Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

Thanks to Natasha for the heads up:

One of the last awesome, crazy-funky bookstores in my city only to find out that it is going out of business. Sadly, that is a tired old tune, but in this case perhaps the bitchery can benefit. In a desperate bid to keep the store open, the owner, (a delightful rambler in the way that only old scottish guys can be) is trying to GIVE the store away. Seriously, if all you have is sweat equity, he’ll take it.

The place is floor-to-ceiling full, nearing fire hazard scale and contains an absolute jewel of a romance section. I couldn’t even look through the whole thing properly because most of the shelves were blocked by additional boxes of books. I saw scads of decades-old harlequins/mills boon/etc. The potential cover snark material was dizzying.

The bookstore is called, (appropriately) Booklovers in North Vancouver. He says he got so much inventory by being the bookstore equivalent to a bottle return depot.

According to Natasha, the bookstore itself is for sale, and interested parties can talk to the current owner, who should be there all weekend moving inventory. So if you’re in Vancouver (and if you are I am so jealous) stop by and get yerself some books, matey. 

Thanks to Kari, who directed me to this article, we have news that the Indiana law that “required booksellers and others to pay a fee for selling ‘adult’ material” was overruled by a Federal judge. Sarah’s Succinct Legal Commentary: “Thank God and thank judges named Sarah.”

U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker ruled that the law “burdens First Amendment rights and is unconstitutionally vague and overly broad.”

I’ll give you a moment to celebrate before pointing your attention, as Kari directed, towards the comments, specifically one by “Phred” who lovingly states,

As someone else said, you didn’t need to be a Harvard Law grad to see the folly in this “law.” And by the way, if you want to read some really explicit stuff, check out some of the “romance” novels at your local Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library branch. They make the letters in Penthouse Forum seem tame!

I think it’s time I ran for Queen. And when I am Queen, it will be none of anyone else’s goddam business what I read, what’s in what I read, where I buy it or where I borrow it from. Same goes for you, Phred. And if you can’t tell the difference between Penthouse Forum and a romance, you need to avail yourself of that library some more, and stop reading so much of the Forum to begin with before you start passing judgment on what is and what isn’t explicit.

If you’re looking to tighten up your prose, or if you find that grammatical and structural lessons on the art of writing serve as fascinating leisure reading (I do, I do!) go check out Joanna Bourne’s growing series on the top 100 best of the worst writing mistakes.

So far there are four or five entries, but they reveal as much about the writer as they do about the craft and labor of writing itself. I find writing about writing, particularly examinations which pick apart structure to reveal meaning and vice versa, utterly addictive.  Well played, Ms. Bourne, well played.

Greetings to all our Canadian readers. Happy Canada Day! In honor of your great northern awesomeness, I present to you my favorite tshirt that makes me laugh so hard I choke.

Just kidding—Happy Canada Day! Yay Canada!

Anyone want to check out a documentary film premiere at the Cut Film Festival in San Diego next spring? Novice filmmakers Cindi Finneran and Charley Reeves are premiering their documentary Reading, Riting, and Romance: Taming the Alpha Male, which examines the Romantic Times convention through footage of the 2007 convention and interviews with the attendees.

The documentary came about when Sharon Sala, who works with Finneran, suggested they “team up and document [the] convention,” and off they went.

There’s a 4 minute teaser video on YouTube featuring Kathryn Falk, conference attendees, and several of the ‘07 Mr. Romance contestants:

I’m really curious about this documentary, and I’m of three minds about what the trailer seems to indicate.