It's the last days before Christmas and I am happy to say that I'm not spending them at the shopping malls and packed stores looking for those last-minute gifts. (Though, I am sending warm thoughts to all those poor souls who are.) The baking continues in the Drake household. I recently tackled chocolate chip cookies and I'm thinking of making some peanut butter chip cookies for my brother's birthday on December 31. My containers are so filled with cookies, muffins, and candy that I'm starting to crave celery. Scary, I know.
My holiday rituals are nearly complete. I've shopped, wrapped, and trimmed the tree. I've had dinner with my mom's side of the family. I've gone to the Krohn Conservatory holiday display. I've gone to the Cincinnati Zoo Festival of Lights. And I've watched White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye.
What's left?
Watching A Christmas Story with my husband.
Breakfast with my family on Christmas day.
Watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation with my parents.
Enjoy the peace and love of the season.
Part of that peace comes with settling in to enjoy a good book. There are still tons of great deals to be had on e-books. I stumbled across this link just the other day to Dear Author, where the writer lists a long collection of books that are one sale for $1-2. You can't miss out on something like that! I've already bought several books and I might check the list one last time.
Avon Books continues with its 12 Days of Christmas Sale. You can check out the list here on Facebook, or at the Avon Romance Blog, or if you're on Twitter, just follow Avonbooks for regular updates.
Of course, my own imprint Harper Voyager is having its own celebration. Check out their list of books for sale at their new website.
And finally, if you're more interested in just winning books instead of buying them at bargain prices, I suggest you wander over to Supernatural Underground.
Every family has their holiday traditions. They could be big or small, but they are always treasured.
Yesterday, I enjoyed one of my all-time favorites: a trip to the Krohn Conservatory to see their holiday display. The Krohn Conservatory is an exquisite glass hothouse that contains a vast collection of delicate and exotic plants. I have been going to the Conservatory since I was very young. My parents would take us every year and my brothers and I would get a new ornament we picked out for the Christmas tree. I looked forward to it every year; more so than the trips to the zoo for the Festival of Lights and walks through downtown Cincinnati to see the window displays.
There's something so peaceful about the Conservatory. Voices aren't raised and the whole place has a hushed, almost reverent feel to it as you walk through, looking at the displays. When I step into the Conservatory, I can feel just a warmth in my soul. It's beauty. It's good memories. It's home.
As you walk in the door to the Conservatory, there's always a giant Christmas tree that is covered in hand-made ornaments. Most of the ornaments are made from leaves, nuts, and bits of twigs. I find myself standing before the tree for several minutes, trying to see each ornament on the tree, but my family is always anxious to move along to the main exhibit hall, where they have the giant poinsettia tree and trains.
This year's exhibit was entitled: Trains, Trestles, and Traditions. For several years, the Conservatory displayed a giant rotating music box that depicted places in Cincinnati. It wasn't there this year, but the display they had was absolutely beautiful. They had several trains running around the exhibit hall and little buildings made to resemble places that were well-known around the city. The small incline trolley is a replica of the incline that use to run up Mt. Adams many years ago.
Also, here's another well-known building for Cincinnati. The rounded building in the background of this picture is Union Terminal. Long ago, it was one the main train station for the city. Many people were shipped out to fight in World War II from this terminal many year ago, and some say it is now haunted. The Union Terminal is still a train station, but it also houses the local history museum and Omnimax theater. It's an exquisite building to visit if you're ever in town.
And a few places that aren't quite a part of Cincinnati, but beautiful all the same. I'm not quite sure why they included this unless it's supposed to be a replica of the Tower at King's Island, which is a smaller replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Regardless, it is cool all the same.
From the exhibit hall, you find into the desert exhibit, which is filled with beautiful cacti and spiked plants. This room is fun because I've seen the occasional little animal squirreled away during the summer. The summer sees doors opened, allowing birds to flit in. I've seen little lizards creeping along between the cactus and even a small family of what looked to be quails (Take this with a grain of salt, I don't know anything about birds. They were at least small and quail-like.) Throughout the desert room, they have little hand-made ornament hanging from some of the larger plants, adding a little color to the thick green room.
The desert room leads to an enclosed Orchid Exhibit. This is the newest room of the Conservatory, being less than a decade old, I believe. It is humid and warm, making you regret your winter coat, but it is worth the short jaunt through. Filled with delicate orchids, this room is an explosion of color. I love orchids, but I would never attempt to grow one. I'm sure that if I killed the plant, I would be heartbroken, so I happily visit the Conservatory to get my fill of the lovely plants.
The Orchid Exhibit leads to the Bonsai Room, which is also relatively new. The local Bonsai society allows the Conservatory to display their collection and it is amazing. They have some plants there that are over fifty years old and have been in training for more years than I have been alive. I have included the picture of the one bonsai that I look forward to seeing every time I visit Krohn. I believe it is called The Grove. My mind just explodes with fantastical ideas when I see it. I can so easily imagine a little pixie or faerie living among the tiny trees.
From the Bonsai Room, you walk out and can then visit the two rainforest rooms. Both have water displays containing enormous koi fish as well as a few turtles. At the end of one room, there is a large waterfall that you can walk behind through this stone tunnel. There's also a banana tree. When the world is cold and gray, the Conservatory is a place within the city you can go and be enveloped in a world of warmth and green. It's stepping into another world, like stepping into a safe jungle where you can explore without the worry of contracting malaria or getting eaten by a jaguar.
After you're done with the Conservatory tour, you can stop outside to see the nativity scene with real animals and life-sized wax figures. This nativity scene first appeared in Cincinnati in the late 1930s and was moved to the Krohn Conservatory in 1967. Regardless of your religious beliefs, it is a neat exhibit. I just like to stand outside the exhibit and "baaa" at the sheep.
If you've enjoyed my tour of Krohn Conservatory and live relatively close to Cincinnati, Ohio, I suggest that you go check it out! Make this a part of your family's holiday traditions. If you don't live close, but would like to see more, here's a video I did a few years ago to show off the Conservatory, which was included in Pray for Dawn.
Tonight, my mother's side of the family is gathering for their Christmas celebration. There will be food, gifts, games, and lots of laughter. My O.H. is cooking a cheesy potato casserole to take and I've been baking a little bit all week. The presents are mostly wrapped and I'm getting ready to start the self-beautification process.
To close for the week, let me leave you with a few links.
First, pay a visit to Literary Escapism. This post not only includes updates on many great authors, but it appears that Avon Books is running an awesome sale that you want to check out! I'll be picking up a few books myself.
Speaking of book deals, I heard from my editor today. She said that Voyager (my imprint publisher) is going to be running an e-book sale starting on Monday. Nighwalker will be included, selling for $0.99 until early February. I'll post more details soon!
Second, be sure to stop by Supernatural Underground everyday until Christmas as the authors there will be giving away lots of books! You don't want to miss out!
I will have to admit that I am a pretty easy-going person. I shrug off a lot of things and endeavor to keep things extremely light on my blog. There's no reason for the constant serious rants and lectures from me on the state of the publishing industry, readers, reviewers, or any such things that involve my line of work. However, there are times when you need to step back and take a serious look at the world around you.
During the past week, I've been reading a lot of other author blogs, encountering some excellent, informational posts that I would like to pass along to you. Agree or disagree, I'm just passing along some valuable information.
1. Piracy
This is just an ugly topic that leaves a bad taste in the mouth of every published author that has hit home with me too many times. I'm fully aware that my books are available on illegal download sites, making them available to the reader for free. I've sent lists to my publisher into to get cease and desist orders, and yet they still pop up. This is wrong, people! Both the posting of and the downloading of these books.
I think what hit me the hardest this week is a search that came up with my name in it. Someone had posted a question on the Internet asking where he/she can read my books for free.....
Maybe I'm over-reacting. Maybe this person simply needed to be reminded that they could go to practically any library and borrow my books for free and it's completely legal.
However, my gut tells me that since this person had posted the question on the Internet, he/she was not necessarily looking for directions to their local library, but a link to one of the illegal download site. This is wrong. If you're downloading books illegally, you're stealing income from the publisher and the author. You are risking potentially killing a series because not enough books have been sold despite its popularity on the illegal site. A publisher decided whether to keep or kill a series of books based on sales numbers. I may be at work, trying to create some art in the form of an escape for readers, but it's still a business in the end.
I understand when money is tight. I understand when you want to read some of your favorite authors, but there just isn't any money in your pocket. I've been there lots of times. Please, I beg you, please, go to your local library and borrow the book. You're supporting your favorite authors and the industry by doing that.
While a different topic, it goes down to the same thing -- honesty. I am aware that sometimes people will rate books on the various site based on a book's cover, the price, the release date, and sometimes even the appearance of the author -- things that have absolutely nothing to do what is actually on the pages. It happens and there is nothing that I can't do about it. I've come to accept that. My one concern is when books are rated when it is absolutely impossible for them to have been read.
What should be an impossibility is actually happening on Goodreads. Burn the Night was listed on this community before I had received the copyedits. Shortly afterward star rankings appeared on the book. At that point, only myself and my editor had read the book -- no one else. I don't spend much time on this site, but be forewarned when you look at the rankings of these books as they might be artificially inflated or deflated.
3. (For authors and aspiring authors) e-books are killing the publishing industry?
It's no secret that e-books have grown in popularity recently-- particularly following this Christmas season when everyone received new e-readers. People are afraid that it's going to mean the demise of the mass market paperback. I think that there was an amazing blog posting on Anna DeStefano that takes a look at the evolution of the publishing industry. I would definitely check it out.
Sorry to be so serious today, but I wanted to share some of my thoughts after watching blogs and twitter all week. I promise we will be back to our normal programing next week.
Part of that peace comes with settling in to enjoy a good book. There are still tons of great deals to be had on e-books. I stumbled across this link just the other day to Dear Author, where the writer lists a long collection of books that are one sale for $1-2. You can't miss out on something like that! I've already bought several books and I might check the list one last time.
