Hi all!  Steph called me last night and was like, um, well, what is CLAIMED about?  She was kind of joking since she’s already read the book.  But she was trying to pre-order a copy for her fancy new IPad2, and the description is wrong.  My name, publisher, release date, title and picture of CLAIMED are all correct.  But here’s the description: 

by Rebecca Zanetti

View More By This Author

This book is available for download on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, and on your computer with iTunes.

Welcome to legal musings!  I haven’t written a legal blog in a while and thought maybe I should.  While I’d like to discuss the legislation regarding internet piracy, that bill has been stalled in committee and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

Some time ago there was a hubbub on twitter about an agent allegedly threatening a client with a slander case because the client allegedly talked about their current contract on the internet.  Note that I have no idea if this really happened or not.  However, it does bring up a couple of interesting issues regarding slander (spoken) or libel (written).  Basically:

THE TRUTH IS AN ABSOLUTE DEFENSE TO EITHER SLANDER OR LIBEL.

Yeah.  So if you’re saying the truth…you can’t be sued for slander.  Well, now…you can be sued.  I mean, anybody can file a lawsuit.  But you’re going to win for sure because you’re telling the truth.  People don’t tend to realize this.  The truth can be mean and even hurtful…but it isn’t slanderous. 

Also, your opinion is mostly protected.  If you’re just giving your opinion (I think Bob is a total jerk), then you’re probably all right.

So what if we’re not telling the truth?  Something to think about is that unlike most areas of the law, slander/libel law treats different victims differently.  How odd is that?  Public figures (actors, famous writers, politicians) are treated differently.  You can say meaner things about a famous person than you can your next door neighbor. 

In other words, if you’re a famous author and someone slanders you…you have to prove they did it maliciously.  Your Aunt Betty doesn’t.  Why is this?  According to the United States Supreme Court, public officials and celebrities, the Court has said, have chosen to step into the limelight and subject themselves to public scrutiny. They need less protection because they have more opportunities to counter false information published about them.  See New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, (1964), and Hatfield vs. New York Times, 532 F.3d 312 (C.A.4 Va. 2008.)

So there’s a brief overview of slander and libel law.  Though we all should just go back to what we learned in Kindergarden…if you can’t say anything nice…

CYA Disclaimer:  This is not legal advice.  If you need legal advice, hire a lawyer.  If you’re planning on slandering someone…stop it.  Karma doesn’t follow the U.S. Supreme Court decisions.  Karma will nail your butt.  If you’re being slandered, tell all the writers on your yahoo loop–we often work with karma to find justice.  Again…this is not legal advice.  Just sayin.

Hi all!  I’ve been so busy on my blog tour that I’ve been ignoring my own blog.  Sorry about that!  I thought it’d be a nice change to add a brand new excerpt from CLAIMED available only right here.  So, here it is:

She ran her palms down the hard muscles of his chest to his tight abs.  Finally.  She was finally touching him.  So much strength—truly worthy of a king. 

She yanked free the button of his pants, and her gaze met his while she released his zipper.  Her breath came in short pants.  She was more than a match for the leader, as he would soon see.  Emma leaned forward to nibble on the sizzling skin she’d dreamt about.  The reality tasted even better.  Smooth, salty man tantalized her when she nipped at his collarbone.  Then bit.

He growled low, hands going to her waist to tug her to the ground.  She opened her senses to him.  His heartbeat echoed throughout her own head, and then…he stilled.

His head lifted and he scented the air.  Slamming his metallic eyes shut, he swore.  He grabbed her shirt and yanked it up her arms, holding tight to the front.

“What is it?”  Her stomach dropped in fear.  “Did the Kurjans find us?”

“Worse.”  Dage shifted her to the side and stood, lending a hand to help her up.

Two men crowded the entrance to the cave—the men from her dreams.  “Your brothers?”

“Yes.”

Her mind spun.  A hollowness echoed throughout her body that may never be filled. “How is that worse?”  She took his hand, holding her shirt together with trembling fingers. 

“Because I can’t kill them,” Dage said grimly, pulling her forward.  He nodded at the green eyed brother in the lead.  “It’s nice to know you followed orders and went to secure the facilities as needed.”  He shifted his focus to the copper eyed brother.  “One word Jase, and I’ll rip out your jugular.”

Jase wisely kept silent, though the twinkle in those eyes laughed hard enough to make sound. 

The first man threw caution to the wind.  “Hi Emma.  I’m Conn.”  He clapped Dage on the back.  “We couldn’t let the king miss the ball, now could we?” 

Ball?  What ball?

Hi all!  I’m one of the authors taking part in the Writers Who Care Project to donate to CARE INTERNATIONAL, an organization that assists refuges from Somalia.  Here’s the rundown on the project:

How does it work? Working with CARE INTERNATIONAL, Writers who CARE: the 50/50 PROJECT will allow anyone who makes a donation of $50.00 to submit 50 pages double-spaced of a work-in-progress for a 1-2 page critique by one of the participating authors.  All donators wishing a critique must have access to e-mail and the Internet for correspondence with a published author in order to qualify. Authors and donators will be matched on a first come, first serve basis as long as slots are open. The project is also open to those wishing simply to make a donation to this worthy cause.

There are many amazing authors listed on the site – go take a look!

UPDATE:  Random.org went to work and the winners are:  Danielle Gorman, Lucy Dosch, Kelly Mueller, Stacy McKitrick, and Elizabeth Sogard.  I’ve emailed the winners seeking addresses.  Congrats to these folks and thank you to everyone who commented!

The wonderful Megan Records sent me early promo copies of CLAIMED, which is Book 2 of the Dark Protectors.  For this week and this week only, I’m giving away five copies.  I have many copies of FATED to give away during my ongoing blog tour, but my CLAIMED copies are few and far between.  So now is the time to enter–and I’ll have random.org choose five names after midnight on Friday, September 23rd.  The contest is open world wide.  You just need to leave a comment below to win.

Also, don’t forget to check out my blog tour for chances to win FATED!  So…good luck!  If you need a prompt…here it is:  What do you think is scarier–an enraged werewolf or a furious vampire?