Juno Books

Book Lovers Inc/One Book Away From Heaven:

I love Persephone… For me, this is what distinguished this series from all the other UF. Linda Robertson isn’t trying to break new ground…she’s writing the best books with the usual elements. In the end what makes it amazing is the quality of the story and characters. Let’s go back to Persephone…[Y]ou know [UF] heroines are often self-centered, sometimes mean and selfish… Persephone is the exact contrary. She’s the most selfless heroine I’ve ever met, she cares deeply for others and is always trying to help.

Hallowed Circle is near perfection…(4.5 “Bookies”)

Been looking for something concise on this and, thanks to Shelf Wisdom and further comments from publishing veteran Jack McKeown (director of business development for Verso Advertising and president of Conemarra Partners), here’s some interesting information from last week’s Digital Book World, plus further news and opinion from McKeown (and some remarks from moi). The primary focus is a Verso survey of 5,600 consumers weighted to mirror the U.S. adult population and conducted late last year.

Among the findings:

• Nearly half of avid readers prefer to shop in bookstores, even though their purchases don’t reflect that.
• A hybrid market is developing, whereby many people will buy and read both e-books and printed books, not exclusively e-books.
• E-readers will likely represent 12%-15% of the market in the next two years and have not reached a near-term tipping point.
• Amazon’s “hissy fit” of the past week settled some important pricing issues.
• Baby boomers and older Americans who are avid readers number 41 million, and, given the proper attention, these readers could buy more books. [Personal Comment: But, she wonders, what do we aging hipsters read/buy? No one knows.]
• Because of demographic issues, the music industry’s difficulties are not an accurate model for the book business. [Personal Comment: This is a big “duh”, but really involves a lot more than demographics. I highly recommend that everyone in publishing read Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age by Steve Knopper in order to understand just how screwed-up the music industry became.]
• Book buyers’ preferred shopping locations are local independents (21.5%) and chain bookstores (21.4%), followed by online retailers (20%), book clubs and others (10.7%), and big box retailers (10.5%). [Comment: with a 1.6 +/- margin of error, I’s say this means that the top three are equal. Further, how many readers HAVE a local bookstore that can supply all their needs?]
• Avid readers (defined as the 28% of the US population 18+ years old who read more than 5 hours per week) skew older: 35% of respondents 65 and older are avid readers while just 20% of respondents age 25-34 are avid readers. McKeown noted: “Older Americans represent 41 million, or two-thirds, of the country’s 62 million avid readers.” They are even more likely than less-frequent readers to prefer shopping in an independent bookstore.

  He said that while he is not sure whether this is a generational or chronological phenomenon–”will younger Americans read and buy more books as they age?”–the book industry can at least try to sell more books to older readers and seek to convert younger more casual readers.

  If booksellers target avid reader baby boomers and convince them to buy two more books a year, “that would be $1 billion topline growth for the industry,” McKeown said. And because baby boomers will be around for a while yet, “this could be a decades-long opportunity, not a near-term one…the older market could be the cash cow that drives the industry’s efforts in digital marketing and digital publishing.” [Comment: Not sure I agree with this given we do not know what they buy. The market might already have more than can be consumed.]

• The most important marketing tools for selling books in bricks-and-mortar stores are author publicity and in-store events, staff recommendations and bestseller sections, while for online sales, search engine results are most important.
• Online and in the “real world,” the final purchase decision is driven by the author’s reputation, personal recommendations, and price. [Comment: So, “brand name” wins. But — will readers try a NEW author for a reduced price?]
E-Reader Trends
• Fully 49% of respondents said they will not buy an e-reader in the next year and only 25% said they are very likely or somewhat likely to buy one, and much of the resistance comes from older, avid readers. Approximately 3.5 million-4.5 million e-readers have been sold in the past few years, and “the data suggests that trajectory will flatten out,” McKeown said. “E-reader penetration could be 12%-15% of the market over two years. There is no near-term tipping point for e-reader.”
• Data also showed that “avid readers who own e-readers are splitting purchases between paper and e-books,” McKeown continued. “They are not buying fewer books than other avid readers. This speaks to me about the evolving hybrid market. Avid readers have preferences about paper and e-books, but the two are not mutually exclusive. Readers will move between both realms at their own pace.”
• Many respondents, particularly men 55 and older, are likely to buy hardcover books with a digital version for a modest extra charge. Among all respondents, 42.9% would consider such a bundled purchase.
• Data about where e-readers are used showed that reading at home for leisure is most popular (27%), followed by traveling or commuting (24%), reading in bed (14%), during breaks at work (9%), and studying or school reading (6%). The low figure for school “bears out the failure of eInk devices to win a beachhold with students,” McKeown said. He noted the
  failure of Amazon’s program that provided Kindles to college students at a select group of colleges. [Comment: My highly academic son despises ebooks because you cannot highlight, write notes, and easily flip trough an e-book to study. Further, you are yoked to a powered device that can run down or be tethered to electric socket. Etc.]

• There was a major split among respondents over appropriate pricing for e-books: Fully 28% favor prices under $10; 28% accept prices between $10 and $20; while 37% are undecided. Only 7.5% are open to paying “hardcover-like prices” of more than $20 for an e-book.[Comment: Again, there is no differentiation made in what type of books. My theory is that readers of mass market paperbacks already feel ripped off at $8 a book. Price makes a big difference to them. Price makes a big difference to genre readers who buy a lot of books. If you buy fiction in hardcover, then you want a reasonable discount…etc.]
• Even before the recent Amazon-St Martins showdown, McKeown said, “we sensed the pundits and $9.99 fanatics did not reflect the avid reader consumer mindset.” He called the grades of price acceptance similar to traditional hardcover, trade paperback and mass market segmentation. “It seems that the $10 crowd is motivated by price,” he continued, but others who truly want to read a book and are engaged with authors will accept somewhat higher prices.
• Already 28% of e-reader owners have downloaded pirated editions of books, and 45% of males under 35 have done so. McKeown suggested that in response to piracy, the book business needs “to avoid the knee-jerk approach of the music industry, which made things only worse.” A carrot approach that includes trying to encourage pirates to pay–as well as DRM controls–should be part of the equation. [Comment: Read the Knopper book. More importantly, how many of those pirates would have bought the books at all? Just because you pick up something free doesn’t mean you’d pay money for it. As for DRM: Doctorow’s Law: Any time someone puts a lock on something you own, against your wishes, and doesn’t give you the key, it’s not being done to your benefit.]

Amazon links are being removed from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site as a response to the removal of many of their authors’ books from Amazon’s ordering system. “Our authors depend on people buying their books and since a significant percentage of them publish through Macmillan or its subsidiaries, we would prefer to send traffic to stores where the books can actually be purchased.” SFWA is redirecting book links to other online retailers.”

Publishers Weekly:

Bickle’s dark, dramatic urban fantasy debut introduces Lt. Anya Kalinczyk of the Detroit Fire Department, who investigates arson by day and huntsghosts at night. As a unique type of medium, a Lantern or “human bug zapper,” Anya can simply inhale and destroy spirits while accompanied by her familiar, a … salamander named Sparky…Though she’s a far cry from the usual hip, cheeky urban fantasy heroine, Anya’s stoic determination is completely apropos for a crime-solving loner. Bickle provides plenty of suspense as the arsonist tries to raise a powerful elemental being, and Anya accidentally absorbs a demon that threatens to possess her. Readers will look forward to Anya’s future supernatural investigations.

Alternative Worlds:

Filled with great spins, the first Shadowchasers urban fantasy is a terrific tale due to the heroine. Her current case is personal in several ways, but also could lead her into the Shadows of darkness. Atlanta proves a great landscape for a battle between shadow and shadow-hunters, but it is the teaming of Kira and Khefar as she learns there are plenty of shades of gray between light and dark.

The following news and lots more (including an exclusive SNEAK PEEK excerpt from DEMON POSSESSED by Stacia Kane has been sent to the lucky subscribers to the Pocket Juno News.

(And yeah, too late I realease I misspelled “Pocket” as “Pockey”! Oy. Hey, *I* need a copy editor.)

If you don’t subscribe, it is easy and free! Subscription page. For those who subscribe in the new few days, I’ll send this newsletter right away.

The entry page has been updated. (Not seeing anything new? refresh/reload your browser!)

An excerpt of EMBERS is now available.

AMAZON QUEEN now has a page (including a link to an excerpt) and there’s some nifty new “feature” info about Lori Devoti’s Amazon world.

The last newsletter (January) is posted.

Reviews have been updated on the HALLOWED CIRCLE , VICIOUS CIRCLE, MATTERS OF THE BLOOD, BLOOD BARGAIN, BLOOD KIN, VAMPIRE SUNRISE, and AMAZON INK pages.

• Seressia Glass is guest blogging at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales (with giveaway of Shadow Blade) today
• Linda Robertson is interviewed at Immortal Revolution and one lucky commenter–who follows the rules–will win a signed copy of Hallowed Circle.
• Serresia is also interviewed at Romance Slam Jam as of yesterday

Curled Up With a Good Book:

This debut book is a fantastic kick-off for the budding Amazons series, and author Lori Devoti imbues urban fantasy with new depth in creating her Amazons and their descendants. The author’s creativity and resultant storyline are a beautiful blend of the real and fictional…. Amazon Ink sets a high bar for future installments in the new series. Filled with continual plot twists, extraordinary characters, and endless creativity, Devoti’s cast of Amazons rejuvenates the urban fantasy genre, peopling her world with a group of supernaturals that offers a welcome alternative to the dearly loved yet too-familiar Others that frequent this genre’s leading character types.

SFRevu:

This is Lima’s third installment in the Blood Lines series. With each book the world gets richer in texture and detail. Keira, our main point of view character, has been developing and growing with each book. Her powers may be growing but they have limits and there is a cost to their use. This is no escalating series where the level of power, danger, and opponents grows exponentially with each book. The rules were set in book one and they still hold strong, keeping the stories grounded so that readers can believe in the world between the pages.

Blood Kin is true to its title in many ways. While Keira is on a quest to get the blessings of her matriarch and training for her powers, the book is really about family — kin. We all have families — the ones we’re born to and the ones we make for ourselves… What are your responsibilities to your kin — older and younger, beholden and in service to you, related but barely known? Lima manages to tell an interesting mystery while dealing with many of these issues.

(Also if you are wondering about AMAZON QUEEN’s cover, it is here.)

This is not the final cover. There’s still a blurb to put somewhere and I requested that the hair be fixed — smoothed out rather than this sort of lame white chick Jheri Curl do. Probably won’t get my wish.

““A compelling story with an intelligent heroine and a fast-moving plot pitting intuition against conspiracy, crime, and dark science.””—Linda Robertson, author of the Circle Series

“Bickle has something great in Anya. Embers has everything: demons, ghosts, dragons, love, sex, police, and murder.”
—M.L.N. Hanover, bestselling author of Darker Angels

“Gritty but never grim, Embers is a truly urban fantasy, where the soul of a city haunts every page. I can’t wait for more of Anya and the unforgettable Sparky!”
—Jeri Smith-Ready, award-winning author of Bad to the Bone and Shade

FantasyLit.com:

Linda Robertson’s first novel, Vicious Circle, was a fun read, and its sequel, Hallowed Circle, is even better. In this second installment, Robertson spins a highly original plot (if this has been done in urban fantasy before, it was in a book I missed!), further develops her characters and the relationships among them, and as an added bonus, passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors…

The Eximium is such a unique and fun plot. The murder mystery is compelling, and so is the contest itself, in which five revered crones set challenges for Seph and the other would-be priestesses. Hallowed Circle has two other plotlines running alongside this one; one of them concerns Johnny, and the other deals with the vampire Menessos and a group of ticked-off fairies.

I’ve often praised authors for creating a sense of place. Robertson creates a vivid sense of time. Hallowed Circle takes place during the Halloween season and it really feels like it, in every detail.

I couldn’t put Hallowed Circle down. Between the sympathetic characters, the well-grounded magical lore, and an exciting plot in which nothing is quite what it seems, this is a standout urban fantasy. (4.5 Stars)

FYI: Bechdel Test was originally for film/TV, but applies to books. To “pass”, must include:

• at includes at least two women
• who have at least one conversation with each other
• about something other than a man or men.

(Most Pocket Juno Books pass it )

From live coverage via MacWorld

Here’s reading a book with our new app, “iBooks”…

Bookshelf of books, there’s a button on upper left corner that’s the Store. They’ve created the new iBook Store, fully integrated with the iBooks app. Download and purchase apps right on your iPad. Top chart list, NYT bestseller list. Five of the largest publishers: Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Hachette Boook Group.

Here’s a demo. Hitting the store button is like a secret passageway. It flips around. If you’ve used iTunes or the App Store, you’re already familiar. Prices look like they very between $7.99 and $14.99. Buying Teddy Kennedy’s memoir. You can get a sample if you want, but Steve’s going to tap and buy. Downloads right onto the bookshelf. “It’s just so simple.” Just tap if you want to read. Tap anywhere on the right fo flip forward, on the left to flip back. Drag page if you want to slowly turn the page. Go to Table of Contents and pick a chapter.

Photos, black and white, color, video in your books. Change the font size if you want, bigger or smaller. Change the font: Baskerville, Cochin, Palatino, Times New Roman, Verdana. That’s iBooks.

Using epub format. Most popular open book format in the world. Very very excited. Think iPad will be a terrific e-book reader for poular books and textbooks…

Internet, e-mail, best device for photos. Great for enjoying music. Video is phenomenal. Runs almost all 140,000 apps on the App Store as well as a whole new generation of apps. And it has a new iBooks application with iBook Store. Carry literally thousands of books around on your iPad. And the iWork suite for doing productivity.

Comments: And get this: Price starts at $499.

Epub is good news, not another format to deal with. Notice Random House is not on board yet? They also showed iPad versions of New York Times. Apple’s taking on Amazon with the iBook Store. Jobs: “We’re going to open up the floodgates for the rest of the publishing world starting this afternoon.”

[Finally tracked this one down…]
RT Book Reviews:

Robertson brings back the magic and mayhem that made Vicious Circle such a great read. Her first-person narrative puts you inside the heroine’s head, and the colorful secondary cast adds depth. The witches, vampires, werewolves, and fae live in a realistically portrayed hierarchy. Twists, turns and narrow escapes keep the pages turning. (4.5 stars)

…and uh, yeah, I’ll update that entry page here real soon to feature SHADOW BLADE.

Hey, it IS our FEBRUARY release, so even though the “official” day is today…

And if any of you reviewers are wondering where your review copy might be–the ever-efficient Erica is getting them out (now that they have copies in NY). Don’t complain. Neither the author nor I have seen a copy either!

Meanwhile, here’s the media information sheet.

RT Book Reviews:

“Glass’ latest seizes the reader’s attention and holds it captive. The author cunningly and masterfully injects details about gods who supervise and/or orchestrate what happens in the lives of humans, immortals and beings in between. The suspense is almost overwhelming, the intense action palpable. Glass creates a story you’ll want to keep reading, even when there are no more pages.” (4.5 Stars)

Okay, the cat is out of the bag. Ann VanderMeer (fiction editor for three years) is now editor-in-chief of Weird Tales. Mary Robinette Kowal will be the magazine’s new art director. I’m the new nonfiction editor.

This is all because Stephen Segal, the mastermind who dragged WT (with some screaming and kicking) into the 21st century, has a nifty new job as aquisitions editor for a tres cool publisher, Quirk. (Yes, the people who brought the world Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!) Not that Steve is deserting us (he promises!) as he remains “senior contributing editor”.

Ann and Mary, like Steve, are intelligent, creative, imaginative people. A trio of true menschen.

So, don’t worry. I can’t screw things up too much.

Haven’t you always wanted to be in a book? Here’s your chance, plus it’s for a good cause. Auction proceeds go to Deaf Dane Rescue, Inc. of Oakridge, Oregon. YOUR NAME will be used as a character in Yvonne Navarro’s novel CONCRETE SAVIOR: Dark Redemption Book 2. The first Dark Redemption novel, HIGHBORN (ISBN 9781439191736) is Pocket Juno’s October 2010 release. CONCRETE SAVIOR will be completed and submitted to the publisher at about the same time as HIGHBORN is available.

Go here: EBay Item number 180457374043 for a chance at literary immortality and to help out a good cause. (You’ll also find all the fine print and legal details and stuff.)

Today’s Wall Street Journal article article on “The Death of the Slush Pile” made me go, well, at least “Aaarrrgh!”

Before I vent specifically, allow me to point out:

• *I* take unsolicited manuscripts (aka slush).
• So do Tor and Ace/Roc Science Fiction & Fantasy. Maybe others.
• Genre magazines take slush, too.
• Of the current Pocket/Juno line-up Stacia Kane, Linda Robertson, Maria Lima, Laura Bickle/Alayna Williams (yes, yes, she’s the same person — more on that later) all initially came from slush. Carole Nelson Douglas was/is represented, but our first contact was personal and not through her agent. As for the original small press line-up, almost all came from the slush pile.

Now, to the WSJ article:

1) They mix screenwriting and book publishing. They are comparing apples and oranges and shouldn’t have. I won’t address the Hollywood side of things.

2) The article completely ignores that there are simply more submissions these days than ever. Wordprocessing and the Internet have made a great many more people think they should be authors. So has the “starification” of popular authors — since the media play up blockbuster authors, huge advances, and the tiny minority of writers who make big bucks, folks think becoming an author is an easy road to riches. Nothing could be further from the truth.

3) WSJ: “As writers try to find an agent—a feat harder than ever to accomplish in the wake of agency consolidations and layoffs…” Is this true? I don’t think it is in publishing.

4) WSJ: “Book publishers say it is now too expensive to pay employees to read slush that rarely is worthy of publication. At Simon & Schuster, an automated telephone greeting instructs aspiring writers: “Simon & Schuster requires submissions to come to us via a literary agent ….Company spokesman Adam Rothberg says the death of the publisher’s slush pile accelerated after the terror attacks of 9/11 by fear of anthrax in the mail room.” Okay, treading softly here since Pocket is part of S&S and Juno is part of Pocket. Yes, I am sure that it is not worth paying employees to read the amount of slush they get. No arguing. However, as many smaller publishers are learning, you can automate email submissions and avoid even compute viruses, so anthrax and mailrooms need not be a concern.

In fact e-systems make considering and tracking submissions easier than ever. Take a look at what Clarkesworld does for submissions: Clarkesworld Submissions System.

5) WSJ brings up rejections of Rowling, Meyer, etc. What articles like this never point out is that often many rejections come because the manuscript is submitted to the “wrong” publisher or editor. You may have a wonderful YA novel — well, don’t send it to me. Pocket Juno does not publish YA novels. Or short story collections, or horror novels, or space opera, or thrillers, or novels with male protagonists, or…etc. Want to count that as a rejection? I don’t. I count it as a misguided submission.

One plus for the WSJ article: In a sidebar, a Random House editor mentions that editors “travel, they get around. They look at writer’s conferences, at MFA programs. They look at magazine articles and at blogs. That’s what editors do, they sniff things out from so many different sources.” This is true for me, at least. Especially about personal contact. I wish I still went to as many conferences as I used to. I find it a valuable way not only to meet potential authors, but to make contact with readers and “sniff out” the future vibe.

One more thing: The WSJ article is subtitled: Even in the Web era, getting in the door is tougher than ever. Is it? At least in in sf/f, authors have been discovered online via blogs. Romance and erotica writers are often starting out in ebooks these days. And the networking — what you can learn from others and who you “know”, in any career, is always something to consider — you can now do as an author due to the Web is a whole new universe for authors.

And yeah, that’s where I got started, too, online.

According to USAToday: “…at least 17% of all book sales tracked in 2009 were related to vampires (and assorted other undead creatures, including zombies) or the paranormal (including paranormal romances). That was up from 14% in 2008, which in turn was way up from 2% in 2007….” In addition to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight vamps, Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novel series “…had nine titles in the top 100 sellers of the year, and P.C. and Kristin Cast, the mother/daughter team who write the House of Night series, had six. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith is No. 48 on the list. Expect that trend to continue in 2010, again thanks in part to Meyer…. Eclipse, the movie based on the third book in the Twilight series, swoops into theaters in June, and the paperback reissue of her 2008 adult hardcover The Host is out April 13.”

Fallen Angels:

I thought this series was already good when I read Vicious Circle, but after finishing Hallowed Circle I am now a true fan of author Linda Robertson. She brings exciting characters with a good story line that equals…pure magic. Witches, werewolves and romance…oh my! I enjoyed getting to see Persephone come into her powers and accept her fate more. I really hope she and Johnny work things out as they are a good couple together. Can’t wait to see what new obstacles Persephone tackles in the next book. (4 Angels)

Huntress Reviews:

FOUR STARS! If you have not read the previous title, Vicious Circle, do not fret. The author gives enough information that you will not feel lost or confused. As with the first book, this title continues the story of magic, corruption, and the paranormal. Readers will find themselves swept off their feet, without the use of a broomstick, and into a dangerous world that is teetering on the edge of a war between the non-humans. Very entertaining!

Good Reads:

I could not wait to read this book. I fell in love with both the story and the characters after the first book, Vicious Circle. Vicious Circle was the kind of book that startled you into laughing and hooked you on the characters’ lives. I had high hopes for Hallowed Circle and Linda Robertson did not disappoint…. Persephone is a character with no small amount of challenges, either personal or professional. However, unlike some female leads, she does not sit around and whine about her problems all day nor does she simply waffle about the decision endlessly hoping for an answer to magically develop. Persephone is smart, decisive, honest, caring and human. She takes a moment to pause and question her life but does not spend six books doing so at the cost of others lives.

Johnny is by far my favorite character. I love his ability to make even the most mundane comment into one charged with sexual innuendos. For those of you who have not read this book, this does not make him creepy but is actually rather an endearing quality.

Robertson writes a very clever novel that incorporates the paranormal, romance, comedy, some Arthurian legends and even some vocabulary lessons… She has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I look forward to any additional books she has up her sleeve, both in this series and any others.

Larissa’s Life:

I just finished this book, like 10 minutes ago and I’m still coming back down from a intense book high. I loved Book 1, Vicious Circle, and this second installment of the Persephone Alcmedi series just made this series a must buy for me…. As I said on my review of Book 1, this is not a groundbreaking series nor does it reinvent the wheel. But Linda has definitely taken much thats has been proven right and true in the Urban Fantasy genre and made it her own. I love how this series is progressing…

Latest newsletter has been sent. It includes an exclusive “sneak peek” at SHADOW BLADE, a short Q&A with HALLOWED CIRCLE’s Linda Robertson, and a submissions update. What you don’t subscribe? Just sign up at http://juno-books.com/maillist.html!

Last month’s newsletter (including exclusive excerpt from HALLOWED CIRCLE) is now online.

And if you didn’t notice the updated entry page (refresh the page if you don’t see HALLOWED CIRCLE as “now available”), there is now a Web page for EMBERS by Laura Bickle and excerpts have linked to on the DEMON POSSESSED and SHADOW BLADE pages.

Variety reports a new adaptation of Frank Herbert’s “Dune” (1965) is in the works for Paramount Pictures. Pierre Morel, “a longtime fan who brought his well-worn copy of the novel with him to meetings at Paramount” is set to direct. (He directed “Taken”.) Kevin Misher’s Misher Films will produce with New Amsterdam’s Richard Rubenstein, who produced the television mini-seriies “Dune” and sequel “Children of Dune.”

Peter Berg originally developed the film with a script draft by Josh Zetumer. Berg left to fulfill another commitment. “Paramount will work off Zetumer’s draft, but the studio will secure another writer shortly.”

“Dune” was first turned into a film by David Lynch, whose 1984 effort was not a financial success. The book, however, remains a perennial bestseller. Its many sequels are also bestsellers.

Okay, so she’s not so happy with the hat, but she does like her new sweater. Grandpuppy Doc (aka Duchess) was one year old yesterday.

Crains notes that according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 75% of sales, overall unit sales through December 20 droped just 3% compared to the same period in 2008. Note that Bookscan tracks about 75% of sales, but does not include Walmart or ebooks. As ebooks are estimated to have jumped from roughly 1 percent of the market to approximately 4 percent of the market in 2009…it looks as if book sales have at least held their own in a recessionary economy.

I seem to have missed these…

Singletitles.com:

Lori Devoti has demonstrated her ground-breaking talent in previous releases, and her skill shines even brighter in her first book about an out of the ordinary subject….Lori Devoti knows how to entertain and captivate by keeping the surprises coming one after another. Although AMAZON INK takes place in our modern day world, there are plenty of supernatural occurrences to keep one spellbound and make you wonder about the possibilities. Ms. Devoti expertly blends the truths we know with the legends of the Amazons to create an exceedingly noteworthy story, one filled with dynamic characters and a convincing premise. From the very start of this book, I felt as though I was reading about actual people who might live in my community yet posses various atypical plus hidden abilities. Each individual seems to come alive in personality, while their responses also come across as credible with much realism. Whether a character is downright angry or just exchanging some quick-witted banter, their conversations ring true and are frequently packed with emotion. Mel is definitely facing many difficult concerns, and her reaction to many of them is deeply insightful as it lets her inner thoughts become evident. Often her emotions are extremely conflicted, and these scenes are especially gripping when her personal skills are displayed. The storyline itself is totally memorable with so much intrigue and a myriad of questions needing answers. As each disclosure of the many mysteries is divulged, I was held engrossed by every fascinating revelation. Lori Devoti has crafted an outstanding urban fantasy with strong characters plus creative writing, and I cannot wait to read more about this believable world. AMAZON INK is an enchanting novel brimming with mystery, emotion and an abundance of magic.

Corpus Christi Examiner:

Amazon Ink, by Lori Devoti, is an entertaining read with a unique urban fantasy setting….Amazon Ink’s world… is original and intriguing. The idea of an urban fantasy setting based on an Amazon tribe’s adaptation to the modern world is a nice change from the popular vampires, werewolves and fairies, and the twist at the end leaves much potential for future sequels.

Diary of a Book Addict::

Amazon Ink… had a really refreshing take on the Amazon legend that was perfectly integrated with the “real” world to create a seamless urban fantasy experience. Lori Devoti’s mythology and detail made the world of Amazon Ink come to life and helped the characters feel more complex. The characters… are bonded together by realistic relationships and complex adult problems that make the story even better… I enjoyed Amazon Ink far more than I thought I would. I picked up the book because I thought the story might be fun (and maybe a little campy), but I ended up getting hooked. I’m excited for the sequel, Amazon Queen, which, according to Amazon, should be hitting shelves April 2010.

Flames Rising:

Even though gender and family roles take center stage in this urban fantasy novel, there is a unique twist on the Amazonian mythos that offers a touch of ethnicity blended with mythology. The primary goddess behind the Amazons is Artemis, who you may remember from Greek mythology. Tattoos are part of the “magic” in Amazon Ink, which is part of the reason why Melanippe is a suspect in both the Amazonian world and the human one. There are a few male characters that offer great counterpoints to Mel’s impulsiveness; Pete (a tattoo artist she ends up employing) and Detective Reynolds. If you’re looking for their characters to be weak-willed and subservient to the Amazons, you’ll be sadly disappointed. There’s a little bit of sexual tension that makes you wonder whether or not Mel will end up in a romantic entanglement, which adds a little bit of spice to Mel’s passionate character.

I have to say that I liked the twist on the Amazonian culture because there are several unique facets to it that were revealed in the first book. The interpersonal character conflicts heat up as the mystery takes center stage, enhancing the pacing and my curiosity to find out the real culprit. (Not only did I guess the identity of the murderer wrong, but I also got the murderer’s motives wrong, too.)

As the first urban fantasy book in a series, Amazon Ink is a fast read with enough twists and turns to hold your attention and keep you wanting for more. This would be a good book for anyone who enjoys powerful characterizations and high magic in their urban fantasy novels.

One of Kimber An’s Top 10 Favorite Books of 2009:

Wasn’t much interested in Urban Fantasy until this one and I wouldn’t have picked it up without a recommendation from my good buddy, Tia over at Fantasy Debut (now morphed into Debuts & Reviews.) Modern day Amazon Mama, totally engaging world-building, not a stereotype in sight that I could see. (Review)

Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti, although a 2008 book, made the Enduring Romance Best Reads of 2009 list.