1) Romance readers have some serious depth.  I spent several emails with one fan about the philosophy of good vs. evil and whether the Kurjans even had a chance to be good.  Loved it!

2)    Any jackass can leave a review on goodreads or amazon.  My favorite was the gal who sent people to buy her book instead.  Classy.

3)    Readers like the heartwarming stuff…even in a sexy book.  I’ve had more comments about how cute the big, bad, vamps are with little Janie. 

4)    People who tell you the ‘sex is too much’ in book one…have already preordered book 2.  Yeah.  You know who you are.  🙂

5)    If someone tells me how wonderful the “world building” was…the sex may have been too much for them.

6)    Getting stressed about aspiring authors dropping your name to your editor or agent is just silly…they’re used to it.

7)    It’s a high-low profession.  One day a national magazine recommends your
book…the next day another national magazine doesn’t like your characters.  Keep it steady by remembering…it’s all about the story.  Forget the rest.

8)    Promotion and social media are a must.  But writing the story should always come first.

9)    Your editor is on your side—completely.  Anyone who thinks it’s a battle between the author and the editor…probably doesn’t have an editor yet.

10)  It’s okay to say ‘no’…even if you’re a nice person and really do want to help people.  Unfortunately, there’s only so much time in the day, and hopefully you have a life too.  Protect that.

UPDATE:  I used random.org to draw numbers corresponding to the names of people commenting on this blog, FaceBook and Twitter–and the two winners are:   Kylie Rae and Asa Maria Bradley!  CONGRATULATIONS to both of you — I’ll be sending you an email to see where to send these.  Thank you to everyone who entered–I’ll do another giveaway on the Brava Blog on August 5th.

The magnificent Megan sent me CLAIMED ARC’s, and I’d love to give TWO away.  So, here’s the deal.  Leave a comment below for one chance to win.  The comment can be about anything–just say hi.  For another chance, follow me on twitter and tweet about the chance to win.  You can retweet my tweet about the contest, or you can create your own.  Remember to put @rebeccazanetti in it so you get counted.  For a third and final chance to win an ARC, like me on my facebook author page, and leave a comment on my wall.  THREE chances to win…and you don’t have to do them all if you don’t want.  (Contests that make you do all three drive me crazy.)

I will use random.org to draw a name after midnight, PST on Wednesday–so the contest is open until that time.  I’ll send ARC’s anywhere in the world, no geographical limitations.  Also, if you win, I’d really appreciate it if you put up a couple reviews – at book sites such as Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, etc.  Thanks and good luck!

So, have you seen an ARC up close?  Do you like the orange?  What do you have planned this week? 

I’ve been a bit quiet lately…under deadline.  This is what happened:  When I was in New York, I talked to Caitlin about maybe writing an e-book novella for the Dark Protector series to be released between HUNTED (book 3) and book 4.  Now, we haven’t negotiated for books 4-6 yet, so I was being optimistic.  Early August is when we start talking the next deal.

Well…Caitlin talked to Megan, who liked the idea of a novella and would like to publish it in April, the month before HUNTED is released.  This is very exciting…but…Megan needs the novella by the end of August.  So, after several emails back and forth with Caitlin, I decided the novella should be about Max, who is Janie’s bodyguard.  He is in both FATED and CLAIMED, so seemed like a good choice.

Max is actually a rather funny guy, originally from Russia.  Yeah, who knew?  His love, Sarah Pringle, is a teacher who, ah, just escaped from a mental institution.  Really. 

Anyway, this is why I’ve been away from the blog a bit.  I’ll do better.  🙂

So…my book is in and I have no deadlines hanging over my head…for now.  Let’s have a fun blog.  So many editors are on twitter, I thought it’d be fun to discuss:  

WHAT NOT TO TWEET IF YOUR BOOK IS LATE

1.  I just can’t get past level 70 on Cake Mania 3.

2. I know I should be doing something right now…what was it?

3. Ohhhh.  A Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon just started.  Have to watch!

4. I think maybe I’ll switch jobs now.

5. I know I have a book due, but I just can’t stop writing this other genre.  Maybe I’ll get back to the other book soon.

6.  I should’ve been writing today…but Macys had an awesome sale!

7.  I just had my third coffee with Rumplemintz in it.  Is it 10am yet?

8.  Man…I’ve been drunk for almost a week.  Not long enough.

9.  Involuntary committment isn’t so bad.  I like crazy people.

10.  Darn it.  My boyfriend refused to bail me out.  I’m here in jail for another 48 hours.   HAHA

(For the record, I’ve never tweeted any of the above and my book was on time.)  🙂

“We should not see print and electronic literature as in competition, but rather in conversation. The more voices that join in, the richer the dialogue is likely to be.”
–N. Katherine Hayles

Today Fated is now available in electronic format…Kindle, Nook, Sony and the rest.   I am so excited about this…having not found out until last month that e-book was a possibility.  There seems to be a great debate going on whether or not e-books will completely replace print books.

I don’t think so.

Keep in mind, this is just my opinion.  But I like the feel, smell, idea of a print book as well as being able to browse in a book store.  Yeah, Borders just filed for bankruptcy protection.  But that’s to reorganize (like GM) not disappear.  And Barnes and Noble seems to be doing well.  I do think that the e-book market will continue to build.  In fact, a couple of my favorite authors are in e-format only.  You can bet I buy their books.

I like a book on a plane…especially during take-off.  To escape the idea of take-off actually.  And I can’t turn on my Kindle until we level off.  So yeah, I’m happy to have a print book.

My print book collection will continue to grow.  As will my e-book collection.  And I don’t think I’m alone here.

BTW – N. Katherine Hayles is a literary critic and professor at Duke.