HELLO Hello hello... *crickets*

moar humorous pics

Holy Mayhem, duckies! Valenduckie Week on The Good, the Bad, the Unread was INSANE!! And if you think the fun was fast and furious ON the blog, you should have seen what was happening "backstage". Yeah, yeah, I suppose it would be less chaotic if we had it all planned out and the posts ready to go ahead of time, but really, what would be the fun in that?! We've still got more posts to do for all the winners of the Guest Cupid contests, but we're getting there slowly but surely.

Downside was that, since I went straight from end of month/ end of fiscal year work crunch straight into Valenduckie week, it meant I had no time to visit anyone else's blogs so I have no clue what's happening around Romancelandia. Worst part is I've had no time to *gasp* READ BOOKS. I can feel the need, almost like a physical craving, certainly an emotional craving, to lose myself for awhile in a stack o' books. But looking at the calender, I realize it's almost time for end of month work again. ::is depressed::

However, I DID make a point of getting to Borders because I had coupons for 30% off, 25% off, 20% off, AND a $15 rewards coupon, PLUS they were running that "Buy 4, get 5th free" Romance book sale. SCORE!! No way was I letting all those expire!

Thanks to Kris, I went looking for Mathilde Madden's The Silver Crown at Borders and WOOT! They had it! Well sorta. They had The Silver Collar, so I looked at their computer and it said they SHOULD have The Silver Crown. So over to the help desk I went and they verified that they should have 4 copies. Turns out they did, but they were BEHIND other books on an entirely different shelf! WTF? The helpful Borders boy said they can only have so many copies of a book out at one time. HELLOOOOO, you had NO copies out and no space to put them! So, words of wisdom-- never leave Borders empty-handed without first making the help desk... you know... HELP! And I've told you before how my Borders shelves hardcovers and trade size on shelves that aren't even in the Romance section, right? If you look at sales figures for the Romance genre, I feel safe in saying that Romance readers are keeping their doors open, so you would think we might be given a little more attention and consideration. And don't get me started on the mess that is their audio book section. I've seen kindergarteners shelve their toys better than that!

So why do I continue to go there? Because, as much as I prefer my Waldens, it is inside the mall and sometimes I just don't have time to park and walk, whereas Borders is in a stand alone building with front door parking. Waldens is also smaller and I end up spending a good deal of time waiting while my OMG-I-luvs them Waldens peeps climb ladders in search of the books on my list. Hands down, Waldens is better for browsing and discovering new books though, because the books aren't all jammed tight in the shelves- they display new books up front and often the newest book for an author is displayed on the shelf cover out. Plus, they know me at Waldens. They suggest books to me, and often ask ME for suggestions or if I know when an author's next book is due out.

Ah well, time to take Monkey-Butt to the orthodontist. Three out of four demon spawn with braces. Two of them have them right now. When the last one is done, that will be more than $17k we've shelled out to this guy. *sigh*