Enduring Romance Renovation

There are two things all successful homemakers learn, whether they are male or female or work inside or outside the home.

The first thing is the Art of Delegation. As a family grows, a homemaker learns to delegate tasks as she realizes she cannot possibly do it all and still have time to sleep at least six hours at night. The other thing she learns is how to prioritize and then Do, Delegate, or Delete items from the Priority List.

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The time has come to utilyze these homemaking truths on Enduring Romance. I am on-line as an aspiring author. Reviewing novels is only a means to that end and I've always tried to keep it positive and upbeat. Through Enduring Romance, I've found some wonderful mentors, I've made contacts in the publishing business, and I've learned a whole heck of a lot about the needs and desires of authors and readers. I don't think of myself as a Book-Pimp, because pimps bring people together for one time with only money and no love lost between them. I am a Matchmaker, bringing lovers of books together for a lifetime. And I enjoy it very much. I certainly don't want to stop. The first law of evolution is 'Adapt or Die.'

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Besides the time-crunch, there's another downside to my being an aspiring author and a book reviewer. It's possible an agent or editor I query could read this blog, take offense, and reject my query letter on that basis. It's a tough call, because an agent might also read and think, "Hey, she's pretty good at promoting books!" I have the potentiality of being 'damned if I do and damned if I don't.' I looked to the immortal Captain Picard when he was placed on trial by the Q Continuum for the sins of humanity in the series premier of Star Trek The Next Generation. He said, "If we're going to be damned, let's be damned for who we really are."

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And so instead of deleting Enduring Romance, I'm adapting it.

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(1) My first adaptation has been to recruit co-moderators. I already have one on board, Robin. She's also known as Mystery Robin and you can learn more about her by popping over to http://mysteryrobin.blogspot.com/ As her username suggests, she loves mysteries. She also tells me she's into Young Adult lit these days. This coming Thursday she'll debut on Enduring Romance with GRAPE THIEF by Kristine L. Franklin. I will be sharing ARCs with her, requesting ARCs on her behalf, and she may be requesting ARCs of her own. You're free to offer them to her, as well. I'm sending ARTICHOKE'S HEART by Suzanne Supplee to her today, in fact.

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Robin will review books the *Third Thursday* of each month, while Lady Bronco will continue to review books on the *First Sunday* of each month.

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Meanwhile, I'll continue to review the novels of my mentor-type Blog Buddies and novels of Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Historical flavor.

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(2) Cyber-Launch Book Parties will continue to be for my mentor-type Blog Buddies only and they will be for *one day only* from now on. Lisa Shearin, Susan Grant, Gwyneth Bolton, and Linnea Sinclair are all releasing new novels in April, May, and July respectively. Michelle Moran's new novel will be out in autumn sometime and I don't think Patricia Wood has a new one out this year. So, we'll party, but it will be scaled back by a half.

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3) Tuesdays will be News Day. Instead of posting newsworth items about authors and their books and such whenever I learn about it, I will save those items and post them on Tuesdays.

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4) This one's a toughie, because I love doing it. I'm not going to seek out Advanced Reader's Copies anymore. It eats up time. Instead, I'll rely on you to recommend or offer. Also, if you know of any newsworthy item, please let me know. Examples include fabulous new cover art, author winning the Rita, a new book deal, bookstores agreeing not to segregate African American authors anymore.

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I'll post a 'Book Suggestions Please' column when the need arises. The last one was a huge help. Thank you!

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That's it for now. I'll update you as new adaptations are made. Thank you for your patience and encouragement.

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Afternoon Edit-to-Add: Robyn from the Picnic at Stonehenge blog http://stonehengepicnic.blogspot.com has joined our review team. Welcome aboard! She'll be reviewing the 3rd Thursdays of each month, starting April 20th. She reads across all genres and I've already sent her GLORY GIRLS by Linda Bleser.