Southern Fried Chicas

I’ve got about eleven topics down there this week, so respond to what interests you and skip the rest.

================================

HOW SOON IS TOO SOON?

Mrs. Giggles brings up an interesting topic:

I’ve read a few books recently featuring widowers who love again. These widowers claim to be so devoted, so in love, and therefore so broken over their late spouses… only to fall in love again with another woman any time from six months to one year after the late wife croaked.

On a personal note, after my father died, my mom went through a tough time. When she finally started dating again years later, she ran into a LOT of men widowed less than a year who were looking for companionship. In fact, MOST of these men’s wives had been dead less than six months. Mom explained (from her experience) that it wasn’t that the men loved their wives less. It was just that overall, men have a tendency to crave companionship sooner than women.

On the other hand, most women take longer, needing that alone time to sort things out. The men soon seek, not necessarily a love replacement, but a lover or companion. I saw this first hand with my grandmother as well. Three of the men she’d dated had been recently widowed (one for three months). These older gentlemen immediately slipped into a “let me take care of you” mode. They’d give her money, gifts and food without her even asking. Maybe it’s a wiring issue. I mean, male/female brains are different. I dunno. But most of the widows I know take years to be comfortable with dating again. That’s why I don’t find it odd seeing a romance hero out on the market after six or twelve months. What say you?

================================

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES

I love how somebody is whistling the Wizard Of Oz’s “If I Only Had A Brain” at the end. Brian Kilmeade is an idiot. “We keep marrying other species….” ???? WTH

================================

DOES SIZE MATTER? PART 2

A Samhain author posted the following about a critique she just got back from one of her partners:

“Everything looked solid until I came to the part where I had described the hero as “average” in height, just an inch or two taller than the heroine. The words had been highlighted, with a typed comment in the corner: ‘NOT very heroic.’ Huh, I thought. When did height become a heroic quality?”

Must a romance hero be a towering inferno, or can he be average height or :::gasp::: short? I never really thought about it until now. I think the shortest guy I ever wrote was six-two.

================================

EDITORIAL ADVICE

Here’s a neat six-minute editorial video with advice for children’s book writers. 7 Things Editors at Children’s Book Publishers Wish They Could Tell Writers.

================================

MJ GHOST MYSTERY SOLVED?

Do you believe in ghosts? CNN went to Neverland ranch to interview Jermaine Jackson. They also filmed inside Michael’s bedroom. That’s where stuff got interesting.

================================

FREE AVON BOOK PREVIEWS ONLINE

Avon’s got this great new program where they allow you to read the first few chapters of their upcoming releases online. I checked out two of them and the average sample is about 60 pages.

================================

VIRGIN BOOKS: DECLINING EROTICA SALES?

According to GallyCat, Virgin’s managing director notified Nexus and Black Lace authors that Virgin won’t be releasing new 2010 titles for those imprints. Here’s a snippet:

“As part of Virgin Books planning for 2010, and in recognition of declining sales in the market for Erotic titles, we have taken the decision to suspend the acquisition of new titles to these lists from January 2010. This decision means that there will be no Black Lace or Nexus titles commissioned for 2010 and unfortunately we will not be proceeding with the proposed anthologies for 2010. I can though confirm that titles commissioned for 2009 will go ahead as planned.”

Have any other erotica publishers noted declining sales, or is this just indicative of Virgin?

================================

WORDS TO BE BANNED

Ellora’s Cave editors have come up with a list of words that should hereby be “banished from the romance writers’ lexicon.” Here are some highlights. Ever used any of these:

Dance: In any form.

Mine: Mine! MineMineMine! MINE! Okay, we get it. You’re alpha. And monosyllabic.

Little one

Like never before

Velvet fist (F)/Velvet rod (M)

Fire/inferno/blaze

Womb: Stop it. Just…stop.

Water references: wave after wave, crashing waves, cresting waves, tsunami (in reference to any emotion), etc.

Cliff references

“looked through his/her lashes”

Anything that pierces “straight to his/her soul”

References to heroines who can (finally!) “take his length”

Okay, let’s see. I’ve used: Fire/inferno/blaze, womb, water and cliff references as well as soul piercing. How about y’all?

================================

OMG!!!!!!

I had to check my computer to make sure I was still living in 2009. WTF?????????? There’s a toasty corner in hell reserved for people like this. Those poor children.

================================

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

I got this from Angela James’s blog:

Samhain Publishing is seeking submissions for their Spring 2010 demons and angels themed anthology. Stories can be of any genre or heat level, and submissions are open to M/F, M/M, or multiples thereof, but all submissions must feature either an angel or demon theme (or both!) as integral to the story. Submissions should be 20,000 to 30,000 words in length.

Read the rest HERE.

================================

RARE MJ INTERVIEW

Here’s a rare, never-before-seen interview with the late Michael Jackson. It was done shortly after the release of BAD.