First of all I would like to thank all the bloggers who support my site and continue to do so every day. It is gratifying to know that so many of you find the content useful and entertaining and we hope you will continue to log on. The numbers detailed at the end of this post show that there were almost 5 million hits on the site since July 19 which is not even 4 months.

As promised, here’s an update on what Christian and I have done re your comments last week on areas where you saw the need for change/improvement on the site. We have resolved 90% of your requests and I’m enclosing  a report on what we have achieved to date.

( Read more... ) 1. Relocate” Welcome” – Welcome  has been moved to the top of the site under Visitors on the left hand sidebar

2. As requested, we have increased the number of posts on the front page from 10 to 15 – a 50% increase. (Let’s hope this doesn’t slow down loading times)

3. We have moved the Tag Cloud which was on the front page, to eliminate some of the “clutter”

4. Combine Authors’ Sites and Authors’ Blogs on the site – Done

5. Remove Storm who everyone hated and replace her with Hugh Jackman – Done *g*

6. Do a FAQ on the site – This is underway (Tam is doing this)

7. Comments Feature – This is one area that will take a little more time to resolve but Christian has made a few changes and he’s looking into a permanent solution. If you know of a site that has a great “Comment” feature please provide the information on this post.

8. One continuing issue that we seem to have is the “cut” on posts for feeds such as RSS and Livejournal that many bloggers use to read posts for different websites and blogs. Originally I set up the feed so that the entire post would be visible. Last week it was suggested that I only show 3 lines of each feed since some bloggers found the pictures on the site not work safe, especially on Fridays. Well I made the change and this resulted in requests to go back to the original setting where the complete post is visible.

This is a very difficult decision for me because no matter what I do I won’t please everyone. However, since bloggers who access the site through their feed readers have the ability to check the posts at times during the day when it’s more convenient and not visible to everyone in their workplace, I have decided to revert to the original setting. This is less inconvenient than having to constantly go out of the feed reader to read the entire post and comment.

9. For the other outstanding stuff I would like to ask you to bear with us as the site is experiencing incredible growth since it was set up. Our usage statistics are unbelievable for such a small site and to give you an idea, here’s the usage chart from Fat.Cow the company that hosts the site. Since we moved here in the middle of July the number of hits each month has increased tremendously:

July 19 to the end of the month 202,973 hits
August 523,000 hits
September 1,290,460 hits
October 1,987,307 hits
November (to date) 586,000 hits

(click on the picture to see a larger version)

Almost 5M hits in less than 4 months! Thanks everyone and I look forward to seeing you on the site.

After giving up his dreams of art school to take care of his family, Zach (Trevor Wright), finds himself caught in an endless cycle of having to look out for everyone but himself. He works dead-end jobs to help support his flaky and irresponsible sister Jeanne (Tina Holmes) and her young son Cody, and takes care of the boy while Jeanne routinely puts her needs before her child’s. Zach and his friend/girlfriend Tori have an on-again/off-again relationship, mostly off, as Zach struggles with his feelings for her. And his best friend Gabe left Zach behind to go off to college, as did most of Zach’s other friends, intensifying his feelings of isolation. In his free time he tries to find solace in surfing, drawing, and doing street art in the form of tagging.

When Gabe’s older brother Shaun (Brad Rowe) returns home to recover from a broken love affair and try to get past a case of writer’s block while he works on his next novel, he is captivated by Zach. The two have known each other for years–Shaun taught Zach and Gabe, who were much younger, to surf–but he’s been away for a long time and is struck by how the kid he knew only as his brother’s best friend has grown into such a selfless and talented young man.

The rest of the review can be found here

This past week we had a lot of fun with the covers nominated for the 3rd Ugly Covers competition – many of them were horrible and your comments reflected amazement that they were published. The question most frequently asked was ” What were they thinking”?

As some of you know, I get very exercised about cover art (probably the only exercise I get):) because I believe it is an essential part of the marketing process in selling a book. Much has been written elsewhere about book covers and we poke fun on the site at cover art and a few publishers which one anonymous reviewer said “are almost re-defining the concept of deliberate hideousness!” You will probably guess which publisher(s) she meant since you  have seen many of their covers in the Ugly Covers competitions. It boggles my mind that some publishers release books with covers that, quite frankly, give new meaning to the word tasteless. One book cover that has been discussed on the site many times this past week is The Price of Temptation. I really don’t know what the publisher had in mind when this cover was published but it sure garnered lots of attention, which might have been the original intent.  

Very few, if any, authors influence the selection of their book covers which is a pity, because covers seem to impact (positively or negatively) on book sales, and the authors are dependent on the income. Decisions re book covers are made by the Creative Directors, the marketing departments of individual publishers and, I suppose, the ultimate accountability rests with the publishers.

(for the rest of this post please go here)

Many of you have written me since the list of Readers’ Favourite Gay Books was posted, asking for a recommended reading list every month, based on reviews on the site. So here’s what I’ll do – I’m posting a list of books that were given 5 stars  in September and August. Every subsequent month I will post the list of 5 star reviews to remind you of those books that the reviewers thought highly of. Perhaps you will check out some of these books when next you’re considering your M/M purchases.

Recommended Reading  - October 2009

Love & Loyalty by Tere Michael (Wave) Loose Id
Collected Novellas Volume I by Josh Lanyon (Aunt Lynn) MLR Press
Collected Novellas Volume II by Josh Lanyon (Aunt Lynn) MLR Press
Maloney’s Law by Anne Brooke (Jenre) PD Publishing
The 38 Million Dollar Smile by Richard Stevenson (Aunt Lynn) MLR Press
Captain’s Surrender by Alex Beecroft (Wave) Samhain Publishing
Glad Hands by Naomi Brooks & Angelia Sparrow (Val) Ellora’s Cave
Lessons in Power by Charlie Cochrane (Aunt Lynn) Samhain Publishing

Recommended Reading - September, 2009

Out of the Blue by Josh Lanyon (Wave) Liquid Silver Books
PsyCop Property by Jordan Castillo Price (Wave) JCP Books
Faith & Fidelity by Tere Michaels (Wave) Loose Id
PsyCop Partners by Jordan Castillo Price (Wave) JCP Books
Deadly Slumber by Victor J. Banis (Aunt Lynn) MLR Press
Lessons in Discovery by Charlie Cochrane (Aunt Lynn) Samhain Publishing
Camp Hell by Jordan Castillo Price (Jenre) JCP Books
Heaven Sent – Hell by Jet Mykles (Wave) Loose Id
Transgressions by Erastes (Jenre) Running Press
Heaven Sent – Purgatory by Jet Mykles (Wave) Loose Id

I have also included a few “special mentions” which are books that were rated at 4.75 stars on the site and here they are -

The Rest of our Lives by Dan Stone (Leslie) Lethe Press
A Roof for the Rain by Katrina Strauss (Val) Red Rose Publishing
The Lincoln County Wars by Sarah Black (Val) Loose Id
Ghost Star Night by Nicole Kimberling (Jenre) Samhain Publishing
Because of the Brave (anthology) by Laura Baumbach, Josh Lanyon, Z.A. Maxfield (Wave) Aspen Mountain Press
Wranglers Discovery by Vivien Dean (Aunt Lynn) Amber Allure

Hey! Get your minds out of the gutter. I’m not talking about long ones of those. Although, that’s not a bad subject for another post. I’ve certainly come across my share of monstrous…er… parts in the M/M genre and wondered. But no, I’m not going there. At least not today.

Today I’m talking about long books (though I’m not averse to offering you a little eye candy while I do–heart-covered boxers on a hunky reader guy, yum!). You know, the big, thick ones (books, people…books!!) that you know’ll take you days, or if you’re a compulsively addicted reader like I am and can’t put down a good book once it’s started, long hours to read and savor. I’ve always liked long books myself, even as a kid. To me they’ve always offered the possibility of juicy and complex plots and characters, and the chance to really lose myself in another world.

 Thanks to all of you readers and authors who recommended 130+ of your favourite gay books. Many I knew and some of them I had never heard of, which is what makes this such an exciting list. As I said in the earlier post, this is not a Top 100 or a Top 200 list, it’s a list of favourite M/M romances and gay literature from you, supplemented by many of my favourites, as well as books that have been included as a result of exhaustive searches of booksellers’ sites to identify those that you would consider as keepers.

Many of the books on the list have withstood the test of time and have been around as readers’ favourites for 25 or more years (The Catch Trap by Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren, The Charioteer by Mary Renault are excellent examples) and more recent favourites such as the PsyCop series by Jordan Castillo Price, the Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon, The Tin Star by J.L. Langley, The Draegan Lords by M.L. Rhodes, to name a few.

With us today on the website is Treva Harte, award winning multi published author, Editor-in-Chief and part owner of Loose-Id. Treva is taking time out from her very busy schedule to spend an hour or two with us and give us an opportunity to get to know her a little better.

*******************

Hi Treva and welcome back. Thank you for agreeing to this interview. I’m sure you must be wondering what we’re going to talk about since this site only reviews Male/Male romances and you write het romances, contemporary romances and paranormal stories many of which are menages. First, let’s tell the readers something about you. This is Treva’s official bio -

Treva Harte is the Editor-in-Chief of Loose Id and is a founding member of the company. From 1988 to 2008 she was a Trademark Examining Attorney for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Ms. Harte holds a B.A. in English Literature with High Honors from the University of Arizona and an M.A. and J.D. from the University of Virginia. She is a member of both the Virginia and District of Columbia Bar Associations, the Romance Writers of America, Washington Romance Writers, and EPIC.

 Here’s a more fun bio

Treva Harte has always been an overachiever. She also collects things. First it was degrees. First a B.A. in English, then she decided to go back for a Master’s degree. Not content with that, she added a J.D.. Since then she’s added a husband, also an attorney, and two children to her collection. She’s continuing her ways as an overachiever, having quit the attorney gig (too easy) and started a publishing company, while writing her wonderfully offbeat tales of passion and possibilities — in her spare time.

Recently I read an M/M book that led me to comment in my review about what I perceived as a very negative portrayal of the female characters. Both the story and the protagonists were well done and I quite enjoyed the book except for this one black eye. To my surprise a few bloggers defended the portrayals in the book and indicated that these were true to life depictions of the women in this case.

Shortly after, Sean Kennedy commented on the same post and  expressed somewhat similar views to mine (quelle surprise):) and then the lovely and delightful Jenre came along  to add her two cents worth. Obviously neither was busy on that day – how else would they have had the time to visit? *g* So I asked them if we could do a joint post about this topic and they agreed, which is why you have the pleasure today of reading what we really think about the characterizations of women in M/M books, and whether there is even a need for them in a gay man’s world. I invite your comments and look forward to a lively, spirited debate on this very touchy subject.

(The rest of this post can be found here because it's too long to post on Livejournal.)

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