Comments on: Tracey O’Hara book signing at Galaxy

By: Keri Arthur and Tracey O’Hara book signing at Galaxy – Book Thingo

Keri Arthur and Tracey O’Hara book signing at Galaxy – Book Thingo — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:39:31 +0000

[...] I got my copy of Night’s Cold Kiss signed last time Tracey came to Galaxy, I handed her the hard copy of her short story Dante Rising – The Birth of a Venator that she [...]

By: Nalini Singh book signing at Galaxy - Book Thingo

Nalini Singh book signing at Galaxy - Book Thingo — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:46:39 +0000

[...] behind me in line was the book distributor Kat and I chatted with at the last book club. Nalini was so interested that a male fan had shown up that she asked me to take a photo of them [...]

By: The post formerly known as Saturday’s post - Book Thingo

The post formerly known as Saturday’s post - Book Thingo — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:48:16 +0000

[...] also to Katherine Ryan for winning a signed copy of Night’s Cold Kiss, Tracey O’Hara’s debut novel which [...]

By: wanda flanagan

wanda flanagan — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:48:27 +0000

Queen Betsy from the maryu janice davidson series .Shes tough sexy and she knows it

By: angela zhang

angela zhang — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:40:25 +0000

Sailormoon for her courage and never ending spirit in fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight in a two-way life.

By: Katherine Ryan

Katherine Ryan — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:42:08 +0000

My favourite kick-arse heroine (of the moment, at least) is Rachel Morgan from the Hollows series. I always prefer a heroine (or hero) who’s vulnerable and powerful at the same time. She also has a habit of dressing sexily for herself, rather than others, lives in a church (so very jealous!) and has a resilience and inner strength that I associate with strong women in my life. I recognise qualities in her that I admire in my friends and family – and, of course, envy her arse-kicking abilities!

By: Kat

Kat — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:16:27 +0000

I thought diners were small restaurants? I still use 'milk bar'' sometimes, but to me it means the local corner store (which usually sells charcoal chicken and chips!).

The only time I kind of maybe didn't mind the use of 'sheila' was in Joey Hill's vampire book set in, I think, 50s Australia. But even then it was a bit jarring.

By: Wandergurl

Wandergurl — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:19:14 +0000

Decadence, I think i might have actually read Vampire$. And I think that even in the early 90s there were legal vampires in some YA novels! I’d have to remember them though.
I want to win a copy of Night’s Cold Kiss! Hahahaa but I can’t. So uhm, one of you has got to lend me their copy, okay? :)
Re: aussifying. I remember Keri Arthur mentioning in the Romance Conference that she had to change certain things as well, like she couldn’t call a milk bar a milk bar, it was a diner. (Though, honestly I don’t know if they are still called milk bars…) And I hate the category romances where the blokes call their chicks Sheila. Dude.

By: Decadence

Decadence — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:57:03 +0000

Yay, Jacq, you posted a comment! :)

I agree with you about guys in pubs here and I’m sure we could share a few horror stories. It was just a knee-jerk reaction I had to the only Aussies being introduced as idiots. If they had been American or any other nationality, I wouldn’t have reacted and once they pulled their heads in, they were OK. I liked how they became good-natured but hard-drinking and even finished a sentence with “hey”.

I recently read a romance by an Australian author from rural NSW, set on a farm. The heroine’s height was in feet and inches and I cringed every time they said ‘utility truck’ or ‘utility vehicle’ instead of ‘ute’. I wasn’t surprised when Tracey wasn’t allowed to set any scenes in Australia. She was the one who reminded me about Keri Arthur and now I’m wondering how she got away with the Melbourne setting.

By: Decadence

Decadence — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:02:40 +0000

The Anita Blake thing was because LKH has been blogging about her frustration over other series like the Sookieverse being turned into a TV show while plans to turn her series into a TV show keep falling through. After all, she pioneered the genre. I think she defined the genre as “paranormal thriller”, but as far as I knew, she was the first author to make vampires legal citizens.
There was a time during the 90s where I read vampire fiction almost exclusively before I discovered romance and paranormals. I’ve read a lot, but obviously not every vampire book ever written and funnily enough, the two books the distribution person used to refute LKH were books that I had bought during that time because I liked the blurb but had never read. And they got culled when a friend needed book donations for charity and I needed emptier shelves.
Vampire$ by John Steakley is about professional vampire hunters, so it was argued that vampires must have come out of the coffin if vamp hunting is an official occupation. Since Vampire$ was published in 1992, it predates Guilty Pleasures (1993). Today I found a review on Amazon that says the hunters are employed by the Vatican, so maybe the vampires are still hidden from the general public, I don’t know for sure.
The world in Anno Dracula by Kim Newman is apparently run by a vampire monarch, therefore vampires must be legal citizens was the argument. Its earliest publication date was 1992, and would also predate Guilty Pleasures.
Without having read the books, I can’t say one way or the other if those arguments hold water, but I’m impressed that the distribution person knew what books to look for off the top of their head.