I’m on Facebook, now. If you are too, look me up (Debra Hyde) and friend me! I’d love to interact.
I found Inequities on a Czech bookstore site for English readers, thanks to POD technology and drop shipping. How cool is that?
Last – and I’m most proud of this – fellow author Ashley Lister interviewed me for the new edition of content at the Erotica Readers and Writers Association website. He asked some keenly targeted questions and, much to my surprise, I discovered I had some expansive answers. Wow.
then, the very week it was going to be in the 70s and 80s for the first time? Bam! Head cold — major head cold. I spent four grueling days on the couch, cough drops and tissues my only company, and although I felt better over the weekend, I still needed two naps a day to felt alive.
I won’t complain because a week ago Saturday, I spent my afternoon with the wonderful women of my local chapter of the Romance Writers Association. I can’t tell you how refreshing a time I had. Years ago, when I was just starting to break into erotic short fiction, I went to a couple of writers conferences, and I can’t tell you how out of place I felt. Erotica was just too underground an entity for either literary fiction or quasi-genre circles. I can’t tell you how good it felt to tell other writers I wrote erotic fiction in completely comfort. Thank you CORW members!
But I should also thank all you readers out there. Whether you’ve been with me from the start or have found me through the cross-over, genre bending worlds of erotic romance, I owe a lot of my dogged persistence to you.
Now that my persistence is getting back to normal, I’ll be blogging more. Keep an eye out, won’t you?
and a little bit of work. It’s been a busy and, at times, trying week. And it looks like I won’t be able to blog in earnest until tomorrow, Thursday. For levity’s sake (and as much to entertain myself), I’ve gone all a twitter, adding a twitter box to both this page and Pursed Lips. Obviously, I need to tweak this site’s template and getting the blog text to wrap around the twitter box. But, for now, enjoy this little app — it’s small talk of a new kind!
When I travel, I always try to visit local independent and/or used bookstores. Last month, I did (of course!) the obligatory tourist visit to Powells Books in Portland, Oregon. What an amazing place – book heaven!
Its erotica section was impressive. Two or three bookcases stocked full of recent releases and a smattering of older, used books from the explosive publishing that came with the sexual revolution of the late 60s and early 70s towered over me, commanding my time and attention. I’m pretty selective these days in choosing books to flesh out my own library (over a thousand volumes these days) and settled on Samuel Delany’s highly transgressive novel, Hogg, and Bruno Phillips’ The Main Point: The Life and Work of a Porno Film Maker, doubting that I’d see that book again anytime soon.
But selectivity didn’t keep me from further shopping. I’ve learned that one way independent bookstores distinguish themselves is through their “peripherals” — stationery, journals, postcards, book-related gifts, swag – and Powells was no exception. Except that its selection was exceptional. And I stumbled over several gems, one of which was a manga-inspired journal.
When it first caught my eye, I thought it’d make a great gift for my daughter. Until I saw its characters were entwined in a major hot and heavy hookup. Whoa! Fanning myself, I checked out who produced the dang thing because I hadn’t seen the likes of it before. Near the barcode were the words “JC de Castelbajac (atomic maison) and POPTERIE. A little web-searching revealed it was a collaboration between a European fashion designer and a French stationery company.
So that’s whythe characters were dressed in (and undressing from) busy attire reminiscent of Toile de Jouy which, ironically, means fabric of joy!
Despite Google translations, the dialog remains cryptic to me – a blend of colloquialisms and vague non sequiturs? Only two word balloons were easy to contextualize.
What really got me was this one, hot panel. Oh yeah, the deal was sealed. I was gonna buy this journal and no one could stop me. No way, no how.
That the last panel left me dangling made me panting all the more – man, retail therapy at its best!
Perhaps you’ve heard. Amazon is strong-arming small publishing who employ POD technology to use their POD program if they want to sell print editions on Amazon. It reminds me of a certain type of “businessman” who used to tell neighborhood restaurants exactly who would pick up their trash and supply their linen service.
Publishers Weekly supplied a response from Ingrams, Amazon main POD competitor, and I have to say, John Ingram certainly has my respect. Not only is he tempered in his response, but his company thought to actively recruit small publishers to the POD model by providing a program that provided meaningful and bottom-line worthy benefits.
I’m not about to tell you whether or not to buy from Amazon, but I’ve provided additional on-line bookstores that carry Inequities — Barnes and Noble, Borders, Powell’s. You can decide how you feel about this matter and how you want to address it.
And as an FYI, let me point you to this Teleread entry. It’s a solid summary and quite elucidating.
Today’s modest pleasure: my iGoogle page. I have a koi pond and a lava lamp soothing me with their gentle motions, a Youtube widget that points me to entertaining videos, and National Geography Pic of the Day that’s like having a personal gallery for daily enjoyment.
But you know what really pleases me? My new page theme from Studio Ghibli. Studio Ghibli is my favorite animation studio. I love Miyazaki’s tales — his strong female protagonists, his love of fable and fairy tale alike, and his reverence for the earth, all amaze me.
And the theme banner simply delights me. When I call up my browser, I find one of Miyazaki’s characters staring back from mountain peaks. Today it was No Face from Spirted Away, then the cat bus from My Neighbor Totoro. Behind them, a serene valley spreads between mountain ranges, lush, fertile, and verdant.
You know, for those of us who forget to cat-blog on Fridays. Not that I’m going to do either religiously — I don’t do much of anything religiously outside of writing — but I will share certain cat-related finds when it humors me. I might even share the occasional pic of one of our cats.
For now, let me share with you a mildly NSFW video, the LOL Cat Rap. The MC who composed and performed it hangs with my daughter at college. Small world, ain’t it?
Cute cat picks do come with some coarse language so exercise your usual NSFW precautions.
P.S. Inequities is now at several ebook outlets and the POD edition is available at Amazon. Check the novels page for links.
Having my daughter home on spring break from college. It’s a pleasure to have her energy, positivity, and love in the house. But it’s also fun to share her latest on-line discoveries. She always find fun YouTube stuff, cool music, art — you name it, she finds it and shares it with her always-in-awe parents.
The latest thing? Rifftrax! We get to relive our MSTie days as what? Riffers?
Methinks that movie nights around here are about to change — raucously so!
Inequities sees print! It’s amazing how quickly a book sees e-print. My editor and publisher were able to accomplish in a few weeks what traditional publishers take months to accomplish. It’s amazing. I’m psyched!
I’ve launched a few goodies to coincide with the novel’s release, all meant for your enjoyment. Namely:
My new author website/ weblog, Weaving Erotic Wonders. Check out the Novels section to see where you can purchase Inequities.
A secondary weblog called Thin Air Codex where I’ll write about my experiences as an ebook author and consumer.
Grab the feeds for the new sites, OK? And keep an eye out for future goodies as well.
A quick word about Inequities: Right now, it’s available at CDP’s website, All Romance Ebooks, and Mobipocket. It will be available for the Amazon Kindle within two weeks and Fictionwise should have it either this Monday or the next. (I highly recommend Fictionwise if you’re a Sony Reader user.)
A word about having multiple weblogs: I expect I’ll have cross-over content between Pursed Lips and Weaving Erotic Wonders, but only when I need to be the media whore. I expect very little cross-over in Thin Air Codex.
That’s it for now. I’ll return with the more usual links soon. Until then, allow me to celebrate!
An author should never admit such a thing; it probably borders on sacrilege. But it’s true. Words fail me, and it’s because I’m not exactly sure how to welcome you to my new author site.
Spun off from Pursed Lips, my long-running weblog about sex and culture, it certainly does all the things you’d expect of an author site. It highlights my work past and present. It either introduces you to me or reconnects us. It points you to various forms of online content I’ve created.
For those of you who are long familiar with my work and Pursed Lips, much of the content will be familiar to you. (Although I should point out that I’ve restored several pieces of Pursed Lips miscellanea and most of my Yes Portal articles in the archived writing section.) Still, I hope you’ll check out the new digs.
For those of you new to my site, welcome. Take a look around. Stay awhile. Get to know me.
Unlike its companion blogs Pursed Lips and my newly-launched Thin Air Codex, Incidentally Noted will be a casual stop for me. It will reflect snippets of my day, carefree observations, and anything light-hearted. Where the other sites reflect the thinker in me, I hope this blog will reflect my more playful side.
Look For Me At: