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JoanGrey

@[email protected]

Joan Grey is your friendly, neighborhood wordsmith. She can be found working outside with her flock of nutty hens, inside fondling yarn and knitting, or sitting in front of computer screens; but mostly she's found trapped underneath cats, trying desperately to reach her coffee cup.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia @bookstodon

I was seduced by the murder yellow in the cover: I read P.F. Ford's A Body Under the Bridge; it really didn't work for me.

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/06/26/a-body-under-the-bridge-by-p-f-ford/

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @bookstodon

What IS it with incredibly attractive covers and not-good stories inside them? UGH.

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia @bookstodon

I read Matilda Madison's historical romance A Duke Makes a Deal

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/06/11/a-duke-makes-a-deal-by-matilda-madison/

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @bookstodon

Is it even possible for the lady and her dowry to have been wagered in that way?

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

Covers have a purpose: they signal the genre within.

A cartoon cover of two people dressed casually for camping does not--and I cannot stress this enough--signal EROTICA to anyone.

Holy jumping WHAT THE HELL, , WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL--you are setting that book (and its author) up to fail.

@romancelandia @bookstodon

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @bookstodon

The vector illo style isn't helping this at all. If you told me this was NA hiking/college romance, with fade to black closed-door intimacy, I'd be more willing to believe it than if you handed this to me and said it's erotica. Oof.

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

If a book is part of Kindle Unlimited, it is NOT free; not any more "free" than something you watch as part your streaming service subscription.

Marketing a KU title as part of "FREE" promotions is utter bullshit.

@bookstodon @romancelandia

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @bookstodon @romancelandia

I am so tired of the KU=Free fallacy!!! UGH.

I have KU, I sell in KU, but I pay for the first and get paid for the second. NEITHER is free.

Augh.

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia @bookstodon

I read Emily Royal's Oddity of the Ton; unfortunately, not for me.

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/04/29/oddity-of-the-ton-by-emily-royal/

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @bookstodon

You're not having any luck with books recently, are you? I'm so sorry!

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia @bookstodon

A day late, here's my April's review of Sarah Morgan's First Time in Forever.

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/04/18/first-time-in-forever-by-sarah-morgan/

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @bookstodon

Hmmm, that sounds dreary.

MagentaRocks , to bookstodon
@MagentaRocks@mastodon.coffee avatar

This never occurred to me. I read anytime throughout the day - whenever it strikes the mood. I think reading is good for you, no matter the time of day.

Anybody else feel the same as the writer of the opinion piece?

@bookstodon

Opinion
I’m retired, and I still won’t let myself read in the daytime. Why not?

Gift Link:

https://wapo.st/4aG52cI

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@MagentaRocks @bookstodon

Huuuh. I read all the time. I read while I eat. I read while I wait for the water to boil while I'm cooking. I read literally whenever I have a free second.

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@willaful @MagentaRocks @bookstodon

Oddly, I don't like most commercial audiobooks, but I've tumbled into podfic, which is audiobooks of fanfiction, and somehow those are perfect for me.

I'm trying to use one that I really love as a 'reward' for exercising - I only listen to that one when I'm on the elliptical or doing body weight exercise.

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia

A blog post by a long-time Romancelandia member, Lori Green, inspired a rant (heed thee the content warnings)

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/03/24/wealth-greed-bodily-autonomy-control/

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

I'm in a discord server for people using a specific Planning and Organizing system.

One of the repeated issues people (women) have is that their partners (husbands) feel personally rejected when the women say that they are working at a specific time and can't be interrupted.

Their men have had temper tantrums and accused them of deliberately setting out to HURT them simply because they've said that from 2-4 every day, they're working on their novel.

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

One of the women's husband told her when it was okay for her to have her own working time and he still resented her and it.

The tone of the discussion is the same as one where people are talking about how to get a toddler to behave.

It's eyewatering and appalling.

(My husband, when I mentioned it, looked at me like I was high and said, If you're working, I'll ignore you. I'll scratch on the door when you're done, because it'll be funny to be like the cats.)

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia

For this month's , I read Michelle Willingham's Unlaced by the Outlaw. It didn't go well.

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/03/20/unlaced-by-the-outlaw-by-michelle-willingham/

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

This book sounds catastrophically bad, wow.

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia

It was a rough night here at casa aztec, but Nightmare is feeling much improved right now.

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/03/16/a-little-nightmare/

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

Ohhh, sweetie. What a good baby.

Give her pets (soft, gentle) from me. <3 <3 <3

JoanGrey , to romancelandia
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia
Okay. I want to write some fun, fast novellae and I'm thinking of mafia romances. Only, I don't want to write the Dark Romance tropes (I, uh, really don't like them), and I do want to write queer romances.

It's the mafia part that holding me up, I think. Are queer mafia romances popular? If I'm going against type by writing queer mafia romance, will I get away with also not writing the Dark tropes?

What if I change to vampires?

1/?

JoanGrey OP ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia

Vampires can have the same sort of... in-group/out-group thing, right? And inherent, leashed violence (I'm aiming at something of the Alpha trope - protective and willing to be aggro about it.)

I've got some fun prompts to work with, but really I mostly want someone to tell me that this won't be a total waste of time.

People still like vampires, right?

JoanGrey , to romancelandia
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia

I'm in the market for mafia (or thriller?) romances that don't lean into the dark/abusive romance tropes. Het or queer are both welcome.

(I'm trying this again, since I didn't tag it well last time.)

skaeth , to bookstodon
@skaeth@writing.exchange avatar

What are your thoughts on DNF (Did Not Finish)-ing books? Do you feel guilty about it? Do you worry you missed out on something? Or are you confident in dropping a book and reaching for the next one?

At what point are you most likely to DNF, if ever? What sorts of things cause you to DNF?

My friend, book blogger Kriti, was musing on these questions a while back, and it sparked this new post: https://armedwithabook.com/dealing-with-dnf-the-practice-of-did-not-finish/

@bookstodon

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@skaeth @bookstodon

I DNF with glee and abandon. I've DNFed on the first page. If I can tell that I don't want to be in a character's head, there's no earthly reason why I should stay there.

Reading is (for me) supposed to be fun. It's not fun if I'm hating every second of what I'm reading.

If I get bored, I'll just... wander off and find something I like better.

No harm, no foul.

SuperWendy , to romancelandia
@SuperWendy@romancelandia.club avatar

So there's a fantasy subgenre called Weird West? Had no idea. – Once More With Feeling: Territory by Emma Bull https://victoriajanssen.com/2024/01/tbr-challenge-once-more-with-feeling-territory-by-emma-bull/ via @victoriajanssen @romancelandia

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@SuperWendy @victoriajanssen @romancelandia

Yes and that book is fantastic!

Da_Gut , to bookstodon
@Da_Gut@dice.camp avatar

Dracula Daily?
While browsing my local library's online items, I stumbled on this. I had never heard of Dracula daily - did anyone participate? What did you think? I expect it will take place this year..

@bookstodon

Let's read Dracula together! We'll start on May 3rd and each day, read only what happens to the characters on that day. Sound good? Let’s go. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is an epistolary novel—it’s made up of letters, diaries, telegrams, newspaper clippings—and every part of it has a date. The whole story happens between May 3rd and November 6th. Dracula Daily, however, is a lightly remixed adaptation. I've rearranged Dracula to be strictly chronological, divided into days, so we can get all the characters experiences as the story happens. It was originally started in 2021 as an email newsletter. You sign up at draculadaily.com and get an email each day that something happens to the characters in the same timeline that it happens to them. Some days theres a lot of activity, some days just a few sentences, and many days nothing at all. You only get an email when there’s action taking place in Dracula. But this book is a handy way to get the same experience on paper. You can read along with Jonathan and Mina and Jack and the crew in ‘real time; using the innovative technology of a ribbon bookmark. Start on May 3rd. Stop when you get to the end of that day. Place your bookmark there, and pick up the book again on May 4th. Voila! The stretched-out reading cadence of Dracula Daily—some days with only a few paragraphs, some days a whole <...> You'll feel the distances and durations the characters traverse. Fair warning: you'll need to set aside a lot of time for October 3rd.

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@Da_Gut @bookstodon

OMG, I was in the first year they did it and it's amazing. Tons of fun and much creepier than reading the book ever was. I kept up with all the emails and waited anxiously to hear from everyone in the story.

All in all, a fantastic experience and one I have enjoyed in the following years, as well.

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia
PSA: pirating site giving away indie and self published books and asking for "donations". They even have a "mission" statement twisting Gaiman's position against DRM to justify pirating thousands of books

site address (minus spaces)
ocean of pdf.com

If your books are on kindle unlimited, amazon can ding YOU if anyone finds them elsewhere, including pirating sites.

Report the to their hosting service here:

https://abuse.cloudflare.com/dmca

Please share and boost!

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

Fuck, this is the first time anything of mine has actually been on a pirating site. Fuck fuck fuck.

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@willaful @herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

YES! Which is a huge problem! I'm going to contact them to request its removal, but I'm not sure if that gets in the way of my complaint to Cloudflare.

This whole thing sucks.

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia

Another holiday token from years past: a drink-can star-shaped box.

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/drink-can-star-shaped-box/

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

I made tin-can stars for my holiday tree, and once I made a tiny square box. We drink fizzy water in cans - I should make more!

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia
Just because: most handmade ornaments!

https://mastodon.social/@JuliusGoat/111697850354586035

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

(This is the same article as the one in your post about the Press being complicit.)

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia

It is that time of year again--will I manage to actually finish these on time?

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2023/12/09/miniature-braided-paper-ornament/

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

Sooooooo, if we traded addresses, we could trade cute handmade art thingies!

<3

mjjmori , to bookstodon
@mjjmori@mastodon.social avatar

The hardest thing about is the continual effort of invention.

Even if you know where the narrative starts and where it ends and the big events in between, many more small events are needed to fill 50k words.

It also needs to be engaging with a sense of building tension. This is where one’s craft comes in.

It’s an amazing experience, a humbling fire consuming old mental structures yet powering the creation of new ways of thinking.

@bookstodon @amwriting

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@golgaloth @mjjmori @bookstodon @amwriting

And an outline!

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@mjjmori @golgaloth @bookstodon @amwriting

I've posted this link before, but for someone else, I think.

I'm a heavy outliner - I include all/most of the little side conversations and bits and bobs in my outlines, because I find that with that complete an outline, I can get up to 5-8000 words in a writing day. (The link is ugly, I'm so sorry.)

I know a lot of pantsers and plantsers, but I'm not one of them.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JVbRTRm-_a9SPAnqaMv4NySohIFJddEPIlzKsmsG2LM/edit?usp=sharing

iamgaarden , to bookstodon
@iamgaarden@mastodon.world avatar

Hello @bookstodon

I'm looking for sff books with female knights. I'm not picky with genre labels, I just really love my female knights 😌

Know of any?

I have read and loved:

  • Sam Darren's Dragonoak trilogy
  • Justin Lee Anderson's The Lost War
  • Craig Schaefer's The Wisdom's Grave trilogy

And currently I'm reading Tamora Pierce's Alanna: The First Adventure

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@iamgaarden @bookstodon

The third trilogy in the Alanna world is also about a lady knight and it's one of my favorite series. Just perfect.

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

Hey, @romancelandia
via long time romance reader Marilyn:"I don't read a lot of contemporaries, but this is a really good romance. Different. And the protagonists are actual grownups."

Emma Barry's Chick Magnet is on sale at just under two dollars, for the rest of November.

https://www.amazon.com/Chick-Magnet-Emma-Barry-ebook/dp/B09Y5HHZ6G/

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

Wait. WAIT!!!

CHICKEN ROMANCE? I'm so in, you have no idea, omg.

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia
Found via @tuphlos on twitter, this piece has some blood pressure-raising bits; the most important is the assumption that changing the covers of genre romances of different heat levels/sexual content, changes the actual content.

"oh, these books that are no longer coded erotic romance are actually good stories/writing/characters, but I couldn't have known unless they had acceptable covers" is a thing said there.



https://pudding.cool/2023/10/romance-covers/?mc_cid=714e175360&mc_eid=8bf78c98f8

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @tuphlos

Oh wow, I've only read the first page and I'm ticked off at the smarmy tone. UGH.

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @tuphlos

Also, they're clearly cherry-picking the more modern covers. The number of covers shown goes way down and they're sticking to a very few, specific, sub-genres.

JoanGrey , (edited )
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @tuphlos

This is like a super cheaply and crudely done K-Lytics cover report, with added smarm and anti-romance-genre bias smeared all over it like mud.

WTF.

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @tuphlos @romancelandia

We won't mention the lack of interest in queer romance, of course.

:screams into the void:

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia

Is anyone else having issues with jetpack showing their stats correctly on a free blog?

In days when I have a bit more traffic, the main page will give me a number, but when I click on the traffic tab, the listed blog posts and views do not match that number, they're significantly fewer.

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

You can get jetpack to work at all!?

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

If it's a kindle unlimited book, it's not FREE--just like a show or movie on Prime isn't free.

@romancelandia

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

KU is a paid lending library. It's not FREE. I pay for that.

And by paying for it, I pay the fucking authors.

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@peachfront @herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

Yeah, tell me about it (the low pay). I'm a KU author and I'm just... I don't want to go wide, because just the thought of having to do all the marketing etc myself is wrenching, but KU's just... not paying.

(Admittedly, I do need to poke my ads, but... :whine:)

ExcessivelyDiverting , to histodons
@ExcessivelyDiverting@romancelandia.club avatar

'Pride & Prejudice's Alternate Ending Scandalized UK Audiences

https://collider.com/pride-and-prejudice-2005-alternate-ending/

@bookstodon @histodons

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@ExcessivelyDiverting @bookstodon @histodons

Initially, I thought you meant that Austen had written a here-to-fore unknown alternate ending and I was shocked, but no, this is about the 2005 movie. Phew.

herhandsmyhands , to romancelandia
@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club avatar

@romancelandia

Being a voracious reader of a certain age, I was reading Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children novels back in the early 1980s, as they were being published.

So I've been familiar with the whole "modern humans interbred with Neanderthals at various times" thing.

This "Neanderthals were smarter than us" take here is new to me; food for thought, but at first read I'm very much not convinced.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/sep/10/ludovik-slimak-neanderthal-hunter-reinterprets-our-prehistory

JoanGrey ,
@JoanGrey@romancelandia.club avatar

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

Ooooh yeah, I read those when I was... uh. In my formative years, as well. :waggles eyebrows:

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