"There are three difficulties in authorship: to write anything worth publishing -- to find honest men to publish it -- and to get sensible men to read it."
- Charles Caleb Cotton

Tomorrow marks the scheduled release day of my collection from Red Rose Publishing, Adieu Bonjour. The title indicates my saying good-bye to one pen name as I prepare to focus my future work under the name of Anya Howard. With the release of this collection tomorrow also marks the last of my e-books waiting under contract for release. It also marks what I imagine the very last e-book I will ever contract with a straight e-book/POD publishing house. I like Red Rose; the owner keeps me updated on everything I need to know going on in the company. She's also very, very good to respond to any questions I have. And additionally, and very importantly, I've yet to be disappointed with my royalties being paid in a timely, professional manner. I can say the same about publisher, Loose-Id, who I've been with for some time now.

As some of you may know I recently saw the fulfillment of a long-aspired dream come true: a contract offer with a traditional NY publisher. (BTW, not just one but two contracts!) For those who didn't know -talk about being THRILLED. Man, I was weeping for a solid week, and to say the least even after signing the contracts I live in constant paranoid fear that the gods of fate will suddenly, cruelly just snatch my good fortune from me. It's stupid, I know; but I felt the same way for weeks before my husband and I were wed.

As writers we learn things about life even as we incorporate life into our work. It tends to be little nuggets of truths that we didn't foresee picking up along the way; and once in awhile it is some big glaring reality we could live much happier without though, in the end, benefit from by humble acceptance. Some truths an author learns are very individual to our personal experiences and circumstances; e.g.: in my case, it seems inevitable that the manuscript I expected the best reviews for will be the one most harshly knocked by reviewers.. and vice versa.

The Little Red-Haired Chick

For Devyn, with love and appreciation

Agnes the little red-haired chick was a poor but industrious woman. With her husband away at war she had their brood of young children to raise all by herself. What money her husband could send home paid the bills but there was none left over for any luxuries or niceties. Agnes and her children were yet happy for they loved one another very much, and looked forward to the day the man of the house was home again. And despite the current hardship, Agnes was determined to be hopeful.

I was out of commission for a few weeks very recently and had to spend a lot of time on the couch. This unasked-for holiday didn’t allow for much in the way of creative energy, but it did make me lie down for long periods of time. My husband was sweet and bought me some DVDs to enjoy. Since then I’ve been thinking about movies in general. Like many folks, there’s times when I’d just love the opportunity to re-write certain film scripts. There’s some on my personal list which I honest-to-god hate. Movies that the world would have been better off not ever being witness to. But then there are some, which while enjoyable, just piqued me with the desire to at least touch up.

The Kudos: I haven't completely read any of the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, but my kids have just recently caught the Harry bug. From the skimming I've done of these books the narrative appears well-written and I haven't come across anything I'd be afraid for them to encounter in fiction at this stage of their lives. There are few things in this world I take as much satisfaction in as seeing my children reading a book. So, I will be very happy if my children end up so thoroughly enjoying these novels that once they are adults that they will think back on Harry, his friends and adventures as a part of their individual Neverending Story memories.

(This post was inspired by real events. Names of the Snarkies and Bitchies have been withheld to protect yours truly).

I don't care for reviewers who are disrespectful, and even less for reviewers who like labeling themselves as bitchy. Why? Well, simply because I just don't like bitchy attitude. Then there are folks in bloggerland who want to classify their bitchiness under the label "Snarky". And it is disturbing to me that more and more frequently the snarks in question are authors like myself. Writers who have no qualms to make the most distasteful -and very personal- comments to get back at reviewers they aren't happy with.

The internet offers a certain level of Freedom of Speech not to be found anywhere else on earth. Where else –and when else in history- have human beings enjoyed such generous opportunities to voice our opinions and feelings? The world wide web isn’t, of course, offered world wide; it depends on where you are, access-wise, and what your government allows. But all in all, who is going to argue that at this point in recorded history, we have the opportunity to express ourselves as never before? The universal right to express ourselves should, certainly, have been here all along. I applaud the liberty to express myself, and during the last several years have often enjoyed this liberty via the web. As dictated by the crusaders of censorship as the world has been over the last two thousand years, we should all rejoice at what modern technology offers.

It was Daddy -my adoption father- who taught me the love and appreciation for the written word. So, for all the newspaper comics he read to me as a child, all the novels he painstakingly read to me after his time in Vietnam (and with my six year old brain tried, at least to follow), for the Dickens stories and books he insisted I read, for the picture books I made and for which he illustrated, for the Mark Twain he'd buy for me when our school library refused to carry them, for the Tolstoy he had me read to him, and for all the Stephen King novels I bought and he scoffed over -until the day I found him reading them in his den, lol- HAPPY FATHERS DAY, Daddy!

Of late I’ve read some very heated discussions, via forums, blogs and emails regarding what a number of writers feel is a program of discrimination against M/M literature practiced by certain writer’s organizations. I’m talking about organizations with some prestige going for them, and more than a little sway in the industry.

Dust covers for keyboards do, occasionally, need to be cleaned.

The life span of a printer can be reasonably estimated by dividing years of warranty length with the number of small children in the household.

No writer should claim to be an author of Erotic Romance until he or she realizes that romance can be erotic, and by god, yes- erotica can be romantic!

For Z.J. and Hammer, who requested this theme as a “sequel” to the Literary Agent Song. Took me awhile to find a fitting tune, guys, but I think this may work.
So -to be sung to the tune of “I Love” by Tom T. Hall- here you go:
The Snarky Reader Song

I hate moody vampire bucks, POV’s that get me stuck, prose without refrain and pain.

Aw man, found out this morning that Kurt Vonnegut (Jr.) has died. The author of novels, essays and plays passed away from what officials believe were brain injuries sustained after a fall some weeks ago. Some of Vonnegut's best known works include the novels, Cat's Cradle, Mother Night, Breakfast of Champions and of course, Slaughterhouse-Five, or A Children's Crusade: A Duty Dance With Death. The themes of Vonnegut's works are often considered dark satire by critics, but fans know him best for the Science Fiction elements he used to bond character and dramatic plot. In addition to his writings, Vonnegut was a recognized graphic artist. The 84 year old Vonnegut was a confirmed smoker and self-described Luddite. He was well known for his advocacy of pacifism and as a lifetime member of the American Civil Liberties Union. After the death of Isaac Asimov, Vonnegut was named Honorary President of the American Humanist Association.

This week I once again heard from a writer who had been reproached for what a reviewer deemed a faux pas in the world of sensual fantasy fiction. The writer’s offense? Omission of safe-sex during the lovemaking scenes. Now, while I know most buyers of adult literature would rather forget the real world while reading and just be allowed to enjoy juicy love scenes for what they are, some reviewers just can’t separate the fiction from the reality. With these socially conscientious folks the issues of real life MUST be addressed in the work of fiction; fictional heroes and heroines simply cannot have sex without putting on the rain coat first. For these reviewers, anything less is just unconscionable.