It's not Cheating! Also: I hate Pirates

Not really.

Not when you take time to think about it.

I mean, what's really the most damaging about a huge TBR pile? Okaaaay, it's big and takes up a lot of space. I can see the problem with that. Really, I can.

So I made a vow not to buy any books until the RWA Conference.

But - but just think about it. My vow really shouldn't count when it come to authors who I already know are good, because right after the RWA Conference and in the years to come their books are going to end up on my pile anyway. And besides - who knows when their books will go out of print! Then I'd never find them!

Really, my vow should only count towards books by authors I don't know - those are the ones that are totally killer to the TBR pile, because 1) I might end up hating them, or worse - 2) I might end up loving them only to discover they have a MASSIVE BACKLIST.

I mean, I shouldn't have to wait until July to pick up:


I mean, giving my severe Baloghaholism and my raving reviews of all these other authors, it's only inevitable they would end up the TBR anyway, right?

Right? I mean, and since these authors all have backlists, and all of the other TOTALLY ACCEPTABLE TIMES FOR BUYING LOADS OF BOOKS I've done over the last year, it's really just good planning to go out and buy an iRewards membership, right? RIGHT??

So yeah, just reiterating that my no-book-buying vow only concerns books by authors I haven't tried yet.

So Kate Noble, Jennifer Ashley, etc. will just have to wait until RWA Nationals. Doesn't that make the most sense?

ALSO, I felt I should bring this up, given the recent posts giving by Happily Forever After and Ramblings on Romance regarding the DESPICABLE, INEXCUSABLE, DOWNRIGHT SCUMMY book pirating (the unsexy, scurvy-ridden, rape-happy kind of pirating, not the virtuous, smooth-chested sexy Johnny Depp pirating) of romances, that

I.

PAID.

FULL.

PRICE.

FOR.

EACH.

AND.

EVERY.

NOVEL.

WHY? Because I truly adore these authors' writing and I know that most authors make diddly and I know that they deserve every penny because they work hard over months and years to make a book I thoroughly enjoy for a week.

If you download books illegally, don't bullshit yourself by thinking you're sticking it to the Fat Cats because most authors MAKING FUCKING BEANS.

If you pirate romance novels, don't bullshit society by saying "books should be free for everybody (oh, and Hugs and Kisses End Wars)" - how would you fucking feel if your employers just stopped paying you because they felt the service you provide in YOUR job isn't worth any money?

If you rip off novels from filesharing sites, don't bullshit me by saying you're strapped for cash. There's a little thing called a USED BOOK STORE, or a LIBRARY BOOK SALE, or, for fuck's sake, there are magical things called LIBRARIES WHERE YOU CAN GET YOUR BOOKS FOR FREE WHILE THE AUTHOR GETS PAID SO EVERYONE WINS.

If you take books from the internet WITHOUT PAYING FOR THEM, you're not only a THIEF, you are a LAZY, CHEAPSKATE THIEF who thinks $12 a YEAR for a library card is TOO DAMN MUCH.

There endeth the rant.