Great news for the ebook community! Thought I'd just post this link to the Business Week article about the newest ebook readers. The E Ink sounds particularly fascinating. I love the smell of real books with pages and ink, don't get me wrong. Honest books that I can hold in my hand and feel the paper under my fingertips still have a place in my heart...and my hands. But there is a definite appeal to these new readers. Especially if you're a college student with a ton of books to carry around. Why not drop a Diana Hunter erotic romance in the middle of your science and math texts?

Just remember...play safe!
Diana

Warning...I'm getting on my soapbox. Beware!

By now, some of you already know that Lady Jaided magazine has been put on hold. Jaid gives her reasons, among which is: " the grim reality that all the major distributors think we’re too shocking for bookstore shelves...". It is this I intend to rant about. You've been warned. Twice.

I love men. Those who read my books know I respect and adore them. If given the choice between spending an evening with either a group of men I don't know or a group of women I don't know...I'll take the men every time. On an individual basis, men are incredibly fascinating.

So understand I make these statements not out of some man-hating extreme...but out of anger for a male-dominated industry that will allow (and distribute!) porn magazines like Playboy and Hustler (to name two of the tamer ones), but will not distribute a hot, sexy magazine for women. Sure, Playgirl gets distribution...because its porn. Lady Jaided isn't porn...it's down-and-sometimes dirty articles about female sexuality told in what, apparently, is a non-politically correct way.

Maybe that's the core issue here. Women's magazines fall into several categories: the self-help, the decorating, and the bridal. All of them are tasteful and restrained...what ladies are supposed to be. Not one of them is wild and abandoned. Not one of them is frank and sassy. Some of them started out that way, but lost that edge in their need to conform in order to be distributed. Exactly what Jaid says in her letter she won't do. Good for you, Jaid!

In the interest of full disclosure here, I do need to mention I had a story (3-part novella) under consideration for publication with Lady Jaided. I'll find somewhere else to place the story. That's not a concern for me. What is a concern is the attempt to muffle women once again. Heaven forbid we should speak out on topics that interest us using the tone and the words we want to use! THAT's what's ticking me off right now.

What can be done? Raise a stink at your local magazine kiosk. Tell them you want Lady Jaided and tell them to tell their distributors you want it. Call your local distributor, or better yet, put it in writing and let them know where you stand. Blog about it. Raise your voice. Do not go silently into that dim night...where women, apparently, belong.

You were warned. I'm ticked off...and am not going to keep quiet about it.

Play safe,
Diana

Sorry folks, just a little technical playing around here for a bit. Am posting some HTML code in this post to see if I can get technorati.com to finally admit I (and my blog) exist. Here's the tag:

diana hunter


Thanks for your patience, and play safe,
Diana

Valentine's Day...a day made for romance. For lovers and hearts and flowers and happily-ever-after endings...a day made for the dreamers and optimists among us. Ya gotta love a holiday that no one gets off from work, yet everyone likes to celebrate. A non-denominational day that just says, "Love is important."

And so it is.

May you love and be loved in return...

Diana

I started this year with only one story in my head...and stress in my stomach. For the past two Januarys, I've had a book somewhere in the pipeline. A sure-fire release that would assure me of at least one book for the year.

This year, I began with only the story for Lady Jaided...and dumped it partway through the month to begin another (see previous posts). Ruby Storm, Ruth Kerce and I have been burning up the cyber highways with emails concerning our newest venture together, but at the beginning of January, we hadn't yet presented it to anyone to see if it would even get off the ground, much less fly.

So one story...and stress galore. Can one consider one's self a writer if there is nothing on paper worth looking at? Was I all dried up? Would I ever release another book?

Now it is February...and the story for Lady Jaided is almost complete, our Winter Studs anthology has gotten a green light, and I have not one, but TWO abandoned manuscripts that will make excellent stand-along books once my other commitments are complete. Ah, life is good!

I know, I know...stop talking and get back to writing...

Play safe,
Diana

OH! For those who have asked...there is no movement on the Ebay/Secret Submission front. The book is available in print via other avenues (Amazon and direct order at Ellora's Cave), but Ebay remains firm.