>Good morning,
The last few days have been difficult for me.  I can’t discuss it here, but I’d appreciate any of your prayers and good thoughts for peace for my kids and myself.  Thank you for being out there in cyberspace, lending a friendly ear to my thoughts.  I appreciate you so much.

Now for the reason I popped in.  The net and group loops are all a buzz with the news of Harlequin’s expansion.  It started with the all e-press Carina.  I thought well of this move, thinking HQ would recognize e-published authors as equals in the grand scheme of things.   When you start trying to get published, most everyone wants to shoot for print.  I mean what author doesn’t want to hold an actual book they created in their hands?  I did that, and submitted to HQ first.  Of course, it was a big rejection for me.  I was new, untried, and the writing wasn’t as solid as it needed to be, so I learned.  That book was EARTH ENCHANTED (a now much improved version) and will be released in December from Lyrical Press, Inc.  I’m glad I chose to e-publish.  I enjoy the flexibility of online communication and I love working with Frank, Renee and my editor Piper over at Lyrical.  Wendi, the mastermind of Red Rose Publishing, is truly awesome to work with too.  And…I got off the subject.  The buzz surrounds HQ’s Horizons, a vanity press.  What???  A VANITY press?  But I’ve been told time and again these are big NO NO’s in the publising world.  So why HQ?  What does this do to your authors’ reputations?  The publisher itself?  I don’t know what to think.  Now RWA considers them a non-eligible publisher.  Times are freaky, and getting more so by the day.  Like everyone else, this writer will be following the “drama” with the rest of the romance writing community.

Be blessed and Happy Thanksgiving,
Beth