Explain to me...

Explain to me...

Let me preface this by saying that my husband is a Vet. He spent more than 13 years in the Navy, and I was a Navy wife for all that time. He's highly decorated, including a commendation that specifically recognizes him for saving the sub he was stationed on at the time. Every man on that sub owes my husband his life and knows it.

I also worked for the Navy and for the Air Force, as a civilian. Our children were Navy brats. Our family has nothing but respect for the military, and we deplore people who disrespect military members, because they don't agree with the war being fought. I don't agree with the war either, but it's not the military grunts' fault. Both sides of the family are full of people currently in or formerly in the military...in all four major branches and even a guy from the Coast Guard in the mix.

But being former military gives us a rather unique perspective on the subject of Veteran's Day and Memorial Day. My daughter summed up that perspective rather nicely in history class the other day, and her teacher had to break up a rather unruly group of high school kids who felt her opinion is "unpatriotic" and "disrespectful." IOW, they took it upon themselves to be offended FOR people like us.

So read her comment and explain to me why anyone in their right minds would find this either unpatriotic or disrespectful...

"People in the military deserve respect all the time, when they are in and when they aren't. It's an insult to designate a single day or two during the year to remember and respect the military members. We have people in a war now. Know how they're treated? Like crap. When my father was in the Navy, he was treated like crap. If you want to respect military members, start with the ones in the military who are being treated bad. (Disregard her poor grammar.) Don't tell me to spend one day a year respecting someone who fought and died fifty years ago."

I'm proud of her. This is an incredibly ADULT take on the subject, IMO. She's not saying to disrespect someone who fought and died fifty years ago, but she rightfully feels the people in the military now should be treated better.

AT LAST! NY is embracing the revolution!

Once upon a time in e-publishing, there were the indies. Well, they still exist, and they rock. These people came in and did it right. They turn on a dime, adapting to the freshest voices and subgenres of work available, work that scares the marketing folks in NY to death and back. They offered no advances but much higher royalty rates than the conglomerates did. They created the markets, and the structure rose around it...distribution channels, resellers, buzz, sales, acceptance... Once upon a time...an industry that has passed 15 years, in comparison to print publishing, which has been around since Gutenberg.

The NY conglomerates made several stabs into the market. The first was abysmal. The second looked promising. They even used indie-e as their test market and adopted their versions of what they thought was working in indie, but that's not what I'm talking about today. It's the new revolution out of NY that I'm talking about.

So what is this new revolution? A true clone of the indie-es being carried out by a NY conglomerate publisher. AT LAST! I've been saying they need to do this for years.

What's the deal with Harlequin's Carina Press? It's fixing everything NY conglomerates have done wrong in the past. They've eliminated DRM, which a lot of readers will avoid like the plague. They've eliminated advances, which indie-e authors have long said are not necessary with a higher royalty rate and good distribution (both of which Carina claims). According to some sources, Carina will be offering 30% of net, which is the lower end of the indie-e sliding scale of royalties.

They're branching out into almost all manner of commercial fiction and not limiting themselves to one subset of romance, sensual romance, or erotic romance. They'll be taking everything from straight-genre horror and science fiction through romance of all heat levels and types to erotica for women. The line seems to be drawn at non-fiction, poetry, and YA. Keeping YA and erotic work separate is a good idea, so I'm not complaining, though they may later branch out into a sister line that handles YA, as many indie-es have branched out to include disparate genres in sister lines.

In addition, they've signed on Angela James. She's one of the biggest names in indie-e erotic romance editing. She was with Ellora's Cave, then with Samhain. Both, as you probably know, are wildly successful. the woman knows her stuff, and with Angela on board, chances are, she'll be offering her input into NOT messing with what works in indie-e (another mistake the NY conglomerates often make). I'm hoping she'll be signing on the fresh voices and subgenres, going as edgy as indie-e allows, and turning on a dime. It seems Harlequin wishes to push those limits with Carina, and as such, I'm hopeful that is the literal truth this time and not the lip service we've seen on the subject before.

It's new territory for the NY conglomerates. It probably scares the marketing guys to death, but it is a huge step forward for the industry that has been a long time coming. It's the first big shot in the arm the industry has had in a while, and it comes at a time when the market is exploding with new choices in handheld reading devices.

Kudos to Harlequin on this bold initiative, and kudos to Angela James for being part of it!

Come have FUN!

My newest interview!

Simply put, this is the most unique, fun interview I've ever done. Rick is great. He gives us ten completely off the wall questions and invites us to get silly with the answers. You've never seen author interviews like this one before.

And wish me luck! Within 36 hours of the announcement of the opening of Carina Press (from Harlequin), I'd completed and cleaned up a novella WIP (work in progress) from a new world. Angel Wing Saga is officially out and about in the world. Fingers crossed. I'd really love to work with Angela James, and I'd love to try out this publisher. Looks like they might be doing it right in NY this time!

New e-book venue!

http://www.cnbc.com/id/33785094

Harlequin with an all-e line that is supposedly patterned after indie e...and with Angela James as Executive Editor. Worth watching, I think.

Consider Joining!

As we're all concerned with copyright, consider joining the grassroots organization working on DC to protect our copyrights, as new legislation is created. There is no fee to join as a One Voice member.

http://copyrightalliance.org/content.php?id=43
http://copyrightalliance.org/content.php?key=join

Copyright Alliance is a grassroots organization run by a group of legal eagles and activist types from DC and industry members. Their membership includes large groups like writers' unions and music industry groups. They also have a creators' awareness group that is made up of individual creators, including authors, artists, and musicians. I was on a radio show last week with Lucinda Dugger and Patrick Ross. INCREDIBLE, dynamic people. You really have to talk to them someday!

There is no required membership fee, though some of the industry folks do donate to the cause, so you might want to join the creators ring, just to see what it's like.

Oh...and please consider signing the petition being sent to the president and vice president...
http://www.copyrightalliance.org/letter/
They are hoping to have more than 10,000 signatures when they send it this week.

The petition is a small part of a larger movement in DC. Many of the new laws the policy makers are working on are detrimental to or not supportive of copyright. They hope to show that creators of all types want our copyrights protected, when new policy is made. It's not that they are against things like Creative Commons Licensing, but it should be up to the creator to designate that.

Now, apparently this is making waves. From what they said on the show, they have elected officials telling them they've heard about the movement, without being contacted by CA with information about it.

Brenna

FREE READS from Phaze!

Happy 5th Birthday to Phaze! Celebrate with 9 free reads, including "Claiming A Lady" from the Night Warriors series. We know the Warrior lords claimed their mates. Starting now, we see that for the first time! First up...Gawen, the Stone Lord. Find them at http://www.phaze.com

the Amazon Kindle "piracy" problem...

Several days ago, Shayna Englin was quoted in the press, describing how she and several friends exploit the Kindle to share their e-books. Sadly, she has closed comments on her rebuttal. I can appreciate her need to turn her blog back to its intended purpose, her business, but some things need to be said on this subject...publicly, so people understand why authors and publishers react as we do...and why we feel Amazon is faulting on established practices.

Let me put it to you another way. Shayna and her friends have found a loophole in Amazon’s system that the authors were not aware existed. Are some angry at her and her friends? Sure. But more, we’re angry at Amazon.

Why? Because it was introduced to US (the authors and publishers) that it was to allow one person to share the book on devices they owned…to allow husband and wife, mother and daughter, two sisters or two best friends (hey, I’ll go that far) perhaps to share books. Not six unrelated friends to do it.

There is an established way to lend e-books, and Amazon breached it. Look at B&N, and you’ll see the RIGHT way. You get the publishers to opt in. You have a limited number of shares…okay, Amazon did that right, I believe, though their comment of "usually" six does not inspire confidence. You have a limited number of TIME on shares; I’ve heard 2-3 weeks batted around for most systems, with one person using it at a time and/or only the total of 12-18 weeks (6X2 or 6X3) of sharing allowed on a book EVER, allowing for two times on a single person, and you lose a share that way to someone else. Amazon has defaulted on this by leaving publishers and authors COMPLETELY out of the loop and misrepresenting to us how this would be handled and used.

Did it floor some authors to learn it was being used this way? Of course. Because it’s common sense to us that you don’t do this without publisher approval. Yet again, Amazon has jumped into an established game and screwed up the works, confusing the issues. But Amazon seems to excel at that.

Simply put, Amazon needs to do what B&N is doing…and do it fast. They’ve lost about a thousand points in my book in the last few days and swung my opinion to being fully in B&N's corner, at least until Amazon handles this to the satisfaction of the authors and publishers.

Is sharing a print book different than “sharing” an e-book? Yes. It is. Sorry to burst the tender bubbles of some people in here, but it is. e-Books are software…a book but not in a solid form that will eventually fall apart. Paper books don’t last decades, as they did when they were made a century ago. Planned obsolescence is the name of the game these days. There is no wear and tear on e-books. They don’t wear out…ever, because there’s such a thing as backward compatibility. But, back to the meat of the subject.

Valid e-book lending, as a result, has limitations set on it. DRM to make them only good for a certain length of time and number of lends, for instance. Someone MIGHT say that the DRM in question makes it allowable, if it was legalized into X time and Y number of lends, to lend them without publisher approval. I’d be WITH them, if such a law existed, but it doesn’t.

Right now, we’re dealing with copyright law, which says NO unauthorized copies of the book made and distribution. And we’re dealing with DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), which covers all electronic media, including e-books. Kindle’s method of “sharing” doesn’t break copyright, per se, IF only one of the six can use it at a time, like passing a paper book hand to hand. If more can, it breaks it, right there, because they don’t have the author’s and publisher’s permission to make those copies (more than one person holding and reading the book at a time) without paying royalties for them. Simple, elegant, but as I said, Amazon rarely thinks these things through, from what I’ve seen.

The other types of piracy noted in replies on her blog are not legal, because they are creating and distributing (illegally) multiple copies of the book. It’s not LESS illegal to make copies of an e-book and hand them out than it is to slit the cover of a paper book, make OCR scans of it to make an e-book, and then pirate that as an e-book, which has happened to many print-only books, like Harry Potter. Or to use a Xerox to make paper copies of an entire book and hand it out, which most people DO know is illegal…and impractical. Hurray for innovations that make copyright infringement easier. Tongue in cheek…firmly.

I have nothing against someone who is (for instance) vision impaired OCR scanning a paper book to have ReadPlease or Adobe read the book to her. That’s use of the book you purchased (used or new) for your own purposes. A-okay, in my book, though Author’s Guild would have a heart attack to hear me say that, I’m sure. There are legitimate uses to the hardware in question, but pirating books isn’t one of them.

Neither do I have an issue with one person sharing an e-book with A friend (singular). Never did. More than two starts to fray at my nerves, especially if I find they are both/all keeping copies of the book. A lot of people really don’t know this is wrong, and I try to educate them about it. It’s the big pirate sites that are the bane of my existence. Not these piddling little sister/sister shares.

So, is piracy worse than UBS (used book stores)? YES! Both legally and from the standpoint of sales numbers for the authors. Legally, I’ve covered. Realistically…the entire paper books eventually wear out thing…I’ve covered, not to mention that even UBS can only sell one copy at a time of a book, whereas pirates can give away thousands of copies at a time of the single purchased book. I’ve found 800 entries for my books at a single pirate site, and I find dozens of sites every year. Taking them down can be, if you let it, a full time job.

Maybe it’s not a big deal to a bestseller in NY, who will pre-sell 100,000 or more of the newest book in print form alone and sell that much or more in the first few weeks out for sale, but to the indie/es and the midlist in NY…yes, it’s a plague that will discourage authors, will waste a heck of a lot of our writing time, will adversely affect our royalty checks, and will (in many cases) keep a NY author from getting offered another contract, because the sales aren’t up to snuff on the one being pirated.

A plague? That’s not an exaggeration. There is no such thing as a book that cannot be pirated. There is no DRM that cannot be broken. There is no way to make a paper book that cannot be scanned. All we can do is be enough of a pain in the backside to pirate sites that we slow them down.

WISHES and EVE up for an award!

Strangely, it's NOT one of the two I was talking about the other day. Two other awards are about to announce finalists, and I'm hopping around in excitement about it. Why is it that I can enter a contest and be completely unaffected about it, until the week I know finalists or winners will be announced? Then I'm a nervous wreck.

Anyway, back to this contest. THREE WISHES and THE TEMPTATION OF EVE (both from my Urban Grimms collection) are up for Whipped Cream's book of the week. First time I've been up for it, and a two-fer, at that. Both took 5 cherries in their reviews. So far, WISHES is doing better in the voting than EVE is, but I like WISHES better, as well, so that doesn't surprise me.

If you've read either of these stories and would like to vote, the link is here. If you'd like more information about them...

http://whippedcream2.blogspot...com/2009/10/temptation-of-eve-..by-brenna-lyons.html?zx=..d4e2230aec45621

"The Temptation of Eve is a thrill ride of a book. From the first page I was sucked in and couldn't put it down. I loved every word! I really enjoyed the twists and turns this book took as Ms Lyons wove her story. I recommend this great read, and look forward to seeing more from this talented author."
Reviewed by Snowdrop for Whipped Cream Reviews- 5 Cherries!

http://whippedcream2.blogspot...com/2009/10/three-wishes-by-..brenna-lyons.html?zx=..583b8947744e796

"Another wonderful read from Ms Lyons! I absolutely loved the godfathers. Their wit and humor are fantastic; add in their caring attitude toward the main characters and these three take the cake. The end of this book is wonderfully satisfying and, just like the fairy tales of old, it has a lesson."
Reviewed by Snowdrop for Whipped Cream Reviews 5 cherries!

Also from the collection...

"This action-packed short was the perfect “waiting room” escape. As an Italian, I found myself laughing out loud at Mama. She was so convincing, I could almost smell the lasagna."

CATCH ME, IF YOU CAN- Reviewed by Jaded for Bitten by Books 3.5 Tombstones!

ONCE UPON A TIME...TODAY!

Once upon a time, the Brothers Grimm wrote a collection or ten of morality and cautionary tales. They weren't the sanitized versions so popular today. In fact, if you were telling a child the Grimm's tales, it was to scare him straight. It's time to take the magic and mystery...and the horrific elements back. Urban Grimms are not the bedtime stories your mother told you. Full of erotic romance, dark fantasy...and good old sarcasm, there's a little something for every grown-up fairy tale lover.

"Catch Me, If You Can"

A retelling of the classic Grimm's tale "The Hare and The Hedgehog." When Angelo Maretti's twin sister is killed by 'family rivals,' the retribution backfires in the form of a mobster who wants to kill Angelo as well. His foe is the last of the culprits left alive, and he will die, God willing...but not by way of a gun. To avoid a war, all of the guilty have to die without a sign of interference by the Marettis.

To purchase CATCH ME, IF YOU CAN from UTM...in e-book and print... OR from Mojocastle!

HEA-yes, VIOLENCE-high, LANGUAGE-moderate, SEX-erotic

Cover art courtesy of Samuel Pray (artist) and Under The Moon!

"Three Wishes"

A retelling of the classic Grimm's tale "Three Little Men In The Wood." Ellie D'Arcy just wants to graduate college and move out of her home to escape her stepmother and stepsister. Her inheritance can wait until she reaches 25, as long as she's free. But, there's another inheritance she is due at 21, one she never knew was coming. What happens when a 21st Century woman is given three wishes by fairy godfathers? Simply put, havoc ensues, because the fae have a sense of humor the likes of which you've never seen before. They also have tempers.

To purchase THREE WISHES from UTM...in e-book and print...

HEA-yes, VIOLENCE-moderate-high, LANGUAGE-moderate, SEX-erotic

Cover art courtesy of Samuel Pray (artist) and Under The Moon!

"The Temptation of Eve"

A retelling of the classic Grimm's tale "Snake Leaves." It's Eve's wedding day to Raul, but something has gone seriously awry. Following a veiled warning from her brother-in-law Roman, the prodigal son who has returned for the wedding, and a drugged wedding night she can barely recall, Eve's life is set on edge. Which brother is lying? Which is protecting her, and which is dangerous to her? Or...are they both?

To purchase THE TEMPTATION OF EVE from UTM...in e-book and print...

HEA-yes, VIOLENCE-high, LANGUAGE-explicit, SEX-erotic

Cover art courtesy of Samuel Pray (artist) and Under The Moon!

Excerpt from THREE WISHES

Ellie pushed through the door into the restroom, her mind in turmoil. She had to get the necklace off and find a way to hide it, but she couldn't seem to figure out the lock without a mirror.

At the sink, she turned the chain until the lock faced the reflective metal surface. Twisting the chain to rotate it only heightened her confusion. There were no seams, no markings save a small symbol that was probably a maker's mark, no loops or thumb catches. It appeared to be a solid block of metal, fusing the ends of the sturdy chain together.

But, that was impossible. Angus had put it on her. It had to open.

You can never take it off.

Had Angus said that? Ellie was certain he had. He hadn't said 'you shouldn't' or 'you must not' or even 'you will not.'

You can never take it off.

"That's crazy." Ellie leaned closer to the mirror, pulling and prodding at the block. It felt as solid as it looked. Whatever the trick to it, it wasn't coming off.

Cursing under her breath, she trudged down the hall. She glanced at her watch, wincing that she'd missed the 3:10 train to work. There would be no time to eat before she started work, unless she settled for a burger at the campus café and took the 3:40.

It wasn't exactly high cuisine, but it would do...and it was cheap. A burger, chips and a soda would run her just shy of eight dollars.

Ellie fished her purse out of her backpack, frowning at the weight. It was thick, stuffed so full it bulged in her hand.

"They wouldn't," she breathed. How would they?

"Problem, honey?" the cashier asked.

Her cheeks burning, Ellie mumbled out a 'no' and opened the purse, making sure she shielded the contents from view. She thumbed past the hundreds and fifties, praying that wasn't all she had, nearly sighing in relief at the first twenty. At least one of those was really hers, so she snagged it and paid, stuffing the change into her jeans' pocket.

Ellie dropped the purse back in her backpack, accepted her food and walked away. She knew she'd waste half of it now that her stomach was tied in knots.

It was back to the restroom. Ellie sat in the stall, tearing her backpack apart, looking for a place to hide the wad of money.

"You had to give me two things to hide?" she complained in a whisper.

Hiding the money was essential, even moreso than keeping the necklace under wraps. The money had to be returned to Marcus intact. The necklace was secondary. Worst case scenario, she'd keep it on her neck for the next twenty-four hours.

It's not like I can remove it, anyway. If I can't remove it, it's unlikely anyone else can, either.

That still left her with the problem of hiding... Ellie counted it, her mouth going dry.

A thousand dollars? That was like waving a red flag before Tina and Maria. Even if it didn't mysteriously disappear, just the sight of the money would spur Tina into raising her rent, on the off chance that it was Ellie's money.

But, where could she hide it? Ellie handled one thing after another, rejecting stuffing individual bills in between the pages of her notebook, trying to roll them small enough to stuff her tampon box with them, and so on. Her gaze skated over her laptop then returned.

Of course! Tina and Maria were computer illiterate, save e-mail and forums, and her laptop was only set-up for the college's wireless network. It was the one thing they'd never consider touching.

Ellie pulled the money from her purse, folding a few bills at a time and making a thin layer of them on the keyboard. She shut it, searching for telltale edges and smiling at the results.

The laptop stashed in her backpack, Ellie scooped up her purse...and stopped in dismay. It was full and heavy.

"No," she pleaded. "No, no, no. This has to be a nightmare."

She pulled another stack of bills out of the purse, her heart sinking as it filled again.

"Pocket change," she grumbled. "A spell for pocket change. A five would have sufficed. Twenty wouldn't have been unreasonable." Now what?

At a loss, Ellie laid the second set of bills in the laptop and forced it shut. There would be no more hiding them there. And, if I take more out of the purse, it's going to fill. She didn't question that. She returned the laptop to her backpack with numb fingers.

They're fairies. God help me, they're fairies, and they cast spells. What do I do now? She had a necklace that she couldn't take off and an endless pocketful of cash.

Ellie pushed away the thought that she also had a soulmate out there somewhere, burning a path to her door.

SNEAK PEEK- excerpt and art for ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

That's right...one of my rare contemp stories is coming from LooseId in December. And you get first look at the cover art by the talented April Martinez!

All I Want For Christmas Is You- Two years after losing her fiancé Zach in a car accident, Robin is moving on. She's set her priorities, and one of them is following through with a life plan she and Zach made together...having a baby. It would be best if said child shared some of Zach's genes.

Enter David, Zach's older brother. He's Robin's best friend, her confidant, the one person who won't think she's crazy to do this...she hopes. Since there's no chance the ladies' man will fall for her, she hopes sex with him will stop the dreams where David takes Zach's place.

It's the invitation he's been waiting for, three years of watching Robin with his little brother, then watching her grieve Zach. If only she wanted David for himself and not a convenient sperm donor to conceive his brother's child. Then again, in such close quarters, maybe he'll be able to convince her to something more permanent...if his parents don't catch wind of the whole thing first.

HEA-yes, VIOLENCE-mild, LANGUAGE-graphic, SEX-erotic...BDSM overtones, anal sex

“I want to have a baby.”

“C-come again,” David managed to stutter out. Overall, it was a better response than she’d anticipated to the announcement.

Robin took a calming breath and prepared to explain. Despite how many times she’d rehearsed the speech, it deserted her in the heat of the moment, just as she’d feared it would. Just as it often had with Zach.

“Well...Zach and I had planned to have a baby right away.”

He nodded, setting his beer on the table between them. “He mentioned it.”

That would make things easier. I hope. “I still want to.”

“Have...a baby.”

Robin hesitated and then nodded. He thinks I’m insane. Then again, she thought she was insane some days. How many weeks had she argued this? How many times had she reversed course? More than Robin cared to count.

David gulped down another few mouthfuls of his beer before he answered, seemingly steeling himself for something unpleasant. “Robin, I know you love Zach.”

And she loved David for phrasing it that way. Anyone else would have said ‘loved Zach,’ marginalizing her feelings, dismissing them. Putting the nails in the coffin of her love for him. She winced at the pun.

“But, baby... Much as we both love Zach, he is gone.”

Anyone else would have ended up with a faceful of red wine at that blunt statement, but David had always been honest with her when no one else would.

“I know,” she replied with all the dignity she could muster.

“The plans you made together...” David sighed. “They were meant to be carried out together. I’m not saying you’re incapable of doing this without him,” he hastened to add.

“What are you saying, David?”

He darkened a notch. “Be sure, before you do something this...big. Be certain you’re not doing this just to hold onto a piece of what you and Zach planned.”

She stiffened, offended that he’d think her capable of it. “I’m not.”

“Just be sure,” he insisted. “Holding onto the past just to --”

“I’m not!”

A couple at a nearby table slid a glance at them at her outburst. Robin pretended not to notice it, and they went back to their conversation.

David took her hand, stroking his thumb over the back and his fingers in the bowl of her palm. With that little provocation, her body responded.

It seemed to be happening more and more often. Touches he intended to soothe her aroused her senses. Shared looks made her heart pound in excitement. Whispered words had her wet and aching.

His voice dragged her back to the present.

“You’ve thought this through, then?”

“For months.” That was no exaggeration.

David raised her hand and pressed a chaste kiss to her knuckles. “Then I’ll help you.”

Her breathing hitched. That simply? I ask the seemingly insane, and he agrees nearly without question. David was a rare man. Zach would have demanded weeks of negotiation on the subject. She pushed that thought away before she stared arguing this choice again. “Thank you.”

“So what’s it going to be? A sperm bank?”

Her face burned in embarrassment. Now comes the moment when he says I’m insane. Robin didn’t doubt that his offer to help was about to be rescinded.

“Robin?” There was an edge of steel in that question, and he stopped stroking her hand.

“I was hoping...” She couldn’t form the words. Damn! Why did I spend all that time practicing the logic, if I can’t speak coherently enough to say it?

One dark brow arched at her hesitation. “Hoped?” he prompted her.

“To have...ah...a donation from someone who shared chromosomes with Zach.” She knew her eyes were pleading with him. Not so much for his agreement; it was unlikely she’d get that much. Robin would be lucky if he didn’t walk away and wash his hands of her.

The beer came up in David’s free hand, and he drained it. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and set the empty glass back on the table. After a tense moment of silence, his eyes opened, and he forged on.

“You want me to... What? Leave a sample with your doctor or something?”

It sounded horrid, when phrased that way. Beside that, it wasn’t what she wanted. She tried for humor, her heart aching. “If that’s the only way you will.” At least, she’d get the baby that way, which was better than not, she supposed.

His eyes widened, and dark patches of color bloomed in his face. “If... If...?”

She stared to speak, uncertain what would spill out. It had been too much to ask. It was time to let him off the hook and get therapy for her fascination with him.

He put up an index finger, an unmistakable order for a moment of silence.

Robin snapped her mouth shut, cursing herself for not dropping the whole idea. She’d argued it was crazy at least a hundred times. Why had she bothered to pursue it?

David dragged out his wallet and tossed a twenty on the table. A whirlwind of a moment later, he was ushering Robin out of Mik’s and into the crisp winter air outside. She zipped her jacket, averting her eyes, anticipating the lecture to come.

He turned to her, and she looked up against her better judgment. His face was all harsh lines. Oh, yes. The lecture was coming.

“If that’s the only way I will?”

There was something manic couched in his tone, but he wasn’t shouting at her or suggesting a shrink. To her surprise, he seemed to want answers, so she organized her thoughts, seeking out the reasons she’d so carefully prepared.

“I’ve investigated every --”

“Robin,” he warned.

She stared at him, confused. What had he been asking, if not the reasons why he should consider a more intimate donation to the cause?

“Are you saying you’d prefer another option?”

Unfashionable writing

Just amused by the state of the world today, as you'll soon see...

What set me off?

A comment on a list that stated editors and agents expect you to have a complete and working knowledge of grammar before you submit to them.

Why is that amusing to me?

Grammar is changeable. I mean...some things are pretty much wrong...dead wrong...always. But I find it somewhere between amusing and annoying that you learn the "rules" of grammar, and every time the powers that be that write the Chicago Manual of Style make a new edition, they change it, just to change it, seemingly.

As if that's not bad enough, then they make things optional, so the individual house styles can choose one or the other. For instance, the use of commas, in certain situations, is completely optional, depending on whether not using them would cause confusion for the reader. It's no wonder some people find grammar daunting.

Same thing with spelling. I'm sorry. I learned to spell with traditional spellings, so when the new M-W comes out and says that the "new way" to spell a word (dumbed down for the idiots who don't want to pick up a dictionary and spell things correctly) is now the preferred way to spell it, I find it galling that some publishers will choose to make the preferred spelling the default for their house, across the board, which dumbs down my books, IMO.

I make a habit of telling the middle and high school kids I teach about writing that you should absolutely learn grammar, punctuation, and spelling...but don't expect them to be stagnant. Don't expect them to be "correct," when submitting to a publisher who has gone through three versions of the CMS and M-W since their textbooks and teachers have been updated. I have nothing against a living, breathing language. I do have something against being told that the old ways are wrong, just because someone wants to sell a new edition of a book. They aren't wrong. They are just being made unfashionable, thanks to CMS and M-W.

Just remember the old saying.

"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months." Oscar Wilde

or

"The fashion wears out more clothing than the man." Shakespeare