Shannon Stacey


Early-morning Wednesday wonderings

1. It is Wednesday, right?

2. Why can’t I find the most recent draft of DG3 and how long will I hyperventilate before I pass out?

3. Is it too late to switch the Obamas so Michelle’s running for President? I like her.

4. Pursuant to a discussion about yesterday’s post during which my husband asked me why an author should feel obligated to make it easier to buy her books used—are category authors more accepting of used book stores than mainstream authors? It wasn’t all that long ago that, for a reader who didn’t grab a category book during the four weeks it was on the shelf (two weeks in stores that only stock the current cycle), the UBS was the only good way to get it.

5. Why did the words “I find you delightful” come out of my hero’s mouth. Delightful? Have I been drinking?

8 comments to “Early-morning Wednesday wonderings”

  1. Annmarie
    Comment
    1
      · July 9th, 2008 at 9:10 am · Link

    Is your hero from the US? If not, ‘I find you delightful’ sounds foreign. Course. It may sound foreign to people from all countries. Which. Might work if you only describe him as ‘foreign’. I can see it now.

    Annmarie: I read this awesome book today. The hero was so foreign and romantic.
    Pal: Where was he from?
    Annmarie: Someplace foreign.

    :roll: This is why I read and do not write.



  2. Jackie C
    Comment
    2
      · July 9th, 2008 at 10:03 am · Link

    :doh: He doesn’t like her, no, he does not. Delightful is what an adult uses to describe someone who isn’t delightful.
    I wouldn’t exchange it for “I think you are peachy keen.” That will get him to his goal as fast as delightful.
    :hug: Have several cups of strong tea, this too shall pass. :heart:



  3. Karen Templeton
    Comment
    3
      · July 9th, 2008 at 10:31 am · Link

    I’m remembering ancient Sandra Dee movies, where her blond ditziness provoked that very comment from whoever-the-dark-hunk was at the end of the movie. In two different movies, no less.

    So if you’re going for a 1962 vibe, it’s all good. :lmao:



  4. Shannon
    Comment
    4
      · July 9th, 2008 at 10:41 am · Link

    Alas, he is neither foreign nor 64 years old, so I have no excuse. I can’t even claim I was drinking since karaoke fueled by White Russians with jello shot chasers cured me of that for the forseeable future.

    And I LOVE peachy keen. I actually use it in real life more often than I care to admit. I don’t care when a phrase goes out of style—if it amuses me, I use it.

    I guess I won’t change it to “Hey, babe, I think you’re ducky”, either.

    My hot-blooded American alpha male seems to be having some serious dialogue issues. Kind of like Tarzan saying “Hello, my name is Tarzan. Would you care to participate in the traversing of the jungle by way of elongated vegetation with me?”

    :write:



  5. Charlene
    Comment
    5
      · July 9th, 2008 at 11:44 am · Link

    It’s gotten a lot easier to get backlist category titles new, between Harlequin’s ebook efforts and online retailers. I can usually find the book I want new even if I missed it in the stores now.

    Delightful could work if he says it as he’s gritting his teeth, maybe? Clenching his fists in a heroic effort to keep from throttling her?



  6. Jackie C
    Comment
    6
      · July 9th, 2008 at 12:26 pm · Link

    :lol: Or Tarzan saying “Hello, my name is Tarzan and I will be your server today.”

    Some days, I wonder if I even speak to other humans the way the dialogue comes out on the page. Yeesh. :gaah:



  7. Natalie J. Damschroder
    Comment
    7
      · July 9th, 2008 at 8:09 pm · Link

    I see your husband’s point, but if the choice is to help them find the books used and maybe they will buy later books new or have them never buy any books at all…well, helping readers buy them used seems like a good idea.

    Did you try Romance Wiki? It might have the numbers there, if her books are listed anywhere. http://www.romancewiki.com



  8. Shannon
    Comment
    8
      · July 9th, 2008 at 9:14 pm · Link

    I didn’t try there, actually.

    And, honestly, it’s not about whether or not I can find the numbers. It’s about how hard I want to work to get the information and how much time I want to invest in it. I could probably get them from eHQ, but it loads like refrigerated molasses for me and it’s a last resort. And I’m surrounded by dozens and dozens and dozens of books I haven’t read yet, so it’s not like I need them.

    I very, very rarely go to the UBS, so if the numbers had been on her site, I’d have made the trip special. Instead, come September when the next book comes out, I’m going to see it at Walmart, wonder about that subplot, but also remember I have all those books to hunt down and I’ll probably skip it for something else. Whereas, if I’ve read four or five of a category author’s books, I almost always buy her new ones as they come out.

    And now my hero looks like Encino Man in an Applebee’s polo. Thanks, Jackie. :lol:







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