Juno News

07.06.09

IN THIS ISSUE:

THE CURE
BOOKS: VICIOUS CIRCLE by Linda Robertson
CONTEST...ALMOST
EBOOKS
TWEETS & FACING
SUBMISSIONS
QUOTATION

THE CURE

VICIOUS CIRCLE by Linda Robertson is now out from Pocket/Juno. Although some elements of the novel -- girl meets werewolf, girl meets vampire, girl gains supernatural power, etc. -- conform to what is "expected" from this type of urban fantasy, you'll find it, well, not exactly like your already-read-that...yawn UF novel.

So if you are getting *urban fantasy fatigue* -- a syndrome in which the reader's eyes glaze over at yet another book that is pretty much the same as the last book read -- VICIOUS CIRCLE might cure you.

Of course, you may already have "taken the cure" with AMAZON INK by Lori Devoti, our first Pocket/Juno release (of which one reviewer said: "I wasn't going to read AMAZON INK because I thought..." then concluded: "Boy was I wrong.")

Comments from reviewers and readers of these (and previous Juno UF titles) usually include words like "refreshing," "imaginative," "unique," "original," "unusual twists"...

Beginning to get the idea? Yes, we are here to entertain you, but we are not sticking precisely to an established formula or cutting our cookies with the same now-old-hat cutter. As Laura Miller recently wrote on Salon.com (http://tiny.cc/UEUyC): "Urban fantasy has its own conventions -- it is a genre, after all -- and like any convention they can be employed mechanically or lose their luster with overuse."

Juno titles are not about adhering robotically to those conventions nor are our authors in the habit of recycling to the point of dullness. We don't even completely fit into Miller's definition: "a cross of fairy tale, noir and classic coming-of-age narrative." As definitions of this genre go, Miller's is not bad, but not all Juno heroines are coming-of-age. Some are, but not all. They may be discovering themselves, but that's not quite the same as wrestling with one's "muddled post-collegiate years."

Genres arise because readers create them. They die if they do not constantly grow and find new ways to express core ideas while continuing to entertain the current readers and attracting new ones.

We aren't into, like, genre death. Okay?

BOOKS: VICIOUS CIRCLE by Linda Robertson

Want to know more? Try the Web page: http://juno-books.com/vicious-circle.html

You'll find a link to an interview with the author, an excerpt to download, reviews, links to the author's Web site and blog...and more!

And here's a super secret tiny peek that's not online elsewhere:

From VICIOUS CIRCLE:

I grabbed more bags from the trunk. In the garage, Ares was in his cage barking like mad. "Just a minute, boy," I said. "I'll let you out in a second." I headed for the light falling from the open door. Johnny slipped past me to get the remaining bags and I sat the ones I brought in on the table beside the others. I put my coat on the back of a chair and began sorting through the bags. "Nana! Beverley! We're back."

Overhead, the floor creaked.

I found the milk and carried it to the refrigerator. But what I saw when I opened the door made the gallon jug slip from my grasp. Fear stilled me rigid, unable to move. A scream clawed at my throat like a caged animal desperate for freedom, but my throat had closed. My mind grappled for understanding.

As soon as I fully recognized what I was looking at, my throat opened. Air sucked into my waiting lungs and I screamed....

CONTEST...ALMOST

We're going to run a contest this month, but since I'm going to be at Readercon this Thursday through most of Monday, I didn't want to start it until I got back. I'll send out a short "newsette" message when it is up and running.

The prizes? We want you to buy our books, so we'll give away someone else's :-)

EBOOKS

Each Juno title should be available from wherever you buy ebooks as soon as the print edition is released - including on Amazon in Kindle format.

Simon & Schuster has also e-republished the earlier books PERSONAL DEMONS, DANCING WITH WEREWOLVES, and BRIMSTONE KISS. Since MATTERS OF THE BLOOD and BLOOD BARGAIN are being re-released as "new" books this fall, their e-versions will reappear then, too.

SUBMISSIONS

If you submitted before April 15, you should have received a reply of some type by now. Although most everything between then and June 30 has been read, you may or may not have gotten a reply yet. Hint for this month: We do not publish paranormal romance. We understand there are books that can be "fantasy" just as easily as they can be "romance." But if your novel is primarily about a guy and a gal and their relationship, we aren't the publisher for you. And in case you missed them, there were hints June 21 on the blog.

QUOTATION

"Many persons read and like fiction. It does not tax the intelligence and the intelligence of most of us can so ill afford taxation that we rightly welcome any reading matter which avoids this." -- Rose Macaulay, English writer (1881 - 1958)