for men? Usually it's something along the line of 'lucky bastard' or 'the one who got away'. FWIW, under 'martial status' in her job application form, my friend chose '100% independent'. *laugh* Be good, be bad & be safe.

Steve the Aussie Nutter

My CD player is on the blink and I needed some background noises to help me to focus on writing the column, so I turned on TV. While I was typing, I heard this weird Aussie voice from TV going, "Come here, mate! Look! Whoa! It bit me! *laughing* Ooh-ooo! Fantastic! Jump on my head! Chameleon courtship doesn't really exist...look at that emerald green! A real beaut!" Curious, I looked up and there was this tawny-haired chap grinning at TV camera, while wearing this full jungle outfit: the khaki shorts, white ankle socks and the works. He behaves exactly like my four year old nephew in terms of being excitable and very expressive, such as pulling face expressions to make a point while waving his arms around and wiggling his fingers at TV camera. I really can imagine my nephew falling in love with this TV programme, thanks to this Aussie presenter's wonderfully infectious excitement. He seems to be the combination of David Bellamy, a much loved TV presenter of numerous factual TV programmes about botany, and David Attenborough, also a much-loved TV presenter of factual TV programmes about wildlife. :D Johnny Morris is still my favourite, though. Hm, this Aussie presenter has a good way of presenting information that would, if I imagine right, interest children well enough to hold their attention. He seems to be a good presenter. OK, that's me back to column writing. ADDITION: The Aussie chap is Steve Irwin, the presenter of The Crocodile Hunter. Be good, be bad & be safe.

Lost in Words

Sorry about lack of blog posts lately. I'm in middle of writing a Romancing the Blog column, which is due to go live tomorrow. I read a few threads and blog posts about their general view of historical accuracy, which was interesting. What surprises me is my own reaction. Upon reading those comments, I felt so defeated that I think I finally gave up. It's a tired old topic that has been rehashed over and over for years. I think I've been worn down to the point where I say, "Aw, fuck it. Say what you want, I don't care. I just won't justify the existence of historical romances any more." Life is too short to correct same old misconceptions again and again and again, and to explain again and again and again why I dislike seeing the same old b.s. gets recycled within historical romances over and over, distorting the history of the UK to the point where some readers have this weird perspective of this country. "The heroine wouldn't do that! She has to be accompanied by her chaperone! Everybody knows that." "I can't imagine her as a professional journalist. Women didn't have this kind of job during 19th century! Everybody knows that!" "Everybody knows medieval-era women didn't own their own properties". *headwall* Wrong, wrong, wrong. It's the same old bloody song, and I'm sick of hearing it. I did tell myself that there is a new wave of readers every year, learning something new, so I'm being a grumpy little old cow. In back of my mind, I knew I should go with the flow, share what I know and move on, but this time, it feels personal and I take it personally and definitely too seriously. I think I'm in PMS mode because this doesn't normally annoy me. This topic crops up almost every month, so why I'm edgy this time round when I hadn't been before? Having had a quick thought about this, I think I finally lost patience with the genre's notorious sloppy attitude toward history, especially this country's. I think I feel those who say they don't care about historical accuracy when they read British-setting historical romances are really taking the piss out of this country. I was frustrated seeing posters sprouting opinions that are based on their incorrect assumptions and misconceptions about this country's history, especially those who say they excelled in their school class and/or trivia contest because they learned everything they needed to know about history from historical romance novels. It's quite frustrating, really. I don't even know if I gauged my reaction correctly because I don't understand my reaction considering the fact that I do understand where all these readers and authors are coming from, but my current feeling is 'Who cares? You don't give a crap, anyway, so why should I care any more?' I think my toleration and sense of fairness are failing me today. It's just not worth it, hence my zipped mouth and my new vow to stay the fuck away from that sort of thing. :D OK, then, I think I'll get the RTB column done in a couple of hours and when I do, I will be back later today on a, hopefully, cheerier note. :D Until then, cheers. Be good, be bad & be safe.

Romance review sites

Villiany wears many masks, none of which are more dangerous than virtue.

-- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Washington Irving

It's occurred to me that I'd regularly visit only these web sites: Mrs Giggles, All About Romance and The Romance Reader. So, I decided to branch out a bit to see what's out there. Or at least, re-visit sites that I hadn't seen for a while. Here's a selection of what I have found so far: The Historical Gazette "A bi-monthly newsletter for readers and writers of historical romances. Each issue is a light-hearted look at a different time period, with articles and illustrations of fashions, homelife, transportation, social customs, and interviews with authors, as well as a bibliography of resources and a list of books set in those times." Subversion It doesn't say what is the site about, but it looks to be a mixture of author interviews, authors' essays, reviews, history factsheets, readers' resources and such such. Author-friendly site. Historical Romance Club Site owner Ingela Hyatt says, "I began my love affair with historical romance novels back in 1988, and my interest has never waned. After creating so many other websites, it seemed like a natural progression to create my own website devoted to the genre." I can't tell if this is a review or author promotion site. What puts me off is the number of offers for authors to promote books through this site, implying that it offers advertorial service. Either way it seems to be an author-friendly site. We Really Dig Romance Novels "For Romance Novel Information. From contemporary to historical from paranormal to time travel, cover art, synopsis, links to authors/artists/ models, and more romance related issues." Pretty much an author-friendly site. Slake It's basically a book database with a few cool features, ranging from The Pedestal / The Wall to Quotes, attached. The jewel in the Slake crown has to be Categories. Unfortunately, the site rarely tells you when it's updated or what the site is truly about. It has an eccentric schedule and the devil-may-care attitude. I found this site about five years ago, and today it looks exactly how it looked back then, but I do think it's a great trivia site for readers. A Romance Review "A Romance Review is simply a group of people who have been brought together by their passion for romance! Whether reading it, or writing about it, we are all dedicated to the idea that a pleasure shared is a pleasure enhanced." A friend of mine once called this site "The Stepford Wives' Favourite". Heh. Either way, it seems to be very much an author-friendly site. BookaHolics of The Book Clique Cafe "These Bookaholic boards are for the use of active readers interested in the reading and discussion of our various book selections in multiple genres. We Think that REAL BookaHolics don't need a 12 step program... They simply need a gang that understands them...LOL! :)" If you scroll down the page, you'll find the Romance section that has message boards for readers of Nora Roberts, Linda Lael Miller, Julie Garwood, Lavyrle Spencer, Historical Romance, and Romantic Suspense. Paper and Lace "Paper and Lace is a site that specializes in paranormal romance and fiction." Hmmm, all reviews that I could find were written by Harriet "I'm Human. Really." Klausner. Author-friendly site. Dangerously Curvy Novels "The one common thread is that all of the books [reviewed here] have strong female protagonists who don't fit the current mold for beauty. They are described as being either real-sized or plus-sized, or they are not described at all but are simply 'everywoman' characters whose appearance is left completely to the imagination of the reader." Web site owner is ~Jen~, a regular RT poster and a real sweetie. [**note: it's down. Does anyone know the new URL?] ADDITION: Beth came up with the correct URL: http://www.curvynovels.info. Cheers, Beth! Chick Lit Books "This website features chick lit book reviews and information, as well as forums where you can express your opinions, favorite or least favorite book discussions, or whatever takes your fancy." Other Chick Lit sites are commerically driven, but this one seems to be done by Rian Montgomery, a fan of the genre. Impressive. Her essay What is Chick Lit? is worth reading. Sheikhs and Desert Love "Sheikhs and Desert Love features romance novels with a Sheikh (or an Arab or desert prince) as the primary male character. Though most of the novels in the database take place in Middle Eastern countries, it is not a requirement for inclusion. In most cases, the heroines of these stories are women who hail from progressive countries, such as the United States, Canada, Australia or Great Britain. The majority are slender, with long fair hair." But it had a very nice design, but it seems to have a different design now, which I don't really like. It does, however, have interesting features: articles, book database, reviews, message board and "Fictional Arabia". Romance Reviews Today "Romance Reviews Today is dedicated to providing insightful, honest reviews for the discriminating reader." Yet another author-friendly site. Word Museum Reviews Its ratings say it all: "1 rosette: Nice Addition, 2: Pleasant Discovery, 3: Unique Acquisition, 4: Rare Find, and 5: Collector's Treasure". Warm fuzzies! Definitely an author-friendly site. Ach, I'm stopping because I'm starting to get sick of seeing sooooo many gushy reviews. I find the majority of romance review sites unuseable. Almost all have ratings of five stars and 'a must read!!' reviews for almost all books reviewed. This doesn't make sense to me. Are they really saying that every romance novel they read is that good? Because of this, I don't trust these sites that gear heavily toward authors. I suspect that the majority strive to make their reviews pleasing to authors in order to keep review copies coming. This is the only logical reason I could come up with. I may be wrong [please do correct me if I am]. Frankly, most reviews I read online are nothing more than press releases, which I suppose they are at the end of the day. Either way, it's largely because of this, I no longer read romance reviews. Still, I think it's a mistake to focus on pleasing authors when it should focus on readers - the very people that buys romance novels. I think authors are greatly mistaken if they believe that bad reviews will affect their book sales because from what I see, bad reviews don't stop readers buying their books. If anything, I believe balanced [for some authors, it reads "harsh"] reviews help readers to feel confident enough to buy these books because they feel they are going in with their eyes wide open. More than not, they get a jolt of pleasant surprise to discover it is not as bad as a reviewer says. I strongly believe this is why Mrs Giggles's reviews are so popular with readers. It makes sense, really; you are likely to be disappointed if it doesn't live up to high expectations, but if you read with low expectations, it is likely to be better than you expected. Then again, this invisible drive to protect authors' feelings has always been the case. By this I mean, there is a real sense that authors come before readers, which is short-sighted, but it's a lot better than it was a few years ago, though. When I first came online I was shocked to find how geared it was toward romance authors and that there is a mentality that if you are critical of a romance novel, you simply aren't a 'true' supporter of the genre. More on this later. If there is a romance review site that do publish balanced reviews, please give us a shout. Link of the Day: Sequels and Prequels for Romance Novels Be good, be bad & be safe.

Top 20 Chav Baby Names

Originally posted on 20 December 2004.

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Oh, dear. To start with, the definition of a 'Chav' can be found at Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Ooh, I will save you time from going over there by putting it here:

chav /t{S}æv/ noun (BrE, slang) a young person, often without a high level of education, who follows a particular fashion: * There are always loads of chavs hanging round the shopping centre. * Chavs usually wear designer labels, and if they're girls, very short skirts and stilettos. * Chavs still see branded baseball caps as a status symbol and wear them at every opportunity.

Another but more detailed definition:

CHAV The press in Britain has recently been having fun mocking a group for which pejorative descriptions have been created such as "non-educated delinquents" and "the burgeoning peasant underclass". The subjects of these derogatory descriptions are said to be set apart by ignorance, fecklessness, mindless violence and bad taste. For the rest of the definition: World Wide Words

More and more web sites are cropping up to share the hate for chavs. Examples: Chav Scum, Name Your Chav Baby!, Chav Freebies, and Chav World. Oh, let's not forget Chav Towns [this actually gives you a clear idea of general attitudes toward certain towns. From what I see of the list, those towns have been condemned since 1870s! :)] Already there is a couple of published books: Chav! [Amazon UK] and The Little Book of Chav Speak [Amazon UK]. Of course, there is quite a few chav jokes. here is an example: What do you call a Chavette in a white tracksuit? The bride. To show you how much bad reputation 'chav' has, here is a snippet from a message board thread, taken from a British web site for mothers:

Chav Alert! "On the homepage here: http://www.babynames.com/V5/ there is a poll for opinions on the name CHAVIVA!!! PMSL!" General reactions: "What a poor kid's to get saddled with that." "That's hysterical! shame they dont have a button to click that says 'tackiest ever'!!" "omg, there are 29 votes for Love it! Surely those people must be taking the piss?" "OMFG Chaviva for god's sake!!!!" "mmmmmm ill put that on my list of possible girl names along with chavetta, frogmella, spudulika...." "I knew I lived in Chav land when at my dd2's nursery I discovered a 'Savannah' and her younger sister 'Chardonnay'"

Thanks to Bad Mothers Club for those. [Note: PMSL = Piss My Sides Laughing] By now, you'd figured out that 'chav' is not a nice label. Many are trying to disassociate themselves from the "Chav Disease", including ensuring that their children won't get lumped with chav names. Well, votes are in. Top 20 Chav Baby Names [AKA Top 20 Baby Names to Avoid]:

Girls 1. Chardonnay 2. Shannon 3. Aisling 4. Ashleigh 5. Jordan 6. Britney 7. Brittany 8. Chanelle/Chantal 9. Sabrina 10. Tiffany 11. Leanne 12. Isabella/Isabelle 13. Sharon [quote: "the original chav"] 14. Kayleigh 15. Caitlin 16. Colleen 17. Sigourney 18. Catriona 19. Cameron 20. Erin [Note: a few people noted that 'chavs' have a tendency to give their children Irish names, hence the unusually high number of Irish names on this English list.] Boys 1. Brandon 2. Connor 3. Tyler 4. Jamie 5. Jordan 6. Wayne 7. Kyle 8. Duncan 9. Kevin 10. Jason 11. Aidan 12. Callum [quote: "a decent name ruined by chav scum"] 13. Cameron 14. Dean 15. Devon [lol!] 16. Bryan/Bryce/Brice 17. Darren 18. Damien [quote: "Pure chav"] 19. Harley 20. Liam

Other names [male and female] that were nominated: Charmaine, Porcha/Porche, Brooke, Brooklyn, Tiffany, Luke, Mackenzie, Niall, Rafe, Quinn, Marli, Bryony, Nikita, Ronan, Craig, Alfie, Bobby, Chantelle, Jade, Skye, Tyrone, Regan, Summer, Tess/Tessa, Storm, Cortez [quote: "yes, as in Nike trainers"], Shanice, Ananya, Bobby-Jo, Bobby Jack, Tyrone, Mason, Tammy/Tammi, Harrison, Amber, Paris, Mac, Brandeen, Devlin [Yes!!!], Teniqua, Michelle, Ciara [Yes!!!], Mia, Reece, Michaela, Sheldon, Jarrett, Cougar, Kane, Lewis, Roxanne, Dwight, Dwayne, Raven [my jaws dropped], Gary, Shaznay, Levi, Tania/Tanya, Macauley, Tamika, Marlon, Errol, Chelsea, Brianna, Kasey, Leroy, Shayney, Mitch/Mitchell, Rio, Tyson and Keegan. Someone posted this:

Also, my sister's now ex-boyfriend (thank god, he was a total chav. he eats Burberry and shits Adidas) wanted to name my sister's baby "Hannargh". What the fuck? :| It's kind of like being scared while saying Hannah. "Hey, Hann..." -attacked by a zombie- "AAAAARGH!" Around my way? Try anything that phonetically ends in 'ee'.... Anything that one can shout like so: SOOOOPHIEEEEEEE! NATALIEEEEEEEEE! STACIEEEE! KEEEEELEEEEEEEEY! BRITNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY! KIRRRRRRRRRRRRRSTYYYYYYYY! Shout ad infinitum. With boys... Hmm. I think most of the chavvish boys around here have normal names.

There are many negative reactions toward the 'let's make it unique as possible!' trend of spelling already unusual names differently, e.g. Krystal and Cylie [a play on Kylie, probably]. Many agree that an attempt to give a child an unusual name is a very 'chav' thing to do. Are you curious to know whether you're a chav? Try this test: The Chav Test. I took mine and it came out at 14%. It seems that there are some chavs in the US: US babies Get Branded. According to this article, some of these babies were named after L'Oreal, Chevrolet, Timberland, Courvoisier and Armani. I think I'm going to name my future children after romance publishers: Avon for girl and Harlequin for boy. Harley for short... or Quin. If I really want to be posh, I'll go for LeQuin. That sounds classy. Be good, be bad & be safe.

One of ours is gone

I was extremely saddened to hear that fellow romance reader Elizabeth 'Lizzy' Benway and her youngest daughter were killed in a car accident last Monday in Florida. It's believed that she swerved her vehicle, trying to avoid debris on the road left by Hurricane Katrina. For those who didn't know her, she was a devoted romance reader who was deeply involved with the online romance community, ranging from AAR cover ballot committee to maintaining a listserve, and she had her own web site: Elizabeth's Book Collections & More where she maintained several lists of sub-genres and types of heroes. It's well known that she was a huge fan of cover models, especially John DeSalvo. So much that she did a lot of work, culling information for Romantic Times and her own web site as well as being the creator of a very popular mailing list for John DeSalvo fans. Although I didn't know her as well as some readers, I knew Lizzy B. from bumping into her online over years [seven years?] at RT, AAR, The Romance Journal, and casual email correspondence. She always kept an optimistic attitude towards highs and lows of the online romance community. She once had me laughing when she responded to my dour complaints [on the Romance Journal message board] about Scottish historical romances with a link to one of her web pages: Louisiana Lovin'. It is lovely to see that fellow readers have already left their messages on her guest book. My thoughts are with her family and friends. Be good, be bad & be safe.

Reader Interview: Beth

Beth, an Library Aide, lives in Jacksonville, North Carolina, USA, and has a blog: Bibliophile and Bookaholic When you were a child, what did you usually read? Well, my earliest cravings were for comic books. I eventually moved up to Amelia Bedelia, Curious George, etc., and then to Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, The Babysitters Club. In middle school, I started reading V. C. Andrews, Christopher Pike, R. L. Stine, L. J. Smith, Caroline B. Cooney, John Saul, etc. And as a romance reader? I read ALL types of romances I have no specifics. Stephanie Laurens, Sabrina Jeffries, Janet Evanovich, Carly Phillips, Brenda Novak, Shirley Jump, Deirdre Martin, Valerie Frankel, Alison Kent, Shanna Swendson, Vicki Lewis Thompson and Tori Carrington, just to name a few. Apart from romance novels, what do you usually read if any? Mysteries, Thrillers, Suspense, Horror, heck anything fiction. lol Do you have any weaknesses for certain themes, storylines, settings or such in romances? If so, what are they? Unlike a lot of people I've read about lately, I like reading the secret baby stories. Any romance based on a librarian (or with a library LOL) I love series/recurring characters. How do you make your selection when you buy romances? Titles/Covers catch my eyes first while browsing in a store. Then blurbs. Unless I've read something about it on any number of blogs or websites. What are your pet peeves with romance novels? When the ending seems too rushed or the heroine is extremely TSTL (too stupid to live - for all those who don't know - it took me a while to figure it out, too). When discussing romance novels and/or the Romance genre with fellow readers, which issues interest you most? I just like seeing what others thought of the same books I've read. I also use everyones guidance in helping me help my customers find something new to read. If an influential romance editor asks you for an opinion on the Romance genre, what would you say? Not sure. Name up to five romance novels that left you lasting impressions. I think that when you finish a book and it makes you want to go find anything and everything by that author that's a lasting impression (on your wallet J). In no particular order (I had to cheat - looked at my reading list over the last 2 years):

• Confessions of a Lingerie Addict - Jennifer Ashley (I actually got weepy over this book)
• Enchanted, Inc. - Shanna Swendson
• Mr Perfect - Linda Howard
• Open Season - Linda Howard
• A Bend in the Road - Nicholas Sparks
• Hissy Fit - Mary Kay Andrews
• Ain’t She Sweet - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

What do you think of romance novel covers in general? It really just depends on the artwork. Cartoonish: I love some and hate others. Do you have any favourite romance covers? If so, which are they? Now that you ask I can't remember any of them. LOL Name top five favourite romantic films.

• Someone Like You
• Sweet Home Alabama
• Raising Helen
• Save the Last Dance
• Coyote Ugly (I just love the movie)
• How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Not necessarily my complete top favorites (I just scanned through my dvd shelf). What was the last romance novel you bought? Back to the Bedroom - Janet Evanovich and The Real Deal - Lucy Monroe Many thanks, Beth. :) Be good, be bad & be safe.

Speaking Engrish

The key to a woman's heart is an unexpected gift at an unexpected time.

-- Finding Forrester

Received this link through email and I found it funny enough to put it up on this blog: Click on the image to visit the site According to the Engrish FAQ, "Engrish can be simply defined as the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design." Here's my favourite and if your mind is usually in the gutter, this something rude may give you a [immature] giggle or two. The site is good for your soul. Go and see. I remember, years ago, I walked up and down in the rectangle-shaped 'square' city centre of Buenos Aires, trying to find a public toilet when I spotted a young boy walking by me, eating a sweet bar that had a word blazing across the cover: "Tw*t". When the word finally made its presence felt in my brain, I stopped and gaped. Oh, I wish I had the mind to chase after the boy and make him pose, holding up his sweet bar, for a photo. :D Hm, I'm thinking now that I still cannot forget how weird 'coke lite' [diet coke] tasted in Argentina. That's a very trivial thing to say, so I'll shut up. Be good, be bad & be safe.

Praise Sara Donati!

Originally posted on 20 November, 2004. Please take note that some links may be broken. Thanks.

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I have my own views about Nature's methods, though I feel that it is rather like a beetle giving his opinions upon the Milky Way.

-- The Stark Munro Letters Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Since this is yet another sleepless night, I prowled on the net to see if there is any books that would interest me enough to put it on my book shopping list [which is coming on nicely, thank you very much] and at January Magazine, I stumbled across an interview with historical author Sara Donati. I recognised her name from fellow RT message board poster Jenster's constant praises for Donati's books, so I read the interview. And what I found in middle of the interview nearly had me falling out of the chair:

You have a background that helps with that as well. My academic background is in linguistics so I pay a lot of attention to language issues and I try not to misrepresent those. I think a lot of people who write novels about 18th-century America and England and Scotland tend to misrepresent Scots. They like to think that Highland Scots were Scots speakers when they were Gaelic speakers. A Highland Scot wouldn't necessarily speak Scots at all. If they had a second language it might even be English. What are referring to when you talk about someone speaking Scots? When I'm talking about Scots I'm talking about a variety of English that was spoken in Scotland and was the official language and was the published language of Scotland until about 1750. And then English started to make inroads and replaced it eventually. It's still spoken now. In the lowlands they spoke Scots. In the highlands they spoke Gaelic. And then there was English. So you have Scots as one language, Gaelic as another and some presence of English as a third language. But when you read novels that are set in 18th-century Scotland, you often have highlanders who are represented as Scots speakers when that just is not going to be the case. But it's kind of a fictional license that people take because they think that people don't know the difference. And if it's all in Gaelic you're going to be in trouble, because it's a difficult language.

OMG. This is the first time I've seen on the Net that matches what I have been trying to say all these years. Whenever I tried to explain, I received so many sceptical reactions that I sometimes wondered if I was delusional. So, it is a relief to come across Donati's comments that make - illogically, admittedly - me feel a lot better. Thank you, Ms Donati, wherever you are. ADDITION: I've tracked down her web site. By the look of the book list, the first book is Into the Wilderness, second Dawn on a Distant Shore, and I think third is Lake in the Clouds. Also, in her 'About Me' item, she says she has a PhD in linguistics, which is even better. Judging by her answers above, she richly deserves her PhD. And she appears to be a Farscape fan, too. Respect. She has a weblog, too. Be good, be bad & be safe.

The Aftermath of Katrina

I blog hopped all morning, reading updates about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and floodings, and all I'm seeing is the negative side of the human nature, e.g. looters. So, I thought it'd be nice to put up photos of people who made a lot of efforts to help each other under very trying circumstances. These are a few I managed to find among many. Click on an image to enlarge.

Terri Jones, right, and others try to cool down fellow flood victim Dorothy Divic, 89, center, who was over heated and exhausted at the convention center in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Henry Winter is helped on shore as he and his wife, Heloise Winter, background center in boat, are rescued from their lower 9th Ward home by New Orleans Police Department SWAT officers. (AP Photo/The Houston Chronicle, Melissa Phillip) Firefighters rescue stranded residents Monday in Mobile. (CNN) Mississippi's Bay St. Louis Emergency Management Agency volunteers rescue the Taylor family from the roof of their car. They were trapped on U.S. Highway 90 since Monday. (CNN) Police Officer Terrence Gray, right, helps evacuate Lovie Mae Allen and children from their homes in Gulfport on Monday. (CNN) Brian Wiseman, left, and Joe Douglas help pull a stranded motorist from high waters in a parking lot Tuesday in Bowling Green. (CNN) Rescuers help 73-year-old Grace White to escape from her flooded ninth ward home through a hole cut in the roof. (AP/Arthur D Lauck) Shante Gruld carries Janeka Garner, 5, to safety after they were rescued from their flooded home by boat in New Orleans, Monday Morning, Aug. 29, 2005. (AP photo by Eric Gay) A National Guard member tries to calm a young man after one of his relatives was taken away to a hospital from the Superdome in New Orleans, Tuesday. (AP photo/The Dallas Morning News by Michael Ainsworth) Volunteers sort through donated hurricane relief supplies at the Kiss 95.1 radio station in Charlotte, N.C. Tuesday. Radio station listeners and local businesses have donated thousands of items to be trucked to the Gulf Coast states affected by Hurricane Katrina. (AP photo/The Charlotte Observer by Todd Sumlin) Irma Simmons is carried by New Orleans Fire and Rescue officer Thor Barr after being rescued in a New Orleans Police Department boat in the 7th Ward of the city, Monday, after Hurricane Katrina moved through the area. (AP Photo/The Palm Beach Post by Gary Coronado) Tyronika Phillips (left) and LaChe Perkins (right) help Tapica Sparkman down St. Charles Ave for the New Orleans Convention Center after she fell and hurt her foot getting out of her home. Wednesday. (Irwin Thompson/The Dallas Morning News) Residents search for survivors by boat in the neighborhoods surrounding Lake Pontchatrain one day after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. (AFP/Getty Images photo by Chris Graythen) Kelly Padgett, left, and Rachel Sexton, second from left, watch as 6-year-old Kenrin Robertson, center, and his mother, Seione Davis, right, open birthday presents the two women brought him, along with a birthday cookie cake Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, in Shreveport, La. The women heard about how Robertson was spending his birthday at the American Red Cross shelter at the Louisiana State University-Shreveport due to Hurricane Katrina evacuations and decided to help a child celebrate his birthday. Robertson and Davis are from St. Bernard Parish in South Louisiana. (AP photo/The Times by Jessica Leigh) Alice Wilder,10, Elena Page, 13, Coco Wilder,12, and Mary Perot, 12, from left, call on passing cars, as they continue to collect funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005, in Brighton, N.Y. The money will be doanted to the Ameriacn Red Cross. AP Photo/ Carlos Ortiz Refugees, Marilyn Ross (left) and Agnes Baloney (right) of Hahnville, La. wave signs during the Houston Comets first round playoff game against the Seattle Storm on Tuesday in Houston. Those taking refuge from Hurricane Katrina were let into the game free of charge. (AP photo by Jessica Kourkounis) The Survival of New Orleans blog Housing Opportunities for Katrina Survivors BBC's Disaster Relief Romancing the Blog's Close to Home Fantasy, SciFi & Gamers Relief Effort Hurricane Katrina relief tournaments Additions: The Humane Society of the U.S. Disaster Relief Fund Danielle's great suggestion: Mennonite Disaster Service Be good, be bad & be safe.

A Condom With Fangs

This is too weird to wrap my head round:

South Africa anti-rape condom aims to stop attacks KLEINMOND, South Africa (Reuters) - A South African inventor unveiled a new anti-rape female condom on Wednesday that hooks onto an attacker's penis and aims to cut one of the highest rates of sexual assault in the world. "Nothing has ever been done to help a woman so that she does not get raped and I thought it was high time," Sonette Ehlers, 57, said of the "rapex", a device worn like a tampon that has sparked controversy in a country used to daily reports of violent crime. Police statistics show more than 50,000 rapes are reported every year, while experts say the real figure could be four times that as they say most rapes of acquaintances or children are never reported. Ehlers said the "rapex" hooks onto the rapist's skin, allowing the victim time to escape and helping to identify perpetrators.

The rest of the news item is at Yahoo! News

Hm. Will there ever be a male volunteer to test this prototype? Be good, be bad & be safe.

If Angels Burn - Lynn Viehl

1. Title/Author If Angels Burn - Lynn Viehl [Book 1 of the Darkyn series] 2. Genre Vampire romance. 3. Brief Synopsis [Taken from Amazon.com] Alexandra Keller is Chicago's most brilliant reconstructive surgeon. Michael Cyprien is New Orleans's most reclusive millionaire-and in desperate need of Dr. Keller's skills. In the heart of the Garden District, Alex encounters the extraordinary Cyprien, uncovering a love Alex is willing to embrace, even if she must sacrifice her heart and soul to do so. 4. Copyright Year 2005. 5. Indicate if you liked or disliked it? Neither. There aren't many books that I approached with high expectations, but I did with If Angels Burn. I'd been looking forward to read it for so long that I'm unsure if it was my high expectations that makes it a disappointing read or it's indeed not that fantastic. So I'm holding back comments on some specific details of the story until I re-read it. Until then, this is my first reaction on the basis of having high expectations. My biggest disappointment with If Angels Burn is there isn't a real sense of character growth in Alex and Cyprien. This book has been marketed as a vampire romance, but it isn't. I don't know if it is due to lack of chemistry between the h/h or the fact that there isn't many romantic scenes to further their relationship that makes it so. I think it's the combination of both and lack of their character growth that eventually made me indifferent to the h/h and their fate. The next disappointment is there is lack of solid background information to various aspects of the plot, which generated many questions that got in the way of my reading. Then again, to be fair, I am a fussy reader who likes a story that makes sense. When it doesn't, I'd try to reason it out, figuring out how this or that happened and why, and this usually distracts me from the story, which is the case with If Angels Burn. I felt that the focus of the story was all over the place, due to its web of subplots, which I won't go into details here. I also felt that since it's a vampire romance, the focus ought to be on the romantic development of Alex and Cyprien's relationship while they grapple with the effects of an ongoing war. Then again, it is the first in a series, which makes If Angels Burn is, basically, an introductory novel to a new series, but I felt it shouldn't be made at expense of Alex and Cyprien's relationship. Even with lackluster romance, underdeveloped characters, and many clichéd elements of the vampire genre, If Angels Burn is good, but not so good that I'd put a gun to someone's head to read it. Having said all that, I've learned my lesson from my experience with Liz Maverick's The Shadow Runners, which failed very colourfully for my first read because a) it was marketed as a futuristic romance, b) it was one of a few highly antipicated novels, and c) my lasting shock over Maverick's decision to make Australia a British colony. Yet when I re-read it by accident some months later, it - although it still doesn't work as a futuristic romance and I still don't like Maverick's decision to make Australia a British colony - turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable read and Jenny Red becomes one of my favourite heroines. This may be the case for If Angels Burn as well, hence my caution with comments, but I intend to re-read it one day. My verdict? Still out. From what I see, I'm one of a very few who didn't think highly of If Angels Burn, so there is a very good chance that you may enjoy this book. As a cover bunny, I love the book cover. It looks so moody and atmospheric that I wanted to bring out my music CD copy of Crackle: The Best Of Bauhaus to accompany this read. I would have if I knew where the damned copy was. 6. Is this a new author for you? No. I've read Into the Fire and The Deepest Edge, both were written under her other name, Jessica Hall. 7. Would you read more by this author? For this Darklyn series, it depends. First book of a series tends to be the weakest and with each successive book, the series is likely to improve [or vice versa], so I probably will get Private Demon, the second Darkyn book, to see whether the series is worth following, but not until I re-read this, though. Coming up next: Intergalatic Bad Boys - Jaide Black Fox [ebook] P.S. Many thanks to Alyssa for her accidental inspiration of an idea to nick Keishon's TBR Challenge review structure for this. :D Be good, be bad & be safe.