But won't someone think of the poor, innocent Australian booksellers...

...they came to Texas, looking to see the sites, talk shop, maybe meet some cover models,
but then they were shamelessly exposed to blogging of the worst sort!

I should be ashamed of myself, following this with such glee. I'm like a rubbernecker...

It was a busy week in romance blog-land, as many already know. But a brief recap for my two or three readers who don't regularly read romance related blogs, or those folks who came by looking for shirtless pictures of Taylor Kitsch: KarenS reviewed a book and really didn't like it. Conversation ensued, then turned to whether or not the quality at EC is deteriorating. Opinions were strong, for sure. Then Kathryn Falk, the head of High Romantic Times, waded into the fray with a very long and largely nonsensical rant against bloggers in general, and accusing KarenS, specifically, of driving someone to contemplate suicide. Plus there was new-ageyness. It was pretty jaw dropping, especially when it turned out that it was really her, and not a joke, as most thought. No further response ensued, and I thought it had faded away, but then I read that Ms. Falk had an interesting phone conversation with Smart Bitch Sarah. Hee, this shit is crazy! Now I'm sure that Kathryn Falk could care less what anyone thinks (I think that's pretty obvious), but they should really consider not letting her speak in a public forum. It is kinda nice though, that you can be so successful in the media field with such a tenuous grasp on clear communication. And reality. It gives me hope for my future.

Plenty has been said about this all over, and I'm not a really a reader of Romantic Times, nor do I plan to start, as I don't feel that comfortable with their policies as regards gay romance, but I've just got one thing to say. The thing that really bothered me was the accusation involving suicide, which is nothing to bandy about lightly. As her comment was in response to a review, my first thought was that the author was contemplating suicide! After reading through all the discussion, I think that the comment actually referred to an EC staffer. But either way, to write such a thing lacked class, and I hope that Carol Lynne sells lots of books off of this, because it ain't right that things got so crazy and that she may have gotten tarred with the crazy brush. She has remained quite sanely and professionally silent. And now, I think I can move on.