If you haven’t heard yet, Harlequin has announced two new business ventures that haven’t really been to well received.  For those like me who really didn’t get it at first, Jackie Kessler has a great article explaining why Harlequin Horizons is going to be an epic fail for Harlequin.  Well, the fact that the RWA has booted their privileges should give you an idea of how controversial this is going to be.  For more informed opinions, here are a few others talking about this as well: (ETA: I’m adding articles as I find them)

• Harlequin Horizons – Harlequin and Author Solutions Announce Publishing Partnership
• Ereads – Mystery Writers of America Steps into Harlequin Fray with Threat of Sanctions
• Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America – SFWA Statement on Harlequin’s self-publishing imprint
• Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America – Harlequin Horizons: Another Major Publisher Adds A Self-Publishing Division
• Smart Bitches, Trashy Books – Harlequin Horizons: Want to Self Publish? How about Harlequin?
• Dear Author – Malle Vallik, Harlequin’s Digital Director, Answers Questions on Harlequin Horizons
• Ann Aguirre – Unreasonable Expectations
• Ann Aguirre – RWA has Stones! (reposting the RWA’s response to Harlequin Horizons)
• The New Yorker – Harlequin Hacks
• Jeaniene Frost – Even Horizaon
• The Galaxy Express – Harlequin Horizons: Redefining The Published Author or Damaging The Brand?
• Shiloh Walker – Here’s Why I Care
• Pub Rants – Harlequin News Flash

A.  Who knew there was a new Sherlock Holmes movie coming out?  B.  It has Robert Downey Jr in it.  C.  Can’t wait to see it.  That’s all.

For the Science Fiction enthusiasts out there, io9 has a great list of upcoming SciFi novels coming out in 2010.

Tonight is the night for those hardcore fans of New Moon.  For those, like me, who are not going to the midnight showing, check out Jennsylvania where there is a pretty good summery of New Moon, complete with action figures.

Interviews:

• Evy Stone, heroine of Kelly Meding’s Three Days to Dead, by Cat & Muse (Jackie Kessler)
• Meredith Woerner, author of Vampire Taxonomy: Identifying and Interacting with the Modern-Day Bloodsucker, by Bitten by Books
• The Women of Stargate Universe by Amanda Tapping – Part One and Part Two and Part Three

Did you know there was a prize out there for the worst sex scene in fiction?  The Guardian has a few passages from ones being considered for the Literary Review’s 2009 bad sex in fiction prize.  I haven’t gone through a lot of them yet, but from the buzz on Twitter, they are pretty bad.

Maybe I’ve been a bit out of touched, because I didn’t realize Rick Riodran’s The Lightning Thief was being made into a movie.  io9 has a brief clip with Uma Thurman as Medusa from the movie. The Lightning Thief will hit theaters Feb. 12 2010.  This looks pretty good.

I think I’ve found another challenge I’m going to do in 2010.  It’s fairly easy and straight forward – read all of the Anita Blake novels by Laurell K. Hamilton.  There’s 19 novels (counting the two being released next year) and that’s not really that many if you think about it.  I’ve gone back through and re-read a few of them from time to time, but I haven’t gone back through and re-read the entire series in order yet.  I think I’m going to.  For those who haven’t finished the series, then why not join the Anita Blake Challenge with me?

Quick LE News: I’m going to start offering author posts on Thursday as well.  Hopefully tonight, but probably more realistically over the next couple of days, I’m going to start contacting a few of the smaller and digital publishers and requesting if any of their authors would be interesting in stopping by.  If any authors reading this now would like one of the open slots, email me (myjaxon at gmail).  Here’s the current calendar and all of the Tuesdays between now and February are booked, but I’m just now starting to do Thursdays, so there are a lot of those dates open.

Contests:
There are a ton of places giving away copies of Lauren Kate’s Fallen – Reading Cause I’m Addicted (Dec. 1st); A Passion for Books (Nov. 29th); and Ellz Readz – five copies (Dec 4th).

The Book Smugglers are giving away a copy of ML Hanover’s Darker Angels.  Contest ends Nov 21st.