4 Replies to “First Cup of Coffee – January 31, 2020”
Wow, that review made me cry too. I really wanted to give that series to my mom, particularly because she loves elephants, but I haven’t because I don’t think she would get through the first book 🙁
I’m pretty sure I know what conference you’re talking about and it definitely seems to trend towards self-published/indie-published, which is part of why I stopped going around the same time you did. I also know people that can’t even get on her list, though, so as long as she isn’t running out of authors that want to come, and I think the conference itself usually sells out as well, I guess she has no reason to change her strategy. I do wonder, now that I know how much certain people were being paid at other venues, if that’s been part of the reason why she didn’t have money for authors (and will they back next year?). I don’t *think* she’s just doing a money grab, so where does all the money go? Our crappy little SFF con manages to pay its special guests, so why can’t this much bigger con?
Yeah – she has plenty of authors who attend, so the funding model is working, and I’m sure she’s not doing a money grab. I have no doubt that all the money goes to putting on the con. But yes! Other, much smaller cons are able to make it happen without requiring the authors to fund it, so…
And the elephants don’t come onto the page until EXILE OF THE SEAS, so I think your mom could start there. PRISONER OF THE CROWN functions as backstory that can be skipped, I think.
I loved Prisoner of the Crown, but did have to wait until I was in the “right” frame of mind to read it as I wanted to be prepared to handle the subject matter.
Is your copy of Naked in Death a first edition with the blue lady cover? I only ask because I know Penguin would often change out the excerpts for the next actual upcoming book whenever they reprinted/reissued the paperbacks. I didn’t keep my original paperbacks when I repurchased the first two in hardcover so I can’t check. But even though Nora tends to write way ahead of schedule (she’s working on the first of 2021’s In Death books now), the series was originally supposed to be only a trilogy. I read the books when they first released, so I don’t remember what the excerpts were other than the fact that Loyalty in Death did not have one at all and I feared the series was over (this was back in 1999, but thankfully her website had an assurance that it was no in fact the last book).
I am weird about excerpts. Back in the days before ebooks, I would read them if it was for the next book in a series I liked, but not necessarily do so if the excerpt was for an unrelated book by the same author. And I only rarely read them if the excerpt was for a book by a different author (I mean like I would have to have been stuck in the dentist office or something with nothing else to read and I finished the book). Now that I can carry most of my library around digitally on my tablet I don’t usually bother reading excerpts at all unless I’m excited for the next book in the series. But sometimes not even then as then I want to read the next book NOW and if it’s not yet released I get sad.
So, I dug them out and NAKED IN DEATH has the excerpt from book 2, GLORY IN DEATH, but then GLORY has an excerpt from JUDGMENT IN DEATH, which book 11! That’s the one that really confused me. It doesn’t indicate if it’s from a later print run or what. I have all the mmpb’s that I originally bought, then the hardbacks when they switched to issuing those first, then I went to Kindle.
I do the same – I don’t read an excerpt for the next book in an ongoing series that I *love* because I know I’ll just want more and be annoyed I can’t have it. 🙂
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Wow, that review made me cry too. I really wanted to give that series to my mom, particularly because she loves elephants, but I haven’t because I don’t think she would get through the first book 🙁
I’m pretty sure I know what conference you’re talking about and it definitely seems to trend towards self-published/indie-published, which is part of why I stopped going around the same time you did. I also know people that can’t even get on her list, though, so as long as she isn’t running out of authors that want to come, and I think the conference itself usually sells out as well, I guess she has no reason to change her strategy. I do wonder, now that I know how much certain people were being paid at other venues, if that’s been part of the reason why she didn’t have money for authors (and will they back next year?). I don’t *think* she’s just doing a money grab, so where does all the money go? Our crappy little SFF con manages to pay its special guests, so why can’t this much bigger con?
Yeah – she has plenty of authors who attend, so the funding model is working, and I’m sure she’s not doing a money grab. I have no doubt that all the money goes to putting on the con. But yes! Other, much smaller cons are able to make it happen without requiring the authors to fund it, so…
And the elephants don’t come onto the page until EXILE OF THE SEAS, so I think your mom could start there. PRISONER OF THE CROWN functions as backstory that can be skipped, I think.
I loved Prisoner of the Crown, but did have to wait until I was in the “right” frame of mind to read it as I wanted to be prepared to handle the subject matter.
Is your copy of Naked in Death a first edition with the blue lady cover? I only ask because I know Penguin would often change out the excerpts for the next actual upcoming book whenever they reprinted/reissued the paperbacks. I didn’t keep my original paperbacks when I repurchased the first two in hardcover so I can’t check. But even though Nora tends to write way ahead of schedule (she’s working on the first of 2021’s In Death books now), the series was originally supposed to be only a trilogy. I read the books when they first released, so I don’t remember what the excerpts were other than the fact that Loyalty in Death did not have one at all and I feared the series was over (this was back in 1999, but thankfully her website had an assurance that it was no in fact the last book).
I am weird about excerpts. Back in the days before ebooks, I would read them if it was for the next book in a series I liked, but not necessarily do so if the excerpt was for an unrelated book by the same author. And I only rarely read them if the excerpt was for a book by a different author (I mean like I would have to have been stuck in the dentist office or something with nothing else to read and I finished the book). Now that I can carry most of my library around digitally on my tablet I don’t usually bother reading excerpts at all unless I’m excited for the next book in the series. But sometimes not even then as then I want to read the next book NOW and if it’s not yet released I get sad.
So, I dug them out and NAKED IN DEATH has the excerpt from book 2, GLORY IN DEATH, but then GLORY has an excerpt from JUDGMENT IN DEATH, which book 11! That’s the one that really confused me. It doesn’t indicate if it’s from a later print run or what. I have all the mmpb’s that I originally bought, then the hardbacks when they switched to issuing those first, then I went to Kindle.
I do the same – I don’t read an excerpt for the next book in an ongoing series that I *love* because I know I’ll just want more and be annoyed I can’t have it. 🙂