Reading

[hudebnik]

My print copy of hrj's Floodtide finally arrived at the local indie bookstore yesterday (only six weeks after official publication date; apparently there were some problems at the printers). And I may have piqued the interest of the lady behind the counter and a customer who overheard me talking about the series, so there may be a few more orders coming.

The series is set in early 19th-century Europe, with magic. But "magic" means something very different to different people. In the first book it means ceremonies invoking Christian saints for divine aid; in the second book it means alchemy; in the third it means music; and in the fourth (whose main characters are on a lower socioeconomic rung than those in the previous books) it means folk charms.

And of course, many of the central characters in all the books are lesbian, but there are no sex scenes (so far) so I gather the books don't really fit into "lesbian fic". Being lesbian is just one more complication in the protagonists' already complicated lives as they try to make a living, find love, and stay out of trouble.

Comments

[hrj]

I checked in about delivery delays and evidently part of the problem is the decrease in the number of book distributors and changes in how the distributors order books "on spec". So pipelines are slower because no one wants to be left holding the bag with inventory. This apparently goes for the delays in Amazon hard-copy delivery too: Amazon isn't keeping book stock on hand, even in the case of pre-orders, for "minor" titles. And if they're getting their copies from the distributors rather than direct from the publisher, it all cascades. It's a dilemma because I'd much rather have people order through local bookstores when possible, since that creates the possibility of shelf presence.