My reading plan for the coming year

As many of you are aware the addition of VAT to the cost of ebooks bought from an international site from 1st January this year has hiked the cost of a book by 20% for readers in the UK. RJ Scott has written some interesting posts on the matter. Personally I'm peeved that if I buy a Treed read from a local bookstore or supermarket I don't get charged VAT but if I get an ebook version--using paper, cluttering up my home, and eventually creating rubbish (although all finished with books in my house get passed on to friends or charity shops)--I get penalised. In my opinion the UK goverment should pull ebooks from the list of goods to which this EU ruling applies.

Anyway, my point is, I'm not going to be able to buy as many books as I have done in the past. Publisher who try to entice me with 25% off are now only barely covering the cost of the VAT price rise and are less likely to encourage me to buy a book I was on the fence about or try out that new author. My autobuys will get first dibs on my money, if there is anything left the best deals on wishlist books will be the winners here. (FYI, anyone currently publishing with Amber is unlikely to see any of my money. They now refuse to serve us on their site meaning that we are no longer privy to the 50% off deals that they have been recently running and where I've spent an awful lot of money recently.)

But let's see this as a positive. I have hundreds of unread books on my Kindle. I've started series and often bought the rest of the series, then not found the time to read them. So this is my reading plan for the year is simple. 

Clear my backlist.

Finish at least one series a month. (My series for January is Tyack & Frayne by Harper Fox.)

Have a couple of themed months where alternate books have to follow a theme (oldest books on my ereader, novel length fanfic, free reads, genre picks).

Join me friends.

Free the books languishing on your ereaders.

More than just an elephant story

For the longest time Theory Unproven has simply been known as 'the elephant story'.

Well, no longer. We have a blurb, people. It's official and contains slightly more information than the words uttered above.

Theory Unproven

An unexpected job offer finds zoologist Eric Phillips transported from the elephant house at a zoo just outside London to the wildlife reserves in the South African bushveld.  Being able to work with his own herd of elephants, and analysing their behaviour, more than makes up for the remote nature of the research station. The one bright spot on the horizon, quite literally if the sun hits it at the right angle, is the silver freight plane that brings his supplies and half an hour in the company of Tyaan, the gorgeous but taciturn pilot.

With wide open spaces and clear skies, Tyaan Bouwer is never be happier than when he’s flying over the bushveld, the landscape beneath him a changing vista of colour and texture. It’s that view and the freedom to be able to climb in his plane and fly that’s kept him in the small town where he was born and raised. South Africa might be a rainbow nation but in the northern regions where neighbouring countries are far from liberal minded, prejudices and hatred bleed across the borders. Tyaan’s not in the closet, not really. Get him to the city and with his strong, silent routine he can pull a guy without even trying. He’s fine with that as long as they don’t press him into trying to see them again. It’s not like he wants a relationship. And just maybe when he gets home he’s hovering in the doorway of that closet, but he’s never met anyone worth taking the risk for.

The day he’s sent to Limpopo to collect Eric that all changes. He tries to bury the feelings of want that Eric conjures in him, but he can’t resist the bonds of friendship that forms between them.

As a zoologist Eric likes to think that he’s adept at anticipating how a creature will react in any given situation, and they don’t come any more beautiful and skittish than Tyaan. Despite Tyaan’s jittery behaviour Eric has a theory they could be good together but when things go catastrophically wrong it appears their relationship will remain a theory unproven.

Yay! News.

Theory Unproven has a home.

I'm pleased to confirm that I have signed a contract with Love Lane Books for the release of Theory Unproven. I've been working on this book for well over a year and I'm thrilled that it is almost here. Release date and blurb are still to be finalised but I do have a beautiful cover. Designed by Meredith Russell, the cover is exactly as I envisioned it and the models are just perfect.

In fact, I'm so happy with this cover that I'm displaying here in its largest format.



*sigh*

I swore I wouldn't go there

but I have.

I put all the blame on one RJ Scott for luring me to the dark side that is Facebook. She convinced me that I would be missing out on many marketing oportunities by not being there and if the number of friend requests I've recieved in the few days I've been there is any indication, then she is right (as usual!).

So if you want to join me to tread a path where I swore I'd never follow I'm here.

The reason why I'm letting RJ be my Yoda and guide my marketing will be revealed tomorrow.

I know Christmas is finished

and you now have little need for a cute Christmas story but I can't resist posting a link to this Four Heart review from Boy Meets Boy Reviews. I got a double review, so I had to please two reviewers not one.

"Holy jingle balls, talk about some well written sexual tension."

"...one of the sweetest/hottest first time scenes that I've read"

"It made my heart grow three sizes."

"Pretty much everything you need for a wonderful Christmas story"

"It made me gooey inside and left me sighing happily at the end. A really lovely little read."


You can see why I couldn't resist posting it.

The whole review can be found here.