Thursday, May 15, 2008

Abusing the TBR Pile: Readers' Advisory For Writers - The Vampire Edition!



It's the inaugural Abusing the TBR Pile series post! Woot! I suspect I'm probably the only person really excited about it. Which is why I'm giving away a copy of one of these books to one lucky TM reader who comments before 11:59 p.m. central time today! I'll announce the winner, who will then squee, and directly afterward e-mail his or her choice to me. If you choose an e-book, your prize will be in the form of Fictionwise micropay credits/publisher gift certificate for the amount of the book. Violating e-book copyrights is bad, m'kay?

So, what's up with the AtTBRP book lists? Back in February I posted an entry called "Books that Suck and the Readers Who Love Them." We discussed how performing peer critiques and analyzing some of the published work we read can help us improve our own writing.

I decided to use my Librarian Readers' Advisory Superpowers to make balanced lists of books for writers who are analyzing genre markets.

We'll abuse our TBR piles every month with a different genre and giveaway, as close to the 15th as we can get.

Two caveats:

These lists are by no means comprehensive. Omission or inclusion of a title makes no statement about the its quality. I will, more than likely, repeat genres as older titles go out of print and new ones get published.

AtTBRP book lists aren't just for writers! Bibliophiles of all flavors can use them to discover new authors and expand their reading.

Ready? Since we Title Magicians all write paranormal (among other things, of course!), I figured it would be appropriate to start with a paranormal subgenre. This month? It's all about vampires.





Blood Ties: The Turning by Jennifer Armintrout
Nocturne by Elizabeth Donald
Evermore by Lynn Viehl

Kiss Me Forever/Love Me Forever by Rosemary Laurey
Lord of the Night by Robin T. Popp
Tall, Dark, and Dead by Tate Halloway
Sweeter than Wine by Bianca D'Arc (E-book)
Night Rising by Chris Marie Green
Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready
Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward




So, tell me. What genres are you most interested in?

*Today's list was compiled with the help of Gale Group's "What do I Read Next" database , AquaBrowser's Fiction Connection, LibraryThing, Vampire Romance Books and the book Genreflecting: a guide to popular reading interests by Diana Tixier Herald

**Edited for clarity. Never let me post pre-caffeine again.

21 comments:

Anitra Lynn McLeod said...

Happy inauguration day! I guess I'm very behind on my vampire reading as I've not read any on the list. :(

Lately I've been reading more hard sci-fi and complex fantasy.

And I don't mean to be thick but what exactly are we supposed to do with the TBRP? Comment on the books we read, go read them, or??? Sorry I'm so dense but I'm really not sure. :)

Mel Hiers said...

No, you're not dense. It just means I didn't write it clearly enough. This time it was early!:-D

It's not an assignment or homework or anything. Some writers (like me) analyze some of the books we read. Look at what's being published in the genre we're writing in. What we think works, what we think doesn't work, etc.

I'm using my mad library readers' advisory skills to design book lists for people who do that. Or want to do that.

But there won't be a test or anything. *grin*

Anitra Lynn McLeod said...

Oh, I get it. If you want to analyze the vamp market, check out these books. Neat! And thank God there's no homework--I'm barely keeping my head above water as it is. :)

Mel Hiers said...

Heh. I'm going to go back and make the post actually make sense on my lunch break! Pre-caffiene I couldn't make my brain go, "If you want to analyze the vamp market..."

Savanna Kougar said...

Mel, TM's own Super Library Gal or is that Woman? Gee, what you learn. I didn't know that. But it makes sense, in order, to keep track of trends, what's new, what's hot, what's old, what's fading into the far distance of fad.
What I absolutely luv about Vampire novels, other than tall dark and handsome -- are the titles -- like Tall, Dark and Dead. Cracks up my funny bone every time. I'd luv to write a wacky vampire romp one of these days -- maybe in the style of Just One Bite with over-tanned George -- can't think of his last name. He also played a fruit loop Zorro. It was parody hoot!

Savanna Kougar said...

Mel, I posted to a couple of Yahoo groups about the freebie book. Hope that brings in some readers.

Anonymous said...

Vampire in historical fiction please (^_^) !

Mel Hiers said...

Hey, Savanna! Thanks! And if this kind of post doesn't go over, it's no big thing. I can come up with more giveaway ideas. Since I get library discount, maybe I can provide books for guest blogger days sometimes instead.

Come to think of it, I don't think any of us actually wrote a vampire paranormal. Not for the contest, anyway. Or am I wrong?

Anitra, I've been drifting away from the more complex fantasy for the more fast-paced stuff. I am in the middle of McCaffrey's The Rowen, and I think I'm going to like The Tower and the Hive series better than Pern. Is that weird? :-P

Savanna Kougar said...

Hi Silapa, nice to have you over here.

Happily Ever After Authors said...

I primarily read contemporary, but I critique a lot of paranormal, especially vampires it seems.

I do read a series that is primarily romantic suspense, but at times she throws in a paranormal and recently one with a vampire theme.

As a teen, I lived on vampire and werewolf stories.

So, I'm prime. lol

My favorite vamp of all time is Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows.

Who knows, when I get past the ghostly paranormals I'm working on, you might convince me to try my hand at a vamp story.

Bekki

Anonymous said...

I love vampire books but I'm always into historical genre.. a mix of both will be awesome..

amylove
sha_amie@yahoo.com

Savanna Kougar said...

Hi Bekki, Barnabas made your heart go pitty pat, eh? I didn't really get into Vamps until Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. Although, who can resist the whole Dracula seductive mythos?

Hi Amylove, history and vampires together are a natural.

Mai Christy Thao said...

Great post, Mel! I love vampires, but I also like fantasy and historicals as well. I'll can do demons and sorcerers, Navy SEALS and cowboys, kilt-wearing Scottish hotties and English aristocrats -- heck, I'm all over the place! =)

Anitra Lynn McLeod said...

Not weird at all! ;) I find what I like changes depending on the season, my mood, the tides--who knows! But I always have at least three books going on at once and I love to read new things. A friend of mine got into fishing and lent me a book about it. It was really fun because the author used a lot of humor to illustrate his points. And now I can give a character a real passion for fishing.

Asylumgirl said...

I love vampires of any kind! Dark Shadows was the bomb, both times. Count me in if I'm not too late.

Deidre

Anonymous said...

I love to read Paranormal, in fact it is the only thing I read these days! Vampires, shifters, fairies OH MY! Love the Cartoony covers and the sexy ones with tats!
Great list as most are on my to Get List and we will not even talk about the TBR pile! lol
Have a Great Day!

Chris
Dragonsflowers@yahoo.com

Savanna Kougar said...

Hi Deidre, you do love those vamps.

Hi Chris, good thing we paranormal lovers have more than ever to choose from.

Savanna Kougar said...

Hey Bekki, you won! Contact Mel, please. Her addy is on the blog.

Anitra Lynn McLeod said...

Congrats on a great first give away post, Mel! Hopefully, several posters today realized we have great give aways and they should stop in more frequently.

And again, D&D is not geeky. I defend that to my last breath. Dungeons and Dragons is all that got me through high school! :)

Ya, it helped I had a wicked cool illusionist that could summon massive spells but uh, still, it's not geeky. Sure, I had a sketch of my character and all but that's not geeky. Nor the fact I gave her a webpage and had fans and such. Nope, not geeky at all.

Sigh. Okay. A little geeky but I learned more about medieval times through D&D than most other sources combined.

Geeks of the world UNITE! :)

Savanna Kougar said...

Ah Ha!While Dungeons and Dragons always appealed to me, it arrived after what would have been my high school years - if I'd actually graduated. I had to settle for other fantasy escapes... er...powers.
However, I must assume this non-geek activity prepared you well for the strategies which will enable us to achieve world domination. Elves could be particularly helpful...what do you think?

Anitra Lynn McLeod said...

Oh, yes, all my D&D adventures certainly prepared me for world domination. Elves are wonderfully useful! ;)