#i had to buy the paperback version

[elliesplug]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬

charles smith x reader

summary: what its like to be charles' one and only

warnings: no smut but slightly suggestive parts, reader referred to as "ma'am" once

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— Charles is the kindest lover ever!!

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— Acts of service, gift giving, and physical touch final boss.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— He always puts other people’s needs before his own. Do you need something from town? He’s halfway into town before you can even finish speaking. You’re feeling hungry? He’s already grabbed his bow to go hunting. You mention that you’re feeling any form of physical pain? Don’t worry at all because Charle’s soft hands are delicately massaging your ache away.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— Charles remembers everything. He never forgets a single detail about you. One time he overheard you mention to Tilly how badly you wanted a few strawberries to snack on. The next day Charles is riding in on Taima with a barrel full of the most beautiful and luscious looking red berries you’ve ever seen, despite them currently being out of season. He remembers all the stories you told him, even if you were the one to forget that you’ve already told him that. It’s the sweetest thing ever when he finished the ending of your stories. 

“Oh goodness did I already tell you that? I’m sorry for making you sit through all that again.” You say with a laugh.

“Don’t apologize. I’d gladly listen to that story 1 million times over if that meant I got to hear your voice for a second longer.”

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— Another time Charles was admiring you as you both were sitting by the fire. You held a rough and worn out paperback version of your favorite book. This had to be your 10th re-read over the years of you having it. A mental note was quickly made by Charles of how distressed the current state of your paperback was. The next day you wake up to the smell of a warm cup of coffee that’s sitting next to a beautiful hardcover detailed with fine gold patterns. At the top of the hardcover there laid the title of your favorite book. You smiled to yourself as your fingers repeatedly ran over the golden prints. Your senses were cheerfully greeted with that new book smell he knew you adored so much.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— This man adores taking baths with his lover. It’s usually not even sexual. He just enjoys the comfort of being that close to you. The warmth of your bodies and the warmth of the bubbly water is more than enough to keep him happy for the rest of his life.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— If you’re in town with Charles and you even glance or touch something you like Charles is buying it for you. 

“Charles, c'mon you know I don’t need that. You know I can’t just let you spend all your money on me.”

Charles replies with a smug smirk across his face, “Good thing I wasn’t offering then. Looks like you’ll just have to accept it now, won't you?”

You happily gift him a kiss on the cheek in return to show your gratitude as you leave the store with your new present in hand. 

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— Charles ALWAYS knows when something is wrong. He can tell when you’re having a rough day, when you need comfort, when you’re stressed, and when you need the space to be alone. You don’t ever need to communicate to him what mood you’re in because he already knows. He never takes it to heart when you need to be left alone and he’s the best at making you feel better, whether that be from afar or between his strong arms.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— Not huge on PDA but he loves when you hold onto his arm as he guides you through the town. When he’s in private he can’t keep his hands off of you, though. Around the campfire his hand will rest on your thigh. While you’re asleep his broad chest is attached to your back as he holds you. Physical intimacy is very important to him.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— Takes off your boots and litters soft kisses across your legs every night before you both go to bed.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— He’ll tell the whole gang that he has to “go hunting” or that he “needs to go into town” just so he can steal you away for a bit. He’ll take you on cute dates to your favorite restaurant or skinny dipping sessions at the lake as the warm sun sets behind you’re joined bodies.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— If anyone at the camp even tries to disrespect you he’s running at your defense. One time Micah rudely commented on something you were wearing and before you could even blink a loud slap was laid across his cheek by Charles.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— He likes keeping to himself but always opens up to you. The rest of the gang is in shock on how you were able to crack him open. Charles is quiet, not shy. It’s his choice who he decides to let into his life and you are more than thankful that you were that one that he chose.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— You always stay up talking by the fire late at night, even when everyone else returns to their tents.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— He would never ever let you see him fight. This man is not insecure in most aspects of his life but he has a strong fear that you’ll perceive him as the violent man that the world paints him out to be.

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— After every fight you clean him up even though he always suggests that it’s not necessary.

“You don’t need to do that, my love. Don’t need you getting dirty or making a mess cause of me.” He tells you.

You roll your eyes in response. “You say that every time, Charles, you sound like a broken record. Lucky for you it’s a good thing that I wasn’t offering. Looks like you’ll just have to accept it, remember? Now sit.”

A laugh escapes his lips before he replies, “Yes ma’am. Whatever you say.”

⋆.˚ ୨ৎ— He takes you to Canada and you both spend the rest of your days happily married and together!!!

[thebibliosphere]

quick question because i am a long time follower and know that you have a lot of shit happening at all times and want to support you: where's the best place/the place that will get you the most money for getting a physical copy of a silly vampire/werewolf book? It sound amazing for reading because rn all i have motivation for is fanfic and silly fantasy and not reading any of my textbooks.

Unlike digital copies, where you can buy directly from my storefront, there's little to no difference in my royalties when it comes to paperbacks. I get paid the same amount regardless of where you buy from, which the last time I checked was, eh, about $2.80

If a store is selling for above the recommended retail price, I still get paid the same flat rate percentage, the profit on the price raising goes to the store.

So, wherever works best for you!

If you're in the US, I will recommend bookshop.org, not just because they are fighting the good fight against the Zon and give a chunk of their profits to independent bookstores, but because their affiliate program pays authors the best rates whenever you buy a book using their links.

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites, Flirting with Fangs Edition. (high heat version)

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites, Fluff and Fangs Edition (medium heat version)

(What's the difference between the two? Glad you asked)

Also, if you use my links to buy anything from BookShop.org, even if you don't buy a copy of Hunger Pangs, BookShop.org still sends me a small commission out of their profit (it's like a dollar per book, roughly). So, if you're so inclined to give me free money, you can click on my affiliate links and throw a little change my way.

I am trying to get my books into BookShop.org UK and their other sites, but it's a slow process.

If you're not in the US, it doesn't really affect me. Again, buy wherever works best for you! It's all roughly the same.

[httpvomitello]

Tom Holland Peter Parker x y/n

Every time Peter looked at you, it was like the chaos of his double life faded into the background.

I hope you like it ~ ♡♡

Where It’s Quiet .｡*･ﾟﾟ

Summary: When Peter Parker looks at you, it’s like the noise fades.

peter parker x f!reader

Peter Parker’s life was split in two.

There was the public version: college student, intern, quiet nerd with a sweet smile and permanently messy hair. The one who showed up late to lectures and forgot his own birthday sometimes.

And then there was the other version: Spider-Man. Defender of Queens, of Brooklyn, of people who had no idea their friendly neighborhood hero was just a tired guy who lived off dollar pizza and caffeine.

But then there was a third version.

One that only showed up around you.

He didn’t quite understand it at first. Just that… every time he saw you, something in his chest unclenched. Like he could breathe a little easier.

You weren't flashy. You weren’t part of the hero life. You were just—you.

And somehow, that was everything.

It had been raining.

Peter had ducked into a bookstore for shelter, soaked and shivering, with no intention of buying anything. You had been behind the counter, flipping through a paperback and sipping hot chocolate from a chipped glass that said 'Fight Me, I Read Classics.'

He smiled at the glass before he smiled at you.

You looked up. “Need a towel or a copy of War and Peace?”

“Do either come with a working umbrella?”

You tilted your head. “I’ll throw in the sarcasm for free.”

That was the beginning.

You weren’t exactly friends, not right away. Just familiar faces in the same places. You started remembering his coffee order. He started remembering which books you’d already read. You teased each other. Laughed. He’d linger longer than necessary just to hear your voice.

And each time he left the shop, the weight of the world felt a little less sharp.

It terrified him.

Because Peter Parker didn’t get to have normal. He didn’t get to have peace.

But somehow, when he looked at you—really looked at you—the chaos faded.

You were on your lunch break, sitting on the edge of a low brick wall outside the bookstore, hoodie sleeves pulled over your hands, chewing the end of a straw. Peter had dropped by under the guise of “just being in the neighborhood,” which was obviously a lie, but you let him pretend.

“So,” you said, nudging his knee with yours. “Are you ever gonna tell me why you always look like you haven’t slept in three days?”

He blinked. “I look like that?”

You gave him a knowing look.

Peter hesitated. “I just… have a lot on my plate.”

You didn’t push. You just nodded, taking another sip of your drink. “Well, maybe take something off. The world won’t end if you let yourself breathe.”

He looked at you then.

Really looked.

And something in his chest moved.

He hadn’t even noticed how tightly wound he’d been until you said it.

“Maybe,” he murmured.

It was late. You were closing up, and he was helping—just because. You stacked books. He sorted receipts. You didn’t talk much, but the silence wasn’t awkward. It was easy.

At one point, you stood next to each other behind the counter, only inches apart. Your arm brushed his. Your eyes met.

Something clicked.

Peter swallowed hard. “You make it easier. Just so you know.”

You tilted your head. “Make what easier?”

“Breathing.”

Your face softened. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

The tension was there. Barely restrained. His fingers twitched like he wanted to reach for you. Yours curled into your sleeves instead.

He didn’t kiss you.

Not yet.

But he thought about it the whole subway ride home.

Everything went wrong.

A weapons deal in the Bronx. A warehouse full of armed men. Shouting. Smoke. Peter barely escaped with a bruised rib and a broken comm.

He got home at three a.m., bleeding and exhausted, hands still shaking from adrenaline.

He should’ve slept.

Instead, he pulled out his phone. Opened your contact. Stared at the screen.

Then typed:

“Are you awake?”

A minute later:

“Yeah. You okay?”

And without thinking, he replied:

“Can I see you?”

You opened the door in an oversized sweater and pajama shorts. No makeup. Hair a mess. Peter stood there, looking wrecked.

You didn’t ask anything.

You just pulled him in and shut the door.

He sat on your couch in silence while you made tea. His eyes were red. His knuckles scraped.

“Rough night?” you asked softly, handing him a mug.

He gave a humorless laugh. “Something like that.”

You didn’t push.

You sat next to him, curling your legs under yourself. “You don’t have to talk.”

He looked at you, and for the first time that night—maybe the first time in days—his shoulders dropped.

“I just needed to be here,” he said.

“You are.”

You were leaning into his side, head on his shoulder, listening to the city breathe.

“I should go,” he whispered.

You didn’t move. “You don’t have to.”

He looked down at you. His fingers found yours.

And then—slowly, carefully—he kissed you.

It was soft. Gentle. Like he was afraid you’d disappear if he leaned in too much. Like he needed to be sure you were real.

When he pulled back, his voice cracked.

“You make everything feel quiet.”

You smiled. “And you make everything feel loud.”

He laughed, kissing your lips again. “Good loud?”

“The best kind.”

[books-and-strawberry-tea]

I don’t normally comment about booktube here. But I’ve just seen a video and I have to get some comments off my chest.

This video was about e-readers. And while the person has a huge collection of books behind them, goes on to explain that e-readers are so unnecessary, cause they are expensive. And if you are going to buy an e-reader, just buy an iPad cause they are similar in price….

I’m sorry but in what world is an iPad and an e-reader the same price?? (Or yk other tablets of a similar nature).

This person goes on to talk about how e-readers can’t install apps like Libby etc…are we just going to ignore the e-readers that run on android?? That function like a regular phone just with an e-ink screen??

I honestly gave up watching this video cause this person just sounded like they were pretty single minded on the topic. So here’s my two cents.

Pro’s for an ereader: (at least in my case)

1. E-reader’s are amazing for portability. Physical books can get very heavy, and although I love them, I hate taking physical books out with me cause I’m terrified of damaging them.

2. Books in my country, are incredibly expensive. You can go to the bookstore, and end up spending $50 AUD and get 1-2 books depending on what you get. Hard covers are usually $40+! Paperbacks can range between $17-$40 also. And if it doesn’t get printed in Australia?? Good luck. The only way I could get Hunting Adeline was to pay $65. Because whenever I ordered it from Amazon at $35, from America, it would come absolutely obliterated because they don’t package it in anything but a basic plastic mailer bag. No protection at all.

3. E-readers are much better for your eyes and don’t have constant distracting notifications and people trying to ring you. I have weak eye muscles. Always have. I wear glasses for this. And I used to read on my phone cause it’s what I have with me while I was out. But once I got an e-reader, I realised just how bad my eye strain was from my phone. E-readers have seriously improved my reading stamina especially since mine has the orange light feature. It’s not like we all don’t have an internet or phone addiction anyway. At least according to statistics I’ve seen in the past. Majority of us are trying to spend less time on our phones and more time doing what we love. And e-readers absolutely help with that. (Much better for my ADHD too honestly.)

4. I live with roommates, I have very limited space. So big book collections is just not something that’s possible for me. I’d love to, but again, space and money.

5. E-readers have given me the opportunity to read books that I’d never be able to get. Because of space reasons, money reasons, and the fact that Australia just does not get the wide selection of books that other countries do. We miss out so much. Some books, we have to wait YEARS for, while everyone else gets them on release dates. My e-reader has been such a huge investment for me, as well as an opportunity maker to give me the option to read books I’d never be able to get other wise.

I will clarify this by saying yes, I do have an iPad. But that was a gift. I didn’t buy it for myself. My mother very graciously bought it for me with her inheritance money. She went out of her way to make sure I had a good working device for university. That iPad was over $2,000 aud. My e-reader?? $250!!! HUGE price difference. And it has helped me save so much money in the process. Cause if I read the ebook, and don’t like it, that’s okay, refund. If I do??? Then I can absolutely go out and hopefully track down a physical copy. If that’s not possible?? I still have the digital version. That I can enjoy over and over.

No, I’m not ignoring the cons to do with DRM, and companies censoring ebooks, not at all. But I feel like either way there is still more pros then what this person was giving e-readers credit for. She sounded privileged honestly, she may not have a use for e-readers. But to be saying that you don’t need one, and that they are completely unnecessary….its just incorrect.

I haven’t even touched on how e-readers help others with disabilities to be able to access books. I have a friend for example that has been very unwell for many years now. And because of this, she has fatigue and strength issues. She at one stage could barely hold a book. But once she got her kindle, she was so over joyed cause she could finally enjoy books again. Kindles are so light, they have stands etc. It honestly reminds me of the people that say audiobooks arnt counted as reading and you shouldn’t do it. Sure, let’s just alienate all the people that can’t read or have vision impairment right? (For clarity, I’m being sarcastic.) Or how about all the cultures that past on the culture, history, legends etc all by word of mouth?? For centuries, way before anyone invented written script. But that’s a whole other tangent I can go off about later.

If e-readers arnt for you, that’s totally fine. But to say no one has a need for them, because physical books exist, is just closed minded. Just because you have the privilege of a huge book library and may not have use of an e-reader, doesn’t not mean that other people don’t have a great use for them.

Anyway, that’s my rant. I don’t like ranting online. But this just frustrated me so much. No hate to this person personally, I just think they weren’t open to the possibilities of how these devices are used and fulfil needs for other people that live differently.

If you read this, cool! I hope you have a good day. And enjoy reading what you are currently 💝

[unforth]

Hello! Forgive me for the strange and invasive question I’m about to ask, but I noticed in your bio that you’re a mother and you seem to be a danmei fan as well, and my question pertains to that.

I’m in my mid 20s and enjoy danmei. I read 2ha before the published paperbacks came out and was pretty excited to be able to eventually own physical copies of the story i love so much. But I somehow end up feeling very self conscious about buying them, since they contain multiple explicit scenes and I’m worried if someone were to browse my bookshelf someday and come across these, they’d judge me harshly. I’m not sure if marriage is in the cards for me, but if/when I do end up getting married and having children, how exactly would I explain having these books to my husband and kid(s)? In my country, joint families are fairly common so I also might end up having to live with my husband’s parents and I’d be toast if they were to come across these 😬. I know it seems silly to be worried about a hypothetical future husband and children but I’m afraid I can’t help it. Since you have kids, how do you manage keeping your danmei novels? Do you hide them, or just tell them they’re books for adults?

Anon you sound like you've got some pretty incredible hang-ups about sex. Are you this worried about if my kids find the scene in MDZS where Wen Chao has to eat is own legs? Or if I allow your hypothetical, are you worried what your spouse and kids would think of that kind of content?

The 2ha books are books. I keep them with the books. I have a dedicated shelf for danmei in my bedroom, and they're there. My kids have seen me reading them and can access them anytime and have never given a single fuck or shown any interest whatsoever in what I'm reading, EXCEPT when I'm reading shounen manga and then they're excited. Oh or that time I read some Pokémon manga. And sometimes they're interested in the YA queer graphic novels I get from tbe library. Okay yeah if I'm reading comics they sometimes care. But a prose book? Zero fucks given. I tell them nothing, because they don't ask, but if they did ask, I'd tell them a simplified version of the truth, and I know my kids: zero fucks would continue to be given.

This whole "omg ~sex~" thing doesn't exist unless you as the adult make it exist. I don't act like there's some great mystery they're missing out on but will be ~initiated into the secrets of~ when they're older. That is the surest way to make them desperate to know things they're not ready for. They've had some age-appropriate sex-ed in the Our Whole Lives program offered at our church, and the one time I made the mistake of thinking my son knew more than he did (he knew sperm + egg = baby, so I assumed he knew penis inside vagina was the process. I assumed wrong.) his reaction was a hilarious, "they do WHAT?" and he has never brought it up again. The other day we read a book that included a joke about a teenage man being given a shirt that says "I make chicks hot" (he was going to work at a fast good joint, the joke was its about literal chicken) and my son looked me dead in the eye and said "that joke is NOT age appropriate." He's almost 9, so I told him puberty is coming whether he wants it to or not, and I'd rather he know these feelings exist before the first time they happen than be blindsided when they do (I didn't say, "if they do," I figure the nuances of my utterly asexual non-awakening aren't a detail he needs quite yet.)

All of which is to say, I find this ask utterly baffling and it honestly feels like a trap, but I'm trying to take it in good faith, and in good faith, anon, I'm telling you this:

If the hypothetical husband in your scenario would disapprove of what you're reading, then why the fuck is hypothetical you marrying him?

If the hypothetical kids in this scenario might find age-inappropriate materials, why aren't you worried about the violence? Or the horror parts? And why is hypothetical you telling the hypothetical kids anything at all about the books? Did they ask??? Or are you thinking hypothetical future you is so terrified of being caught with sexy books that you're the one bringing up adult stuff, unsolicited, to these kids? Cause THAT'S the weird thing to do. Going "and just so you know, kids, these books are for ADULTS" when they haven't paid any attention at all is going to create a problem where none exists. I'm not gonna pretend the kid doesn't exist who isn't more interested in what their parents read than mine are about my reading, and of course some kids will end up in traumatic situations that result in them knowing more than they normally would about these topics, and that's tragic that some kids have that happen. But in my experience of the kids I used to run into when I worked in schools, my own kids, their friends, etc., these kids have absolutely zero, zilch interest. When my kids ask what kinds of books I'm reading, I say books about men in ancient China. That leads to immediate negative interest cause it sounds dry and boring to them. Problem (no actual problem existed) solved.

You want to know what IS hard to talk about?

Warning them about predators.

When it's never once crossed their minds that anyone would have any interest in their private parts - because they're just a normal part of their body - having to explain that if a grown-up touches them in certain places, or asks to look at them naked, or tries to get them alone, etc., then they have to say no and find an adult they trust. When they were younger, explaining THAT was hard.

I'm not afraid of what my kids might find in a book. They're not interested, and even if they were, these books are above their literacy level right now (my son has nearly finished his first chapter book! It's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I'm very proud of him). And if they could somehow read a book this hard, and understand it, and accidentally read an age inappropriate part, and and and... well, then, we'd talk about it. I trust them to come to me if they run into media they're uncomfortable with, and I also check in periodically to open the door. And they have sometimes brought up concerns, and we talk about it, and that's that. The hardest right now to explain? What the alt-right pipeline might look like in a Minecraft YouTuber video. Fuck but that is HARD to communicate to kids who have only the vaguely idea of the current political situation.

Honestly I'm more worried they'll read the part where the demon mom eats her own child alive. That is the most triggering scene I've ever encountered in fiction. I've never read the whole chapter.

But you didn't even think of that. Because you're too busy thinking about how to tell your non-existent kids that these books have SEX and it's not for KIDS and they shouldn't read it.

Anon, I'm not afraid of what my kids might get exposed to in books.

I'm afraid of what real people might do to hurt my kids, and how I prepare them for actual trauma.

A book can't hurt them. Well, maybe if someone throws it at them. But if they read something that freaks them out they know to just. Stop reading. And they can ask us about it and we can help unpack it.

But preparing them for the harm actual humans can do to them? Explaining why we're at a BLM protest? Explaining why they have to be wary of any stranger OR NON-STRANGER (because most abuse is by someone the child knows!) who wants access to their body isn't okay? Having to wrap my head around "I don't think any of our relatives are sex abusers but IF they secretly are what language do I use to convey to my child that their aunt, uncle, cousin, grandparent, shouldn't have access to their body in certain ways but still can touch you to wipe poop off"? Trying to say "I know you like this person's minecraft persona but if they start saying mean things about a group of people different from them you have to stop watching and tell a grown-up"? Knowing there's no warning on the planet that can prepare them for all the actual harm that can come to them from real people? That's the hardest part of parenting. I can't protect them without smothering them. I have to let them face some risks or else they'll never develop. I hate this. It's so fucking hard.

Anyway.

That's the hard stuff anon.

You are entirely and utterly worried about the wrong problem.

If this was a good faith ask... you should sit and unpack why you are uniquely worried about the sex parts of 2ha and not the violence parts. You should ask yourself why you think you'd love and marry and raise a family with someone who'd disapprove of your taste in books. You should ask yourself why this is your hang-up, and why you think you'd have to say anything at all about the books to a person browsing your shelf, a spouse, an in-law, a kid.

If this wasn't a good faith ask...idk what you're fishing for, anon, but the fact that you think I'd say anything at all about the contents of a book they are absolutely not ready for is fucking weird. I will say something when they ask and not a moment before, and when they do ask I'll tell them honestly it's a book with a lot of violence and sex and adult stuff and if somehow that didn't drive them away (it would right now, instantly) then that'd suggest maybe they're ready to know more, and I'd steer them to more age-appropriate ways to learn a bit more about sex. There, the problem you made up is solved.

Good luck, anon. Whether this was good faith or not, you have a lot of mental baggage to sort through.

*

I just reread the ask in preparation for posting, and as a few final notes: 1. My wife (no husbands here) knows what I read, 2. My father lives with us, and he knows what I read, 3. My mother in law also knows what I read, and it makes her uncomfortable I think but she recognizes that's a "her" problem and leaves me alone, and 4. My mother is chomping at the bit to get her hands on my 2ha, she's been very disappointed that most of the danmei she's borrowed post MDZS and SVSSS hasn't been more "like that." So don't assume your in-laws will flip out. Most people know books are just books. But I also don't know your culture/country/situation. I was raised by incredibly progressive people in one of the most socially progressive cities in the world (New York City, we have race problems but in other areas we're not bad), and like. My entire cultural surroundings are chill about stuff. I'm also not Christian. Obviously in another culture with stricter mores I can see why this could be more of an issue but you asked how I handle it and I can only give an honest answer from the actual reality I live in, which is that it never has crossed my mind anyone would care and sure enough, no one has cared. 🤷 I'm sorry if that's led me to be dismissive of legitimate concerns, it's very hard to know what anons on tumblr are well intentioned and which are from people who are just waiting to go HA THAT EVIL PERSON PUTS THE NAUGHTY DIRTY BAD PORN WHERE THE KIDS CAN GET IT. Considering that people have been sending me asks recently that my son should die, or that he will grow up to be a rapist because that's what men do, because my post that maybe people shouldn't hate men has brought enough attention that the fucking weirdos think lashing out at an 8 year old is an entirely normal and reasonable response to "stop virulently hating men just because they are men," I hope you can understand why my tone is what it is and why I have to consider that this ask is not being sent in good faith. Those anons I block and delete unanswered, so me writing this response is already giving you some benefit of the doubt.

Regardless. Work on you first, anon. You deserve people who will love you even knowing that sometimes you read kinky shit, and do not under any circumstances tell your kids, should you have them, a word more than they need to know. If they're very precocious early readers MAYBE move the books, but otherwise odds are they won't be able to even read the back blurbs, much less the inside, until they're old enough to know a little about how life works, and you can frame what you tell them to what they know then.

Alright, I'll shut up now.

[cumplanecrash]

more of Shen Yuan being One Of Us™ from chapter 1:

dies choking on his own rage, reading a shitty novel that he could put down at any time. Literally me with Elinor Olliphant and that one self-publishing self-help book, my mother made me put the books down for fear that I was gonna have a heart attack and die from how pissed I was.

Calls himself "upstanding young man like him—who had properly purchased the website’s VIP currency and read the novel’s official version" -- Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT are owned by Toei Animation, Fuji TV, and Akira Toriyama, please support the official release. Could be CYA, could be genuine belief. I choose to believe, given we find out that his family is rich enough to support him later, that he genuinely feels some kind of holier than thou for making sure to buy through the website and not buy like a trade paperback or pirate.

Nah, bro, it's not that he enjoys pissing himself off, he was just waiting for all the mysteries and foreshadowing to pay off. They weren't plot holes, there were logical explanations for all of it.

"Can we have a discussion? Fill! In! Plot holes! Okay?!" AKA "#airplane i just wanna talk"

"Having read many of Zhongdian’s transmigration novels, Shen Yuan had long ago resolved that, if he one day woke up to find himself lying in a strange place, the first words out of his mouth before he understood what was happening definitely wouldn’t be a carefree giggle and, “Are you filming a movie? The props look so real—your crew’s really giving it their all!” I.e., the words of a person slow-wittedly trying to find their footing." AKA this man has absolutely written self-insert fic in his own head even if he's never published it [potential essay topic: is it possible that SVSSS is Peerless Cucumber's own self insert fanfic, and if so, what does all the no-homo-ing say about his mental state as he published? Could it be spun as a self-discovery fic?]

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, what bullshit is this? How come you’re speaking directly into my brain? Does Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky know you’re plagiarizing Proud Immortal Demon Way’s setting like this?!” Priorities: 1) Cuss the System out. 2) How is this possible? 3) Did you know that actually making a videogame of someone's work without their permission isn't cool, it's stealing? [more evidence of a holier-than-thou attitude with regards to fanwork]

"He’d hit the jackpot—he’d transmigrated!" Even after assessing that he's in PIDW, this is his dream come true. Especially because he'd just finished PIDW, even if he hated it.

"As a 21st century veteran VIP reader of Zhongdian Literature, Shen Yuan had read various types of do-over and transmigration male power fantasy novel." His favorite genre is definitely transmigration novels, which was my favorite flavor of fanfiction back on quizilla. Do y'all remember when we used to write y/n fanfic on quiz sites, so you could change major scenes like in a Telltale Game? Because I sure do.

"As a semi-otaku, Shen Qingqiu had seen a number of fanwork-related terms here and there—you know what I mean" Shen Yuan is clearly a millennial fan, because he won't admit to being involved in a hypothetical fan culture, even as he admits to reading many do-over and transmigration novels. He ~barely knows~ what OOC is, and certainly not well enough to repeat the term. Where's that post that's like "No, mom, I don't think anyone's ever considered the possibility of Light and L being a romantic couple, what a unique idea" that's our Shen Yuan

[copperbadge]

Book Price Drop!

Well, that was almost comically easy. 

Turns out, to pull my books from "global distribution” I really just need to uncheck a box and then manually adjust the price. They may still appear on other sites for a while, I’m not sure how that works, but they are now officially retailed only through Lulu.com.

The epubs, because those aren’t subject to the same fees, will remain the same price; they will also still be available through other retailers. Someone sent me an ask about epubs and Kindle which I will publish that when I get a hot second, but fortunately the epubs and print books aren’t married to each other and can go their separate ways. 

Anyway, below are links and price drops; they’re in USD, but the prices should have fallen internationally, I adjusted every currency downwards. These are just for the books, without tax or postage included.  

Fete For A King: $13 to $11

Infinite Jes: $13 to $11

The Lady And The Tiger: $13 to $11

The Shivadh Romances Omnibus, Paperback: $29 to $20

The Shivadh Romances Omnibus, Hardcover: $52 to $30

The Twelve Points of Caleb Canto: $19 to $13

If you’re new and would like to read these but are perplexed about what to buy, the books are listed above in chronological order; the “Omnibus” editions are just single-volume reprints of the first three books, and Twelve Points is the fourth book in the series. As always, you can find my entire published ouvre, print and epub, here.

Six Harvests was also under Global Distribution but I think because it was before this rate hike, it didn’t have the mandatory minimum the others did. I’ve pulled it from Global anyway but the price hasn’t dropped, because it was already priced appropriately. The rest of the print books aren’t in global distribution anyway, so they stayed the same. Over the next year I may do a bit of an overhaul to get everything up to style-guide standard, and if that happens the prices may change, but I’ll warn before I do it so if the prices go up people can buy the cheaper versions. 

I feel disproportionately relieved. I didn’t realize just how much annoyance I was carrying around over the pricing of these books. It doesn’t feel like $2 should make much of a difference, but that $22 price drop on the hardcover omnibus was like letting a couple of lead weights fall off my shoulders. 

Again, you guys have my sincerest apologies for this; if I had realized what was causing the spike sooner I absolutely would have fixed it, and if I’d known when I published them I wouldn’t have done it to begin with. Going forward the pricing should be marginally more reasonable :) And on that note, I am working currently to get the short story anthology out by late August, so stay tuned! 

[batsplat]

do you have a favorite bit of motogp gossip that you either want to know is it’s true, or you just enjoy as a stand alone piece, no need for further investigation?

one of those where I initially stared at and like. lost all motogp knowledge in my brain. and then stuff did come back to me. this is all very much low hanging fruit and I'll add to it when I remember more interesting/quirky ones. BUT here are some things I want to know:

y'know how casey randomly suggests in his autobiography that valentino was sabotaged in the 2006 title decider? so, personally, I don't really buy this, because 'why' and also 'casey girl you are SO paranoid' - though, sure, if given the option I'd like to double check if valentino had a dud tyre (completely plausible) and also if somebody really deliberately gave him one (?? casey idk about this one). but what I'm REALLY curious about is... there's a change in his autobiography?? like I've seen this book excerpt float around online and the text is different from what's in my book!! mine's from the paperback version so I assume there may have been some edits for that, so that would make it the newer version... but like. this is a real editorial change. check this out:

version posted on the internet, from the hard cover edition???

version in my book, first paragraph is the same

But as soon as the lights went out Valentino was in trouble. I was one of six riders to pass him on the first lap and if you watch the footage you can see how much he is struggling to even keep up with us. His rear and front tyres were just not working together and on lap five the front inexplicably folded and he went down, right behind me. I couldn't help but wonder how he could be having such problems with his tyres. Could he really have been stitched up? It seemed so improbable, but I remember watching that race back in the motorhome that evening and thinking, Welcome to my world, mate.

this isn't 'gossip' because I haven't found anyone else who has spotted this, but like? that's a substantive change? if my one really is the newer one? ...?

let's set aside the fascinating insight you get into casey's knotty and at times bizarre valentino rossi complex with him adding the line "welcome to my world, mate" (oh my god. please just take him to dinner. I will crowd fund this I literally just need to be able to listen in. casey come on CALL him I NEED you to do the dinner thing, YOU suggested it not me). like we're not going to even touch that. but if my version really is the updated one, then he's kinda softened his stance, no?? "convinced he was stitched up" to "could he really have been stitched up"

what happened?? who wanted this change? casey? an editor? did dorna give casey a call? did some poor bloke from pr have to politely ask whether casey could please not state in his autobiography that the most popular rider ever had had a title stolen from him by the establishment?

(casey was talking about valentino's stolen tenth BEFORE it was popular. he did it even before valentino did, bless)

"there are a lot of commercial interests in the sport" also didn't make the jump to the 'new version', mind you. did Big America get to casey

come on you guys have to admit this is an odd change?? does nobody else thing this is weird??

okay fine moving on

Did Valentino Literally Curse Sete

(like. not literally as in did he curse curse sete, literally as in did he say it)

(though if he did literally literally curse curse sete, I suppose I'd also like to know that bit)

the commentators in 2003 brno say so and I'm inclined to believe them, but I need to double check whether sete and valentino really were partying on ibiza together right after that very painful valentino loss at the sachsenring. such a fascinating little detail, that's not something post-2004 valentino does I reckon

I mean, look, obviously a bunch of things from that time period I want to have fact checked. including valentino's friend hearing sete say in late 2003 that valentino wasn't going to be smiling so much after joining yamaha. classic bit of gossip, did it actually happen though

I've referenced this a few times before, but y'know how valentino said that marc's manager alzamora told him after sepang 2015 that marc had been angry at valentino for killing his title charge? I just want. to know. if this conversation actually happened. I don't think valentino would pluck a lie like that out of thin air, especially something so specific about somebody on marc's team, and he has known alzamora for decades but like. maybe almazora just said something valentino misinterpreted? I just find this such a bonkers thing from alzamora if it's true that I would like it confirmed for my own sanity, you know?

yeah look I would like to know if marc really did get casey kicked out of honda, obviously I've discussed this before and it's very he said she said but yeah it'd be fun to know the truth

this is literally peak gossip because I can't find a source for it but I swear a journalist did say it: the rumour is that marc blocked joan mir from joining honda in 2019. like, I'm only including this because I was explicitly asked for gossip as I just cannot find where it was said... but it is something that is. out there. and... again, just curious. like I buy it, but also it could be bullshit!

on a similar note, did he ever make clear to honda he didn't want either vinales or rinsy on his team circa 2016? was it just a vibe in the paddock or was this an actual demand from marc?

speaking of!! the whole thing about alzamora basically rigging the moto3 teammate situation between rinsy and alex marquez to ensure the latter won the title that year. what was that all about, how far did they go there

switching to valentino now. this doesn't quite fit the remit of the question because it IS something I've investigated. and my conclusion is basically a big *shrug*

did valentino block casey from joining yamaha in either 2005 or 2006, and did he attempt to block jorge?

there are completely contradictory sources on the timeline here that do make me feel like there's a chance yamaha was just fucking with casey at the very least in 2006 and valentino had fuck all to do with it, which a recent interview from casey did actually hint at too... he made it sound like maybe yamaha was just using him to try to drive down the price of another rider (which would then presumably be jorge)

I just want to know! and the thing is, it was a matter of open paddock discussion that valentino blocked casey (jorge explicitly references it in in 2007), but something doesn't quite add up between what jorge, casey, colin edwards, articles from the time and lin jarvis have said on the subject! my current pet theory is that valentino blocked casey in 2005 from joining the satellite yamaha team in 2006 (weirdly casey doesn't really imply valentino was responsible for this one in his autobiography, but whatever) but NOT in 2006 (casey does imply valentino was responsible here, you see my problem). and yamaha was fucking around with all four of valentino, casey, jorge and edwards in late 2006/2007. but. yeah. I have unanswered questions

the entire 'alex marquez blocked from yamaha' situation.... again. something is off there. you know the story from late last year about how he was blocked in 2019 from joining the petronas team in 2021? this completely threw me, because there was an entirely different story about this YEARS back in 2018!! I initially assumed the two stories were about the same event, but it can't have been! one's him being blocked in 2019 for 2021, one's him being blocked in 2018 for 2019

from the descriptions of both there's also no confusing them. the 2018 story has to be about the 2018 contract cycle because that's quite literally when it was published, and the 2023 story has to be about the 2019 contract cycle because it explicitly references the space fabio would create by moving to the factory team for 2021, which obviously wouldn't make sense before fabio's actual rookie season. like they have to be about different stories

and in that same 2018 story, marc said that back in 2016 lin jarvis told him no marquez would be joining yamaha:

again, this was in 2018!!

plus, he did say back in 2016 that he'd spoken to jarvis, which kinda backs up this is a conversation that did happen and marc isn't just misremembering the timeline/lying (the notion of marc joining yamaha in 2017 is fantastic, what an absolutely horrendous idea):

now what marc says in 2018 about his conversation with lin jarvis is very similar to petronas yamaha boss razali saying in 2023 that he'd been told by yamaha no marquez was allowed at yamaha. suggests that this is a thing that did happen!!

but again... razali was told that in 2019... after marc had already been told the same thing three years before that, and the exact same deal had already been blocked one year earlier... does nobody else think this is weird?? like, I'm not saying yamaha hq covered themselves in glory here, but is it not a little strange the satellite yamaha squad had basically almost signed a contract with the younger marquez again without checking in with yamaha, just ONE YEAR after this same contract had already been blocked???

again this isn't actually gossip because I'm apparently the only person going ?? about this but I'll say it: ??

kinda been annoying me since december last year, like I know it doesn't matter but I'm just curious about it! why's nobody else talking about the 2018 story!

idk my best guess here is that petronas yamaha was faffing about and playing weird games with the factory team, that the deal was never as likely to happen as they made it sound to the marquez camp. zero proof, that's me spreading rumours yeah... time to create some of my own unfounded gossip

(also of course I'm curious if valentino did have any actual involvement in this. like if lin jarvis was telling marc this in the year of our lord 2016, I'm assuming valentino didn't have to explicitly say to jarvis that 'inviting marc to the team for 2017' wasn't exactly high on his christmas wish list. it is interesting that marc frames it as jarvis making this about. like. all the marquez's way back in 2016, and again, would this really have been on valentino's radar at the time? that feels a bit...? alex marquez was thirteenth in that moto2 season? would certainly be very... thorough for valentino to already have had that particular talk with jarvis)

(mind u there's a fun moment in a 2019 presser where valentino is sitting between the two marquez brothers and the younger marquez is being asked about his contract situation, the implication being he'd had a motogp deal and no longer had a motogp deal. and he's answering and marc's doing his freak stare and valentino is Right There sitting between them... I <3 mess)

man did valentino actually ever fucking block anyone from joining his manufacturer #notmygoat. I still think he didn't know about jorge until the deal was basically done, had nothing to do with the younger marquez, at most blocked casey the one time but then yamaha wasn't actually seriously intending on signing casey in 2006 and was just using it as a play in their jorge negotiations, which.... idk. bit disappointing if true icl. I hope he blocked someone, I'll say it

(also. okay. I don't want to sound awful here because I do have a lot of sympathy for baby!casey but. ignoring the morality for a second, I do LOVE the idea that valentino blocked casey from getting a satellite yamaha seat fresh off his 250cc runner up season because it would conclusively prove valentino did ABSOLUTELY rate casey!! like he didn't even want casey to come close to being his teammate!! not even a sniff at his data!!) (genuinely this is the rumour I'm choosing to believe, I know there's a chance valentino didn't successfully block anyone and was just a complete flop but I want the 2005 one to be true. it really adds something to the rivalry idk... like ugh valentino saw how dangerous casey was proper early when much of the paddock wasn't yet convinced... cute)

moving on

there was a rumour in 2015 that valentino approached dani after aragon to complain about how sturdy his defence was, like moaning about denying him points and shit. now, there's exactly one article about this in marca that is the sole origin point for the rumour, and it says that valentino also interrupted a honda party after phillip island to complain to marc. this does not match up at all with anything either marc or valentino have said since then - and would mean you have to believe that marc wasn't actually blindsided by that presser... also feels a bit unlikely we would have heard NOTHING from any other source if vale was really gatecrashing a honda party

of course, neither dani nor valentino have spoken about this supposed post-aragon 2015 meeting either, not even when dani was kinda accusing valentino of hypocrisy during sepang 2015, but I suppose you could say maybe dani's just not the type of guy to bring it up again. however.... I do reckon occam's razor kinda applies here and if one of these stories is bullshit then they probably both are, plus it's not like marca is exactly a neutral source. still would love to be certain!! instinctively I don't really think that's valentino's style at all, but of course it'd be intriguing if the story were true because it'd be a sign of how 2015 kinda messed with him. but I still feel 2015 is more about him falling back on past tools he'd mostly discarded - rather than, like, acting wildly out of character, which again... well, this brings us back to how that kind of behaviour isn't really valentino's style. basically, I don't buy it, but that's kinda why I am so curious about it? because I feel like it would be really interesting and quirky if he had actually done that. does this make any sense

speaking of, again this doesn't really count because I did kinda investigate it last year.... but you know when valentino in that podcast referenced a conversation with marc around the time of sepang 2015, where marc stared blankly at him? I have a hunch about when that conversation happened, want to know if it's right. this also isn't really 'gossip' because this is a conversation I'm having with myself but

y'know when bez was injured on the ranch late-ish last year? a bunch of journalists pointed out how hush hush they were about what actually happened to bez - like they repeatedly drew attention to that because god knows THEY love some gossip lol. which probably means nothing, but I'm curious what the journalists' theory here is, like do they think it was an embarrassing injury?? OR. look. I suppose the conspiracy theory would be that pecco caused it (obviously accidentally!!) and everyone at the ranch knew it'd be a terrible look if they admitted that because of the whole title fight situation. call me casey stoner because those dots are not real and definitely have not been connected

okay, you know how there were rumours in the spanish tabloids bez said some real ugly stuff to marc at valencia last year, and bez didn't directly address it but freaked a little and did a sort of blanket denial that he'd said anything that bad? I don't actually think he did tbh, but again. would just like to check!

while we're already on bez, there was one report that the switch to aprilia was partly motivated by marc to factory ducati. again, not entirely sure I buy that this would factor into his thinking beyond the obvious 'this means the route to that factory ducati seat looks even more closed than it already did' angle'.... it's very much down my list of priorities but I'd quickly confirm/deny it if given the chance yeah

that's all for now lol

[dorkydegeneracy]

So, yesterday I did a thing. . . People usually use that for big life moments. This is a big life moment. But not like that.

I FINALLY got physical copies of a few of the Vampire Chronicles novels!!!!!!!!

It took me WAAAAY too long, admittedly.

To update you, I am technically on chapter 4 of The Queen of the Damned, (I KNOW!!!! I stopped right in the thick of DM and haven't picked it back up yet. Life got in the way? TVL was calling my name? IDK. I already know what happens, I am a glutton for spoilers!) but I have only listened to the audiobook versions of The Vampire Lestat and QOTD.

I will be re-reading, actually reading TVL for the first time because I just know I'm going to enjoy it sooo much better by actually reading it. And, I am 100% good on the plot, but I can't wait to dive into the intricacies of the text this time around.

Listen, I enjoyed TVL. But, I have always preferred reading a physical book, a good old and used one especially. But I settled for the audiobook because it was convenient and I had the credits.

I am so sorry to Simon Vance or any of his fans, but he just is not doing it for me. This + my preference of a physical copy left me with no choice but to buy the books, which I am sooo excited for.

I will be finishing the audio version of QOTD, and then I will be reading Tale of the Body Thief.

I am a huge advocate of reading a hand-me-down! The older and more used (without being destroyed ofc) the better! My TVL copy is a 1993 paperback that was clearly used by at least one, if not several ferocious readers that have respect for the ever so convenient paperback novel!

There is no timeline here because (1) I am in my final semester of law school, and (2) I just now got the physical book after listening to TVL 6 months ago (this is a wonderful journey, not a sprint).

And the TOTBT copy is a 1992 (I KNOW!!! A COPY FROM THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION!!!!) hardcover. Don't get too excited. . . it's a book club edition, for all of you bibliophiles out there (you couldn't tell by the price tag?). Nevertheless, it's special to me, and I'm gonna love it! The foreedge of the textblock is slightly foxed, and the bottom of the spine definitely has mold staining on it (I'm positive there are no live mold spores). GIVE ME ALL OF THE UGLY BOOKS!!!

I do have questions that nobody has to answer, but I would like to put out there to the 3 people who are gonna read this:

Is my dislike of Simon Vance because (a) the show has tainted me irreparably, (b) because I don't really like audiobooks all that much, or (c) because Simon Vance isn't that good?

Do you prefer to read a paperback or hardcover? If you like hardcovers, do you read it with or without the dust jacket? (Not that you needed to know, but I am team dusty paperback all day! They just smell better! Yes I am one of those people who is OBSESSED with the smell of an old book!)

God bless Half-Priced Books!!! God bless Anne Rice!!!

P.S. Sorry this was all over the place. Could you tell I am BUZZING!!!

[irregularincidents]

Oh hey, It's JJR Tolkien's birthday! This calls for a random historical fact I think.

In 1965, an American company, Ace Books, determined that due to an error with the company that imported Tolkien's work to the US, Houghton Mifflin, had not actively renewed the American copyright on the Lord of the Rings following their initial 1955 publication, the books thus fell under public domain in the US and thus they were allowed to publish their own editions without paying Tolkien royalties.

Notably Tolkien himself was reportedly not a fan of the relatively new paperback format, he originally wanted to public LOTR as a single volume and had previously told co-owner of Ace Books, Donald Wolheim, that he felt the medium "degenerated the form" of his stories when they previously approached him.

Ace Books published their version of the trilogy, selling over 100,000 copies. This far outpaced anything Houghton Mifflin had seen. The price of the paperbacks was far more competitive at just 75 cents per book.

When Tolkien learned of the pirated editions of his book, he would actively tell fans not to buy those versions due to the rights issues, and would have official versions of his books published with the "Authorised Edition" subtitle (albeit he wasn't happy about the cover art).

Eventually the decision was made that Tolkien could renew the US copyright on LOTR if he were to resubmit them with new material, and eventually Ace Books did come to an agreement with the author over paying him a license to distribute the novels within the United States. Thus ending what the press over-dramatically named "War over Middle-earth".

[televinita]

Mega Library Sale: The Stories Behind the Scores

OK, I'm ready to talk about them! 2nd photo of additional books later on.

1-2. Accent on April + Passport to Romance - Betty Cavanna

I should perhaps be more discerning with my Cavanna purchases at this point, because suddenly I'm finding her more often, plus she wrote DOZENS of books and I really prefer her animal-focused ones over general teen romance, but…I have never disliked one, so I keep taking whatever I can find. Have not read these but Passport to Romance is about a girl doing a year at school in Switzerland, giving echoes of Madeline L'Engle's And Both Were Young.

3. A Highland Collie - Albert Payson Terhune: I own twice as many books of his as I've read (secretly I fear they may not hold up to the esteem in which I held them from age 10-22, the last time I read one), so this is just another one to throw on the pile -- but I LOVE that this one's dust jacket is basically perfect, protected by the mylar case; the only library stickers are the ones on its spine. Most of the books I have of his in this edition are jacketless.

4-5. Capture of the Golden Stallion + The Golden Stallion's Victory - Rutherford G. Montgomery: 2 books in a series about the title character, haven't yet worked out the exact order. I have both read & own a handful of his books, one of the great prolific midcentury animal-book writers, but none of these.

6. Dark Sunshine - Dorothy Lyons: One of my all-time favorite authors, most of her books are rare & decently expensive and this is 1 of 2-3 that aren't, BUT it's still uncommon and I'm THRILLED to have a hardcover now in such good condition. I've had a paperback of this 1951 release for 20 years (5-star fave) but I will be upgrading.

7. Bright Spurs - Armine von Tempski: New title & author for me, which is always fun! I love how old fashioned it looks (I guessed thirties, it's actually 1946). What if dude ranch, but in Hawaii!

Next...(and there are STILL some books that I didn't include here, stay tuned to the end)

8. A Seal Called Andre - Harry Goodridge & Lew Dietz: I bought a mass market copy last year (still unread), but I think I'm replacing it with this easier-to-read version, even though the MM cover is cuter. Andre is on Wikipedia, read about him here! You may also remember the 90s kids' movie of the same title he inspired.

9. Born Free - Joy Adamson: Speaking of friendly hand-raised wildlife, I read this in high school and really loved it then. I don't remember it well, so I thought this would be fun to grab. It's a newer reprint and rather heavy for a paperback...but for now I want it. (do I already have at least a couple dozen unread books about wildlife? irrelevant)

10. Wild Magic - Tamora Pierce: it is my solemn vow that I will collect the complete quartets of both Alanna & Daine in both the mass market paperbacks I originally read, and this beautiful and more easily readable newer paperback edition. The former was easier and is now done, but I'm making decent progress on the latter goal, surprisingly.

11. Wayside School is Falling Down - Louis Sachar: 2/3rds of the way now to owning the trilogy of this wacky and highly beloved childhood favorite that remains evergreen in my heart. I have just at this very minute finished listening to the audiobook of the complete collection for the THIRD time in as many years on Libby -- I should probably just buy it at this point -- because it is such a good bedtime story. But I also love the illustrations at the start of each chapter in the print version!

12. Mythology - Edith Hamilton: LISTEN. I had to read this damn book (500 pages, this exact edition) OVER THE SUMMER for A.P. Lit, and because I didn't wanna read BORING books during my Unlimited Reading Time part of the year, I put it off until like the last 2 weeks and did not do amazingly on the test we had on day 2 or 3. BUT, I did begrudgingly admit that this was a really accessible overview of Greek & Roman mythology, and told myself if I ever found a cheap copy in good shape, I would buy it, at least for a while. So here it is.

13. Mystery at Saddle Creek - Shelley Peterson: this was my one non-vintage splurge in terms of books, because horses! I am always down for a young teen horse book. Seems like kind of a drastic genre turn given that it's a sequel to this book but sure! okay! I'm curious!! (I have not read the above book, Sundancer, but I remember it being among my Goodreads recs for horse books back when said recs were still good).

14. Briar Rose - Jane Yolen: assigned reading in 8th grade that made a huge impact on me at the time, though I only remember a few bits and pieces. I think this cover is bland, but I've been wanting to reread it for a while and it's no longer at local libraries.

15. What Happened to Lani Garver - Carol Plum-Ucci: speaking of books I bought last year...this one at this exact sale even... BUT, that was a smaller-than-average paperback and I decided that I love this book enough I would rather have it in hardcover, because the font size is more pinched than I'd like in the other one.

NOT PICTURED (2 because I misplaced them already, the other i just forgot to include w/ the other old books and I'm not renumbering now):

16. Furiously Happy - Jenny Lawson: I don't like this as much as her first memoir, but I still like it a lot and now I actually have them in a matching paperback-edition set.

17. Winona's Pony Cart - Maud Hart Lovelace: this is a rather beat-up ex-library copy from the 50s, spine repaired with tape so that the title & details are rewritten by hand, but I simply could not say no to famous author I loved as a kid AND a pony book! This is definitely for younger readers and heavily illustrated; I may not keep it now that I see it's been reprinted as recently as the 2000s, but it was fun to grab in the moment.

18. Miss Gail (aka our poor hella warped book) - Helen Markley Miller: I read Beloved Monster a couple of years ago, instant 5-star favorite, and when I looked at her backlist all I remember is that everything sounded good, so I didn't stop for a second to even look up what this was about. But apparently it's about a "pampered, cared-for city girl" who has nowhere to go when her parents die, except to a "newly booming gold-mining town in Idaho," where she starts off working in a boarding house and ends up becoming the first appointed teacher in the town?

P.S. I have a bonus story, which is about the little boy of 5 or 6 who was intently looking at an insect book full of photos, and stopped to announce to his mom, "Look at the cute spider!" After she agreed it was cute, he immediately turned to me and showed it off to me as well. He just had to spread the arachnid joy, lol.

I was going to go to my 2nd book sale today, but sadly, I stayed up too late excitedly getting the first photo post out, and between that and my cumulative exhaustion of the week, 8 hours of sleep was not enough. I didn't actually wake up until 11, and then I had a headache, and still had to wash my hair before I could go out, so ultimately I just stayed in and read all day (not any of my new books. but it was still super fun).

But that's okay. Still plenty of sales to try and get to later in the month. :) Mostly ones I won't have to drive quite so far to, too.

[goodluckclove]

Finally fixed the name typos in Blind Trust. Which means in like three days if you buy my e-book or paperback, you'll get a version that doesn't accidentally call the character based on my therapist my therapist's actual name.

Which mean I'm pretty sure the e-book files you seven or so people have bought so far are collector's items. Only you know the true name of Clover Jean Gardener's therapist. Lucky you.

i'm kidding i swear i'll get beta readers for book two

i've never had people to read my writing before

turns out that's kind of important oops

[thewiddershinsme]

Story time:

-so I very very rarely will buy a book. I am an avid user of my local libraries, but I think the last book I purchased just to read (and not school or gift related) was about a decade ago (and it was in a little market cause I was about to get on a plane and had read everything I had brought with me as this was way prior to my current e-reader phase). And yet, I have purchased a physical, paperback novel. Which book, you may ask, has broken this decade long drought?

-some background: my favorite animated movie is Anastasia. I was that little girl obsessed with the Russian Revolution. When I grew up I wanted to be the person that solved the mystery of what had happened to her (aka I wanted to discover she had found a Dimitri and they had many descendants hanging around I could interview). I was sad for a week when the news came out that she did not survive.

-I don’t think Anastasia is the best animated film ever, but to this day it is still my favorite animated film (I think it’s important that people are able to differentiate between favorite vs best. There is a lot of media out there I acknowledge is fantastic, but just not my cup of tea. And vice versa). Anya/Dimitri have always been one of my top tier couples. Soundtrack is great. I was fortunate enough to cross off seeing the stage version on my bucket list a few years back. I think I have read the majority of Anastasia fan fiction (Anastasia Retold by J Fontaine being one of my fave fics ever).

-and then I just happened to see this book called Anastasia by Sophie Lark. And the blurb says it’s not based on any previous Anastasia story, but there are illustrations and it is giving off MAJOR 1997 Anastasia vibes. I mean…there’s the music box and she looks extremely similar to the animated version and her love interest is named Damien (and why does this ward plot sound so familiar, I kinda think I may have read a blurb like this on fanfiction.net years ago…) And then I read a bit more and realize oh ho this is complete AU alt history just like My Lady Jane (which I have very recently started) with magic powers and I am now intrigued (cause honestly, if you’re gonna do a myth version where she survives, I think going all in on a completely different universe is the way to go, cause you can never please everyone trying to be historically accurate while changing a crucial historical detail).

-I know nothing about this author (her other books aren’t really my genre so am nervous what that means for this one) but it is bought and ordered and I want to like it SO BAD

[dj-dino]

I hate the fact that my Wicked Years series books are not uniform 😩 .. Honestly, I'm late to the game and only bought the books around late January this year as a gift to myself and because I just couldn't get enough of the movie. Unfortunately, in my country, the books are almost always sold out!

My copy of the first book (Wicked) was one of the last two available ones while the fourth book (Out of Oz) was THE last copy. And even now, Out of Oz has yet to be restocked. At least Wicked got restocked. Both copies are the ones with the new cover designs that recently came out. But I still have yet to buy Son of A Witch and A Lion Among Men with the same cover designs. Because, once again, they are out of stock 😫!

I've thought about just buying the boxed set as they've been restocked very recently, and sell my current copies. But I checked just now and it's out of stock again 😮‍💨 .. Tried the local e-commerce app and there is a seller selling them. Problem is, they're selling it for like more than double the price.

At this point, I'd be better off buying the hardback versions of the first editions on Amazon. But the shipping to my country is honestly insane as well (almost more than half the price of the book itself and it's PER book). So .. That's off the table ..

Tried the local e-commerce app again, but this time I'm looking for secondhand copies instead. Found two for the 3rd book, but the price is honestly a tad too much considering the state of it. While the 2nd book is pretty much non-existent.

That was like, maybe 2 weeks ago? Maybe more. Tonight, I got the itch again. Honestly, I could just read it as an EPUB but reading physical books are still a different experience for me. I feel like I remember better what happened unlike when I read them as an ebook. Just like my experience with fanfics, the story lines sometimes blur together when I read them as an ebook.

Anyway, back to the plot. Checked the local e-commerce app tonight and found not just the 3rd book (as previously stated) but also the 2nd book! It, being the 2nd book, was the mass-market paperback version though. So dissimilar with the available copy of the 3rd book, which was a regular paperback with the cover design that of the first editions. But it was the only one being sold, so I nabbed that quickly without bothering to read or see its state via pictures.

Spoiler alert: this was a bad decision.

It has yet to be shipped to me, but I went back and looked at the pictures AFTER I had already checked out the item. The last pic was concerning .. It looked like it has mold on the first page 😬😟. I thought there were going to be no issues about it, aside from it maybe having a creased spine and most likely foxing, because the cover looked immaculate!

I should have known better. I should have checked the pictures provided before checking it out. But because I got too excited, I may now have to deal with a moldy book 😮‍💨. I may have completed the set, but at what cost!?

[physalian]

Reminder that IngramSpark is terrible

Even if you're one of the lucky authors who've never had any issues with this platform, that they have a chokehold on expanded distribution for indie authors is my problem. Ingram will nickle and dime you with a user interface that pales in comparison in efficency to KDP. Cannot comment on any other print-on-demand company but even little Kobo took me like, 40 minutes to go from making my account to having my ebook live on their website.

Fuck IngramSpark.

You want to/need to make any changes to your manuscript whatsoever after 60 days (even if you have had zero orders and/or have none being processed)? $25 a pop, oh and you get de-listed while the changes are being processed, which can take at least 72 hours. If you do have orders in the middle of being processed, your possibly critical changes won't go into effect until the last order during that time frame has been processed, leaving those readers with the older, worse version of your book.

Are you allowed to preview those changes to make sure it'll process correctly before paying that ridiculous fee? Nope! Not if you're uploading PDFs and not using their in-house formatting programs.

I've said it before: Amazon is shady as fuck. I'm not going to pretend they aren't.

But they know their shit and they do it with maximum efficiency. Lower print costs mean higher royalties and Amazon is one of the largest marketplaces you could hope to host your book on. The massive caveat being that Amazon will only sell on Amazon, unless you sign up for their expanded distribution which is... eh.

It will never not bother me that I had to price my book a whole dollar higher using Ingram, charging my readers more money, because to price Eternal Night what I have on Amazon ($17.99) would have had me owing Ingram money.

Books are expensive enough already, and you don't really buy direct from Ingram. It's more expensive to print with them (on shittier paper to boot), which means they charge the vendor more to buy it so they can profit, which means the vendor (the bookstore you're buying from) can charge you more at the register so they can profit. You want my paperback for cheap? I would rather send you a copy from my own home, footing the bill on both ends for shipping costs, than use Ingram, if only to keep these bastards from taking their cut and giving me my $0.16.

I am not in this business to make money. I want people to enjoy my book and if that means losing a couple dollars of profit not pricing a 111k word fantasy novel at $22, I'd rather someone be able to afford it and like it than give it a pass because it's too expensive.

Ingram thinks they're the best, because they're still the standard for any brick and mortar store you want to shelve your book, and have zero incentive to change and better themselves.

I wouldn't have to pay the $25 in the first place if they didn't fuck up the color matching on my cover, and that's why I haven't pushed my book with Ingram at all. My debut novel is available technically through any vendor you could hope to buy from, because Ingram works with nearly all of them. Their version of my book is just awful, and trying to get the paper quality fixed all this time has gotten me nowhere, so I gave up and switched focus to the cover, and here we are.

I would rather pay to ship my books myself from KDP and hand deliver them to any brick and mortar store than use Ingram.

Amazon will print what you give them exactly as it looks on your digital screen, regardless of the color mode. Ingram will not, will not tell you this, and will not let you see if there is problem before you pay an arm and a leg for an author copy + shipping to see the damages.

If nothing else, it's a massive waste of paper to have an author copy I can't do anything with, with an issue any other platform would have let me prevent. I have one, 1, author copy from KDP, and it has a big fat watermark on the cover, but it's the only personal copy I need for my own use and reference. At the very least, I could have given my Ingram author copy away to somebody, but the color matching on the cover is atrocious and I'm embarrassed to look at it. Same exact files to both platforms.

Nor is anything with Ingram instantaneous. Everything requires a manual check. Which is great, thanks, human eyes on something is awesome, but maybe don't charge me the $25 change fee until that change has been approved? Now I have to fix a bleed issue, after updating the color mode on an identical file I already gave them that had no issues, after a 48 hour delay, and hope that this time, the color matching is correct, because they still won't tell me. If it's not? Another $25.

I don't want Amazon to expand their monopoly, but I desperately need Ingram to fix their shit and get off their high horse so they can be a fair and proper competitor of value. There should be zero fees to fix things if the book hasn't even sold a single copy on your platform. I know it can be automated and work flawlessly, negating the need for that fee. KDP has done it, and imo, on paper quality alone, KDP has Ingram beat anyway.

Ingram, allegedly, works great if you have no issues. If you do have an issue, it's never a small, simple fix.

Sorry for the rant and sorry to anyone who has used Ingram and doesn't know what the fuck I'm ranting about. It has been a struggle with them and their website since day one.

Do better.

[lcmawson]

Hello!

Long-time fan, love your work! A question on paperbacks.

Looking at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, it looks like only a few of your books are currently available in paperback. I was wondering if you have any plans to bring the rest to paperback?

I'm about due for a(nother) full-series re-read (of uhhh all of them lol), and I thought that it'd be a nice excuse to get physical copies of everything, since at the moment I own everything only on kindle. I'm currently on a journey to try to own everything I love, and I'd love to have a whole shelf for your work!

Regardless, I'm planning to get what's available, at least. No worries about that. But if there aren't any more coming, I may just have to take up bookbinding lol!

Anyway, thank you for all of the work that you do! It's an inspiration, and you've completely spoiled me with the sheer volume of your writing!

Hey, thank you, I'm so glad you like the books!

I love having my books in paperback, but not a lot of people buy them, so it takes a while to make back the cost of the paperback versions of the covers, and I've not had room in my budget for it over the past couple of years.

I'll take a look again when I need a new lot of covers, and hopefully I'll be able to make it work.