Quitting

Kelly has a really nice post about his decision not to quit writing. I wrote a response in the comment field that I thought I’d post over here on its own. Go read his first.

I remember the day I decided not to quit writing.

It’s funny you should bring this up because I think it relates a lot to the conversation about being “broken” (which I put in quotes because I don’t like that word, nor do I want to give it any power. I actually started a post of my own about how I think language – but particularly labels – have power over us if we let them, but that’s OT and for another day.)

The day I decided not to quit came at a similar place. I had an agent, my book was being shopped around , and I was struggling to write another novel… or anything. A few days after hearing that my novel, which was loved by a junior editor, had been rejected by the senior, I hit bottom. I just didn’t know if I could take the roller coaster ride any more.

Also, at the time, no one that I _really_ knew had ever done it – gone over the transom. I started to disbelieve it was even possible to rise up from the ranks, as it were. It all seemed like a fairy tale that happened to Other people.

Like you, I realized there really wasn’t anything for it. I couldn’t not write.

Of course, I nearly hit bottom again here at the beginning of my career, but that was after I’d suffered an intense personal loss and I was so NOT going to let the bastards win. Not the same moment at all. Besides, that latter moment wasn’t about me choosing not to write any more, but about refusing to let my writing career die on the vine.

Update on Publicity Pressure

I’m over it.

The package my publicist promised arrived yesterday and I read the articles while consuming vast quantities of caffeine... and suddenly inspiration hit me like a two by four. This is the news flash my brain gave me: girl, you been thinkin’ too hard.

Thus inspired, I cranked out a thousand words about how being a Witch has affected my family. I remembered, actually, a phone call from my father that I got in my first year of college. The daughter of a colleague of his stopped by my dorm room when some friends and I were reading Tarot. As my dad (and thus her parent, also) teachs at a nice Catholic University in a small Wisconsin town, she FREAKED. She freaked all over her parent, who in turn freaked all over mine. My dad called me up absolutely convinced I was practicing the DARK ARTS or some other such nonsense.

I worked it out with my dad... this was years ago, anyway, but the point is this made an absolutely marvelous anecdote to highlight for an article that demystifies Wicca for the Elle-reading set.

Now I'm working on the potential Cosmo which has the working title: "Sex and the Single Witch: Love Potion #9 and Other Ways to Score a Hottie."

I'm telling you, I'm smokin' hot.

Of course Shawn pointed out that could just being the caffeine talking....

Crumbling Under Pressure

I’ve been struggling to write the articles that my British publicist wants for the various “women’s magazines” she’s talked to. My problem is actually kind of simple, though I think there’s a deep psychological component as well. The initial, simple problem is this: I don’t write non-fiction. I always struggled to write this kind of stuff in high school, and I’m always much, much happier when I can just make s**t up.

The deeper psychological component is also simple. I’m totally freaked. The amount of pressure I feel to make these books sell well o’er there is akin to deep sea diving in the Marianas Trench.

The good news is that I’ve started them. The problem is that I also keep wanting them to be “about” something, and so keep veering into subjects that are really much to complicated for this audience. I started one about talking to your kids about the higher power and why I think that’s important no matter what your bent (even if the answer is none at all). But when I sent this snippit…

My parents don’t know I’m a Witch. This is not the confession of a teenager. I’ve been practicing Wicca for nearly twenty years. I’m – ahem – well over thirty, own a home, and have a three and a half year old son.

In fact, I’m expecting my son to spill the beans. He’s at that age before the concept of “private stuff” and “public stuff” really makes sense and the Goddess has been on his mind because we started introducing him to the idea at Yule, our Christmas. In the car the other day he asked, “What is the Goddess like? Why can’t I see Her?” I, of course, explained that he could. All he had to do was look around. The Goddess is the seed that transforms into a plant. She is the metamorphosis of caterpillar into butterfly. She is compost – decay that becomes nutrients for new life. Of course, after all my poetic language, my son gave me one of those why-can’t-parents-speak-plain-English sighs and asked again, “Yeah, but what does She LOOK like? Is She big?” At which point I had to revert to the Socratic method and ask him what he thought the Goddess looked like, but that didn’t satisfy him much either. I’m surprised he hasn’t started asking random strangers in the Mall.

I’m sure he’ll quiz the grandparents.

I’m nervous about that moment, but not for the reasons you might think.

… to my publicist, the answer was, yeah, your instincts are correct. This is too dense for this particular audience.

This is surprisingly hard. The good news is that she rather liked the one that starts:

No one can tell I’m a Witch. I don’t wear black (well, at least not exclusively). There are no tattoos or piercings or jewelry on my body of Ankhs or pentacles or vampire bats. I may be over thirty, but I’m not quite a hag yet, thank you very much. You’re more likely to find me at my son’s playgroup with a backpack full of Cheerios and diapers than skulking around a graveyard after midnight.

Disappointed?

Don’t be. I still dance naked at the full moon. I still cast spells and throw hexes. I could give you the evil eye – well, that is, if I believed in such a thing.

Gah. Must get to work on these...

Self-Promotion: Things To Waste Your Money On… Without Even Trying

Despite the title of this article, I actually do many of these things I’m about to list. I’m not at all convinced of their efficacy, however. Also, by listing these ideas, I am not suggesting that any of these are right for you or work particularly well (in fact, I have no idea what REALLY nets sales; if I did, I’d be having a much more lucrative career in advertising.)

The reason I do a lot of these things is because I can’t stand the idea of not doing anything. I would much rather throw money away to keep myself busy, rather than pace a hole in the rug wondering how my sales figures are doing. This is a personal choice, however. And I do them with the full knowledge that they probably aren’t getting me anything in terms of a return on investment. I’m okay with that. Like I said, for me it’s about wasting my time and money versus tearing my hair out by the roots.

Okay, after all that disclaimer-ing, let’s get to the list:

1. Advertise. When I go to conventions (which I listed as something I feel is a good bet for your bucks), I often run an advertisement in their souvenir booklet. This typically costs me $200 a pop (and I do all the art design myself with Publisher, which came as part of my computer package). I have no idea if this works or not, but I kind of like the karmic aspect of supporting a convention, as the money they get from advertising goes to publishing the booklet. These days I also like to run group advertisements to help mitigate the costs. $200 can become more manageable when split four or even five ways.

I have looked into advertising in glossy magazines such as Romantic Times, Locus, SF Bulletin and the like. I've found, however, that those magazines are often beyond the stretch of my pocketbook. I _do_ think that people are affected by ads they see -- I know I've bought books because I noticed a cool cover (or author's name on a new book) that I've seen in ads, but I might be weird that way. Anyway, I haven't done it, so I can't speak of whether or not I really think it's worthwhile.

2. Purchase Professionally Produced Postcards. There’s a really great e-printer called 48hourpress which has, IMHO, very cheap rates and extremely professional products. This costs in the range of $200 - $400, depending on how many you decide to have printed. I tend to order 1,000 at a time, because I have a ton of uses for these things.

Because I’m a member of RWA and MFW (previously covered), I get notices regarding romance conventions that are on the look out for “goodie bag” stuffers. Romance readers, unlike SF folks expect gifts when they go to a conference or a workshop. They typically get a shopping bad FULL of postcards, magnets, pens, post-it notes, bookmarks, and doo-dads of all variety as well as copies of out-of-print/backlist books. Postcards and bookmarks go there on a regular basis. Does this work? Yes, I’ve gotten responses from people who said they bought my book because they saw a postcard for it in their goodie bag. Given how many I’ve sent out do I think that the money is well spent? Probably not.

A side note: I actually spend a LOT of postage (although book rate is surprisingly cheap, given the pounds these boxes weigh) sending out boxes of my science fiction backlist to romance conventions/conferences/workshops. But, if I didn’t, I’d have a million boxes of my own books collecting dust in my office. It’s very depressing to be writing a novel staring at six cartons of remaindered books. For a while, I called my office the “room of doom.”

I also “re-use” my postcards to send out book signing/event notices to my friends. I simply use my laser printer to print out labels containing the pertinent info and then stick them over the part of my postcard which normally has the book blurb on it.

I bring them to SF/F conventions to leave on the freebee tables.

I also send them out to book buyers. Now here’s a big expense we can all argue about…. I have bought (the list cost another couple hundred dollars) a list of book sellers from one the many places you can buy such things. I print out labels and send out thousands or postcards to independent and chain box bookstores. Does this do me any good? I highly doubt it, as this is really one of those things – talking up your book to book buyers – that your publisher should be doing for you. Why do I do it? Because I like thinking that maybe my cover is just eye catching enough that I made a tiny bit of an extra impression on a book buyer who then decides to purchase a copy of my book.

3. Group postcards/calanders/give-aways As a member of MFW and Vampire Vixens, I regularly throw my money away towards group postcards which are sent to book buyers listing all the romance titles from our organization and their pub date. MFW writers is putting together their annual postcard right now. Plus, the Vampire Vixens usually has a strong presence at the big romance conference put on by Romantic Times/Book Club and this year they’re producing a calendar with all the pertinent book release dates on the various months which I’m paying to be part of. Worth it? I have no idea, but again, I like to do this stuff because in a lot of ways it seems stupid for me not to join in, particularly when someone else is going to do all the hard work. I should say, this is the cheapest of my ventures costing ($60 a pop, but as I do two of them at least a year, it costs me over a $100 annually.)

I'll write more as I think of it, but this is all for today.

Astro Alert: Mercury Retrograde!

From astrology.com:

It's time to perfect your backstroke as Mercury turns retrograde in the sign of the Fish just in time for Valentine's Day! Since Pisces is the most sensitive sign of the zodiac, you are likely to feel a bit thin-skinned recollecting recent agreements, ideas and conversations -- especially those pertaining to matters of the heart. Bear in mind that, because of the psychic nature of this water sign, anything left unsaid may emerge as much more important than feelings that have been put into words. However, don't overthink every nuance of your emotions, silent or otherwise. Strive to maintain control over your mood, and don't jump to conclusions until you have a handle on all the facts!

When Mercury reenters airy Aquarius on February 26, your more logical mind will return -- somewhat. Mercury will still be retrograde, but the movement away from emotional Pisces into detached Aquarius will provide some clarity. Mercury retrograde phases are like an extended conversation, allowing you to repeatedly review and reinterpret the finer points of each moment. Take your time! With Mercury in this innovative air sign, you have the opportunity to develop your ideas more thoroughly and to return to trains of thought with those who can help. Additionally, if you know which house -- or houses -- Mercury is traveling through in your natal chart, you can use that knowledge to further utilize and appreciate all aspects of the current retrograde. And, of course, hold off on any major decision-making until after Mercury turns direct on March 7: Mercury retrograde periods are infamous for wreaking havoc on otherwise perfectly well-informed plans!

Self Promtion that Costs Some Bling

Cross-posted from the Wyrdsmiths' Blog.

For the purposes of this second installment I’ll talk about things you can spend promotional money on that are under a hundred dollars, though I’m not going to be rigorous about this division. However, I will try to note when I think there may be hidden costs (like postage, etc.) that may put it over.

First, let’s pretend that you’ve done the (IMHO) scary part and called up your local, independent bookstore and begged them for a signing. Maybe you’ve gone in with another new author friend (or established one) and booked a signing together or in conjunction with a book club meeting, etc. You’ve written a spiffy press release and emailed, faxed, or snail mailed it to all your local newspapers. Sometimes, if you do this right, it will net you some honest-to-goodness FREE publicity in the form of an interview or article or notice in the paper. I’m not terribly convinced that people READ the newspaper, but this is the sort of thing you can save for your media kit in the future.

1. Tell Everyone You Know. There are a few cheap ways to advertise your up-coming event. You can send out an email to everyone (or select everyones) in your address book. I recommend this, regardless, because even if those people can’t make your event they’re at least aware that your book is coming out and may take that moment to pre/order it on Amazon.com or wherever.

I also like to send out some kind of paper reminder to everyone whose snail mail addresses I have. I’ve been collecting addresses for years – from classes, signings, and holiday cards. You can make pretty cheap postcards with some index cards and a printer. If you have a printer that will feed envelops, most times they will also take index cards. This is a ridiculously time consuming process especially given the “advertising percent rate” that you have to keep in mind: 10% return, which is to say that if you send out a hundred postcards, expect ten people. I usually try to send out two hundred postcards a month in advance.

Remember: this will cost you postcard stamps and (very likely) a toner cartridge.

Make sure you have all the important info on the card: day of the week, date and time of the signing, the book you’re going to sign, the name and address and phone number of the place you’ll be at and, well, your name (and, in my case, both my real name and my pseudonym).

Also, if I have more than one signing in a month, I try to put information about both of them on one postcard so that if people can’t make one, maybe they can make the next one. There is some question about how many signings in a local area you should try to do for any given book. I have never figured this out, but my sense is that two bookstores in the same month is more than enough. I’ve had some success having several signings spread out over the course of a year, but the further away from your publishing date you are, the less enthused both your readers and the bookstore manager often are.

Okay, other things to do to make sure you have a good book signing is to show up early (at least fifteen minutes, but best a half an hour, IMHO) to help the store manager set up and dress professionally.

Also, and this is probably going to sound like strange advice, but always keep a dozen copies of your book in the car (this might include “backlist” if you’re promoting a second book). Most book store managers don’t expect to sell that many copies of your book. Even though you probably will only have a dozen or so people show up, it’s an unmitigated disaster if fifty show and you sell out of books before you run out of people who want them. This rarely happens, but, just in case, I always have copies in my trunk. Having extra copies on hand can save face for all involved. Happily, I can say I did this once and it made the book store manager very, very happy.

Okay, before your book signing (and after) you can also:

2. Attend Conventions. The nice thing about being an SF/F/H/Speculative fiction writer is that there are a million conventions happening almost every weekend. Check out the listings on Locus and you’re sure to find a convention near you. We’re extremely fortunate in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area that there are no less than a half-dozen local conventions every year.

This is not free. It will cost you the price of admission (depending on how early you register, $30 - $100+) and, if you don’t live nearby, the cost of hotel (and transportation costs – possibly plane ride). However, this is an investment that I have always found worthwhile.

Most convention planners are desperate for programming volunteers. Ideally, you can get in early on the planning and suggest panel ideas that are especially germane to your work. (For instance I was always on the “Religion in SF” panel when the AngeLINK books were still in print). Kelly always has a list of “offerings” to send to conventions, which I think is very clever. I’m not usually this organized. If not, look for panel topics that interest you. I’ve made friends and influenced people (buyers!) by being on media panels about “Firefly,” etc. Media fans are often grateful to be taken seriously by the “literati” so there’s no reason to hide your inner fan grrl/boy. IMHO. However, I always plan to be on one writing related panel since people who attend those are very likely your target audience.

But, Tate, what if I’m shy??

Here’s my advice about that. Volunteer anyway. Find a topic that you’re interested in and do some research. Come prepared with questions. If you don’t like being put on the spot, be the one who asks the questions. (If you’re signed up as the moderator, you should do this anyway,) but most decent moderators on panels are open to a panel member who is genuinely prepared with interesting questions. Also, if your nervous about what to say during the introduction period, write something up ahead of time and practice. And, the best advice, is to just tell people you’re nervous and it’s your first (or one of your first) ever panels. Most of us SF/F/H-type geeks GET that and will warm to you.

Some conventions also have readings. See if you can get one. My advice for that is to pick something length appropriate and practice, practice, practice. Find a scene in your novel or short story that you don’t have to explain, in which something happens, and which ends on a cliff hanger. Remember: you want people to leave the room wanting more! I also print up a reading copy and edit it for reading – that is to say, if I discover a huge chunk of world building that was important to the story, but which is kind of long and boring when I read it out loud I cut it (or edit it down to something much shorter.) I also make sure to add any dialogue tags that might be necessary for a hearer (but which aren’t in the text the line break is clear to the reader). I also make sure to have someone time me. No one likes a reader who goes overtime.

What if I’m just not famous enough to score a reading?

Well, here’s where being a joiner can help you. If you’re a member of BroadUniverse (which costs about $30 to join), you can take part in their rapid-fire readings. Unfortunately, to be a reader with them you have to be a woman.

Speaking of that:

3. Memberships that cost money, but which have been worth the dough for me:

RWA and my local chapter Midwest Fiction Writers. If you write anything at all romantic, Romance Writers of America is the organization for you. They’re open to writers who aren’t published, who publish small press, and, of course, the big press/big name folks. My local chapter organizes signings, gets me into book seller trade shows, and does group advertising. RWA costs big money, however ($90?) and my local adds another ($30).

BroadUniverse. See above.

When I first started out and simply needed to connect to other writers, I also found the National Writers Union to be helpful.

I could go on, but this is getting lengthy, so I’ll stop for now.

Self-Promotion: The Stuff that Only (Mostly) Costs Valuable Time

Cross-posted from the Wyrdsmith's blog

The title of this is a tiny lie because most of what I’m going to suggest in this article costs a bit of jingle, but it’s very likely money you’ve already spent. Since you’re reading this on-line, my presumption is going to be that you’ve already budgeted into your life the cost of that privilege. Most likely whatever package you’ve signed on to also gives you a small amount of space for a web page, though I will suggest alternatives if it does not.

I should mention that most of this stuff needs to be done well in advance of the book’s publication. I’m currently (in early February) calling about book signings and setting up guest blog spots, etc. for a book that will be coming out in May. I learned a lot about the timing of self-promotion from a book called BOOK BLITZ: Getting Your Book In the News. This might be a good resource for you as well.

To begin (and in no particular order):

1. Be a joiner. This is a piece of advice I learned years ago from a newsletter about self-promotion for authors called “Spilled Candy,” and it’s served me fairly well. The idea is that you can join any number of on-line communities (or real-time, though usually those involve a membership fee so I’ll cover them in my next post) that are germane to the subject of your novel and get some free publicity milage. For us SF folks, that would include places like Speculations and even LJ Communities like Whileaway or similar. Then, the idea is that you establish a presence – with any luck, a good one – and then, as appropriate, reveal that you are an author and that you have a book coming out. People like to support people they know personally. The trouble, of course, is that you need to do this somewhat naturally otherwise you come off as kind of a Troll. You don’t want to bust on to the scene of a well established community, talk up how swell your book is, and leave. Ideally, these organizations would be ones you would join, anyway.

2. Have a website and keep it up-to-date, Probably obvious advice to anyone internet savvy enough to be reading this blog, but I’m surprised by how many professionals don’t do the last bit. As a fan, this makes me insane. When I go to a web site there’s two pieces of information I’m usually looking for: does this author have other work I haven’t read yet, and what conventions can I meet them at to get my stuff signed? I designed my own website with this in mind. I also always make sure there’s reasons for people to come back, like a corner I call mouse’s house in which I have what I call my “DVD-extras.” I have there a collection of fiction that didn’t make it into the novel, writing exercises I’ve done with the characters from my worlds, and art – doodles I’ve made of my characters. The point is, be interesting as up-to-date as possible. I update once a month, usually at the beginning.

3. Have a blog... or several. There are several free blog systems out there including this one blogspot as well as live journal. I think most readers expect their authors to have a blog these days. I also advocate having more than one. Amazon Connects allows you to blog on their site (with direct links to your books) and there are often groups of like-minded writers who are looking for another brave soul to help with a group blog. Obviously, we’ve done Wyrdsmiths, but I also belong to Fangs, Fey & Fur, and I’ll be guest blogging on a number of romance-related blogs when my next novel comes out. Ideally a blog will be helpful, entertaining, and keep readers coming back.

4. Book signings. I’ll talk in the next installment about how to have a good book signing, but since outside of needing a phone line/cell phone calling bookstores is free, I’ll list this step here. Please remember timing with this one also. Most bookstores are planning May events in February (or even earlier), so try to be thinking five to six months in advance of whenever your book is officially available. My only advice about cold calling bookstores is that if you can tie in your event with something they’re already doing (SF book club, for instance) you’ll have a better chance of getting the gig. It also helps to be the local boy/girl made good. This is also where being a joiner has helped me. I do a number of group signings with the Midwest Fiction Writers (though I have to pay to be a member of that), which often means all I have to do is show up because other people have made all the arrangements for me.

5. Get Good at Writing Press Releases. Once you have something to tell people (like a book signing or an award nomination/win), write up a press release and send it out. It actually will cost you the price of a postage stamp (or a fax), but many more newspapers accept press releases electronically, so you may be able to find a way to do this on the cheap. Be sure to check the various newspapers for when they want this information. My personal rule of thumb is that most newspapers want news items only a couple of weeks in advance of the event. If you shoot out your release too early, it’s likely to get forgotten about. Time this as precisely as you can.

Okay, that's it for now... next I'll tackle some things that cost a moderate amount and then on to the expensive stuff. I should say, too, that I'm only going to cover things I've actually tried. When we get to the more expensive things I plan to editorialize regarding whether or not I think the result was worth the money spent. I hope this is helpful.

For those of you who've tried any or all of this, please chime in!

Things Coming Down the Pike -- MAY 2007

I’ve been a terrible blogger because I’ve been busy writing BLOODY CHARMING. My deadline is April 30 and I’m about half done. Also, this is the time when a lot of people are booking things for May (the month DEAD SEXY hits the shelves) so I’ve been trying to get some self-promotion done in that regard.

So, here’s a list of up-coming events:

I’ll be signing DEAD SEXY at Uncle Hugo’s from 1:00 – 2:00 pm on Saturday, May 5, 2007. Uncle Hugo’s is located at 2864 Chicago Avenue South, Minneapolis. Their phone is: (612) 824-6347. You’re asking yourself, so what? I live in Detroit. How does this apply to me? Well, I’ll tell you! Don, the owner of Uncle Hugo’s, is always able to take pre-orders for SIGNED COPIES. If you want a copy of DEAD SEXY personalized to you, you can email him here and request it now. When I come in to sign, he’ll have me do it, and ship it to you.

Also, on May 9, 2007 I’ll be the guest blogger on Riding with the Top Down (romance blog.) Most likely, I’ll find something to say about DEAD SEXY, but I may also run a contest to giveaway a copy of the book – stay tuned.

If you are local and interested in the process I went through to write DEAD SEXY, you can attend the Journey of the Novel session at the Midwest Fiction Writer’s meeting on Saturday, May 12, 2007 at the ungod(dess)ly hour of 9:00 am - 10:00 am. They usually meet in room 332 or 351 (unless otherwise noted) at the Edina Community Center. Information on how to get there and the cost of the meeting is on their website.

Those Brits Sure Know How To Treat a Girl...

Today is the official street date for the British version of Tall, Dark & Dead and the folks at Headline (in Britian, no less) sent me flowers. I tell ya, I'm going to get spoiled with all this attention -- worse, I'm going to start expecting all publishers act like this.

In other news, my American publishers sold the book club rights to Dead Sexy which will be coming out in hardback. According to Anne, my editor, it will be available through Rhaposdy, Doubleday, and the Science Fiction bookclubs. Hooray!

Witchy Ways

My new publicist at Headline wants me to start thinking about various topics that might interest “women’s magazines.” She’s especially excited to hear that I’m a practicing Witch and thought there might be a kernel of something in my religion that might make a witty, sound-byte, branding sort of bit we could capitalize.

Now, you’re probably screaming: “Don’t do it, Tate! Don’t sell out to the Man!” Yeah, I’m thinking about that, too, but on the other hand, the last thing I want to do is drop the ball on what is, for me, at least, a once in a lifetime opportunity to “break out.” Luckily, she seems sensitive to that concern, I think, because she says what she’s interested is not so much something that will sensationalize witchcraft, but which will show the average reader that Wiccans are people, too (actually, what she wrote was, “showing how normal and spiritual Wiccan practices are.”)

So... my question is, any ideas?

What would be the sort of thing you’d like to see me write about Witchcraft? Is there anything that you think would be especially good for mass consumption?

British Cover for Dead Sexy

Here's the British cover for Dead Sexy. It's pretty awesome, IMHO. Tall, Dark & Dead debuts across "the Pond" on Feb. 5, 2007 and is launching a new genre called "Chick Bit."

Nothing like a little pressure.

Old News (Probably)

I found this tidbit about DNA Publications on Sean M. Murphy's blog and thought that any of you writer-types out there should be aware of it.

Though the main magazine under investigation appears to be the official fan magazine for KISS, DNA Publications also publishes Absolute Magnitude, Dreams of Decadence, Fantastic Stories, and Science Fiction Chronicle (trade magazine.)

I'm particularly sad about this news because the very first professional sale I made was a vampire story called "Irish Blood" to Dreams of Decadence, and thus my very first check for writing was signed by Warren Lapine himself.

Holy @#$%! and Writing

When I was at the Mall of America talking to their romance reading group about Tall, Dark & Dead one of the women there noted that there were hardly any swear words in the entire book. She wondered if this was a conscious decision on my part of if it was something that just happened.

Hell yeah it was a conscious decision, and, well, it just sort of happened, too.

The conscious part comes from having written a book, Other Me’s first, which is rather full of four letter words. At the time, my own real-life dialogue was peppered with colorful epitaphs, and, in my mind, using them was part of what made dialogue seem realistic. Plus, the universe of that novel was meant to be noir-ish and dystopian, and it seemed that characters who cursed up a blue streak fit. Still, when I look back at it, there’s hardly a page without a word that could be read on the radio, and a little tiny part of me is embarrassed by that fact.

The part that happened by accident is that I had a child. Well, actually, having a child was no accident – having a child was rather meticulously planned (but that’s another story for another post.) But, my own use of rough language changed dramatically the first time Shawn and I heard Mason utter the f-word. Luckily, he was still young enough that most people couldn’t understand a word he said partly because Mason had a habit of adding an “Ah-“ sound in front of most words. My nephew Jonathan still thinks I was making up everything Mason uttered during that time. Anyway, we were able to convince both Mason and the people who were listening to him that what he was actually saying was “Africa.” He hasn’t said it since (although I thought I heard the s-word once, which we’re a lot less cautious about).

After that, I really started noticing how stupid people sound who use @$%&^ indiscriminately. Mason and I take the bus from time to time when the car is on the fritz, and I have to fight the urge to cover Mason’s ears and tell strangers to watch their language. I don’t, because Mason is totally the type of kid to notice something is “naughty” and copy it just because he knows it twinks mama and/or ima.

Plus, I don’t really want to be a language NAZI.

Besides, I still wholeheartedly believe that a well placed “fuck” can add a lot of punch to dialogue (or even narrative), especially if it’s used sparingly. I still use it, after all. (The more it’s uttered the less impact it has, of course.) But, I also think that a creative writer can come up with just as powerful/shocking things to say that are larger than four letters.

Astro Alert -- Jupiter Square Uranus

From astrology.com:

Feeling restless? Ready to shake things up? Every now and then we all need to move out of our habitually sleepy ways of living life ... and today is a great time to begin.

You probably felt an intense astrological call for change this past November, when freedom-oriented Jupiter entered its own sign, Sagittarius, for the first time in 12 years. Indeed, during this period, you probably began to contemplate perspectives and objectives you never considered before. Now, on January 22, Jupiter reaches the first of three squares with independent Uranus (beginning a significant cycle that won't end until October 9) and takes 'intense' to a whole new level.

Jupiter's movements always encourage self-improvement, and should help you focus on effecting postive change. No events or situations are circumstantial, and this fiery planet forces us to consider new and improved ways of taking matters into our own hands. The movement into Sagittarius brings optimism along with the urge to seek out more constructive solutions. Uranus -- often referred to as 'the Awakener' -- signals that it's time to wake up and stop hitting the cosmic snooze alarm!

You are likely to feel excited, agitated and fidgety all at once when Jupiter makes its first square. Now is the time to make important and perhaps even radical life alterations. Your world is shifting and you'll likely have to embrace the joyous with the uncomfortable in order to optimize growth and change.

This month, as the square cycle kicks off, be open-minded when encountering any scenario -- from an unforeseen event to an all-too-familiar conflict -- and you'll find yourself making the most of a very significant era. Don't forget to pick up your Super Bundle; it will give you that extra edge and push you to new limits, enabling you to soar to unprecedented heights!

You have been warned.

How's it Going?

Melanie asked me how things were going with Book 3 (tenatively titled: BLOODY CHARMING) and I thought I'd write a little about my progress here.

As I told her... it's going. I'm writing a lot of words. Thanks to a strong motivation (my partner has insisted that we can watch no more episodes of "Lost" until I write 9,000 words,) I've been clocking about 1,000 words a day -- sometimes more. However, I seem to be on the "big meander." I've been ostensibly following my book proposal, but, as there are a lot of threads and sub-plots in this particular book, I feel like I've floated down a tributary that's some distance from the main stream, as it were. Luckily, I have a writers' group that will, no doubt, get me back track.

Part of the reason I've been happily floating in the "wrong" direction is that I've uncovered something new about the Garnetverse. Writing, for me, is very organic. I'm one of those people you'll hear saying "Oh, my characters totally surprised me," because much of my creative process is subconcious. For instance, I always knew from the beginning that there was some kind of subculture to the ghouls (the people that vampires use for blood), and I even sort of allude to it with the Feather scene in Tall, Dark & Dead. But, suddenly, the whole thing has snapped into focus because Garnet it coming face-to-face with some of Sebastian's ghouls in this book.

Suddenly, I'm having way too much fun coming up with the code words that the ghouls use among themselves and such like. I suspect to get myself back on track I'm going to use that classic device of having "a monster jump out of the closet."

But, as far as word count, I've got about 30,000 words (which is a little over a third of the way finished). I'm not EXACTLY sure when my deadline is, however. I need to check on that.I *think* it's the end of April.

Rebuttal on "Devil's Dictonary" from a Publisher

Since I posted a link to the original, you might be interested in reading the rebuttal from publisher Teresa Nielsen Hayden: "Corrected Definitions

And Others....

Here is the cover for MANY BLOODY RETURNS (art by Lisa Desimini). I would be one of the "and others" referred to in relatively tiny print under Kelley Armstrong's name. :-)

The short story of mine that will be appearing in MANY BLOODY RETURNS takes place in the Garnet universe and is about Sebastian's birthday, which you may or may not remember, is on Christmas day. It's called "Fire and Ice and Linguine for Two." The last I heard the book is due out from Ace in mid-2007.

Cool, huh?

Publishing "definitions" by Lynn Viehl

Check out Lynn Viehl (aka S. L. Viehl)'s The Devil's Publishing Dictonary (part 1) and (part 2). These are both hilarious, sadly accurate, and quite scathing.

Out and About Town

On Sunday, January 7, 2007 from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Other Me will be at the 2nd Foundation reading group meeting at O'Gara's Pub in Saint Paul. O'Gara's Bar & Grill is located at: 164 Snelling Avenue North, St. Paul, MN.

Monday, January 8, 2007 I will be at the Mall of America's Barnes & Noble romance reading group discussing Tall, Dark & Dead starting at 6:00 pm. The Barnes & Noble is located at 118 E. Broadway Suite 238, Bloomington, MN 55425. For directions or more information call: 952-854-1455

Jayne! Dude!

This is what happens when I wander around the internet with nothing better to do… (However, the best part of this test? Just like the show Firefly, the questions are surprisingly straight-forward. “Are you a cannibal?” “Have you ever had government tests done on your brain?” and “Do you like big guns? A lot?”):

Your results:
You are: Jayne Cobb (Mercenary)

Jayne Cobb (Mercenary) 100% Wash (Ship Pilot) 75% Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command) 65% Alliance 50% Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) 45% Derrial Book (Shepherd) 40% Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) 30% Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 25% Inara Serra (Companion) 20% A Reaver (Cannibal) 20% River (Stowaway) 10%

Although you can be a good fighter and good at protecting others you are not very bright sometimes.

Click here to take the Serenity Firefly Personality Test

Happy New Year

Have you made a New Year's resolution this year? I usually don't, but this year one just popped into my head. Yesterday, while doing the dishes (we always have a lot -- we don't do a traditional party, but my mother's birthday is New Year's Eve, so we always celebrate that with her... and Mason gets his Christmas presents from the grandfolks then) I put on an ALBUM (yes, that old) that I used to love and found myself really enjoying singing along. So, I resolved this year to sing more. I think that's an easy one to keep, since singing is painless (at least for me -- I won't claim it doesn't injure the eardrums of anyone unfortunate enough to overhear) and it makes me happy.

So, how about it? Have you resolved to be a better person? A more diligent writer?

Astro Alert: Pluto Conjunct Galactic Center

Okay, here's a weird one from Astrology.com Apparently pluto and the galatic center are conjunct. How one calcuates that I'll never know, but here's what it all apparently means:

"Could there be a better time to access universal wisdom than when we end one year and begin the next? Recently reclassified Pluto has lost none of its power as it conjuncts the Galactic Center at 26 degrees of Sagittarius on December 29. At this time, you will have the opportunity to tap into the energy of the center of our universe."

"Pluto transits are often intense, and with this important conjunction you'll be ready to empower yourself and think more seriously about your destiny. On December 20, the new Moon in Sagittarius prompted you to put extra energy and intention into whatever you want to become stronger in your life. Moving beyond the familiar now will help you cultivate success."

"The Sun, Pluto and the Galactic Center are all occupying the same area of your astrological chart. That’s a lot of energy, wisdom and power in one place!"

Other Me News

Other me has some publishing news to report: Her short story “Indigo Bunting” a queer coming of age post-apocalyptic story is on-line as of today at Blithe House Quarterly.

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Blithe House Quarterly : queer fiction lives herehttp://www.blithe.com/ Blithe House Quarterly invites you to browse its Winter 2007 edition (Volume 11, Number 1) featuring new short stories by:Victor J. Banis, Sias Bryant, Trisha Collopy, Robert M. Dewey, James Friel, Lyda Morehouse, Rick R. Reed, Ruth Sims, and Jessica Wicks

Guest-edited by Lori L. Lake

Associate editor: Eric Karl Anderson

Photography by Nicole C. Russell

Executive editor and publisher: Aldo Alvarez

"_The_ journal, online or off, for gay short fiction. Blithe House Quarterly is one of the best literary sites on the Internet. Period." ~42opus.com

"Internet-based fiction journals have become a significant force in publishing, especially for serious short fiction. In Web-only lit journals such as Blithe House Quarterly, the short-story form is alive and clicking." ~Baltimore City Paper

"Setting the quality bar [for gay and lesbian writing] is the phenomenal site Blithe House Quarterly. It's awash in awards and rightly so. Of all gay and lesbian sites, Blithe House is the golden child, the one to be entered in the Literature Olympics. None of the stories needs special cosseting as our fiction. Be skeptical and go see the site!" ~Gay & Lesbian On Line, 3rd Edition

"The central publishing arm of new queer fiction." ~OUT Magazine on Blithe House QuarterlyBlithe House Quarterly : queer fiction lives here: http://www.blithe.com/

**Winner of the Encyclopaedia Britannica's Internet Guide Award

** Featured in the January 2005 New York Times article on the literary magazine boom

**A GLAAD Media Award Nominee

Seeing Is Believing: Or Is it?

n my last class at the Loft, we ended up on a tangent about a book I’m currently reading which shall remain nameless. It’s a well known urban fantasy novel which has been receiving a lot of high praise. My partner Shawn read part of the novel and got so frustrated with it, that she threw it against the wall. She was so irritated that she actually suggested that I read it, so we could complain about it together.

Part of the problem with this book is the Big Reveal. The question of: when does your hero[ine] “come out” to other people about her magical power/the magic in her life/her magical boyfriend and how do the Uninitiated react to the news that there is magic in the world?

This issue Shawn had with this particular book is that everyone the heroine meets buys into the magic, without so much as a hiccup, in fact, they’re all eager to help despite the fact that their worldview should be shattered or at least upset a titch. That complete acceptance didn’t work for Shawn. (It’s still working for me, but I’m only a 100 pages in.)

Of course, as an author, there’s another tension, I think. Because you know the cover is going to show something fantastical and the back cover copy is going to hint at magic, you don’t really want your readers to have to wait for your heroine and the people around her to accept the magic the reader already expects. I’m having this problem in my current novel (Garnet’s third book: BLOODY CHARMING) because I have the opening where Garnet sees a wolf. One of my Wyrdsmiths’ colleagues is telling me that I’m over doing it with the werewolf “telegraphing,” even though I know that’s a bit of a red herring (I won’t say more for fear of spoilers.) My colleague’s point, however, is still valid. A SF/F/Paranormal romance reader is going to see a wolf and instantly assume magic is afoot. In this case, I want to play against that assumption, but I still have to be aware of it, and to not frustrate the reader so that s/he is shouting at the book, “Oh, for God/dess’s sake, Garnet, it’s a bloody werewolf! How dumb are you??”

The Nameless Book in question has a different problem. That is, I think the heroine accepts the magic in her life at the right pace, but the people around her swallow it far too quickly. “Oh, come on! It can’t be that easy!” was the complaint I heard Shawn mutter as she was reading. And, that’s the other issue a writer of paranormal/F/SF has to deal with – you don’t want your character’s friends to be instantly on board (unless there’s a pre-existing good reason, like s/he is also involved in a magical community of some sort) otherwise it feels like your heroine isn’t terribly challenged. If everyone buys into the magic and offers knowledge and help, then you start to wonder if the whole world isn’t actually magical and only the heroine is stupid enough not to have been with the program from the beginning. I think this author is actually aware that people might be thinking this very thing, because she has a spirit guide tell the character that she’s a brand new soul… thus excusing her for not knowing all this stuff about the magical world that everyone else seems to. As an author, I think that’s a bit of a cheat, because it’s also just as valid to have someone, just once, not know or not believe or tell her she needs to get back on her meds. Especially, since that can be done to humorous effect.

Still, I think it’s a tough question for all speculative writers. How do the other people in your heroine’s life deal with her magical crap? Do they buy it? Buy it skeptically at first? Think she’s crazy? Or, do you have them resist for a while until something magical happens that includes them? Obviously, you need to do what works best in your story, but thinking about how readers will react to other character’s reactions (will they see this as too easy? Too “hard” – as in they feel the magic is so obvious that it can’t be ignored no matter how cynical the character?) helps, IMHO.

Another solution a lot of urban fantasy writers have employed is the magical universe. If, for instance, the existence of vampires is common knowledge, then you don’t really have to deal with the issue of the Big Reveal – at least not where it concerns magic, anyway.

I also think this is a matter of taste. I tend to prefer my urban fantasy just this side of reality, which is to say, the more like the here and now, the better I tend to enjoy the book. I want that feeling of “this could happen to me,” if I could just side-step out of the mundane. So, I prefer incredulous friends.

How about you?

Kudos to Other Me

Other Me announces that she has an interview with Karin Lowachee at The Internet Review of Science Fiction. You have to be a subscriber to view IROSF, but if you are (or if you want to sign up for the privledge of reading this particular article,) go to: www.irosf.com.

Writing Under the Influence – The Embarrassing Bits

For my birthday, Shawn bought me the DVD of Rick Springfield’s pilot for “Forever Knight.” Though I’ve carefully kept the video cassette tape I had of it in good working order, I hadn’t really re-watched the movie since sometime last century (probably the mid-90s.) I had always vigorously defended it against the people who preferred the remake, because to this day I think Rick Springfield has a certain kind of sexy charm (which I never really got from the other blonde dude) and because of the overtly homoerotic scene with his master/Blood Sire (which, to my understanding, was changed to a woman in the remake). Given that this pilot was shot in the late 80s (pre-Ellen, pre-Will & Grace, pre-Tom Cruise/Brad Pitt’s Interview.), the homoeroticism of that scene should be considered pretty groundbreaking.

That said, it was pretty painful to watch.

I don’t understand movie-makers’ need give vampires the whole Klingon-bumpy forehead make-over when they manifest their powers. (Even Buffy did this). I suspect, however, this has something to do with the fact that we like our Dark Siders to be made ugly by their evil. White hats for the good guys and ugly, bumpy faces for the bad guys. God/dess forbid evil should be sexy and seductive, the way Dracula was written. Monsters have to be clearly monsters or we dumbwads out in TV-land won’t be able to recognize them.

Yet, despite how hard the show is to watch now – I think Forever Knight profoundly effected me as a vampire fan. I still love the metaphor of vampire as junkie. The way Nick Knight struggles with his will versus his desire for blood really still works for me, despite the bad 80s hair. The vampire bar scene was also one of the first of its kind (at least on screen) and, though it became overused in fiction (loved Buffy’s reversal of it, later) it’s still kind of cool after all this time. Also, I think that Forever Knight really was my first exposure to what urban fantasy could look like on TV. Nick Knight has a job; he’s a homicide cop – a perfect job for a vampire in some ways (though no explanation is given in the pilot as to how he managed to go to police academy during the day.) There’s also that great scene near the beginning where he tries to tan, and then goes home to close up the curtains and watch the sunrise via webcam, as it were. It was also the first time I thought about how vampires would probably like their blood slightly warm, as he sticks his in the microwave. A bit silly, but still nicely done.

It all seems so commonplace after years of Buffy, but Forever Knight really, for me, at least, put the vampire squarely in modern times and let him be a hero.

Yeah, I’m still a Rick Springfield fan. Embarrassing, yes, but I’ll still admit it.

Ya wanna make something of it??

Astro Alert: Saturn Turns Retrograde

Because you NEED to know (from astrology.com):

Saturn is often considered the taskmaster planet. And when it goes retrograde? Well, there're no two ways about it: Issues of authority come to the fore, and a conservative attitude toward responsibilities creeps into even the most free-spirited souls. Whether consciously or not, you will probably experience the effects of Saturn's retrograde -- which will last until April 19, 2007 -- as a time to reflect on past decisions and learn from your mistakes ... and definitely not a time to charge easily toward your goals.

That said, Saturn's energy, which rules issues of control and organization, lends itself well to making sound judgment calls as well as wise investments, if both sense and sensibility are properly utilized.

Saturn turning retrograde puts a challenging spin on achieving success, but the planet also rules issues of leadership, making this the ideal time to establish your own boundaries, strive for self-improvement and unleash your creativity on the world. Furthermore, when your goals have been met, you'll be that much more satisfied at having cleared this astrological stumbling block! On the way, you'll also have learned a lot about yourself and clarified your perspective.

How Stupid Am I? No Wait…

...Don’t answer that.

It’s a very good thing that I’m hiding my face in the picture below, because guess what? My reading was _not_ last night. No, in fact, it will be on the date listed, which is to say NEXT Monday.

Worse, all my SASE students showed up at my house while I was calling Shawn trying to figure out how badly I goofed (did it start later than I thought? Different day?) because we’d arranged to practice our pieces ahead of time.

In the words of the immortal Homer: D’oh.

Other Me About Town

TONIGHT!

On Monday, December 11, 2006 from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm I'll be reading as Other Me at Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55408. The reading is in conjunction with the SASE Mentorship program. For more information call, (612) 874-2815.

Even though the reading is in a matter of hours, I still haven't decided what I'm going to read. According to the preliminary schedule I'm on dead last, so my thought was to read the "Second Coming of Emily" which I just started, and is no more than two pages long (I officially have fifteen minutes to read). The other option is "Tutivillus," which was published in Wyrdsmiths, but only a portion of that one since it's 4,000 words long.

I have no idea what to wear either.

Sigh.

Time to Lean, Time to Clean

When do you write? (and it’s corollary: How do you find TIME to write?) are questions I get asked a lot.

When I first started writing, I wrote on the job -- which I can’t actually recommend since I could have lost my job because of it -- and that spoiled me. I could write when I wanted to – which, it turns out, is mid-morning. I’m at my peek creatively from about seven thirty to eleven o’clock. When I became a stay-at-home parent, I was completely screwed up, since I discovered that the only time I had to myself was in the evening. Bio-rhythmically, I’m a zone-out-in-front-of-the-TV sort anytime after six. But, I had a paying deadline, so I couldn’t “wait for the Muse” or even my intellectually peek time. I learned to just start whenever, and write as much as I could.

Yet, when talking to fellow Wyrdsmith, Sean, I came to the startling realization that I don’t actually write very often these day, if you calculate actual hours spent. When I’m teaching, as I have been for the past three months, I write even less, because my scheduled time to work on fiction is post-Mason-bedtime (8:00 pm, reliably. While his official bedtime is 7:00 pm, we tell the story of going to sleep, and then he usually drifts off around 7:15 and then *I* wake up sometime before 8:00 and stumble out, bleary-eyed.) As you can perhaps tell, this is kind of a sucky arrangement, because I tend to end up with a half-hour nap right before I sit down to compose. The nights I teach, I usually don’t write at all because I don’t get home until after 10:00 pm and, given that Mason and company is up and out around 5:30/6:00 am… I need a few hours sleep.

Anyway, factoring in two nights of teaching, I write four or three nights a week for three or four hours. Maximum, I’m getting 16 hours/week writing time. But, on average, I’d bet it’s much closer to 10 - 6 hours/week. However, I don’t let myself go to bed unless I’ve written 1,000 words, which is how it is that I think I manage to make deadline (I missed one publishers’ deadline in my entire career, and it was because of a family death.)

Sometimes, however, like last night when I was struggling with a sex scene I spend my whole three hours pecking slowly at the screen, until I finally just give up because I can’t keep my eyes open any longer. BTW, I ALWAYS struggle with sex scenes, which is why when Shawn suggests I consider writing erotica as my next sub-genre, I told her no way. My writing would slow to a crawl if I tried to write more sex.

I’m writing about this, not to complain, but because I think people usually imagine published authors having unlimited amounts of time to write. They look at their busy lives and think, no way -- I just can’t make time to write. Granted, I’m the sort of person who is highly motivated by a deadline (oh, and honestly, a the paycheck that comes with book delivery), but I think that six hours a week is really very do-able. Keep in mind, I often take the weekend off from writing (although I wrote last night to make up for a particularly lax writing week) – so you really don’t even have to sacrifice family time for your craft. I don’t, anyway.

Hopefully, you feel inspired now. Go write. :-)

Naming Names

The question of authors that inspire you came up on fangs, fur & fey and I thought my response might be interesting to people here.

William Gibson, and the all the various and sundry spawn of his “Movement” cyberpunk – I think everything I write is tainted by my first real sub-genre love affair. My fascination with Gibsonesque dystopias clearly imbues my gritty urban settings (because Madison, Wisconsin is the epitome of dark, urban grittiness… okay, maybe I was thinking of Other Me.) But, I think a case could be made that even in Tall, Dark and Dead, one can see the swirls of cyberpunk fingerprints smudging the edges of my worldview. There are a lot of punks in my writing – people who are a bit outside of the system. Plus, my vamps aren’t of the fluffy variety, they tend to fall on the darker side.

Katherine Kurtz – A major teen influence. I read every book of hers I could find and then spent hours writing fan fic and fantasizing that I was Alaric Morgan (among others.)

Eleanor Arnason – The first professional writer I ever met was Eleanor Arnason. I’d seen her speak at various science fiction conventions previously, but we bonded at a membership meeting for the National Writers Union over being both speculative fiction writers and writers of fiction (both rarities). She was the first person who made me think that it was possible for real people to become published authors.

Sandra Hill – The first funny romance I read was her Last Viking, a book that changed my mind about the romance genre in general.

Then in no order in particular: Fredrick Pohl, in particular, his novel Gateway. Star War the movie for me, but also the Han Solo books, particularly Han Solo’s Revenge. Ray Bradbury, George Alec Effinger, the Thieves’ World books, School House Rock, Sesame Street (especially the lovable, furry Grover), John Milton, X-Files, Marvel Comics and probably dozens of others that I’ve forgotten.

Who inspires you?

Bragging from Other Me

Other Me insisted I share the cover from the Japanese edition of Archangel Protocol (Hayakawa Publishing, Inc.)

And, in doing so, I am reminded of a question that a student of mine asked last night. It was the lecture I like to call in my head the depressing reality of publishing money. With horror in her eyes, my student asked: “How do writers make a living?”

My answer was simply -- they don’t.

Most writers that I know have full or part-time jobs. A surprising number of us in Wyrdsmiths are living as writers, but majority of those are actually stay-at-home parents who are trying to make ends meet on the salary of our spouse (or spousal equivalent).

I can't speak for the others, but my ends don’t always meet.

Writing money – even after five published novels – is what I refer to as my “latte money.” It’s extra, not really even enough to count as supplemental. I teach to make more money, and I write the occasional bit of nonfiction to make more money. But none of it really adds up to a living wage.

This could depress me deeply, but I knew when I started trying to do this professionally that I’d never make a living writing and that only one percent of all writers really make major money from their writing. Writing is something you have to do because you can’t not do it or because if fulfills some deep inner need (or, if you’re a weirdo like me, it brings you enough happiness that the rest doesn’t matter.)

Writing doesn’t help me make a living, but writing makes living worthwhile.

Sappy, but, for me, true.

The Difference between Urban, Dark and Contemporary Fantasy

There’s a discussion going on fur, fey and fangs about what the difference is between the categories above. I realized in replying to someone else’s post that I don’t really have a good sense of what separates urban fantasy, for instance, from dark fantasy.

Urban fantasy, as I understand it, ought to take place in a city. It was postulated that the moniker “urban fantasy” also promises grittiness. One commenter suggested that it implied stronger language, which I found kind of fascinating. Urban fantasy is going to give you f-word uttering, urban-dwelling faeries in leather, apparently. It’s also going to take place in the modern world with modern sensibilities. Urban fantasy is *not* going to involve castles and knights, unless somehow they’ve been transported to today. Urban fantasy may or may not include vampires in its metahuman denizens.

Dark fantasy, then, can happen at any time in (meta)human history. It most certainly includes vampires, because, as was pointed out by someone the “dark” part is really just a stand-in for the word “horror,” in a lot of ways. Dark fantasy is a story with fantastical elements that gets ugly, in the horror sense. There’s going to be blood spilled in dark fantasy, probably lots of it.

Contemporary fantasy takes place in the now, has a modern sensibility, includes any number of metahuman creatures, including vampires, but is usually more light-hearted in tone than any of the above. It can take place on a farm or a city, and isn’t necessarily “gritty.” My books probably fall into this category most strongly, though because of the strong romantic content, my books are labeled “contemporary romance” or “paranormal romance.”

Paranormal romances, of course, can take place in any time, in any place and are only distinguished from other romances by the fact that the heroine or the hero are metahuman. Most of paranormal romances, however, I think don’t tend to be particularly gritty or dark, though there are probably exceptions to this… as there are to all the “rules” I’ve tried to outline above.

I think that most fans of one of these categories will read all of them, although I found it fascinating that there were a lot of people on fur, fey and fangs who came down strongly in one camp or the other. I suppose if you prefer dark and gritty, silly romantic paranormal isn’t going to jive -- I myself, personally, read according to mood. I tend to prefer to dark, but silly can be a lot of fun when I’m in the mood for it. I tend to enjoy humor, even gallows’ humor, in everything I read.

What about you? Any preferences or quibbles with my definitions?

Hippo Birdy To Me

Saturday, November 18th was my birthday. It was a good day. I got to have breakfast out with a friend AND dinner out with the one I love. I also got some fantastic presents, the best of which was a long, hot bath alone (without Mason.)

I always love to read the Star Tribune's yearly horoscope on my birtday. Here's what mine said about me:
"Your birthday today: You approach this year with great imagination and wonder. Therefore what occurs is much larger than is usually expected of thought possible. Figure out exactly what's needed to make a deal work and you'll pull it off in January. Love is lavished on you, and you go into the new year feeling whole. Aquarius and Virgo are your allies."

So what do you think it really means? Another book contract? Fame? Fortune? Or...?

The Question of Beginnings

[Cross-posted from Fur, Fey & Fangs.]

Tall, Dark & Dead actually starts with a two sentence question and answer:

“What’s the best way to keep Vatican witch hunters off your scent? Dress to kill.”

Dead Sexy also begins with a question:

“Who knew there were so many dead things in Madison, Wisconsin?”

The book I’m working on right now (tentatively called Bloody Charming) begins with:

“I was on my bicycle five miles out of town and thinking about what it might be like to settle down, really settle down with a vampire, like forever, when I saw the gray wolf on the side of the road.”

...which is clearly not as snappy as the other two, and may explain a bit why I’m still struggling with this sucker. I’ve started Bloody Charming three times now and can’t quite get things into focus. I’ve decided, in fact, to abandon perfection for the moment in order to keep moving forward.

I agonize over first lines. I’m convinced that they’re critical in hooking (hoodwinking?) your reader into buying your book. I know that when I’m thinking about book buying I often judge a book first by its cover, its back copy, and then by the first page or so of the author’s writing. Given that usually only one of those is in the author’s complete control, I figure I need to make my first page a real grabber.

How do you buy a book? How important is that first page (if you even read it)?

Astro Alert - Mercury Direct, Uranus Direct, Jupiter Enters Sagittarius

An update from astrology.com:

Enough review -- take action! As Mercury turns direct in Scorpio on November 17, it's time to incorporate everything you've learned during this Mercury retrograde period, which began October 28. Hopefully, you’ve done your research and are ready to forge ahead. Independent Uranus turns direct on November 19, bringing change and a desire to be totally true to yourself. Just what is that magical mixture that makes you unique? As you are contemplating that, Jupiter enters philosophical and travel-oriented Sagittarius on November 23 for the first time in 12 years. A new course must be mapped out -- are you ready?

Cute Mason Pictures

Here are a few cute pictures of Mason(and Shawn) at the Rockford Barnes & Noble. These pictures were taken by our friends Besty and Warren Urbik. Isn't Mason just darling?

Big Box Store Dilemma

I desperately want to unequivocally support local, independent bookstores. Certainly, I go out of my way to spend time and money at Uncle Hugo’s, which is not only independent and bricks and mortar, but is also one of a vanishing breed – the science fiction and fantasy specialty store. I also try to push customers their way. For a long time they were the only store in the nation that sold new copies of the out-of-print books by other me.

Uncle Hugo’s is a writer’s dream. They’ve always ordered a lot of my books, hand sold them to customers with similar interests, they rarely send back “returns,” and they’re generally warmly disposed when I call begging for signing time when a new book’s release date rolls around. They’ve supported me despite a career change, and has always had a very broad definition of what constitutes SF/F and has always carried a number of paranormal romantic titles.

For their sake, I would wish all big box bookstores to be swallowed by the monster from the deep (or at least suffer tragic, mortally wounding sales.)

But...

Then I go to somewhere like Rockford, Illinois, and have a fantastic signing at a --gasp-- Barnes & Noble, and suddenly I don’t know how to feel about all this.

I don’t think I sold particularly extraordinarily at Rockford. I probably sold a half dozen books (possibly a few more), but there was a surprising amount of foot traffic considering that this store was a stand-alone building in a big box store oasis that had more parking lots than trees. Because there were people wandering around, I was able to sell a few books based on my aggressive business acumen (which is to say I harassed someone into buying a copy of TD&D). I also handed out a fist-full of postcards advertising the next book, telling potential customers that the postcards were FREE, and if they decided they wanted the book after all, they could always come back and pick up a copy I’d signed. Hopefully, that sort low-pressure of approach will move even more books. Who knows? More to the point, B&N had ordered a fair number of TD&D and not only had signs all over the store announcing my presence, but they also had one of their friendlier staff walking around showing off copies of my books and telling people they had a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to meet a real, live romance author.

Plus, they bought me coffee.

It’s hard to hate people who buy you coffee.

I will never, ever abandon my local, independent bookstores, but there are certain advantages to these large box bookstores. You might find this counterintuitive, but I have had a lot easier time booking signings at remote venues by contacting big boxes. Once, when Shawn and I knew we were going to be traveling to Phoenix, Arizona, I tried like the devil to get any independent bookstore to give me a signing. I called several months in advance, but got bumpkin for a response. The most famous independent bookstore in Phoenix, Tattered Cover, explained to me that I could have a signing, IF I was willing to pay them. “Book signings, you understand,” the manager sniffed, “don’t net us any profit. If you want to rent space from us, you can. Fifty bucks an hour.”

I blanched. No way was I going to rent out a space in a book store that also promised absolutely no support in terms of publicity – It wasn’t even clear they’d order books for me. So, I gave up on the independents. I went on-line and searched for a B&N with a science fiction reading group. By chance, there was one in the Phoenix area, I called them and talked to their community relations person and had a signing scheduled by the end of a ten minute phone call.

That Phoenix signing was a big seller. I sold over sixteen books AND I met the reviewer who reviewed Other Me’s first novel for Romantic Times. The trip was a humongerous success.

And they bought me coffee.

Did I mention the free caffeine?

What do you think? Big box = evil? Or?

The Personal and The Political

In honor of Tuesday’s elections the moderator of Fur, Fey & Fangs asked the contributing authors to consider the political system their metahumans employ in their novels (ie the hierarchy of a wolfpack, coven, or murder of vampires). I can’t really answer this question because I don’t actually think there are a lot of vampires in existence in my universe.

I really struggled with this particular issue – that is, what’s the deal with vampires? How do they survive preying on humans without being discovered? Or should I go with the scenario made popular by Laurel K. Hamliton’s Anita Blake series, where vampires have become citizens in their own right and are subject to governmental rules and regulations like normal people.

I decided I couldn’t think of a unique enough reason that vampires would be part of the known world, so rather than risk blatantly ripping off Hamilton (or any of the other myriad of vampire writers who have chosen this route) I’d keep them in the magical closet, as it were.

That left me with the issue of how is that no one has discovered their existence? Even though the article I posted about the mathematical improbability of vampires has been negated by my devoted and mathematically-inclined readers, there is always the issue that if you had a murder (sorry, but I like that so much better than “coven”) of twenty or thirty vampires all living in a town the size of Madison, Wisconsin your food source would run out pretty quickly, I’d think. Or, at the very least, the local cops would start wondering about the quantities of exsanguinated bodies piling up in the county morgue.

I solved the first problem by giving my vampires the ability to stay alive without having to kill their victims.

For the rest, I figured that I had to limit the number of vampires. I’ve never specified the exact number of vampires in the world, but Garnet has met only a few. Two is considered one too many for Madison.

The ghouls know about vampires, of course. (Ghouls are volunteer donors to the vampires.) I’ve never really explained how it is that Sebastian and the others recruit them without giving away their true identity, but I’ve always figured vampires did use a bit of “glamour”/Thrall/cult of personality to keep the whole thing a kind of open secret in that particular subclass of people.

So my novels politics are local and personal, I guess.

Serendipitous Self-Promotion

Yesterday Shawn, Mason and I made a foray into the Valpo Barnes & Noble. Shawn has actually been looking for a fantasy novel by C. E. Murphy called Urban Shaman and Mason is easily amused by the Thomas the Tank Engine books and toys they have in the children’s section.

I, meanwhile, like to go to scout.

I snoot around to check the bookshelves see who of my friends in on the shelves and in what qualities. Then, I check to see if they have any copies of *my* books. When I don’t find my books, I usually don’t bother to make a fuss. I mean, I know how I would feel if some irate author came up to me while I was just doing my barely above minimum-wage job shelving books in a box chain store demanding to know why thousands of copies of her precious, important novel is not displayed prominently. I would think she was a diva. I’d roll my eyes, make nice, and put her name on my mental list of people not to go out of my way to help in the future.

Anyway, I’d found a couple of copies of WebMage by Kelly McCullough and a copy of Barth Anderson’s Patron Saint of Plagues. No Tall, Dark & Dead. I shrugged and went back to play with Mason. Shawn came up to me and told me she couldn’t remember the author of Urban Shaman and wondered if I’d be willing to ask someone if they had it. Shawn is shy and I’m not. We tend to do a lot of our division of labor based on this fact. So I was happy to ask after the book.

The clerk said that they had a copy of Urban Shaman and, on a lark, I decided to ask after Tall, Dark & Dead. Turns out the reason I didn’t see it on the shelf was because someone on staff was reading it in the break room. She told me she could fetch me that copy. I stopped her and sheepishly admitted that I was the author. I told her that if someone was actually READING it, I didn’t want her to take it from them.

She showed me where to find the other book, we chatted about various other books that we liked. She up-sold me on the sequel, and we parted ways.

Mason had found a book on bugs in the children’s section so we hung out for a few moments decided if he liked it enough to make it a worthwhile purchase. While we dithered, the clerk came up to me and asked me if I’d be wiling to sign their copy of Tall, Dark & Dead. I happily obliged, and she told me that she’s “stolen” it from the staffer who was reading it decided to buy it for herself. She also informed me that she already placed an order for another copy.

I was honored. Thrilled, even. And, I’d made a sale. All self-promotion should be so easy.

It’s All About Me, Even When it Isn’t

Another reader on Amazon.com complained that the characters in TDD have no morals.

I continue to be baffled by this criticism because, as I’ve said many times on this blog, the central theme of that novel is a question of morality. I suppose your average reader can’t relate to a heroine who has killed (or, depending on how culpable you believe Garnet was when she released Lilith, “allowed to die”) several people. For all intents and purposes, though, you could certainly consider Garnet a fairly active accomplice to murder.

I still believe she’s a moral person, however. She killed out of self-defense, a defense, I might add, which works for many juries in this country. She was also vastly out-numbered and out-gunned. Had it not been for her willingness to unleash Lilith, Garnet would have died that night. A point that I thought that I made abundantly clear throughout the novel.

She also is wracked by guilt. Yes, she can sleep at night and even joke about it, perhaps, (partly because she’s the queen of denial) but she’s also never been entirely convinced that what she did was the right thing, even though it saved her life. Garnet also unleashed something dark within herself and struggles throughout the novel to make peace with that. (Lilith is, in essence, a big, fat metaphor for the human capacity to do harm – and maybe even take pleasure from it. But my point is not to glorify that, but to expose it.)

Maybe people don’t like that darkness. Or maybe I failed on some level for these readers, and my intentions are not all there in the pages of the book, despite my best efforts.

It’s interesting to me that this particular reader also thinks that Garnet slept with Parrish, which she most certainly does NOT. They get close – partly because Garnet is feeling a pang for something familiar and Sebastian has just revealed his darker side, which she initially revolts against. Garnet kisses on Parrish, she wants him, they get naked, but then things stop.

The stopping is kind of the important bit.

Isn’t it?

Or am I to assume then that the readers who find Garnet and company immoral are the careless readers?

This may all boil down to the cover art. While I love it, and I think it helped sell books, there is a bit of a disconnect – my book isn’t nearly as light and airy as the cover suggests. (Ironically, I’d proposed an even lighter book, but the editor who bought it said he wanted it darker with more sex and violence.) So, anyway, maybe the readers who can’t connect to Garnet were expecting her to be something else despite the bloody, murderous image in the prologue (which perhaps a careless reader might skip?) and all the references to the Dark part in dark goddess Lilith.

I don’t know the answer, but, what I do know is that I should never read my Amazon.com reviews. They make me crazy and, like right now, stop me from writing. I know I can’t please everyone, but part of me tends to take this kind of criticism personally. I feel like the comments are directed at me, rather than at the reader’s experience of my book.

I suppose the reviewer in question would just say I was being self-important.

Beginning at the Beginning is a Stupid Thing To Do

I’m finally sitting down to start Bloody Charming, the third in the Garnet Lacey vampire chick-lit series, and I’m stymied. I can’t seem to figure out where this story starts.

The funny thing is that I have an outline that details the plot from beginning, middle, and end, so it’s not like I don’t have a handle on the story itself. I had, in point of fact, begun at the beginning, which is to say, sometime before the action starts. I’d had Garnet on a boring little bicycle ride home interrupted by the sudden appearance of a wolf. Cool though that image was, I realized that what followed was a lot of meandering as Garnet went though her day, essentially being happy.

Not cool.

So tonight, I restarted the novel at the first gathering of Garnet’s potential coven. I’m much happier with that because there’s action… though I realize the conflict is still not center stage. I’m going to have to rework that in revisions, because I’m also throwing a lot of new people at the reader all within the first ten pages. I think that I can make that onslaught of names work if there’s a core story for the reader to follow – which is going to be Garnet dealing with Blythe, the sexy comparative religions major, who is hitting on Sebastian.

It amazes me how bloody difficult writing is. I’ve been teaching writing for years now and I have any number of sort of “pat” phrases that I tell my students over and over. One of them is that they need to start their story at the moment of conflict. Start, I tell my students, with a problem statement, not unlike the thesis of a paper -- so that your reader knows what the hypothesis is going to be, what answers they should be looking for. State the novel’s core conflict in the first sentence (or thereabouts.)

Yet, when it comes time for ME to sit down and write, I flake. I get distracted by the pretty, by the fun.

Now I have to pay the price. I’m going to have to take my own advice.

How annoying is that?

Because It COULD Happen

(Cross posted to Fangs, Fur & Fey)

On of the questions asked of authors on the Fangs, Fur & Fey list was: "Why do you write urban fantasy?"

I have to first start by saying that I’m a huge fan of urban fantasy. I read a lot of it as a teen/young adult (which was some time ago now), probably for me the most memorable of which was Emma Bull’s WAR FOR THE OAKS. I still read a lot of it, in fact.

This is going to sound extremely fannish/Mary Sue, but what I love about urban fantasy, is that, well, that it could happen... to me.

When I was a kid, I loved to play pretend. I had the kind of overactive imagination that sent me into Hixon Forest every day of summer vacation with a wooden sword and a couple of willing friends. I’d still be there, except at some point it became somewhat socially inappropriate for me to tell people to call me “Zurg, Amazon Queen of Venus.” (Except maybe in the bedroom, but that’s another story.)

Urban Fantasy is an invitation to play again. Because the settings are contemporary, I can imagine that that unwashed looking guy talking to himself two seats in front of me on the city bus is, in fact, a werewolf. That’s the sort of stuff I like to play with in my own novels (and in the enjoyment of other people’s)... the taking of real things and added a supernatural or paranormal spin on them. I mean, what if all the guys/gals who talk to themselves are, in point of fact, talking to something real? What if those plastic bags blown around by the wind are messengers to some kind of new breed of urban faerie? My friend Kelly McCullough based a whole universe in an as-yet-unsold fey book called THE URBANA on that idea.

It makes walking to work more interesting, you know?

As If You Needed One More Blog To Read...

I was just invited to join a new LiveJournal community that might be of interest of readers of Tall, Dark & Dead. It’s a collection of paranormal romance writers called fangs_fur_fey/

British Cover

Here's the British cover for Tall, Dark and Dead. (Yes, they realize they mispelled my name. It's being fixed.) Outside of that, I think it's awesome.

Astro Alert:Mercury Retrograde, Neptune Direct, Jupiter Square Saturn

Your up-to-date astrological information here!

This from Astrology.com

"Are you thinking of making some lifestyle changes? The Jupiter square Saturn on October 25 is the perfect excuse to cut back on any excesses and to assess the areas of life where you are overcommitted. And with Neptune ending its retrograde -- a phase that began last May -- when it turns direct on October 29, you are tuned into your hopes, wishes and dreams. Now is the time to incorporate these ideals more deeply into your life."
"But wait! That rascal Mercury turns retrograde on October 28, a period that will last until November 17, so it will be essential to do a thorough review of your plans before making any life-altering decisions. Start reviewing old contacts, ideas and plans. What have you accomplished? Are you stuck in a rut? Though communication snafus and misunderstandings abound during any Mercury retrograde period, it's also an ideal time to analyze, evaluate and effect real change."

Math Disproves the Vampire

World Science has an article that shows that vampires can't exist, mathematically speaking. Check it out: Math vs. Vampires: Vampires Lose".

Garnet and Sebastian Short Story News

As you know, a short story I wrote featuring our very own Garnet Lacey and Sebastian von Traumm will be coming out in an anthology edited by Charaline Harris. I just got new and improved information about its release date. See the note below:

I just wanted to catch you up on the status for MANY BLOODY RETURNS. Ginjer Buchanan at Ace has read the manuscript and loves it. (That is a quote!) And though I'd thought it would be a paperback release, the book will be a September 2007 HARDCOVER release.

Cool Yule!

Lizard Man of... My Hometown?

Now I’m reading Hunting the American Werewolf by Linda Godfrey and Mason has wanted to look at all the monster pictures. While flipping through the book, we came across a reference to my hometown. Apparently, in 1994, there was a sighting of a lizard creature sulking near the water front of the Black River near the Hardee’s of Clinton Avenue Bridge. What’s amazing to me is that this BLOCKS from the house I grew up in and where my parents still live.

According to Linda Godfrey the author of Hunting the American Werewolf, it all started when a man and his teenage son went walking with their dog and the dog slipped its leashed. They started hunting for the pooch, when “Suddenly, a movement near a tree caught their attention and they trained the flashlight in that direction, hoping to find the runaway hound. Instead, they were astonished to find themselves looking at a creature standing on two legs in front of a tree, something taller than a man and covered with mud-colored scales. Its eyes were yellow and slitted....”

Then she goes on to talk about all the mysterious drownings that happen near LaCrosse. Except, most of those drownings, while tragic, aren’t terribly mysterious. They tend to involve college kids who go bar-hopping – LaCrosse’s main bar street, Third Street, is as you might guess, a mere three blocks from the Mississippi – and wind up in the river. She makes a number of connections to the Mississippi and various Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) legends of monster snakes that drag unfortunate victims to watery graves, which would be a fine stretch, except the sighting of this lizard man was on the Black River. I know, because that’s the public beach I grew up swimming in every summer for nearly seventeen years.

Clearly, I have a lot of paranormal leanings, and I honestly believe that LaCrosse is a very magic town. A Menominee legends says that where three rivers cross there will never be a tornado. Despite the fact that the Midwest is plagued with tornados, LaCrosse (which is the junction of the LaCrosse, the Black, and the Mississippi rivers) has never been hit by one. There are gorgeous, wild Bluffs surrounding the town and undeveloped marsh land that cuts the city into the north and south sides. I could see how a magic creature could feel at home in LaCrosse and could, in fact, stay fairly undetected for a while.

But, I’m not buying this one.

I think the fact that Godfrey admits that she gets this story second hand and the fact that it happened in a place that I’m so intimately familiar with really stretches credibility for me. I will say that when I was growing up (70s and early 80s), the shoreline of the Black River was left undeveloped. I used to roam past the beach barriers and hike for miles through willow and weeds… and it was spooky. But, after I left, there was an attempt, I guess, to gentrify the area and the city clear-cut of all that wilderness. You’d think if there were a selkie or a lizard man living there, someone would have seen evidence of it, when the area was much more wild.

Wouldn’t you?

Marry Me, You Vamp!

From the Vampire Vixen’s chat list, J.C. Wilder (once again) had something interesting and provocative to say, “I heard Virginia Henley speak many years ago and she made the statement, ‘Women would love to sleep with my men but they'd be crazy to marry them.’ - I feel that way about the vamp. They're dark, deadly and ultimately sexy but one would have to be crazy to truly trifle with one.”

Yeah.

That’s part of what irks me when readers of TD&D complain that my vampire character is morally reprehensible. I want to say, “Well, Duh. He’s a vampire. He EATS people.”

I totally understand the appeal of the romantic, tragic vampire. I think, however, it’s easy for post-Buffy fans to forget that the traditional vampire is a killer. He can have remorse, but he still needs to kill to survive. Most vampires aren’t like Angel. They may not be soulless (depending, of course, on the author’s rules regarding such things) but neither are they without sin. (You may say Angel had his Angelus, but I’d counter that in many respects those were two completely different people – one entirely possessed by a demon and the other burdened with a soul. I liked both, though Angel was more interesting to me because he was more self-aware and introspective.)

Anyway, it’s in the sinner that I find interesting literary ground. This question of can a killer be a “good” person interests and excites me. When I sat down and conjured up Garnet, I wanted this question to be central to her personality, too.

I love romantic comedies, and I always knew that I wanted TD&D to have some light-hearted, if not downright humorous moments. However, I didn’t really want a silly, vacuous heroine. I wanted someone who would be equal in strength (ala Garnet’s magic and Lilith, who, if unleashed could eat the vampire for breakfast) AND in emotional depth (she has her secrets and her darker side, too.)

Would I really want to marry Sebastian? No, not particularly. He’s a decent enough sort, a day-walker, and filthy rich… but he still drinks blood and he’d need a source for that blood and it couldn’t be me – not forever, anyway. Plus, I’m not sure a vampire would ever be able to settle down and lead a truly normal life. There is, after all, no statute of limitations on murder...

Market Killer Strikes Again?

Ever since Other me wrote cyberpunk into the ground, I've been joking that now that I've transformed into Tate Hallaway I'll do the same for the whole vampire chick-lit craze.

Guess what's being reported on Vampire Vixens' yahoo group?

"In the publishing world trends come and go like the hems of dresses. According to a lot of publishers I'm hearing, 'We're not interested in vamps, we're all bought up' of the sales are 'slipping'. This is just my opinion but, if the sales are slipping its because of the NY 'rush' to fill the shelves with vampires. This has happened with every 'trend' and the quality begins to slip as they make that mad dash to catch the trend.
What do you think, are vampires dead?" (from J.C. Wilder)

Sounds like I may have done it again. Any requests for the genre or sub-genre I should wipe out next? Inspirational romances? Space opera?

Sigh.