On News and Reviews

News: Lots of great news lately! If you read lacey Thorn's post below, you'll know we have a joint release, One Good Man, that was just accepted by Ellora's Cave. I got a great new cover for Djinni and the Geek, along with a release date: December 28, 2007! This is the sequel to Dragon in the System, featuring Eric's officemate David Garvaglia. Teach Me, my Torrid Tarot novel, will be out on March 14, just in time for my birthday. My Quickies, Between a Rock and a Hard-On, and Stone and Earth will be out in October and January, respectively. Whew! And Curses, my poor beleagured Triskekion book, will be re-released by the Wild Rose Press, in e-book AND PRINT in October of 2007! I'm so excited about that one I could scream.

Reviews: As an author, I know better than to take reviews seriously. Face it, a review is nothing more than one reader's opinion. Some reviewers even seem to take pleasure in being snarky. I suspect that a few of them have power issues...

So, that said, why do I hold my breath and quiver every time I see a link for a new review? Because like many writers, I'm as insecure as they come. Each time someone reads my work, I'm sitting there whimpering until I hear that they liked it, whether it's a reviewer, a friend, or even worse, my editor evaluating a new submission. So yeah, I was bouncing around the kitchen (I don't have an office) when our wonderful Ellora's Cave editor accepted One Good Man, my joint effort with the brilliant Lacey Thorn, earlier this week.

Other good news this week in the review quarter: Fallen Angels gave Beltaine Bargain my historical paranormal short story from Wild Rose Press, FIVE angels! Since this story was such a stretch for me, it was very nice to hear I hadn't fallen on my face. The reviewer started by saying "Beltaine Bargain is medieval romance at its best!" and ended with "There’s nothing not to like about Beltaine Bargain. I loved every minute of it!" I don't think it gets any better than that! (You can read the whole thing at http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/2007/August/Marlene-BeltaineBargain.htm ). My Book Cravings gave it FIVE roses and said ""Ms. Pape has written a great short story." (http://www.mybookcravings.com/robins_beltainebargain.htm ). Face it. This is what we write for, isn't it? To know that someone enjoyed our words and got a smile from our stories.

I love my new job!