Dying For Mercy winner
Thanks to everyone who entered our Dying For Mercy giveaway. The winners are Katherine Ryan and Michelle Magill. Congratulations, Katherine and Michelle! I’ve sent you an email with instructions on how to claim your prize, but in case you don’t get it, please email me ASAP.
We’re hosting another giveaway in a couple of days, so watch this space. In the meantime, here here are the winning entries. Katherine’s non-romance recommendation was Bill Bryson:
My favourite non-romantic author is by far Bill Bryson. He takes a genre I previously thought of as boring or mostly irrelevant to me, travel writing, and takes it to a whole new level with his wit and warmth. I started by reading Notes from a Small Island (about his arriving in England, meeting his wife and starting a life there) and was very lucky one Christmas to receive almost all of his published works from my lovely partner.
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Read on for a chance to win a copy of Dying For Mercy. The contest ends midnight on Sunday, August 9 AEST, and it’s open to anyone, including readers overseas.
Although I usually hang around the romance shelves in the bookshop, my serious love for reading started with mysteries*, and I’ll always have room in my shelves for the odd crime fiction. So when Book Thingo was offered a chance to give away 2 copies of Mary Jane Clark’s new release, Dying For Mercy … I couldn’t say no.
What the book is about
I was sent a book description, which I thought I’d post in full to give you an idea of what the book is about and if it appeals to you:
When death shatters the serenity of the exclusive moneyed enclave of Tuxedo Park, New York, Eliza Blake, cohost of the country’s premier morning television show KEY to America, is on the scene. While attending a lavish gala at her friends’ newly renovated estate, Pentimento, Eliza’s host is found dead—a grotesque suicide that is the first act in a macabre and intricately conceived plan to expose the sins of the past involving some of the town’s most revered citizens.
Determined to find out the truth, Eliza and her KEY News colleagues—producer Annabelle Murphy
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It warms my heart to know that romance readers love Aussie characters, but it takes more than the odd “no worries, mate” to get Aussie readers to believe that a character really is Australian.
To help authors out, here are 15 tips on how to make your Aussie characters more authentic. I’ve written them with romance authors in mind, but they apply outside of romance, too. Update: Check the comments for more great tips!
1. Eric Bana is a comedian, not a sex symbol. Do not, under any circumstances, compare your hero to Eric Bana unless he wears a mullet, and there had better be a very good explanation for that.
2. Aussies are obsessed with sports. Obsessed. It’s theoretically possible to have a hero—or heroine, for that matter—who doesn’t have at least a passing knowledge of cricket and/or footy (rugby union, rugby league or Aussie rules), but they’d better have a damn good reason for it.
3. We don’t buy coffee from Starbucks.
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Gratuitous use of a still from Mr Darcy's pond scene in Lost in Austen (via lovestoknit at Flickr)
If you thought zombies were blasphemous to Pride and Prejudice, beloved classic of romance literature, check out this hilarious Twitter parody by Mad over at Under the Mad Hat.
Here are some snippets:
MrsB: A Mr Bingley–worth 50,000 followers a year–has joined Twitter! He’s brought a friend, Mr Darcy–worth 100,000 followers a year! Pls RT
… LizzieB: @JaneB If I could love a man who would love me enough to take me for a mere 50 followers, I should be well pleased…
LizzieB: @JaneB …but such a man wouldn’t be sensible & I could never love a man who was out of his twits. LOL
… CubicleSurfer: Does anyone know what #Bingley is and why it’s suddenly the no. 1 trending topic?
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So I went a little nuts and saw 6 movies at the Sydney Film Festival…
Breathless
A violent, emotional movie about a small time Korean gangster who beats up people for a living. He has serious anger issues thanks to the trauma of domestic violence when he was growing up. One day he meets a smart-talking teenage girl, and somehow they form a kind of kinship due to common backgrounds that neither is aware of. The movie shows his growing relationships with her, his best friend and gangster boss, as well as his sister and lonely nephew, and how he comes to terms with different issues in his life.
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Through The Clock's Workings (Anthology)
Tempted All Night giveaway winner: SonomaLass
The winner of our first book giveaway is SonomaLass, whose biggest temptation is
…just one more chapter in a great book. Late at night, when I know I should be getting to bed because I have to work in the morning….
SonomaLass, I’ve sent you an email, but in case you don’t get it, please email me your address. Thanks to everyone who entered! It was fun judging this one, and the results were very close.
Remix My Lit Anthology
Through the Clock’s Workings, the world first remixed and remixable anthology of literature, is now available:
So how do you use a remixable anthology? Simple.
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Romance Book of the Year finalists
The Romance Writers of Australia has announced the finalists for this year’s R*BY Awards:
Short Sweet
Claire Baxter — The Single Dad’s Patchwork Family
Melissa James — A Mother in a Million
Marion Lennox — His Island Bride
Fiona McArthur — The Midwife’s Baby
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In Bed With... (Anthology)
Isn’t that just the most luscious cover? Designer Allison Colpoys (Penguin) was named young designer of the year at the Australian Publishers Association Book Design Awards last week. I picked up this book the last time I was in a bookstore, and the only reason I didn’t buy it was that I’m very picky with erotica. Here’s the blurb:
Hot sex, anywhere, anytime, anyone?
Here is the hottest, raunchiest collection of romance, love, fantasy and – let’s be honest – sex.
Designed to tantalise and tease, these quirky adult-only tales are sensual and surprising, always imaginative and unashamedly risqué. Featuring a sex addict, a Spanish percussionist, a topless gardener, a Kiwi farm-hand, virgins, prostitutes, ballerinas, college research assistants, new ladettes and a spanking dominatrix;
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Romance authors in the media
Australian romance author Anne Gracie was interviewed on the 9am show with David & Kim (click on Entertainment, then Books).
Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan, the women behind popular romance blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and authors of Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels, were interviewed by Alan Brough on ABC Radio in Melbourne. Hilarity ensues.
Coming not so soon
I’ve been told that the Australian release date for Anna Campbell’s next novel, Captive of Sin, is December 16. Just in time for Christmas, but still so much longer than the US date. I don’t know if I can wait that long, to be honest. I haven’t seen any images of the cover yet.
Parallel import restriction debates continue
The Productivity Commission was due to hand in its report regarding restrictions on the parallel importation of books to Australia on Wednesday, but they’ve asked for and have been granted an extension until June. Until then, I expect we’ll hear more about the issue in the media. For some good arguments from both sides:
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April hasn’t been a good month to binge on books, I’m afraid. The real world kept intruding, and I didn’t get as much reading done as I was hoping to. Also, I hit a mini-slump mid-month where I just couldn’t manage to drum up much interest in my TBR pile.
But anyway, here’s what I managed to get through. I haven’t written reviews for most of them yet, but I’ll try to remember what I thought about each book.
1. Grimspace by Ann Aguirre (re-read)
2. Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre
3. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan — Beautiful narrative voice. My review is SO overdue.
4. The Chase by Lynsay Sands — Not bad for a Scottish historical, and I even managed not to dwell too much on hygiene issues
5. Old Man’s War by John Scalzi — Excellent sf book about a world where old people are recruited to the intergalactic defence force. It sounds like a novel premise, and I was expecting more brawn than brain, but the story explores all sorts of interesting
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