Monday, April 28, 2008

Industry News

Wow. I feel like I'm back in high school. I've had to cut back on my blog-hopping because hubby was home and I also have a ton of work to do. Well...I heard about Signet/Penguin releasing all rights back to Cassie Edwards and thought I'd check out the Smart Bitches blog to see what they might think. One poor woman made the mistake of blasting a few and it became a feeding frenzy. One poster even made the effort to find out what the girls full name was and posted it as if she was doing everyone a favor. The poor woman probably felt like she was being attacked by a pack of wolves. Big surprise...why would you open your mouth and not expect snarky, crude comments in return? The girl even went so far as to call...get this...Nora Roberts a bitch. No, I'm not kidding. Of course, by the end of the posts everyone was kissing and making up....well as much as possible considering the blog.

Then ~ I guess a historical author Deborah Anne MacGillivray has posted some nasty remarks about someone who gave her a 3 star review at Amazon. Even went so far as to comment that she'd tracked down the reviewers personal information through a private investigator. Wow. Come on people...really? Apparently the bruhaha is that she trashes anyone who gives her anything but stellar reviews and she has a crew that dominates the Amazon review system by using it to their own advantage. Ok. I can see that because if there is a way to cheat...there will always be people that will take advantage of it. But now the site Dear Author has gotten just as nasty with people fighting in the posts.

Then ~ *sigh* Author Tess Gerritson has decided to stop posting on blogs because of something she supposedly said with a sarcastic humor was taken out of context and she was blasted on her own blog.

A wonderful mentor that I have looked up to has said we should be spending more time on our writing. She doesn't blog, blog-hop or anything compared. She is very successful and doesn't really have time to devote to anything but her writing. Maybe I need to take her advice??

I love blog-hopping when I have time...but too many times...I make time when I don't need to and get stuck spending WAY too much time online. So I'll shut-up and get back to work.

4 comments:

Chicki Brown said...

All of this snarkiness needs to stop! It just makes romance writers look like the wackos a lot of people think we are to begin with.

I've had to whittle down the number of blogs I read and now allow myself one hour in the morning to read them. I've learned more about the industry from the good ones than from any other source. But when I click on a blog and the author is talking about her dog or recipes, I just click to the next one in my Favorites. It's a lot like watching TV. We don't waste time looking at something we don't like -- just hit the channel up button.

Angela Jefferson said...

Chelle,
I aGree with you. This bickering can become outrageous! As you know, I'd Previous blogged about Cassie Edwards and her situation but with this latest news I just feel sad for her. The sisterhood of romance writers is just like any other sisterhood where there are times the pack passes judgment on one of the girls and forget she needs emotional support during a time of need.Besides, what happened to agreeing to disagree?

Bella said...

I agree with you ladies, the fighting is ridiculous. Has things gotten so bad that romance writers are reduced to the level of bar brawlers. I hadn'theard about Cassie so I'll head over to Smart Bitches Blog and read about her. As you can tell, I'm one of those people who rarely blog hop and blog once a week or every two weeks...no time.

You post are usually fun though Chelle, so don't stop blogging.

Bella

Chelle Sandell said...

Chicki ~ I'm with you, girl. I love to blog-hop to hear wonderful words of advice from other authors. And turning the channel is always an option.

Angela ~ I'm Native American and grew up loving some of Cassie's books. I've heard so many people complain that she has degraded the Indians by the choice of words she uses...now that I'm older, I can see why. But I have so many mixed emotions when it comes to her situation. On one hand, as a fairly new writer, I think her methods give her an unfair advantage over the rest of us that know you can't cut and paste. On the other hand, I also feel sorry for her and the loss of credibility and respect she must be feeling.

Bella ~ Awwww! Thanks, sweetie! I probably won't be able to go far from my blogging from now...it's one of the only ways I have to keep in touch with you guys, other than our critique group.