Another example: The hero talks about being thinner now than he used to be because of a trauma he experienced but then comments about how he eats this big breakfast every morning since moving to this small town and he use to just have coffee.  And he’s always eating. ALWAYS. But he has lost lots of weight. Again, not a grand hero trait either.

These are things that I cannot imagine any of the fabulous editors I have worked with ever letting me get away with and listing to this book, I wanted to send them all a ‘thank you’ for that.  Oddly, I’ve read this author, and loved this author’s story, many times. So that makes me ask –what is the difference in this book and the other books? A new editor? No editor?  At what point, does an editor stop feeling they can edit an authors books? Is there a dollar figure or a personality of an established author?

It gives me some added appreciation for the little fixes I am always amazed an editor sees that we authors miss because we have become too close to the project. Because we have read and read the project, and even our critique buds, have read and read, to the point none of us can SEE the issues. No one is  above needing that nurturing editorial hand, that when done right, develops rather than suppresses, talent. After all, the idea is to put out the best book possible for our readers.

All this said, I listen on to this book….I’ll report back on the end of the book next week. I have several other audio book I’ve purchased  on my I-pod,  waiting for a listen. Acheron and the first book of the new Fallen Angels series by JR WARD. If anyone recommends one over the other, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Lisa

But I’m suppose to be blogging books — audio books — and I’ve been on a big Romantic Suspense kick. I just listened to two Karen Robards books in a row. The first one was my favorite and I can highly recommend it both for the audio performance and the storyline.

From the publisher:

http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B002V1OJTY&qid=1282671583&sr=1-1

Joyce Bean is the narrator and she is really well liked and I see why. She does voices well and she has a really nice tone to her voice. I LOVED the chemistry between the characters, the light comedy moments, and the tight suspense. I thought the love scene was a tad cheesy but its a suspense novel — still after all that build up it was my one complaint.

I guessed the bad guy but not until the last 4th of the book so I kept going and going, eager to find out what came next.

I highly recommend this one!

So now I’m curious…what is the best firefighter story you’ve read?

Thanks!

Cynthia Eden
www.cynthiaeden.com
I’LL BE SLAYING YOU–Available now from Kensington Brava
DEADLY FEAR–Available now from Grand Central Publishing (Forever)

Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox and in Japanese culture, foxes are common in Japanese folklore. In these tales, they are seen as faeries and possess many supernatural abilities.

The Kitsune are considered to be intelligent and grow ever more powerful with age and as their wisdom also grows. Their magical powers include the ability to shapeshift to human form and while Japanese folklore has them sometimes tricking people by assuming this guise, there are also many tales of the Kitsune being guardians, friends and lovers. The interesting thing is that the Kitsune can assume either male or female forms.

In Japanese lore, the Kitsune can also have as many as nine tails and the more powerful the Kitsune, the more tails it will possess.

The Kitsune are also considered to be trickster demons, with their escapades ranging from funny to malevolent. THey are also associted with the Japanese god responsible for rice – Iari the Shinto god. Inari’s Kitsune are white which is a good luck color and these variations on the Kitsune are considered to be guardians and can ward off evil spirits. Black foxes are also considered to have these powers.

For the past few years I’ve had foxes in my backyard and they are beautiful animals. Gorgeous red brown fur, sleek bodies and that pointed canine snout really catch your attention. They are also quite protective. A few years back they had a small family with a few kits (fox babies). The babies were adorable, but you can bet that mother and father fox kept a close eye on them.

It’s not hard to imagine creating a shapeshifter mythology around fox-like Kitsune and what’s even more interesting is that their mythological shapeshifter abilities allow them to morph into either male or female and young or old. That definitely would allow them to be the tricksters imagined in Japanese culture.

So if you have a chance, please explore! And enjoy your day!

But what if she was a Werewolf? And cute? Is that possible? Well, in the Kitty Norville books, the answer is yes. NO, Kitty Norville is not a cat. She’s a werewolf. Named Kitty for real by her parents who had no idea she would be attacked by a werewolf and be Kitty with really big fangs and a coat of fur.  Sometimes the world plays a cruel joke on you, doesn’t it?

I’m two books into the Kitty audible series. I quite like it. Book 1 was better than book 2 for me because we really get to see Kitty struggle with her identity in the human and werewolf worlds. Kitty is a DJ who starts talking about paranormal creatures and ends up with those creatures call into the show, some eager to talk about their struggles with their paranormal life. Others- fearful and anger -she is exposing them.  Humans think its a joke but they are still glued to the show, much like we are horror movies even though we know we will be scared.

I loved the very personal struggles and character growth Kitty has in book 1.  Book 2 is more about the world accepting paranormal beings she’s exposed. I liked it too but I am eager for book 3 where I understand we get more of Kitty’s own struggles.  Still really liked both books.

I enjoy the narrator for the series. My only complaint is that she doesn’t really do character voices.. After listening to the narrator of the Patricia Briggs Mercy series who does them so well, I miss that extra perk to the character development. But that said, the narrator is quite good and she gets me by the absence of character voices very well when I think another narrator would not.

I had the pleasure of meeting Carrie Vaughn, the author at RomCon, and while it was a fast visit, I found her very friendly and humble about her success. Somehow, that only makes me more excited to share the greatness of the character of Kitty, and her writer, Carrie Vaughn.   Give Kitty a listen.  You won’t be sorry!

The audio books are here…..

http://www.audible.com/search/ref=sr_asrch_lnk_8?searchAuthor=Carrie%20Vaughn&qid=1281460991&sr=1-8