MOVED

Please come visit my new site! Point your browsers to www.lynnrayeharris.com or www.lynnrayeharris.com/blog to go straight to the blog.

I have seen the new design

Y'all cannot possibly imagine my excitement right about now. I have been let into the inner sanctum (aka the admin login) and allowed to view my site in progress. I can't wait to share it with you! You will notice, if you try to go to my website now, there's going to be something that tells you the site is being redesigned. No website at the moment, but we're very close to the new launch.

I'm thinking about what to give away when it launches. We must have a contest. We must have prizes. It's a requirement! I don't want to say anything about what it looks like just yet. But I was surprised by something completely coincidental that I'll explain on my new blog when the time comes.

Keep checking back!

Moving soon!

Start preparing yourselves, dear friends, for the relocation of this blog! My new website will be going live soon, and you'll want to update your links. I'm giving you the blog link now, but be aware it is not live yet.

http://www.lynnrayeharris.com/blog/

All the posts that are here will be moved. Nothing will be different except the link you use to get to me, and the look of the site. I can't wait to share my new design!!

When the new site is up, I will change the header of this blog to reflect that (and hopefully link to the new one).

Letter to Amazon

Unless you live in a cave, you've probably heard about Amazon and the unranking of books they deem unsuitable. To say I'm horrified is an understatement. To say I'm mad and disappointed is another understatement. I buy most of my books from Amazon. I love that I can browse online and then they show up at my house two days later. Unfortunately, I can't in good conscience buy from them anymore. Not until they fix this mess.

It's not just books with gay and lesbian content, but some of the hotter romances getting caught in the fray.

Here is a letter to Amazon. Took me a while to find where to send it, but I did.

I have ordered many, many items from Amazon over the years. But as an American, as an independent person, as a writer, and as a reader, I have to express my utter disappointment at Amazon's recent high-handed actions regarding delisting books YOU deem unsuitable. Who are YOU to determine this? Why is Mein Kampf suitable, but an erotic romance is not? We do not live in a dictatorship, and until you fix this policy, I've just received my last order from you. Man, I wanted that Kindle too. Not happening now. Your behavior is un-American in spirit, not to mention unbelievable for a company engaged in SELLING books. What's next, a bonfire? Ever hear of Fahrenheit-451 by Ray Bradbury? Suggest you give it a read.

One of the hallmarks of a free society is open discourse. You may not like erotic books, or gay books, but you have no right to unrank them. And, if you check my long history with you, you'll see that I probably haven't bought any of these books (with the exception of romance novels you might now find too tawdry for your tastes) -- but I want the right to buy them, and the right to see how well they are selling without regard to their content. Shame on you!

Lynn R. Harris, a disappointed (and now former) Amazon customer

What we already knew

This certainly isn't news to die-hard romance readers, but it seems as if people like happy endings when times are bad. Duh.

At a time when booksellers are struggling to lure readers, sales of romance novels are outstripping most other categories of books and giving some buoyancy to an otherwise sluggish market.

Harlequin Enterprises, the queen of the romance world, reported that fourth-quarter earnings were up 32 percent over the same period a year earlier, and Donna Hayes, Harlequin’s chief executive, said that sales in the first quarter of this year remained very strong. While sales of adult fiction overall were basically flat last year, according to Nielsen Bookscan, which tracks about 70 percent of retail sales, the romance category was up 7 percent after holding fairly steady for the previous four years.

I'm not surprised. Are you? I pretty much always want a feel-good read, but maybe I was inoculated to human suffering and angst-ridden unhappy endings during my years spent getting first a BA and then an MA -- years in which I read tons of "classic literature." Been there, done that. I still like a good literary story, don't get me wrong. Ann Patchett and Audrey Niffenegger amaze me, for instance. Wonderful writers.

By and large, give me that happy ending though. You can read the full article here. For once, the NYT wasn't in the least snooty -- unlike the LA Times columnist this week who reported on this phenomenon, put down romance, and then admitted she'd never read one. Ludicrous. Would you let someone tell you what your opinion should be, and then espouse it as your own? I wouldn't, but she sure doesn't have a problem with it. Someone told her romance was dumb at some point -- so she jumped on the snotty bandwagon and starting beating the drums. Thank God for individuality, right?

Inspiration

I'm working on Book 3, getting deep into character and motivation, and generally having fun exploring the relationship between these two volatile people. And when I ran across this picture, the light bulb went off -- this is my hero. Cristiano is strong, sexy, and tortured by the past. And he's absolutely determined to get what he wants from the heroine -- and to leave her with nothing when he's done.

Oh be still my heart! Wounded heroes are so sexy to write.

Yeah, I love this job. :)

In other news, the website is inching closer to reveal day! I'm so excited about it, and can't wait to share it with you all! There will be a new website, blog, and newsletter. And when it goes live, I'll give away some goodies. :)

One last thing -- my book is up for pre-order on Amazon, but now it has a cover -- and that makes me delighted to share the link with you!

Today's post is at Romance Magicians. We're talking about creative breaks. Please come by and say hi!