Julia Barrett's World

Hubby is sick of hearing about it, but as I explained to him, choreography is critical! To quote the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz…These things must be done delicately…Every body part must be in the right place at the right time and it must belong to the right person. I have to admit, living in so many heads at once has been a fascinating experience! Anyway - sent it off to my publisher last night - fingers crossed! We shall see! To celebrate, I’m getting waxed and a facial. Nazi esthetician will beat the crap out of me but it will hurt sooooo good!

For a hilarious read, head over to Katiebabs at Babbling About Books - all about the Black Dagger Brotherhood - animation at it’s finest!!! http://kbgbabbles.blogspot.com/ She had me spitting out my coffee this morning!

Happy Earth Day for all us hippies, old and young! I’m heading out for a hike and I swear to pick up any trash I encounter - always do anyway!

The young entrepeneurs over at Project Bacon put up a sweet tribute to mom for Mother’s Day: http://projectbacon.wordpress.com/ Plus the muffins look yummy with or without the bacon.

So, I’m taking a break from writing for a few days to get my Review page up and I’m going to post a linkity-link to my new nonfiction book which releases TODAY!!! Then it’s on to futuristic sci fi and the sequel to Captured.

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I read a lot, IRL and around the blogosphere and I’ve decided my free-form blog needs a catchphrase.

You know, like, D’oh!

But since my brain is one big free-form, stream of consciousness, blurt-o-thon I don’t know what sort of catchphrase I’d assign myself. Maybe catchphrase isn’t the right word, maybe what I need is an overall tone, you know like Karen Knows Best is snarky, Mandi at Smexy Books is open minded and sweet and seeks the positive, Katiebabs is sensitive, emotional and wears her heart on her sleeve, Dirty Sexy Books presents a logical progression of ideas, Stumbling Over Chaos is…well, stumbling over chaos. Some of my author friends write the sexiest stuff on their blogs - I wish I was more like them - I’m so envious of their way with words - in a good, non-hating and rather loving and supportive kind of way.

What to do? I’m a fly by the seat of my pants kind of woman, an anarchist, don’t do well with rules and regulations and if someone tells me I can’t do something, well then, I must do it. You know, like sticking my tongue on a lamp post in sub-zero weather and running with sharp sticks.

Here’s what I know - Katiebabs recently wrote a sad, significant and thoughtful post on bullying - very topical. Check it out. http://kbgbabbles.blogspot.com/2010/04/when-bullying-kills.html

Rebecca at Dirty Sexy Books is really, really smart and savvy - and insightful and I totally envy her sense of organization. http://www.dirtysexybooks.com/Dirty_Sexy_Books/Home/Home.html

Chris, at Stumbling Over Chaos is supportive as hell, generous with her time and her site, and she loves animals. http://www.stumblingoverchaos.com/

From what I’ve observed, Mandi, at Smexy Books, pays attention and has a kind heart. http://www.smexybooks.com/

Karen, at Karen Knows Best, scares the shit out of me and I’d love to interview her. http://karenknowsbest.com/

Here’s what’s new - I’m meeting with fellow author Donna George Storey, who by the way also writes a killer blog (see below), to go on a foodie tour of the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer’s Market! Yay! Yummo! We’re also gonna go to this cool bakery to buy French macaroons - we share a passionate love of French macaroons, among other things. It is so amazing to meet with an author face to face after you’ve spoken with her on line. I was lucky enough to meet Anny Cook on a trip to the East Coast last October and we had a great time together.

http://www.donnageorgestorey.com/

Book World: I will finish up my first menage/multiple this week - draft one, at least. The challenge has been…challenging, but I think the story is good and the sex scenes are well-choreographed. I won’t tell you the title because you’ll laugh out loud.

Reading: Willie Mays * The Life, The Legend, by James S. Hirsch.

***A must read blog - I found it thanks to Donna George Storey. http://nakedi.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/when-i-was-twenty-five-it-was-a-very-bad-year/

Tomorrow - either my foodie tour and Donna or my E kit in case of a natural and/or man-made disaster! Oh yeah, taking Rebecca’s advice and as soon as I get this first draft done, I’m posting reviews on my freshly added review page!

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Katiebabs over at Babbling About Books gave me a nice review for Captured. Thanks, Katiebabs! Here’s a partial quote:

Julia Rachel Barrett really takes some chances with Captured, her science fiction romance. Mainly, because Mari is thought of as food. Her eventual love interest, Ekkatt even thinks of her like that at first, as well as the belief she’s a mindless animal. This is a major hurdle, but because Mari is a strong, smart and quick thinking, she’s able to save her life and change Ekkatt’s opinion, who comes to many new conclusions because of the way Mari is able to stand up for herself.

It took me a while for Ekkatt to grow on me because he is the type who goes along with the status quo. As soon as Mari gets under his skin, that’s when he really makes an impression. He is a bit innocent in his thinking as he tries to understand Mari. He has always assumed things were one way. It takes the redheaded Mari to open his eyes. Ekkatt then must grapple with breaking the rules he lives by, as well as his growing feelings for a creature that goes against everything he’s been taught. Once he’s willing to embrace these feelings, his love for Mari is wonderful. Mari introduces him to new ways of loving such as mouth kissing and using her mouth to pleasure other body parts Ekkatt was never aware of before. These scenes smolder in their intensity.

Ekkatt and Mari’s quest for a Utopian society becomes a very important part of Captured and one that you hope they both find before a certain enemy comes upon them and destroys their new found happiness.

Captured has an almost erotic feel to it, and Ekkatt and Mari’s love for one another is very believable and emotional. Julia has written a nice sold romance.

Check it out for yourself - she also gives a nice review to Stephanie Julian and Kiss of Midnight.

http://kbgbabbles.blogspot.com/2010/01/book-reviews-kiss-of-moonlight-and.html

I’m also interviewed today over at Love, Romances and More:

http://loveromancesandmore.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-to-julia-rachel-barretts-guest.html

Check it out - I love your comments!

Announcement: Just received a call that Captured is a finalist in the Gotcha ! Contest. Wow. Check it out!

http://www.svrwa.com/gotcha

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and no, it ain’t mine!

katiebabs at Babbling About Books has posted the most marvelous, the most useful blog: http://kbgbabbles.blogspot.com/

Check out her post from 12/30/09. The sites she recommends are to die for!

In the meantime, I’m sweating over edits - in a good way! Just finished up final edits for Captured - yay January 6th! And I will now tackle the second edits for the re-release of My Everything with Cobblestone Press.

Then it’s on to my nonfiction - which shall remain nameless for the time being.

***The top emailed article on NPR for 12/30/09 talks about how ebooks will change reading and writing. Check it out!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122026529&sc=emaf

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Babbling About Books and other blogs

http://kbgbabbles.blogspot.com/

ran a very interesting post about the end of Kirkus. She asks some very significant questions - “So, this brings up an interesting point. Does this mean the book review blogs and websites are gaining power? And if so, who will hold all the power, the go to people that readers, publishers and authors go to for great reviews and publishing industry information?”

To quote the LA Times regarding Kirkus - “It was purportedly read by every Hollywood exec — or more likely their underlings - looking for literary properties,” writes Nick Kaufman at LiveJournal. He adds that its reviewers were “impossible to please. . . . If your book got a good review from Kirkus, that really meant something.” Boris Kachka at New York Magazine calls Kirkus “the Pepsi to Publishers Weekly’s Coke when it comes to prepub press.”

Apparently, the announcement came and went with barely a murmur of protest. Hmm. As an author, how do I feel about this event? A little conflicted. To be honest, I never really paid much attention to Kirkus, however, I do know that reviewers will be out of a job and big publishing houses and their authors will miss a premier review site. Of course, there’s still the NY Times and their best seller list and review section. But I surmise that the NY Times may not exist for all that much longer.

The printed word is sublime. There is nothing that moves me quite as much as the feel of a book in my hands. I would miss the heft of a book, the weight, the smell of new ink. A virgin book whose pages haven’t been spread until I spread them - these are things I will miss if the printed word becomes a rarity.

I’ve never been one to buy what the reviewers tell me to buy, in fact, when I’ve followed their advice, I’ve very often been disappointed. When I buy a book, it’s because I’ve held it, turned it over and over, perused the front blurb, the back blurb, the author’s bio and skimmed a few pages. In other words, I’ve grokked it.

Will I miss Kirkus? Or the NY Times book section? Probably not. Sorry. But would I miss books? Oh. Hell. Yes. So to answer the question: Who will hold the power? I suspect there will continue to be a proliferation of online review sites and the best and the brightest will survive. Bob Dylan is as apropos today as he was forty years ago. The times they are a-changin’.

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