Bloomsbury's Epic Holiday E-Book Deals!

Is it really any surprise that Bloomsbury is jumping into the awesome ebook deals parade that seems to be going around lately? Well it shouldn't. And they've marked down some awesome books for the season! From now until January 6th, Bloomsbury's marked down 60 of their titles to $3.99 or less! What a steal, right? And they're available for every digital format. Check out the flyer below and then head on over to your favorite retailer to snag some books! Some titles you can get?

So what are you waiting for? Go buy!

Alyxandra Harvey Talks Haunting Violet and Creepy Things

Thanks to Bloomsbury here are a couple of videos of the wonderful Alyxandra Harvey talking about her most recent release, HAUNTING VIOLET, and about paranormal things in general. If you haven't already, be sure to enter my giveaway to win an ARC of HAUNTING VIOLET! And you can read my review of it while you're at it. It really was a great read. Enjoy!

Stand Up For What's Right - On Your Own Terms

The underlying issue with this post is the cover for Magic Under Glass not accurately representing the character between the covers. Obviously not the first time this has happened. Whitewashing sucks, plain and simple. If publishers would just accurately represent what the writer wrote on the cover, we wouldn't have this issue. They assume the reading public wants model-looking white people and only that, otherwise they won't buy the book. Readers should feel pandered to and they should feel patronized by it. It's insulting to think that publishers think so little of their reading public.

But the issue I want to discuss is how bloggers treat each other in such a case. Some are rather peeved that this book didn't get the attention that Liar had a few months ago so they're "calling out" bloggers and are "disappointed" and "upset" with them for not giving this the attention" it deserves."

To them, I've failed as a blogger because I haven't brought attention to this most recent issue. I'm a disappointment. Never mind I've never even touched the book let alone picked it up and read it. I've still failed.

Bite me.

There's a reason why I don't support PETA. Their intentions are good but their methods absolutely suck. Negativity should never, ever touch a cause. What makes you think I'm going to help you after you poke me in the eye? Or cover me in red paint? Or tell me I've failed?

Seriously, people. We're readers. A lot of us are writers. We understand the power that words can have. So why do people think that slapping down other bloggers will help their cause? Why do they think that inviting people to "call out" bloggers that don't bring attention to such things based solely on their own interpretations of how it should come about will help them? I may be a masochist (maybe that was a little TMI, oh well) in some areas of my life but don't berate me than then turn around and expect me to help you.

These people are leaning heavily on big bloggers like Kristi at The Story Siren to get her to stand up and scream with them, all while telling her she's not obligated to do so. So is she obligated or not, because you're contradicting yourself. I don't know one blogger that runs their blog based on bowing to pressure from other bloggers. We're a community. We support each other; we don't bully each other. Yes, those big bloggers have bigger voices than a lot of us but piss them off and just as many people will see their frustration at the situation as you want to see the stance for the cause.

I don't run my blog based on other people's expectations of me. I don't bow to community pressure, basically because there's next to none. If someone else thinks I've failed because I haven't lived up to their expectations of how I should react, fine. Whatever. Not my fault as I didn't set their expectations of me. They did that all on their own. Just don't expect me to help. Negative reinforcement doesn't bode well with me. One of the reasons why I'm not in the military.

Like PETA, I have no doubt in my mind the intentions of these people are nothing but good. It really is a cause to stand up for. But their methods blow. Hard. This is why negativity should never touch a cause. It detracts from the real issue at hand. Whitewashing sucks. Bloggers chastising other bloggers for not doing what the other feels they should sucks even more. I'll stand up how I want to stand up on my own blog. I don't need someone else telling me how I should do it and then telling me I've failed because I haven't. Yeah, that's a real motivating factor to get me to do what you want me to do.