I would not describe myself as a die-hard Janeite. I don’t mind when directors have the characters kiss in the movie adaptations. In fact I like it. But, when I read a book (or see a movie) I want the characters to behave the way they were originally written. That’s where Death Comes to Pemberley falls short. While some of the characters are written true to form (Jane, Charles, Wickham, Lydia and Darcy), James fails to capture Elizabeth’s wit. Granted, she’s married with two children and a large estate to manage, which could mellow her out a bit. But I don’t believe she would have settled into the role expected by society. While Pride and Prejudice is a love story, it also pokes fun at late eighteenth century social norms. Elizabeth isn’t afraid to point out social rules that make no sense or stand up for herself against people who are in a higher station than her. P.D. James’ Elizabeth doesn’t do any of that. In several situations she could speak her mind, but doesn’t. There are only a few occasions in which James’ captures Elizabeth’s wit. In fact, Elizabeth doesn’t figure very prominently in the book at all, which makes sense since as a woman she wouldn’t have been allowed to participate much in a murder investigation. Although we see a lot of him, Darcy isn’t very involved either. I expected the two of them to investigate and solve the crime, but in fact the resolution comes in a Perry Mason type last minute testimony.

Having never read P.D. James before, I can’t compare it to her other works.

I enjoyed the book overall. Austen fans might get a kick hearing about Captain Wentworth and Anne (Elliot) Wentworth from Persuasion, although I think the timing is off. Death Comes to Pemberley takes place in 1803 and I’m pretty sure Persuasion doesn’t take place until 1811 or there abouts (I remember a quote in which Wentworth says something to the effect he wasn’t in a position to get married in ’06 which is about the time Anne turned his first proposal down). James also lets us know about the Knightley’s and Harriet Smith of Austen’s book Emma.

I don’t think reading is going away. But the question about whether or not writers can make a living is a valid one. While Morrison talks about people’s expectations of “free” in the digital world, I think avid readers will always be willing to pay for a good books. Maybe not $25. Maybe not even $10. So I believe the change we’ll see is that except for the current big names (i.e. Grisham), authors won’t be getting the same deals they once had. But that doesn’t mean they can’t make a living. One thing that the Internet has done is leveled the playing field for writers. Amazon and Barnes and Noble are filled with new authors that were turned down by publishers, self-published, did well and now have traditional book deals. This suggests that authors who write well and market (which you have to do in the traditional world anyway) can have a successful writing career. Take HP Mallory, who now has a three-book deal with Random House after selling nearly 200,000 self e-published books.

Clearly traditional publishing is going change. And while the big advanced might go away and book prices may drop, that doesn’t mean authors can’t make money. HP Mallory’s books sell for $0.99 to $2.99. At 100,000 books, that’s not chump change. What will change, which has already changed anyway, is that authors will need an existing audience and do their own marketing.

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* Reader will be asked to answer a short 3-question survey to insure that the Valentine mysteries are a good fit for your reading preference. While I want all feedback I can get, if you’re expecting a full-blown romance (ala Nora Robers) or a hard-boiled detective novel, you probably won’t like the Valentine mysteries.

So far the only book ready for publishing is book one, Deadly Valentine, although I keep thinking of things to add or cut. Still, if one of the agents that I have sent a pitch to responded with “Send me the book”, I’d have no trouble sending it to them.

Book two, Old Flames Never Die, is in it’s first draft form as well. After finishing book three, I determined it was time to edit book two. Boy does it need work!! But again, the bones are there. I just need to flesh it out.

Although much work is needed, I’m proud that I’ve completed three full-length novels. I’ve written over 200,000 words…over 600 pages.

I’m still vacillating on whether or not I want to self-publish or not. I suppose I’m hoping one of those four agents that have my pitch will help me make the decision (preferably by wanting to represent me).

Sometimes though, they are too unlikeable or the situation is so unrealistic (i.e. Play Dirty). Lethal starts off just like that. Coburn takes Honor and her daughter hostage for a night, he kills the cop who shows up to save them, and then Honor leaves with him…voluntarily. Of course, it was the right thing to do, since the cop was dirty. But I wonder if I’d have gone with him, especially with my four year old daughter in tow.

Despite that, the book was one of the better of Brown’s recent releases. Perhaps it’s the setting (I love books set in Louisiana) or watching how Honor’s daughter interacts with the hard, cold Coburn. Like all the books, the villain is a surprise, although it doesn’t leave you with the feeling of “Oh my God, I didn’t see that coming” that Sandra Brown is famous for. In fact, there is less and less of that with her new releases.

If I could change one thing about the book, it would be the ending. It stops one scene short. (Spoiler alert….) the romantic side of me would have liked to have experienced Coburn’s reaction to seeing Honor step off the plane.

I’m not sure I could get it out in time for Valentine’s Day, which would be perfect because book one ends on Valentine’s Day. But I’m sure I could get it out sooner than if I went through traditional publishing. I’ve actually already made a cover. It’s not perfect yet. And I’m not sure it really fits the mood of the book. Deadly Valentine is a murder mystery, but it’s lighthearted and romantic. This cover says “serious” to me. If you’ve read the excerpts and have an opinion, let me know. I’m on the hunt for good graphics to make a different cover. Perhaps I’ll have a poll to see which you think will be best.

As I finish this post, it almost sounds as if I’ve made up my mind to self-publish. I’ve determined that I’m going to work towards that (formatting, editing and cover design take time), and if one of the agent’s I’ve contacted me are interested in the book in the meantime, then I’ll pursue that route. If not, and all the agents say “no”, my fall-back route will be ready.

I read a lot of books and interviews from agents, so I know it doesn’t take much to send your submission to the reject pile. I think I do a good job avoiding some of the big ones like not sending a submission the agent doesn’t represent and not being cocky. But the typos and poor sentence construction are a challenge to me (I have yet to master the comma). I have a vision of an agent reading until the first little error and then immediately hitting delete. “There is no apostrophe in ‘its’ when it doesn’t stand for ‘it is’”.

But there’s no way to get an agent without pitching, so I’ll keep hitting the “send” button until one says “Yes!”

On the other hand, I love going to the bookstore and holding (and smelling) new books. Plus, you can’t take a Nook into the bath tub. But my biggest worry about having an ereader is that it’s way to easy to buy books. I’ve already ordered and paid for Celebrity In Death, J.D. Robb’s next release that isn’t due until February 21, 2012. I’m not the only one. The book is ranked 827 at Amazon.

Since Christmas I’ve clicked “Order Now” way more times than I think I would have had I driven to the store and found the books on the shelf. So while the books tend to be cheaper, I may end up spending more. With the publishing world worried about how they will survive in a digital world, I wonder if they’ve considered that.

I do have a few other pet peeves….

I am able to wrap my brain around the idea of spending money for digital items, afterall it’s the content of the book not the materials that make up the value of the book. But I feel like I’d rather buy a paperback than a digital book, if the prices are the same (most of the fiction paperbacks I’ve considered buying digitally are the same price at the store). Plus you can’t return or re-sell a digital book, so if it’s a dud, you’re stuck with it. I’m also not sure I like reading magazines on the Nook. Right now I subscribe to The Writer. The content and layout is the same, but reading the articles is cumbersome. Still, the digital version is cheaper, so I guess I’ll just get used to it.

Overall I really like my Nook, and while I’m not done wanting traditional books, I know that as time goes on, I’ll probably have fewer books overfilling my shelves.

I’ve got a few treats for those of you have been following my journey. First I have an excerpt of the first four chapters of Deadly Valentine. Second, I have an excerpt of the next four chapters to those who sign up for my email list (see subscription box to the right). Don’t worry about getting too much email. The list is solely to provide updates, freebies and other goodies occasionally.