Book Bloggers and Publishers Online Conference

Here is the program for The Conference.  It is not to late to sign up.  Click on the button on the right to get information and sign up.

TIMES AND PANELS

WEDNESDAY MARCH 7, 2012

12:00 pm EST  _________ Opening Announcements

Moderators: Terry Kate, Jessica – Novel Reaction, Barb – Sugarbeat’s Books

12:30 pm EST  _________ Netgalley and Bloggers

Kristina Radke – Netgalley

Jessica – Novel Reaction – Moderator

01:30 pm EST  _________ Where Review Copies Come From

Abigail – All Things Urban Fantasy

03:00 pm EST _________  Working with Groups of Self-published Authors
08:00 pm EST _________ Legal Issues Facing Bloggers

Caridad Piniero – Author/Lawyer

Terry Kate – Moderator

09:30 pm EST _________ Blog Tours: Pros and Cons to Participating 

Heather Bannon – Kismet  Nook Touring

Barb – Sugarbeats

Terry Kate – Moderator

THURSDAY MARCH 8, 2012

12:00 pm EST  _________ Opening Announcements
12:30 pm EST  _________ Working with Authors

Abigail – All Things Urban Fantasy

02:00 pm EST _________ The Creative Process for Authors and Bloggers
03:30 pm EST _________ Category Romance
04:40 pm EST _________ GLBT in Publishing
06:00 pm EST _________ Publishing: The Options Available to Authors

Alexandrea Weis – Author

08:00 pm EST _________ What Authors Look for in Reviews
09:00 pm EST _________ Authors as Reviewers

Doug – Scifi Guy

FRIDAY M

ARCH 9, 2012

10:30 am EST ________ Opening Announcements
11:00 am EST ________ Working with Large Publishers

Gabrielle Gantz- Viking Publishing

12:30 pm EST ________ Working with Private PR Companies

Alexandra Kirsch – Planned TV Arts

Elena Stokes – Wunderkind PR

02:00 pm EST ________ Publisher Expectations
03:00 pm EST ________ Genre Diversity – Look Outside your Comfort Zone
04:30 pm EST ________ Reviews: Publisher Input
05:30 pm EST ________ Sell yourself to Publishers/PR Companies/Authors as a Professional Blogger

Abigail – All Things Urban Fantasy

07:30 pm EST ________ Creative Content: Stand Out
09:00 pm EST ________ Closing Discussion

SATURDAY MARCH 10, 2012

11:00 am EST  _______ Morning Announcements
11:30 am EST  _______ Defining your Blog – Make it what you want

Doug – Scifi Guy

Rachel – Bitten by Books

Mary – The Book Hound

01:00 pm EST _______ Keeping Social Media Social – Kristen Lamb
02:30 pm EST _______ Young Adult Feature

Jennifer Bonnell – Senor YA Editor: Penguin

Kate Lied – Publicist Bloomsbury

05:00 pm EST _______ YA Content Discussion

Kailin – Sparklesoup Publishing

Jessica – Novel Reaction

06:00 pm EST _______ Review Guidelines
07:00 pm EST _______ To Review of Not to Review Self-Pub
08:30 pm EST _______ Negative Reviews: Fallout and Fears

Teaser Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: 

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

My teaser this week is from The Alloy of Law (A Mistborn Novel)  by Brandon Sanderson.  Look for my review of the book later this week.

"He should be getting back to the party to chat and try to repair House Ladrian's reputation.  But the thought of that crowded room, so hot, so close, sweltering, making it difficult to breathe..."

Book Bloggers and Publisher's Online Conference

Bloggers don't miss this event.  The Ning is up.  Go register and prepare to learn and have fun at the same time.  Click on the link on the right to register.

Musing Mondays, March 5, 2012.

This week’s musing asks…

When you walk into a bookstore — any bookstore — what’s the first section you head toward (what draws you)?


This is a easy one.  I always head for my first love Science Fiction.  After that I look at the new books and they mysteries and romance.  I am very predictable. 

In My Mailbox, March 4, 2012

In My Mail Box is hosted by The Story Siren and is an opportunity to share the books I get each week. 

I got the following books in my mailbox this week.




From Amazon Vine:

Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Eelia MacNeal - a new mystery series set during World War II.
Silver by Rhiannon Held - a urban fantasy


Purchased from Amazon:

Master of None by Sonya Bateman - a paranormal
Timeless by Gail Carriger - a paranormal/steampunk


From the Library:

The Alloy of Law (A Mistborn Novel) by Brandon Sanderson - a fantasy

 

Quinten’s Story by KS Augustin

Science Fiction/Space Opera

Quinten’s Story is a bit of a change for KS Augustin.  Her books are usually romances but while Quinten’s Story has a romance in the past the book is pure Science Fiction/ Space Opera.  Here is the Blurb from the book:

Quinten Tamlan was once the scourge of the Republic. Then he disappeared….

It’s been seven long years for Quinten Tamlan. Scarred and bitter, he has lost direction and the spark of idealism that once fired his resolve. But when he is forced to take on a new crewmember, he is once more pulled back into a past that refuses to let go.

Quinten believes he has his own problems. He believes he is alone and forgotten. He is wrong. Quite wrong.

The first part of Quinten’s Story has numerous flashbacks that explain how Quinten got to where he is today.  It was my least favorite part of the book.  I could see what was going to happen, knew I could not change it, and just wanted to get through that part as fast as I could.  The rest of the story is about the change that is brought on when Quinten takes on a new crew member. 

Quinten’s Story is just plain old fashioned good story telling.  The characters are intriguing, the plot full of twists and turns, the action riveting, and the writing superb.  It does end with something’s unresolved but Augustine states on her web site that there will be a sequel.  I for one will be watching for it to be published.

.

Sandal Press published Quinten’s Story by KS Augustine in 2012.

Book Beginnings on Friday, March 2, 2012

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Katy from A Few More Pages. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include  include the title and author so others know what you're reading.

This was my Waiting on Wednesday book.  It came in the mail Wednesday and I have already finished it.  Timeless by Gail Carriger is the last Alexia Tarabotti novel.  I have to applaud Gail for stopping the series instead of continuing until it got old.  I don't want to spoil the end for anyone but I will say it was a very elegant ending.  Even with that Timeless left me wanting more.  Of course there will be a new series featuring Alexia and Conall's precocious child.

Here is how Timeless begins:

"I said no such thing," grumbled Lord Maccon, allowing himself, begrudgingly, to be trussed in a new evening  jacket."

Here is what Goodreads has to say about Timeless.

 Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell's acting troupe's latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a damper on Alexia's enjoyment of her new London lifestyle. 

Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. With husband, child, and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

Dust by Elizabeth Bear

Science Fiction

Dust has been in my electronic TBR pile since I purchased my first eReader 5 years ago.  I loved the premise:  A broken generation ship, a star about to go nova, and two women who unite to save the day.  Sounded like something I would love to read but when I started the book I did not get past the first few pages and never picked it up again.  Then several weeks ago I was at the library looking for a new audio book and saw Dust.  I will often listen to a book I would not read so I checked it out.  I am glad I listened but I would never have finished the book in print form.

Dust is not like any other book about a generation ship.  Nothing on the ship is as I expected.  The story is more about love and hate, reaction to change, and the personalities of the people and the AI’s on the ship than it is about getting the ship to move.  The prose is beautiful but often introspective.  The characters are often confused and as a result the action is confusing.  There are frequent changes in point of view adding to the confusion.  Having said all of that Dust is book one of a three part trilogy and if I could find Chill and Grail in audio book form I would finish the trilogy.

Here is what Goodreads has to say about Dust:

On a broken ship orbiting a doomed sun, dwellers have grown complacent with their aging metal world. But when a serving girl frees a captive noblewoman, the old order is about to change....

Ariane, Princess of the House of Rule, was known to be fiercely cold-blooded. But severing an angel’s wings on the battlefield—even after she had surrendered—proved her completely without honor. Captive, the angel Perceval waits for Ariane not only to finish her off—but to devour her very memories and mind. Surely her gruesome death will cause war between the houses—exactly as Ariane desires. But Ariane’s plan may yet be opposed, for Perceval at once recognizes the young servant charged with her care.

Rien is the lost child: her sister. Soon they will escape, hoping to stop the impending war and save both their houses. But it is a perilous journey through the crumbling hulk of a dying ship, and they do not pass unnoticed. Because at the hub of their turning world waits Jacob Dust, all that remains of God, following the vapor wisp of the angel. And he knows they will meet very soon.

Recorded Book published Dust by Elizabeth Bear in 2007.

Dust was narrated by Alma Cuervo.