This week’s edition of Entertainment Weekly has a short blurb on the books people read as teens that were considered “forbidden” reads. In other words, those books you borrowed from the library or friends…and then hid from your parents. The ones you talked about with your friends and felt sooo mature giggling over at the lunch table.

Speaking of giggling, the list made me chuckle because it proves some things are universal. Here it is:

1. Flowers in The Attic by V.C. Andrews - I read this (and a few that came after) with an odd mixture of “isn’t that cool” and “ewww, what are they doing?” going on in my head. A reader explained it best by saying: “I was…enthralled and floored and weirded out at the same time.” Yep. Me too.

2. Forever by Judy Blume - I’m pretty sure I read all of the Blume books, but this one was the one I remember thinking I probably shouldn’t be reading, which made me love it all the more.

3. The Godfather by Mario Puzo - Okay, this one was not a “forbidden read” for me. I read it. Saw the movie(s). Don’t think I had to hide it, but maybe I’m wrong.

4. Chances by Jackie Collins - I don’t think I’ve ever read Collins. I do have some vague memory of a book - I think it was by Sydney Sheldon - where a guy used a fish… Have no idea what that was, but remember a bunch of us passing it around the library. Not that our school library carried it. Someone brought it in and we all wanted to see it and the library seemed like a good place as any to check it out. Whatever that book was, I’d put that one here on my list.

5. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel - This is another one I read but don’t remember needing a brown wraper to get it in the house. my good friend Missy loved it. I thought it was meh. More than likely whatever book it is I’m thinking about in #4 changed forever my views on “forbidden” books and Auel no longer made the list.

What about you? Do you remember reading books as teens that you thought were so grown-up to be considered forbidden. Other EW readers talked about titles by Judith Krantz, Stephen King and others. Did you have any? If so, have you read them since you were a teen? I’m just wondering if, by today’s standards, these “forbidden” reads seems as forbidden.

Post a response and I’ll pick someone from those commenting to win a $20 Amazon gift certificate via email.

By now you know the Lifetime Network has turned four Nora Roberts’ books into original movies. They are: Angels Fall; Blue Smoke; Montana Sky; and Carolina Moon. To promote the movies (and seel more books), Nora’s publisher (Berkley) has printed additional copies of the books and sent out special floor displays. Berkley and Nora also provided Lifetime with excerpts of two of Nora’s upcoming releases, High Noon (as Nora) and Innocent in Death (as J.D. Robb) which were posted on Lifetime’s website during the airing of the first movie last night.

From all that, it sounds as if Lifetime and Berkley are betting big on these movies. I can understand why. Nora is huge. Like, publishing phenomenon huge. Like, how-does-she-do-it huge. Question is whether or not her popularity will translate into Lifetime movie watching. By the time this posts, we may know the answer.

Some romance novels have become movie theater movies. But, this isn’t the first romance novel to be turned into a television movie. Years back, I watched the tv movie version of Linda Howard’s Loving Evangeline. Other than the title, there was little resemblance between the book and the mediocre tv movie. There were others, too. All of which stayed off my radar.

But, I’m wondering what romance readers think. Watch or no? If you did watch Angels Fall, did you like it? Do you remember other romance novels (other than ones by Danielle Steele, who I’ve never really considered romance) that became television movies? Any of them any good?

Give me your thoughts between now and Friday and I’ll randomly select a person from those commenting to win a $20.00 Amazon gift certificate. You can use it on a book or a movie - your choice :)

Last year a few authors asked readers of their blogs what they looked for on a website. You know, what information kept them happy and buying an author’s books. The responses were pretty enlightening. In particular, one response kept showing up: book excerpts. Frankly, I was surprised. Not sure why. Since excerpts are a good way - sometimes the only way - to get an idea of a writer’s voice the reader request made sense. Despite that, for whatever reason, I skip them.

A few months ago, when updating my website, I decided to add excerpts. From my website statistics, it’s clear people review them. Good to know. But, when putting up the excerpt for my upcoming release, Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy, I had a bit of a problem. I’m a big believer that the book should start at the right place. That an author shouldn’t have to go a-hunting for an interesting excerpt of a book. But, the very beginning of this book doesn’t have much interaction between (my Hawaiian hottie hero) Kane and (his perfect mate) Annie. I wanted the excerpt to show the two of them, not just Kane. So…I started the excerpt around four pages into the book.

Something about that makes me uneasy. Makes me wonder if I’m engaging in a bit of false advertising. Then the predictable insecurity of, “gee, did I start this at the wrong place???” pops up. I’ve chosen to ignore that latter concern. The book starts where it should. Well, I’ll let you decide that one for yourself…when you buy the book :) Until then, you can check out the posted excerpt here.

But, what are your thoughts? Excerpts or no? Do you want those first few pages no matter what or are other pages okay? Will you buy a new author without reading an excerpt? Do you bother with excerpts for your fav authors and auto-buys or are excerpts irrelevant for them?

Give me your thoughts and I’ll pick a person from those commenting (by random selection) to win a $20.00 Amazon gift certificate. Winner chosen Saturday. I’ll post the name here.

First, some old business: the winner of my previous September AR Blog contest is Sabrina Nguyen. Congrats! Email me so I can get that Amazon gift certificate out to you.

To the new stuff…

There’s this book I’ve been following almost since the author sold it. The sale was big. The author did a nice promo job of getting the book out there through lists and blogs and other internet campaigns. She also received great press for the book. Her publisher sent her on a signing tour. Newspapers interviewed her. She got reviews in Big Name newspapers. I bought the book the first week of release. It’s on my TBR pile. The plan is to read it in October/November when life calms down a bit.

One of those reviews I mentioned was in a Big Name newspaper that comes to my house. Said Big Name newspaper said a few nice things about the book but gave it a really low grade. Specifically, the book got a D. In this case, “D” did not mean delicious. Knowing this, I went to the author’s site to see what other reviews she had posted. I was a little surprised to see a quote from the review that gave her a D. Of course, she picked out the nice stuff from the review and used only that on her site. She’s not dumb. But, I knew better since I read the entire review.

This struck me as odd. I wouldn’t say it was dishonest because, again, the quote was a real quote. It just wasn’t the whole story. I’m wondering what everyone else thinks.

1. Do review quotes from newspapers on author blogs, at online bookstores or on book jackets mean anything to you? Do you even read them? [I read them but usually in a "isn't that interesting" way]

2. Do you ever read a review quote then search out the entire review? [I don't, but I'm wondering if anyone else bothers]

3. Does the scenario I spelled out above feel okay to you - does it seem dishonest, odd, not fair, fine, doesn’t matter…any of those? [I don't think the use of the quote was wrong, but I'm conflicted over how I feel about this]

I will randomly select an individual from those commenting to win two (2) books of his/her choice - either mass market or trade paperback or one of each - from those available for immediate shipping from B&N online (total cover price of both books combined not to exceed $25.00). Basically that means you get to pick two books in stock at B&N, and I’ll get them for you.

***UPDATE***: Thanks for all of the good comments. I’m always interested to hear what people say about the impact of reviews since many authors live and die (at least emotionally) by them. The basic sense I get from this discussion is that readers aren’t really persuaded by these review quotes either way. I’m thinking we authors can all relax since it appears we are the only ones worrying about these things. :)

The belated winner (sorry, I’ve been without internet access for a bit) is…Denise (comment #17). Congrats!!!! Email me so I can get those books out to you!!

I write one book at a time. I know other authors juggle multiple manuscripts for multiple publishers. The very idea makes me want to hide under my desk with a family size bag of Ruffles.

Well, usually.

Yeah, I can still only write one book at a time. But, which one? When my dear editor offered a three-book contract, I jumped for joy…right before I passed out. Coming up with ideas has never been the problem. Quite a few are swimming around in my head right now. A few ideas even occupy space in these little journals I collect and use to jot down writing thoughts.

My big decision at the moment is this: write a book building on secondary characters from my July 2007 single title Your Mouth Makes Me Crazy or go with the new folks. I love both ideas. I have draft first chapters of both. Both books keep knocking around in my head.

My initial thought was to start with the new folks. To be fair, they started tapping first. Then I read an article in the September 2006 Romance Writer Report, the magazine put out by the Romance Writers of America for its members. The tagline for the story is “There is nothing an editor likes more than a good series.” The article talks about all of the series and connected books out there and coming out, including debut author Jacquelyn Frank’s upcoming six-book series from Kensington. Six books!

I love getting excited about, or interested in, a secondary character and then finding out that character is getting his or her own book. It’s an absolute thrill. If you don’t believe me, you should have been at my house the day J.R. Ward’s Lover Awakened arrived. Zsadist from Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood is the ultimate in tortured hero. I practically counted days until this one came out.

But, what does everyone else think:

1. Do you get sick of connected books and want something new?

2. Do you like connected books but get angry with the author when she takes a break to write something else?

3. Does it matter if the author is new or an old favorite?

4. Do you care either way…?

As an incentive for giving me your thoughts, I’ll randomly select an individual from those who leave comments to win a $20.00 Amazon gift certificate.

Last night I attended a party. It was one of those awesome parties. Awesome because, well, it was for me. To celebrate the release of my newest book, Viva Las Bad Boys!, 80 or so friends and family gathered for fun, food and a booksigning.

Believe it or not, being the center of attention is not my thing. I’m an introvert married to an extreme extrovert. I’d probably never have a party if it weren’t for being the spouse of a guy who adores parties. I adore him, he adores parties…you see where this is going. Suffice to say, he can work a room.

I prefer to sit down. A lot. Last night I didn’t sit much. Didn’t get to eat much. I did deliver a speech, chatted with friends, met a few new people and had a great time. Even survived the speech part.

Here are a few photos:

In between drinks and, ummm, more drinks, I signed a bunch of books. I sort of fill with glee every single time someone asks for my autograph on a book. And when a person comments on how much he/she (yes, I have some “he” fans) loved one of my books, glee gives way to pure giddiness. That’s a totally different thing than being able to write something witty and clever - or at least not stupid - with my signature on a book.

My question is: what happens after? Has anyone ever gotten an autographed book and then, at some point, was cleaning out those bookshelves and thought, “gee, I need to get rid of some of these books…” So - and be honest - do you get rid of the autographed books? Are they sacred and a permament part of your household? Do you rip out the page with the signature and toss or donate? Do you grumble, concede defeat and keep the book despite any limited space or personal reading taste issues? Or, do you have another solution?

Those brave enough to divulge an answer will have a chance to win a signed copy of Viva Las Bad Boys!. Comment now through Tuesday. I will pick a winner on Wednesday. Good luck.

Last night I watched the movie Jagged Edge…for the 400th time. I needed mindless. No thinking. Just sitting, staring and following along without having to delve too deep. Basically, the movie equivalent of a big bag of Ruffles - comfort food.

Jagged Edge is, by now, considered an oldie. It dates back to 1985. Unfortunately, I date back more than a decade before 1985. Joe Eszterhas, the brilliant mind - insert cough here - who brought us the fine examples of movie screenwriting such as Showgirls, Jade and Sliver wrote Jagged Edge. Glenn Close, who would go on to scare the beejesus out of men everywhere with her role in Fatal Attraction a few years later, was the female star. Peter Coyote, one of those actors who gives me the creeps, also makes an appearance here.

Jagged Edge isn’t a great movie. Some suggest it’s downright mediocre. But, for whatever reason, if I’m dialing around and see it on, I watch it. This likely says more about me that I’m comfortable putting out there in public, but now you know.

I have this kind of relationship with a few books. I read them over and over, or will go for a short time without reading them and then will see the spine on my bookshelf and pull ‘em out. The reality is that I don’t know how “good” these books really are or what others think of them. Don’t care either. They may be great, they may be meh, they may even be bad, but they always work for me. I’ve lost all perspective on being able to judge them as anything other than as some of my favorites. And, really, I don’t care if they’re technically or objectively good or not - I love them.

Some of my books-as-potato-chips offerings are:

-One Summer by Karen Robards
-Duncan’s Bride by Linda Howard
-Kiss An Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
-Ravished by Amanda Quick

Am I alone? Do other readers out there have that list - the books you’ve read so many times you really don’t know if they’re “great” books but they always work for you and always bring comfort.

In the spirit of oldies, I will give away a newbie, specifically my new release Viva Las Bad Boys! I’ll select a random comment from those who respond and that person will win my new release. I’ll pick next Tuesday, July 25th, right before I leave for the RWA conference in Atlanta. Good luck!