SquawkRadio

Talk about covers? I'm still trying to get over Terri calling herself "shy." But speaking for myself, my most recent book in print has a man's shirt and car on it. The one before that had something that looked suspiciously like bullet holes. Before that, it was a necktie, a man's sneaker, a golf ball and some boxer shorts. Can I conclude then that the goal for my covers in the past has been to drive female readers away? (Parnoid? Moi? In this business? Surely you jest.) But that's okay. I'm with a new publisher now. And my first cover for them has... Hmm. Well, actually, it's a computer mouse. Also not the most feminine accoutrement in the world. But the cord is wound into a little heart shape. And the background is lavender. And it's damned cute, too. Really. It is. Honest.

And Christina is right. We run the gamut of the female experience in our little group. We talk about all the most important stuff (in addition to our periods, I mean). Chocolate. Russell Crowe. La Perla bras. Carpet swatches. Chocolate. Oh, and also social inequity and equal pay for equal work. We talk about stuff like that ALL the time. Really. We do. Honest.

And publishing. Can't forget publishing. It is, after all, what brought us all together.

Elizabeth Bevarly

From Christina who thinks these important questions should be answered by someone who knows, but I'm going to take a crack at it anyway.

We're six published writers of various genres - about a year ago we figured out how many books we had written between us and it was well over a hundred. We email everyday, amusing ourselves and each other. Or at least amusing ourselves. We share our woes and our triumphs. The best part about this group? When one of us surges ahead in publishing, the others are comfortable enough to whine, "But what about me? When do I get to win?" Occasionally if there's too much triumph for one person, the emails will start coming in, "Who are you and why are you emailing me?" or even the succinct, un-subtle, "Bitch." Sometimes the threat will come across email "I'm going to lapse into a sullen silence." That never happens because nobody notices. The rest of us are too busy being entertaining. The truth is, if someone really wants to make everyone cranky, all she has to say is something like, "I've been bicyling and it really works! The weight is just melting away!" I don't want to mention her initials (Teresa Medeiros) but considering some of us have an April 30 deadline and are doing nothing but sit in front of the computer(initials Christina Dodd), that was just mean.

How close are we? We talk about our periods. THAT'S the ultimate female bonding.

I think of blogging as an extension of our curious relationship to the world of publishing: we create the books that people want to read and then spend a huge amount of time negotiating the path between our computer and a bookstore. A blog (i.e., information sharing) could be a crucial instrument in the fight to succeed in this business. Or it could just be a place to share gossip. But I would prefer to see this as a place to put six best-selling minds to work on analyzing the book business.

So...on the information-sharing front, has anyone noticed that every book out there has a pair of shoes on the cover? I'm talking women's fiction now, not romance. Romances seem to be going heavily into real estate. I'm assuming that since we write women's fiction, art departments must want to put desirable objects on the cover. Does this mean that shoes are now the focus of women's buying sprees? I myself seem to be putting all my money into good bras (LaPerla--there's nothing better).

Anyone seen any terrific covers lately?
Eloisa

A hearty welcome to all those who have chosen to peek in on the proceedings. We'll be up and posting the first blog within the week--and as soon as I can figure out how to do cascading style sheets we may even have pictures of us all gracing the background of the blog!

It’s that time again. Time for the annual SQUAWK RADIO READERS SURVEY! Whether you’re a registered member here at Squawk or a lurker deluxe, we’d really appreciate it if you’d take the time to fill out our incredibly unscientific and rambling survey. Believe or not, by arcane means we are able to glean a few nuggets of priceless information out of these things and can use that knowledge to make this whole Squawk experience just as good as we possibly can! Thanks!

WHO R U? We really wanta know...

1. Our first uestion is simply this: Are you... strictly a reader, with no desire or plans to write a book primarily a reader who toys with the idea of writing a book An unpublished writer a newly published writer an old warhorse like the rest of you squawkers with many long writing miles under my belt Next >> 2. this question is about what you read MOST. Please finish the sentence “As far as my romance reading taste goes, I read...” only historical romances mostly historical romances only contemporary romances mostly contemporary romances only category romances mostly category romances only erotica mostly erotica only paranormal mostly paranormal only inspirationals mostly inspirationals only women’s fiction mostly women’s fiction only chick-lit mostly chick lit only romantic suspense mostly romantic suspense << Last Next >> 3. This question lets us get a handle on how much of what you’re reading. I read 1-2 books a month I read 2-5 books a month I read 5-10 books a month << Last Next >> 4. Please finish the sentence, “My SECOND favorite sub-genre of romance is...” historical single title contemporary category erotica paranormal inspirational chick-lit women’s fiction romantic suspense << Last Next >> 5. The next set of questions are about what you don’t read. They’re simply yes or no. --- I don’t read historical romance agree disagree << Last Next >> 6. I don’t read single title contemporary agree disagree << Last Next >> 7. I don’t read romantic suspense. agree disagree << Last Next >> 8. I don’t read erotica. agree disagree << Last Next >> 9. I don’t read inspirationals. agree disagree << Last Next >> 10. I don’t read paranormals. agree disagree << Last Next >> 11. I don’t read category romances. agree disagree << Last Next >> 12. I don’t read chick-lit. agree disagree << Last Next >> 13. I most prefer humorous stories. strongly agree agree disagree strongly disagree << Last Next >> 14. I most prefer intense, dark romances. strongly agree agree disagree strongly disagree << Last Next >> 15. I read both humnroous and darker stories more or less equally. agree disagree << Last Next >> 16. If I could see the return of one particular type of romance it would be: Americana Westerns medievals traditional sweet regencies contemporary high glitz gothic family sagas ancient worlds 18th century anywhere but the British Isles I like the selection and types of books currently out there and wouldn’t change a thing << Last Next >> 17. How many of the Squawk Radio authors did you read in 2006? 1 2 3 4 5 6 << Last Next >> 18. How many authors NEW to you, did you read as a result of having their book recommended or reading a guest blog by them? (please include non-romance books, too) 1-2 2-5 5-10 10-15 15 or more << Last Next >> 19. I am a registered memebr of Squawk Radio yes no << Last Next >> 20. If you are NOT a registered member of Squawk Radio, please tell us the MAIN reason you haven’t registered. Fear of Spam Don’t want to be on a mailing list COncerns Squawk Radio’s mailing list will be “shared” Not here often enough to make it worth my while Don’t like internet sign-ups in general None of the above << Last Next >> 21. How often do you visit Sqauwk Radio? once every few weeks once a week 2-4 times a week once a day 2-4 times a day more than 4 times a day << Last Current Results