Fat Ladies and Swans Sing

My life as a book reviewer at All About Romance, Booklist, and The Romance Reviews has come to an end. 

I pulled the plug a couple of weeks ago when it suddenly occurred to me that if I was going to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a published author, I needed to stop reading so much and start writing.

I'm sure to most people this sounds like common sense, but obviously I had to come to this astounding conclusion the long, painful way.

Truth be known, Dreamspinner Press can take a little credit for my decision.  I signed a contract with them for my novella, "What's in a Name?," to be published right after the first of the year.  It seemed like a conflict of interest that I was reviewing some of their books after signing the contract.

So after kicking the review habit and vowing to work on my fiction writing career, I also contacted my former colleague and friend Shawn Hansen and will be getting together with her in the near future to see what she has to offer as far as promotion is concerned, not only for the novella, but also for the first book in the Vampire's Food Chain series.

But what about the Swan Song, you ask.

A core collection list of gay and lesbian romance novels has gone public in the September 15, 2014, issue of Booklist.  I suggested running a list of "must have" books to editor Donna Seaman earlier this year, and she took my list of 15 proposed titles, whittled it down, added lesbian romances, and voila! a list was born.

Expect Radical Change When Coming Home

Z. A. Maxfield has been a favorite writer of mine for quite a while, so I was eager to see her newest which I'm happy to report incorporates much of what I've come to love about her writing as well as new flourishes.

My review of Maxfield's Home the Hard Way was posted at The Romance Reviews today, and here's a peek at what it says:

Old secrets turn to murder as a disgraced police detective returns home to find old friends aren't quite as he remembered them and that love is lurking in the shadows for him.

Former Seattle detective Dare Buckley comes back to his hometown with his tail between his legs after a grave misstep in judgment which nearly let a killer go free. On the surface, the town looks the same as when he left it after his father killed himself. Shy, retiring Finn Fowler is still being bullied by Bill Fraser, who is now one of Dare's fellow cops.

Once again, Dare is attracted to Finn and wants to protect him as he did before Dare's mother moved the family away to start a new life. But Finn has his hands full taking care of his dying aunt who was more mother to him than his slut of a mother was. As if that weren't enough, Finn is working two jobs, one at the local big box store and managing his aunt's beauty salon. Although he'd like to, Finn doesn't have time for Dare.

When a woman drops dead in the beauty salon, no one thinks it's murder until other mysterious deaths occur. As Dare begins to tear the rose-colored glasses from his eyes, he realizes that not only isn't Finn the man he once knew, neither are many of his other neighbors in town.

This is a typical Z.A. Maxfield story in that neither the plot nor the characters are what they seem on the surface and the complicated ties between the various relationships can easily be misinterpreted by someone who doesn't look below the surface.

Read the rest of the review at The Romance Reviews.

Is Dyslexia a Deal Breaker?

As a lifelong voracious reader, I was intrigued by the premise of Z. A. Maxfield's Eddie: Grime Doesn't Pay.  Eddie, a dyslexic whose adapted to his inability to read quickly by using a number of electronic gadgets, falls for Andrew, a teacher whose father was a bookseller and who has shelves of books in his house.

I know that if my husband wasn't a reader (and writer) we would have never gotten married.  Being with someone who doesn't read would have driven me crazy.  Since I worked in libraries and newspaper offices, the chances of my falling for someone who wasn't a reader weren't large.  So I was curious to see if Maxfield could convince me that Eddie and Andrew might make it as a couple.

Fortunately, she did, and it was easy to give the book an "A" rating at All About Romance.  I think the thing that tipped the balance was that Eddie wasn't against reading, but knew there were many things he needed to read, like menus in restaurants for example, and found ways to work with his inability to decipher them.

As I read the book, I realized it wasn't someone with dyslexia that I couldn't have lived with, but someone who hid himself because of his inability to read well and who refused to find ways around his inability.

Grime, Punishment and Love Hypothetically

I'm not sure why Z. A. Maxfield felt compelled to begin a new series since her St. Nacho series, especially the first one St. Nacho's and the last one The Book of Daniel, is so good.  But she has with Grime and Punishment which has an interesting premise in a former firefighter sidelined by a serious injury starting a crime clean-up business.

I can see where the adventure of fleshing out a new environment is enticing for a writer, but still, I'll miss the ambiance of the St. Nacho crowd, particularly the older guy who owns the motel and the odd collection of people at the gym.

Still, Maxfield is the kind of quirky, readable author who will pull me in no matter what she writes, so I guess in the end, all is good.  Maxfield will keep writing and I'll keep reading her writing.

On another note, my review of Love Hypothetically ran at AAR, and I didn't make note of it.  Love's a really quirky book, speaking of quirkiness.  It's a sequel to Frat Boy and Toppy, my nominee for good book with the worst title.  Frat Boy bled into my interest as a former college instructor because the frat boy of the title plagiarizes a paper in order to get the teaching assistant's notice.  As a person who's dealt with her share of plagiarized essays, I loved to see this novel and nearly sympathetic excuse for cheating.

Like Maxfield, Tenino, the author of Frat Boy and Love, is a writer I'm watching.  And also like Maxfield, I expect Tenino will do really well when she finds her niche.

Finding Love along the California Coast

Z. A. Maxfield's St. Nacho community has quickly become one of my favorite fictional places.  Unlike Daniel, in The Book of Daniel, I think I'd really enjoy living there.  I know I enjoy reading about the fictional people who populate it.

But I can understand Daniel's point of view.  Since his life is in turmoil, he doesn't see St. Nacho as a safe, relaxing, laid back place to grow roots, but another anchor trying to tie him to a lifestyle he hasn't chosen.

Cam, Daniel's love interest, has been a favorite of mine in previous St. N books, so it was wonderful to see him paired up with someone who will not be intimidated by his larger-than-life body.  He definitely needs someone who will stand up to him and who doesn't mind pushing, something Cam hasn't seen much in his life.

Also, I'm beginning to think that I'm a sucker for Maxfield and anything she writes.  I'm very happy I stumbled onto this great writer.

Gay Ghosts Trigger Romance

As I say in the review of Z. A. Maxfield's Rhapsody for Piano and Ghost that went live today at AAR, I love the St. Nacho novels, so wanted to see what Maxfield would do with a paranormal theme.

While I enjoyed Rhapsody, it didn't leave the satisfied "aaahhhh" feeling that a good romance usually does.  I think this is because the character of Ari, the older former boy-band member who's often a mentor to Fitz, the classically-trained piano virtuoso, is a little harder to like than the other characters in the book.

Added to that, the ghost couple who bring Fitz and Ari together seem to be an author invention that doesn't quite work.  Don't get me wrong, however.  The novel is enjoyable to read and laugh-out-loud funny at times, and equally heart-breaking at others, but still there's a manipulative feeling about it that leaves me a little off.

I applaud Maxfield for writing outside her comfort zone.  But I'd really rather she get back to the brilliance of St. Nacho and give readers (okay, yes, me!) another addition to that series.