Photo by kesh (via morgueFile)
Regular readers might have noticed that the Book Bizzo hasn’t been posted in the last few weeks. I originally came up with the idea of a weekly news round-up because I thought it would be easier and faster to do than posting each item separately. As it turns out, I was completely wrong. The time it takes to put a Bizzo together is equivalent to posting a review. So after some deliberation, I’ve decided not to keep going with the Bizzos on Saturday. (Although I have a quick round-up in this one—mainly for Aussie romance authors and book news.)
I’m tossing up alternative ways to post news items. In the meantime, I post interesting items as I encounter them on my Twitter feed, so feel free to follow @BookThingo. I try to post mostly on topic, although it wouldn’t be Twitter if I didn’t digress occasionally. I might start posting shorter, more frequent round-ups on the blog, but we’ll see…
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Photo by circulating (via Flickr)
The battle of the petitions: responses to Productivity Commission closed on Friday
Look, I have a confession to make: I haven’t read the full draft of the Productivity Commission’s discussion draft on parallel importation restrictions. But over the last few weeks, there’s been a buzz on the blogs, on Twitter, and to a smaller extent in the mainstream press about what the draft recommendations would mean to authors, publishers, booksellers and consumers.
Dymocks’s strategy of emailing members of its Booklovers program came under fire (here’s why I didn’t sign it), but I think it worked. I’m planning to write about this some more (next week, I hope!) but, essentially, they framed the issue for consumers, who until now haven’t really been involved in the discussion. And if this opinion essay (The Australian) is any indication, Dymocks has done its job well. (Not to mention that The Australian’s editorial quality is on the decline. Because really—research much?)
On the opposing side, Australians for Australian Books has been using social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter to encourage people to sign their petition opposing
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The Santangeli Marriage by Sara Craven (HMB Sexy)
Thanks to Sara Craven, I’ve rediscovered my love for the Harlequin Mills & Boon Sexy line. Yes, her heroes can be a little overbearing, and her heroines can be a tad wimpy, but for the most part, they’re likeable. They’re flawed, they’re sometimes lacking in self-awareness, but they work through their issues through the book, and I’m cheering for them all the way.
Not to mention, her books make me cry. Every single one of them. Don’t read them at 3am because you’ll wake up with puffy eyes that no amount of caffeine can erase.
The Santangeli Marriage uses a common HMB Sexy plot. Marisa and Lorenzo’s marriage was arranged by their families, but through a series of misunderstandings on both their parts, they got off to a pretty horrible start and have been living apart for the past 8 months. When Renzo’s father falls ill and asks him to work on repairing his relationship with his wife, Renzo decides it’s time for him to try and woo Marisa—properly this time, to make up for the hash he made of it during their honeymoon. Marisa’s shocked when she comes home to find Renzo waiting for her, and although she wants to end the marriage,
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This is a round-up of ARRC09 and is not in chronological order. If you want to read more anecdotes, check out the liveblog. Click here for a list of ARRC09 posts and liveblogs .
Ebooks
I missed the speeches on Sunday morning because we had an informal Cellie breakfast at the cafe next door. It was a lovely way to start off the day, and I was told of a ubiquitous photo on the Lora Leigh forums that I must go and check out, but NOT while I’m at work. The search term is “King Neptune”, in case you’re curious.
The morning panels all sounded really good, so I had a difficult choice to make. In the end, I opted for the ebook panel since I had friends going to the others. The session was sponsored by Torquere Press, and the panelists were Helen Woodall, Jordana Ryan and Jess Dee. Most of the discussion was around the benefits of ebooks and the publishing process. It kind of felt more author-focused than reader-focused, but it would’ve been useful for readers who were thinking about writing for an epublisher.
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This is a round-up of ARRC09 and is not in chronological order. If you want to read more anecdotes, check out the liveblog. Click here for a list of ARRC09 posts and liveblogs .
I’d love to say that ARRC09 started off with a bang, but true to form, I had barely brushed my teeth when Maggie Nash made her welcome address. I had hoped that Wandergurl would be there–particularly since we were supposed to be liveblogging the event–but she sent me an SMS to say that she registered then went back to bed. We are not morning people. Wandergurl did catch the tail end of MaryJanice Davidson’s keynote speech and said that she was funny.
What do academics really think about romance fiction?
I was eager to hear the panel discussion on what academics think about romance, but I only caught the tail end of the Q&A. The panel included Karen Simpson Nikakis, author of the Kira Chronicles and Head of Program of NMIT’s new Bachelor of Writing and Publishing degree.
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The New Man by Janice Kay Johnson (Super Romance)
The New Man by Janice Kay Johnson isn’t my cup of Super Romance, but there’s a gentless in the story which may appeal to other readers.
Helen Schaefer lost her husband after a long illness and she’s wary of getting involved with Alec Fraser. She’s had enough of loss and is unwilling to let herself be vulnerable to that kind of grief again. Alec is a widower and knows all too well the devastating grief of losing a spouse. And while he’s open to starting a new relationship, he has his own issues to sort out with his family—particularly his son, Devlin.
The pace of this novel was too slow for me. Johnson fleshes out Helen’s character beyond the romance, but for the most part, I found those bits boring. More interesting is Alec’s home life and his struggle to communicate with Devlin. Johnson evokes the love, frustration and helplessness Alec feels when his efforts fail repeatedly, and his family situation comes across as real and honest. Disappointingly, the resolution of his conflict with Devlin is much too abrupt.
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John Riley's Girl by Inglath Cooper (Super Romance)
Back in high school, Harlequin Mills & Boon Super Romance was my particular brand of crack. I loved these books. I inhaled them, and even though I’d occasionally dabble in Blaze or Temptation, I always came back to Super Romance. John Riley’s Girl by Inglath Cooper took me back to those days of pretending to listen to our Spanish teacher while surreptitiously reading a romance book hidden behind a stack of textbooks. That said teacher was a nun only made it more daring. We bookworms can be rebels, too.
Olivia Ashford hasn’t been back to her hometown in fifteen years after a deeply painful event in her childhood. But a phone call from an old friend stirs up memories and curiosity, and on a whim she decides to return for her high school reunion. Olivia hopes that her visit to Summerville will help her find closure to old wounds. But John Riley, her high school sweetheart, isn’t willing to forget–much less forgive–the fact that Olivia abandoned him without so much as a goodbye. So when the reunion ends up being held at his farm, there’s no way to avoid the confrontation between them.
From the very first chapter, it’s obvious that there’s a huge misunderstanding
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The Spaniard's Baby Bargai by Helen Bianchin (Modern Romance)
Realising that I haven’t made a dent in the The Harlequin/Silhouette Romance Reading Challenge, I made it a point to grab a handful of HMBs on my last library visit. I picked up The Spaniard’s Baby Bargain by Helen Bianchin because it’s part of the Modern Romance imprint (to which the Rugby Union related books will belong), it’s set in Sydney, and it’s written by a New Zealand author. I was disappointed by the awkward prose and hugely contrived set-up of the story, but there were moments in the second half of the book that I thought were done well, so it wasn’t a total write-off.
When Ariane Celeste interviews billionaire (AUD or USD, I wonder?) Manolo del Guardo for a TV documentary, she finds herself staying on as a temporary nanny for his daughter. But Manolo finds the arrangement so satisfactory that he asks her to marry him–he gets a wife and a mother for her child, and she gets the child she’s always longed for and his protection against her stalker ex-husband.
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Photo by circulating (via Flickr)
Every fortnight we’ll be posting a collection of news items, events, and other interesting tidbits related to books, and especially the Australian book industry. This first issue is bursting at the seams because it includes stuff from last year that I’ve been meaning to post. After this issue, we’ll be aiming to post current news and events as we hear about them. Click here for a list of Book Bizzo posts.
Book launches, events, and authors
Tempt the Devil by Anna Campbell was released last week, and there’s an interview of Campbell at Down Under Desirabelles. I WANT this book!
Bronwyn Parry’s second book–I assume it’s the loosely connected sequel to As Darkness Falls–will be out in September. A mass market paperback version of As Darkness Falls will be available in April.
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