Looking for Something to Read?

If you’re looking for something to read, it has become incredibly easy to do some snooping around. By that, I mean that there are many sites out there where people–just like you–have listed their favourite reads. That means, all you have to do is see what they are reading to find your next favourite read. I know! It’s so easy!

Here are a few places I like to find some good reads (other than bargain bins, the local library and my book club):

Goodreads.com This site has a pile of people blogging, reviewing, rating and talking about books. There are even book clubs and book topic discussions you can join. It’s like book central! (P.S. I’m on GoodReads. I’m still trying to get my account caught up to me though! I’m ‘jeanoram’ if you want to seek me out.)

Chapters, Amazon, indiebound, etc. Most online bookstores have created an online community where you can read reviews, see what other customers have bought or recommended. It’s a great way to fill your shopping cart, that’s for sure!

Girl Meets Book Good reads for chicks. There are a lots of great reads on this site along with reviews written by the site editor who happens to be a literary agent. That means she knows her stuff.

Chatelaine, my favourite Canadian magazine has a book of the month as well as other topics like beach reads. Online, search for ‘book of the month’ and you’ll get a nice list.

Those are a few places I go to get myself started. Where do you go?

Happy reading!

Good Links, March Edition

Here are some of the top links I came across this month.

If you are struggling with your query and would like some feedback, there is a new blog devoted to this. It is called The Public Query Slushpile. Post your query for feedback. Don’t forget to return the favour and critique some of the other posted queries.

Speaking of selling yourself and writing queries, Jessica Faust over on BookEnds Literary’s Blog wrote a humourous post which puts self-depreciating queries into perspective. It’s worth reading not only for its educational value, but for its humourous one as well.

Chuck over on the great website Guide to Literary Agents gathered a pile of writing tips from writers and has posted some on his blog. It is an interesting read.

If you are writing a romantic comedy, chick lit or really any form of romance, you may find Michael Hauge’s Screenplay Mastery article on Romantic Comedies to be helpful. (He has quite a few other articles too.)

Nadia Cornier posted some interesting facts on average agent reading and response time. A good little eye opener.

So, you have an agent and your going to a conference and wondering what it could possibly do for you? Check out the list Jessica Faust has provided. It will open your eyes to networking and what conferences are REALLY for.

Okay, so you have an editor and she’s getting orphaned projects left, right and center. And she’d not returning your call the exact second she said she would. Well, be prepared to be shocked. Editors make crap money when they start out and sadly, women editors (aren’t most of them women?) make less than men. Grrr. Go hug your editor if you have one–she really, really deserves it.

If you’ve ever wondered how they get those lovely covers for Harlequin novels, wonder no longer. This interview will shed some light on how they are designed. (The fact that you have a small team designing 150 covers a month may have something to do with it.)

Okay, so you have your agent, your writing tips, your cover…how about if you have a published book (in or out of print) and you are wondering about the whole Google Book Search thingy and what it means to you. As I’ve learned from Kristen Nelson over at Pub Rants, get off your butt! If you don’t claim your book soon, you will lose out on the settlement. And nobody wants to be left behind.

And how about publicity? With today’s limited publicity budget in publishing houses, many writers are turning to the Internet as a way to publicise their books and create a bond with their audience. However, The Globe and Mail ran an article that shows how some lines have been crossed and cross words have been slung over the Internet tubes by impatient readers. It begs the question, where is that ever-changing line and how do you make the best of what you’ve got (and don’t got)?

And last, but certainly not least, a little bit of Happiness on Tap. Because let’s face it, we can all use a little joy!

Book Review: And God Created the Au Pair

Book review: And God Created the Au Pair
By Benedicte Newland and Pascale Smets

This book is done entirely in emails. (Like Meg Cabot’s Boy Meets Girl and Every Boy’s Got One.) Two sisters, separated by the Atlantic Ocean communicate their adventures in parenting via email.

Charlotte is in England with three children and a house that is being renovated. Her main goal is to get through another day of keeping her youngest and most troublesome child, Hugh, through the day alive. Which can be a tricky feat when your brother-in-law has turned the guest bedroom into a photo lab and you have to use a crane to get your husband’s Christmas present (a rather weighty and large bathtub) into the house.

Her sister, Nell, is in Canada coping with a rather strange son who has enough minor medical problems to keep her on her toes. She does, however, have a lovely ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ neighbour who keeps her preoccupied and humoured.

The scary thing is that despite barely keeping their home-fronts from become a war-front, they want more babies. Thank goodness for the Au Pair.

Currently available new at: Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble

Am I Supposed to Be Turned On Or Giggly?

Poor Nora Roberts. She writes very popular books and has managed to get four of her novels made into TV movies. However, when they designed the movie posters they managed to bring out the mocking side in their target audience. (Yeah, that would be me. The girl you can’t take anywhere. Why you may ask can you not take me anywhere? Because I can’t take some things seriously. For evidence, see below.)

“If you pull my sweater off my shoulder one more time, I’m gonna give you the worst purple nurple of your life!”

 “No, really. I think I’m going to hurl.”  

 “I hate to tell you this, but I think I swallowed your necklace while we were making sweet love.”    “I think it’s cat puke.”

More On Twitter

I suppose I should mention that I am on Twitter too, eh? It’s not just for fictional characters, it’s for real humans too!

You can look for me under my username: jeanoram. I try to update it daily, but it doesn’t always quite work out that way.

As well, there are a pile of agents twittering (or is it tweeting) over there too. If you’d like to see a list, AQ Crew on Agent Query has started a nice list. It’s another way to put your ear to the ground in the publishing world.

Twitter: Another Way to Break Your Characters Out of the Book

Twitter, it’s free.

Twitter, make it work for you, honey!

Twitter, if you know what you’re doing, it can be a BLAST.

Seriously though, the other day I had a brainwave. I’d put Allie on Twitter. Who is Allie? What is Twitter?

Let’s start with Twitter. Here’s a brief rundown on Twitter. Twitter is a social network site. That means you make a free account and begin tweeting. That means, you post a short (140 characters) sentence or two updating your status. That’s all. No wall. No pesky invites. All you do is convey information. You can also use it to start an informative, interesting trend like some agents did with a ‘query fail’ game. Basically, post something interesting.

Who is Allie? Allie is the main character of my chick lit/romantic comedy story (The 15 Date Rule) that is currently seeking representation. Allie’s a 32-year-old astrophysicist who has a slight issue with putting her foot in her mouth and is a general, all-round dating disaster. (We’re talking boyfriends hire other guys to break up with her. Ouch.)

Why put Allie on Twitter? Many reasons. One: it’s fun. Two: it’s a great way for a writer to get to know a character better.  Three: it could possibly build an audience for your character which could help with marketing down the line. Four: it’s fun. Five: it is covering the backstory for the novel in an interesting way. Six: it’s a great writing exercise. Seven: it’s free. And Eight: did I mention it’s a blast?

Anyway, check out Allie. You can ‘follow’ her on Twitter, which means her schenanigan updates will show up on your Twitter page so you don’t have to search for her each time. Or you can rss feed her. Or you can also check her out in the handy gadget I made for my website’s mainpage.

Either way, enjoy!

Book Review: Kick @$$

Book Review: Kick @$$
By Maggie Shayne, MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight, Jacey Ford

While I normally don’t read short stories, this book filled with tough heroines fell into my lap and surprised me. All four stories focus on tough chicks who kick butt to save the day and as the cover blurb reads “and enjoy the rewards of night”. I think the best thing about these stories is that they all read like full-length stories. The authors have nailed down conflict, plot and character development as well as story arcs, squeezing it all into a hundred pages or less.

The Bride Wore a .44 (Maggie Shayne) takes an unique approach to the amnesia story and features a amnesiac bride who  is forced to kick some butt on her wedding day as she begins to recall her past. There are some interesting twists that will keep the reader guessing and wondering. I won’t reveal them–you have to discover them for yourself.

The Incredible Misadventures of Boo and the Boy Blunder (MaryJanice Davidson) is a typical Davidson vampire story with a saucy heroine and of course, hunky vampires. Boo, a vampire slayer, ends up stuck with a would-have-been vampire victim trailing around like a lovesick puppy as she attempts to track down vicious vampires and of course, not to fall in love with any during her adventures (and misadventures).

Warfem (Angela Knight) is a fantasy romance staring a biologically altered fighting gal who bumps into her old lover who is investigating her for treason. Only she doesn’t know that. She also doesn’t figure it out seeing as she is pretty busy saving  the world, her son and trying to take down a powerful treasonish leader all at the same time. Oh, and of course deal with all those pesky hormonal surges her body seems to have whenever her former lover and partner comes around.

Painkillers (Jacey Ford) features a supermodel turned half-spy (it’s a secret though) and her boy next-door guy friend who so obviously wants everyone to know he’s a spy out there saving the world. When the two find themselves deep in the jungle (saving a small island from revolution and hopefully their own skins) the two learn more about themselves and each other than they would have hanging out in their own backyards.

These stories are a fantastic way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. I promise you’ll look up at the clock in shock. How did you just lose three hours anyway?

Buy the book:
Chapters, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble

It’s All Kid’s Play Gets a Recommendation

The It’s All Kid’s Play website and blog (created by Jean Oram) got a recommendation from writer and editor Matt Sinclair over on his blog, Matt Sinclair’s Coffee Cup. Check it out. (He always has amusing polls going on as well.) While he believes he “was born aware of how to make armpit farts”, he points out the fact that some of the activities are not as common. For example, curling. Who knew American kids are unaware of curling?

If you haven’t checked out the It’s All Kid’s Play (dot ca) website with over 700 free (and almost free) activities aimed at keeping children from uttering the dreaded words, “I’m bored”, check it out! It’s fun and free. (P.S. You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy some of the activities.)