I wrote to Jessica Andersen, author of Skykeepers, and asked her to finish this sentence:   The first time I sat down to write… Jessica was gracious enough to finish the sentence.  Skykeepers, is the third book in her series  The Final Prophecy, and it’s just as rich, exciting, action packed and captivating as the first two. The book doesn’t release until August 4th, but today, we’re going to choose a lucky random poster to win a copy.

The first time I sat down to write a novel, I didn’t know my life had just changed.  I had always balanced my technical and creative sides, usually working in a lab and relegating my creativity to playtime (when I let myself dabble in woodcraft, painting, landscaping, sewing … pretty much whatever appealed at the…

There’s a controversy brewing over a new Young Adult  book about to be released in the US entitled “Liar.”  The book, written by Australian author Justine Larbalestier is about a black teenager named Micah.  However, the cover art, beautiful as it is, is of a white girl with long straight hair. The cover art bears no resemblance to the story at all.  While ‘investigating’ this controversy – I wondered if we’re cultivating racism in the way we sell and market books?

The author states in her blog, I never wanted a girl’s face on the cover. Micah’s identity is unstable. She spends the book telling different version of herself. I wanted readers to be free to imagine her as they wanted.

But the art department at Bloomsbury obviously felt differently when they…

Romance novels don’t seem to embrace the plus size woman.  I wonder why that is?  Recently television has been making a statement featuring woman with ample curves in leading roles.  “Ugly Betty” is not a size two, yet people sit on their couches every week rooting for her.  Lifetime just premiered their new series “Drop Dead Diva,” the story of an air head model who dies and finds herself in the body of a very smart, workaholic, overweight lawyer.  She was once thin and beautiful and now she’s not.  Oxygen had “Mo’Nique’s F.A.T. Chance,” a plus-size pageant where women of substance strutted their stuff to be crowned “Miss Fabulous And Thick.”  And FOX will soon debut their version of “The Bachelor” featuring plus sizes everywhere, when their bachelor realizes with…

Reviewed by Kati Dancy
2.75 stars

Lori Love is the local mechanic in tiny Tumble Creek, Colorado. She didn’t always want to be a mechanic. For years, she wanted to travel, to discover new places and new experiences. But when her father got sick, she took over working at the shop he owned, and when he died, after racking up thousands of dollars in medical expenses, Lori ends up tethered to the shop and to a life she never really wanted. She knows that with perseverance and hard work, she might be able to pay off the debt and get started on her “real” life. But this means very little frivolity, silliness, and certainly no time for any kind of a serious relationship. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t want sex. She definitely…

YA News

It’s Harry Potter week! Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opened. I’m chomping at the bit to see it, I was at the Romance Writers of America conference last week and my schedule was packed tight, tight, tight. Now that I’m home it’s certainly on my list of must sees.

We took a poll last week, and asked what you’d like to see more of in romance.  The choices were, paranormal, contemporary, historical, time travel and western.  Paranormal received the most votes – in fact, 37% of you said that’s what you’d like to see more of.

Personally, I thought that well had run a little dry– I’m just saying.  Imagine my surprise when it would appear that many romance readers can’t get enough.
So tell me, why is it you want more paranormal.  What is it about this sub-genre that has got you hooked?