Nora Roberts, I would have your babies

Seriously, I would.

Having been called the most confrontational person ever on a number of occasions, I can't deny the allegation that I enjoy controversy. It's the spice of life, after all. It keeps things interesting, and gives me something to write and think about, not to mention ideas for my writing. So yes, I have found the drama of this past week abundantly entertaining. I won't claim otherwise.

Perhaps my favorite part of this week has been interacting with other authors I don't normally encounter. Nora Roberts has been weighing in regularly on the MGP issue, and offering what I consider to be very good advice to new and aspiring authors. I don't read Nora's books; the headhopping drives me batshit. (I realize I headhopped like it was going out of style in Svetkavista, we'll talk about that later) But it's refreshing to know she actually cares about the little guy. In addition to finding her commentary amusing and intelligent, I love this one fact above all others: she wastes time fucking around on the Internet just like the rest of us.

Honestly, given the speed with which she can write a novel, I had always pictured her as sitting in a dark, 5' by 5' room with nothing more than a folding table and metal chair, typing so fast that cartoon smoke rises from the keyboard. Of course this raises the question of how does she write novels so fast when she's online? Katrina Strauss and I think she's got monkeys in the basement.

Anyway, while the excitement was fun for a bit, I'm starting to get tired of the drama. What started out as a constructive dialog about the pros and cons of epublishing has, in the last few days, devolved into a mudslinging insult war. People are taking the opportunity to bash authors or publishers they don't like with no constructive reason behind it. That's when it stopped being fun for me.

So now I go back to writing, which is what I should be doing anyway. Reckless Liaisons is shaping up nicely and I fall more in love with Sebastian Cade each day. His brother, Alex, also makes his presence known and at a cross between Ceallach Ruthven and Trevor Caufield, I guarantee you'll like him. The book is more "traditional Regency" than I have written in the past, and whether that's me growing as an author or not I'll leave to the readers to decide. Best of all - the series will be in print. (insert internal dance of joy here) I'm already compiling fun things, so keep your eyes peeled for info on how to get your very own Scandalous Situations goody bag.

And Nora, I mean it, the offer's open.