Top Forty?

I almost hate to post again today because I’m enjoying the comments to “Finding Books.” I hope you take the time to add your voice. If we get a significant response, I’d like to invite some PR people and editors to drop by and see what you all are saying.

Also, don’t forget that today is the last day for Phase One of the Fantasy Challenge. Of course, those who entered for Phase One will also be eligible for Phase Two which starts tomorrow.

Someone stumbled upon A Christian Worldview of Fiction by doing a search for the top 40 Christian books. Since I have no such list, I’m not sure how this blog came under scrutiny, but the query got me to thinking that such a list would be nice to have.

Of course there are always terms to define. By “Christian” do I mean CBA? No, I’d have to say I don’t. By “Christian” do I mean “evangelical Christian”? To that question, I defer to the definition I established over a year ago when I first started this blog: From my perspective, a Christian is one who looks at the world, at God, through the lens of the Bible. (See this post for the beginning of a discussion of “Christian Worldview.”)

With that being said, I understand not every writer claiming to be a Christian will agree with my definition. Since I cannot judge the author’s heart, I can only go so far in determining whether or not a work aligns with my definition. Pretty much I’ll take an author’s word at face value, but I won’t include the work of someone belonging to a group with a different understanding of who Jesus Christ is.

Then there is the fact that I am limited in scope. I haven’t read lots and lots of Christian fiction. In fact, until 2004 when an editor at the Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference challenged writers hoping to publish in the CBA to actually read CBA fiction, I was largely ignorant of that side of the publishing aisle.

Here’s my other dilemma. Would I consider some of the books I enjoyed before studying fiction to be great now that I know a little more about craft?

Of course, I already know there will be an outcry from some for books I leave off the list, too. YIKES! Should I even try it?

Check back here on Monday, but in the meantime, feel free to leave a comment to name your own top 3, 5, or 10. Maybe together we can compile a list of forty.

Finding Books (Response Requested)

I’ve made some unchallenged assumptions of late, one being that word-of-mouth is the greatest influence on book-buying/reading habits. The thing is, when I say such a thing, I am parroting what I’ve heard others say. I’ve never read any studies or seen an polls to verify this.

I guess it’s easy for me to accept because I find it so true in my own life. I think of some books that were not on my radar screen that I recently read. In most cases it was because someone I knew, in person or on line, told me about the book. In one case, the person even lent me the book. (And he was right about it!)

Of late I’ve come across discussion about the use of marketing tools—bookmarks, postcards, podcasts, book trailers, and the like. So I’m wondering, what is the biggest influence on you and your reading/buying?

Let’s make it simple. Here’s a list you can choose from, or you can identify “other,” something I haven’t included.

1. a friend’s recommendation (in person or on-line)
2. browsing a catalogue
3. browsing in a bookstore or library (bookcover, back copy, first page convinced me to pick the book)
4. browsing online sites like Amazon or Christianbooks.com
5. recommendations as part of a book club or blog tour
6. author interview
7. a present from someone else
8. read/buy whatever my favorite author releases, and I hear about the books from:

8a. author newsletter
8b. author website/blog
8c. my own watchfulness in places like Amazon

9. reading reviews online/in magazines or newspapers
10. someone gave me a bookmark or postcard

And of course there is still the Other category—something I haven’t mentioned.

- - -

Time is running out in the first phase of The Fantasy Challenge. The drawing for Wayne Thomas Batson’s autographed copy of The Door Within, the Missing Chapters version, will be held June 1. To be eligible, go to a local bookstore and ask the clerk or manager about a Christian fantasy title. Report back here about the exchange.

BTW, if you ask about The Restorer, by Sharon Hinck, you may also be eligible to enter her Search for Restorer Contest.

Speaking of The Restorer, I started the advanced readers copy of The Restorer’s Son today. I’m planning to post my review during the CSFF June Blog Tour for Sharon.

Speaking of ARCs, just today, about a half hour ago, I received the ARC for George Bryan Polivka’s second book in The Trophy Chase Trilogy, The Hand That Bears the Sword. I’ll post that review during the blog tour for Bryan in August.

Sooooo, I’m happy. I’ve got good fantasy reading ahead of me!

And how did I hear about those books? One, I know the author. The other, an editor friend told me about it.

Your turn? How do you find the books you read?

Torn Asunder or Tied in Knots

Whichever cliche you want to use, I freely admit—I’m confused. Part of me wants to persist in providing evidence that Christian fantasy sells. The proof, the examples, are out there. I could contact individual authors and editors to give testimony as Bryan Davis did (thank you, Bryan, for your unsolicited comment).

I could admonish blog visitors to pitch in and help the plight of fantasy in the CBA by buying more of the books, for surely, I do understand, sales speak louder than words.

Certainly, those of you who hang around A Christian Worldview of Fiction know I believe in readers doing what we can to change the perceptions of CSFF. If in doubt, all you need to do is look at a few of my previous posts on Marketing and Promotion.

It’s why I’m conducting the Fantasy Challenge, why we started Latest In Spec, why we’re exploring a CSFF novel award, and of course, why we hold CSFF blog tours.

BUT, with Karen Ball’s simple request to pray for the folks working within a publishing house to bring about changes in How Things Run, it brought me up short.

The bottom line is, God is not absent. Nor has He forgotten about CSFF writers. He also hasn’t made a mistake and isn’t missing an opportunity to make His name known through Christian fantasy.

So where does that leave us? Do we fold up our tents and withdraw from promotion? Do we stop pushing against the straits, adopting a “let go and let God” attitude?

I don’t have an answer. For some time know, I’ve felt the battle for CSFF publication is most like the physical battle Gideon experienced. In that instance, God stripped away almost all Gideon’s resources, all for the sake of leaving no doubt that it was He who fought for Israel. As God engineered things, the enemy turned on each other, and all Gideon had to do was go in and clean up. Literally and figuratively. He and his followers reaped the benefit of what God performed.

Does active promotion, rants and all, fit into that model? Am I drawing parallels where none exist? Is there no One Way to approach finding the “lost genre”?

I certainly believe there is no one way. Not for writers, certainly. Some will expend their energies on webzines, others on self-publishing, others in writers’ conferences and pursuit of traditional CBA publishing, others in ABA publishing. Promotion will look different, too.

After all, God worked very differently with Samuel than with Gideon. And differently with Deborah. And Samson. He is not limited to a certain manner or method.

The only common denominators I see are that we should pray and that God receives the glory for what He does—whether what He does is open the doors in CBA publishing or not.

Not feeling so tied asunder any more.

An Open Letter to Karen Ball

First, I have to say, I appreciate you taking the time to respond to last Friday’s Periodic Fantasy Rant and the resulting comments. I, for one, was especially interested in your personal regard for the science fiction and fantasy genre.

I was also convicted about my lack of prayer for CBA publishers. You can read more about that, if you care to, in my post over at Speculative Faith.

There are two areas I’d like to address, however. One was your assertion that Amazon does not reflect overall sales. One point of frustration I have is that there is NO accurate way of knowing what Christian fiction titles are selling. Most recently, CBA has retreated from making their bestselling lists available to the public. What could become a tool to create buzz has instead become insider apparatus. Too bad, I think.

Since the NYT bestseller list ignores sales in CBA stores and in discount outlets, that list gives no accurate representation of sales either, and no indication of how Christian fiction is selling. So how can an average, not-on-the-inside person have any idea about what sells well and what doesn’t? One way is to utilize tools such as TitleZ.

While giving no pretense that the Amazon rankings they track represent a one-to-one correlation with how books are selling in all venues, TitleZ does give a “ballpark” indicator. From “What’s a Good Sales Rank“: “in general, though, we’ve found that Amazon sales ranks provides a good indicator for how a title is doing throughout the book market as a whole.”

Using the long term approach TitleZ emphasizes—for 2007 releases, that means the 90-day ranking statistic—coupled with the translation to the ballpark categories (best-seller, extremely good performerr, very successful, successful, and so on), I think the assumptions I made about the sales comparisons in my Friday post are as accurate as anything we can know. Certainly, I do not think they should be dismissed out of hand.

That being said, I want to point out that I did not rest my assertion that fantasy IS selling well solely on Amazon rankings. I repeated the PW statistics for Donita Paul’s fantasy series as well as CBA’s rankings for Bryan Davis and R. K. Mortenson.

Karen, I also want to bring up this issue of Realms and the idea that this represented a “failure.” I could be wrong on some of these specifics because I admit, this is hearsay, but that’s the problem—what I hear some in the know say is the opposite of what others in the know say. One knowledgeable person who was in a position to see contracts and sales numbers told me all four of the Realms authors earned out. That three of the four were new authors, and that Realms was without their driving force champion makes that an impressive success, not a failure.

One other interesting fact about those Realms books: I believe only one could be considered fantasy, the genre that is selling so well in the culture at large. Perhaps if Realms had more fantasy titles (rather than sci fi or supernatural suspense), their expectations would be met.

Last point, and perhaps the most important. If selling is most affected by word of mouth—and most people who hang around long enough in this business seem to agree it is—isn’t it reasonable to conclude that those with the most influence have the biggest affect when they say something? In other words, don’t editors, when they say sci fi and fantasy don’t sell well, actually create the negative buzz that insures the truth of those statements?

I don’t know if I’m saying this clearly. What I’m thinking is this: The people who are most in a position to know things, by saying “We don’t think this sells well,” create the very buzz that causes the genre not to sell well. Because certainly editors have a bigger platform than some wanna-be blogger who rants about how Christian publishers are missing the fantasy train.

All that being said, Karen, I want to reiterate how much I appreciate your willingness to dialogue over this subject. That means a lot, believe me.

Frivolous Fun (Not a Post)

I got this over at Karen Hancock’s blog—fun and not too time consuming. What’s your American accent?

Karen’s came out West (she’s from Arizona) which translated into not much of an accent at all. Mine came out Midland (I’m from California) which translated into not much of an accent at all. Go figure.

For what its worth, my parents both came from the Midland. So maybe this little quiz gives credence to my theory that imitation is really how we learn our communication skills (including reading and writing).

And what was that comment Karen made about surfin’ SoCalers?

Check out the quiz for yourself.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   “You have a Midland accent” is just another way of saying “you don’t have an accent.” You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The South
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The West
The Northeast
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Periodic Fantasy Rant

Yep, those of you who know what I’m going to say probably don’t need to keep reading. It’s not like it’s a new position. I’m taking the time because it seems editors aren’t changing their tune.

In a recent blog post at Charis Connection, this question was posed to the contributing authors/editors:

s there a genre not yet in vogue that you would like to see developed?

One answer struck my fantasy nerve, so tender as is:

I would love to see fantasy and science fiction more fully explored and embraced by the Christian market. But aside from a few exceptions, which I’m watching with great excitement and interest, the Christian readers haven’t been responsive to recent attempts in these two genres. Unfortunately, until the readers demonstrate that there really is a market out there–translation: BUY the books that are released in this genre–publishers, the one I work for included, aren’t overly interested in these genres. Sad, but true. Karen Ball

Where do I start?

First, I’d love to have a dollar, just a dollar, for every comment or email I’ve received that is some variation to, I had no idea there even was such a thing as Christian fantasy. My point is, how can readers buy what they do not know exists?

Sometimes it feels like unpublished writers and readers are more invested in trying to get more fantasy sold than the publishers are. I’m not saying that’s fact, just that’s how it feels at times. Publishers support the blog tour, for example. Without their work to get books into our hands, we would not have a blog tour, I don’t think.

But where are the visionary thinkers, the people working to utilize the changing technology to help authors sell books?

In a couple months the CSFF Blog Tour will feature Robin Parrish, author of Fearless and Relentless, and I think he has some surprises to unveil in connection to promoting his work.

The fact is, when a publisher put some money into a series—such as Thomas Nelson did for Wayne Thomas Batson’s Door Within trilogy—sales soared.

Which brings me to my next gripe. Yep, it’s a gripe. After all this is a rant!

How many of these “few exceptions” do there have to be before the genre is recognized? Karen Hancock’s Amazon sales for Return of the Guardian-King compare favorably, for example, with Lori Wick’s White Chocolate Moments, Brandilyn Collins’s Coral Moon, Robin Lee Hatcher’s Sweet Dreams Crossing, Angela Hunt’s Uncharted, and undoubtedly a host of others. By the way, these books have one thing in common—they are recent releases, when interest is probably at its highest.

On Amazon, Batson’s first book is outselling Katherine Paterson’s (author of Bridge to Terebithia) newest release and compares favorably with Orson Scott Card’s latest. In fact, in the teen fantasy section, Batson’s The Final Storm is ranked #52 in best-sellers, ahead of books by Philip Pullman, Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl), and, yes, J. K. Rowling.

But are only Hancock and Batson selling well? What about Donita Paul, Bryan Davis, R. K. Mortenson? According to the PW article, Paul’s DragonKeeper Chronicles have sold over 150,000 books. Davis’s books are frequently on the CBA best-seller lists, and if my memory is correct, Mortenson’s first book was a CBA #1 seller in youth books.

The point is, when readers discover Christian fantasy, they DO buy the books. The task is to let readers know about them. This will not happen as long as editors take this tepid, wait-and-see attitude.

I’ll tell you which publisher is doing the impressive thing right now—Thomas Nelson. Not only did they do a wonderful job with the Door Within books, they are re-releasing Kathryn Mackel’s science fantasy. Hopefully that will lead to publication of the third book in what was intended to be a trilogy. Thomas Nelson’s name also came up over and over as we complied the list of books nominated for the new *** Award we want to give as a supplement to the missing Christy Visionary.

Why editors do not see the cultural trends and want to run ahead and provide excellent Christian literature is a mystery to me. Sales, they say. So, if we readers buy and buy and buy, then the publishers will have no place to go but in search for more authors to satisfy the growing desire for quality Christian fantasy.

Loose Ends

We have had such a flurry of activity, I don’t want to neglect any of the discussions we’ve started just because something else jumped up and started waving its hands for attention.

So here’s what we have going.

1. The Christian Worldview of Fiction Fantasy Challenge. Maybe this weekend will give you the opportunity to spend some time at your local book store. Don’t forget to ask for a Christian fantasy title, then come back here and report what the clerk/manager (better if you get to talk directly to the boss) had to say.

2. A Christy Award supplement. This would be an award to recognize the best speculative novel written from a Christian worldview in 2006. We have a nice list of books you all have nominated. We have a few people who have volunteered as judges. I’m looking at our volunteers as first round judges and I think we need a few more. We also need someone who is willing to head up the judging. This would be a person who would be on the organizational board.

3. Publishers Weekly recently contained two articles of interest to fantasy writers, one about the success Mormons are having and one about fantasy being a tough sell in the CBA. We’ve expressed a lot of dismay over the different directions. Is there anything we as writers need to do? Would it help or hurt to contact publishers and ask what they think about this trend?

4. The ACFW Genesis finalists were unveiled two days ago. Hope you’ve extended your congratulations to those you know. It’s a wonderful accomplishment, especially this year. There were something like 41 entrants, so being selected in the top five was not an easy thing. The Book of the Year finalists won’t be released until August, I believe.

5. The Sword Review blog tour went very well. We have one CSFF member who was on vacation, but posted today. Take a moment to visit Rachelle’s blog to see what she has to say about TSR.

CSFF Blog Tour – The Sword Review, Day 3

Before I get to the review I promised, there’s some industry news to share. Yesterday the ACFW Genesis contest finalists were announced. The five moving on to the second round in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Allegory category are the following:

Sally A. Apokedak
Valerie Comer
Rebecca Grabill
Shannon McNear
Chris Mikesell

If you’ve had opportunity to read any of their work, you know that each of these is a wonderful writer. It’s a great group. And I can’t resist pointing out that three are members of the CSFF Blog Tour and one a former member who has stopped blogging. So a hearty congratulations to each for making it into the finals. I don’t envy the judges having to pick winners from that group.

Sally Apokedak also finaled in the YA category, and I happen to know that story is also a fantasy. So this is a good day for our genre!

I also want to remind you of the Fantasy Challenge I am holding here at ACWoF. Be sure to check out the prizes you can become eligible for if you complete a simple assignment at your local book store. The first drawing will be held June 1.

Today I want to review one of the short stories you can find in The Sword Review, the May CSFF Blog Tour feature.

Issue 25 features the 3800-word fantasy story “Sarah’s Stone” by Joan L. Savage. I’m bypassing the typical review summary, because that would give way too much away in a short story. Suffice it to say, “Sarah’s Stone” was interesting from beginning to end, catches you by surprise, stirs emotion, makes a person think.

Strengths. Ms. Savage has done a wonderful job establishing a unique voice for her protagonist. Young Sarah is distinct and poignant, but also clearly motivated. Her desires are plain after the first 200 words, and what she needs, drives the plot from that point on.

There’s appropriate internal and external conflict, which gives layered nuances to the story. “Sarah’s Stone” takes an unexpected turn towards the end which makes it fresh, avoiding predictability. The theme is subtle and at the same time clear.

The world-building, so hard to accomplish in such few words, is well done. No undue attention to unnecessary details, but enough to make me feel as if I was in another place.

Weaknesses. There weren’t many. The first paragraph could be stronger, I think. The initial “problem” turns out to be a symptom of the real problem, but in those first lines it seems rather trivial. I’d suggest a stronger opening to reveal the real problem.

There was minor repetition, but once I was engaged in the story, I stopped noticing whether or not that continued throughout. I want to say it didn’t, but when I’m caught up with a character, I don’t always notice.

Recommendation. This story is a wonderful example of Christian fantasy. I highly recommend you take time this week to stop by The Sword Review and read “Sarah’s Stone.”

Also, stop by the blogs of others participating in the CSFF tour this month:

• Brandon Barr
• Jim Black
• Amy Browning
• Jackie Castle
• Valerie Comer
• Frank Creed
• Lisa Cromwell
• CSFF Blog Tour
• Gene Curtis
• D. G. D. Davidson
• Chris Deanne
• April Erwin
• Kameron M. Franklin
• Linda Gilmore
• Beth Goddard
• Marcus Goodyear
• Andrea Graham
• Russell Griffith
• Jill Hart
• Katie Hart
• Sherrie Hibbs
• Holly
• Heather R. Hunt
• Becca Johnson
• Jason Joyner
• Kait
• Karen
• Dawn King
• Tina Kulesa
• Lost Genre Guild
• Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 - The Compendium
• Terri Main
• Rachel Marks
• Eve Nielsen
• John W. Otte
• John Ottinger
• Robin Parrish
• Cheryl Russel
• Hanna Sandvig
• Chawna Schroeder
• Mirtika Schultz
• Steve Trower
• Speculative Faith
• Jason Waguespac
• Daniel I. Weaver

CSFF Blog Tour – The Sword Review, Day 2

Today I’d like to take a closer look at the webzine, The Sword Review, headed up by Bill Snodgrass, and one of three online publications put out by Double-edged Publishing.

I say “online,” but as some of you know, The Sword Review recently started producing a print version as well. I’ve actually seen a couple in person, and they are very nice additions to the body of speculative fiction.

A couple of observations about the webzine:

1. It is free. The online version is, at least.
2. The quality is high and its reputation is solid. You have to go no further than TSR’s showing in the past two Predators and Editors polls to see that it has high standing with the online community.
3. For writers, it is a paying market. Not high paying, but writers are not giving away their work.
4. There’s a good blend of science fiction and fantasy, which means there’s something for everyone who looks for speculative fiction.
5. The Sword Review provides forums where readers can give feedback and writers can explore craft, promotion, community.

One question that might arise from that quick overview is, how can a free webzine afford to pay their writers, even a nominal fee? There are two answers. First, The Sword Review takes donations. There is no “in your face” approach to this, as I see it. Just a provision placed prominently, not obtrusively, to let readers know they can support with their pocketbook if they choose.

The second method for raising money is with a short story contest. Towards the end of the year—I think last year the deadline was sometime in December—TSR solicits entries into their contest which requires a $10 fee. This amount is in line with other such contests, and a half (I think) of the proceeds are used for cash prizes for the top three places. Of course, the winners also receive publication.

At any rate, the contest seems like a win-win situation to me. Writers get the opportunity to test their stories against others, TSR gains operating costs for the year. (And speaking of contests, don’t forget the Fantasy Challenge. First drawing is June 1st.)

Overall, I’m impressed with The Sword Review. It’s a great source for thought and aesthetic enjoyment.

Tomorrow, I plan to review one of the fantasies published in the current issue.

Other bloggers who will have something interesting to say in connection with TSR are listed below:

Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Holly
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 - The Compendium
Terri Main
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Robin Parrish
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

CSFF Blog Tour – The Sword Review, Day 1

May 2007. The CSFF Blog Tour is officially beginning its second year. It’s appropriate that we are featuring a website this month because that’s the way we started. A handful of speculative writers chatting at the ACFW forum decided we needed to do something to call attention to our genre. More like, some things.

In the year since those early discussions the tour has featured books by Donita Paul, Kathryn Mackel, Kathy Tyers, Randy Ingermanson, Wayne Thomas Batson, Randy Mortenson, and Karen Hancock—a good blend of fantasy and science fiction, adult and childrens books. We also featured five websites: Christian Fiction Review; Edenstar; Dragons, Knights, and Angels; Christian Fandom; and Where the Map Ends.

In addition, we’ve begun collaboration with the Lost Genre Guild to produce a genre newsletter, Latest In Spec. Our little planning team also started the team blog Speculative Fiction, and now we’re discussing an award, perhaps a contest … lots of exciting things.

The thing is, others have been laboring longer, people like Bill Snodgrass, head of Double-Edge Publishing, the parent of this month’s featured webzine, The Sword Review. Which is one reason it is important to highlight this work.

In the next couple days, I want to take a look at the site overall—do what Eve called a Sword Review … Review. (Clever!)

Then I plan to pick one of the stories and do a story review.

But today, before all that site-specific discussion, I want to mention a few other things about the Christian science fiction and fantasy genre.

First, an author I greatly admire (though I admit, I don’t know if he was a Christian) recently passed away. Lloyd Alexander, author of The Book of Three and the other chronicles of Prydain stories, died last month at the age of 83.

On a different note, The Publisher’s Weekly article about Christian fantasy is out. I have to admit, it was not the buzz-creating boost I’d hoped for. Not with the title they chose or some of the early quotes. Here it is, though, if you’re interested: Speculative fiction is a tough sell in the Christian market.

In contrast, here’s a note from fantasy author Sally Apokedak regarding a fantasy she was considering nominating for the award we’re talking about creating (posted with her permission):

I was researching to see if Leven Thumps was written by a Mormon–I wanted to nominate it for your award.

It was written by a Mormon I think. Published by a Mormon publisher, anyway.

And then I came across this article.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6438569.html
Of particular interest is this:

Chris Schoebinger, Shadow Mountain children’s publishing director, said the Fablehaven books are not inherently religious but do provide moral lessons. He asked Mull, who is Mormon, to create a series for ages 9 and up after a survey of 2,000 LDS readers found Potter atop their “favorite reading” lists. Shadow Mountain also publishes Obert Skye’s Leven Thumps fantasy series. (For a look at evangelical Christian fantasy, see the May 21 issue of PW Religion Update.)

Can you believe those Mormons? They actually took a survey and found that the children loved Harry Potter and this publisher hit his forehead and said, “Hey, I have an idea. Let’s ask a Mormon guy to write a great fantasy series for kids. So they did this one–which is getting rave reviews and selling like crazy, and Leven Thumps, which is not selling as well but has gotten some awards.

What a concept! Give the readers what they like!

What more can I say?

I’ll let you mull this over while you take some time to look at what the other bloggers in the tour have to say:
Brandon Barr Jim Black Amy Browning Jackie Castle Valerie Comer Frank Creed CSFF Blog Tour Gene Curtis D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne April Erwin Kameron M. Franklin Linda Gilmore Beth Goddard Marcus Goodyear Andrea Graham Russell Griffith Jill Hart Katie Hart Sherrie Hibbs Holly Heather R. Hunt Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Kait Karen Dawn King Tina Kulesa Lost Genre Guild Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 - The Compendium Terri Main Rachel Marks Eve Nielsen John W. Otte John Ottinger Robin Parrish Cheryl Russel Hanna Sandvig Chawna Schroeder Mirtika Schultz Steve Trower Speculative Faith Jason Waguespac Daniel I. Weaver