Several Shades Better

You want to be like everybody else? Carry 50 Shades of Grey to the pool this summer. If you want to read a really good book - albeit one that might qualify for a chick-lit label - heft Diana Gabaldon's Outlander wherever you go. The author's storytelling skills guarantee a great deal of escape, and an equally well-written bit of smut only adds to the adventure.

Apparently, Outlander was a bit of escape for the author, who began writing it while she was a university professor. Degrees in zoology, marine biology, and ecology notwithstanding, Gabaldon managed to weave a tale that takes us on a time-travel jaunt from post-WWII England to the Scottish Highlands, circa 1743. Aye, and it's a bonny journey!

I highly recommend this book and won't spoil your enjoyment by going into plot details. In a nutshell, if you like adventure, romance, and botany, this is going to be one of your favorite books. If you'd like a well-crafted description of what a very strong female lead finds under an even stronger Scotsman's kilt, well, what are you waiting for? Go get Outlander. And read it quickly, without remorse -- there's a series of seven books waiting for you, with an eighth expected early in 2013. 

And you know all those silly typos and redundancies in Shades of Grey? You won't find 'em here. Enjoy!
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Better than #ShadesofGrey

Shades of Grey Blip or an Industry Boost?

In case you think "everyone" is reading 50 Shades of Grey, I'm not. (Yet! It's on my list.) But I know how you feel - I've been absolutely astonished by the number of my friends and the number of exuberant strangers I've heard from lately who have devoured the book. It's hot, however you want to interpret it - Ellen Degeneres is reading it on YouTube, a movie's reportedly in the works, and several public libraries have banned it.

(Not surprisingly, the title seems to have caused some spelling confusion, but that's a topic for my writing blog, not this one.)

Because I'm so interested in the machinations of the publishing industry, I have to wonder whether Shades of Grey is more than a blip. Will it amount to Harry Potter for a different demographic? After they've finished reading Shades of Grey (a time or two, wink, wink) will women of a certain age seek out other similarly absorbing titles?

I rather hope so.
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