Discussion Post: Happy Birthday To Me!

Today's my birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.

Now, go be nice to people. That's right, I'm looking at you! ALL OF YOU! Shower some unexpected love on someone who you wouldn't normally shower with.

Lube yourself up and penetrate the universe with your good vibes.

Thrust out a hand and make someone feel good.

God, you guys are pervy! (or maybe I'm reading too much into my own post. LOLOLOL. THAT COULD TOTALLY BE TRUE!)

HOT DAMN! IT'S GOOD TO BE THE QUEEN!

Even if it's only for a day.

Discussion Post: Adapting to life

We're at the tail end of Bout of Books today. Which is cool because, from the host side of things, it's a fairly time consuming event. Amanda and I have the pre-Bout of Books stuff we have to do, then we have the during-Bout of Books stuff, then the post-Bout of Books.

I'm not complaining because I really do enjoy co-hosting it with Amanda, but it's a frantic week. More than a week, really, when you take into account everything we have to do to make sure it goes smoothly. We've streamlined and created shortcuts to EVERYTHING we possibly can, but we also try to keep an eye out and see if there's anything that's causing confusion and needs to be addressed for the next BoB.

So by this point, I'm feeling the urge to turn off social media and go all hermit-like for a day or two.

One thing I've noticed about myself as we do more and more of these events is that I approach the participant side differently than I did earlier on. I participate less. Period. Part of this is due to real life. I work full time now outside the home. During previous Bout of Books, I was working from home and could pretty much do what I wanted, when I wanted. Not so much now.

Then there's the writing side. I don't expect to hit my normal writing numbers during this week, but I also don't shut down the writing completely. I can't. My head would explode. Trust me on this.

Somewhere along the way, I had to find a balance. That meant not worrying about reading as many books as I possibly could during the week (heh. Those were the days, weren't they?) and just letting go to relax and enjoy myself.

Sure, I read less books, but I'm okay with that.

To be honest, not being so wound up about how many books I'll end up reading is kind of freeing.

So kick back and relax. Those books aren't going anywhere.

Discussion Post: Things that make me happy (part 4)

Every so often, I get overwhelmed by all the negative things going on out in the world. Whether it's badness out in the real world or drama happening online, there are times when I need a break from the rough stuff.

Thus, things that make me happy was born. Want to see what I've been happy about before? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Things that make me happy (part 4)

1. Puns. Puns and stupid jokes. I laughed HARD at a FB post around Valentine's Day that said "Happy Alentine's Ay. For those of us who aren't getting the V or the D." Oh, man. Now I'm laughing again!

2. Behind the scenes peeks at books, movies, TV shows, etc. I LOVE THOSE. I read articles about how actors could barely get through filming a scene for a movie because one of them was flatulent and I laugh so hard I almost pee my pants. Yes, my humor is a little low-brow, but DAMMIT I enjoy myself. And that's what this is about.

3. That moment when everything gels in a book. Both as a writer and a reader. When I'm reading and I can suddenly FEEL everything the character is going though. When I'm writing and I KNOW all the setup has been done correctly because the scene just pops. There's nothing like that.

4. Finding a character that resonates with you. For whatever reason. Whether it's because you see yourself in her or him or the author writes them so well you feel ALL THE EMOTIONS as they deal with whatever is thrown at them. ALL THE EMOTIONS, MY FRIENDS! ALL THE EMOTIONS!

Thus ends another episode of Things That Make Me Happy. May your coming days be filled with unicorns and rainbows (if you're into that, I guess) and zombies (BOO-YAH!).

Discussion Post: How my reading habits have changed...

Confession: I used to be a reader with some very set rules about how books can be read. Not how others should read them, mind you, but how *I* should read them. As in: Series should always be read in order and under NO CIRCUMSTANCES do you ever start with anything other than book 1.

HA. Oh, younger self. You were so sweetly innocent, weren't you?

Guuuuys. My reading habits are so loose now we should probably refer to them as gaping. Or, if that's too graphic a picture, just imagine them as a set of guidelines (yep, I'm channeling my inner Pirates of the Caribbean here!) which can be tossed aside all willy-nilly whenever the urge strikes.

Series? Pfft. I laugh in the face of series! Just kidding. I don't do that. But I do allow myself to read whatever I happen to have on hand. If that means skipping a book because I got book 3 on sale and wasn't willing to pay full price for book 2, SO BE IT.

Sure, sometimes this backfires on me. I picked up Shelly Laurenston's Pride series out of order and REGRETTED not being able to see the progression of crazy from book to book. I mean, I LOVED that series. Still do. I don't regret reading it for a moment, but I think I would have gotten more out of the original read if I'd read them in order.

Sometimes, though, you have to throw caution to the wind. Sometimes you have to grab the minotaur by the horns and do what you gotta do.

Sometimes it's okay to read a series out of order.

Shh. Shh. It's okay.

Discussion Post: Things that make me happy (Part 3)

*cough* No, I'm not procrastinating on getting my words in for NaNo today. NOT AT ALL!

Wait. What's that? I haven't done a "things that make me happy" post in a while [see: part 1 and part 2]. Well, DAMMIT! I'd best do that first!

(Special thanks to Felicia at Geeky Blogger's Book Blog for inspiring me with her posts on authors, books, and bloggers she's thankful for through the month of November!)

Things that make me happy (part 3)

1. (I've said this before and I'll likely say it again!) All the fantastic people I've met since starting this blog. I'm not big on celebrating milestones here, but Reading the Paranormal is now in its FOURTH year of operation. It celebrated its 3rd birthday at the beginning of September and I'm so incredibly pleased, humbled, thankful, and otherwise thrilled to have met so many readers, bloggers, and authors since I started this bad boy up.

2. Finding a new-to-me series that tickles my fancy and being able to delve into with gusto! Tessa Dare's Spindle Cove series springs immediately to mind. Being able to read that entire series one after the other gave me a major case of the happies. *swoons like a too tightly corseted lady*

3. The new-to-me authors I've discovered. I had the pleasure of reading Melissa Haag's Hope(less) mid-year and I was so smitten with her characters and the world she created that I immediately reread it as soon as I finished. While this isn't necessarily uncommon with me, I only do it to the books that strike a chord. And Hope(less) did. (PS: It's free on Kindle if you want to give it a try!)

4. Those who strive to make the blogosphere a better place. Drama (and those who embrace it) seems to be the norm more and more often lately and I'm so pleased to know there are bloggers out there who avoid getting involved in the petty stuff. I can't say I've always taken the high road (and, honestly, if someone jumps down a friend's throat about something I might react first and regret it later) but steering clear of the drama is something I try to do. So, hats off to all the ladies and gentlemen out there who've made their way without tearing others down to get there.

Okay, my lovelies. I really need to get those words in for the day! GO FORTH AND CELEBRATE THE GOOD THINGS IN LIFE! Oh, and since this is a discussion post and everything, feel free to shout out in the comments something that you're thankful for or that makes you happy! I DON'T MIND!

The Challenge of Challenges [Discussion Post]

I debated about posting this here at Reading the Paranormal or putting it over on the Bout of Books blog, but I think this is something that would appeal to more than just the Bout of Books peeps, so here we are.

I want to talk about challenges -- specifically the types of challenges that Amanda and I approve or reject when we're planning Bout of Books.

After Bout of Books 6.0, we made a decision to no longer approve "Guess the Cover" type of challenges (where participants guess what the book is based off a small portion of the cover). We had reasoning behind this. To be truly successful, guessing the cover had to focus on a very narrow genre or sub-genre or there were simply too many books that could be drawn from.

What does this mean? Simply put, having covers that spanned all genres was too broad to be effective. People who exclusively read YA might not know adult PNR covers and people who only read contemporary romances might not know horror covers. So, the covers would have to be confined to a small subset genre for people to REALLY be able to to answer them.

We had a zombie cover challenge once and it was easy. For me. Because I read zombie books and the rules clearly stated that all these covers were drawn from the zombie genre. But not everybody reads zombie books and I did see some comments about how people didn't participate because they have no interest in "those type of books."

Yeah, you might be thinking, but at least SOME people would be able to participate and answer.

True, but one of our goals with Bout of Books is to be as inclusive as possible. Which means that we try to avoid the genre trap and choose challenges that can be adapted across multiple platforms by people who read a variety of genres/authors/subjects.

This isn't always easy. We declined a couple of GREAT challenge ideas for Bout of Books 8.0 because they were limited in the way participants ... participated. Having the only option being to "take a picture" of something limits those who don't have a camera. (Stop laughing. IT HAPPENS. The camera in my phone died a while back and I was camera-less for MONTHS before I got a new phone.) Also, consider that asking people to post their response on their blog now limits the people who can participate to bloggers. During Bout of Books 7.0, we had a huge upswing in the number of booktubers that joined us. Their medium of communication is different enough from traditional blogging that we had to think creatively to make sure they were able to participate in challenges.

In our experience, giving participants the flexibility to (a) use multiple mediums to post their responses/answers/etc and (b) use their own books to create/find/etc something for the challenge garnered the best participation. It also upholds our goal to be inclusive. Win/win.

I'm going to pause here and point out that Amanda and I try to be inclusive in more than just the Bout of Books challenges. When we first began playing with the idea that would later become Seriously Series, we had to think long and hard about how to structure it so that people would WANT to join us and could do so easily.

On the other hand, we host an every-so-often naughty read-a-thon (Doin' It Dirty) that is specifically geared toward those who read erotica. While the focus on the books that can be read is narrow (our rules state "You must read erotica or any subgenre of romance that borders on erotica."), how participants can update/approach/choose their books is left to their discretion.

Our rule of thumb when we're approving and/or creating challenges is to ask WHO IS THE AUDIENCE WE'RE TRYING TO REACH? For Bout of Books, we want the challenge to be accessible to as many people as possible. For our naughty read-a-thon, we're not as concerned with EVERYONE, but rather with those that enjoy reading dirty books. So, consider your audience. Where are they at? What platforms will they be using to post their responses?

The reason I'm posting this is to point out that the best challenges (no matter WHAT you're challenging people to do) aren't so rigid that only a handful of people can participate. This is one of those think outside the box moments that you can totally embrace. Allow flexibility for people who only use Twitter or who hate Twitter with a passion and only use Facebook. Get creative with both the challenge and with how participants can respond to the challenge.

Think big! Think bold! Go ALL OUT the next time you create a challenge!

Way to go, guys! YOU ALL ROCK!

This is one of those random posts. You know, the ones where they don't really have anything to do with books (ehh, maybe a little to do with books) but they delight and excite me all the same.

We're halfway through the month of July (kinda. If you tilt you head and squint.) and I'm signed up for Camp NaNo. For those who don't know, NaNoWriMo is a month long writing event where participants attempt to write a 50K word novel in 30 days. It used to only be held in November but the masses clamored for MOAR and the NaNo gods relented and gave us several opportunities throughout the year.

So, it's July. I'm signed up. I was aiming to get 30K words written (Camp NaNo lets you tailor your word count, so you don't have to commit to 50K). With my new job (yay!) and various other things going on, 30K felt like an achievable number.

As of the writing of this post (on Friday), my word count is a smidge over 23K. Which boggles me. In a good way. I'm proud of what I've done. My zombie story might be a little light on actual zombies (oops) but my characters are rockin' it (sometimes literally! ZING!) and I'm loving what's going on.

So, this is my encouragement post to everyone out there. Whether you're writing or blogging or reading or just being awesome... WAY TO GO! YOU ALL ROCK!

And if you're sitting there thinking "I'm not rocking it. You're wrong, Kelly." here's my challenge to you... find something that you're proud of -- it doesn't matter WHAT it is -- and share it. I KNOW you have something and I want to hear about it.

SHARE THE LOVE! This is your chance to brag and show me what you're made of!

Also, I kind of adore you all and I'm tempted to pass out squishy virtual hugs that are not at all creepy but might be a little frightening in their exuberance. What the heck? I'm going to do it!

*SQUISHY HUGS*

You can come back for seconds, I DON'T MIND!

Unleash the Positivity! [Discussion Post]

(Kelly's note: This post was written prior to the plagiarism drama that recently hit.)

Lately, I've been seeing a spate of negativity hitting Twitter and the blogosphere. It bothers me. It bothers me to see Twitter users with big followings throwing out incendiary comments left and right. It bothers me to see these same users responding with vitriol and attacks and claiming that they have the right to their opinion as they attack others FOR THEIR OWN OPINIONS.

Guys, there's enough room on the internet for all of us. It's okay to have your own opinions. It's okay to disagree with others about their opinions. It's not okay to say hurtful and degrading things when you disagree. It's not okay to be intentionally rude.

The thing that's killing me here is that I DON'T FOLLOW these people who are doing these things that I find distasteful. Yet, I can't seem to escape the RTs and shares. If someone is acting horrible and is intentionally bashing others, WHY ARE WE FANNING THE FLAMES by giving them MORE ATTENTION?

Instead, let's start celebrating the positives more. Marie Forleo (author and business coach) had a quote graphic up on her Facebook page the other day. It said "Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate." THIS is what I want to see more of!

I'm going to start RIGHT NOW: 21 pictures that will restore your faith in humanity (Seriously, some of these made me cry because OMG! I LOVE IT!)

JOIN ME! Share a quote, a website, a book, a smile! Promote what you love! Do it here in the comments! Do it on your own site! I don't care where, just DO IT! (although if you do it on your own site I'd love a link so I can join in the love fest!)

When you find that perfect series [Discussion Post]

At the beginning of June, I went on a reading binge of Tessa Dare's Spindle Cove series. I read 3 full length novels and 1 novella over a three day period. Simply put, this series was everything I needed it to be when I picked it up.

It had characters that were flawed and breathtaking and who learned from their mistakes. They became better, stronger, more wonderful people as the stories progressed. The village they live in was as alive as the characters. The shenanigans the various personalities that inhabit Spindle Cove got into were fun and they entertained me.

That was EXACTLY what I was looking for.

(And now I'm going to pause here and tell you this this isn't a PSA for you to go out and buy the series and read it IMMEDIATELY - although if you did do that, I wouldn't be upset.)

I'm kind of wondering if other people will have the same reaction to it that I had. Honestly, I don't know. Book 1 hit my reading sweet spot. Whether it was because of my mood or that I just needed a little while to escape from reality with a bunch of strong, intelligent women and men, IT WORKED FOR ME.

I would love to hear what books (series or otherwise) made you do some fangirl (or boy!) flailing when you picked it up. Was it just good timing or something elusive (and possibly magical) that made all the pieces come together and drag you into their world?

Talk to me! I want to hear what you have to say!

Things I've learned from... reading monster erotica!

I feel like I need to preface this a bit.

It shouldn't be a secret that I love monster erotica. From the silly ones to the SERIOUS juggernauts that give their all to the monster erotica genre, I just find them FUN. To celebrate this, I'd like to share with you the things I've learned in my monster erotica readings.

Tread carefully, my lovelies...

1. Monsters are notoriously well-hung. Sometimes to the point the female being serviced by it/them are in danger of injury.
2. A lone woman on an expedition to an exotic locale pretty much guarantees she will garner the attentions of a monster of some kind. Often, it's a group of monsters who want to impregnate and/or sex her up until she can't walk straight.
3. Said lone woman might initially fight the feelings of arousal or lust the monsters kindle in her, but she eventually succumbs to their monster-y demands.
4. Space tentacles are unparalleled explorers who will leave no hole unplundered.
5. Monsters are excessively horny.
6. All monsters like to be in charge during the sexin'.
7. Werewolves are territorial. Once they've found "the one", no other monster can touch her (or him)...
8. ...except when it's a werewolf orgy. Then, all bets are off.
9. The best tentacles come in every size and shape imaginable. The rare ones can change their size and shape according to need.
10. If you come across a labyrinth/maze in the middle of nowhere, chances are high you'll find an oversexed, VERY horny minotaur at its center.

There you go, my brave ones! Nothing says lovin' like monster-y goodness!

Discussion Post: How do you follow your favorite blogs?

I've been toying with the idea of getting rid of the Google Friend Connect widget (the "Followers" section in the sidebar) on my blog for a while. There are times it doesn't load quickly (or at all) and with the imminent death of the Google reader I've been thinking about how *relevant* it is now.

Here's the thing: I still get fairly consistent likes for this site through it. People are using it. Is it just because it's there or are there facets of it that I'm unaware of?

Here's what I'd like to know:

• Do you use Friend Connect? (either as a blogger or a blog reader)
• If you do use it as a blog reader, how do you use it? Is it simply to show support for blogs you admire or have you been using it to populate your Google Reader (or some other reader)?
• For blogs that don't use it, do you connect to them through the RSS feed (FeedBurner, etc) or in some other way?
• For those that use other ways, I'd love to hear how you follow a blog's content. Email? Do you manually add sites you enjoy into readers?

Talk to me, my lovelies. I'm all ears. I want to know what works for you!

Discussion Post: A shift in ratings and the dreaded DNF

You know what I realized the other day? I'm rating a lot less books at a 5-star level on Goodreads than I did last year. A LOT LESS. It got me wondering why. I mean, the quality of books is no less than last year. I'm still enjoying a large portion of the books I'm reading. So, why the shift?

Mostly, I think it's mood. I've had a few things going on the past few months in my personal life that could easily be affecting the way I rate. I want to be blown away and completely lose myself in a book and I'm less forgiving when it doesn't happen. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. It's the circle of life. Or something. But it does bring me around to a post Amanda wrote a while back about how ratings are completely subjective. Quite shockingly, I agree with her. (hush, you guys, we don't always agree on everything.) But really, if I'm in a mood, I'm liable to rate a book lower than I normally would unless it blows me away.

This same issue has also led me to DNF a couple of books recently. I read fast enough that I usually push through on books I don't love and finish them no matter what. I mean, it's just a few hours of my life, right? And, who knows, maybe the ending will rock my socks off. But lately? I've had a good five or six that I've dropped like a hot potato. I just didn't care enough to finish. The reasons range from anything to unrealistic dialogue right on up to characters acting like complete douches and/or acting so unrealistically in the framework of the story that I can't get behind them.

What does this mean? I have no idea. It's possible it's just a phase and I might snap out of it and go back to cheerfully dispensing 5 stars on any book that makes me smile. On the other hand, maybe this is the new Kelly. She's a little more hesitant about giving out those coveted 5-star ratings. She sometimes puts aside books that fail to capture her attention right away.

We'll just have to see.

My questions to you are: Have you ever experienced a shift in the way you rate? Did you shift back after a while or has this shift become the new normal?

Discussion Post: When you do everything right and it isn't enough

This is a post I was really hoping I wouldn't have to write. I mean, I was *really* hoping I wouldn't have to write it. Because, frankly, the entire situation is not fun.

Recently, it was brought to my attention that a review posted to the Barnes & Noble website contained content from a review I'd written. This post isn't about plagiarism, though. This post is about how B&N responded to my request to have the review removed.

Or didn't respond, as the case may be.

In case you're wondering, B&N has a handy page that details out what is and isn't allowed in reviews. You might notice that the opening section states that "By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party." (emphasis mine)

Guys, I went through the channels. I flagged the review for violation of their Terms of Use. Nothing happened. I contacted their customer support with the specifics of what parts of the review were lifted from mine. The email response I received said they would forward "your suggestion to the individuals responsible for NOOK Books for consideration and possible implementation" which doesn't address the issue I had contacted them with at all. I contacted their online chat and was given a review moderation email address to contact. I emailed the review moderation address with all the specifics, including links to the review in question and links to my review that the content was lifted from. Nothing happened.

Two weeks after I originally flagged the review, it was still up on their site.

Am I angry that I was plagiarized? Yes. But what I'm more upset about is that I went through all the steps. I provided the information to several different departments within B&N showing that the content was not original. And nothing was done.

As I was writing up this post Thursday morning, Amanda suggested tweeting @BN_care as a final step. I did this and was given yet another email address to send the specifics of the issue to. Well, I sent off the email and, surprisingly, the review was down within 30 minutes. Am I pleased by this? Yes. Does it negate everything that came before? No.

In the end, it took two weeks and five contact points before anything was done. My trust in what B&N is willing to do to counteract plagiarism -- no matter the type -- is virtually non-existent at this point. I wasn't asking for the moon. I was simply asking that the words that were stolen from me be removed from their site. I presented the facts, provided links to the reviews in question, and asked for resolution.

Here are my questions for you: How do you think that sites such as B&N, Amazon, and the like should deal with plagiarism in "user submitted" content, such as reviews? What responsibility do they have in maintaining and moderating this content once it has been submitted by a user?

Discussion Post: Tell me your tricks!

If you've been following my blog for a while, you probably know about my Blog Housekeeping feature that pops up every other Saturday. This feature was designed to help keep you (and me!) on track with little things like updating your review archive, cleaning up your sidebar, and crossposting reviews to the various places you crosspost to.

While the reminders are great (without them, I doubt I would have ever developed my Amazon crossposting plan) (yes, I really do have an Amazon crossposting plan), I want to know what procedures you have in place for the items that AREN'T an issue for you.

Wait. What?

Let me explain. I'm pretty good about keeping my review archive updated. Every Friday after my last review has gone live, I add the links for the current week. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Well, I know me. I need a little extra incentive to keep it up. So, after linking up the current week's reviews, I add in all the upcoming reviews for next week without links. That's my push to keep coming back to it every week. I don't want those reviews sitting there unlinked.

Now, I want you to share some of your tips and tricks! I love trying new things (well, sometimes. I don't think I'd try putting salsa on ice cream, which is something the Nieceling tried to convince me to do the other day!) and I want to SHARE YOUR IDEAS WITH ALL THE INTERNET! Or, just my little part of it.

Hit me up. If I get enough, I'll compile them and we can use it as a reference for future Blog Housekeeping posts. It doesn't matter how silly, I want to know what works for you!

Discussion Post: Things that make me happy (part 2)

Have you ever had one of those weeks where the little things that wouldn't normally bother you REALLY get you down? Well, I decided that instead of wallowing in my angsty angst, I'm going to focus on some of the things that make me happy.

Btw, I've done this before. All the things on that list? They still make me happy.

Things that make me happy (part 2)

1. All my followers - new and old, talkative and not-so-talkative, big, small, in between. You guys ROCK! The fact that you choose to stop by my blog and take the time to see what I have to say makes me feel all tingly inside. THANK YOU, to each and every one of you!

2. The sheer QUANTITY of quality books out in the world. From paranormal romance to YA to post-apolcalyptic powerhouses full of my beloved broken cities -- there are SO MANY books to choose from. Yes, sometimes the actual choosing can get overwhelming (what to read! what to read!) but the fact that there are books to capture nearly every fancy out there makes me grin.

3. Book signings! I love meeting authors. I love meeting the people who go to meet the authors. No matter how I look at this one, it's a win! (Psst, I went to a book signing for Veronica Rossi last night. *squeal*)

4. The Nieceling and the Boy -- who really do all the things I talk about on Twitter. Seriously, I couldn't make half that stuff up. I mean... who threatens to throw hot corn at a wasp? WHO? The Nieceling, that's who. Yes, sometimes the two of them drive me crazy but they're fun in a way I can appreciate and I miss them when they're gone.

There's more -- there's no limit to the things I can find when I put my mind to it -- but I want to save those so I can pull them out the next time the little things start bugging me.

Tell me some of the things that make you happy. I want to share in your happy thoughts!

Discussion Post: Looking for that (literary) HEA

Have you ever been happily reading along when suddenly, out of the blue, something terrible happens that throws you out of the momentum of the book?

In my case, I was reading a nice little book when the hero was suddenly struck down and DIED just before the end. (Sorry, guys, I won't say what book it is. I'm aggressively anti-spoiler -- except when I flip ahead to the end of the book. o.O)

I'm not going to lie, the sudden death took me by surprise. It was jarring and it was entirely unexpected simply because I thought that the hints we'd been given about him possibly dying were just another roadblock the hero and heroine would have to work around.

I read books to escape into another world. I read romance because I like the push and pull that comes from well constructed characters battling their inevitable headlong fall into love. I don't necessarily need a full-on Happily Ever After. I mean, I would be thrilled with a Happy For Now. When the heroine (or hero) is struck by tragedy at the end of the book and doesn't have the chance to recover, it's hard for me to read. HARD. I can appreciate someone overcoming overwhelming odds and fighting through the pain of losing someone, but I want that to be part of the story. I want to see them triumph. Losing someone at the end and not getting to be part of that journey makes me blink in bewilderment.

Now that I've said that, I am going to say that I did read a book AGES ago (seriously, I think the glaciers were just forming and dinosaurs roamed the earth) where both the main characters died. And you knew this going into the book because the author told you in the prologue (No, I can't tell you what book it is because I honestly don't remember the title at this point). AND IT WORKED! It was one of the sweetest romances I've ever read and I devoured it.

So, I'm not saying that killing off your main character (or characters) in a romance novel is BAD necessarily, I'm just saying that it takes a certain amount of finessing. I want the HEA. I want to know that these characters are being rewarded for all their literary heartache by the time I reach the end of the book.

Tell me how you feel about this. Do romance books where a main character dies work for you -- are passion and tragedy your thing? Or are you strictly there for the HEA?

Discussion Post: Novellas and short stories

Recently, I gorged myself on a variety of short stories. What? It happens. All of the stories were from established series that I have enjoyed IMMENSELY in the past. They were pretty evenly divided between showing us glimpses of characters that we've seen before and introducing all new characters with no mention of the main boys and girls we've come to know and love.

Now, I'm personally addicted to these little gems. I love revisitng old favorites -- whether it's a day-in-the-life sort of story or giving deeper insight into events that were hinted at during the course of the main book -- and now I find that I love meeting new characters that expand the world we've been introduced to.

A few short stories/novellas that have killed me dead:

Honestly, these two pulled me in and spit me out. It was GLORIOUS!

Annnnd here come the fun, probing questions --
For everyone... What are some novellas/short stories that you've read? What did you like/dislike about them?

And for those that enjoy them... Do you prefer stories that are set in an already established world (as with the Elder Races series)? Or do you prefer stand-alone shorts that come without any baggage?