Lynn Raye Harris

As I write this, I still don’t know where Gustav will hit or at what strength. My brother has chosen to stay; he’s on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, about 4 or 5 blocks from the lakefront. He has a generator, food, and water, and he and his family will ride it out. They don’t expect it to be as bad as Katrina, so that’s the decision. The aunts went to Baton Rouge, Grandma was evacuated a couple of days ago, and I suspect the cousin is with her mother in BR. I’ve been there during the remnants of a hurricane. Can’t remember which one, but it had to be the late 70s or early 80s. I remember a lot of wind and rain, but it wasn’t scary. These days, I’d be terrified — but then Katrina and Gustav are completely different from what I experienced.

When I read that Grand Isle had evacuated voluntarily several days ago, it made me think of a book. So, I stared to think it might be nice to talk about books set in Louisiana.

Naturally, any English major who studied Modern Lit would probably think of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. Set almost entirely on Grand Isle and in New Orleans, this book is about a woman’s struggle to define herself as an individual during a time when women were only allowed to be wives and mothers. Edna Pontellier dares to want something more — and society does not approve. Nor did it approve of Kate Chopin for writing such racy stuff.

Then there’s this novel:

Why is this book so famous? Well, here’s where I admit I haven’t read it yet. It’s set entirely in New Orleans, but I think what makes this book so amazing to me is the story of how it came to be. John Kennedy Toole killed himself before it was published. Eleven years before it was published. His mother found the manuscript in his belongings. Then she insisted that a prominent literary professor read it. He did and championed it to publication.

Oh, and did I mention that it won a Pulitzer Prize? John Kennedy Toole wrote a book, committed suicide at the age of 31, and never lived to see his masterpiece in print. It’s still in print, it won the Pulitzer, and it’s considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever written.

A woman claims to have killed a Cajun farmer, but when the sheriff arrives, several old black men are claiming to have done the deed. It’s the first time these men have stood up for themselves, and they do so in the face of white power and the racism of the day. The book is described as powerful and moving. I own it, but haven’t read it yet. I intend to.

Now, what about James Lee Burke and the Dave Robicheaux novels? I’ve read a couple, and I’m always amazed by Burke’s way with words. He tells a fine story. There’s All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, loosely based on the life of Huey P. Long — this book is another Pulitzer winner.

I realize this isn’t a complete list by any stretch. For instance, there’s also Anne Rice, who lived in New Orleans for many years and set the Vampire Chronicles there. Jennifer Blake, romance writer, is a native Louisianan and sets many books there.

Nora Roberts set at least one book that I know of in New Orleans (probably more as prolific as she is). Tami Hoag set Lucky’s Lady in the bayou. And who can ever forget Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire? Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando are unforgettable in the movie version of the famous play. Stanley Kowalski standing in the rain and bellowing “Stellaaaaa!” — whoa. Was Brando not amazingly gorgeous back then?

Okay, so he wasn’t nice as Stanley, but he was nice to look at.

That’s my Literary Louisiana tour. I’m sure I’ve left things out, so if you know a good one, give me a shout in the comments! Have you read any of these books? Have you seen Streetcar? The Brando/Leigh version or a different one? If you’ve seen the Brando/Leigh version, have you seen the uncut version with the rape scene? I haven’t yet.

Oh, and Happy Labor Day. Can you believe it’s September already? Another year, another birthday. Wow.

I got nothing to talk about. You? Any big plans for the July 4th holiday? Mine involved New Orleans, crawfish, family, and sightseeing. Until mon pere had a tiny little car accident last night. Now, the trip is canceled until the fall. Ah well. Really, I need the time to prepare for SF anyway! Much shopping to do, lists to make, etc. (Everyone is fine — except the car, that is.)

I’m also reading Roxanne St. Claire’s Then You Hide and feeling depressed. Rocki is SOOOO good. I’ve been wanting to read the book for a while, but deadlines and all that kept me from reading much of anything. And now I’m turning pages like my fingers are on fire and wondering if I’ll ever be this good. I can only hope!

Any good books on your list this summer? Any cool trips planned?

Video book trailers are the hot thing now, it seems. Everyone is doing one. Some are great (no, I have no examples because I really, really pay very little attention to them) and some are downright corny (no examples because my mama said if you can’t say anything nice, etc). Apparently, according to the Wall Street Journal, it’s turning into quite the cottage industry:

Circle of Seven Productions, a Brentwood, Calif.-based production company specializing in book trailers, had more than 100 clients last year, up from about a dozen in 2005. TurnHere, a two-year-old Emeryville, Calif.-based production company, has deals with Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group, Hachette and Chronicle Books. And HarperCollins has cut out the middleman; the publisher just built a book-trailer studio in its offices and says it hopes to churn out 500 author videos this year.

The article also says that book trailers can cost a lot of money to produce. Obviously, this puts them out of reach of the average author, which is why the homemade ones crop up a lot. Nothing wrong with homemade and, again, some of them are pretty good.

But do they work?

There is scant evidence, however, that the average book trailer actually has much impact on book sales. Despite Doubleday’s recent video upload for the self-help book “We Plan, God Laughs,” by Sherre Hirsch, the book has sold only about 3,000 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 70% of U.S. book sales. And even though Jami Attenberg’s trailer for her novel “The Kept Man” is reminiscent of Miranda July’s short films, only 3,000 copies of Ms. Attenberg’s recent book have sold. Most trailers cost about $2,000 to produce.

I think romance writers have embraced the idea of trailers and many work hard to make them. But what do I do when I click over to a site that has a trailer? I skip it. Unless you’re a friend, or you’ve specifically asked me to look at it, I skip. Why?

Dunno, guess I’m in a hurry. And that, to me, is the crux of the trailer issue. If you want to do a trailer, make it short, sweet, and to the point. Just my opinion, of course!

What do you think about trailers? Like them, hate them, want to do one? What are your criteria for good trailers? What makes you watch or not?

**The WSJ article is here.

**Wow, here’s a site where you can go watch book trailers! In the interest of research, I watched. Okay, there are some good ones here. Hmm…

Go congratulate Nalini Singh on making the NYT list!!! Yay, Nalini!!!!!

I forgot how much I enjoyed 80+ degree temps at Christmas. Alabama isn’t bad in the winter, but it was in the 30s last night when we drove to my parents’ house for dinner. Brrr! To think that just last week, I was wearing a bathing suit…..

Here’s a pic of Nassau. Doesn’t that look inviting? No one warned me about the Straw Market. In consequence, I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t take enough cash off the ship and only managed to buy two purses instead of the 5 or so I would have liked to buy.

Some people don’t like the hassle of bargaining with merchants. Some people don’t like the close quarters of the market. But I loved it. I have no problem saying no and no problem walking away. Therefore, I think my designer knockoffs were a bargain.

Next stop was St. Thomas on Christmas day. Isn’t it gorgeous? Reminded me of a cross between Hawaii and the Amalfi coast in Italy. I would definitely love to spend some time in the USVI. It’s much closer than Hawaii, and just as lovely.

Finally, here we are with the famous coconut monkey cups. Yes, they are tacky tourist tchotchke. They are over priced. But I teased my hubby one too many times about getting sloshed on coconut monkey drinks. So he went to the bar and bought two (with margaritas inside) just to shut me up, I think.

All in all, the cruise was fun. The difficulties I imagined in traveling with both sets of parents were just that — my imagination. Everyone got along fabulously. No one felt pressured to do anything they didn’t want to do. We spent whole days doing nothing. When the ladies wanted to go shopping, we went. When the men wanted to lounge around doing nothing, they did it.

I think I will cruise again. I enjoyed being waited on, enjoyed lounging around reading books. I tried the casino, but wasn’t hooked. After I lost $50 in the slots, I was cured of any desire to keep trying. I also went to an art auction, but I set my number on the table, face down, and put my sunglasses on top to keep me out of trouble. It worked, thank God. Not so much for others, though. Someone in the room spent eleven grand on four Peter Max prints. PRINTS, not oils, not one-of-a-kind paintings. Then there were the Rembrandt woodcuts for 15K. No one bought them.

I only read two books on board (though I took about 10), but they were both very good. I finally read J.R. Ward’s Dark Lover. Yeah, I’m hooked, and I don’t even like vampires that much. It’s her characterization. Fabulous. I had some quibbles with the story, but not enough to make me stop. That’s good writing, when you get mad at the characters but are too interested in their story to stop reading.

I also read Maria V. Snyder’s Poison Study. Another winner. Great book, and now I have to buy the sequel in trade paperback because I can’t wait for mass market. I took along a J.D. Robb, but didn’t get to it. Hubby read it, and he was hooked, but ultimately didn’t like it. Too much romance for him. Still, Nora had him turning those pages.

What did you do over the holidays? Get everything you wanted for Christmas? Make any new resolutions? I have to think about mine. I purposely didn’t take a computer or Alphie on the cruise because I wanted time away from writing, so now I’m getting my brain back into gear and thinking about what I want to accomplish this year. If you’ve figured out your goals, please share!

For all the detractors who claim romance novels are unrealistic fluffy trash meant to be devoured at beaches when you want to give your brain a rest from the hard parts of life, this anonymous letter ought to make you realize that romance writers aren’t lumpable into a single category, nor dismissable as hacks. (NOTE: This letter is not for the faint of heart. I believe there is a warning when you start reading, but if not, consider yourself warned.)

For a look into the life of a brilliant, beautiful, and talented romance writer, this article about my fellow Hawaii chaptermate Jane Porter shows you just how smart and well-spoken a romance author can be. Yay to Jane for not making excuses about her writing! She tells a good story and she’s proud of it. She’s an auto-buy for me, not simply because I know and admire her, but because she writes thought-provoking stories that resonate with me.

Fellow Heart of Dixie chapter member Linda Winstead Jones is in the running for Best Romance Novel of 2007 on Amazon.com! Her book, Raintree: Haunted was one of the Raintree trilogy stories (Linda Howard and Beverly Barton wrote the other two). If you read and loved the series, you can vote for her here.

I’m thinking of Simon and Garfunkel, of course, and replacing Joe Dimaggio with LK.

I received an order from Amazon yesterday, and as I greedily handled the books I’d ordered, I realized something. There was only one historical in the bunch. (And only one straight contemp that didn’t feature suspense or some version of a vampire, demon, shapeshifter, whatever, but that’s another story.)

What happened to the long, lush, character driven historical romances of yore? Where is Laura and why isn’t NY throwing petals at her feet? I know she burned out, I know she had trouble, but my God, the woman came back with Shadowheart. This is the woman who wrote Flowers from the Storm, Seize the Fire, and The Shadow and the Star. Not to mention The Prince of Midnight, The Dream Hunter, and For My Lady’s Heart. (Okay, my command-copy-paste fingers are getting tired. Go to Amazon. Search for Kinsale.)

She wrote a book with dialogue in Middle English. She wrote some of the most lush prose ever. She made me weep with longing to write like that. She also depressed me because I knew I never could.

I didn’t like all her books. I wasn’t a Midsummer Moon fan. It wasn’t the prose or the storytelling so much as it was the ditzy heroine. I just couldn’t connect with her. But, damn, I still admired the craft. Disliking characters is better than being indifferent to them.

I started thinking about this because of a discussion over at The Soapbox Queens the other day. Brenda Chin was talking about her first romance novel and how it changed her life. Woodiwiss cropped up quite a lot in the comments, and deservedly so. But, if I’d thought more about it at the time, I’d have realized that it was Kinsale who affected me the most.

I miss the woman. I checked out her website, found a post from nearly 2 years ago where she stated she wasn’t selling her latest book because NY wanted dark and she’d written light for a change. She had offers, but they weren’t what she wanted, so she shelved it. That, my friends, is a tragedy.

My fabulously talented critique partner and I have been discussing this for a while. She’s sick of suspense (though she sweetly reads my stuff anyway and offers great suggestions). She wants big contemps that are character driven — the SEPs and Rachel Gibsons — novels without a car chase, dead body, or explosion (oops, the current WIP has all three).

I agree. There’s room for a lot more variety than we’re getting right now. I do seem to be picking up a lot of paranormal these days, but is that because they’re there or because I’d pick them up anyway? Not sure, though I do enjoy the good ones. Just like I enjoy any good romance.

How about you? Is there any writer you miss? Are you sick of certain trends? Or do you think they’ll continue?

(No 70 days update tonight as I’ll be going to dinner and a concert with hubby and parents. But, so far today, I’ve made half my word count…)

Edited to add: All this talking about Kinsale got me distracted into searching up stuff on her. I found two posts over at the Smart Bitches where they do lightning reviews of all her books. Only one book got less than an A grade from them (which, if you follow the SBs, you know is pretty amazing). Go read if you’re interested….

Part I
Part II