Hiatus

I'm taking a little hiatus from the blog.
Nothings wrong, I just need to focus on some real life stuff.
I should be back in a week or so.
See ya soon.

Book Pimpin: More Upcoming Books!

Death's Rival (Jane Yellowrock, #5) by Faith Hunter

Jane Yellowrock is a shapeshifting skinwalker you don’t want to cross—especially if you’re one of the undead…

For a vampire killer like Jane, having Leo Pellisier as a boss took some getting used to. But now, someone is out to take his place as Master Vampire of the city of New Orleans, and is not afraid to go through Jane to do it. After an attack that’s tantamount to …a war declaration, Leo knows his rival is both powerful and vicious, but Leo’s not about to run scared. After all, he has Jane.

But then, a plague strikes, one that takes down vampires and makes their masters easy prey. Now, to uncover the identity of the vamp who wants Leo’s territory, and to find the cause of the vamp-plague, Jane will have to go to extremes…and maybe even to war.

Drops October 2, 2012

Ashes of Honor (October Daye, #6) by Seanan McGuire

Toby’s not ready to get back to work, but now she must search
for a powerful changeling with the potential to destroy all of Faerie. She quickly finds herself drawn into a web of kidnappings, political intrigues, and attempted assassinations. Toby must travel farther than ever before—and what she’ll find might not be what she expected.
Drops September 4, 2012

Review: Lothaire by Kresley Cole

Kresley Cole writes fun, readable books set in the world of the Lore that are always amusing if not laugh out funny.  Her characters are primarily of the fantastical type - there are Valkeries, Shifters, Demons, Sorcerers, and, of course, Vampires - and Cole has nicely crafted a detailed mythology for each race.   The series is set during the Assession, a period that occurs every 500 years when the different factions of the Lore battle it out for supremacy. 
And that time is now.  
So there is lots of action in this series, lots of adventure, and a sweet amount of sexy shenanigans.  It's a really enjoyable series and I look forward to each new installment.  When Lothaire showed up in my mailbox, I started reading it right away...

Lothaire by Kresley Cole
Immortals After Dark, #12
ISBN 1439136823
ISBN13: 9781439136829
Published January 10th 2012 by Gallery Books 
GRADE: C
Blurb: ALL FEAR THE ENEMY OF OLD
Driven by his insatiable need for revenge, Lothaire, the Lore’s most ruthless vampire, plots to seize the Horde’s crown. But bloodlust and torture have left him on the brink of madness—until he finds Elizabeth Peirce, the key to his victory. He captures the unique young mortal, intending to offer up her very soul in exchange for power, yet Elizabeth soothes his tormented mind and awakens within him emotions Lothaire believed he could no longer experience. 
A DEADLY FORCE DWELLS WITHIN HER
Growing up in desperate poverty, Ellie Peirce yearned for a better life, never imagining she’d be convicted of murder—or that an evil immortal would abduct her from death row. But Lothaire is no savior, as he himself plans to sacrifice Ellie in one month’s time. And yet the vampire seems to ache for her touch, showering her with wealth and sexual pleasure. In a bid to save her soul, Ellie surrenders her body to the wicked vampire, while vowing to protect her heart. 
CENTURIES OF COLD INDIFFERENCE SHATTERED
Elizabeth tempts Lothaire beyond reason, as only his fated mate could. As the month draws to a close, he must choose between a millennia-old blood vendetta and his irresistible prisoner. Will Lothaire succumb to the miseries of his past . . . or risk everything for a future with her?

I'm Going To BEA 2012 and The Book Bloggers Conference! Wait, No I'm Not. I Didn't Get Approved!...Wait a sec, maybe I am? Oh, I Don't Fucking Know...

UPDATE:  Well, looks like everything has worked out.  After some back and forth, my registration and press pass has been approved and I am all set for BEA and the Book Bloggers Conference.  I still haven't decided yet what I'll do in regards to the Book Blog UNCON.  I would like to attend both events but  I'm going to wait until they get a little closer before I decide. Right now, I am still leaning towards splitting the day between the two.  But I am happy that I have the choice...    

***

So, back in early February the Book Bloggers Convention was bought by Reed Exhibitions, the organizers of BEA.  Around that time, I came up for air from rehearsal hell and decided I'd better get registered so I could take advantage of the early bird pricing.  (Which was $15 more than last years regular price, go figure.)


Registering was an ordeal, convoluted and difficult to understand.  Despite a posting on The Bean (the official blog of BEA), stating that bloggers could register for $135 (see this post: Book Bloggers Convention at BEA and this one:Clearing up the BEA Bloggers Conference Issues (I hope)), the only way to register and get that price was to do so as editorial media.  Which meant I would have to register as a member of the press.  The other option would be to register as non-editorial media but then the price went up to $231.  A steep hike from last year as well as different from what Steve Rosato had previously stated:

Bloggers pay a flat early bird rate of $135.00 that includes their pass for BEA - end of story for our blogging friends (stop reading now if you are blogger).    

I don't consider myself press but bloggers are supposed to pay a flat rate of $135 and I could not figure out how to register and get that price.  Utterly confused, I decided to give a call to customer service.  I called twice and spoke with two different people.  Not only were both unaware of the $135 rate for bloggers but when I mentioned that it had been posted on The Bean, both customer reps asked, "What's that?"  
This did not inspire confidence.


So, on February 7, I registered as editorial media and then kept my fingers crossed that I would get approved.  It had been stated that if not approved for the press pass, I would be notified within two weeks.  Considering how unorganized I had found the process to be, I figured it might take 3 to 4 weeks to know for sure.  When I got my credit card bill and saw the BEA charge, I was giddy.  I was approved!  They wouldn't charge me if I hadn't been approved, right?  I paid the bill and began making plans to attend not only the blogger conference  but also some BEA publisher industry events that I began getting invited to.


Flash forward two months.  On April 5th, almost two months to the day I registered, I received an email from Roger Bilheimer, the BEA Public Relations Director, letting me know that I do not meet the standards required to qualify for a press pass.  Nothing was said at all about my registration for the bloggers conference, only that I did not qualify for a BEA press pass.  So, what did this mean?  Was I still able to attend the blogger conference?  Would I have to re-register?  Was I going to have to fork over more money to attend?  What happened to the two week notification?  What the hell was going on?


So.  I called again and spoke with yet another customer rep.  Who told me that yes, I would have to pay an additional $96 if I still wanted to attend the conference since I did not qualify for the press pass.   There is no way I was about to do that.  $231 for a conference that last year only cost $120?  Are you kidding me?!  I've seen the proposed schedule for this years conference (you can see it here).  There is no way I am going to pay that much money for something that so far is so very underwhelming.  There is no way I am going to pay that much money to an organization that I have serious doubts about considering what a clusterfuck this whole process has been.    According to the customer service rep, I could either pay the additional fee or they would de-register me and refund my money.  So I told him to cancel my registration; I would not be attending this year.

Link Love

I've been a bit distracted this week.  A couple of days ago I received an email from BEA letting me know that I had not been approved for the event as editorial media.  Even though I registered and paid in full two months ago.  
I'm pretty ticked off about that part.  That I already paid for it.  Charging a customer for a service before it has been determined that said service will in fact be provided is poor business and even unethical, as far as I am concerned.  And to wait two months - Grrr!  
I'll blog more about this at length a little later but for now, here's your links for the week.

• About Female Characers (or as I like to call them, Characters)

• Tolkien's Bastards: Why Certain Fantasy Tropes Stick

• Is Game of Thrones Too White

• The E-Racing of The Hunger Games: Race & Cultures in Fiction

• The Invisible Dystopia

• Dystopian YA Stories

• How To Be A Fan Of Problematic Things

• Celebrate Diana Wynne Jones!

Whell, Whell, Whell...

So, the big news this week.  J.R. Ward announced on Facebook that the next book in her BDB series will be about... (drumroll)... BLAY and QHUINN!  The book is scheduled to come out in March 2013.  I'm glad to hear they will get a full-length novel instead of a novella as first reported a while back.
Anything else I know about the book, I learned over at Blogging by Liza so head on over there if you want more teasers and spoilers.