Maisey and Vitka and Shean . . . Oh My!

So in the very first days of the KAS, my anxiety was through the roof. I had just had my first short story accepted for publication and was working on publicity and learning the ins and outs of independent and self-publication. For the first time in my life I was completely without control, chasing a lifelong dream, and helping others along that same route.

Sound tough? It was.

Worth the effort? You bet.

Do it all again? Hell yeah I would!

Problem was I was having anxiety-induced nightmares. No big deal. I've had them all my life. We're old friends, these dreams and me. I still have them, especially when I'm having a lean month and am worried about exactly how the rent will get paid. That tends to be when I have some version of the dream where I'm back at Macy's slaving away for The Man in the form of a previous boss who was a complete [redacted].

But one dream . . . one dream was different. I dreamed the KAS gang was invited to SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) and in the midst of promoting anthology #5. That doesn't sound like a nightmare until you consider that I was the one charged with gathering the crew for a group photo shoot before the start of the official KAS party and I couldn't find my shoes! Not to mention, getting this gang together is like herding cats.

Anyhow, back to reality. My partner in crime, Bernard Schaffer and I are currently in the midst of recruiting for the third anthology we'll be producing together. At least I think we are. (April was a huge blur for me; perhaps I should check in with him.)

And here's where stuff gets cool: Bernard, along with my buddies (AKA the three stooges), authors Alexander Maisey, William Vitka, and Michael Shean, have been confirmed to lead a panel on independent writing and publishing at Philadelphia ComicCon on June 2 at 1 p.m. We're still unsure whether Joshua Unruh, or any of the other KASers will be able to make it.

BUT, if you are in the Philadelphia area, or headed there for ComicCon anyway, stop by to meet some of our boys. Rumor has it that they will have some KAS goodies to give away including swag provided by the legendary Harlan Ellison himself.

Cripes! I can hardly believe this is happening. Maybe that dream will come true after all. If it does, to heck with the shoes; I'll go barefoot.

Don't forget! Sunday, June 2, at 1:00 p.m.

Have fun, kids!

How I Got Infected (Book Review)

I was working on the Kindle All-Stars Project (I had been for about a month at that point) when one night I received a cc on an email welcoming this kid, William Vitka, to the team. I thought our fearless leader, Bernard Schaffer, was going to pee himself. He seemed so excited because B's a tough editor and this short story was the first submission that Bernard had deemed publication-ready with no editing. I was all, "dude must be really good." Little did I know... 

Anyhow, I sent Vitka the whole welcome packet that we sent to every new author accepted to the project and the standard "welcome to the team" email (which, by the way, is a personalized email, not just a form letter). Next thing I knew, I was emailing back and forth with this guy for like an hour. None of my other authors had done that. It actually kind of became a thing. You see, I'm a night owl and V's day job is actually a night job, so we were both online at the same time. We quickly became close friends.

By the way . . . I usually address my dear friend William Vitka as "Vitka" or "V" rather than "William" or "Will" because his twitter handle is @vitka. I've simply gotten use to thinking of him by his last name rather than his first.

I was thrilled when he sent me Infected to read. I knew it wasn't perfect. He was still in the process of editing the manuscript and would welcome my feedback. I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into it. 

As is my curse, I found a few typos in pages I knew he'd already edited. (I can't help it; I can't turn off my proofreading machine.) I told him I'd send him a list of what to look for and where to find it when I was done reading the manuscript. I ended up making a couple of minor editorial suggestions, which V loved. I also ended up doing the final proofread.

You'd have thought I had saved his life! At the time I didn't realize that Infected was Vitka's first novel because it was so well written. He already had a well developed style which is pretty rare in a first-time novelist. In fact, when another author was struggling with "voice," I sent that writer (with permission) a copy of the Infected manuscript as an outstanding example of an author using a voice that suits the character rather than himself. To contrast that and show how the same author can use vastly different voices in vastly different narratives, I also told him to read "In a Mind" which was Vitka's contribution to the Kindle All-Stars first anthology, Resistance Front. 

Anyhow, those minor suggestions led to V's asking me to edit his second novel, Emergence (a title I suggested, by the way). I was all over that because by that point, I was quite confident in my ability as a fiction editor and I couldn't wait to read Vitka's next novel. 

So there you have it, the story behind the story. 

And here's my official review:

cover art by sean vitka
reproduced by permission

My rating:  (R) for language, violence, gore

Almost perfect *****

While reading this book, I've been in the midst of the most challenging proofread of my life! It's a 526-page anthology involving 39 pieces by 32 authors from 6 different countries. Infected was the brain candy that helped keep me sane through the first half of it.

I needed to read about zombies taking over New York.

Actually, calling this piece "brain candy" cheapens it. It's not that at all. It's an easy enough read to keep you entertained if that's all you want, but William Vitka gives you enough to think about if you're looking for more.

Funny, Vitka's treatment of the Church as state reminds me of Voltaire (Candide) and his disdain for Church and State.

Vitka's main character is a young, cynical, pissed off atheist living in a porn-obsessed, media-saturated, over-churched New York City. It's the worst of all possible worlds.

I think what I like best about the cast of characters he's assembled is they're not perfect. They're not heroes. They're just trying to survive against all odds.

From page one I was hooked. I really love the way Vitka writes. His smartass, sarcastic, ironic sense of humor takes you on an adrenaline- and alcohol-fueled roller coaster ride that could almost happen. 

I've read little pulp and I haven't read horror, real horror, in about 20 years, but I am so happy I grabbed this book. I can't wait to attack his next one. 

Infected is well worth your time and so worth every one of those five stars.

Happy Reading!

[Added in the wee hours of 10/15/12] My apologies, gang. This post was pre-programmed because the book was supposed to be live this week. It will be available through Amazon in both ebook and print format as well as other outlets. While I have not been given an exact date, I've been told it will be before the end of October and I will post links when it is live. In the meantime, you'll find a bit of William Vitka's work on Amazon and his serialized novel, Kulture Vultures, at Curiosity Quills.

[Added 10/28/12] We have a sighting! Infected is now available, in print, directly through Graveside Books. I will let you know when other sources become available.

[Added 11/12/12] The electronic version of Infected is now available through Amazon!

Cover Art Contest for KAS2

Last year's cover was designed by Glendon Haddix of Streetlight Graphics

Do you have the skills to design the next cover for the Kindle All-Stars?  

The contest is open to any and all participants, and the winner will be announced on November 1st, 2012.  SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN NOW until October 31st.  

Email your submission to: KindleAllStars [at] gmail [dot] com

The rules are as follows: 

Your cover must include only artwork to which you own the rights. 

It must pertain to the theme of the anthology:  Cryptozoology.

You agree to donate your cover to the project, as all profits will be earmarked for a predetermined charity.  

The winner will be prominently featured in the book as well as all KAS literature and websites.  

The Kindle All-Stars donates all profits from its various projects to charity. 

Smut Sells?

Well yeah, supposedly smut sells faster than any other fiction category. So I wrote some. Here's the quick story behind the story:

Many thanks to my pal and fellow KAS
Tony Healey for this great cover design

A while back I got an email from my buddy Aaron. He wanted to know whether my contribution to the Kindle All-Stars Resistance Front anthology was actually the abridged, "clean version" of a longer erotica piece. What? ME? Write erotica? Are you crazy?

Sure, I've written plenty of erotica over the years, but never for an audience larger than one. Specifically, one person (at a time) whose interest I wanted to pique. I never dreamed of writing erotica for a consumer audience.

That set the wheels to turning. Suddenly I was full of ideas but short on time. So I've been working on what I fondly refer to as an anthology of smut. It's been slow going because editing projects, personal business, and other concerns that I may divulge in the coming months have taken precedence over my own writing.

The first piece, the teaser if you will, is the "naughty version" of "Fear of the Dark." It is currently available on Amazon for .99 and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. This is not for younger audiences by any means.

Here's the description from Amazon:

A woman steps off a bus into a blackout and must make her way home in the dark. What, or who, will she encounter when she gets there? The "clean version" of this psycho-sexual thriller was featured in the Resistance Front anthology. This new, extended version runs about 4000 words and is definitely NSFW.

And here are a few quotes from the reviews (all five stars):

"If you like your fiction extremely well-written, and a little saucy, then look no further."

"A quick, dirty, fun little read."

"Good writing is a pleasure to read, and for a psycho-sexual story like this one it's a must. Well done."

So snag "Fear of the Dark" and I'll let you know when the big antho is done.

Happy Reading!

My 100th post (Warning: contains bad words)

It's not every day you hit a milestone. This one is huge for me. It's my 100th blog post. Therefore, I knew I had to make sure it was something special. Easy peasy.

When I began assembling this collection, I made sure our fearless leader was in the loop. He was in the midst of finishing off the Resistance Front anthology, writing the novel (Superbia) that he knew could destroy his career as a police detective, and probably trying to decide what to get his kids for Christmas.

So the last thing I expected to see in my email was a poem from him. He said he wanted to show his support, that I didn't have to use it if I didn't like it or didn't want to. I don't think he realized how much that simple act meant to me.

By the way, as I'm sitting here writing this introduction, he's sitting in PA revising the darn thing...again. Writers.

If you click on the poem's title, you'll be whisked away to Bernard's Youtube page where you'll have the unique treat of watching the man himself read the poem, a slightly different version than you'll read below, which is a slightly different version than you'll read in his collection Knife Fights. That same video got him sent back to uniform.

We later discussed this post and I was going to use a different one from the Knife Fights collection, but I noticed that Bernard had re-posted the video and asked his permission to use it. He replied, "Sure. We can do wait and wait. Fuck em!"

WAIT AND WAIT

Superbia is available on Amazon
for your Kindle and in print

(originally titled WEIGHT)

by Bernard Schaffer

Waiting for the dealer to arrive

they are always late

moving through life with

no need to be concerned about

the overtime that is accruing or

the women who are growing impatient while their men

sit in trash covered cars

pissing into empty coffee cups

because the dealer might arrive at any moment

and

their customers will wait and wait

just grateful for the fix they bring whenever they

feel like showing up.

The buy money is pre-recorded

the CI is searched

the team is given the operational plan and

everyone is in their assigned positions.

I am always calm

always need to piss again

always need more coffee

always waiting for the transaction that will take

ten seconds to happen

so that after it is sold

and brought back to me

I can secure it, photograph it

record it, bag it

tag it, and produce it later at court.

The dealer will make me wait

and I will oblige him for now

but

when it is my turn

to go and see him

I will be right on time.

Bernard Schaffer is the best-selling author of Guns of Seneca 6, Whitechapel: The Final Stand of Sherlock Holmes, and more.  Visit his website at www.ApiarySociety.com

Because I can't resist, here's the first bio B sent me:

Bernard Schaffer is most amazingly awesome muhfukka on the planet.  Give him the rock when there are ten seconds left on the clock and he’ll take it to the hole.  Guaranteed.  He doesn’t need a link.  The internet was invented to showcase him.  Word.

Knock Knock

Sometimes opportunities come along we'd be insane to pass up. So we take them. We hold on with all our might. We allow them to lead us wherever they go because blind faith is the wisest choice. Sometimes it's the only choice. But until we are fully involved in the events brought about by grasping those opportunities we don't understand the impact they have, and will continue to have, on our lives.

Resistance Front is currently available
on Amazon for 99 cents

Five months ago this week I submitted a short story to an author who had decided to edit an anthology for charity. Within a few weeks I became a driving force in promoting all aspects of the organization being formed around the project. Now I'm co-editing our second anthology dubbed KAS 1.5.

Why 1.5 and not 2? Because this wasn't supposed to happen. Bernard, my editor, co-editor, client (I'll get to that part later), friend, somehow ended up in a twitter conversation with a representative from the Worldreader organization. Worldreader's main objective is to distribute Kindle devices to students in developing countries. Talks happened because opportunity knocked.

Bernard and I were in the earliest of planning stages for the super-secret KAS 2 and pretty much convinced each other that connecting with Worldreader was a good idea. After having learned many lessons from building and producing our first anthology, Resistance Front, we were confident enough in ourselves and our organization that we could put together a second anthology on a much smaller scale. With proper planning, we could get KAS 1.5 into the hands of readers before Memorial Day, just in time for summer reading.

Like its predecessor KAS 1.5 will be sold online. But even more exciting, it will be distributed for free to those same students who receive Kindle devices from Worldreader. Hundreds, even thousands of copies. The possibilities, for our organization and our authors and editors, are endless.

Superbia is currently live
on Amazon for $2.99

But this hydra continues to sprout arms. You see, somewhere in the midst of all this, Bernard found himself in need of a new editor for his own work. I had already done some editing work for him. I had become familiar with his writing and his writing style. I had proofread and given somewhat detailed feedback on the novel (Guns of Seneca 6) he released while we were assembling Resistance Front. Another opportunity answered.

This week Bernard released, on Amazon, his second book of the year, Superbia. To say I'm proud of his work, and mine, is a profound understatement. But every step of the way, the support from fellow Kindle All-Stars* cannot be ignored. Every book is a team effort. And this team will continue to produce quality books for you, our readers, so long as you continue to support our efforts by buying them.

Show us an opportunity and stand back to watch what we can do with it.

*Many thanks specifically to my friends and colleagues, Keri Knutson, David Hulegaard, and William Vitka.

KAS 1.5 The as yet unnamed YA anthology

Yes! We're at it again. The Kindle All-Stars are now accepting submissions for our second anthology, working title KAS1.5. If you are interested in submitting a piece for consideration, all the information you need is below. If you have any questions, you may leave them in the comments section or email me at the address below.

proceeds will benefit Worldreader.org

All submissions should be sent to Laurie Laliberte at KindleAllStars@gmail.com.

Theme Guidelines:

This is a YA oriented collection that WILL be distributed to school children in Africa as part of a larger project called Worldreader.

Proceeds will benefit Worldreader.

Keep it clean. Absolutely no profanity will be allowed.

We're looking for about 10-15 never before published short stories fewer than 20 pages in length.

Submission Guidelines:

1.  ONE space after each word, comma, or semicolon

2.  TWO spaces after a period, question mark, exclamation point or colon

3.  ZERO spaces between words and dashes or hyphens

4.  QUOTATION MARKS are " NOT ' 

     ' should only be used for apostrophe and a quote within a quote

5.  PARAGRAPH INDENTS should be a single tab (or auto-indent) with no extra spaces and should not be made using spaces at all--check every indent in your story

6.  PARENTHESES are to be used as per this example:  (keep calm and carry on) notice there are no spaces between the parentheses and the letters

7.  PROOFREAD your own submission after its final edit is approved

8.  LANGUAGE--if you would normally write in the Queen's English, submit your story in the Queen's English, otherwise submit it in American English

9.  FONT should be Calibri set at 12 pts, double spaced

* If your version of WORD does not have Calibri, use Times New Roman

10.  BREAKS should have no extra empty lines and should be separated with ***

11.  ALIGNMENT should be to the left, not justified--please do not center your title or your byline

**  ALL DOCUMENTS should be in .doc or .docx format and double-spaced

Initial submissions that do not meet the guidelines may be declined.

Final submissions that do not meet the guidelines will be declined.

Please also provide the following:

--a clear photograph

--a 2 to 3 sentence bio that follows the formatting guidelines already discussed and written in third person

--any relevant links including your twitter, website and/or blog, goodreads profile, etc

Calendar:

March 2--submissions deadline

April 6--final edits due

April 20--manuscript to formatting

Target to go live is mid May, some time between Mother's Day and Memorial Day.

DO NOT ASK REPEATEDLY WHETHER WE HAVE A PUBLICATION DATE. THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS "NO."

Important Note:

Make sure your submission is as publication-ready as possible. We will not be doing line edits. It would behoove you to have an editor/proofreader look at your submission before you send it even if that's just another writer friend.

Promotion/Networking:

You will also be expected to assist in promotion of sales for the anthology both pre- and post-publication via social networking channels including twitter, facebook, goodreads, google+ and any other forums you normally use to promote your own work.

Your assistance will be requested to recruit beta readers to read and post reviews.

If you choose to become further involved in the Kindle All-Stars community, and would like to share contact information with other members, please let us know. This information will only be shared with other KAS members.

2011 The Year of the Paranormal

I'll admit it; I'm a paranormal junkie. I have been since the first ghost story I read when I was probably about six years old. So it only made sense that the year I decided I needed to get back into reading I did so by tearing through series after paranormal series. I talked about it in several posts over the past twelve months, but since this is supposed to be my reading recap for 2011, I'll touch on the highlights one more time.

I decided I needed to read at least 30 books in 2011 and set out to do just that. It quickly became apparent that I would easily surpass that goal, so I increased it. When I hit 30, I raised the goal to 50. When I hit 50, I raised it to 75. Then I threw my hands in the air and began increasing by five books every time I hit the number. When I hit 100, I gave up and coasted for the rest of the year. My final, official total is 117. I have to admit, though, there's a whole lot of trash (and pure smut) I chose not to include, so the real total is over 150.

A few qualifiers in the interest of full disclosure: 

1.  If something I read is on Goodreads and became part of my 2011 reading challenge on their site, it is numbered here (even if it's just a short story). A few books that have numbers haven't been released yet, but they will be "real books" by Goodreads standards eventually. If an item is not listed on Goodreads, it doesn't have a number. By the end of the year I stopped caring so much what Goodreads thought and won't use their challenge as a gauge in 2012.

2.  Somewhere along the line I faltered a bit, so not everything is listed in the order in which I read it. Some things simply slipped through the cracks and I added them at the end because they needed to be included. 

3.  I actually began reading on 12/25/10 and finished on 12/26/11. The reason I included that last book is that I only read a few chapters, about 30 pages, on 12/26.

My Top Picks

I wanted to be able to do a top five or even top ten list, but I found it virtually impossible to choose between some titles and actually place them. Instead, let me give you the favorites as a group. If you click on the book title you'll find my Goodreads review (if I've written one):

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

--You simply can't read one without reading all three. I didn't place the other titles on this list, but this trilogy is my top choice. (BTW, all three reviews are the same.)

Wild Children by Richard Roberts

--This was a huge surprise by an independent author. I met Richard when his story was first accepted into the Kindle All-Stars project and he sent me Wild Children to beta read. My reviews on Goodreads and Amazon say it all.

The Kensei and Parallax by Jon F. Merz

--My two favorites by my favorite living author. Jon's probably tired of hearing that one, but it's the truth. (I hate to admit he's in danger of being dethroned by a young'un; keep reading.)

Guns of Seneca 6 by Bernard J. Schaffer

--I was one of the proofreaders on this book but took on the task because I really wanted to read it. I ended up reading it twice and loved it both times. (The second time around was after the final edits were done.) I mean, how could a browncoat not absolutely love a story about space cowboys?

Infected and Emergence by William Vitka

--The story behind my reading of these two will end up getting a blog post of its own, right before Infected is released. That story is a long one. You won't find my reviews because neither book is available yet. Infected will be out in June of 2012 and Emergence is still going through the editing process. Still, I'm the editor on this project and I can tell you it deserves all five of its stars even before those edits are done. Vitka could be the guy who knocks JFM off the top of the mountain.

• The Official List (complete with MPAA-style and 1-5 star ratings)
• 117. The Monster in My Closet (PG)--Wil Wheaton--*****
• 116. Hunter (PG)--Wil Wheaton--*****
• 115. Hob Lesatz for Hire (PG)--Joshua Unruh--*****
• ----Brushstrokes (R)--Richelle Mead--*****
• ----City of Demons (R)--Richelle Mead--*****
• 114. Running Red (PG-13)--Keri Knutson--****
• 113. Frosty the Hitman (PG)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 112. Emergence (R)--William Vitka--***** (no release date yet)
• 111. Way of the Warrior (PG)--Bernard J. Schaffer--*****
• 110. The Ripper (PG-13)--Jon F. Merz--***** (pre-release--due Jan 2012)
• 109. Infected (R)--William Vitka--***** (pre-release--due June 2012)
• 108. Resistance Front (R)--Kindle All-Stars--*****
• 107. Wicked Games (NC-17)--Jill Myles--****
• 106. The Doll House: Emerald (PG)--Richard Roberts--****
• 105. The Doll House: Lapis Lazuli (PG-13)--Richard Roberts--****
• 104. Safe with Me, Part 6 (NC-17)--Shaina Richmond--****
• 103. Beast (PG-13)--Tony Healey--****
• 102. The Doll House: Inventory (PG)--Richard Roberts--****
• 101. Succubus Revealed (R)--Richelle Mead--****
• 100. Guns of Seneca 6 (PG-13)--Bernard J. Schaffer--*****
• 99. Wild Children (PG)--Richard Roberts--*****
• 98. Women and other Monsters (R)--Bernard J. Schaffer--*****
• 97. Changes (R)--Jim Butcher--*****
• 96. Turn Coat (R)--JimButcher--*****
• 95. Noble (PG)--David Hulegaard--****
• 94. Slow Hands (NC-17)--Leslie Kelly--****
• 93. Safe with Me, Part 5 (NC-17)--Shaina Richmond--*****
• 92. Safe with Me, Part 4 (NC-17)--Shaina Richmond--****1/2
• 91. Safe with Me, Part3 (NC-17)--Shaina Richmond--****1/2
• 90. Safe with Me, Part2 (NC-17)--Shaina Richmond--****1/2
• 89. Safe with Me, Part 1 (NC-17)--Shaina Richmond--****1/2
• 88. Small Favor (PG-13)--Jim Butcher--*****
• 87. White Night (PG-13)--Jim Butcher--****
• 86. Proven Guilty (PG-13)--Jim Butcher--****
• 85. Dead Beat (PG-13)--Jim Butcher--****
• 84. Blood Rites (R)--Jim Butcher--*****
• 83. Death Masks (R)--Jim Butcher--****
• 82. Summer Knight (PG-13)--Jim Butcher--****
• 81. Grave Peril (PG-13)--Jim Butcher--****
• 80. The Shepherd (PG-13)--Jon F. Merz--****
• 79. Fool Moon (PG)--Jim Butcher--****
• 78. Beyond the Veil (PG)--Brian Rathbone--***
• 77. Foreplay (R)--Jill Myles--***
• 76. Parallax (R)--Jon F.Merz--*****
• 75. Storm Front (PG)--Jim Butcher--****
• 74. The Magicians (R)--Lev Grossman--*
• 73. Samson's Lovely Mortal (NC-17)--Tina Folsom--****
• 72. Succubus Shadows (NC-17)--Richelle Mead--*****
• 71. Succubus Heat (NC-17)--Richelle Mead--*****
• 70. Succubus Dreams (NC-17)--Richelle Mead--*****
• 69. Succubus on Top (NC-17)--Richelle Mead--*****
• 68. Succubus Blues (NC-17)--Richelle Mead--*****
• 67. Real Vampires Have More to Love (NC-17)--Gerry Bartlett--*****
• 66. Real Vampires Hate Their Thighs (NC-17)--Gerry Bartlett--*****
• 65. Real Vampires Don't Diet (R)--Gerry Bartlett--****
• 64. Real Vampires Get Lucky (R)--Gerry Bartlett--****
• 63. Real Vampires Live Large (R)--Gerry Bartlett--****
• 62. Real Vampires Have Curves (R)--Gerry Bartlett--****
• 61. Mockingjay (R)--Suzanne Collins--*****
• 60. Catching Fire (R)--Suzanne Collins--*****
• 59. The Hunger Games (R)--Suzanne Collins--*****
• 58. The Surgeon (R)--Tess Gerritsen--****
• 57. Raising the Dead (PG)--Mara Purnhagen-****
• 56. Grave Illusions (PG)--Lina Gardiner--****
• 55. Reaper (PG)--Rachel Vincent--****
• 54. Crave (NC-17)--J. R. Ward--****
• 53. Covet (NC-17)--J. R. Ward--****
• 52. All in Time (NC-17)--Ciana Stone--***
• 51. An Unwanted Hunger (NC-17)--Ciana Stone--****
• 50. The Enchanter (PG)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 49. Enemy Mine (PG)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 48. The Kensei (R)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 47. Naked Heat (PG-13)--"Richard Castle"--****
• 46. Interlude (PG)--Jon F. Merz--****
• 45. Red Tide (PG)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 44. Rudolf the Red Nosed Rogue (PG)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 43. Kiss Me Deadly (PG-13)--Michele Hauf--***
• 42. Slave to Love or The Infiltrator (R)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 41. The Courier (R)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 40. The Price of a Good Drink (PG)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 39. The Syndicate (PG-13)--Jon F. Merz--****
• 38. The Destructor (R)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 37. Lover Unleashed (NC-17)--J. R. Ward--*****
• 36. The Invoker (PG-13)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 35. The Fixer (R)--Jon F. Merz--****1/2
• 34. Beasts and BFF's (PG)--Shannon Delaney--**
• 33. Remedial Magic (PG)--Jenna Black--***
• 32. Anthem (PG)--Ayn Rand--***** (reread--read it for the first time in 1984)
• ----Fondly Farenheit (PG-13)--Alfred Bester--***
• 31. Dead Drop (PG)--Jon F. Merz--*****
• 30. Cat Calls (PG)--Cynthia Leitich Smith--****
• 29. Father Mine (R)--J. R. Ward--*****
• 28. Catching Caroline (R)--Sylvia Day--****
• 27. Lover Mine (NC-17)--J. R. Ward--*****
• 26. Lover Avenged (NC-17)--J. R. Ward--*****
• 25. Lover Enshrined (NC-17)--J. R. Ward--*****
• 24. Lover Unbound (NC-17)--J. R. Ward--*****
• 23. Lover Revealed (NC-17)--J. R. Ward--****
• 22. Lover Awakened (NC-17)--J. R. Ward--****
• 21. Lover Eternal (NC-17)--J. R. Ward--*****
• 20. Dark Lover (NC-17)--J. R. Ward--****
• 19. Beyond the Highland Mist (NC-17)--Karen Marie Moning--**
• ----Petticoat Influence (PG)--P. G. Wodehouse--****
• 18. Shadowfever (NC-17)--Karen Marie Moning--*****
• 17. Dreamfever (NC-17)--Karen Marie Moning--*****
• 16. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (PG)--Stephenie Meyer--***
• 15. Faefever (NC-17)--Karen Marie Moning--*****
• 14. Bloodfever (R)--Karen Marie Moning--*****
• 13. Darkfever (R)--Karen Marie Moning--****
• 12. The Host (PG)--Stephenie Meyer--****
• 11. Kitchen Confidential (R)--Anthony Bourdain--****
• 10. No Cure for Cancer (R)--Denis Leary--****
• 9. House of Dark Shadows (PG)--Robert Liparulo--*****
• 8. The Blood That Bonds (R)--Christopher Buecheler--****
• 7. Midnight Sun [partial manuscript] (PG)--Stephenie Meyer--*****(read it twice)
• 6. The Bite of Silence (NC-17)--Mary Hughes--*
• 5. Heat Wave (PG-13)--"Richard Castle"--****
• 4. Breaking Dawn (PG)--Stephenie Meyer--****
• 3. Eclipse (PG)--Stephenie Meyer--****
• 2. New Moon (PG)--Stephenie Meyer--****
• 1. Twilight (PG)--Stephenie Meyer--****
• Here's the rating system:
• *****--Almost Perfect (probably made me cry)
• ****--Definitely Worth the Read
• ***--Meh
• **--Pretty Bad
• *--Don't Even Bother

Honorable Mentions

J.R. Ward--The Black Dagger Brotherhood series

--This is a hot and steamy series about a group of badass vampires. Right up my alley. Technically it's paranormal romance, but it's definitely not chick lit.

Richelle Mead--The Succubus series (Georgina Kinkaid)

--This one's a heartbreaker the whole way through. It's true paranormal romance. Bring Kleenex.

Stephenie Meyer--The Host

--This is the book that made me wonder whether Stephenie Meyer is a writer to watch out for. The Twilight series is definitely not her best work; this is.

Jim Butcher--The Dresden Files series

--I was a Dresden fan before I spent the summer of 2011 reading this entire series. (Okay, I still haven't finished Ghost Story.) I'm hooked.

A Look Ahead

Since I've become so involved with other writers, I find myself with less time for recreational reading. Therefore, I decided that rather than give myself a number goal for 2012, I would create a reading list with specific authors and titles on it. I love the Russians, so many of the titles are by Russian authors, but others are by authors who've influenced those with whom I've been working.

In no particular order, here's the unofficial list for 2012 (from 12/26/11 to 12/25/12):

Jim Butcher -- finish Ghost Story and Side Jobs

Elmore Leonard -- Pronto and Riding the Rap

Neil Gaiman -- Coraline

Richard Matheson -- I Am Legend

H. P. Lovecraft -- Collected Works (it's only 2400 pages-I can do that, right?)

Edgar Allen Poe -- finish Complete Works

Fyodor Dostoyevsky -- Crime and Punishment

Leo Tolstoy -- War and Peace (I'm determined to finally do it this year, maybe audio version)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe -- re-read Faust

Anton Chekhov -- still undecided

Vladimir Nabokov -- finish Lolita

Mikhail Bulgakov -- The Master and Margarita

David K. Hulegaard -- The Jumper, Noble (revised), and Bloodlines

Jeff Bennington -- Twisted Vengeance

Richard Roberts -- Sweet Dreams Are Made of Teeth

Franz Kafka -- re-read The Castle (maybe)

George R. R. Martin -- A Game of Thrones

Talk to me:  What's on your 2012 reading list?