Beyond the Veil

Fame and Money? As a Writer?

2012-01-28T00:04:00.002-05:00

Hang in there. Being an author isn’t about making loads of money and gathering fame. In fact, for ninety-nine percent of us, it’s anything but glamorous or our ticket away from our regular 9 to 5 job.

No one ever told me how brutal the publishing business can be. And I am grateful. If they had, I probably wouldn’t have written one word. The hard truth is that being an author requires putting your heart into a book only to risk having your heart ripped apart.

My first book came out in 2005. I was, of course, excited, jubilant, and ready to see my name on the bestsellers’ list. Okay, maybe I didn’t dream of the bestsellers’ list, but I did think I’d found a way to make decent money while staying home with my child.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. In fact, for the first two years of my publishing career I went into the red. That’s right. I lost money. Not because my books didn’t sell (by then I had five eBooks out), but because I’d made every mistake a newly published author could make.

Think that was bad? I did at the time. Then the real blankety-blank hit the fan. My publisher filed for bankruptcy. Not only were my books no longer available for sale, but worst of all, the publisher still held the rights to my work.

Fortunately, the something-something deep inside me that makes me write wasn’t squashed by all this bad news. Plus, I had a husband who supported my dream and wouldn’t let me quit. So I kept kicking, found not one, but two different publishers and started writing again. I’m proud to say that today I am definitely well into the black.

So, here’s my point. Publishing is hard enough when you know what you’re doing. But it can be absolute career suicide if you don’t. Take a few hints from me so you don’t go down the same path I did.

Learn the business. Publishers don’t change the rules for you. You have to do it their way. Study their submission guidelines and follow them to the letter. Read about other authors’ experiences. Check out your targeted publisher’s website and note which books sell and which don’t. Take classes to improve your writing.

Watch the money. Don’t go wild with advertising. Find out what really works by talking to other authors. I hate to say it, but most advertising isn’t worth the dollars thrown at it.

Take it slow and steady. Although you’re itching to sign that first contract that comes your way, check it out. Read it thoroughly, preferably with either an agent or a lawyer. If you don’t have one of those, find an experienced author to look it over. Check out samples of good contracts (you can find a few on the internet) and compare them to yours. Most of all, understand exactly what you’re signing.

Keep aware of what’s going on in the business. Join a critique group. Join an organization like Romance Writers of America. Talk to other authors whenever you can. Ask for suggestions, recommendations from published authors. Read trade magazines. Keep abreast of the latest trends.

Keep writing. If you hit a snag—and you will hit many along the way—don’t give up. If you get tangled up with a bad publisher or agent, cut the ties and move on. Don’t look back. Don’t mourn what you’ve lost. Just keep learning and writing.

It’s a strange thing, but publishing changes while remaining the same. eBooks have changed the face of reading, but most publishers still do business the same way they have for years. So hang in there. If you’re meant to be an author and willing to do the work to get published, you’ll get there.

Beverly Rae

SEX WITH A HEX (Magical Sisters Trilogy, Bk 2) - For Kindle or Nook
It’s all in good, dirty fun…until the heart raises the stakes

A convoluted journey into the Indie-tide

2012-01-27T06:00:00.004-05:00

Let's start off by admitting it took me a long time to come over to the digital side of publishing. My journey has been, um, not quite a straight line? More like a spiraling op-art piece.

I started the road to publication with a complete manuscript -- SECRETS AND SHADOWS. An editor for a particular Harlequin line -- yes, the heart of category romance -- loved it. But. That was a BIG but. I revised. Waited. Waited. Heard she left the house. Sobbed. Waited some more. Got a lovely rejection letter from her successor.

The entire process? About a year and a half, maybe two. It's all a blur. But I remember it felt as if I had flushed a big chunk of my professional life down the drain.

I was left with a good, very polished manuscript that was too short for other houses; one not-great finished historical romance; and several fits, starts, and ideas for stories. What to do?

I heard about Samhain Publishing opening up. I still wasn't sure about "selling out" to publish digitally. BUT, it sounded promising and I refused to rewrite that book for the sake of meeting a word count minimum. My writing friends were excited at the prospect. Most e-pubs at that time seemed strictly aimed at erotica, so Samhain was something new. They wanted everything!

Long story short... SECRETS was snapped up. I was elated. I then had to explain to my family that yes, I was with a 'real' publisher. Oy. We still go there, believe it or not, three novels later. :P

I had other stories along the route, too. Sweeter, funny stories pubbed with a tiny e-press. It was a great experience and I loved writing those down-to-earth romances. They seemed more 'real' to me -- like old friends. That publisher struggled -- don't all small businesses? -- and finally closed. I was left with more finished stories without a home.

These events -- plus a painful rejection letter, life interference, and a monster case of writer's block -- led me to the Indie-publishing idea.

Re-publish my own work? That's outrageous! Sacrilege! Not to mention narcissistic. I balked at the whole idea, believe me. Until I saw a talented friend take the plunge. And her plunge led to a huge splash as her stories rocketed to the bestsellers' lists on Amazon. It changed her life. Literally.

Wow. That's pretty cool. Could I dare? I mean I'm a good writer. I have these polished stories ready to go. Hmmm....

Yep, I dared. Not many houses want to re-pub stories by a virtual unknown. Don't blame them, really, it's a business. And so I jumped in to the Indie world, with my friend's guidance. Just ankle deep, however, I'm a cautious swimmer.

I wish I could say my wading turned into a tidal wave of sales. It hasn't. But I'm okay with that, really. I know there are a lot of ebooks out there. A LOT. And readers are understandably cautious about spending their money on the unknown quantity.

What have I learned in my journey? A few things:

#1) Write what you love, not what you think will sell. Otherwise you'll lose your love for it. Why bother writing if you wind up hating the job?

#2) Publisher's may be necessary for many of us. We don't all have the resources, patience, talents, knowledge and connections to do it all on our own. But if you decide to try the Indie-route. Do it right. Don't sidestep and do NOT put out an inferior quality product. Readers will notice.

#3) The publishing business is a living entity, changing and growing dramatically along with technology. It's exciting and scary all at once. It allows us to find otherwise undiscovered talented writers. Let's face it -- publishers can only put out so many books a year. They have to be selective. They have to pick and choose. If a story doesn't make the cut, maybe it's just the market and not the story or writing. How many times was Harry Potter rejected? Think about it.

Instant gratification is a very seductive beast. It's hard not to find a thrill in publishing a story one day; selling copies the next; and receiving monetary rewards two months later. In the traditional publishing world, you're lucky to see anything up to a year after the contract dries.

Although it might be tempting to look down our collective noses at independently published authors, we shouldn't. Indie-publishing is NOT narcissistic. It's not evil or lazy. Honestly, there's much more work involved for the writer who publishes their own books. I've also seen that this route is sometimes the only way really good stories by good writers can get a chance.

If you're willing to work and the traditional road seems too daunting, too limiting, or has failed you one too many times: check out the Indie-tide. It's a little dark and murky. It's a little frightening. But there are many resources and folks to help along the way. Whatever road to publication you choose to follow, just remember:

Success rarely happens overnight.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
If you need to write, do it. Never give up. Eventually you'll find your audience.

~~Meg Allison

Indulge your senses...
www.megallisonauthor.com

13 Things Your Kids Might Do While You're Trying To Write A Sex Scene

2012-01-25T18:00:00.000-05:00

13 Things Your Kids Might Do While You're Trying To Write A Sex Scene:

1) Turn on Phineas and Ferb really, really loud.

2) After you point out you're trying to write and they can't watch TV right now, sit behind your recliner and fight, making sure to jolt your favorite writing chair repeatedly.

3) Try to read over your shoulder because they are "bored". And one of them can't even READ, so she has to ask you what it says.

4) Let the cats out when the cats aren't allowed to be out and then run around yelling about it, which of course scares the cats even further from the safety of the front door.

5) Break stuff in the kitchen when getting the cats a "treat" to lure them back into the house.

6) When being punished with a time out in their bedroom for not behaving while you're trying to write, fall off the top bunk.

7) Pretend they have broken a body part when there is nothing actually wrong.

8) When being punished for pretending to have broken a body part when there is nothing actually wrong, hurl themselves onto the couch so repentantly that the couch cushions ricochet into the floor. Totally accidentally.

9) Pile up the couch cushions and use them as a springboard to leap onto the couch, where they are supposed to be sitting quietly since they are being punished.

10) Stick a foot through the bottom liner of the couch underneath where the cushions are supposed to be and scream with intense fear and pain as if their foot is being eaten by an alligator.

11) Argue with--let's call it "great passion"--that the ripping and tearing of the couch is not in any way their fault because all they were trying to do was sit quietly while they were being punished, but the couch cushions are too stupid and stupidly refused to stay on the couch where they belong, necessitating the behavior that resulted in the ripping and tearing. Which was not their fault.

12) While being punished for arguing with--let's call it "great passion"--and the use of certain words in reference to their parents' IQ, slump in sullen silence in your writing chair because the couch is, after all, ripped and torn, and the bedroom contains that evil, possibly limb-breaking bunk bed, and the kitchen floor has broken stuff that needs to be vacuumed up, and the dining room is really just an extension of the kitchen, and no way in hell are they having their time out in YOUR bedroom, because it's the only place left in the house outside the bathrooms where you can possibly get any peace.

13) Lock yourself in your bedroom with computer, in your NOT favorite chair, and realize you absolutely cannot write a sex scene, because it could possibly result in your hero and heroine getting pregnant, and you want them to have a HAPPY ending to their book.

Sincerely,

Jody Wallace
www.jodywallace.com * www.meankitty.com

PS: No children were harmed in the writing of this Thursday Thirteen. Can't say the same about the couch.

Apologies and KILTS!

2012-01-21T20:27:00.000-05:00

Poking my head above water to apologize for leaving dead air on the blog today! I hope these pictures of kilty goodness will make up for it...

Carolan

Aunt Noony's Inside Look at Publishing

2012-01-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

It’s funny, I don’t really think of myself as being “inside publishing,” or inside the ebook publishing industry, but since I have a book out with a major digital-first press I suppose to others that I might be considered at least “published,” if not on the “inside track.”

So how’s the view from here?

The more I know, the more I learn that I need to know. As much as I know about writing (active voice, action tags, story craft), I find I still have more to practice. Each time I go through a manuscript to edit, I think, “This is the time, it’ll be so clean I won’t have to touch a thing.”

I’m wrong. Routinely.

Humbling experience, that.

Each time I think I “know about the ebook publishing industry,” someone will mention a new-to-me publisher that’s been in business for years. It’s not that they’re so small I’ve never heard of them, it’s that I’m not well versed enough on the businesses playing in the industry yet.

So here’s what I do know:

Concentrate on the basics and on what you can control.

1. Write daily or as often as you can. There are many prompts available on the internet (type “writing prompts” into Google and poke around). Experiment with a new one every day for a month. Write with a pen and write on the computer, see how the different mechanics work with your creative process.

2. Practice your writing skills. Get a book on grammar from the library or buy yourself a copy of Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss. Wrestle with comma usage and the dreaded semicolon; become an expert in verb tenses. Learn about the “story arc” and the seven traditional plots. Get yourself a copy of Fiction Writers Workshop by Josip Novakovich or take a fiction class through a local writing group.

3. Meet other writers. Find writing friends online through magazines like Writer’s Digest or The Writer, and make local connections using your local newspaper or Meetup. Exposure to others working on the same things you are is helpful for the learning process and can also inspire you to try new things.

4. Attend regional writing conferences or even a national one. My own writing organization, Evanston Writers Workshop, holds our annual conference very year during the third weekend of August. We bring in authors, publishers, agents, and have an awesome time learning and playing with words for three days. There's a lot you can learn about traditional publishing and the ebook publishing industry, and how the interrelate and augment each other from the authors' perspective. It's no longer enough to ignore ebooks; we as authors need to understand it because that's how a lot of newer authors are being published.

5. Stay humble. No matter how much you know or learn, remember there’s always someone out there that can teach you something. Be teachable.

6. Keep writing. Through it all, remember to keep writing. This is surprisingly easy to forget, in fact. I meet writers through Evanston Writers Workshop who have all sorts of dearly-held opinions about publishing and writing, but when asked what they’re working on, the answers “oh, this manuscript I’ve been writing for twenty years.” One manuscript for twenty years is not a good track record for knowing the publishing industry. One of our speakers, author Jody Lynn Nye, has published over forty books and over a hundred short stories. I think THAT is the track record of someone who knows the publishing industry, don't you? Everyone has opinions, and it’s easy to forget that our job description is “writer,” not “pontificator” or “prognosticator.” If you have the urge to do either of the latter two things, DO IT ON THE PAGE! Whatever you do, write.

Lots.

Write on!

From the Outside In

2012-01-16T03:44:00.000-05:00

Greetings, Kittens!

My fifth release comes out next Friday, ITS SWEETEST FORM, and at least two others will see the light of day this year. That’s seven published works and yet, I can’t tell you a thing about publishing from the inside. Why? Because I’m on the outside of it. And that’s okay.

What puts me on the outside? Well, I don’t have an agent, I haven’t won any contest, I don’t belong to any chapters of anything, and I refuse to stick to a single genre, or to conform to the strictures of the genres I cross into. I write multicultural casts, but I don’t write Ethnic fiction. I write bisexual and sexually fluid characters, but I don’t write LGBTQ fiction. I write polyamory almost exclusively, but I don’t write erotica per se. I write paranormal elements in everything, but the focus is the human story of the non-human characters.

None of this in intentional. Not a single thing. I write the stories I want to read and the stories that I think need to be told. I write them the way I see the world and I don’t know another way to do it. To be honest, I don’t know that I’d want to learn another way if I could. So where does that leave me?

Well, people who love me and get me, REALLY love and get me. People who like me, really like me and seek me out. But people who don’t get me, put up signs and tweak their submission guidelines to keep me and my ilk away. You think I’m kidding...

Publishing is like any other business, they have a product and they have to sell it. The publishers are in competition with each other, so inventive and unique is a bonus. But it’s a very small trip from inventive and unique, to strange and indefinable. A publisher won’t contract what it thinks it can’t market, and therefore sell. For those of us on the outside, that means starting small and building up with proof of sales, or going indie and proving ourselves there.

I’m not the indie type. I appreciate the path and I’m sure there’s an indie release in my future, but I’m not an indie author. I currently lack the editorial skills, or the money to hire those with editorial skills, to turn out a product that does me proud. That means staying in this publishing game of horse shoes and waiting to get close.

So far, I don’t mind the ride. I’m learning every step of the way. I know the when to take criticism that will benefit a story, and when to ignore something that would fundamentally change a manuscript and my voice for the worse. I know the different between someone trying to elevate my work and someone trying to make me a clone of something easier to market. And that’s valuable, all of it. The process, even at it’s most subjective, adds something to the author every time, be it strength, patience, perseverance or plot ideas. Taken in the right stride, even with rejection, you walk away with more than you had before you began. And write to get better, right?

Seeya on the inside, Kittens!

~X

Hurry up and Wait!

2012-01-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest stresses a writer can go through iswaiting to hear back on a project. Whether it's a novel, a poem or nonfictionas soon as it goes into the waiting pile at an agent or publisher the clockstarts ticking and the stress begins to build.

Is it good enough? Will he/she like it? Will he/she BUYIT???

And the classic "Do I SUCK At This And No One's Told MeYet?"

It's easy to go quietly nuts over this – or not so quietly,which is usually when I'm running around the living room yelping like amadwoman while my husband reassures me that Yes, People Do Buy Your Books. It'ssort of akin to checking your sales on Novelrank hourly.

Waiting is a part of life – a horrible, annoying part oflife. We wait for streetcars, we wait for children to be born, we wait for ourhome team to hit the field.

But waiting to hear back on a project can be insane.

Depending on the publisher or agent you could be waitingmonths or even a year – and longer doesn't necessarily mean an acceptance.

This, of course, leads to all sorts of writer insanity. Weget that nervous eye twitch, checking our email every three hours and dashingout to pick up the mail before the postman even has it in his hand. We drinkenough coffee and tea to sink the Titanic and nibble on chocolate bars nonstop.And if we're unlucky enough to get that rejection we'll mope around the houselike you've killed and stewed our favorite animal.

What do writers do to survive? Well… we write.

I know, I know – it's like a drug addict saying the best wayto live is to stay high all the time. But it's not the same, I swear.

We write new stories. We work on old stories and improvethem. We send out even more works for possible rejection.

In other words, writers are like sharks. If we stop moving,we die.

So if we seem a little psychotic at times or wander incircles muttering to ourselves, please understand – we're just waiting.

Now you'll have to excuse me. I just spotted the mailman atthe top of my street and have to go to the basement as per the rules of myrestraining order…

;)

It's Just Another Case of (Publishing) Karma Repeating Itself

2012-01-14T04:48:00.000-05:00

If you’re here for the “Inside Publishing” part of the program, go ahead and take a caffeine break. Heck, shoot for something alcoholic. The more you know about the current state of publishing, self-publishing, markets and marketing, the more you’re likely to need it. No, I won’t tell. Scout’s honor. (Seriously, I was a Girl Scout for fifteen minutes once. Actually, I was a Brownie, but that’s a story for another day and a honking big bottle of chocolate liqueur.)

But if you’re here for “Business As Usual”… (User cracks knuckles.) Honey, pull up a chair.

As you may have gathered from my contributions to this blog, my usual in this business qualifies as everybody else’s “peculiar in the extreme”. There was the editor who wanted a story about dragons and bacon. Yeah, that one fried a few synapses. The story finaled in the 2011 WSFA Small Press Award, which fried even more. Then there was “Personal Demons”, a short story which was rejected with prejudice by every male editor in the business. Ten years after it first started making the rounds, it found the female editors of Hellebore & Rue, and is now collecting rapturous reviews. Ten years! For a story everybody suddenly loves—go figure.

What you may not realize is that this pattern was set when I was very young, and as I have lately learned, it’s set in stone. You might call it destiny—my karma, even. Though I’m scared to think about what kind of past life could account for it. I know exactly when it started, too.

You can blame my passion for writing on the comics, specifically Lois Lane and Brenda Starr. They taught me early that reporters had the best of all possible lives. They were smart, good-looking, had great wardrobes (and shoooooooes!) and got paid to satisfy their overpowering curiosity. (The hot guys who ran after them weren’t exactly a disincentive, either, but I digress.) In pursuit of a reporting career, I wrote for everything my elementary school, junior high and high schools had to offer.

When I was fourteen, I knew I was on the verge of my big break. Considering what would become the pattern of my publishing life, it was only natural the opportunity came from the unlikeliest of all possible sources: my ninth grade German teacher. In the late Mesolithic when I attended middle school, a German-American cultural organization called the Karl Schurz Society published a magazine for high school students. The magazine sponsored an annual essay competition, and my ninth grade German teacher promised an “A” for the quarter to any student who finaled in the competition.

Given that we’re less than a month away from the holiday season, you can be forgiven for looking for parallels with A Christmas Story. As it happened, this teacher strongly resembled Miss Shields in full Wicked Witch of the West mode, only with a German accent. The prospect of an “A” for anybody in her class was so slim, everybody in class submitted something. Then we waited, and waited, and waited for the results. By May, four months after the contest deadline, I figured somebody had to have heard something, even though all traces of the magazine—which had formerly been required reading for the class—had vanished from the classroom and the school library. So I asked my German teacher. She snarled and told me I was insubordinate for presuming to bring up the subject of our class’s complete and utter failure. We were stupid! Useless! We broke the magazine! I swear, her maniacal cackle echoed all the way to Oz.

Fast forward to a year later. My dad had retired from the Army, and we’d moved to Pennsylvania. My new German teacher was as different as could be imagined from the Wicked Witch in everything from gender to accent. It was a few days before school let out for the summer, and we were mostly goofing off, catching up with German-American student newspapers and translating articles in popular German magazines.

I was deep in Der Stern, when one of my classmates called across the room: “Hey, Jean Marie, you used to live in Texas, right?”

“Yeah, San Antonio.”

“What school?”

I tried to cock an inquiring eyebrow at him and failed. At fifteen, my eyebrows skills were decidedly limited. “Robert G. Cole. It’s the base school for Fort Sam Houston.”

“Why didn’t you tell us you finaled in last year’s Karl Schurz contest?”

I told him he was nuts, and I believed it…until he shoved the magazine in my face. Did I mention that the teachers of students who finaled got something more tangible than an egoboo from the contest? That was something elseI learned that day.

The experience only made me more determined to succeed as a writer. Throughout high school, college, my gigs as a freelance journalist and my first government jobs, I submitted novels, short stories and poems to any venue foolish enough to publish its address. Since I adored Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber, I made a particular effort to get published in the small press magazines specializing in sword and sorcery, magazines like Weirdbook and its spin-off Eerie Country.

I even subscribed, though I knew the ratio of Brian Lumley stories to Fritz Leiber stories was something like twenty to one. I confess, I didn’t read all the magazines I subscribed to. I read enough to get a feel for the stories they liked to publish, but beyond that, what was the point? Face it, there’s only so much Brian Lumley a girl can stand. But I saved them all, just in case I had a spare hour or ten someday.

Fast forward to last month. After thirty years, I finally resigned myself to the fact I was never going to read that much Brian Lumley. So I stacked my collection of small press magazines next to my computer and started cataloguing them for sale on eBay. Being something of a closet librarian, I diligently scanned the contents for writers and stories that could be selling points for potential collectors.

There weren’t any surprises until I opened Eerie Country 4. On the table of contents under “Poems”, between William Scott Home and Joseph Payne Brennan was a listing that shouldn’t have, oughtn’t have, never ever could’ve possibly been there.

But it was: “The Soft” [by] Jean Marie Ward.

Making a high, thin noise that sent the cat running for his hidey hole under the bed, I turned to the page indicated. There, in all their awful glory were five lines of free verse that had my juvenile writing fingerprints all over it. I didn’t keep a lot of the poems I wrote in the late Seventies and early Eighties. In fact, I tried to forget ever having written most of them. They were that bad. I have many reasons to be grateful to the editors who rejected them and consigned them to oblivion.

All except “The Soft”, that is.

When? How? What? Why didn’t somebody tell me?

Where the hell’s my contract?

Okay, ignore that. Unlike the episode with the Wicked Witch of ninth grade German, this was most definitely NOT a case of malice aforethought. Nobody made any money on magazines like Eerie Country, especially not on 21-word poems. It was all about the publication credit. I’m quite sure it was a case of the paperwork being lost in the mail, and if I’d read the magazines like I was supposed to (having subscribed and all) I could’ve cleared up any confusion, oh, thirty-one years ago.

Holy rhyming crap, Batman, I’ve been a published poet for thirty-one years!

The really sad thing is the kink in my karma that causes these slip-ups isn’t done with me. Last year, a writer/editor I know, like and respect made the leap from editor to agent. Like everyone else, I’ve got a novel that needs a home, and there are a lot of places where you just can’t submit without an agent. So I queried her in September, and she asked me to send a partial. Then…nothing.

I let it go until the end of the year, when I asked if her non-response meant she wasn’t interested. No harm, no foul, regardless. I’ve been in this business a long time, and a lot of the folks who’ve published me have also rejected a story or two along the way. But as it turned out, she emailed me requesting a full after Thanksgiving.

Nope, I never got the email. It never made it to my inbox, my trash or any of my filtered boxes. I checked. But there’s no question she sent it.

Like I said, business as usual.

#

2012: Where is YA going? (and how will it get there?)

2012-01-11T16:17:00.001-05:00

Hi all! I hope you had a great holiday season, and are looking toward 2012 with great hope. I know I am. I was drowning in a sea of deadlines, wrapping paper, and lesson plans last month, but with a nice holiday break, I feel better.

So, I guess in January we're talking about publishing. Which is always kind of interesting, at least to me. In fact I just had a conversation with my agent about what publishers seem to be looking for and what they're tired of, at least in YA. Based on that, and the state of the industry talk I heard back in June at the NJSCBWI conference, which corroborates what my agent told me, here's what's Hot and what's Not in YA for 2012:

NOT:
Vampires and Werewolves. As if there was any doubt in our minds. Apparently agents and editors alike are sick to death (pardon the pun) of bloodsuckers and werewolves, and of course the flood of Twilight clones that have been coming across their desks.

Paranormal in general is also said to be on the way out, but who knows?

Dystopian: This is not to say there's still not a market for a really good, original dystopian, but again, the flood of books and manuscripts trying to ride the coattails of The Hunger Games has editors pining for something maybe a little less apocalyptic. Lighten up, people.

Historical Fiction: it's not really anything currently flooding the market, but straight-up historical fiction (NOT historical romance or fantasy) is almost always a tough sell. The market share is small, and it must be meticulously researched and impeccably written.

Fallen Angels: After Hush, Hush, and a bunch of other stories about angels, I've heard editors say they're tired of seeing those stories. But that's not to say that the right story wouldn't find a home.

Super-dark stories: I'm hearing that editors are looking for a little bit of hope, a little bit of light, and less...death, despondence, and despair.

And it goes without saying that stories about The Chosen One, wizard boarding schools, and any other number of Harry Potter repeats is probably on this list. At least for now.

HOT:

Steampunk: hot and getting hotter. The neo-Victorian historical fantasy genre has taken off, bolstered by novels like Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices series, Scott Westerfield's Leviathan series, and the upcoming The Unnaturalists, by Tiffany Trent. With no clear mega-hit to spawn a bunch of clones, and as long as there are a good long list of different and original stories, Steampunk doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon.

Re-told Fairy Tales: Just after I started writing Smoke and Mirrors, the fairy tale retelling/steampunk novel that snagged me my agent, I discovered a whole host of re-issued, re-vamped, re-imagined fairy tales lining the shelves. Apparently this trend hasn't quite run its course yet, fortunately for me.

YA Romance: Romance is always hot, and there seems to be a surge in romance for Young Adults.

Upbeat contemporary: There seems to be a need for really fun, upbeat, coming-of-age but having a good time doing it stories. Go figure.

Mermaids: I have no idea where this trend is now. It seemed to be picking up steam last year, but I think it's sputtered out. I read a couple of mermaid books, and very few of them caught my fancy.

And the one thing that is always hot:

A good story.

Don't take this list as gospel. Don't write to fit a market trend, because by the time you are done, the trend will be over. MAKE the next trend. Write the story you want to write, the best you know how to write it. That's how YA is going to move forward.

Happy Reading!

Publishing Econ 101: A Love Story

2012-01-09T10:34:00.012-05:00

A little tidbit most people don’t know about me—I have a degree in Business Economics. Weird, huh?

How many Business Economics Paranormal Romantic Suspense Authors do you know? Because of my background, I look at the state of the Publishing Industry and get all excited because it combines my two worlds with a great glorious bang.

Ready for Publishing Econ 101?

Did you just roll your eyes? Stay with me here, Economics can be…dare I say it?...fun.

I am going to attempt to explain why the rise of digital books is a good thing for readers, authors, and the industry in general.

To do so, we need to travel back in time. Way, way back, say five years, or at the most ten, to the days when you and I didn't own an ebook.

In the pre-digital era, the majority of books you and I could buy in our local bookstores were published by New York's Big Six. The gold-standard for an author was to be published by one of these houses. Combined as one group, the Big Six operated like a monopoly.

And monopolies are not good for consumers.

Why? Because the monopoly, not the consumer, controls the quantity, content and cost of books.

· The amount of books released each month was established for the individual lines in each house. Once the set number was collected, editors were forced to either turn away books or push them further out into the future. This meant that readers had to wait for fav authors and new authors had a tough time breaking into the established line.

· Books were produced in accordance with the requirements for each line. If a book didn't fit those requirements, it was turned away. If a trend became hot (vampires, Regency...) new lines in the house had to be created, which obviously took time. If a trend slowed down, lines were cancelled and books that were written to fit a particular line suddenly became the equivalent of publishing pariah (Chick Lit).

· Cost of books were set by the Big Six. Prices were roughly the same depending on the type of book (paperback, trade, hardcover).

Fast-forward to the digital-age.

The advent of eReaders created something that was missing in the Publishing Industry--Competition. And competition is good for consumers. Suddenly, we have choices. Writers don't have to submit to New York to be published. Readers have a choices in all sorts of digital formats.

Now we are moving toward a free market where:

Quantity - More and more writers are increasing the supply of books and chipping away at New York's control of the product. Authors no longer want to wait two years to see their words in print if they can self-pub a story in days. And they don't have to fit their stories into a predetermined box (house line). I am thrilled to see Chick Lit on the market again. My friends are self-pubbing Chick Lit books and readers are snatching these books up like candy. What a great supply and demand lesson!

Content - New York had a system of vetting out the not-ready-for-publication authors. Today, pretty much anyone can write a book and throw it into the pool. Readers are complaining about purchasing books that have not been professionally edited. I think this will get sorted out by supply and demand as well. Readers will look to review sites, author testimonials, Goodreads (and similar places), and the publishing houses themselves to find good quality books. If an author doesn't produce a product that stands up to the consumer's demands, they will not sell many books. Free trade at its finest!

Cost - When supply increase, price goes down. Cha-ching Economics!

Are you worried about the Big Six? Don't be. They still own the majority of the market share and I am sure they are figuring out how to play the game with the new world-wide-web rules. They'll have to learn how to produce faster and cheaper books while keeping the quality high. We are experiencing a market flood and although it has been said that creme rises to the top, so too unfortunately, does crapola. Publishing houses might be the experts that the average reader turns to to find a good book in the sea of books. Maybe, maybe, they will go back to the old model of helping their authors with promotions to distinguish them above others.

It is an interesting time for change. But one thing will never change--readers will want to read good books and authors will want to write them. Somehow, we will come together, no matter what.

Now that's a great love story.

What are your thoughts about this amazing in the industry? And don't you love Economics?

www.kimberleytroutte.com

The Ever Changing Publishing Industry

2012-01-04T11:04:00.006-05:00

Change scares people. I know it scares the hell out of me. I hate it. I want things to stay the same. I like the comfort of always knowing what's going on. But let's face it, living like that is like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand. If I can't see you, you can't see me. If I bury my head against change then it won't affect me.

We all know that can't happen.

And I think we've all heard the doomsayers when they claim publishing is changing and will never be the same again. I suppose that's true. The internet and the promise of immediate gratification is intoxicating. People want books now--hence the reason ereaders were the hot item this past Christmas. On the flip side, authors want their products out there immediately--hence the rise in indy publishing.

But as much as things change, things also stay the same. Readers still want their paperback books. There will always be those hold-outs who refuse to embrace change. As an author I appreciate all those different types of readers.

I was ecstatic when I heard Amazon sold one million Kindles a week during the month of December. One million! A week! Each of those four million Kindles will need books. Possibly hundreds of books. That bodes well for me where most of my sales are ebooks.

So what does all of this mean for authors? I think this is the best time ever to be an author. There are so many more avenues open to us. No longer do we have to rely on the big NY publishers to decide if our book fits into their schedule. So many epublishers have filled the void, realizing there were so many good books out there for readers looking for something a bit different. And now we have indy publishing--authors striking out on their own without a publishers backing. I'm in a critique group with an author who has done amazingly well in indy publishing. Better than a lot of established authors with big publishers.

The field is wide open for not only us but for readers as well and I think that's wonderful.

But one thing hasn't changed. Whether indy published, paperback published or epublished, a reader is still looking for a good read. Something that will take them away from their everyday life and into a different world. Regardless of what publishing format an author chooses to distribute his or her book, the book still has to be well-written. In the end, nothing has really changed when it comes to actually writing the book. We all still have to sit down to a blank page with a blinking cursor and create a world in which people want to go to.

Wishing you all happy reading in 2012.

Sharon's website | Sharon's blog | Sharon on Twitter | Sharon on Facebook

Business As Usual: Inside Publishing

2012-01-02T13:49:00.000-05:00

We begin a new year. Bright and shiny and full of opportunity, 2012 stretches out before us with all its good and bad. There will be opportunities this year, and to take advantage of them we must be ready. It is said that knowledge is power, and that has never been so true as now. Especially in publishing. Our theme for this month is Business as usual: inside publishing.

Unless you spent the last few years on Gallifrey, you know that the world of publishing is in an upheaval. What was true five years ago may not be true today. There are doomsayers claiming that New York publishing will soon vanish. That paper books and libraries will soon be outdated and everything will be digital.

Before we all panic and start burning books (shudder), let’s take a step back and look at this logically (yep, big Spock fan). First, I don’t see paper books going the way of the 8-track anytime soon. Digital is great, but paper is useful. I’m thrilled that a lot of trees will be saved by increased use of digital, but are we really going to have coffeetable e-books? I like doing research with paper books. Flipping through is helpful, seeing pictures and diagrams is useful, and spreading books all over the kitchen table gives me a warm, happy feeling.

OK, I’m a nerd, and you might wanna lookout for the apocalypse. This traditionalist got pulled away from her paper books kicking and screaming—but I now have a Kindle. It was a gift. Yes, I love it. Bite me.

I’m still reading The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler in paperback and happily flipping back to diagrams.

For what it’s worth, I believe there is a time and place for both formats. I’m old enough to have seen the world go through the wild swinging of change. And yes, in its time, the 8-track player was state of the art. A few years from now my laptop—and my Kindle—will be outdated and sad. It’s human nature, folks.

My advice to writers? Don’t put all your books in one place. Traditional publishing, e-first, e-only, self publishing (electronic or print), all options. And there are many options within those wide parameters. Just do your homework. Don’t listen to only one side of any argument. Then go with what’s best for you and your work. Just don’t let your fear decide for you. Don’t skip submitting just because you can self-publish and never be rejected. Rejection can be the best thing that ever happened to you. It was to me, every time. Rejection hurts, but it’s part of the job. It happens to all of us.

Be informed, be careful, and take care.

Cheryel
www.cheryelhutton.com

What Are Your Worlds Like?

2011-12-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

Worldbuilding. What an intriguing word. Just the sound of it makes me feel omniscient, all-powering, and well, a bit goddess-like.

When I think of worldbuilding, I tend to think of faraway planets, lost galaxies, and lands lost in a different time. But worldbuilding isn’t restricted to those places. In fact, worldbuilding can exist in the present. It can mean a world built within our own sometimes boring world.

For instance, I write paranormal erotic romance. Most of my books are set in the here and now and based in contemporary time with today’s verbiage and surroundings. But I’m still worldbuilding.

What’s the catch? I take the world and flip it on its side. Is it still happening right now? Yes. But is it worldbuilding? You bet.

Consider a world where shifters walk among us. Although they may bump shoulders with a normal human on the street, they are a part of a subculture, a hidden society, a world all its own. Do they live in our world? Or do they inhabit a world I created for them? The answer is both.

But let me ask you. Don’t all of us build our own worlds for our lives? People join specific groups and, thus, form another world, another reality, within their regular world. My worlds include the worlds that include my life as a wife and a mother. Yet one of my other worlds is the one where my wife-mom world gets put on the backburner, sometimes even forgotten, as I step into the world of writer. The only difference between the worlds everyone creates and the worlds created by writers is that writers get to make all the rules. Of course, that’s the part I enjoy the most!

So, tell me. What are your worlds like?

Beverly Rae

P.S. - Take a moment to visit my world at www.beverlyrae.com

Happy Holidays

2011-12-25T06:00:00.003-05:00

It's very cool to be blogging on Christmas Day.

Talk about your cool luck of the draws! :)

Christmas is pretty magical time anyways. I mean a jolly fat man who can squeeze down a chimney and a reindeer whose nose glows, or in the words of Yukon Corneilius "His beak blinks like a blinking beacon."

I'm really looking forward to the New Year. I have a paranormal book releasing sometime in the New Year under my alter ego Amy Ruttan. Remember when we were talking about shifters? I have a bear shifter coming up with EC in 2012, and my bear is a member of the Mounties. *grin* So look for Mounted Release in the new year.

I hope to have some more too.

This year was a great year, even greater given the fact I got to meet up with these lovely authors from Beyond the Veil. They let me join this fantastic group and it's been amazing.

I hope you and yours have a very happy holidays and a wonderful New Year.

Lots of love,

Amy

Merry holidays!

2011-12-24T00:01:00.003-05:00

However you celebrate the return of the light, may it be filled with blessings. :)

Dia duit,
Carolan
www.carolanivey.com

Aunt Noony’s Five Tips for Worldbuilding

2011-12-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

1. Decide in which world you want to set your story. As Xakara mentioned in her post, ANY world in which we write, be it the “here and now” or the “once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away” has its own rules and customs. Once you’ve decided where you want your story to be set, ask yourself some questions on behalf of your main character:

a. How do they make their money? If they are supported by someone else, how do they make the money that supports your character? Are there taxes? Tributes to pay? What skills do they need to make a living?

b. How do they live? Do they have a house in a residential area? Are they on a ship with hundreds of other individuals? Underground?

c. What do they eat? If it’s not set on earth, how does the food get there? Who produces it, and how is it transported from producer to table?

d. How do they deal with the climate? What is clothing like? What are the buildings like? Human beings are fragile creatures but have many ways of mitigating environmental impacts. Describe how your character deals with them.

2. What rules govern relationships? Is there marriage? How does it work? How do kinship paradigms work? In some cultures, for example, adult siblings of the opposite sex are allowed to be friends with one another but with no other individuals of the opposite sex outside the family. What about rules regarding children? How are children treated in your world?

3. What kinds of organizations have sprung up? Is this a simple society with clan and maybe village government? Is this a megalithic society with governments and complex politics? How do roads get built, taxes levied and collected, money produced and invested?

4. As you develop the answers to these questions, it’s useful to create a document that accompanies your work but that can be used as an encyclopedia of rules for you. You can call it what you like, but make sure it includes lists of characters and their details, relationships, government notes, and notes on anything else that you need to keep in mind. For example, if you are building a werewolf society, then you might have a section in your document called “Werewolves” that details who’s in charge, how succession is handled, what colors the wolves are, etc.

5. Do people swear? This can tell you a lot about a society and culture. For example, if you set your world on a planet that doesn’t have a Euro-American Christian majority as the dominant paradigm, then “God” or “Dammit” probably aren’t common swearwords. If you create an Egyptian society, you might use “By Anubis’s teeth” or something similar. It’s useful to come up with several options, from equivalents to the “F” word all the way down to something minor like “crap” or “darn.”

If you’re still stumped, try answering the questions above using your favorite worlds. Some places to start would be Star Trek or Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series.

Have fun!

A World of Our Own

2011-12-19T13:36:00.001-05:00

Greetings, Kittens!

Welcome to the world. Which world would that be exactly? Well, that’s the question isn’t it? We open a book, turn on a show, or sit back as the lights dim in a theater, and wait to find out which world we’ll be transported to next.

It doesn’t matter if it’s 10,000 years in the past, or 10,000 years into the future, we want the storyteller to transport us so thoroughly that we feel we’ve known this place all along. We recognize the elements, and the players, and like the lives we live every day, we wait for the moment of the extraordinary in the ordinary, and the mundane in the fantastic.

We fall in love with shadow governments, interstellar galactic battles, hidden paranormal subcultures, alternate historical records, time traveling archeologist, dimension hopping demons, immortal brooding heroes and prophecy defying heroines, all because someone makes us believe. We care about the people and we see how their world has shaped them, even as our world has shaped us. And there’s the interesting point, our world shapes us, but our world is not the same as the person next to us.

Everything we read and watch, absolutely everything, has built a new version of the world as experienced by the protagonist. A dying and broke chemistry teacher forced to cook meth in the desert, is as foreign, as an amoral vampire choosing a new beloved and changing a child to create an immortal family, is familiar. In the former, the worldbuilding is invisible, but crucial, due to it’s familiarity within the foreign decisions of the protagonist. In the latter, it’s obvious, the fantastical elements setting it apart, but it ultimately relies on its subtleties and familiar human story for its strength.

In a series, the challenge comes not only in building the world, but in showing it as both a constant and evolving concept from the protagonist’s point of view. My TherianWorld faces this challenge on two levels. Each of the paranormal romances deals with a different triad who relates to the shifter dominated world based on their own breeds and experiences. They are lighter and relationship focused, like many of our own lives. The urban fantasy on the other hand is darker, harsher and as they say, there will be blood.

But has the world changed? No, not at all. The perception of it has turned on its side, very much as my view of the world in day to day life is different from a soldier deployed overseas, or a police officer in the inner city of Chicago. We see the world from where we stand in it. As a federal agent specialized in retrieval and assassination, the world has a vastly different filter for Dante, than for any other hero or heroine I’ve written in the romances to date—and it should. But as the relationships in her life move to the forefront, her filter will be altered. The trick is to show that the world is constant and she is changing within it. I look forward to pulling it off. Wish me luck.

~X

Walking into a super-new world...

2011-12-18T01:00:00.000-05:00

Continuing the month's theme of world-building, I thought I'd lay out where I got the idea for "Blaze of Glory" and the sequel, coming out in January from Samhain Publishing, "Heroes Without, Monsters Within".

As in, where did I get the idea to write about superheroes? Why superheroes?

Well, why not?

The original concept came to me late one night while watching television and pondering how silly certain reality shows were – basically how many of them were set up by the producers to generate excitement and ratings even if the actual people involved weren't doing certain things of their own volition. I like to point to wrestling as the most obvious example – while I have no doubt that some wrestling is legitimate and darned dangerous, there's no doubt in my mind that plenty of "episodes" are set up with good vs. bad with drama galore.

So my feeble mind wandered over to the stack of comic books my hubby collects. And by collects, I mean "fills every empty shelf in the house". Not that it's a bad thing – I've been a comic fan practically since birth, having learnt how to read from the newspaper comic strips – and marrying a man with the same love of comics was almost mandatory.

The kernel of an idea popped up as I looked over the volumes of comics on our shelves: What if all the battles were set ups? One of the most frustrating things as a fan is to read how this bad guy got put away and two issues later he's back to annoy the heroes with some new world domination plan.

But… what if it was all intentional? The jailbreak, the confrontation – what if it was all fixed from the start and orchestrated for the public?

My wee mind grabbed onto the idea like a bulldog onto a bone and we were off, constructing a world where superheroes and villains brawled without ever having any sort of final resolution, where civilians were never hurt and the bad guys mysteriously escaped almost every time.

Of course I had to find a reason why the supers would fight on cue and so forth – and what would create the crisis that would propel a B-list hero, Jo Tanis, out of her comfortable life as a performer into the front lines of a battle she was never meant to fight.

Toss in a new hot man in her life and his mysterious past and I had the warped new world of "Blaze of Glory". The sequel, "Heroes Without, Monsters Within" expand on that strange reality where the now-for-real heroes have to deal with the consequences of their actions and discover that there are real villains – and people can and will die now that the fights are real.

I'll admit it's a kick to create a new world – but it also comes with the responsibility to create new laws, new rules that must be followed or the reader will walk away. You can't just have things "happen", there's got to be some basis behind it. If you have magic, you need rules. You don't have to necessarily tell the reader the rules but they have to be there for your own use so that you don't end up contradicting yourself somewhere down the line. Same thing with superheroes – if you want them to have special powers you need to limit what they can and can't do otherwise you end up writing yourself into a corner you just can't get out of.

And when you throw in a man whose ability is just to be a walking four-leaf clover, well…

I hope I've accomplished this with the Blaze world and I hope you'll come along for more adventures in the superhero world of "Heroes Without, Monsters Within".

Scrooge and the Art of Worldbuilding

2011-12-17T00:58:00.002-05:00

“You know what I like best about the Alastair Sim A Christmas Carol?” Greg asked.

I made a non-committal grunt. As far as I knew, there wasn’t anything my husband didn’t like about the 1951 version of the world’s most famous ghost story.

“They shot it like a horror movie.”

Dang. I never thought about it, but he was right. The 1951 A Christmas Carol doesn’t look like any of the “historical movies” or cinematic recreations of the 19th century preceding it. The framing of its scenes, its expressionistic use of shadows (in particular, check out the shot of Mrs. Dilber and the Undertaker at the top of the stairs as Jacob Marley lies dying) and the score take their inspiration from the great Universal horror movies of the 1930s and point the way to the Hammer films of succeeding decades. It’s a totally different world from the bright, sparkly MGM Dickens extravaganzas. Which is as it should be. Scrooge’s reformation absolutely, positively depends on his being scared spitless.

Contrast that with another beloved holiday fantasy, Miracle on 34th Street. Both films are shot in black and white, but the lighting, the set decoration and the feel of the two films are worlds apart. Susan and Doris Walker inhabit rooms (and stores) with wide windows and warm light, reflecting their tidy, safe world. Kris Kringle may or may not be the real Santa Claus, but either way, the only risk they face is to their hearts.

The point is worldbuilding isn’t always about codifying a magic system or exercises in social biology. It’s also a matter of the details—the score and set design, if you will. The way you describe the world of your novel or short story determines how your readers will perceive it. For example, if you want to tell a dark urban fantasy, a city setting is a given. But so is darkness, whether in the form of night scenes or the shadows of a condemned warehouse. The sounds your characters hear should be dark and ominous. The smells (and tastes if they come into it) should be unnerving, too. In contrast, a comic fantasy should register as lighter in every sense.

In addition, you can use changes in your characters’ environment to signal changes in their condition or emotional state in the same way Scrooge’s dark night of the soul gives way to a brilliant snow-covered Christmas morning and the flattering, diffuse light of his nephew Fred’s Christmas party. Even his office looks brighter when he returns.

My old literature teachers dismissed this as a variation of “pathetic fallacy”—the notion that natural forces or inanimate objects shared human emotions and intent. But their criticism misses the point. Integrating setting with the other elements of a story reinforces the story’s impact and creates a more consistent, satisfying experience. Maybe, if you’re really lucky, you’ll create a little magic, too. ‘Tis the season, after all.

Wishing you and yours the very best of the holidays, and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

#

Illustration of Marley's ghost by John Leech from the original 1843 edition of A Christmas Carol.

World building inspirations – Moondancer

2011-12-16T14:23:00.002-05:00

There are endless resources for ideas, information, and inspiration when it comes to world building. Cultures, science, current and historic events, are some of the core places I know many authors go to for their world building ideas. One of my favorite resources for my own world building has to do with human and nonhuman relationships (people to people, animals to animals, people to animals, as well as differences in social interaction between people of different social classes, regions, cultures, age groups, etc…).

One of the aspects of relationships I find myself thinking about most when I was first building the world of the Guardian Circle has to do with unexpected behavioral changes, for instance a person everyone always thought of as being quiet, nice, kind, suddenly and without warning and a drastic behavioral change that turns him or her into a monster. There a lot of psychological explanations that people come up with in our world, environmental excuses, traumas from the person’s past, and so on, but sometimes, no logical reason can be found for these behavioral changes.

In my world, which in many ways is very similar to our own with twists and turns here and there to allow the reader to feel like they're in a familiar place, but at the same time to give space for the magic, for the paranormal to exist in the shadows and the secret places behind the mundane world. In my world, when a good person suddenly turns monstrous, those that are knowledgeable of the shadow places, of the unspoken magics, they know what is to blame. It is called, the Void.

***

“Tell you what you know about the Void.” I turned my attention fully to Neman. My determination must’ve showed on my face because Neman seemed surprised and took a step back from me.

“The Void?” Neman blinked and glanced toward Aegolius. “Why do you want to know about that? Nasty business. Ancient evil sort of stuff. Not something one talks about in polite company.”

“I wasn’t being polite, and I’m not making small talk. I want to know about the Void, and I mean now.” I deliberately took a step forward, and Neman stepped back again, successfully intimidated. “So you know anything about it, Magi, or are you trying to cover up the fact that you don’t know shit?” Neman frowned, and I suppressed a grin. Best way to stir up the scholarly types and get them yapping was to challenge their knowledge. Just like my brother.

“I know ‘bout the Void. More than most I’d wager,” Neman said. “That doesn’t mean I know half of what needs to be known. Like I said, the Void, it’s ancient. Older than the written word. Some say older that even the Fae themselves. I don’t know. The Clan, you know how the shifters are, so wrapped up in their pockets of war they can’t see the big picture; they don’t even know the Void exists. My people have studied it, but half of our scholars see the Void as just another type of magic, the magic of the shadows, while to others like me the Void is much more. We see it as a force of destruction and chaos, once a part of the balance of the natural order, now threatening to undo all creation.”

“Older than the Fae, could that even the possible?” Aegolius asked, eyes narrowing at Neman. “No. The Fae have always been, a part of the land, the sky, the oceans, the fiery core of the earth, we are part of it all, part of life. Before that? There was nothing.”

“Yes. Nothing. That’s the Void. The nothing before life, before substance. At least that’s the theory.” Neman responded to my brother, but his gaze never wavered from me. I found his unusual level of attention disconcerting, but my obvious discomfort didn’t seem to slow the Magi man down. “Long ago it was simply part of the balance, the negative for the positive, the shadow for the light, but somehow, no one knows why, that changed. The Void began to want, began to desire power, chaos -- who knows what all they’re after. What we do know for certain is the Void is interfering with life, with free will, not just of the humans, but the free will of all of us. They seek out where there is weakness and that becomes the point of infection.”

(excerpt from “Seeking Light in the Shadows” by Moondancer Drake)

***

OMG!

2011-12-14T17:06:00.002-05:00

OMG!

I spaced.

Totally.

Completely.

Forgot.

Sorry!

Whatever holiday you celebrate, have happy one! See you next year!

Building My Worlds

2011-12-12T10:25:00.006-05:00

Our theme this month is about the worlds we create in our books.

I like what my co-bloggers have said about the difficulties and excitement involved with inventing brand new places. Many times the settings in paranormal, SF and fantasy books can become as rich and unique as the characters themselves.

In my books, I take a different approach. The towns where my stories take place should seem very familiar to you, maybe even too familiar. My characters could be fighting demons, or talking to ghosts in YOUR backyard. It's fun for me to imagine that a demon-killer could be the neighbor who puts his trashcans on the street next to mine.

I've brought with me the opening pages to Soul Stealer.

You can tell me if Main Street sounds anything like your town.

Happy Holidays,

Kimberley Troutte

www.kimberleytroutte.com

Soul Stealer

December 23, 2009

He tries to blend in, just another man caught up in the Christmas rush surging down Main Street. Pulling up the collar of his worn bomber jacket, he keeps his chin tucked down. It won’t help matters to be recognized.

He glances through the window of an overstocked toy store. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” blasts from inside. Searching, searching, his eyes rake over the shoppers clamoring for last-minute gifts. Nothing.

The night air sears his lungs, but the icy grip squeezing his heart is not from the cold. He swipes at his watering eyes. He needs to focus, stay alert.

Forcing his legs into a normal gait, neither too fast, nor too slow, he keeps walking. He is almost to the corner with the two-story brick apartment building, the one he walks past every night. The old lady who lives there now refuses to help him. The people down at the shelter are no good to him either. They all say they don’t know where she is.

They lie.

Since his release three weeks ago, he has walked Main Street morning, noon and night, hoping to get lucky. Tonight he wonders if he ever will. The old anger creeps into his chest.

He stops, throws his head back and silently demands of the heavens, How long will I be punished?

There is no answer.

People bump into him as they hurry by, cursing as they go. “Silent Night” blares from the store behind him. Exhaling deeply, he blows white vapor toward the stars. No. He won’t stop searching for her. Not until the day he dies.

And then, for the first time in his long-lived existence, his prayers are answered.

He has the sensation of being shot out of a cannon. His blood explodes through his veins and pounds in his ears. Dizzy, he can’t tell if his feet are still on the ground. The street noises become background static. Colors fuzz.

He sees only her.

Walking at a fast clip on the other side of the street is the flesh-and-body version of the woman in his dreams. Nightmares.

She stops to talk to an old man who lives on the streets. Putting a hand on the man’s shoulder, she points off in the distance toward the homeless shelter. When he balks, she vehemently shakes her head. It’s a cold night and she doesn’t want anyone out in it. Smiling, she watches the old man shuffle off in the direction of the shelter.

He is shocked to see the years on her, especially the curves where she once was athletic-slim. Her long ponytail has been reduced to a short bob cupping her chin. He wonders how different this woman is today, but when she tosses the hair out of her eyes, he sees the confidence of old, and he smiles. She hasn’t changed, at least not in the ways that matter.

Somehow, she senses him. Does she feel the heat from his stare? Slowly, she turns. Across the busy street, her eyes lock onto his. With the golden glow of the lamplight catching like flames in the strands of her blond hair, she is more angelic than he remembered. And when she smiles?

Lord help him, when she smiles, she is even more beautiful than she’d been the night he killed her.

Holiday Traditions

2011-12-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ♫♪♫♪ Okay, not so much here in Ohio. In fact, the news people just informed us that this year alone Ohio received 69 inches of rain, making it the wettest year ever for us Ohioans. But it's December and my tree is up and so I sing that song.

I know not everyone celebrates Christmas, per se, but I think most people celebrate the holiday season in some way. And I'm betting that most people have some sort of tradition, something they do year in and year out in December that marks the holiday as something special.

For the Cullen Clan, we do a lot of things. There's the Annual Cookie Baking, which always stresses me out because everyone wants their favorite and there's NO WAY we can eat all thosecookies without looking like the Michelin man in January. Then there's the Putting Up of the Tree which entails lots and lots of boxes and lots of trips up and down the basement stairs.

But I think my most favorite tradition is the Buying of the Ornaments. Since we were married, oh so long ago, my husband and I have bought an ornament each year for each other. The ornament entails much thought and planning because it has to be the right ornament. It can't be something plucked off the shelf. It has to have meaning for both of us. As each child came along, the tradition grew and now we have enough ornaments to fill several trees.

Each year we pull out our boxes and we unwrap the ornaments and we reminisce about the past. You won't find a simple red or green ball on our tree. No, our tree is filled with Spongebob Squarepants and Star Wars figurines and Matchbox cars and American Girl Doll replicas. Each and every ornament means something to us.

My husband and I always said that when the kids move out they can take their ornaments with them to start their own trees. But, you know, I'm starting to rethink that. I think I might keep them to remember.

So what is your favorite holiday tradition?

ps - My paranormal romance, Her Dark Knight, released last week. If you like a hunky Knight Templar and a touching love story that spans seven-hundred-years, check it out.

Bouncing Back Better

2011-12-05T11:10:00.000-05:00

It took a rejection to teach me about worldbuilding. Well, that wasn’t the only thing this particular rejection taught me, but it was one major thing. I thought that because my books take place in present day and in my home state, what did I need to build? Um, I learned the hard way I was wrong. Yeah, I said it. The good news is that I learned an important lesson: Every story requires worldbuilding. Yes, I said EVERY story. Even a little short about present day. Why? Because the world of characters is different from your world or mine.

The Rejection took place several years ago, and involved a different twist on vampires. The problem I ran into was that there are certain expectations about vampires that have to be met, no matter how unusual or cool my new twist was. I didn’t fulfill those expectations. No, vampires don’t have to turn to dust in the sun, but they do need a creep factor that I neglected to show my readers. I’d done a lot of research on vampires, then went my own way. I thought I’d nailed the story, but I missed the tangible bits and pieces that grab the reader and make her (or him) feel part of the story. This, my friends, is worldbuilding. It isn’t just making up a new government system, or devising a new set of rules for vampires. It’s figuring out the home where your characters live, the area where they work, the deep areas of their emotions they would never show the world. How creepy—or sweet—your characters are. These are in every work of fiction, and they are important building blocks.

For instance, I am horrible about descriptions. I can write them just fine, I just don’t. Why? I don’t like reading a lot of description. And there’s the make-or-break phrase: “A lot of “. My readers don’t need pages and pages of description either, but they do need enough to ground them in the story. My mistake was not giving them that grounding. I learned the hard way that a writer has to give her readers strong details to allow them to picture of the characters, the surroundings, and even the emotions the characters feel—and not the few crumbs I threw out. Ack! What an eye-opener!

I went on to learn about advanced writing craft. I found some great teachers and great books and spent a couple of years learning and practicing writing. Has it been worth the effort? I think so. A friend says I write 1,000 times better than I used to. I don’t see how that’s possible. The most anything can improve is 100%, after all. But yeah, sometimes we just have to take the time to learn and grow—and then, hopefully, take the world by storm.

Have you ever taken time out to learn and grow? Is there a time when you should have? Would you like to take time out, but it isn’t feasible?

Have a great week!

Cheryel

www.cheryelhutton.com

What Are Your Worlds Like?

2011-12-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

Worldbuilding. What an intriguing word. Just the sound of it makes me feel omniscient, all-powering, and well, a bit goddess-like. But oh, how wrong I am!

When I think of worldbuilding, I tend to think of faraway planets, lost galaxies and lands lost in a different time. But worldbuilding isn’t restricted to those places. In fact, worldbuilding can exist in the present. A world built within our own sometimes boring world.

For instance, I write paranormal erotic romance. Most of my books are set in the here and now, right under our noses and based in contemporary time with today’s verbiage and surroundings. But I’m still worldbuilding.

There’s a catch, you see. I take the world and flip it on its side. Is it still happening right now? Yes. But is it worldbuilding? You betcha.

Consider a world where shifters walk among us. Although they may bump shoulders with a normal human on the street, they are a part of a subculture, a hidden society all its own. Do they live in our world? Or do they inhabit a world I created for them? The answer is both.

But let me ask you. Don’t all of us build our own worlds, even sub-worlds for our lives? People join specific groups and, thus, form another world, another reality, within their “regular” world. My worlds include the world surrounding my life as a wife and a mother. Yet my other world is the one where my wife-mom world gets put on the backburner, sometimes even forgotten, as I step into the world of writer. The only difference between the worlds everyone creates and the worlds created by writers is that writers get to make all the rules. Of course, that’s the part I enjoy the most!

So, tell me. What are your worlds like?

Beverly - www.beverlyrae.com

Welcome to my world...

2011-12-02T17:52:00.011-05:00

Come and sit a spell. ;)

I think that's the thing about paranormal stories that both entices and frustrates me to no end. The whole concept of 'world-building'. It can be a tricky proposition, to say the least.

"But..." the novice might ask. "Why does it matter? Why can't you just make it up as you go along?"

Seriously, that would be great. But if I get something wrong, or change mid-stream, it wouldn't make sense. Yes, I'm talking about my own particular paranormal world where humans live side-by-side with descendants of gods and humans, with demons thrown in for good... uh, bad measure.

I write about characters who can speak to the dead; change into animals; read minds; see the future; and draw crime scenes before the criminal sets a foot out the door. I can pretty much go wherever my slightly bent imagination takes me. Right?

Uh. No.

If my world doesn't make sense to my readers -- yes, setting aside the demons and ancient prophet driving a Hummer -- then they won't keep reading. Every world, no matter how make-believe, has to have it's own set of rules. It's own points of logic and order. I can try to circumvent the rules, but readers would catch it. Fast. And they'd just as quickly write a snippy review and/or refuse to buy any of my stories ever again. If a writer loses their audience, there's not much point to putting it out there. In that case, it's better to resume hide the pages under the bed. ;)

Yes, I make up my own world. My universe co-exists within the sedate, blandness of 'real' life. But I still have to follow certain protocol: Demons are born evil, but can choose otherwise. Shapeshifters are the black sheep -- no pun intended -- of the demigod-like family. Knowing the future does not necessarily ensure a happy life. Things can still suck. Royally.

Luckily, my rules also include the concepts of everlasting love... hot heroes who are completely monogamous.... happy endings... and heroines who can kick ass. ;) It's a fun and slightly scary place, but I love it here. There's so much to learn.

What's your world like?

~~Meg Allison
Indulge your senses...
http://www.megallisonauthor.com

13 Things That Did Not Happen In Claustrophobic Christmas

2011-12-01T09:43:00.000-05:00

13 Things That Would Have Made It Even Harder for Darcy and James to Get Their Romance On

My latest Samhain release doesn’t have anything paranormal in it, I'm embarrassed to admit. It's the tale of snow-crossed lovers stuck in a holiday traffic jam on the interstate. I know, I know, how can you make a sexy situation out of a traffic jam?? Well, let's just say it was cold and they needed to cuddle together for body heat.

Anyway, a reader / Meankitty fan emailed me to say the book would have been a lot funnier if one of the protagonists had been travelling with a bad cat. Yes, yes it would have. But would I have been able to make it a sexy romance? I'm not so sure.

So here's a list of 13 things that would have seriously challenged to my ability to make this traffic jam tale romantic. (Meankitty helped make this list.)

1) One of the protagonists was travelling with a bad cat.

2) One of the protagonists was travelling with a bad cat...and the other was travelling with a bad dog.

3) One of the protagonists was travelling with a bad cat...and the other was travelling with a bad dog who had recently been sprayed by a skunk.

4) One of the protagonists was travelling with a bad cat...and the other was travelling with a bad dog who had recently been sprayed by a skunk and also had diarrhea.

5) One of the protagonists was travelling with a cat...and the other was travelling with a bad dog with diarrhea who had recently been sprayed by a skunk and it was not just any dog but a Saint Bernard.

6) One of the protagonists was travelling with a cat...and the other was travelling with a bad dog with diarrhea who had recently been sprayed by a skunk and it was not just any dog but a Saint Bernard. Also, the Saint Bernard was named "Dumb-ass."

7) One of the protagonists was travelling with a cat...and the other was travelling with a bad Saint Bernard with diarrhea, Dumb-ass, who had recently been sprayed by a skunk, and all of a sudden, because the protagonists were being romantic instead of paying attention, Dumb-ass escaped from the car.

8) One of the protagonists was travelling with a cat...and the other was travelling with a bad Saint Bernard with diarrhea, Dumb-ass, who had recently been sprayed by a skunk, and all of a sudden, because the protagonists were being romantic instead of paying attention, Dumb-ass escaped from the car and ran across the road, where he jumped in the open window of a police cruiser.

9) One of the protagonists was travelling with a cat...and the other was travelling with a bad Saint Bernard with diarrhea, Dumb-ass, who had recently been sprayed by a skunk, and all of a sudden, because the protagonists were being romantic instead of paying attention, Dumb-ass escaped from the car and ran across the road, where he jumped in the open window of a police cruiser and started homping the policeman.

10) One of the protagonists was travelling with a wonderful cat...and the other was travelling with a bad Saint Bernard with diarrhea, Dumb-ass, who had recently been sprayed by a skunk, and all of a sudden, because the protagonists were being romantic instead of paying attention, Dumb-ass escaped from the car andran across the road, where he jumped in the open window of a police cruiser and started homping the policeman. When the protagonists went after the dog, the policeman thought it was a set-up and whipped out a gun.

11) One of the protagonists was travelling with a lovely cat...and the other was travelling with a bad Saint Bernard with diarrhea, Dumb-ass, who had recently been sprayed by a skunk, and all of a sudden, because the protagonists were being romantic instead of paying attention, Dumb-ass escaped from the car andran across the road, where he jumped in the open window of a police cruiser and started homping the policeman. When the protagonists went after the dog, the policeman thought it was a set-up and whipped out a gun. He arrested the protagonists for public indecency and arrested the dog for assault and battery and...other stuff.

12) One of the protagonists was travelling with an oh so well behaved cat...and the other was travelling with a bad Saint Bernard with diarrhea, Dumb-ass, who had recently been sprayed by a skunk, and all of a sudden, because the protagonists were being romantic instead of paying attention, Dumb-ass escaped from the car andran across the road, where he jumped in the open window of a police cruiser and started homping the policeman. When the protagonists went after the dog, the policeman thought it was a set-up and whipped out a gun. He arrested the protagonists for public indecency and arrested the dog for assault and battery and...other stuff. Their brief stay in the county lockup fostered great resentment in the protagonists for one another, as each blamed the other for having the great idea to pass the time in the traffic jam with some sexxy sexxy, and they never spoke to each other again.

13) One of the protagonists was travelling with a very smart cat...who cleverly hissed at spat at the dog-owner until the romance was nipped in the bud before any of that crap happened. But it was a pretty good story about a cat and her human, in the end.

If you'd like to see how the story ACTUALLY went, you can check it out at my website, where there are buy links and the first chapter is free. Neither Darcy nor James has a pet :).

So, would you read Meankitty's version of the story? Would it be romantic?

Jody W. (w/a Ellie Marvel)
Claustrophobic Christmas - November 2011. All ice will melt.
www.elliemarvel.com * www.meankitty.com

Romance in Space - Same as On Earth, Only Way Cooler!

2011-11-28T06:00:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since I checked in here. My apologies. I've been wreaking havoc all over the place, working on new projects and celebrating a couple of new releases. Finally! I know it's been a while since there's been new material from me out and about. I'm glad to finally end the long dry spell.

Just lately, I've had a number of romances in futuristic space-faring settings release. First, a new novel that starts a brand new trilogy from Samhain Publishing, called HIDDEN TALENT. It released in ebook on October 25th and will be in print sometime next year. The second book in the series is titled TALENT FOR TROUBLE and the third will be called SHY TALENT. I anticipate those being released sometime next year, but will have more on exact dates when I get them.

HIDDEN TALENT is based on the premise that in the future, humans have developed and utilized certain kinds of psychic Talents. In some parts of the galaxy, gifted people share their strengths on a Council of those with Talent who rule over a group of planets. In other parts, people with Talent are hunted for their power. Jeri, the heroine of this story is on the run from one such planet and she crosses paths with a StarLord, Micah, who is on a covert mission for the Council. He recognizes her abilities and takes her with him aboard his starship.

What happens then is an education for the shy woman who grew up very repressed by Council standards. Aboard the good ship Circe, pleasure is shared freely in pairs or multiples as a way to enhance and recharge Talent. Micah teaches her all about her abilities and how to harness them. He never bargained on falling in love with the innocent Jeri, but there it is. They race to help an agricultural world under attack from space and together, they learn that they are more powerful than either one is alone.

KING OF SWORDS has also been rereleased in ebook formats. It is the first story in the Arcana series of novellas that ties into my Jit'suku Chronicles. Other books in the series include the Sons of Amber: Ezekiel & Michael. This story had been previously released as part of an anthology called FORTUNE'S FOOL, a couple of years ago from Phaze. That anthology is out of print now, so I'm reissuing this story in preparation for releasing the other stories in the series.

KING OF SWORDS is set in the Jit'suku universe, a few hundred years before the Sons of Amber stories. I anticipate having a number of related books set in this world, creating a generational saga that follows the consequences of human tinkering with soldiers' DNA, making them Enhanced, better than they were before and more dangerous to both races.

This particular story introduces a little bar on a space station called The Rabbit Hole, where information is passed back and forth to a network of spies working for the good of humanity. When aliens attack and try to subdue the station, it's up to a couple of retired soldiers turned spies and a clairvoyant civilian woman to repell the invaders. She teams up with one Enhanced soldier in particular. Together can they retake the station and find a love that will last for all time?

The second Arcana story is called KING OF CUPS and will be out in December. It follows the proprietor of The Rabbit Hole and his clairvoyant card dealer on an adventure into Jit'suku space. Few who have gone there have ever returned. They find themselves on an adventure of epic proportions simply by tryinig to help someone out of a jam. Trapped aboard an alien spaceship, they can no longer deny the attraction that has raged between them for months. Can they overcome their differences and find a solution to an intergalactic problem at the same time?

That takes me to the end of the year, but I have a lot more planned for 2012, so stay tuned! :)

Earth of the Future?

2011-11-27T11:14:00.007-05:00

When I think of the future I think about how different the landscape will be. I mean, if you think about it the world is constantly changing.

I think this really hit home for me because last year at this time we had snow and we were below zero for temperature (I'm sorry my temperature readings are going to be in Celsius, I am Canadian. LOL!) and currently it's 15 degrees. We have no snow, in fact it's raining. I've been on this Earth for thirty some odd years and I don't ever remember a November like this.

At all.

Usually I dread November. It's the first kiss of winter, but this November has been ... nice. So it got me thinking, what is the weather of the future going to be like?

I mean, they found frozen palm trees in Antarctica. Was Antarctica a paradise much like the Caribbean or Hawaii?

I mean, look at how our glaciers are receding.

This is the Athabasca glacier in Alberta (which I get to go see this summer). Just look at how much it's receded in the last nineteen years.

Even Niagara Falls is on it's own progression of recession.

Crazy eh?

I guess that's why I've always been curious on people's ideas about how the world will change. I remember being awed by the possibility of 2010 a Space Odyssey and the Jupiter turning into another Sun so that Earth would no longer be in darkness. Think about how the world would change then. I was also obsessed with post apocalyptic novels, still am actually, and the landscape of the world after a devastating war. The first one I can remember reading was John Wyndham's The Chrysalids.

The future has always intrigued me, but I'm looking towards the changing landscapes, the shifting of plates and environmental aspects.

What do you think the Earth will look like in the next century?

The Future of Myth

2011-11-25T08:31:00.003-05:00

When I remember to blog, I usually blog about mythology. What is mythology but stories about how mankind has dealt with the big picture questions - Who am I? How did I get here? Why am I here? Where am I going?

Science insists that we crawled from primordial ooze. Various mythologies, however, give us beautiful accounts of the creation of man by gods and goddesses - all of which sound way better than evolving from bog bacteria. But those creation stories and our faith in them can seem very foolish in the face of the Almighty Scientific Fact.

What place, then, will mythology have in the future? Will there be room for stories about the big questions of humanity as anything other than something at which people far more educated in facts can point and laugh for our primitive beliefs and thought processes?

Will there be new gods and goddesses? New pantheons? New heroic sagas? Or are we at a place now where there is nothing new, only old stories and old gods that get recycled and retold for each new generation?

If that's the fate of our myths, our gods, then perhaps the new myths will be metaphors that turn the old gods new again. We will find new heroes who echo Hercules and Beowulf from a perspective we can't yet see. I hope the old stories will always be useful, will always teach us that there are things more powerful than mere facts. And I hope that our new myths reflect a better world.

Thanksgiving - What will it look like in the future?

2011-11-24T00:02:00.000-05:00

While the American holiday of Thanksgiving has been celebrated from Colonial times, it wasn’t until the American Civil War that President Abraham Lincoln decreed it would be each year in November. When the first European settlers landed in the New World in Massachusetts Bay, they stayed in their ship for the winter – where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and disease. Scurvy is caused by a lack of Vitamin C, and British sailors would be given limes in later years – hence the term “limey” to refer to a British navy man.

Or, alternatively, to a really scary British father looking for his daughter's killer, but I digress...

According to many, the first Thanksgiving festival was held in 1621 as decreed by the Governor, William Bradford. The festival lasted for three days and is a fall harvest festival. Alternatively, some have argued that the festival in 1621 was not the first Thanksgiving on American soil, but that Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilé held the first such festival on American soil.

(Pedro Menéndez de Avilé)

Others say it was in December of 1619. Native American peoples object to the celebration and portrayal of the holiday, saying that it glosses over the violence and bloodshed between the European settlers and the indigenous population already living here.

Regardless of the exact lineage of the holiday in America, it is certainly true that Harvest Festivals have occurred since ancient times. While many of the trappings of ancient celebrations have not survived to present day, gathering around a family table with our loved ones to celebrate with a large meal is something likely to continue. How might it look in a hundred years?

Assuming we don’t suffer an environmental cataclysm, it’s probably safe to say we will have turkeys. I think, though, that due to the rising population of people of Mexican descent, we will probably have other dishes incorporated into the traditional fare. Perhaps Turkey with Molé Sauce (composed of chocolate and chili and spices) will be on the traditional table of the future. It is probable that other sources of protein will become more popular, particularly as populations rise; soy is a viable and sustainable alternative for protein. Tofurky is a brand of today; will we have Tofurkey on the traditional table of the future? (My husband shouts “No!” in a resounding voice, but people a hundred years from now will see food differently and might not be as stuck on having meat at every meal.)

Mashed potatoes are a stable item in traditional Thanksgiving meals, but the starch place on the table is taken up by bananas in a large portion of the world (over 50% of the population of the earth consider the banana to be a staple food). In the U.S., the common “banana” is the Cavendish variety, and these trees have suffered a cataclysmic blight and may well be extinct in the next ten years. This will lead the American consumer to have to select a different banana from the over 500 types available – and it’s possible that one might “take off” as the next starch in our diet. Plantains instead of mashed potatoes might grace the table of the future.

How will we prepare the meal of the future? As fossil fuel prices continue to rise and reserves to fall, it’s probable that what we take for granted in terms of transportation today (trucks and trains, ocean liners and air freight) will not look that way in the future. As the localvore movement expands (placing a strong focus on foods purchased from local farmers), regionalization of the Thanksgiving menu is likely to occur. Rather than the homogenization of the menu, we might have regional favorites – beef in the upper Midwest, fish on the coasts, etc.

One thing uniquely American is the pumpkin. Found in the New World by the settlers, it’s become ubiquitous and a symbol of Thanksgiving and of Autumn (who has seen Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latté?), and as such it’s likely to continue. But with rising obesity rates in the American population, will we continue to indulge in pie?

I hope, since I love pumpkin pie, that we don’t take it off the table but instead change how we relate to the dinner itself. Rather than settle on the couch afterward to watch a football game, what if we started a tradition of walking? Perhaps the Thanksgiving of the future will have elements more like the “Trick or Treat” of Halloween where folks wander from house to house, sharing a beverage and conversation.

There’s another angle we haven’t considered yet, and that’s whether or not we’ll even be ON this planet in a hundred years. Richard Branson is hard at work, developing his in-space hotel, and President Obama has spoken of revitalizing the space program and missions to the moon, Mars, and the International Space station. It’s entirely probable that humans will be in space in a hundred years, so our Thanksgiving meals might be in small packets to avoid mucking up the zero-gravity space we’re living in. Vegetables might be raised in hydroponics on a space station or even a Moon colony. Your turkey might even come from a farm on the Sea of Tranquility (the site of the first moon landing in 1969).

Whatever the tradition, I think some form of celebration of the harvest will continue long into the future. I hope that you have your own traditions and, if not, that you decide this year to start them. After all, “First Annual” is a perfectly fine title for a tradition that could have a long, long lineage.

May you have much to be thankful for and always remember to be grateful.

References:

History .com, “Thanksgiving” A&E Television Networks, 1996-2011, http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/ Accessed 11/21/2011

Crosta, Peter, “What Is Scurvy? What Causes Scurvy?” MNT (Medical News Today),
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155758.php Accessed 11/21/2011

To Dream of Electric Sheep

2011-11-21T02:37:00.001-05:00

Greetings, Kittens!

I grew up on science fiction and fantasy and have loved them both since before I could read. My mother would come home with bags of books from the library and I would get to go through them and pick out the covers I liked. She’d read me the blurbs and explain the story and we’d decide which one to start first. Throughout her reading, I would come back and get chapter updates, or what at four years old I thought was chapter by chapter, and I got to experience the twist and turns of faraway worlds and duplicitous human nature.

I learned to read later that same year, but I got those updates until I was eight and could read the same books on my own. By then, I knew the kinds of worlds that waited for me and I couldn’t wait. Much to my delight it would only get better, as sub-genres grew and spawned sub-genres of their own. Cross-genre works would further open the field, and by the time I would start publishing some twenty plus years later, the doors of what could be done would be thrown wide open.

Despite my absolute love of Cyberpunk and its subgenres Biopunk and Nanopunk, I don’t embrace the dystopian mindset of technology as our downfall. Blame or credit Star Trek as you will, but I have the fundamental belief that technological advancement, is human advancement. And as it has for my lifetime so far, technology will continue to make things easier, make the world smaller and make democracy a truer force.

The terms I’ve come across to embody that belief are NeoCyberpunk and Cyberprep, but I use Futurist Paranormal to describe my genre. My stories brim with shifters, psychics, ghost and vampires, all set in near-future worlds. The open acknowledgement of the supernatural and acceptance of possibilities, directly results in more advanced day to day technology. It has touches of cyberpunk and biopunk, with the pervasiveness of the technology and biological implants/manipulation, but the technology has merely moved us forward, often for the better. The worlds still have their issues, but the society has clearly embraced scientific advancement on all fronts.

That’s not to say I don’t have a story or three in the back of my head that's dark and harsh. I love the post-apocalyptic genre as well, and I have my fair share of catastrophic plotlines to come. There’s just something darkly beautiful about watching humanity persevere against the odds. But when it comes to the prediction of technology and its applications, I feel that as long as communication tech keeps us informed, and science is tempered by ethics, we’re more than on track to live better, rather than suffer at the hands of our own genius.

I’m happy to admit that I didn’t set out to write futurist fiction. I didn’t even originally recognize that I’d done so. It came to me as a logical extension of preternatural minds in the tech field, able to advance unchecked. I realized the habit only after seeing it written about me by a reviewer. I sat back and realized that every single story done, and all of those in queue at the time, had the same futurist bent. It just goes to show, we write what we’re drawn to and can’t escape the things we love and the journeys that define our worldview.

What about all of you? What subgenres do you draw from again and again within your work? What are your thoughts on future tech and where it will take us?

*The title of this post is from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick . The book is the basis for movie Blade Runner. The image is from Tokyocypberpunk.com

At the Beginning...

2011-11-20T01:23:00.008-05:00

Whenever someone talks about futuristic fiction I always find myself turning back to the classics - both in movie and in books. Here's a few of my favs that I think you'll agree are some of the best when talking about the future.

One of the first ones that comes to mind is the classic movie Metropolis - if you haven't heard, this year they released a new version of the film finally pieced together after years of retrieving bits cut out after the initial showing. Paired with a silent movie soundtrack it's easily the best version around. I look at the images and just wonder how, back before World War II, how these minds came up with these visions of the future.

I should point out that if you can get your hands on the original Metropolis novel, it's well worth reading. It might seem a bit dry and preachy for the present-day but the language is a powerful reminder of how much words matter. And the heart!

The next movie that comes to mind is a version of H.G. Wells' "Things To Come" - dealing with a futuristic version of the world that starts off much like our own but takes a drastic twist after what, for them, is World War Two and projects a new society far into the future. Wells actually wrote the screenplay for this movie based on his book and it gives us images that may seem familar today but were extraordinary for 1936.

And last, but no means least, let's remember The Time Machine. Based on another H.G. Wells novel, originally published in 1895, it extrapolates a world where once again war takes over - but society eventually evolves into a kinder, gentler version - as long as you don't look too closely. The movie was released in 1960 with Rod Taylor and became an instant classic. Taylor's pretty easy on the eyes too, I must admit.

If you've never read the original novels I encourage you to get thee hence to a bookstore or grab the ebook copies for some faboo reading. These classic novels show a version of the future that came eerily close to the truth and shows the depth of the human imagination.

Are we headed for a Hunger Games in our future or a Mad Max? Are we going to end up in the dysfunctional world of Logan's Run or the idealistic world of Star Trek? Who knows, but by looking into our past we might just see some of the future.

Back to the Future, Again and Again

2011-11-19T00:27:00.003-05:00

Rather than give you my thoughts on futuristic fiction, I thought it'd be more fun to post some. Happy tomorrow!

Thanksgiving, Philcon, and Fire!

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

Yes, next week is Thanksgiving. I have SO MUCH to be thankful for this year: a new job that actually pays like a professional (which helped us get another car so that we have two working vehicles!), an AGENT, who I am so excited to be working with. My son comes home last week with a Student of the Month award, this week report cards and HONOR ROLL. Things are coming up roses.

And my gift to myself for signing with an agent came today - a shiny new Kindle Fire. I am not usually a new adopter, but in this case I had been waiting for a tablet ereader. This is like a mini iPad. I am in serious love. All the books I bought for my old Kindle are there, plus I can check email, facebook, surf the web, watch Netflix (yes I can!). Now it's not 3G, so I have to be connected to a wi-fi hotspot (which my phone happens to have, if I'm really desperate for wi-fi), which would have jacked up the price to an iPad level, but this thing is AWESOME. My old Kindle will live a respectful retirement in my son's care. After the week he's having, I think he deserves it.

Finally, this weekend is Philcon. The annual SF/F convention of Philadelphia, which is actually held in Cherry Hill, NJ. I am on the guest list, and here is my schedule.

Sat 10:00 AM in Plaza III (Three) (1 hour)
THE EVOLUTION OF YOUNG ADULT FICTION (842)

[Panelists: Annette Curtis Klause (mod), Jonathan Maberry, Christine
Norris, Cory Doctorow]

What is now allowed in YA fiction that wasn't allowed in the past?
What elements have remained the same

Sat 9:00 PM in Plaza III (Three) (1 hour)
HAMMERING DOWN THE EXPOSITORY LUMP. (823)

[Panelists: Michael F. Flynn (mod), Christine Norris, Peter
Prellwitz, Alison Campbell-Wise]

It is a characteristic of bad science fiction that, after some brief
attempt to hook the reader's attention, the author steps in for "And
now a history of the world up to this point," stops the story cold,
and lectures for several pages. It IS sometimes necessary to fill in
more background in a science fiction story than in a mainstream one,
but how do you do it with a little more flair (and readability) than
by mere lecture

Sun 11:00 AM in Crystal Ballroom Two (1 hour)
HARRY POTTER: THE BOY WHO KEEPS ON LIVING... (837)

[Panelists: Christine Norris (mod), Gail Z. Martin, Marvin Kaye,
Michael A. Ventrella, Susan Toker]

The Battle of Hogwarts has been fought, the Dark Lord defeated, and
the books, movies, web pages, etc. are still going strong. Discuss
the future of the HP universe, and your favorite memories of it

Extremely light,I know. And now that they've changed the time of my son's playoff football game, I will not be at the exposition panel. But I'll be around the con, in the dealer's room signing books and crashing other people's panels and causing general mayhem. Come by if you're in the neighborhood - it's a nice, relaxing con and we have fun.

Happy Turkey Day!

How to Hook a Narrative Hook – a workshop with Jody Lynn Nye

2011-11-15T14:58:00.001-05:00

Some years ago, someone told me that the author Louis L’Amour told good stories. Being young and dumb, and therefore convinced I knew everything, I went to the library to prove them wrong. I found a startlingly large collection of beautifully-bound leather books, the collected works of Mr. L’Amour. Undaunted, I pulled one grumpily off the shelf and sat down at a nearby table to prove that he couldn’t “hook” me as a reader.

When I came up for air, I was on page twenty-two.

What happened?

The “narrative hook” is what happened. When you induce the reader to turn the page, because they just have to find out what happens next, then you have successfully crafted a narrative hook. It’s that “certain something” writers can do, and do on purpose, that makes their work memorable and compelling. Jody Lynn Nye is one such author.

With more than 40 books and over 100 short stories to her credit, not to mention collaborating with legends like Robert Asprin, Anne McCaffrey, and many others, Ms. Nye in a perfect position to teach us about writing in general and narrative hooks in particular. Evanston Writers Workshop is pleased to announce that Ms. Nye will be presenting for us on Saturday, December 10th, at the Wilmette Public Library just north of Chicago, Illinois. If you are nearby, we invite you to join us. Dues-Paid Evanston Writers Workshop members are only $20 (membership has its privileges and we'd love you to join us!). (Your contribution will offset the cost for the space and an honorarium). Non-Members are only $35.00.

To register, please visit our Events page on our main website.

To whet your appetite, I’d like to share a wonderful interview with Ms. Nye crafted by my fellow Beyond the Veil author Jean Marie Ward. Jean Marie has a long career interviewing some of fiction’s brightest starts and is an accomplished author herself. If you like what you see in the interview, consider coming on the 10th to meet Ms. Nye in person. If it’s not within reach, do please stop by Jean Marie’s interview and let her know we sent you.

And when you have a moment, check out Louis L’Amour. You’ll be glad you did. I promise.

Visit from My 100-Year-Old Self

2011-11-14T02:35:00.007-05:00

Since we are talking about the future, I borrowed the idea from Brad Paisley’s song, “Letter to Me” and had my 100-year-old self visit present-day me.

First off, Kimberley, don’t get freaked out. This really is what you are going to look like in the year 2065. Smokin’ hot, right?

And no, I am not visiting you from the Great Beyond. I’m still alive, thank you very much. Time travel is not such a big deal from my side of things.

So…why have I travelled sixty odd years to see you? Well Kimbo, you need a little guidance on this journey of ours. That email you keep staring at like it's a death sentence is liable to create stress that could sabotage our full life. Trust me, you don’t get to be this smokin’ hot by carrying stress baggage day-in-day-out.

My first piece of advice?

Dump the baggage. It’s heavy, ugly, outdated and gives you wrinkles. Let it go. Find your bliss instead. Work at being happy and you will, well, be happy. And so will I.

On that note, it is awesome to be wealthy and famous (more on that later) but you can’t place a value on love. Make sure your family and friends know how much you care. Nothing is more important than love. Not one thing. Especially not that email. Stop looking at it!

From this side of the journey, time is measured in days, not years. Each day is a gift and I’ll slap you silly if you squander your gifts! Get up each morning, put your big girl panties on, and face the day with a smile. Smiling works wonders.

But don’t keep things bottled up, either. Biting your tongue only gives you a sore tongue and a future full of trouble. Remember the melt-down at Targas Eight? Um, sorry. No you wouldn’t remember that since it will happen in 2045. The point is: Arm yourself with love, flood your heart with compassion, and speak your mind. Always.

Be strong. Living for over a century is not for the weak of heart. Hell will come at you when you least expect it, but know that God will be there too. He’ll send angels on earth to comfort you. He always has. And you will survive. Even hell has its limits.

Keep your faith strong. Do you think God would have given us this crazy butt-kicking writing dream slash talent if He didn’t expect us to use it? Would I have made it on the list of Intergalactic Wordsmith Masters if I didn’t believe I could? Believe, woman. Don’t let the fools convince you that you won’t make it. I may be gritty and sassy, but I assure you, I am no fool.

Which leads us to today. Stop fretting over that rejection. Sweet Heaven, you’re going to get at least a thousand of them, might as well make some peace with those bad boys. Each rejection moves you closer to becoming the writer you always wanted to be. Listen to the naysayers, but don’t let them wallop you. Shield our dream in a safe place so that we can succeed.

And believe me, we DO succeed. Gotta run. My broadcast interview is on Mars today and afterwards I’m taking the great-grandbabies for triple-decker chocolate sundaes. Great things, like dark chocolate, never go out of style.

Kisses.

Readers: What would 100-Year-Old YOU tell yourself?

http://kimberleytroutte.com/

Cool Nights, Hot Reads! Win a Free Book!

2011-11-13T01:41:00.010-05:00

Darkness falls a little sooner and the evening breeze has a delicious chill. The holidays aren't quite here yet. It's like the calm before the storm. The perfect time to cuddle up with a cup of hot chocolate and good book. My newest release, THE ORDER OF CHAOS is up for grabs. Stop by my website and blog at www.RhondaLPrint.com and list yourself as a follower today for a chance to win a free copy. And just to whet your appetite, here's a little bite of THE ORDER OF CHAOS.

Blurb:

One man possessed her heart. The other possessed her soul.

Both had betrayed her.

Leah Wolfe, a federal agent for SINS, Supernatural Investigations of Non-Human Species is determined to move on with her life and master her own gifts, including the ability to speak to the souls of the dead. Her ex-fiancé, Joaquin Wildhorse, was unable to accept her gifts and gave himself to another. Ian Nightwalker was more than willing to soothe her broken heart and use her abilities to seek vengeance on his enemies.

With a prominent member of The Marquis, the vampire ruling council, intent of coming to Leah’s hometown, the threat of Chaos touching everyone she loves brings her down a path that leads to Joaquin and Ian once again.

Excerpt:

He turned me around and melted me with a look that skimmed me from the top of my head to the toes of the stiletto heels that I still wore. I started to kick the shoes off but he stopped me. “Leave those on.” His voice grew deeper, sultry.
I did a little spin that would make any runway model proud. He grabbed me and tossed me onto the bed while we laughed. “Yes, definitely keep the shoes on.”
“You owe me.” I reminded him.
He stripped off my jeans and flipped me onto my stomach. He began caressing my neck, my shoulders, then further south; alternating between gentle sweeps of his hands and a firmer kneading motion that sprang Goosebumps from my body. I felt the bra strap come undone before his hands slid to the flimsy piece of elastic of my panties. His fingers trailed them down my legs until he removed them completely. Then those magic fingers began caressing their way up my legs, teasing the tender skin on the back of my knees and inner thighs. I heard the Velcro of my holster tear away and felt the weight of my pistol lift off my waist. “Nightstand.” He murmured knowing that I felt more secure if I knew where my weapons were. Then his mouth blazed molten lava on my thighs and I forgot all about weapons.

November, Turkeys and NaNoWriMo

2011-11-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

For those not in the writing business, November equals turkeys, Black Friday and football. For us writers, November also equals NaNoWriMo. Or, National Novel Writing Month.

What that means is that crazy writers (like me) vow to write an entire novel in one month. 50,000 words in 30 days. 1600 words a day. Its dirty, no-holds-barred writing. No editing, no polishing, simply writing.The purpose is to get a novel written. Not a pretty novel and definitely not a novel completely edited, but at least the framework is there.

I like to do it because it takes me back to the roots. To the time before I knew about "rules" and passive writing and those dreaded -ly words. When I wrote for the sheer joy of writing.

The problem is that we're nine days into it and already I'm waaaay behind on my word count. Not because I don't want to write. I actually am writing. Just not on my NaNo novel.

Years ago, when I first started doing NaNoWriMo I didn't have any other writing commitments. I could dedicate an entire month to one story and type until my heart was content. Now, things have changed. I have a story that is this close to being finished and this close to being sent to my editor. A finished novel has to take precedence over a barely-even-started novel.

So the NaNo story has been put on the back burner while priorities take place. But hey, I'm still writing and any kind of writing is better than no writing. Right?

Except the characters in the NaNo novel don't think so. They're a little ticked off at me right now.

So, all you authors out there, are you doing NaNo? If so, are you doing better than I am?

One Hundred Years of Amazing

2011-11-07T15:44:00.000-05:00

Telephone operator circa 1945

The future. I've thought a lot about the future, about what things are going to be like in 100 years. Logically, to do that we need to look at what life was like 100 years ago.

A century ago, in the USA, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory burned, taking the lives of 145 workers—mostly women—with it. This one event changed the way we thought about factories and led to reforms that benefit workers today. At the same time, women were struggling to gain the right to vote.

The Boy Scouts were founded in 1910. The Incan city of Machu Picchu was discovered in 1911. In 1912, the Titanic sank. The Model T automobile was spreading the luxury of driving to the masses. Electricity use was becoming widespread. Big changes, and bigger changes were on the horizon.

Today, the world has changed so much as to be unrecognizable to a person from the early 20th Century. In the 21st Century, the car is a necessity in most of the United States and a lot of the rest of the world. People tend to view electricity as a right. American women don't bother to vote, even though we've only had the right for 91 years.

The 20th and early 21st centuries have seen such amazing technological advances that some have speculated we had help from aliens from far away planets. While that idea intrigues me as a writer, as a science lover, I'm just thankful to have been born in a time of such forward thinking. I've seen so many things change, from typewriters to computers. From phones that required a human to physically switch the calls, to a phone I carry with me everywhere. Humankind has walked on the surface of the moon. We've learned to use the power of the atom. We have the ability to instantly communicate with anyone, anywhere there is an Internet connection.

Maybe one day we'll even learn how to live together in respect and peace.

I hope so.

Cheryel
www.cheryelhutton.com

The Future is Now: But How Will It Look?

2011-11-05T09:00:00.003-05:00

“Look to the future.”

What do you think of when you read that phrase? Do you think about what you’re doing this weekend or where your kids will go to college? Or do your thoughts go further into the future?

If so, do you think of flying cars? Perhaps you imagine a world without pain or war? How about a world where doctors are no longer needed (sorry, all you physicians) because no one ever gets ill or injured? A world of possibilities exists if you simply let your mind wander.

If your own imagination fails you, all you have to do is look to your favorite bookseller or television shows.

What about a world without death? Sound like Utopia? Try watching the television show, Torchwood. After seeing what could happen when people no longer die, where the population explosion escalates, and where people who fall ill are placed in incinerators and disposed of yet not really killed (You’ll have to watch the show to understand that concept), I’d rather embrace the concept of death.

What about a world filled with unimaginable technology? I grew up in the era when mobile phones (that’s the precursor to cell phones, kiddies) and CB radios were the big thing. Captain Kirk could talk to others using a small handheld devise, but who knew I’d live to see the day when I could talk, text, email, and web surf with a small handheld devise? What’s next? “Beam me up, Scotty”?

But what does the future entail for books? We’ve already taken the first step toward a paperless world. Bookstores are closing, in part because some of us, including myself, would rather read an eBook than a paperback. What’s the next step? Books written on a pill that you could swallow and then close your eyes and read?

What about authors? Will technology advance to the point where they’re no longer needed? Think about the advances made with movies. Actors are sometimes replaced with digitally created characters like in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. What if anyone could write a book simply by encoding specific ideas into a computer and having it spit out a work of fiction? I shudder at the idea.

Still, even if I tend to see the worst happening in the future, I’m an optimist at heart. I like to think that for every advance that may take away something I love, another advance will give me an even greater treasure.

The future is and always will be a product of the past. What we do today will become tomorrow’s history and the next day’s future. It’s up to us to make the future a good one.

Beverly - www.beverlyrae.com

About face...

2011-11-04T20:55:00.005-05:00

I've spent a lot of time over the past month looking back -- particularly at stories I've written over the last few years. I imagine something similar happens to most of us when a birthday roles around. ;) But, the theme this month is 'futurist fiction', so I really need to shift my focus the other way.

Honestly, I think that's for the best. You can revisit the past... mourn it... celebrate it, too... but that's as far as it should go. Sometimes it's just best to put it to rest and move forward. I think that's where I'll head now. Forward.

For now, I'll let my wonderful colleagues take on this topic with their usual insightful observations. I'll be watching on the sidelines. :)

~~Meg Allison

Indulge your senses...
http://www.megallisonauthor.com

New Release: A Way to a Dragon's Heart

2011-11-03T00:01:00.002-05:00

A Way To A Dragon's Heart
Xakara
ISBN 978-1-59578-878-8

Dragon Shifter Kryssa Drake works twenty-hour days, seven days a week racing toward a sabbatical and hiding from the dating world after a devastating break-up that left her questioning her sense of self. The highlight of her day is the two hour lunches spent listening to Near Human, Xander Luciano, co-owner of Luciano's Deli across the street, and living vicariously through his on-again, off-again relationship with Avian, Caleb James. Over the years and countless intimacies of their friendship, Kryssa has grown to love Xander and the idea of Xander and Caleb but ideas and potential are not enough to brave the pain of the past so soon.

Pastry Chef and Near Human, Xander Luciano, has spent the last two years trying to charm Kryssa out of her vow of a five year isolation following her break-up. He's spent that same two years sorting out his feelings for his college sweetheart, Caleb, and trying to figure out a way to pin the restless Avian down or to finally make peace with a few months of happiness at a time. When Caleb opens the pastry café they always dreamed about and invites him to become a partner, Xander sees the flicker of hope that maybe half of his dream is about to come true. When he's volunteered by Kryssa's brother and boss to assist her in her current projects as well as help her relax in his cabin up north, Xander thinks his persistence and culinary skills just might help him have it all.

Sometimes the only way to get a good man to settle down is to have a good woman help. And oft times the most direct way to a Dragon's heart is through her stomach.

Contains: Scaly sex, make-up sex, not quite breakup sex, all marinated in an M/F, M/M and M/M/F awesome sauce

Read An Excerpt Here

Buy Link

Xakara
www.xakara.com

Paranormal Romantics: THE DREAM by Rhonda Print

2011-10-30T11:37:00.000-05:00

Paranormal Romantics: THE DREAM by Rhonda Print: I awoke from the dream with a sharp intake of breath, sitting bolt upright in bed. Sweat beaded on my forehead and my eyes danced nervously ...

Guest Blogger-Julia Phillips Smith

2011-10-30T06:00:00.004-05:00

I'm honored to have Julia Phillips Smith on the blog here today. She's been a long time friend and advocate of all things author. She's been my cheering section for as long as I can remember and now I have the absolute pleasure to cheer for her.

Julia has a book coming out November 11, 2011. A self-pub title involving Vampires and since tomorrow is Halloween it's fitting to interview an author who writes in the genre.

Thanks for coming here, Julia!

Tell us about your upcoming release.

SAINT SANGUINUS is my debut novel which combines vampires with a Welsh Dark Ages historical setting, and a superhero origin story woven throughout for good measure.

What gave you the idea to write SAINT SANGUINUS?

If I go back a little ways, I've been a fan of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Count Saint-Germain series since I read my first taste of them, TEMPTING FATE (original publish date 1982,) when I lived in Toronto in the 90s. All of her books center around the constant need for an eternal being to relocate before the locals realize that the count never ages. The books are filled with all of the hassles of moving house, making arrangements for the house to be left to a faraway nephew in the future - which will be himself in a few generations - and I always loved the practical problems that Saint-Germain had to deal with, which get brushed aside in most vampire tales.

So my own story began with me wondering how it would feel to be a brand new vampire asked to consume the blood of men, when he'd been a man himself only days before.

Rather like the post-accidental-shooting car clean-up scene in Pulp Fiction, I love scenarios that aren't addressed as often.

Is there a sequel planned?

Definitely. In the superhero origin story category, SAINT SANGUINUS sets the stage for my main vampire character, Peredur, who will be called upon to use these new powers in upcoming showdowns. But Peredur isn't the only new vampire to rise from these pages. There's another one who many readers may feel takes them into the POV of a vampire in a way they've never encountered before.

Why Vampires?

I've been a fan of vampires since I was a small kid. I used to try to watch Dark Shadows, a gothic soap opera featuring vampire Barnabas Collins, although my mom would always switch it off. But I know I used to see it somehow.

When I was in junior high, a BBC version of Dracula completely captivated my cousins, my sister and me. It inspired us to write a script for our own vampire movie, for which we scouted locations and rehearsed without having any equipment to shoot it, whatsoever.

Then following high school I was the assistant director for a community theatre production of Dracula here in Halifax, where I got to audition child actors and direct my own transition scene pieces which held the audience's attention away from set changes on the main stage.

Meanwhile, I've been reading vampire tales, watching vampire films and TV series steadily all along.

Can you tell us a bit about your journey writing this piece?

My cousin used to urge me to write a vampire novel when I was working on gritty historical stories. She knew I had a vampire tale inside me, waiting to emerge. But nothing ever really came to me until I first decided to take up the challenge of doing NaNoWriMo.

I just started with that simple premise of going through the mental progression of being a human to being a vampire, and when the virtual starting pistol went off for the writing marathon, Peredur was born.

Also, I've always had a real affinity for the archetype of the Unknown Soldier. Perhaps having my birthday fall on Remembrance Day has something to do with it, I don't know. But just thinking of fallen warriors laying on their last battlefields really wrings my heart into shreds, so I used that as my jumping off point for Peredur and went from there.

What made you decided to pursue self-publication?

Two things. The simple advance of technology making it possible for writers to viably self-publish, along with the eruption in the popularity of e-readers is the greatest reason.

The second reason is my own personality. I'm someone who never watched Friends, but watched Hercules and Xena Warrior Princess religiously. Although people who know I went to film school assure me that Under the Tuscan Sun has gorgeous cinematography, I've still never seen it. But I have watched Bubba Ho-tep in a packed theatre with other cult film enthusiasts. I've always known my writing would never fit into the mold being purchased for the Big Six publishing houses. I had no idea there would ever be such a thing as indie self-publishing, but in retrospect, it's almost as though I've always been waiting for this development. I embrace it with joy.

You did an amazing trailer for this release, how did that come about?

I've always been a big reader, but my first love has definitely been film. I graduated from Ryerson University's film program in 1995 and was more focused on screenwriting and gathering film credits. However, financially I couldn't afford the whole apprenticing stage of gaining those credits. I really needed to keep my day job, so to stay in the telling-stories game, I switched over to novel writing, which turned into a decade-long learning curve. The way to tell screenwriting stories and the way to tell prose fiction stories is radically different.

In the meantime, I worked on several film and TV projects over the years, never losing my passion for my original medium of choice. I have several film projects rumbling around in the old noggin, and I used to say to myself, "I just need to find the right producer."

Meanwhile, who should show up at my writers' group but a woman who has her own production company. At last year's writers' retreat, we really hit it off. She suggested we do the book trailers, and I have to tell you - when she said that, I hadn't realized how much I'd protected my heart over the years from the longing to work in film. Inside my chest I felt the Grinch-heart-grew-three-sizes thing, I was so happy.

So from January of this year Tara MacDonald of Charlie Mac Productions and I did pre-production on the trailers, which we shot in one day at the end of April, and I worked in post-production with Doug Woods of 902 Post to edit the trailers in time for the New York RWA conference, which I attended.

Tara blogs @ http://taramacqueen.com/
Charlie Mac Productions @ http://www.charliemacproductions.com/
Doug Woods @ 902 Post http://www.902post.com/

How much research did you have to do for SAINT SANGUINUS?

Quite a lot. I've always been very picky about authenticity, so personally I want to get it right in my own work. I've been attracted to the time period of Dark Age Britain since I was a girl and read Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy, and I've got a personal library of Arthurian research nonfiction books that I've devoured over the years. Recent discoveries about that time period always loom large on my radar, and I find it thrilling that we've been able to learn so much more about a time that wasn't well understood until the past few decades.

However, the very murkiness of the time period makes it a perfect setting for a vampire tale, as who's to say they weren't roaming the countryside back then? Also, the following witch hunts that swept Europe in the middle ages makes a writer surmise that maybe there was a reason for such fear...

What made you decide November 11th for the release?

Because that falls on Remembrance Day, and because the brotherhood which my vampire joins then acts as a peacekeeping force between humans and vampires, I felt that this particular date held good resonance for the story.

And on this particular Remembrance Day, it will be 11 - 11 - 11. That certainly doesn't happen every day.

Also, November 11th will be my birthday, and for me this is a major milestone present to myself.

Do you have anything else in the works?

I've been writing a dark fantasy series for a while, part of which is posted on Wednesdays on my blog as serialized fiction. I'm seriously in love with that main character. I can't wait to send him off into the world.

I've also got a Victorian convict story, a Scottish gamekeeper story and a Jacobite post-Culloden story in various stages of development.

I've also got a few film projects that I'm looking to pursue, as well. And don't forget the day job.

Where can we find out more about you?

You can visit me at my web site, www.juliaphillipssmith.com or at my blog, A Piece of My Mind. I've been blogging since 2007 and I've made many wonderful friends there over the years.

I'm also on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=550188924

and on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=apieceofmymind

Now for some fun! What is your favourite colour?

Is this going to come as any surprise? Red and black.

What is your favourite drink?

Prosecco, pinot grigio and Glenfiddich. Oh, I had to stop at one...?

What is your favourite food?

I realize most people wouldn't say this. But rice is my favorite food ever. Especially the way my family does it - cooked in chicken or turkey broth with a little bit of butter, salt & pepper and several large glugs of ketchup. But I'll take stir fry, rice in casseroles, plain old rice just steamed, you name it. Just not rice pudding. I don't want it to be dessert.

Trapped on a desert island what three movies would you take with you? What three books and what three fantasy men?

Movies:

Kate & Leopold with Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan

The Turning Point, mainly for the ballet pieces danced by Mikhail Baryshnikov, but the whole film is marvelous

Gladiator with Russell Crowe

Books:

THE SILVER CHAIR by C S Lewis

DEVILISH by Jo Beverley

BLOOD GAMES by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Fantasy Men:

Dean Winchester from Supernatural

Wolverine from X-Men

Horatio Hornblower from the PBS series of the same name

Here are Julia's amazing book trailers:

Blurb:

An elite brotherhood stands between humans and vampires, preventing one side from annihilating the other. Who are called to this service? Only those warriors who curse God with their dying breath.

Welsh warrior Peredur falls to a spear before he can claim Tanwen for his bride. Raging on the battlefield, Peredur utters the curse that seals his fate and leads him to another life. Using the power of a saint whose bone makes up an amulet, Peredur takes on the trials to become a true member of the brethren. Yet his need for the chieftain’s daughter Tanwen still burns.

Tanwen resists her father’s command to take a husband. The only one who understands her sorrow is Cavan, the wise woman’s son. When he promises that he can reunite her with her beloved, she agrees to his terms. But does Tanwen truly understand the depth of the price that must be paid?

Braaaaaaaaiiiins!

2011-10-29T11:28:00.000-05:00

Last night, the zombies took over Adams Street in downtown Toledo! My husband and I donned our biker gear and went out in search of a few brains to munch on at the second annual Zombie Crawl. This is probably the one time that turning off the red-eye reduction on the camera is actually a good thing. :)

This was one night we elected not to ride the Harley. Are you kidding me? With all those blood-hungry monsters roaming the alleys? [shudder]

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Carolan Ivey
www.carolanivey.com

The Tangled Web - Dragons

2011-10-27T09:41:00.000-05:00

As a change from the literary, I thought I’d share some of my passion for textiles in the context of our topic this month, dragons.

After all, dragons are great knitters.

Er...

In all seriousness, though, for those of us who have had a lifelong affair with dragons, it’s natural to want to expand on that love into other areas. I stumbled onto cross-stitch back in high school when a friend taught me the art after I had learned embroidery. I found it appealing: the simplicity of “X’s” all over the canvas and voila, art. The artist can vary the appearance of the image by placing the cross-hatches of the “X’s” in a certain order and by using half-crosses and varied thicknesses of floss. The resultant variety of expression is spectacular.

It didn’t take long for artists who sell kits to crafters to catch up, once they did. I’m going to share a few of my favorites, as well as some sources in case you want to get your own kit.

This one is a kit I picked up with my coauthor in mind. What I like about it, is that it’s not automatically obvious whether the dragon is a villain. I choose to interpret it that he’s a helper to the wizard, rather than an opponent.

Then came Teresa Wentzler’s fantasy art. Wow. She is awesome. Her designs are both whimsical and serious; by that I mean that she treats the subject with respect. Prior to the 90’s, much of the art I saw was silly - childlike animations that didn’t do any kind of artistic justice to the topic. I love Wentzler’s designs for their beauty and originality.

My source for many of these kits is a neat little site called 123 Stitch. They have a huge library from which to choose.

Other companies I like are Janlynn, Bucila (part of Plaid online), Dragon Dreams, and Dimensions. Dimensions has an exclusive line called the Gold Collection that costs a little more but has fine threads, canvas, and more complex designs. Well worth exploring.

How do you express your love affair with dragons?

Dragons in Love/In Love with Dragons

2011-10-24T07:21:00.002-05:00

Greetings, Kittens!

This has been a lovely month of monsters and mayhem and it’s my turn to talk about the creatures that move me the most. Turns out, it’s all of them!

For eight consecutive childhood Halloweens, I dressed as a vampire. I loved everything about the vampire concept, from immortality to inhuman fascination. As a product of the Anne Rice Generation, I didn’t see them as monsters, but simply as people who were capable of monstrous things—just like everyone else. The paranormal romance trend couldn’t have come too soon for my taste. In fact, I would have liked to see it spread at least a decade sooner, to fill that ever growing cavern of how I regarded supernatural creatures vs. how they were portrayed in horror.

Fast forward twentyish years after reading, Interview with the Vampire, and I’m surrounded by exactly what I longed to see—preternaturals as the heroes rather than automatically the villains. That change was the first step in broadening my supernatural palate. It’s not that I didn’t feel for werewolves, the classic cursed just seemed too painful and sad to really be drawn to it. That element disappeared on the paranormal romance front and I was able to see them in the light that they always deserved.

Roleplaying games and fantasy novels moved the idea of werewolves to shape-shifters and an entire world of possibilities opened up. Feline shifters were an immediate favorite, but dragon shifters became a complete fascination. Fantasy rpgs and novels are filled with intelligent dragons that like to walk around among humankind and leave behind half-dragons, dragonkin, dragoons and pseudodragons to name a few variants. This predilection led to all sorts of ideas and opportunities to play with the dragon mythos, and the idea of sexy dragons plays into everything I wanted from every other creature.

They were ancient like vampires, could alter their shape like werewolves, were clever like fae/faries, and had layered emotions and complexities like humans, but with the wisdom of nature itself. They were people in the truest sense of the word, but a people that could be anything and everything else as well. What’s not to love?

Although I grew up on high fantasy that spawned my love of dragons, I’m not suited to write it. I’m more geared towards urban fantasy and romantic fantasy. Instead of high fantasy’s epic battles, I’d prefer dealing with the battles of the sexes and the battles of the heart. Yep, I have no classic sword and sorcery in my future to be sure. What I do have, is a paranormal romance with dragon shifters. It’s in the immediate future, Halloween Day in fact. And it won’t be the only one!

A Way To A Dragon’s Heart is the first introduction of dragons into my Therian World. The reception has led to many more ideas, one of which may be the closet fantasy/kingdoms/king’s honor type stories I’ve ever written or will write, and I’m excited. But that particular idea is a tale for another time, let me introduce you to A Way To A Dragon’s Heart.

Dragon Shifter Kryssa Drake works twenty-hour days, seven days a week racing toward a sabbatical and hiding from the dating world after a devastating break-up that left her questioning her sense of self. The highlight of her day is the two hour lunches spent listening to Near Human, Xander Luciano, co-owner of Luciano's Deli across the street, and living vicariously through his on-again, off-again relationship with Avian, Caleb James. Over the years and countless intimacies of their friendship, Kryssa has grown to love Xander and the idea of Xander and Caleb but ideas and potential are not enough to brave the pain of the past so soon.

Pastry Chef and Near Human, Xander Luciano, has spent the last two years trying to charm Kryssa out of her vow of a five year isolation following her break-up. He's spent that same two years sorting out his feelings for his college sweetheart, Caleb, and trying to figure out a way to pin the restless Avian down or to finally make peace with a few months of happiness at a time. When Caleb opens the pastry café they always dreamed about and invites him to become a partner, Xander sees the flicker of hope that maybe half of his dream is about to come true. When he's volunteered by Kryssa's brother and boss to assist her in her current projects as well as help her relax in his cabin up north, Xander thinks his persistence and culinary skills just might help him have it all.

Sometimes the only way to get a good man to settle down is to have a good woman help. And oft times the most direct way to a Dragon's heart is through her stomach.

Is that a costume... or not?

2011-10-23T10:04:00.004-05:00

This weekend my husband and I attended Wizard World Ohio, a wonderful convention filled with vendors, seminars and more than one person wearing fantastic costumes that were amazing, to say the least. From a Catwoman/Batman couple carrying a pair of Robin babies to a little Supergirl in her stroller with accompanying entourage to a War Machine with full spinning Gatling gun there were costumes across the superhero and monster spectrum - including enough zombies to put The Walking Dead extras to shame!
Which brings me around to the idea of costuming - how we love to wear them and how we love the anonymity they offer. Whether it’s just a rubber mask to scare the kids at Halloween or the superhero garb to hide our real identity, there’s an appeal to wearing a mask year-round and the freedom it provides.

In one of my favorite superhero movies/comic books, Watchmen, one of the characters bemoans the fact that he’s had to retire his superhero persona due to government regulations and now has to be just a regular person but was able to do so because no one knew his real identity thanks to his costume. But Nite Owl/Dan has a problem - his superhero life has become so intertwined with his own self-esteem that he feels less of a man without the costume and the gadgets. The same holds true for other heroes and villains outside of the Watchmen universe - once you pull back the mask and reveal Bruce Wayne or Spiderman they become less of a hero and more of a human being wearing some wild costume. Unless, of course, you’re the Joker and your costume IS your face!

There’s power in the darkness of hiding your true self - when the werewolves change, no one knows who they are in the daylight. Vampires, at least those who can walk among us in the daylight, don’t advertise their particular needs and wants to the average human. Even the mutants such as the X-Men, for the most part, can move freely in society with their true abilities and identities hidden until the time comes to reveal who and what they are.

But they still love to hide their faces, whether it’s with the fur of a werewolf change or the mask of a hero or a pair of dark sunglasses, they all still crave the anonymity a mask offers. And when Halloween comes around, who knows who’s really under that mask - maybe it’s not just a little kid playing a vampire or a werewolf or a dragon - maybe that little one really *is* a vampire or a werewolf or a dragon taking advantage of the one time of the year when they can roam free among human society without fear!

Vampires Vs. Werewolves

2011-10-22T00:30:00.014-05:00

Capclave Guests of Honor Carrie Vaughn (left) and Catherynne M. Valente compare the charms of vampires and werewolves at Capclave, October 15.

With Carrie Vaughn (whose most famous series features a werewolf named Kitty) and Catherynne M. Valente (who's explored the mythology of just about everything) as its guests of honor, it was inevitable that Capclave 2011, the Washington DC area's hometown con, would address the eternal question:

Fangs or fur?

Death or life?

Edward or Jason?

Well, maybe not the last so much, but the relative popularity of vampires vs. werewolves--and the apparent reasons for it--dominated the con's guest of honor chat Saturday evening, October 15.

On the face of it, the odds would seem stacked in the werewolf's favor. After all, werewolves represent life; vampires, death. But as the panelists said, some people have a problem with the fur.

Then there's the whole "daddy thing". Ms. Valente pointed out the modern vampire myth ultimately comes down to the seduction of an inexperienced young woman by an older, infinitely experienced male. He is the ultimate father figure--all-powerful and wise, even when for some inexplicable reason, he's still in high school. It's one of the evergreen romance plots: Beauty and the Beast, Jane and Rochester, Persephone and Hades (minus the crazy mother-in-law).

In contrast, the werewolf has, in Ms. Vaughn's words, "...gotten short shrift over the last hundred years of storytelling. It's always: The beast within takes over. You can't control yourself. You do horrible things, and then you die."

Larry Talbot and his cinematic descendants have a lot to answer for.

But the nice thing is the core myth (or metaphor, if you prefer) can change. In fiction, nothing's set in stone. Vampires can become heroes. Werewolves can take control of their destiny. Ms. Vaughn's werewolf DJ Kitty Norville is a prime example.

"I thought, let's get past the [standard Wolfman plot]. Let's assume werewolves are okay and can handle it. What stories can we tell then?"

Plenty, apparently, since the Kitty Norville series is up to ten books, with four more under contract. And Ms. Vaughn's books aren't the only ones redefining the myth. My Beyond the Veil blog mates have been very busy on that score, too. If they keep this up, who knows, within ten years the balance of attraction may tip. There's a lot to be said for fur, though I confess, I prefer mine in a coat. ;-)

#

I apologize for the quality of my Guests of Honor photo. My Capclave camera karma was definitely lacking. I posted my best shots, such as they are, at my Flickr account. I have an ulterior motive in providing the link. There are two photos near the end I'm unreasonably proud of. Yes, that's me sitting on the dais with Ms. Valente, Ms. Vaughn and Danielle Ackley-McPhail, the editor of Dragon's Lure, the anthology containing my short story "Lord Bai's Discovery".

"Lord Bai's Discovery", along with Ms. Valente's "Days of Flaming Motorcycles" and Ms. Vaughn's "Amaryllis" were among the finalists for the Washington Science Fiction Association's 2011 Small Press Award. I wasn't surprised "Amaryllis" took the prize. It was nominated for a Hugo, too. I was surprised, however, and incredibly honored to be included in such company.

What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?

2011-10-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

Look, I don't write horror, okay? I stick with beasties of a decidedly fantastical nature. Dragons may eat you, but they don't rip your limbs off for the heck of it. They're HUNGRY, all right? I stay away from werewolves, vampires, and generally gross and gory writing. I used to be a huge Stephen King fan, but as I got older I suppose the gore-factor was just too much. I won't write horror. Ever.

But I love scary movies. NOT the gore-fest, slash-em-up, stick things in their eyes and watch them bleed for the sake of it kind. Saw? No way, no day. Uh-uh. Never saw one of them. But at this time of year I get a hankering for some good ole' fashioned fright fests. I have my perennial favorites:

Halloween
There is very little actual blood in this movie; it's the suspense that I love. And the awesome score, and the screaming babysitter, Jamie Lee Curtis, seemingly the only cool head in the whole town while the nutjob runs around with a William Shatner mask (okay, who doesn't see the humor in that?) only killing HER friends. Great stuff. Oh, and by the way, every Halloween after number 2 sucked.

Scream
I find this one of the best scary movies EVER. What I love about it, and the gore is really low-key considering, is both the suspense AND the misdirection. The mystery of 'who is the real killer' was really well done. Of course after you've seen it once, you can go back and pick up all the clues and go 'of course, why didn't I see it before!'
Scream 2 was good, Scream 3 bordered on just plain dumb

I Know What You Did Last Summer
Okay this one might take the prize for total cheese, but I still like it. It's like a twin to Scream, and I liked it for many of the same reasons - suspense and misdirection. It's not as good as Scream, but I can watch it over and over.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer? Meh.

Final Destination 1-850,000
All of these kind of blur together into a single film for me, but I love the idea: that a group who cheats death is picked off one by one by supernatural forces. They get very creative with these demises, and I think that's also what I love. Terrific watching on an October night with a bowl of popcorn and the lights out.

The Blair Witch Project
Yes, I really like this movie. I think it was a good idea, and it was totally cheesy, which is WHY I love it. I know, I know, I am breaking some kind of scary-movie-lover pact by admitting that I like this. It's good TV watching. Whatever, don't judge me.

The House on Haunted Hill
There is NOTHING like a Vincent Price movie - except a Vincent Price movie remake. I LOVE THIS MOVIE. It's completely creepy and has a great premise: the home of a wealthy and deceased psychiatrist, which sits on top of his closed mental hospital, plays host to a group for an evening. All kinds of ghostly shenanigans ensue, and the corpses keep piling up. This has a great twist ending, and I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it. While I love Vincent, Geoffrey Rush does a spectacular job in his role. A classic.

Amityville Horror
The Original. Always. I don't think I need to list my reasons why. It's classic horror at it's finest.

The Shining
The original ONLY. Yes, it's a bit gory, but it's Stephen King. Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall are perfection, and again, the idea of a haunted and evil place rather than a person is fabulous.

That's my list. So as they say...What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?

Chills and Thrills

2011-10-17T00:01:00.004-05:00

Our October theme is about dragons and other creatures who chill us and thrills us. It made me wonder why we love them so much. Why do we like to be scared out of our wits? Why do we keep coming back for more?

My son is a perfect example. Halloween is one of his favorite days of the year and not just because of the mass-candy-collection. He loves to dress up to scare and be scared by ugly, snarling, fanged, blood dripping creatures of the night.

I'll never forget the first time we took him to a haunted house. He was a tiny thing and I didn't want him to go, but he begged and whined until we finally agreed to take him in.

The second that we stepped past the curtain, I regretted it.

Imagine a dark "cemetery" complete with gravestones and moaning ghosts set up inside a theater. We followed a guide as she walked slowly through black curtained tunnels, under drippy spiderwebs, and passed strobe lights. Masked zombies, headless horsemen, terrifying ghosts, and freaky goblins followed us, rattling chains and reaching through the curtains as if to snatch us away.

I was looking for the exits.

My son had a death grip on my arm so tight that I worried he might peel back skin. I kept asking him if he wanted to leave. He made a little cry in his throat but firmly shook his head "no." He wanted to stay.

The tension built as we headed into a cement hallway. I could only guess that we were beneath the theater. Suddenly, an ear-piercing "rrrr-rrr" echoed down the corridor.

Chainsaw. Coming for us.

My son nearly yanked my shoulder out of its socket. Instinctively, I pulled him behind me, sheltering his little body with my own.

The creature with the chainsaw slid past us on his knees, the REAL chainsaw smoking up the room so that we could barely see his hideous demon mask. My son froze in his tracks, gripping my waist so hard that I couldn't move.

I turned around to reassure him and got the surprise of my life.

My little man faced the demon with the saw and...growled!

I'm not kidding. He let loose this gut-wrenching noise that easily matched the decibel level the chainsaw was creating. And then he did it again and didn't stop. His growls echoed down the hallway. And then...we were outside. It was over.

"Wow, that was really scary," I said.

"I know," he whispered, his eyes still wide. "Can we go again?"

So maybe my little son answered the question about why we like to be scared out of our wits. Being terrified had actually empowered him. He looked the devil in the eye and didn't back down. Heck, he might even have scared the poor teenager in the demon mask who probably had never been growled at by a kid. My son found strength in the darkness, in the unknown, in the terror, while realizing all along that it wasn't real. Mom was always there and so were the exits. Everything after that was a roller coaster ride.

Have a safe and sweet Halloween.

Kimberley Troutte

http://kimberleytroutte.com/

Dragon, Vampires, Shifters, Oh My!

2011-10-16T11:50:00.008-05:00

It's October and time for all kinds of scary things to emerge from the shadows. Myths and Legends intertwine with fear and fantasy to put an edge of anticipation into the very air that we breath.

I'm so glad that in this most enticing of months, the second book of the Leah Wolfe SINS Novel, THE ORDER OF CHAOS has been released. Leah Wolfe begins her first official case with SINS and must once again work with both sexy Ian Nightwalker and her ex-fiance, Joaquin Wildhorse. One man possessed her heart. The other possessed her soul.Both had betrayed her.

She is determined to move on with her life and master her own gifts, including the ability to speak to the souls of the dead. Joaquin Wildhorse was unable to accept her gifts and gave himself to another. Ian Nightwalker was more than willing to soothe her broken heart.

Now, with a prominent member of The Marquis, the vampire ruling council, intent of coming to Leah’s hometown, the threat of Chaos touching everyone she loves brings her down a path to Joaquin and Ian once again.

The Order of Chaos grabs the reader on the first page and leads them on a journey full of romance, action and suspense as it follows Leah into her first official case with SINS. Leah is a strong-willed, kick-ass heroine who has conquered a life full of adversity with grace.

THE ORDER OF CHAOS has been reviewed and awarded 4 stars. You can see the entire review HERE.

Excerpt:

A growl came from deep within him and I had the pleasure of seeing his head fall back in ecstasy. I took him into my mouth and sucked until he tickled the back of my throat. Slowly, so slowly, I retreated, nipping and swirling my tongue around him along the way until my lips reached the delicate tip of him again. I let my tongue play and taste, and then without warning took him down as far as I could go. I delighted in the way he throbbed and pulsed inside me while animalistic moans came from deep within his own body. In that moment, he was mine.
Mine to tease, mine to torment, mine to pleasure.

You can purchase The Order of Chaos HERE, and stop by the authors webpage and blog at www.RhondaLPrint.com for excerpts on The Order of Chaos, Nightwalker, A Leah Wolfe SINS Novel and her soon to be released Guardian.

Happy Reading!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-10-15T08:42:00.005-05:00

The sun is shining, the weather is warming, and it's a bright day to mark the anniversary of my birth. Not that anyone is really doing much to mark it, there were no presents beyond hand-made cards from the kids. The agenda holds nothing auspicious - just hauling the kids to a pumpkin patch to get pumpkins and the resulting chaos of that trip.

But the one thing I do around my birthday is look back on the past year. I'm a goal-oriented person. In the past few years, I look on my goals sheet and am disappointed at how little I accomplished. This year is different. Unlike previous years, I actually lost the targeted amount of weight, finished the troublesome book on the docket, and marked off all but one item from the household section of the list. Of course, most of that portion involved a move to Japan that didn't happen, but still - it's progress!

So, now I'm optimistic. :) I've scribbled down a new list of goals. This year, there's not a weight goal. Yes, I heard that shocked gasp. Instead, I've started running again with the goal to finish the Disney Princess Half-Marathon in February. Anyone want to join me? A trip to Disney is always a motivating carrot. I was shocked at how easy it was to fall back into training runs. The body remembers some pretty amazing things.

I'm still waiting to hear about STEALING GRACE, that troublesome book, but am now wrapping up a St. George novella. I'd love to do another St. George book by the end of the year, so that's on the list with a question mark beside it. I've got some big plans for 2012, but those are waiting on the St. George outcomes.

Personally, now that we're not moving to Japan, we're slotted for North Carolina - the Cherry Point area. Although our transfer date isn't until August, the kids and I will most likely move over the summer to give them a chance to settle in and make friends before the school year starts. Since we've already done most of the pre-move purge, getting ready for the move is a simple process of staying on top of the clutter. I'm super-excited about the change of scenery and am really looking forward to house-hunting in the area. I think I'm most excited over the fact my children will go back to school leaving me time to write that isn't between nine and midnight!

What about you? Anyone have any great goals they'd like to share? *throws confetti*

I'm Back and New Cover Yumminess

2011-10-12T08:00:00.001-05:00

I want to thank everyone for their patience this past summer and want to apologize for my sudden absence. In May my husband suffered a traumatic brain injury after a fall from his bicycle. He underwent surgery to remove part of his skull to accommodate the swelling in his brain then spent nine days in a medically induced coma, fourteen days in neuro ICU and eleven days in a rehabilitation hospital.

Its been a long journey with ups and downs. In July he underwent a second brain surgery to replace the skull bone that had been removed in May. June, July and August was a blur of doctors appointments and hours and hours of therapy.

Last week he returned to work and our family is settling into our "new normal". We have had to adjust to a lot of new normals over the course of the last five months but hopefully we don't have too many more to go.

I want to thank everyone for their support and their prayers. I firmly believe that we wouldn't be where we are today without all of the prayers. That and the excellent doctors and nurses.

So, I'm back and I'm writing again and today I would like to share with you my new cover for my November release. I heart this cover! My husband, after studying the cover for a bit, asked where the guy's head was. I said, "Who cares?" LOL. Enjoy the bit of yumminess on this Tuesday.

Madelaine Alexander is on a mission. When her boss sends her to the hottest nightclub in town to meet with the owner, she won't be deterred, even if that means standing in line for fifty-eight minutes in torturous heels while she'd rather be home in her pj's with a bowl of popcorn.

A Knight of the Templar, Christien Chevalier was given immortality along with the responsibility of protecting the treasure of the Templars. He's been unwavering in his task for centuries until his one true love—who died seven hundred years ago—shows up in his club, demanding his attention.

Christien couldn't protect Madelaine when they first fell in love. She was married to a lord and he was simply a knight. Now, through some unknown miracle, she stands before him again and they have a second chance. But Christien fears that Madelaine is being used as a pawn in a dangerous game, a game of good versus evil that could affect all of mankind…

Own an Nook? You can preorder Her Dark Knight for $4.79 and it will be delivered to your Nook on release day.

It's Not The Vampire You Need To Worry About.

2011-10-10T10:24:00.000-05:00

The cast of Criminal Minds

This month my co-bloggers will write about many different types of creatures. Most scary. And I have to say, I love me a good ghost, werewolf, vampire, bigfoot, or leprechaun story. Most of these critters are, or can be, evil. There is, however, one creature that pales in comparison to the rest. We see these creatures every day at work, school, shops, and restaurants. We see one every time we look in the mirror. As the Pogo quote goes, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Obviously not all humans are evil. Homo sapiens are actually a pretty civilized lot. In spite of how it sometimes seems, most folks go about their business without the need to hurt, maim, or kill. Still, there are plenty of people out there who could give the worst werewolves, vampires, or soul sucking demons a run for their money. These are the two-legged creatures of true evil.

Some of these evil humans blur the line between human and mythology. For example the infamous Vlad Tepes, could possibly have been the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. His name Dracul or Dracula is translated by some sources as “dragon” and others as “devil” or “son of the devil”. Vlad impaled millions of people alive, and is rumored to have drunk blood. Still, even today, he is considered a hero to his country.

Today we don’t make serial killers official heroes, but there are those who worship these horrible examples of malevolence. There are collectors of serial killer memorabilia. Women want to marry them (serial killers are almost always male). Some of them, like Charles Manson, for instance, have fan clubs. The reason for this gruesome hobby may someday be explained. For now, most just think those involved are somehow mentally ill. Even those of us wouldn’t be caught dead with a lock of a serial killer’s hair, love watching movies like Silence of the Lambs, and TV shows like Criminal Minds.

What’s creepier in the dead of night? When the sound of creaking and moaning reaches for you? Are you more afraid of a vampire, werewolf, demon? Or is the real threat to our being, and our sanity, that the mythological creature might come to life, or that the neighborhood animal torturer just moved up the food chain?

Sleep well tonight, and don’t let the vampires, or whatever, bite.

Cheryel
www.cheryelhutton.com

What? No Dragons?

2011-10-08T00:04:00.003-05:00

I recently watched an episode of HBO’s True Blood and was left wondering. Did all the supernatural creatures in the world wind up in Sookie’s hometown of Bon Temps? Is it because Sookie’s a rare fairy and she simply draws all creatures great and small to her? Or is the small Southern town the primary meeting place for things that go bump—and bite—in the night? Bon Temps has werewolves, vampires, spirits, shape-shifters, witches and fairies along with a gay medium who gets possessed by dead witches and demons more often than I eat a pint of ice cream. And that’s saying a lot!

It makes me wonder. Is our world filled with beings that secretly live and work around us? Ooh, wouldn’t that be exciting?

Or would it be more frightening than exciting? Think about it. If you knew vampires lived in your hometown, would you go running around at night? Wouldn’t you try to do your errands during the daytime hours when they’re not out and about? And yet, the characters in True Blood and The Vampire Diaries think nothing of running to the local convenience store at the stroke of midnight. What brave souls they are!

Then there’s the problem of everyone simply accepting the super-powered beings that hang out around them. If vampires came out publicly on tonight’s evening news program, wouldn’t that freak you out? Yet these people seem to accept werewolves, shape-shifters and vamps with little to no loss of sanity. Although I write paranormal romances, I think I’d still lose my cool a little. Okay, maybe a lot.

Look, I know you have to invite a vampire inside your home before he can enter, but why be faced with the uncomfortable situation of saying no? Why don’t the residents of Bon Temps get peep holes and simply not answer their doors when a known vamp comes a-knockin’? I know I would.

Believe me, I’m not dissing shows like True Blood. I don’t normally worry that the characters seem to accept their odd neighbors with ease. We writers call that “suspension of disbelief.” In other words, if the viewer or reader didn’t buy into the premise that supernatural beings lived among us, they wouldn’t get involved in the book or movie. Therefore, they have to “suspend their disbelief”.

My main problem is this. With all the many supernatural beings and creatures running around the swamps, where are all the dragons?

Come on, Sookie. Have you checked the outhouse? Surely there’s a dragon in there somewhere.

Beverly Rae - www.beverlyrae.com

I MARRIED A DRAGON (Para-Mates, Bk 2) - Burn, baby, burn!

A Samhain Publishing Bestseller

Favorite shifters...

2011-10-07T12:27:00.005-05:00

I love shapeshifters. Beyond the traditional werewolves, there are shifters who can take any form. There are those who are restricted to particular creatures. My daughters also enjoy shifter stories. Luckily, they've been able to find quite a few Young Adult novels that are not only well-written, but include some wonderful characters.

In honor of the Halloween season, here are some shifter stories -- mostly YA -- you might want to check out. Some you've probably read or heard of; the rest may be a pleasant new find. If you have some to add, please do!

1. Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls) by Maggie Stiefvater

2. Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls) (M. Stiefvater)

3. Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls) (M. Stiefvater)

4. Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, Book 1) - by, Cassandra Clare

5. The Hunchback Assignments - by, Arthur Slade

6. The Dark Deeps -- The Hunchback Assignments, 2 (A. Slade)

7. Empire of Ruins -- The Hunchback Assignments, 3 (A. Slade)

8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - by, JK Rowling

On a more 'adult' note:

9. Eat Prey Love - by, Kerrelyn Sparks

~~Meg Allison
Indulge your senses...
http://www.megallisonauthor.com

Lucky 1000!

2011-10-06T21:38:00.000-05:00

I was going to find 13 famous "1000s" to commemorate the fact that the Beyond the Veil Facebook page has exceeded 1000 followers. Woo-hoo! Confetti! Champagne! However, I came up short on the 1000s. I did find:

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=128880.html -- "The date 20 May 2007 will go down in football history after one of the game's greatest ever exponents realised one of its greatest goalscoring achievements. In a 3-1 win over Sport in the Brazilian Championship, according to his 'personal count', Vasco's Romario netted the 1,000th goal of a career that has spanned 22 years, stretched across five continents and returned a stunning collection of titles."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1000 -- "Year 1000 (M) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It was also the last year of the 10th century as well as the last year of the 1st millennium of the Christian era ending on December 31st, but the first year of the 1000s decade. Popular culture sometimes holds the year 1000 as the first year of the 11th century and the 2nd millennium, due to a tendency to group the years according to decimal values, as if a year zero were counted. According to the Gregorian Calendar, this distinction falls to the year 1001, because the 1st century was retroactively said to start with year 1. Since the calendar has no year zero, its first millennium spans from years 1 to 1000, inclusive."

http://www.1000islands.com/ -- "The 1000 Islands Region is an international tourism destination, encompassing communities on both sides of the US and Canada border along the St. Lawrence River and the eastern shores of Lake Ontario. The region takes its name from the more than 1000 islands that dot the lake and river along this international waterway."

http://omega-constellation-collectors.blogspot.com/2009/04/famous-1000-certified-omega.html -- which is a watch collector's blog wherein he discusses an advertisement for and friend's purchase of an Omega brand watch.

and

http://www.onethousandpaintings.com/home/ -- "One thousand numbers = one thousand paintings. All beautifully painted on canvas (approx. 12 x 12 x 1.5 inches). Each number is unique - the number is the art is the price is the limit."

Of course my idea for the post was also motivated by the fact my novel One Thousand Kisses was recently awarded finalist status in the 2012 EPPIEs as well.

But alas, I am falling short on the Thursday Thirteen motif tonight (well, today, actually, as I googled on and off at different times).

Anybody else want to share some famous 1000s? Because, seriously, 1001 seems to be a lot more famous than 1000.

Jody W.
www.jodywallace.com * www.meankitty.com

Finally! Some New Material

2011-10-03T03:00:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a long wait, but I'll have a brand new book out on October 25th from Samhain. It's called HIDDEN TALENT and it's a very hot book that lives up to its warnings! :)

After that, I'll have a novella out in early November called KING OF SWORDS and it's sequel, KING OF CUPS, out in early December. I'm already getting things lined up for next year, including a new paranormal novella that will release sometime around Valentine's Day or slightly before. That story features one of the Redstone cousins, a werecougar who will really make you purr. ;-)

I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve for early 2012, including a new paranormal novel from Samhain called BROTHERHOOD OF BLOOD: WOLF HILLS, which will be out in April. Will keep you posted on all of this, of course, but for now...

Here's the blurb for HIDDEN TALENT:

While on an undercover mission to gather intelligence on the neighboring collective, Micah receives the shock of his life. A shy, reclusive horse tamer who possesses a level of raw psi Talent that nearly matches his own. Along with her pure, wild Talent, her beautiful spirit and innocence rouse him to take her on a voyage of discovery to the stars -- and the limits of her own, untapped passion.

All her life, Jeri has hidden her Talent, enduring the stigma of being "odd". Once aboard the Circe, Micah and his cousin Darak, a rogue of the first order, guide her through a world where those with Talents are revered, not hunted. Where pleasure hones and strengthens psi power to undreamed-of heights. Where love is a real possibility, not a distant dream.

When a defenseless planet is besieged by the collective's armada, the Circe races to the rescue -- only to discover a missing piece of Jeri's past on the wrong side of the battle. And that combining her formidable new powers with Micah's may win the day, but cost her everything...

I'm just so glad to finally have some new material coming out. It's been a while, I know, but it takes time to get things in the "pipeline" for publication. Finally, it looks like we're moving again -- in ebooks at least. As with most Samhain titles, HIDDEN TALENT won't be in print for about 10 months or so and the novellas are ebook-only for the foreseeable future.

For more information, as always, visit my website: www.biancadarc.com, or look for me on facebook or the other places I hang out. ;-) I'll be posting more news as it becomes available.

Those rascally shifters

2011-10-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

*Cue spooky music* While you’re reading this I am not at my computer. I am in the lovely town of Akron Ohio for Ellora’s Cave Romanticon and presently signing books … hopefully. I do have visions of people lobbing things at me. ;-) LOL! *end spooky music*

This month, October (which btw is my favourite month) the theme is HERE BE DRAGONS, WEREWOLVES AND MORE. What a perfect theme for the spookiest month of the year. I am a Halloween junkie. It’s also the month I got married. I wanted a Halloween themed wedding but I was vetoed. Anyways I digress.

I love shifters. I’ve read many of them. My favourite shifters being Katie MacAlister’s dragons in her Aisling Grey series. I heart Drake.

I love shifters so much, but I’ve never written one. Until recently.

I just subbed it to my editor so I can’t say much other than it involves Mounties and hot shifters. *grin*

I know I was totally entranced by shifting creatures when I saw The Last Unicorn, though she wasn’t a true shifter … she was just transformed. A couple years later I saw the movie Lady Hawke. Does anyone remember Lady Hawke and I thought WOW what a great tragic love story and how they are separated by their shift. She’s a hawk by day and he’s a wolf by night.

Shifting has been around for quite some time too. I mean look at that rascally God Zeus well he’s the KING of shifters.

Let’s take a look at some of what he’s shifted into to seduce women:

• Artemis (a woman)
• Bull
• Swan
• Golden Shower

In the classic King Arthur legends Uther Pendragon transformed into Gorlois to lay with Gorlois’ wife Lady Igraine.

Shape shifters have been ingrained in our legends since we sat around the fires and told stories through song and dance and I have to wonder what is our fascination with them.

What do you like about shifters? What is your favourite type of shifter?

Have a spooktacular October.

Ticket to ride!

2011-10-01T00:01:00.009-05:00

About this time last year, I posted a blog about my spectacular failure to pass the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's (MSF) basic rider course in a quest to get my license. I can look back on it now and laugh, especially since now, one year later, I have...(drum roll)...passed the course and earned my M!

Yep, instead of a generic picture of a girl on a motorcycle, today's picture is me on my second day riding my new scooter, which I've dubbed "Puck." In faerie lore, the pooka or phukka are a funloving folk, full of mischief and lively humor. But treated with disrespect or ignored, they can turn on you and make life miserable! That's sort of how I approach riding - have fun, but don't push my luck.

Puck is a 2011 Meiduo 150cc scooter, delightfully easy to ride and with enough zip to be safe on the townships 50-mph roads. The previous owner added a water bottle holder and a strip of bright blue LED lights on the underside, right before he decided he wanted a machine with a bigger engine.

My instructor, the proprietor of a local scooter shop, went above and beyond to help me get over my jitters. When I showed up for the schedule class in August, it turned out all the scooters he'd brought with him were too tall for me - I couldn't reach the ground with my toes, much less flatfoot it. So once again I had to bow out of the course before I'd barely gotten started. Tom promised me he'd meet with me one on one with a smaller scooter the following week. Then his lovely wife Katy broke her foot, so we had to put it off yet another few weeks.

Just when it looked liked I'd either be riding in the snow or putting it off another year, Tom called with the news that Katy was cleared to put weight on the foot.

A few days later I walked nervously onto the far corner of long-term parking at the local airport. Tom put me on a bright yellow former rental scooter that I promptly named Tweetie Bird. After learning the basics on Tweetie, Tom put me on a bigger scooter to see how I fared in the sharp turns. Suffice to say the bug population of the Lucas County airport parking lot was cut roughly in half as I raced around the turns with a huge grin on my face. :)

Two days later I'd mastered the dreaded Box (tight figure 8), cornering, weaving and emergency stopping. My only point off was not coming out of the corner fast enough.

Hmm, riding faster...better go work on that. See ya later! Now where's my helmet...

Bridge Over Troubled ... Months ...

2011-09-29T00:01:00.002-05:00

Hmm. Maybe I should leave songwriting to the professionals. "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" is much more catchy as a title, no?

The paranormal: we are fascinated by it. We want to believe. We tell stories about ghosts and goblins, dragons and the fey. It’s what we see out of the corner of our eye, or what lives beyond the light at night. We follow spritualists and go to live performances, hoping that maybe it might be real and not a man behind a curtain.

Our tour through television has brought us many different kinds of entertainment, from reality to the outskirts of speculation. Our next theme, “Here There Be Dragons: and Werewolves and More” brings us to those edges and beyond.

As a bridge between September’s and October’s themes, I thought I’d talk a bit about some good dragon and werewolf stories that might not be as well known.

First, the well-known author Ursula K. LeGuin wrote the Earthsea trilogy, which she then continued with Tehanu, the fourth in what is now a cycle.

To my pleased surprise, a made for television miniseries was made of the story that is really interesting. Danny Glover is in it, and he rocks. The actor they chose for Ged, and the one for Vetch, are also awesome. The Shadow is deliciously creepy.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have a book called A Century of Lesbian Erotica. In it is “Blood and Silver,” by Pat Califia from 1997. This introduced me to a darker side of fantasy because the idea is a woman transforms into a werewolf, and then leads a secret life of dominating men and making them reveal their own animal natures. This was the first time I encountered the paranormal as a sexual object.

Then someone recommended Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake novels to me, and I loved them. It was a bridge between very hard-boiled paranormal mystery and erotica, and rather than the traditional fade-to-black at the moment of the bedroom scene, Laurell took us right inside the bedroom with her characters. Very fun.

From what I understand, though I’m hardly an expert, the idea of the vampire as sexually attractive is relatively new. Older legends and myths about them, and about werewolves, weren’t at all like that – they were considered very dangerous, evil predators.

I like the more sexy version. What about you?

Second question: which do you prefer, vampires or werewolves (or other lycanthropes)?

Those Lovely Fall Premiers

2011-09-26T17:34:00.003-05:00

Greetings, Kittens!

Happy Autumn! I hope you enjoyed the Equinox. Whether you celebrate it spiritually or secularly, after the summer temperatures we’ve had, it was a welcome sight! I love the trappings of fall that have appeared everywhere over the past two weeks, and this weekend in particular. From the pumpkin pies, tarts, drinks and even ice cream, to all things fresh apple, caramel and apple and apple cider, it’s had everything but the leaves changing—but that’s the Southwest for you.

My all time favorite sign of fall would have to be the shows! Although I absolutely love the fact that networks like USA and TNT have created wonderful summer seasons that aren’t to be missed, there’s still nothing quite like the premier of the new fall lineup. To me, it’s akin to that sensation of going back to school as a young kid. There’s excitement, nervousness, a desire to put it off a few more weeks, and a rush to see what’s changed. And just like going back to school, the fall premiers are a chance to see old friends again as trusted shows return, and a chance to make new ones that will hopefully last the year.

This season’s new guys have shown some promise, but this will be the week where everything shows it’s true colors. Much to my delight, this year the colors are skewed heavily towards sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal. Terra Nova premiers tonight with a two hour pilot and more pressure than any new show should carry. In our post-Lost television landscape, there’s been a search for a successor these last two years. Shows like Flashforward and The Event, failed to live up to the mantle, but Terra Nova has been promised as the show to turn all of that around. It has time-travel, dinosaurs, an apocalyptic future and a solution 85 million years in the past. What’s not to like?

On the heels of FOX’s Terra Nova this week, next week gives us a return to fairy tales in shows like NBC’s Grimm about detectives investigating crimes by fairy creatures, and ABC’s Once Upon A Time where Snow White, Prince Charming and other beloved characters live under assumed/alternate identities in the mysterious New England town of Storybrooke. ABC also has a spring debut in The River, a supernatural thriller even closer to the phenomena of Lost. Not to be left out, NBC also has a midseason paranormal in Awake, about a police detective whose perception is split between alternate realities after a car accident. FOX will greet the midseason with the J.J. Abrams show Alcatraz about a group of guards and prisoners that appear in modern day after disappearing 30 years ago, starring Lost veteran Jorge Garcia.

CBS got a jump on the other networks and tried to make amends for its treatment of Medium with the new show A Gifted Man. This ghostly drama debuted Friday about a surgeon who begins to see his ex-wife’s ghost and is left trying to fulfill her unfinished business. Just an episode in, I have to say that I truly like the supporting cast, the premise works well and the main character—although a complete jerk—has a incredible potential if the writing stays even and on track.

Toddler on the block, the CW went two for two and debuted yet another show based on a L.J. Smith series, The Secret Circle about a bloodline of witches that have been stripped of their powers after a mysterious tragedy sixteen years ago. The teens of these bloodlines have found out about their heritage and finally have a complete circle with the arrival of Cassie, who returns to live with her grandmother after her mother’s death. Two episodes in, this has not yet lived up to Practical Magic meets Dawson’s Creek, and has veered dangerously close to The Craft meets 90210 at points, but it has a likeable cast, gorgeous scenery and a real chance to find success with what it truly is, The Vampire Diaries but with witches. *Grin*

Speaking of The Vampire Diaries, CW saw a strong ratings with the return of it’s third season and even stronger viewership for truly veteran paranormal Supernatural this past Friday for it’s 7^th season. Fox was pleased with the return of Fringe for season four, while ABC is pretending V never happened.

For those of us in love with sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal, it’s a good crop so far this fall, with promise for winter and spring. But we’ve seen a good number of shows, both firmly in the genre spectrum like Stargate Universe, and skirting it’s edges like Pushing Daisies, just drop off the radar, never to be seen again. So I’m hopeful for the new season, but like always, I’m not getting attached until May 2012 upfronts when I know their coming back and even then....

Expect a Thursday Thirteen on the new shows a few months down the line, but for now, this ramble is done, Kittens!

Happy Viewing,

Why I Love Fan Mail

2011-09-25T07:01:00.003-05:00

A long time ago in a small apartment far, far away (okay, in Toronto) I sat and watched the first episode of this quirky odd television show. It grabbed me because of the characters, the paranormal angle and the relationship between the main characters.

That show was the X-Files.

It might seem odd to newer television viewers to say that this was a milestone show, which broke all the rules and then some, but it did. It pushed the concept of paranormal phenomena out into the public eye like no other, not since Kolchak: The Night Stalker brought vampires and werewolves into the family living room and grabbed you by the throat, demanding you sit and think.

And it had two darned great characters. Mulder and Scully soon fell into our lingo and still exist today where you can talk about them and everyone knows instantly who and what you're referring to.

But I don't want to talk only about Moose and Squirrel. I want to talk about how the X-Files changed lives.

Specifically, mine.

I was working at a hospital at that time as a security guard, wrestling drunks in the emergency room in the wee hours of the morning and coming home to the apartment I shared with my mother and a second-hand Mac.

And the internet. And user groups where I found fans who loved the X-Files as much as I did, if not more.

And fan fiction.

Now I can see you laughing, you younglings, at the idea of newsgroups and people posting their fan fiction through a long complicated process of cutting and pasting into messages posted up in public for anyone to see, battling not only the horrors of a dial-up modem but the follies of newsgroups where you could lose a post at any time for any reason.

I loved to read the stories but, as many a fan fiction author has, that I could do better.

So I did.

It's been said that an author needs to write a million words of crap before he/she hones their craft to the point of being publishable. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm sure most of that first million in my case was spent on XF fan fiction.

I bashed out thousands of words in short stories, in novels, in serials that went on from season to season, filling in the gaps between episodes and during those long summer months between seasons. I wrote when I was at work, between dealing with loud obnoxious drunks who never lost a fight (or so they said) and a social life that only existed online due to my work situation.

I got plenty of fan mail, I'm rather proud to say. Someone sent me a copy of the Rolling Stone issue from Australia where Mulder and Scully are on the cover, naked and in each other arms. I loved getting fan mail and still love to get feedback on those older stories along with my original fiction.

But the real X-File happened one day in 1993 when I opened up a specific email. It was from a nice American boy down in Pennsylvania and detailed how he enjoyed my writing, specifically my Dragon series with my original character, Jackie St. George.

A bit of a backtrack here – I used an original character to be a Greek chorus for the audience in some of my stories, voicing what we the fans thought about the relationship between Mulder and Scully and how we wanted them to get together. She was Canadian, a CSIS agent and owner of a berserker curse. Not quite a Mary Sue by definition but darned close. (I will confess that I did apply to CSIS and came *this* close to being accepted. Talk about your life turns…)

Anyway this fan loved St. George and urged me to write more. I didn't need much encouragement and kept on writing. He kept on writing emails and eventually we moved up to phone calls. I think it's fair to say that we alone kept Bell Canada afloat for many months.

Finally he gets the courage up to come to Canada and see me. By then we'd both realized this relationship was moving far beyond the "I love your work!" phase and into the "I love you!" area.

I won't bore you with the details but I moved from Canada to the United States in 2000 and married my Wookie, the man who first found me through X-Files fan fiction. We've been very happily married for over a decade and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I write all day and he reads it before I send it off to publishers. He loves to see my books on the shelves and brags to his friends about marrying two women, myself and St. George.

I've never loved a show as much as I've loved the X-Files, though many have come close. We're both enjoying "Haven" on the Syfy channel and watch "Fringe", laughing at all the XF references. But I think our first true love of the X-Files will never be replaced.

I love to tell people this story because it not only illustrates what I call Twu Luv but also the importance of answering fan mail. If I had deleted that email without reading it or never responded… well, I'd probably still be wrestling drunks on the midnight shift.

Now I wrestle with story ideas and other things at night.

*winks*

A Saturday Selection from Dragon*Con 2011

2011-09-24T00:14:00.020-05:00

I’m way past the point of calling my three-hour a night TV habit a guilty pleasure. Too much Highlander, Andromeda, Remington Steele and Antonio Banderas movies were directly responsible for With Nine You Get Vanyr—to say nothing of my involvement in fan culture.

Rather than go over the same ground as my talented colleagues, today I want to talk to you about what happens if you get too deep into fandom. Sooner or later you will find yourself at a media convention. And the biggest, baddest media con, run by fans for fans, is Atlanta’s Dragon*Con, held every year in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend. If you are very lucky, you will graduate from wide-eyed attendee to participating guest. It’s a great gig. You get up-close-and-personal with the art and exhibits. Writers, artists and the occasional musician start to remember your name—and almost never run away when they hear it.

The only downside to this scenario is you start to use the con as a business tool. These days my schedule revolves around my panels and desired interviews instead of gorging myself on the fan panels I really want to see. But that doesn’t mean my inner fan girl is entirely dead.

I still get a kick about Atlanta’s slow, inexorable slide into accepting Dragon*Con as its very own “Nerdi Gras” (as one fan called it). Check out the banners that were already flying on Peachtree Street when I arrived in town August 31.

Or the world’s most perfect fantasy real estate sign.

Meanwhile, in the Hyatt Regency, one of the con’s five participating hotels, they were outfitting the Dragon*Con Armory with lots of sharp pointy objects and things that go boom. Pay no attention to that harmless looking woman with the camera. She’s not the one you want. She’s just here to, um, drool over those lethal blades.

The squee-worthy moments change. Instead of freaking over sitting the front row in your favorite star, you learn to cherish the chance encounters—sharing the elevator with the actor you grew up watching on TV or catching Rogue, the lead singer for the Cruxshadows (one of my all-time favorite bands) unloading the van late Thursday night.

But no matter what you’re doing at Dragon*Con, you’re never more than a few feet away from a great costume.

(Yes, those are liquor shots slung in those bandoleers. Something tells me these boys were very popular.)

Or a jaw-dropping parade float.

(I confess. I arrived too late to the parade to catch more than a few videos, which I haven’t posted yet. But what I saw was amazing. Even more amazing was the fact every slot in the parade was filled before they opened on-site registration.)

To say nothing of the dopplegangers.

(Is this or is this not the most amazing James Scott impersonator you’ve ever seen?)

And the music.

(This is from the Jefferson Starship’s late Sunday night show. Check out singer Cathy Richardson’s Star Trek uniform.)

Including some musical moments not on the program.

(This is my best shot of the con: The Cruxshadows’ JoHanna Moresco demonstrating violin technique to a young friend.)

Capped off by an intimate Monday afternoon show by one of my other favorite bands, Emerald Rose.

But fans will be fans.

I confess, Sunday night I snuck away to indulge a total fan girl moment in an off-site reading from The Greyfriar by none other than James Marsters (shown here flanked by The Greyfriar authors Clay and Susan Griffith).

Buffy’s Spike. Torchwood’s Captain Jack Hart. In the living flesh.
Did I mention I shot video? From the front row?
But that, my darlings, is another blog entirely…

#

If you’d like to see the rest of my Dragon*Con pictures (including some of your favorite authors) and more notes than I have space for here, check out my Flickr photo stream. No videos yet, but I’m working on it. I’m working on it!

Jean Marie

When it's over...

2011-09-23T20:29:00.000-05:00

For the past 3 years or more I'd been in a monogamous TV relationship with True Blood. The amazing part about that is I rarely commit myself to a TV show for very long, I rather play the field, get some variety in. But I admit it, True Blood drew me in and there was no turning back. Now True Blood and I have had some minor fights over the years, I admit I've been hurt many times, but we always found a way to make up.

That was, until 2 weeks ago…

(Spoilers ahead)

******

Though I admit the vampires of Bon Temps are not my favorite people (except Jessica), I was pretty relieved episode before last when they finally killed off the head witch, who had long ago gotten on my last nerve with her whining and moaning. I even allowed myself to enjoy the vampire juice box moment with Eric, despite the fact I have still never forgiven Eric for what he did to Lafayette in season 2.

Unfortunately, some folks just don't know when it's time to stay dead. Whiny Witchypoo jumped on board Lala and with his body she killed off one of my 3 favorite characters on the show, Jesus. Normally I prefer women loving women, I don’t read m/m, yet I freaking loved Lafayette and Jesus’ relationship. Team Lala and Jesus all the way. Producer Alan Ball's response to Jesus’ death? “Happy relationships are boring.

” Screw you!

In the first 5 min the writers of the show managed to destroy one of the only couples on the show that I cared anything about. The Sookie?Eric/Bill thing got old ages ago, especially her whole “I can't choose so I have to give up both of you” scene. Alpha vampires or not, I find it hard to believe that if that fairy nooky is that good, that these boys would not have found a way of working out so they could both get some. Especially with a great bromance they had going on this episode.

For a good chunk of the rest of the show the only thing that made me happy was seeing Gran yank the witch’s spirit out of my beloved Lafayette. I love Gran, she didn't play. The spark was gone from me besides that scene, especially seeing someone who just murdered one of the most wonderful, goodhearted guys on that show get to go off to her wonderful peaceful afterlife. How is that fair?

And if my heart hadn’t been ripped out enough watching Jesus’ spirit comfort Lafayette through Lala’s medium ability, promising he would always be with them, was almost too much to take, and then… and then… they finally kill off Debbie Pelt, but only after Tara taking a shotgun round across the side of her head to protect Sookie. There is not enough swearwords for me to fully express how pissed off I was at that moment.

I have 3 characters that been the heart and soul of that show for me, one is dead after being stabbed in the chest, the other is missing a chunk of her side of her head, and the 3rd looks to have lost damn near everybody he ever cared about. A woman can only take so much abuse before she has enough and have to break things off.

Am I saying I completely given up on my beloved True Blood? I don't know, but it would take a heckuva lot of groveling and some big ass impressive writing changes to heal the damage that was done during the season 4 finale. Until then I will enjoy my new tshirt I got today that says “WWLD… What would Lafayette do?”, watch old episodes and enjoy the happier times with team Lala and Jesus.

No TV post

2011-09-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

ACK! Sorry for the whited-out posting before - it was late last night and I was tired. I've fixed it!

Sorry, I have no TV post for you today. Though I'm sure I could totally ramble on for pages about TV characters and my favorite shows - my DVR is nearly full and several nights a week we have something taping on both televisions.

But no. I have bigger news and wanted to share. Well, it's officially unofficial news, since the contracts have not yet been signed by both parties. But I've been keeping it to myself for nearly a week, and it's been hard!

Let me 'splain. No, it is too long. Let me sum up. (sorry, I'm a little giddy and I can't help myself.)

I started writing ten years ago. Ten years this month. Of the seven novels I've completed, I've sent three of those to look for agents. My first book went nowhere with agents, and probably rightly so. I mean, kids love it and it's all right, but I can see how it wasn't ready for prime time. The rewrites for the new edition are coming along fabulously. Anyway, then it was the first of the Library of Athena series, which got a better response but no takers. Hey, it went to Samhain and I'm still getting royalty checks. Didn't seem right to send the rest of the series to look for an agent when the first was already published somewhere.

And so we come to my Steampunk Fairy Tale, SMOKE & MIRRORS. This was the one, I said. My best effort. I sent it out, oh, a year or so ago, and it's been doing the rounds ever since. Two years, and two nearly complete rewrites later, and here we are.

And now, I'd like to introduce you to someone. Meet Terrie Wolf, of AKA Literary. She's an agent.

As of today, she's MY agent. Or, she will be officially when the postal service delivers the contract to her.

Yep. Took a decade, and seven books, and two rewrites of the one that finally landed her, but I have an agent. Terrie is AWESOME. We talked over an hour and a half last week, and we seem to be a perfect fit. I am completely confident in her ability to take SMOKE & MIRRORS to a great publisher and get us a great deal.

Here's an interview she did at Middle Grade Ninja just yesterday. Isn't she adorable??

While I am still a little in shock, and it doesn't seem real yet, I am really really really happy.

I HAVE AN AGENT!!!!! Shhhh!

The Truth Is Out There

2011-09-19T19:30:00.000-05:00

I have broad tastes.

For TV shows I like quirky (Pushing Up Daisies), funny (Seinfeld, Friends), dramatic (24, Grey's Anatomy, Hill Street Blues) and romantic (Bachelor).

But my all time favorite, the series that would make me look foward to Sunday nights, was X-Files.

OMG, I loved that show.

The intrigue, the eww-factor, the FBI procedures, cases ripped from the headlines, the paranormal mysteries about aliens to serial killers...all combined with two of the best, well-written characters on tv.

Agent Mulder, with his spooky, heart-felt, intelligent, fighting for justice yumminess could have carried the show alone BUT add to the mix the small, cute, gentle, brave, super-smart, pessimistic, medical doctor, Agent Scully and...BAM!

A great show. Sigh, I miss it.

The truth is still out there...somewhere, just not on TV Sunday nights.

Kimberley's website

Television Bites!

2011-09-18T01:49:00.010-05:00

I must admit, when it comes to T.V., I lean toward the same genre that I write, paranormal. It's action-packed, full of suspense and a little eye candy doesn't hurt the ratings.
Vampire Diaries has Stefan and Damon, although I am personally partial to Damon. His smart-ass comebacks and crooked smile give new meaning to the bad boy persona.

Supernatural has it's own pair of brothers and the plot leans toward the messier aspect of the paranormal world.

Yet my all-time favorite show is still Home Improvement.

When work gets stressful and all the news seems bad, it's nice to escape reality for a while. The paranormal genre entertains my dark side and Home Improvement satisfies the need for happily-ever-after. Its the ying and yang of my television world.

Fall TV Schedule - The Secret Circle

2011-09-17T14:34:00.003-05:00

I'm behind. With my schedule, the only way I get to follow television is through online streaming or Hulu. :) And that means I never catch on to the really good shows until it's too late.

But, wonder of wonders, I zipped over to iTunes last week and saw the pilot for "The Secret Circle" as a free preview download. Since it's on my list of shows I'd like to eventually follow, I downloaded it. And man, am I glad I did!

The lead in the show is a favorite from "Life Unexpected." The idea of the show is from a YA series I haven't read, but now plan to dig up. Covenant and Practical Magic all tied into one. I was intrigued and now am looking forward to following it.

And that brings me to the question: Has anyone else noticed the surge of paranormal shows popping up? I mean, True Blood, Supernatural, and Vampire Diaries aside, most supernatural shows I get addicted to get canceled pretty quickly. Wolf Lake, Night Stalker, and the Invisible Man, just to name a few that I liked that didn't make it.

What about you? What new shows coming out this year are you looking forward to following? I know that I am still going to have to rely on Hulu and online streaming to keep track of things, but it definitely looks like a great winter line-up.

Yes, I Remember the Sixties, Is That Bad?

2011-09-12T12:05:00.000-05:00

Ah, television. Back when I was young, TV was a special pleasure. For years we had a black and white TV. On Sunday night, several of us younger kids went to the end of the street to the one neighbor who had a color set. We’d watch Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. And it was wonderful. Magic.

Fast forward to 1966. Star Trek began and we even had a color TV to watch it on. I became an immediate fan, and looked forward to every episode. My mom worried I’d have nightmares, but I was actually more likely to dream of being on the Enterprise and rushing toward new adventures. When the novelizations of the show came out, I sucked them down. A friend suggested I try some real science fiction, and suggested several books. Books by people like Bradbury, Asimov, Clark. I fell hard. I wanted to write SF. But my muse didn’t like the hard SF I loved to read. My muse leaned toward human drama.

In 1969, the show Medical Center debuted. OK, I’ll admit I had a big time crush on Chad Everett (who’s aged quite well, I must point out). When he had a love scene I just kind of melted. In fact, most intense love scenes (not sex in those days, just holding and kissing and stuff) had my stomach tingling. It took me a while to figure out romance and SF didn’t go together. But oh, if they just could.

Many years later, I heard Catherine Asaro speak. Before SF or paranormal romance was even a subgenre, she talked about combining the two in her work. At that time, the way to do this was to write straight SF and downplay the romance so the predominately-male audience wouldn’t be turned off. Seeing this beautiful, highly educated woman speak was life altering for me. I wanted to combine SF and romance. My muse, however, was still resisting the SF idea, even with romance attached. For years I wrote straight romance, and though I got compliments on my work, I wasn’t getting any contracts.

My muse, however, would let me take altered reality a bit further to fantasy/paranormal. And even let me add romance. By this time, the market was changing. Paranormal romance was a real sub-genre. But I only wrote short fiction. Finally I gave in and wrote a haunted house romance novel. This book got more interest than any other, and eventually got me my first contract. So, I guess I owe my publishing career to Star Trek, Chad Everett, and Catherine Asaro. Thanks, guys!

Have a great week!

Cheryel
www.cheryelhutton.com

Reality Shows!

2011-09-10T00:01:00.001-05:00

My Guilty Pleasures – Reality Shows!

Now hold up! Regardless of the title of this post, I am not about to expose all my guilty pleasures. First of all, that would be waaaaay too many and take far more space than I have here. Secondly, ya’ll don’t want to see some of that stuff anyway. Therapy would send you (and me via your lawsuit) into the poor house.

But as television goes, however, I am willing to divulge my guilty pleasures. I, dear readers, love drama. Oh, not the kind of drama you see on Law and Order. Naw, the scripted drama just doesn’t cut it. I want, I demand, I crave reality shows.

Yep, I’m one of those people. From Big Brother to all the Housewives spin-offs, I love watching real people be real. I’m not above saying how much I adored watching Nene and Kim (Housewives of Atlanta) go at it on the bus. I will not deny how much I gasp (excitedly) to see Abby Lee (Dance Moms) yell at the kids and their moms. I almost salivate when Jerseylicious comes on. Not only because I’m eating one of my other guilty pleasures─hot buttered popcorn with melted cheese on top─but because I am a reality show junkie.

But why do I lust after shows like Most Eligible Dallas and Flipping Out? How did this happen? Like many of you, I grew up watching great classic shows like I Love Lucy and Laverne and Shirley. I loved the antics of sitcoms and how everything was tied up into a neat little package in thirty minutes. I loved that everyone got along─at least at the end. I wanted to be just like Lucy.

No one ever thought of following “average” people before that show. Why should they have? What did normal, every-day people do that we didn’t all do day in and day out? How interesting could a show about my neighbors be? A reality show would’ve been laughed off the network. And why do we now seek confrontation? Did we finally grow tired of “nice” shows and developed the need to feed the darker side of ourselves? Has the darker side of me been released?

I’m not sure how reality television came about. Did it start with Survivor and then move on to the seamier side of life? Did showing viewers a new kind of game show start us down this road? Is watching reality television a legal way to snoop on your neighbors? I haven’t got a clue.

And frankly, my dears, I don’t give a damn (Sorry. I couldn’t resist) why I like these shows so much. I don’t care if some people think I’m crazy. I don’t care that my husband won’t stay in the same room when I’m watching Theresa flip a table. The only thing I really care about is that I’m not anything like the people on these shows. And you know what? I thank my lucky stars for it!

So? What about you? Come on out of hiding and ’fess up. Are you a reality show junkie too?

Murder, anyone?

2011-09-09T11:36:00.008-05:00

Let me just start by saying that I really don't like reality shows. Sometimes I will find myself watching -- fascinated by the penchant some people have of making total fools of themselves for the world to see.

Personally, I prefer make believe. My favorite form of television entertainment? For years and years, it's been the weekly mystery/crime drama. If they can add a bit of humor, all the better.

I remember tuning in every week to watch Columbo or McMillan and Wife, and others in the NBC Mystery Movie night. These die-hard favorites often included intrigue, danger, some quirky characters, and a car chase or two. I loved Columbo and his wrinkled raincoat; his seemingly inept manor that put every bad guy and gal at ease. I thought Susan St. James was wonderfully cute and perky while she tried -- in an almost Lucille Ball fashion -- to help her husband solve crime.

But I was young. And, in all honesty, so was television for all intents and purposes. The weekly crime drama has evolved. Blood and gore abound... plots are a bit more twisted and not always so easy to figure out. But I do still love a good murder. ;) My favorites, however, are the ones where I have to figure it out along with the show's resident 'detective' -- whether that person be a mystery writer, cop, or forensic scientist*.

*Although, really, how many pathologists head out in the field to question suspects? Ummm, I'm thinking not many.

I love puzzles. I adore discovering those clues right along the hero (or heroine) on the small screen. I thrill at being able to piece it together and, sometimes, figuring it out before the professional sleuth does. With some shows that task is often difficult -- and those are the ones I watch more often.

So, while I still need a bit of mindless, silly comedy from time to time, (Thank you, Disney Channel); and something educational at rare moments (ala The History Channel) -- the crime drama is still my special fave.

Monk, sadly, is gone, except in reruns. But I still adore:

NCIS (the original, not the LA version. Sorry).

Other favorites include: Castle (love the character interaction);
Flash Point (fast-paced and often riveting);
Psych (much silliness and Shawn's dialog tends to wear me out.);
The Mentalist (sort of a 'grown-up' Psych?);
The Closer, a must-see every week (Again, love the characters!);
Bones;
Warehouse 13 (rarely murder involved, but I love the sci-fi aspect and the characters).

I suppose it really comes down to which shows have characters that fascinate me? Entertain me? Characters that I care about?

This life-long fixation is why I like to include a bit of mystery in my novels. It keeps me, and the reader, involved with a story.

Do you like mysteries? Crime drama? Or do you prefer to laugh your way through television viewing?

~~Meg Allison

Indulge your senses...
http://www.megallisonauthor.com

Turn on, Tune in, Drop by: From Guilty Pleasures to Classic Genre Television

2011-09-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

“Classic” television is our topic du jour. I ought to talk about what makes television great. But I’m not. I’m going to talk about what television I loved when I watched television, back in the days when you actually had to get up off your arse, walk across the room, and change the channel manually. Man, was I excited when we got a snazzy push-button television!

No, that’s not my television. Funny thing, when those tv’s were the top of the line, people used film cameras. And somehow, I didn’t want to spend precious film on my television.Go figure.Anyway, as I was saying. In my post last month, I talked about watching Star Trek. No, not the movie with Chris Pine. Star Trek, the Original.

But what else did I love in those days?

Oh, lovely! Gods, I loved that show. I liked this Durwood better, though:

And I loved to hate Mother!

She was delicious. And the costumes they made her wear! Oi.Later, once cable really got going, my grandparents subscribed to more cable channels than we did. I got to see a show with a genie in it!

I probably lose every feminist cred I ever had by admitting that, but hey. I liked what I liked! It wasn’t like there were a lot of shows with strong, independent female characters.Or were there?Bewitched was about a woman with a lot of independence, making the world over in the way she wants it. Same with Genie, too. Sexist, probably, but I would argue that these lead to more feminist characters being visible on television. Xena comes out of the legacy of shoes like that.And honestly, have you seen Aunt Bee?

She was hardly a pushover. Of course, that doesn’t count, since I didn’t get interested in watching that show until a few years ago.What else?

Helloooooooo lunch!Man, did I have a crush on him.Turns out the actor was a chauvinist jerk, but hey. ~shrug~

Hmm. I’m sensing a theme. Stephen J. Cannell (who, sadly, passed away last year) was amazing! I loved his shows.And that brings us to 21 Jump Street!

That was an awesome show. I loved Johnnie Depp’s character, and am happy to say I’m his first fan. Maybe not his biggest, or his oldest, but I like to think I’m the first.Yeah, long shot, I know. Don’t rain on my parade!Three other shows by Stephen J. Cannell that I like are The Greatest American Hero, Hardcastle and McCormick, and Magnum, P.I.One last one:

In fact, I think I’m going to go find my DVD collections. I have some shows to watch. Thank the gods for Netflix!

13 Plus Books About Cats

2011-09-07T23:59:00.000-05:00

My weakness for Britcoms

2011-09-04T11:32:00.002-05:00

The crew from back to front: Holly (on the screen) Kryten the robot, Arnold the hologram (big H on his head), Dave Lister the last human and Cat.

I blame my father for it, but not that’s it’s something horrible. I’m quite thankful for it. I love British Comedies. Sure, I’m a fan of Dr. Who and Torchwood but that’s a WHOLE separate post.

I grew up watching British comedies like Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and Are You Being Served. It wasn’t until I was much older that I finally understood the many double entendres, including the numerous jokes about Mrs. Slocombe’s pussy.

When I hit my teens I gained my own repertoire of favorite British Comedies, Blackadder, Mr. Bean (though I preferred Blackadder over Mr. Bean, Blackadder was also where I first saw Hugh Laurie and was a fan of his long before House), As Time Goes By (LOVE me some Dame Judi Dench), Vicar of Dibley and my absolute favorite Red Dwarf.

The British have this amazing ability to combine actors and the cast just ‘clicks’. Many people have tried to copy British comedies, but they don’t work.

I am a huge Sci/Fi nut, so Red Dwarf is perfection. It combines my love of Sci/Fi with my love of British Comedy.

Red Dwarf’s humour is basically a lot to do with sexual innuendos. I mean the basic plot is everyone the mining ship Red Dwarf is dead. A radiation leak killed off everyone. Fast forward a million years into deep space and we find one human survived, Dave Lister. He was in stasis. He wakes up to find he is alone, save for a hologram version of his bunk mate Arnold Rimmer whom he HATES and a creature that evolved from his cat who had been safely sealed in the hold and thus safe from the radiation. Also as Dave’s companions are Holly the ship’s computer which has gone a little wonky and Kryton a missih eccentric computer who gets joy out of ironing bras over his head.

The characters feed off each other in their mission to get back to Earth, even though there’s no guarantee the human race have survived.

Basically the plot revolves around Dave Lister getting back to Earth and getting laid. Though his true heart’s desire is Christine Kochanski (who was killed in the radiation leak), but this is Sci/Fi and anything can happen including parallel dimensions and time tears.

At the start of the series Dave is a slob. He’s lazy and basically a bum. Arnold is obsessed with becoming an officer. He’s a brown noser and no one liked him when he was a alive, but during the years this show ran (and still is running I just got to watch Red Dwarf Back to Earth) the characters grow and change…which is what I as a writer strive to do with my own characters.

The only character who doesn’t change is Cat and really he doesn’t need to. He personifies a Cat and he doesn’t need to have furry ears, whiskers or a tail to do it. I get a bit secretly annoyed with shifters or aliens who have these aspects, when all you have to do is show us a bit of his character.

I mean, take a look at Cat in this You Tube video:

Cat has to be one of my favourite characters of all time.

Red Dwarf is my brain candy. It lightens me up when I’m down. Most British Comedies do. They’re my band aid for the soul and I love them.

Do you have any favorite characters or shows which make you feel better?