Author Catch-Up with some Personal Notes

I was going to do a debut announcement for Grimpow: The Invisible Road by Rafael Ábalos, but there is not quite enough linkage up there to make it worthwhile. Maybe in a few days.

Up in a day or so: my first ever blog giveaway! No wait! Make that two!

Jennifer Estep had lots of exciting news on her blog this week. She's going to be featured in both Southern Living and Cosmo, plus her first two books are being re-released in mass-market paperback during two consecutive months next year, followed by her third, also in mass-market paperback, the next month. All I've got to say is Wow.

Lisa Shearin has let the recipients of her newsletter know the name of her fourth novel, and I love this title best of all. However, it has not yet appeared on her blog -- just in her email signature -- so I'm not sure if I can tell yet. What I can tell you is that her sample chapters for Armed and Magical are now up on her website. Here is Chapter One, and here is Chapter Two.

Amanda Ashby is one of the nicest authors I know (and so many of them are really nice). She sent me some tidbits concerning the elusive Emily Gee (Thief With No Shadow) for me a few weeks ago, and graciously agreed to get me some more information. Now, it's official. Emily Gee has another book coming out. Her next novel is called Witch Eye and it appears to be a romantic espionage fantasy about "a prim courtier and her wastrel lover meet and plot as spies in the catacombs of Corhona Castle." Thanks Amanda!

Speaking of Amanda Ashby, she has agreed to do my first-ever guest blog post! She has also offered a special treat -- more on that to come.

Melissa Marr, author of Wicked Lovely, is going on Book Tour 2.0. Among her stops is the Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe Az, and I used to shop there! It is a very cool bookstore, occupying three levels and selling both new and used books. The closest that she is coming to my hometown is St. Petersburg.

Out of curiosity, I did a search on the number of book titles that include the word "wicked" and I came up with the following:

• Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
• Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
• Just Wicked Enough by Lorraine Heath
• Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night by Kresley Cole
• Wicked Magic by Cheyenne McCray
• No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole
• The Wicked Big Toddlah by Kevin Hawkes
• If His Kiss Is Wicked by Jo Goodman
• Wicked Ties by Shayla Black
• Slightly Wicked by Mary Balogh
• Wicked Nights by Nina Bangs

And I got tired of listing them. I wonder how long the "Wicked" trend will continue? I wonder if literary agents and editors have gotten tired of titles with the word "wicked" in them?

Some Personal Notes

In an effort to achieve a bit of blog-life balance, you may have noticed some slight changes. One is that I now do debut announcements on the weekend, when I have the most time. This was a good change anyway, since books usually release on Tuesday, giving four days for some good linkage to appear.

Secondly, I've decided to neither accept nor solicit review copies, and I will be updating the "What I do Here" post to reflect this policy. I still have a few review copies to catch up on and I will cover them, but after that I'll simply purchase the books that I want to cover. I think my book budget can handle the 2 or 3 books per month that I read.

Why refuse review copies? My reasons are complex will probably make sense to no one but me. The short answer is that it is stressful to be expected to read something; I'd much rather read something that I simply want to read. You Had Me at Halo was the most enjoyable review I've done in a while. Part of the reason? I purchased it. I'm sure my review came as a complete surprise to Amanda Ashby.

Another reason is that I simply do not have enough time to act like a semi-professional reviewer. I look at SQT's reading pile and I have no idea how she does it. I could not. I have challenges in my personal life that gives me about an hour and a half of personal time each night. This is why I started doing Spotlight Reviews. I may not have time to review every debut, but if I find my blogging buddies reviewing a debut, you can expect me to spotlight it here.

My only exception will be reviews of what I call Debut Graduates -- the second books by debut authors. In those cases, I will attempt to do advance reviews along with some special coverage. You will see an example of this in the next week or so when I put up my advance review of Hot Mama.

And that's all for now!