Meljean Brook

By Gwen. *grumble grumble*

Actually, it’s kind of a fun one, so here goes (complete with pretty pictures, because I liked how Gwen did hers. I love book covers.)

1. Total number of books I own.

Oh, Jeeeeeezus. Okay, this is an estimate, because I’m just counting up the books on a couple of shelves, then multiplying by the number of shelves I have, because they’re all equally stuffed, then subtracting some for the textbooks and hardbacks that take up more room, then adding the estimated number piled on desks, window sills, tables, in the bathroom, and in boxes. *does math* 2,700.

2. Last book I bought.

Well, I made an Amazon order, so it was multiple books (just enough to get Super Saver Shipping, because I’m way too lazy to apply for Amazon Prime )

Caressed by Ice. I’ve already read (and loved) an e-ARC, but I wanted a hold-in-my-hands copy. And that way my sister can read it, too.

Riding the Storm. Again, this is another one I’ve already read an e-ARC (hee, Missy and I are reading it together; we’re working on that post) but I got a copy for realz.

If His Kiss Is Wicked. I’ve got a ton of Jo Goodman in my TBR, but the recent review over at Dear Author made me move her up in the pile. It was the excerpt of the dialogue that did it (because the cover, unfortunately, would probably have sent me scurrying away. I think Nathan Kamp is the hotness, but full face-on covers like that freak me out.)

Moon Called. I’ve heard a billion things about this book, but hadn’t yet picked it up (I have issues with first person a lot of the time, so I was wary). Then I read Patricia Briggs short story in the On the Prowl anthology, and caved.

Touch of Darkness. I haven’t had a chance to read the first book in this series yet, but my sister was very, very, very angry with me after the infamous Visa incident (you still have a chance to win a copy of The Serpent Prince, by the way, if you comment on that thread) because I’d picked it up at B&N then put it back down, so when I was making the order from Amazon, I added it. I’d have eventually gotten it anyway, though.

3. Last book I read.

On the Prowl. My husband made fun of the cover, but I kind of like it. Actually, I guess I’m still in the middle of reading it, because after I read Patricia Briggs’s, I felt totally inadequate as a novella writer and then cried in my pillow until I fell asleep. (Hee, actually, I started re-reading The Serpent Prince). Does that count as a ‘last book read’ if I’ve only finished one of the stories so far? If not, the last full book I read was Jaci Burton’s Hunting the Demon, and I liked it even better than the first.

4. Five books that mean a lot to me.

The Last Unicorn. If I could take only one book to a desert isle, it would be this one. I love the prose, love the characters, love everything about it. This is also one of my “oh god, I’m stuck in a writing rut and just feeling absolutely no inspiration to write” book; I pick it up, and it’s like the very motion of the words on the page unstick me.

The Grapes of Wrath. The story rips me apart, in a good way. From the opening to the end, I just can’t look away, so I’m careful about picking it up. Hell, I can’t even freaking think about it without tearing up, so I’m moving on to the next one, right freaking now.

Only Lover by Carole Mortimer. Missy and I have talked about this book before. It’s not really a good book, but it means a lot because it was the first romance I read. I’m still addicted to Harlequin Presents, too.

Trixie Belden (the entire series). Ah, the teenaged Trixie, who solved mysteries, who was a horse-mad tomboy, who called her mother “Moms”, who traveled all over the place, who had a best friend named Honey and a love interest named Jim … I still love you.

They Were Brave and Bold. This was an elementary school reader from the 50s, much like Friends Far and Near, or a couple of others. It included stories like Paul Bunyan, Stormy Stormalong, Finn McCoul, The White Cat (my favorite — it’s a version of Cherry, the Frog Princess, I think) Sinbad, and a ton of other tales. This is also the book I’ve spent more money on than any other. I lost my copy in a fire, and as soon as I realized what could be done online with used books stores around 1998 or so, I searched the ‘net for a copy. Now, I can apparently get one for, um, a dollar — but honestly, I would have paid just about any amount to have this book again. These stories are ALWAYS in my head as I’m writing.

5. Tag five other people.

Maili
crankyreader
Unicorn Beverly
…anyone else missing?

I cannot help but notice a certain lack of enthusiasm in your work of late. There are very few things that I request of you: to be perky and to be functional. And I’ve only had one baby, so I’ve not asked you to be functional all that much.

So let us talk about this laziness you’ve been displaying ever since my 30th birthday passed.  You droop a little. Even, I daresay, sag slightly — and put undue stress upon Victoria, who has worked so hard these past fifteen years, keeping you safe, cocooned, and  aloft, very much like Jane in Tarzan’s bower.

Quite frankly, I expected something of this nature from Lefty. He’s always been a bit of a layabout but for those moments when attention and praise are being heaped upon him. But you, Righty, you! Your very name suggests that you will fight to do what is correct and moral at all times. You should be faultless! Irreproachable! Upstanding!

But this is what you have become. I am ashamed to call you my knocker, my dirty pillow, my melon, my boob. And if you do not soon shape up, I may have to replace you.

Yours in disgust,
Meljean

…for I have sinned. The monetary sacrifice has been made. And it was more than just The Serpent Prince.

But there were SO many new books out! *sob* Jaci Burton and Erin McCarthy and the On the Prowl anthology and Lora Leigh and Lilith Saintcrow has such pretty new covers and it’s a good thing Driven wasn’t at B&N or I’d be giving away an extra copy of that here, too. So don’t judge me.

DON’T JUDGE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Actually, feel free to judge me. Anyone who leaves a comment on this post between now and the day the package arrives from Amazon is entered to win the extra copy of The Serpent Prince. So, if you haven’t tried Hoyt’s books yet, but want a free chance to grab one, comment away!)

I’m on page 65, and Simon is my absolute favorite kind of hero. As soon as I’m done cooking dinner, I’m diving back in and not coming out until it’s done.

…deliver The Serpent Prince unto me. I’m effing dying here.

Sincerely,
Meljean, who is off to see if the grocery store has stocked it early. Then maybe Borders. And I haven’t seen the inside of a B&N in about a week, so I guess it’s time I go make my monetary sacrifice there.

Which probably means that, yes, there will soon be a post where I give a copy away.

I have a whole bunch of books on the sidebar that are listed as TBR, that really aren’t TBR any longer, but just R. A few, I’ll talk about a little more later this week (Caressed by Ice, Riding the Storm, Soul Song, Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy) but there are others that I’ve read in the last month or so but probably won’t ever devote a whole post to them, and besides, everyone but me in the blogosphere has pretty much already read them anyway, so here goes a couple:

Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie

Here’s the thing: I’m not really a fan of straight contemporary + funny (I can do paranormal or historical, though.) Or rather, I rarely like it as I read it (the humor doesn’t work for me), and in those rare instances that I have a good time, I rarely revisit the book (for example, I really loved Bet Me, would have easily graded it an A, but I know I’ll never re-read it, and this is my second Crusie) … and therefore I avoid the whole sub-genre like herpes. That is why I’m sure I didn’t pick this one up when it came out long, long ago, because the “Love & Laughter” line? Bleeeeechhhhhhhh. And oh-so-cute dogs/kids/oldpeople in romances? Double bleeeeeeeecccchhhh.

That said, I really loved this one, and have already re-read several scenes. And, double w00t! I got this one from a shopping cart outside my local USB for about … $0.10

Yeah, I’ll probably pick up another old Crusie up in a couple of months.

Count to Ten by Karen Rose

This is one of those books that I picked up solely because of the word-of-mouth factor. I’d read a couple of glowing reviews online, and I hadn’t read a rom-suspense in a little while (okay, I hadn’t read anything in a while because of a certain deadline). The last one I’d read was Bad Girl by Michele Jaffe (due to another recommendation) and loved it like crazy, and maybe because I was thinking of that one, Rose’s book came in just slightly below that. I skimmed a very few tiny parts, but overall, liked it bunches and bunches. Enough that, very soon, Die For Me will be in the TBR pile. And the rest of her backlist, too, but I’m trying to be a good girl.

The Billionaire Next Door by Jessica Bird

I didn’t really intend to read this, but I was stuck in Centralia, WA after being stuck in Portland traffic and being WAY late to a meeting with a writing buddy *sob*. I didn’t want to turn around and drive right back to Portland, so instead I went to Safeway, picked this up, and read it while sitting all by my lonesome in a restaurant. And, everyone probably already knows I’m a fan of category romances, but they lean toward the over-the-top Harlequin Presents line (and, oh my god, I’ve read some really bad ones lately, enough to make me rethink my guilty pleasure, but I’ll spare everyone the details) … but this really worked for me. It was a great way to spend about two hours when I didn’t have my laptop, and I didn’t want to get started on a single title that I’d have to put down (unless I wanted to get a hotel in Centralia, and lemme tell you … I didn’t.) I might even pick up the others when they come out, but I’m not sure. It was good, but there was no achy feeling in my chest that I get sometimes from her Ward books, so … yeah.

Also, I kind of dream of having luscious blond hair like the cover model’s.

I was lucky enough to read an ARC of Caressed by Ice — and I loved it. I’ll talk more about it soon, but first is this fun quiz Nalini created … and I’m not too disappointed by the results. *g* There’s a contest attached to it; go here for details.

Which Psy-Changeling Hero Is For You?

Your Psy/Changeling Hero: Lucas

Tough, dangerous and highly intelligent, the alpha of the DarkRiver leopard pack is a man who will demand everything from his mate. But he will give the same in return. And he will never let go.Find out more about Lucas and the series at www.nalinisingh.com
Take this quiz!

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I cross the street in a timely manner.

Seriously — is there a genetic reason that males of every race and class, aged 14-30, will not Get Out Of The Way? And not only do they not Get Out Of The Way, they stroll. And refuse to turn their heads, as if acknowledging that there exists a person Waiting To Turn The Goddamn Corner will rob them of virility and/or decrease their factor of cool.

Why is this? Women walk quickly (with a few exceptions with the teenaged girls category, although they toss their hair, and so I can only surmise that it is not an issue of “I am too cool to look at you while I stroll” but “please please look at me while I take my time crossing the street”) and non-14-30 men are usually quick, too. And if not quick, then not slow.

Do these people not realize that there are people (Like Me) who come thisclose to hitting them? That thoughts such as these go through people Like Me’s minds:

You don’t have to run. Just please, before the light turns red and I’m caught in the middle of the intersection.
Oh my god, go. GO! Get Out Of The Way!
How much would it cost to get a dent out of the hood? What about blood?
Is jail really so bad? I already have a tattoo. I might be cool there.
Would it scare my daughter if Mommy screams and steps on the gas?
If I go really fast, will they think it was the guy behind me who did it?

If I was cool, I would just look straight ahead and pretend not to notice the bump as I drive on through. But, alas, my coolness factor is zero.

(Weird. I was thinking of this blog entry while I was driving home (for reasons that are probably self-evident) and came home to see this.

The number of people killed in accidents on San Francisco streets has spiked this year, surpassing the number of victims in all of 2006, police reported Wednesday.

So far, the death toll has reached 34, including 22 pedestrians, one bicyclist and 11 motorists or their passengers.

It wasn’t me, I swear. I don’t live in SF, I just write about vampires who tear up the SF streets in sports cars.)

The two examples of bookmarks I gave below were 2×8 — but those are too tall for mass market books. So I went for stubby (2×6) instead (these show up on my screen actual size, in case anyone was wondering).

Poor guy. I had to clip off two inches to make him fit. Also, squishing text into smaller fonts (sigh) and taking out some of the text at the back (like the names of the novellas.) All good fun.

Is the term “heroine” part of the problem? Because it seems to carry a lot of baggage with it, as in: “the character that the hero saves at the end.” And in a book where there’s both a hero and a heroine, and usually the hero is named first (no one says “heroine and hero”) does that demand the qualifier to assure the reader that “although the hero is first, the heroine is strong and stands up as a character, too?”

Of course, ‘male lead’ and ‘female lead’ just don’t have the same ring. Sigh.

Joss Whedon is one of my big genre heroes (I’m sure that’s no surprise) and yes, I was devastated when I heard that he wasn’t going to direct Wonder Woman. And I was listening to an interview with him (Amazon put it up as part of the Serenity CE DVD release promo) and one of the things he says is (I’m paraphrasing, because there’s no way I’m going to listen closely enough to transcribe it) that Battlestar Galactica is one of the best shows ever … and when the interviewer mentions “strong women”, which Joss is known for, Joss kind of shrugs that off and says that part of the reason it’s so great is because it has moved beyond that trend of “wow, strong female!” (and is what he was doing with Firefly, too).

So with Buffy, it was “oh, wow, look at that strong female character!” — but Battlestar Galactica doesn’t even acknowledge it, but just assumes that women are strong, or weak, or just people. It’s a given. And he goes on to say that this is more common in shows like ER — but that in genre, it’s not so common.

Mostly, I’m blabbing because I’m in a hurry, but it really caught my attention because it’s something I thought a lot about writing the last book. Lilith, Selah, Savi, I didn’t really think of in terms of strength or weakness, they just were and did what they had to do. But Charlie was something different, and I really wondered what the difference was … and why.

And I know this has come up several times in discussions about romance — that appreciation for a strong woman — but is there any sign that the romance genre is moving past that? Any signs of a time when we aren’t so surprised by it? When “strong female character” doesn’t have to be spelled out? (To me, that doesn’t necessarily mean someone who kicks ass … but who is complex and has an inner strength. Depth of character, I guess.)

Then there are some authors whose work you don’t have to say it, because you just *know* it’ll have that type of character, because that author writes them consistently as just people. Nora Roberts is the easy example, and someone I’d say as an author has moved beyond that need to spell it out. When someone says Nora’s written a strong (complex!) female character, my response is kind of, “well, duh” — just as if Joss had written a female character. But is that “duh” response just as telling … that it’s still so much the norm to read about not-really-strong, not-really-complex characters that we know which authors write the ones who aren’t? That I have a mental category for “authors who write women that seem strong and real to me”?

Because the defense of romance (for lack of a better term than defense) always seems to include the note that the female characters aren’t like they used to be … that now they are strong. But will this ever be a given, just as they are at an individual author level? Or will we have to keep adding that adjective forever? I like the idea of moving beyond it … but is it something that just happens?

Gah, sorry this is incoherent. Anyway. Love that guy.