SquawkRadio

If you have a question you'd like us to discuss, email one of us and if we're not too self-absorbed, we'll fling it out and gnaw on it.

Christina Who is Starting to Like This Position of Power and Intends to Keep It at Least Until Connie Gets Back

For the moment you can add comments (sometimes), but altho we're all novice bloggers we've heard about the porn spammers that pick up on these blogs, so Connie (who's our blog dominatrix) is going to block comments soon. That's not to say we don't want to hear from you. Email us and let us know what you think, and if you're clever and witty, we'll post for you. If you're more witty and clever than we are, forget it, who needs the competition? And if you're a porn spammer, drop dead.

FOUR REASONS I DIDN'T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN A BLOG
1) I think they're pointless exercises in egotism. Just because I'm a bestselling author, why should anyone care what I think about the latest publishing scandal or last week's episode of DR. PHIL? (Oh my gosh! Did anybody see it a couple of weeks ago when Sharon and Ozzy Osborne were on?)
2) Because I'm a very shy and private person who hates to reveal details about her personal life(Did I ever tell you about the time I was accidentally put in Special Ed classes in the first grade? Or what about the time I fell between the bleachers during a choral performance and decided to just stay under there for the rest of the show?)
3) I don't read blogs
4) Because it's just another thing to do besides actually writing a book

FOUR REASONS I DECIDED TO PARTICIPATE IN A BLOG
1) Connie Brockway threatened me
2) I love to play with fonts. It's like having my very own coloring book
3) Because I'm the only one among us who regularly watches TV so I might actually have Something Important to discuss
4) Because when I told my husband about it, he said, "Oh, just another thing to do besides actually writing a book, eh?"

No, Christina, we're not true friends until our cycles get synchronized--you know--like women in prison.

Thank goodness, Eloisa! For a minute there I thought you were going to blog about something boring, but then I realized you were talking about SHOES!!!

Actually, shoes have very little appeal for me in real life or on covers. Apparently, one of my ancestors offended a gypsy shoemaker and he put a curse on our family, causing our feet to get a size larger with each successive generation.

Has anyone noticed the trend in headless heroines (on covers that is)? I'm excited about the cover for my September release AFTER MIDNIGHT because my heroine actually has a head. Which would imply that she also has a brain...

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.