Authors as franchise

The Ludlum Conundrum was my barf-with-coffee this morning.

The publishing business continues its descent into a quagmire of dishonor by using the Robert Ludlum name (he's been dead for six years) to continue publishing books featuring his characters. (Full disclosure: the original Jason Bourne book, The Bourne Identity, is easily my favorite action novel of all time.) "Robert Ludlum's...." graces the cover in 50-point type.

There are so many aspiring novelists out there, so many characters to create, so many ideas to air. Why are we all so stuck in the routine of the familiar that we require this factory style of book publishing in order to satisfy readers? I can't believe these ghostwriters don't have ideas of their own. Let the original Bourne stand alone, in the 70's where he belongs, and come up with something new to say. Take a risk and trust readers to find quality where it exists.

now I have an excuse for being such a wuss

Salary, Gender and the Social Cost of Haggling caught my attention today. I have never in my life explicitly negotiated a starting salary once it was offered (although I have made faces, raised my eyebrows, etc when generally discussing salary) and always put it down to fear of confrontation, at my own expense. Now it seems as though I may have subconsciously been correctly reading my coworkers-to-be, and that in fact my worry about talking myself out of a job may have been justified. Who knew?

Does anyone else have experience with salary negotiations, successful or otherwise?

— Allison

Testing 1-2-3

Hello ladies! I managed to figure out how to log in... wow. I must be smart. See Jane think - and spell! Wasn't spelling curiousity right but now I've got it, by George I think she's got it... blah blah blah - too hot, that's all I can manage for now. Perhaps CJ has overestimated our abilities here... perhaps I don't belong in the smart girls club after all... feelin' the pressure to be all witty now, but it's a sea with no sight of land. Ahoy mateys, (my boss actually asked me how to spell that the other day) - so the big dilemma of the day is whether to begin reading Khaled Hosseini's new novel "A Thousand Spendid Suns"... or the new Harry Potter. I think perhaps Harry Potter might be the wiser choice. I highly recommend Hosseini's first novel "The Kite Runner" though if you haven't read it yet. Wonderful book.

Okay this is weird, Mariah Carey's all I want for christmas just started playing on my iTunes shuffle - Christmas in July. Strange and freaky. Is Mariah Carey even allowed on this site? or have I just sealed the kicking myself out of the smart girls club? Hahaha - no no let me stay, I'll be witty, I promise! Alright then pancakes smothered in aunt jemima are calling.