Author Promotion Page At Novel Reads Word Press

I've had Novel Reads over on Word Press for quite some time now and I simply put the same post on each site. However, Word Press allows several pages and Blogger does not. I will continue to update both sites when talking about books I've read and any other posts such as my Reader Expectation series but, I wanted to let you know that if you go to the Word Press site I've added a page specifically for Author Promotion. For the most part, any posts on that page will be author or publisher backed. Unless a book is reviewed by me on the home page, I cannot endorse the work.

So, if you are an author or publisher visiting this site and would like to promote your new book or author, click here to see where it will go. Send any promotion or contest information that you would like to run to novelreads at gmail dot com (you know the drill) and I will add it to the site as I receive it or on a date you specify.

If you're simply a reader, be sure to check the page for new books.

Take Care

Happy New Year. Contest. I'm SORRY!

I need to start this post with an apology. An apology to Angie Fox and an apology to all those that read and entered to win the contest I had up. I screwed the pooch and don’t I know it! I'll explain that in a minute, but to try and make amends, let me offer two readers a $10 e-gift card to the book seller of your choice. Just leave a comment here and I'll draw the winners on Sunday, January 3.

Now, for a short explanation: About the time the posts for the Angie Fox contest went live, my life fell apart. It was a long time coming — don't get me wrong — and it was entirely a mess of my own doing, but believe me when I tell you— that made it all the more worse. Only a handful of people know what we went through (my family and my old blogging partner dee to be exact), mainly because I was ashamed. I did everything I could to disguise the pain I was in and I think I did a fairly good job of it. Unfortunately, I could not blog anymore. I barely did any reading and I certainly ceased all writing. I had lost the desire to do much of anything. It took just about everything I had just to get up and get dressed in the morning and continue to be a good mom and wife to the wonderful family I was so (undeservingly) blessed with. It also took a lot of energy to hide it all from everyone else.

I ended up back at work, and that helped. We got a huge break in the fact that I have awesome parents that love me no matter how badly I fuck up, and we’ve slowly but surely gotten back on solid ground. It hasn’t been easy, but my husband is a muffin dressed up as a doughnut, and we made it through.

Fast forward to the present and I’m not working anymore. I will however, start school on the 5^th. I’m terrified by this, as I graduated high school in 1994 and haven’t sat at a desk since. I’m also extremely excited and optimistic. I’m reading again, I’m smiling more, and life, well, it may be bumpy at times, but I see nothing but good times ahead.

I do hope to start blogging again. One of the things that has held me back from blogging has been my deep (and by deep, I mean you could throw a boulder off the edge of it and listen for a century and still not hear it hit bottom) shame at the way I just up and quit. I wish that I hadn’t done that. But it’s done and I can only hope you can forgive me. I need this blog. I need to write again, read again, and find my way back to what I love.

I lost myself. Plain and simple. I let the dark times and depression take me away from who I was at a base level. I am a decent wife. I am a decent mother. I am a reader. I am a writer. And I had forgotten that.

There may be a few changes though. I’m reading more YA and Paranormal/Urban Fantasy. I still love a good Romance, but I’m finding it harder and harder to find one of those. I’m also finding myself more and more in love with the Cozy Mystery genre. I’ve always enjoyed it, how could I not with authors like Kate Collins out there?! But the author that shall not be named took a huge chunk of love for it away (and, I’ll admit played a huge part in my depression).

So basically, there will be more Cozy reviews. Less Romance reviews (though please, if you find a good one, let me know! I’m re-reading all my Crusie’s just so I don’t lose the love). About the same (maybe more) YA and Para/UF. It’s a tough market for book bloggers. There are so many good ones out there. I’m not sure there is a place for me in reader’s hearts but I think I’ll blog anyway.

Take Care

I'm BAAACCCCKKKKK!!!!

Well, I've been silent a while, again. Sorry about that. Things are nuts, as they often are, around here. Things have also been a bit scary. I've lost my job (no huge loss, and it's for the better), The Hubs has survived one lay-off only to have the company announce they would be doing another one. We're awaiting news on if we survive that one or not. He's thinking he'll be fine, but you just never know. I was literally sick to the stomach for a few weeks before we found out last time and this time I'm not doing much better. However, we've decided to just let it go and give it to God, He's always seen us through, we are nothing if not resilient, so hopefully... This is the time of year when my volunteer schedule fills up quickly and takes a great amount of time, but it too is slowly coming to a close.

Miss Beautiful survived a tough winter, making it through two serious cases of pneumonia, strep poisoning, scarlet fever, and a fever that lasted four days and reached as high as 104.9. She's finally back to pre-sick weight, which is still underweight for her age, but she's healthy, happy and strong and that's all I can ask for.

Bear has almost reached his self imposed goal of 100 AR points. He is 8 away and will be among a very few 3rd graders that will reach that number. He is looking forward to swimming again soon, and while practices and meets take up a lot of my time in the summer, it's worth it to see him so happy. His school work is OK, he has a noisy class and as a dyslexic it makes it tough for him, but he's passing with almost all 'A's and we're proud of him just for trying and studying so very hard. We've been reading The 39 Clues series of books together and are anxiously awaiting the next one in June. I'll be posting about them soon!

So as you can see - we're busy. I had almost decided that it wasn't really worth it to keep up the blog. That money is so tight, and things are so uncertain right now that it would be better if I just quit. But for the same reasons I thought about quitting, I've decided to get back on the horse and continue to talk books. Books are my escape, and if you're reading this, I imagine they are yours as well. So, if I can make it that much easier to decide on a good book or help steer you away from an iffy one, then that's worth it! Also, I would like to thank Fantasy Dreamer for the Let's Be Friends Award. Trust me, I needed that and it played no small part in getting me back to this site!

So, I'm going to type up some book talk next, and a second post for today will go up. I've got an interview with LuAnn McLane to post soon and Best Selling Author Angie Fox will be returning in a couple of weeks to party with us in celebration of her second book THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR DEMON SLAYERS ! We have a some really fun stuff planned, hopefully even bigger and better than the blast we had last year!

Take Care

Contests And More Coming Soon

I've spent the last week at the school for the most part. I volunteer a lot and we had our fundraiser and Spring pictures this week, so I felt like I worked there without pay!

Anyway, will be back very shortly (hoping tomorrow but may be Sunday) with some great give a ways and reviews!

Take Care

Thanks

I want to thank everyone for the kind words of sympathy on the loss of my cousin. I must admit, that the funeral hit me a little harder than I had expected. There have been a lot of changes in my life this past week - for instance, I quit my job and am back to being a full time mom again. Now, if the volunteering would slow down a bit I will be able to be more regular here, where I really want to be. My last major function of the year is tomorrow so it won't be long!

I am working on a post, but may not get it up until tomorrow evening, so I wanted to say a quick thanks, and let everyone know that prizes have all been shipped earlier this week. Should be arriving soon.

Take Care

Miss Beautiful

My daughter has been extremely sick. Should be back on tomorrow or Sunday with another Novel Chat.

Take Care

Cynical Reader and Go Buy This Book

You may have noticed that I've been eerily silent all over the blog-o-sphere lately and I apologize for my silence, I sincerely do, but please give me this chance to explain with this handy-dandy little list.

• I've been busy: Well, duh. Who isn't these days, right?
• I quit smoking so I don't have as much time to read: Bear with me here, I didn't smoke in the house, I would go outside, so when I had a smoke break, I had a book in my hand. It really did make reading so much simpler. Now I feel kind of guilty if I just sit down and read.
• I've been sick and so have the kids: This is all true, but of course, not for the entirety of the past few months that I've been MIA.
• I have been uncommonly addicted to the aps on MySpace and have been spending way too much computer time on them when I should be doing other things: This one, unfortunately, is true. Thankfully, my addiction is waning and I'm able to tear myself away from them fairly easily.
• My schedule at work has been way wonky and is causing me all sorts of stress: Very true, but thankfully, we're getting a bit of a schedule worked out and I should have my afternoons free to clean house and blog.

"Cynics are made, not born."

And while all of these are true, they aren't the real reason. No, the real reason is that I've went from Rabid Reader to Cynical Reader.

I haven't always been this way, but I've noticed that for the past several months I look at the books I'm reading with more harshness than before. When I used to be able to fall in lurve with a book fairly easily, I've gotten to where it takes an author working their ass off to make me enjoy the thing. I mean, the book has to bring its A-Game if it wants me to even like it a little, where as before, I was a pretty easy sale.

Will this help me as I begin to pick up the blogging reins again, or will it hurt me? I actually kind of liked the old Reader me and while it took me a while to come to terms with new Reader me, I think I may like this side of me too. Only time will tell if this will make me a better book blogger or worse. At first, I thought I was maybe just in a funk, but when my standard cure for that didn't work, I realized it was something else, something was shifting in my reading life.

And while I can attribute my cynsism to a few key aspects, I can't really pin point when the change occurred. So, bear with me these next few posts as I find my new voice to go with this new view.

I've also realized that with the job and kids, my writing, and oh yeah, those darn MySpace aps, I can't do this blog completely alone, so I've asked a friend of mine to chime in every once in a while, she's graciously agreed, and Jenny will be joining me here on Novel Reads very soon. I'll have a formal introduction in a few days.

I will say this though, I'm not completly unable to enjoy books, it just takes me a little longer to finish them. I'm not quite finished with Lord Of Misrule The Morganville Vampires-Book Five by Rachel Caine (started it Sunday, it's out today) and I'm totally diggin' it. I'll blog it tomorrow, but it was released today, GO GET IT! I really think you'll enjoy.

Take Care

In The Immortal Words of Tom Petty...

... I WONT BACK DOWN!

So, aside from the fact that I got zero hours of sleep last night, today started just like any other. I got the kids to take their baths, I made their lunch, I drove them to school, walked them to their classroom, went to work, had a day where everything that could go wrong - did, left work with just enough time to pick up the kiddos, said "Thanks" to their teachers for learning them yet another day, and went home.

It's the after I got home part where things start to get interesting. Usually when I get home I have a few e-mails from friends and family to tend to and an occasional e-mail from some one who visited my book review blog (ya know, NOVEL READS, the one you are reading right now). On a typical day, I would respond (or not) to these e-mails, throw a load of laundry in the machine, cook dinner, read with my kids, kiss them goodnight and snuggle with The Hubs. Today, however, was anything BUT typical.

Most of you are reading this because you heard about the letter I received from an attorney representing Victoria Laurie and the subsequent post on her blog http://www.victorialaurie.com/blog/ (OOPS, her entire blog has been taken off her website, I tired to link her).

Anyway, in an attempt to make sense of this madness for myself, I have decided to break down events.

On January 21, 2008, while blogging for another site, I posted this blog. Notice, I state how much I enjoy Ms. Laurie's books. Notice the fact that while I don't personally like her on-line behavior, I will continue to read her books.

Shortly there after, I leave dee & Dee Dish...About Books.

I am silent in the blog-o-sphere for a few months. I post to my personal blog (not often mind you, but some) and read a LOT. I continue to read my favorite blogs, but use that time to re-group.

May 15, 2008 (Happy Birthday A!), I decide I miss this small world of readers I belonged to. Mind you, I've never been a big addition to the fiction world, but I did have my own corner, and even when I had only myself for company I enjoyed it!

Fast forward to August 11, 2008 and Victoria Laurie is back on my radar. Please note, that the post I have linked there is the Original Post with minor changes. The minor changes include the addition of "AKA I QUOTED Victoria Laurie" and the little "Update" at the start. Otherwise, I left the post in tact.

That same day, I post to two Yahoo! Groups I belong to and post the question about the author's behavior.

August 12, 2008, starts like any other day, only the kids are still on Summer Break and my babysitter is NOT. SO, I'm home and still receiving e-mails (some very hateful) about my post of (at the time) a particular author - OK, it's Victoria Laurie. I don't have to pretend anymore! Since my question to the Yahoo! Groups gives me some good food for thought, I do another post.
I will adress this post again shortly, if you aren't already asleep, bear with me ;).

After hitting "PUBLISH POST", I think to myself, " Go ahead and be brave! Try and contact this publisher for a quote!" So, in all of my, I AM WOMAN (erm, READER!) HEAR ME ROAR glory, I work up the nerve to call the publishing house. I ask to speak to Laurie's editor. I am transfered to voice mail. I leave a message, and trust me, we'll discuss this in more detail in a bit, asking for a quote. I DO in fact say that I was "deeply disturbed" about something I read on her blog. I say this, because I am, in fact, deeply disturbed by this behavior.

After my phone call, I do my blog hopping. One of my first stops is Dear Author. A site I miss visiting on a regular basis, but ya know, life happens and I must work for the money. I see that Jane has outed the author in question (and seriously, why am I still referring to her as "the author in question?" We all know who the heck I'm talking about!). I then check out one of my favorite author's blogs and find out that she is thinking about quitting blogging. More hate mail to novelreads at gmail dot com ensues.

August 13, 2008, I link to the Dear Author post outing Laurie. The same day I moved on.

August 14, 2008, I address (in a general way) some of the letters I received about my initial post. And again, I get on with blogging as usual.

August 15-18, 2008 all is business as usual.

August 19, 2008, I receive the following letter in my in-Box, (IN-BOX, people, not even through regular mail) upon returning home from work:

Dear the owner of email address titled “novelreads@gmail.com” (a.k.a. “ChariDee”),

I represent Victoria Laurie, an author which you recently address in a posting titled, “Authors Getting Even” on http://novelreads.blogspot.com. In this posting you excerpt from a website that is copyright protected, thus violating federal copyright law. There is and has been an existing disclaimer on Ms. Laurie’s website, (www.victorialaurie.com), which states that; “No part of this website may be directly copied or duplicated and all of the content herein is copyright protected.” These quotes you have posted to your blog should be immediately removed or Ms. Laurie will be forced to take appropriate action.

In addition to the above violation of law, on Tuesday, August 12, you contacted the voice mail of someone you thought to be Ms. Laurie's editor at Penguin Group USA and left a voice mail claiming that you were "deeply disturbed" by a blog posting and requesting a comment (a copy of which we have in our possession). Please consider this letter a cease and desist letter. While you are free to express your opinion under the First Amendment, taking impulsive and inappropriate action with the attempt to interfere with a contractual relationship is unacceptable; therefore, in addition to the above Ms. Laurie is requesting that you not contact her, her agents, editors, business representatives, or assigns personally at any time now or in the future.

Feel free to contact me at the above post office box should you have any questions regarding this letter and its directives.

Sincerely,

Lindsay Gustafson

I immediately freak out, thus causing me to make one of the best decisions of my life, and contact Jane at Dear Author. I needed advice from another blogger. I'm a guppie in the blogger pond, I've never claimed to be more. So getting a letter like this is flippin' scary.

Later that day, Jane stands up for me (God Bless Jane!).

And that brings us to today. Are you as exhausted as I am yet? Today, I work all day. I have no idea of what happens until I get home. What happened? Well, Victoria Laurie totally bashes me on her blog. I'd link, but her entire blog has been removed. I do, however, happen to have a cached version of the post. Since Laurie found it OK to fling accusations my way, I find it OK to defend myself. I will not post the entire blog entry here, I will however, as allowed by Fair Use, quote her post for comment and criticism.

Quote:

ANYhoo, to catch you all up, last week I got a very upsetting phone call from my editor who was really creeped out. She said that some crazy woman had called the voice mail of another editor in her department. The caller clearly thought that editor was my editor and had demanded to be called back saying she was “deeply disturbed� (mental diagnosis or state of mind?) about a blog that I’d written and she demanded a comment from my editor.

First of all, I demanded nothing. Laurie's editor and attorney claim to still have the VM, they can listen to this again and see that I in no way demanded a thing. I called Penguin Group and asked to speak to her editor, I was transfered and left a message.

Quote: My wonderful editor was so freaked out that she became concerned for my safety and wanted to alert me that there was a crazy cyber stalker out there and maybe I wanted to increase my own security.

If I ever get the cash flow to hire an attorney, I want that voice mail released. If this editor read anything "crazy" into my simple voice mail, I don't know what it could have been. Laurie also states that I did not leave my name. I call BS on this one. I most certainly DID leave my name. Not only did I leave my name, I left my telephone number, e-mail address and blog address.

I'm getting ready to sign off on this post, but before I do, I want to address one more thing that Laurie says in her blog post: Quote: but don’t start making phone calls that will end up costing you your kid’s college fund. To this I say, I will take a lot of shit. However, the minute you threaten my children and their future, is the minute I start to take the gloves off.

I have much more to say on the topic, and I probably will blog more about it tomorrow. Right now, I'm going to get in some comfy PJ's and get some sleep.

I want to thank each and every one of you that has commented on my blog and on Dear Author showing your support. I am humbled by your kindness and cannot express how much it has meant to me.

I promise that I will post more on the subject when I get some sleep and can make some sense. I also promise that my posts will remain here on Novel Reads until such time the law dictates otherwise.

Take Care

Where In ChariDee Is Threatened by an Author that Wanted Revenges Attorney...

That's right, you read the post title correctly, I, ChariDee received a rather threatening letter today from one attorney "claiming" to represent Victoria Laurie. I admit that I am (like they had hoped) scared spitless. I am a very small blogger in what is a very small reader world on the World Wide Web.

For the most part I try very hard not to rock the boat. Not because I feared something like this would happen, but because it is in my nature to keep the peace. I "talked" to Jane at Dear Author today after I received the e-mail. I needed advice from another blogger. Jane made it clear that she would not think less of me for taking the post down or for removing the quotes (Jane posted a very wonderful blog tonight about this letter I received today, check it out here). However, the more I read up on Copyright Law, the more I felt that I did nothing wrong. I did however edit my post, I have since added the name of the author in question. I would have linked to the post in question but it was removed shortly after the posts went live.

I have also contacted a lawyer who is versed in Copyright Law for my state. Since the business day was nearly over by the time I received the e-mail, I will have more information from this lawyer tomorrow.

I don't like being scared. I don't like being bullied. BUT, should it be necessary that I take the post down, I will. Until the time comes, however, that I am forced to take down my post, it will remain up.

I will keep ya'll posted.

Take Care

Authors Getting Even - Update

The blog post has been removed from her site. If you are wanting to know who it was that got my hackles raised Monday, Jane at Dear Author was braver than I and posted all about it. She even knows how to do that cool cache thing, so you'll be able to read the post in question.

Take Care