Jenna Harte

Author: JHarte

  • Celebrity In Death – A Review

    After 34 In Death books (not including compilations and novellas), one might think the characters are old and the stories a little too formulaic, but J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) somehow continues to deliver. Celebrity In Death surrounds the movie adaptation of Nadine Furst’s book about the Icove case. As usual, Eve finds the whole situation annoying and creepy, while Peabody is taken with the celebrity. But, when the unlikable actress playing Peabody is found dead in a pool during a party, Eve and Peabody have to investigate the murder.

    Celebrity in Death steps back from all the drama and angst that occurred in New York to Dallas, but doesn’t spare the banter and sexiness particularly between Eve and her billionaire husband Rourke. While it’s not the best book in the series or a place to start if you’ve never read the books (you absolutely need to start at the beginning with Naked in Death (In Death, Book 1)), the book is still good, albeit predictable. For me, the books are all about Eve, Rourke and the other characters. The mystery and mayhem is secondary. And for that reason, I have enjoyed all the books.

  • Rejection Sucks!

    Rejection Sucks!

    I understand that rejection is part of the writing/publishing process, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to take. Particularly when you make a step forward, but then are pushed back again. I mentioned in a recent post that I’d made it one step closer when a publisher and an agent requested the full manuscript. The agent emailed with positive words and indicated she’d passed it on to another agent for review as well. Yea!

    But then this week I got the dreaded, “no thank you” email. Waaaa! The email was positive overall. She called the book a “page turner” and said there were “strong elements to the narrative”. She said it was “very good” but apparently it wasn’t “great”. She suggested I up the intimacy between Jack and Tess and turn it into a romance novel. The problem with that idea is that I already have two drafts of additional books about Jack and Tess. Romances don’t do series, so it wouldn’t work. At least I haven’t seen a romance series that wasn’t also a mystery series.

    The book is still with a publisher and while I know I can still get a ‘no’, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a ‘yes’.

    Have you gotten a rejection? I’d love to hear your tips for dealing with it!

  • One Step Closer

    One Step Closer

    As I wrote in my previous post, waiting is hard to do. But, today I heard back from a potential agent. This woman has been sooooo great.

    I first sent the query through the submission form on her website about a week before Christmas. I got an automatic message that the submission was received. In the beginning of February, I couldn’t wait any longer, so I emailed asking if she got the submission. Turns out it got lost or didn’t go through after all. So I sent my short pitch and few chapters. A week later I got an email in which she apologized for the delay and indicated she’d get to it soon.

    I emailed back thanking her for the update. By then I had a publisher ask for the full manuscript, so I mentioned it to the agent, who then wrote back and asked for the full manuscript as well. That was February 15. Today I received an email in which she wrote, “Just to keep you posted, I thoroughly enjoyed your manuscript so I passed it along to a coworker to get another read. We’ll have an answer for you as soon as possible.”

    I know that it could still be “no”, but each little step closer is exciting. And it’s validating. I love my story. My mom and sister like my story. But let’s face it, what we think doesn’t count. When an agent says she liked it, that tells me I might be able to do this writing thing after all.

  • Death Comes to Pemberley – A Review

    Death Comes to Pemberley – A Review

    What could be better than an Austen love story combined with a mystery? This is what P.D. James has done in her recent release of Death Comes to Pemberley. Pemberley is the home of Mr. Darcy and now his wife, Elizabeth (Bennett) Darcy of Pride and Prejudice. At the start of the story, Elizabeth, Darcy, Col. Fitzwilliam, and Charles and Jane (Bennett) Bingley are making final preparations for the Lady Anne ball. Elizabeth and Jane’s youngest sister, Lydia arrives unannounced and hysterics, screaming that her husband, Wickham is dead. But it’s not Wickham who is found dead, it’s his good friend Denny. Wickham is arrested and tried for the murder. Despite his loathing of Wickham, Darcy doesn’t believe he’s a murderer.

    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.

  • If eBooks Don’t Make It and Traditional Books Don’t Make It, What Will We Read?

    If eBooks Don’t Make It and Traditional Books Don’t Make It, What Will We Read?

    The Guardian recently posted a article by Ewan Morrison questioning e-publishing and whether or not it’s bubble was about to burst. It was a follow up to his article “Are Books Dead and Can Authors Survive?”, which isn’t so much about whether books are dead but whether authors will be able to make a living in the digital reading world. My question is, if e-publishing is going bust and books are dead, does that mean people aren’t going to read? Albums and cassettes are dead and CD’s are following, but we still listen to music, or more precisely we still pay for music.

    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.