Keeping the Romance Alive -- or At Least Undead

In case you missed this over at Riding With the Top Down yesterday, here's it is x-posted here:

What do you do AFTER boy meets girl – or, in my case, after vampire meets witch? The classic set-up of the romance is the first blush, the excitement of falling in love -- so what do you do for a sequel?

That was the question that faced me – and, well, continues to haunt me as I write subsequent books – when starting Dead Sexy (Berkley, May 2007) the follow-up to Tall, Dark & Dead (Berkley, May 2006).

I’ve been in a relationship with the same person for twenty odd years, so, intuitively, I think I sense the romance in the long-term, but how do you write about it – so that it’s interesting? I mean getting him to learn to pick up his dirty socks can be a real challenge, but it doesn’t necessarily make for scintillating reading, you know?

Luckily, the guy in my novels is a thousand year-old vampire, so nothing having to do with Sebastian is typical. Plus, Garnet, our heroine, has a lot of, shall we say, baggage. In other words, before she can even consider settling in with Sebastian, Garnet has to deal with her own crap. In the first book, Garnet had witch-hunters after her, and in Dead Sexy, she’s got an FBI agent hot on her trail. Plus, there’s all that unfinished business with her ex-....

...you get the idea. Even though all these events keep my hero and heroine nearly too occupied to deal with each other, I snuck into the book some of what I consider “real-life” milestones for any relationship. In Dead Sexy, for instance, Garnet and Sebastian have their first fight. It breaks them up a little – hopefully, enough to keep the reader in suspense – and it gives Garnet some time to finally figure out if Sebastian is the one for her.

Garnet is a modern woman, in that she’s in no particular hurry to commit. I think, in some ways, this makes her slightly more difficult for some readers to identify with, but I chose to make Garnet a touch leery about jumping headfirst into a relationship because, well, Sebastian’s not exactly human. And, as odd as this might sound, I wanted my paranormal romance to have a touch of realism, in that the heroine has to consider and weigh all the consequences of a serious, long-term relationship with someone who drinks blood to survive.

For me, that’s one of the appeals of reading and writing urban fantasy. I like to puzzle out the real-life problems of dealing with a fantasy lover. What would it really be like to be married to someone who never ages? If your boyfriend is thirty times older than you are, does he get your references to the Brady Bunch or Schoolhouse Rock? Can people from two fundamentally different eras really breech that gap to fall in love – and, more importantly, stay together?

What about you? How has your favorite author dealt with the question of how to keep a continuing romance hot and spicy and interesting?

Women and Books Survey

If you're a woman who reads non-fiction please consider taking this survey: http://www.womenandbooks2007.com/.

Blah, Blah Bloggin'

I'll be guest blogging at the romance blog Riding With the Top Down tomorrow (Wednesday, May 9). Please feel free to pop in and read and/or comment.

Also, if I remember... I plan to take part in the Berkley authors chat. Here are the details: This Thursday (May 10) is the 2nd Thursday of the month and we hope you'll join us then for the monthly Berkley Jove author chat in the Writerspace Readers Chat room to discuss your May release. http://www.writerspace.com/chat/readers. It begins at 9 PM Eastern and is an hour long. Hope to see you there!

McPhail and The Question of Audience Participation

X-posted from Other Me's livejournal.

MomCulture spoiled me. When Mason and I got a flyer in the mail from the McPhail Center for Music about the Bakken Trio (violin, cello, and piano) who were going to be giving a free, (supposedly) informal concert over the lunch hour in the fourth floor rehearsal space, I thought: hey cool, this would be another music thing Mason and I could enjoy. When I showed him the flyer, he hopped up and down and said, “A cello! I finally get to see a cello!” We were psyched. On the big day (last Friday), I packed up our activity books, some snacks, and a boy who could hardly wait to see the mythical cello up close and personal.

I totally forgot how most people experience classical music.

I need to preface what happened at McPhail by saying that Friday had started out somewhat poorly, and it was quickly becoming a day of being “hushed.” We foolishly brought along our pennywhistle to our local (coffee shop in this case) and had settled in for reading some Thomas the Tank Engine and hooting along whenever the engines whistled at each other. Not surprisingly, we were hushed.

I have always hated being hushed.

I understand that people were trying to work. And as the supposedly responsible adult in charge I did, in fact, quite promptly take Mason’s whistle from him and explain that we were being too noisy and other people were trying to do their own things, which we had rudely interrupted. However, internally I twinged. I have always been an enthusiastic participant in life, and thus have spent much of my life being hushed. I think, too, that many people are unfairly hushed. There are times, of course, when exuberance isn’t called for, but those times are, in my opinion, fairly rare. And, I’m so very sorry that my happiness interrupted your dull, drab and lifeless existence. Excuse me while I chortle noisily and go on enjoying myself without you.

That being said, we were being loud and people were trying to work. In deference to them (and, really, that whole golden rule thing,) we took our fun selves elsewhere.

On the drive home, I notice a woman walking three dogs. They were barking, running, and generally being happy dogs. She looked absolutely miserable. And, I thought to myself, “How often do I pass people on the streets that are actually smiling to themselves?” Watching over the rest of the day, the answer was: almost never.

Fast forward to noon. Mason and I had to rush off from a very pleasant, if disorganized (as eating out with a nearly-four year old often is) lunch with our friend Rosanne. Still in a somewhat frazzled mood we arrive with plenty of time to spare at the McPhail. Remembering the lessons of last time, we parked in a hotel lot across the street and hustled to the rehearsal space to get a good seat. When we got off the elevator on the fourth floor, there was a crowd of “the walker set” as Eleanor would call them -- retirees all looking for some culture.

I started to get nervous that Mason and I would be the only people under the age of sixty-five at the event. A couple of other moms with kids in tow showed up. Mason insisted we head for the front row – which was a row, btw, none of the nice cafeteria style set up they’d provided before – and we settled in to wait with our dot-to-dot books.

Then the show started. Mason perked up to watch the performers get ready. When the music started he exalted, “Ima, look! Her hands are dancing on the strings!”

We were instantly and profoundly hushed.

Worse, soon after, I became complicit in hushing Mason.

Normally, Mason is very attentive, but after being disallowed his opportunity to express his joy – in my opinion – he disassociated. He got antsy, fussy, and started to ask me in a loud voice when we could go home. We stuck it out for a while. I encouraged him to dance, but he soon felt conspicuous since all the eyes in the room weren’t smiling, but glaring at me as if to say, “Can’t you control your little monster? How DARE he enjoy the music as if it were common music!”

I nearly cried. We left the hall, and while I was tying my shoe out in the lobby Mason perked up and said, “We can still hear it out here!” I thought he might like to say and enjoy the music from the other side of the closed door, at least, but he decided he’d rather go.

At least the experience doesn’t seem to have dampened his interest in music entirely, thank the Goddess. Mason says he still wants to try again when the harp and flute players are there next month. I’m a little leery, if only because I’m angry that in order for Mason to go to these sorts of events he has sell his soul. If we’re not going to spend the whole time getting hushed and glared at, I’m going to have to teach him something I don’t believe, which is that music has to be enjoyed while sitting still and being quiet.

I ended up having a long passionate discussion about this with Sean M. Murphy on the phone later on Friday, and though I’ve mellowed a little bit on my stance that art should be one hundred percent participatory, I still think that it’s a bloody, ugly shame that music (at least of the variety that involves cellos) has become something so DEAD that it’s not okay to shout and dance while experiencing it. I get that grown-ups like to close their eyes and become the music, but many grown-ups, in my most humble opinion, are kids who have forgotten how to dance.

This is one of the biggest crime our culture inflicts on children: learn to sit still and be quiet. I think in many ways, it is the root of some of the deep unhappiness that poisons modern Americans. I mean, is it any wonder people are depressed when you can’t even shout with joy when the spirit moves you?

Mason and I are going to have to find a happy medium, I know. He’s going to go to school next year and this will be the first hard lesson of his life, the whole learning to sit still thing. It has its benefits, I know.

But sometimes, man, you just gotta dance.

Astro Alert: Jupiter Trines Saturn, Squares Uranus

This from astrology.com:

Can you feel it? Change is all around you. When optimistic Jupiter in Sagittarius, strong Saturn in Leo and independent Uranus in Pisces have a three-way conversation, one thing is for sure: You won’t be bored! Plenty of support is available, so utilize this time to make decisions that are the most beneficial for you.

First, a retrograde Jupiter backs into the trine with Saturn on May 6, giving you the opportunity to loop back to your support systems. Jupiter is urging you to expand your horizons while Saturn wants to make sure you're realistic. This is a great combo, and you are likely to be quite clear about what you want. The people who were helpful to you last March during the first Jupiter-Saturn trine probably have more to share with you. These levelheaded folks offer good advice and assistance for you to make these necessary changes.

Also in the mix is expansive Jupiter forming a square -- for the second time in this series (the first was January 22) -- to freedom-loving Uranus. This is an aspect that is exact on May 10, but throughout the month you'll feel the restlessness that occurs when these two big planets connect. To make the most of this important aspect, be open to unforeseen changes in plans. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!

While Jupiter is retrograde -- a period that will last until August 6 -- take the time to make sure your projects and plans are still what you want. The great news is that all of the help you need is available; so ask for what you want. This is not the time to shoulder everything by yourself.

McPhail Center for Music

As I've posted here before, Mason is very into classic music right now. He got interested in it kind of by accident. He also went through a TV phase (sadly, he seems completely out of that one -- and, okay, it's only sad because we can't easily distract him by suggesting he watch TV anymore.)

Anyway, during his TV phase, I introduced him to Fantasia (the original) which we had a VCR tape of. He's been fascinated ever since. My "teaching" style as a parent tends to be very opportunistic. Mason is into music right now, so I find music related things for us to do. MomCulture had a day at the opera program that we went to, and Mason loved that. They had jazz duo performance at the McPhail center, and we went to that. I signed us up to be on the mailing list and got a notice in the mail earlier this week about the Bakken Trio (a violinist, cellist and pianist) who will be doing an informal show at the McPhail today over lunch. We're going. It's Mason's first "grown up" concert.

Seven Deadly Sins and Writing: Sloth

There are several things that a nascent writer hears over and over: write what you know; show don’t tell; and write every day. I think we can argue about the validity of the first two, but I’ve found that the last one actually stuck with me… even now, several published books later.

Stephen King in his book On Writing talks about how if you sit down at the same time every day, your Muse knows where to look for you. I think he’s right. The habit of writing, though often hard to establish, is worth the effort.

When I wrote my first novel (still unpublished) I set myself a goal, very arbitrarily, of 425 words a day. Some days, with a full time job, a family, and whatnot – it was hard to make that paragraph. Still, if I did it, I was that much closer to THE END. And, more often than not, if I started 425, I’d end up with 600 or 1,000.

Unlike some, I didn’t tell myself WHEN I needed to write those words each day, just that I needed to write them. For me, I found that if I could be flexible, I would find the time to write. I would write during lunch, during downtime on the job, after dinner, late at night, early in the morning, or scribble notes on a napkin while out somewhere. As long as I wrote 425 words at some point during the day, I considered myself meeting my goal.

I have always found – and continue to find – that the more I wrote, the easier it was to write the next day. If something interrupted me, say, like life, the next time I picked up the proverbial pen, it was a lot harder to start.

Even so, I have always taken the weekends off. This is a strange personal quirk of mine, but for me, treating writing like a job was what I needed to commit to the career. So, I take weekends off (except during crunch time.) But, what that means for me is that Monday writing is always the hardest.

If I take time off after having finished a big project (say, like a novel,) which I often do… starting up again is a pain. It’s like I’ve forgotten basic sentence structure. Or my writing muscles have atrophied. So, even after all this time, I try to write at least something on my fiction projects every day.

Do you?

First Night of Freedom… Squandered!

Having just finished the latest Garnet book (#3), I had my first official night off from writing last night. What did I do? I did everything a newly “freed” writer should do: I watched some network TV (can I confess something? I’m a total “House” junkie,) and then read another chapter or two in a good book (currently: John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War.)

I also wrote.

I know. I'm so ashamed. It's like an addiction. It was the strangest thing. I totally didn’t intend to, but, you see, there’s been this very oddball paranormal romance short story (novel?) bubbling up inside me wanting to come out. The problem is, of course, it’s not a Garnet story. Not only is it not a Garnet story, it’s probably completely un-sellable. Why, you ask? Well, because it’s the story of a chick-litty type heroine who is told by a very hunky angel of God that she is the next messiah. It’s so _wrong_ on so many levels. Of course, I’m enjoying it. Nothing may ever come from it, but that’s okay. I think sometimes it’s good for the soul to have a writing project that’s completely doomed – something you do for the love of it, rather than thinking too hard about whether or not it will ever sell.

Certainly, that’s how alternate me sold her first novel. I wrote something just for myself. Something that turned ME on, and, though I wrote it with a professional eye, I was fairly convinced it was far too controversial and at the same time too frivolous, (see my description of current project for example) to every catch the interest of an editor or an agent. As it turned out, it did both. Who’d’a thunk it?

Tonight, however, I’m determined NOT to write. I really want to read and sleep – both things I desperately need to catch up on.

I’m sure I can go one night without writing.

Yeah, watch me not write.

Dead Sexy Debut

So, today is the big day for Dead Sexy... it hits the streets today. I just happened to be at the Mall of America today and noticed that they had my latest on the shelves. Whoot! The best part of being a writer, IMHO, is moments like these... when you walk into a bookstore and there is YOUR very own name on the spine of a book. The thrill, for me at least, never deminishes.

Even though I'm sick as a dog. I woke up yesterday morning with a sticky throat. Mason caught a cold a couple of days ago, and usually these things pass on to Shawn. But, I think because I'd been staying up well past midnight for the last several days putting polishing touches on Garnet Lacey Book 3 (which was due today at the publisher, and I'm happy to say I got it in one WHOLE day early. A new record for me, I think), I was more susceptible. Last night I hardly slept for draining. And today Mason and I had to take Shawn to the airport. She's off on a work conference in Arizona for four days... so I get to experience life as a "single" parent for nearly a week (while sick). Bleah.

Oh, and Mason wants to report that he saw another new license plate: BRITISH COLUMBIA. Still no West Virginia, though.

Quickie: Five Questions

Check out this five question/answer interview with me over at http://nenscl.blogspot.com/.

Astrology Bloggin'

I'm staying up way past my bedtime tonight working on putting the finishing touches to Drop-Dead Gorgeous (Garnet Lacey, Book Three) which is due on my editor's desk in three days, and I had to do a quick bit of research on the internet about the astrological interpretations of new plantoid Eris (nee Xena). Anyway, by accident, I came across this gem: Astrology Blog. If you're so inclined, check it out.

MAJOR Magic, Sir!

Okay, so Mason has had some astounding luck when it comes to license plates. We've still never spotted West Virginia, and so yesterday he asked me to look up license plates from around the world. He especially wanted to see a Russian plate. I thought, "ha, ha, good luck with that, kid," but you know, it's a harmless pastime. Except....

Today we saw a foreign plate. I think it was probably British (given that there was also one of those GB stickers on the car), but the point is, Mason pulled in a plate from ANOTHER FRICKIN' COUNTRY.

We also checked out all the Canadian provences yesterday, and *in our neighborhood* was parked a Quebec plate. Keep in mind that I live in Saint Paul, that's Minnesota, people. Most of these plates have been spotted in the ten minute drive from our house to the Minnesota Historical Society.

As I told Shawn, now we just have to have him start wishing to find piles of money.

Blah, Blah, Bloggin'

First, I came across this site which has a fairly comprehensive list of SF/F authors that blog. http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/002815.html.

Second, next Monday (April 30), I will be answering five questions about myself an my newest release Dead Sexy (Book 2 of the Garnet Lacey series) on DCL.

And lastly, just a reminder, I'll be guest blogging at Riding With The Top Down on Wednesday, May 9.

A Victory!

Wiccans allowed to display the pentacle on military graves! Check out this New York Times article.

Hawaii

Mason and I were driving down Summit Avenue to our usual coffee shop, Cafe Amore, and I was turning on to Milton when I spotted a rainbow on a license plate in front of me. "No way!" I shouted, "Mason, I think I just saw Hawaii!" Mason, who was, as usual strapped into his booster seat, became frantic. "I can't see it, ima! I can't see it!" Traffic was piling up behind me and I had to make my turn. I noticed the Hawaii car was turning in the other direction on the same street. "We'll chase him!" I told Mason. Of course, we were completely stymied by traffic. The parking lot I turned into is one way, and a very busy day care is right in the middle of it. A gigantic Honda SUV blocked us for several minutes. Mason burst into tears. I kept trying to tell him that we'd see the license plate again, after all, a Hawaii plate was in Minnesota (St. Paul, no less!) Even if we couldn't catch it today, we'd see it again soon.

We drove down Milton for several blocks, but we missed it. Mason cried and cried. We decided to go get our usual coffee and then resume "the hunt." Everyone at Amore sympathized with our dilemma, but most of them remarked, "Wow, Hawaii? Here?" When we got our drink and got buckled back in, I had an idea. No one turns on Milton, I said, except if they're going to William Mitchell College of Law. I decided we should check and see if there was a parking lot we missed. We drove into a very narrow parking lot at the back of the main building... and there it was. I stopped our car, got Mason out of his seat, and we walked right up to the license plate and TOUCHED IT.

Amazing.

Now Mason just needs to conjure West Virginia.

Techno-Peasant Offerings

I'm taking a break from my sin posts to point any readers trolling for "free" fiction to a short story of Other Me's that is a vampire story. If you're interested, check out Irish Blood, which appears here it its entirity.

Have a happy Pixel-Stained Techno-Peasant's Day.

Seven Deadly Sins and Writing: PRIDE

Writers, like Milton's Satan, thrive on an excess of confidence… of pride. I don’t think you can survive the revision/rejection process without it.

When I finish a piece of writing I look at it and think, “Genius! My God Am I Brilliant!” (yes, all capital -- ask my partner if these aren’t the exact words I utter.) Then, while the feeling is still all shiny and new, I send my brilliance out into the world – to critique group, market, or my editor – and then when the verdict comes back, I say, with the exact same conviction, “Jesus, I suck. Arrgh, I’m an idiot!” I might even sink into a blue funk for a minute or two, then, I revise and the next thing you know I’m a genius again.

Am I bi-polar? Maybe, but I also believe that this strange emotional flip/flop is part of what has kept me in the game for as long as I have been.

Successful writers are wired wrong, like inventors (or was it geniuses?) Anyway, I read somewhere that the difference between an inventor like Thomas Edison and your Crazy Uncle Floyd (you know the one who tried to build a flying bus) is that Edison failed more often and more constantly. Edison just never gave up. Not even after his head bled from banging it against the wall so many times. Not even after normal people would have quit.

People like to talk a lot about how writers need to have a thick skin. I believe that part of gaining that tough hide has to do with self-confidence. I spoke at the Wis-RWA Chippewa Falls chapter meeting on Saturday, and one of the members there asked me how I dealt with people who told me I couldn’t write. My response was immediate: “I didn’t listen to them.” I told her she shouldn’t either. Listening to anyone who tells you that you can’t do something is hazardous to your mental health. Just say, “no.”

I think it’s silly how much time some people invest in discouraging others. Despite what I said about winning in my earlier “deadly sins” post, I do actually believe that there’s room in our field for everyone. Yeah, sure, there are only so many slots for books being published each year, but if trends continue the number of those slots will only continue to grow. Publishers are publishing more books now than ever before.

Yet many writers are, more than any other profession I know of, actively discouraged from pursuing their craft by others in their field. I’ve heard hundreds of horror stories about the (typically) college composition or English professor that denigrated a student for writing something that contained a fantastical or science fictional element in it. I’ve also heard plenty of SF workshop veterans tell about scathing critiques that caused them to seriously consider abandoning writing all together.

That would be a crime.

The problem here, of course, is that the answer can’t be: just don’t listen to anyone but your own inner Muse. Why? Because that *would* be the writerly version of the sin of pride. You have to be willing to listen to critiques of your work, because there are things that readers see that the author simply can’t. A willingness to learn from one’s mistakes is, in my opinion, paramount to developing the craft of writing.

Someone else at the RWA meeting asked me how I dealt with that aspect of critique, and I said that I long ago divorced myself from my words. I’m married to my idea (or characters, theme, whichever, or all), not the text on the page. If a fellow writer can give me insight into how better to express my idea, I embrace it. I write to be understood. Honest critique helps me make my point better.

There are times, of course, when critique is motivated by other things, and is less than honest, so you still need to develop an ear for “what is rot, and what is not.” You need to have enough pride to believe in your vision, listen and learn, but never listen to idiots.

Seven Deadly Sins and Writing: Envy

Cross-posted from Wyrdsmiths.

There was a period when I couldn’t read science fiction novels.

I’d finished my second novel (actually, what became my first in print, Archangel Protocol) and it was being shopped around by my agent. I was still actively writing – I’d started a third novel and was trying to perfect the art of short story writing. I was in four writers’ critique groups, attending SF conventions, a member of the National Writers’ Union, and generally doing a whole lot of science fiction and writing-related work.

My partner is an avid reader, so we’d often end up at bookstores, and I found I was actually kind of mildly irritated just walking past the aisles labeled science fiction/fantasy. After the fourth or fifth time it happened, I started to examine my reaction.

I realized I was jealous.

Because of the way most bookstores shelves their novels, the publisher’s logos were prominently displayed in row after row after row that I passed. Just seeing those familiar icons made me inwardly seethe; I wanted one of those next to my name, damn it.

Beyond that initial gut reaction, I also had trouble reading science fiction because my life had become consumed by critiquing it. If I actually got through the green haze of my jealousy and picked up one of those books on the shelf, I couldn’t read it without starting the critiquing process.

And believe you me, no one – not even the genre masters/mistresses – passed my muster in those days. Everyone sucked. I was always at LEAST a good a writer as Ms.-Tor-Published-Her-And-Not-Me.

I couldn’t enjoy reading science fiction.

I can’t not read (just as I can’t not write), so I turned to other genres. I read a lot of romances and mysteries. I also discovered that SF short fiction bothered me less than long form (probably because though I was writing short stories and sending them out to market, I knew I wasn’t very good at the shorter forms.) Although I still had plenty of times when I threw Asimov’s across the room and shouted, “WTF? How did that crap get published when I didn’t?” When my first book published, I relaxed. I could read SF/F again, and I did, copiously. But jealousy and envy continue to haunt me. There are some writers in my field that I’ve refused to read out of spite because in my mind, “they’re famous enough.” (Keep in mind that I’m generally deranged this way. If a movie becomes really popular, I won’t go see it….just because. I’m probably the only person on the planet who hasn’t seen Titanic.)

I don’t think that writers can successfully avoid being jealous and envious of one another. It’s a competitive business, after all, and most of us entered it to win.

Jealousy can be a motivating force, if you let it. I find it fuels my ambition, for instance, and I try to embrace that side of it when I can. I determinedly rose from the ashes of my career partly out of spite and a keen desire not to let the bastards get me down.

I don’t always deal with it very well, though, hence my years of avoiding my own, beloved genre. What about you? Who/what are you jealous of? Have you found good ways of dealing with it?

Saturn Turns Direct

Astro-ALERT from astrology.com.

Saturn in Leo turned retrograde on December 5, 2006, so the beginning of 2007 was all about making sure that what we were aiming for was still what we really wanted. Retrogrades are always about going over territory you've already been through. Saturn represents our responsibilities, our rules for living, how we construct our lives, and where we need to place our boundaries. Leo is the sign of leadership and creativity, and it is very much concerned with self-expression.

During this important retrograde period, it's been important to determine how you can support yourself more effectively and express yourself more fully. Facing limitations -- those of the world in general, as well as your own capacity to limit yourself -- has been a part of this time, along with ending old ways of living.

As Saturn turns direct, you are finally going to get some forward movement. Don't drink that pot of espresso just yet, though! Things are moving forward, but speedy they’re not. Saturn is the planet that represents the builder, who wants everything done right. No shortcuts are allowed, so don’t rush anything. Instead, take your time to build slowly and thoroughly -- you will reap plenty of rewards if you keep this in mind. And with Saturn still in dramatic Leo, make sure you are always sitting in the director’s chair.

Determine in what arena you want to make your mark on the world. Decide what you want to be responsible for and what you need to leave behind; otherwise, someone else could make those choices for you. We are now in the last stage of Saturn’s transit through Leo (Saturn will enter Virgo on September 2).

Basement Bargain Prices

If you ever wanted to purchase a copy of Tall, Dark & Dead but found the trade paperback prices too steep for your pocketbook, fret not! Currently, Amazon.com is selling the book at deep, deep discounted rates (60% off!).

In other news, no new license plates.

But, at least one of my beta readers has gotten back to me so my mini-vacation from writing is over... *sigh.* Tonight, no more BSG, but nose back to the grindstone (or however that saying goes.) Wish me luck.

I talked to my agent via email the other day and our current plan is to continue to propose more Garnet Lacey books. I have to start thinking about what trouble Garnet should get into next....

Down to Two

First of all, if you've thought about buying my book, but decided that paying trade paperback prices was too steep, Amazon.com is having a deep, deep discount on Tall, Dark & Dead. We're talking 60% off. So, seriously, go now and buy yourself several while the getting is good.

Secondly, my family and I ended up at the Mall of America today, and Mason insisted on driving around to see if we could spot any new plate. Keep in mind that of all the states in the union, we're only missing Alabama, West Virgina, and Hawaii. Guess what? Mason spotted Alabama.

We're down to two.

Come on Hawaii, I know you're out there....

Yes, even more plates

Okay, just when you thought that there was NO WAY Mason and I could see any more new license plates we spotted two new ones today: Saskatchewan (Canada) and Mississippi (USA). (Mississippi, btw, was parked on OUR block. How weird is that???)

Now we are only missing West Virginia, Alabama and Hawaii. I am still astounded that within a matter of weeks, Mason has conjured nearly all 50 states and some Canadian provences (like Manitoba!) -- not to meantion several tribal plates.

The END and finally, Maine!

Two pieces of news. Frist, I finished my novel (Book III of the Garnet Lacey series) last night. Before you send in congratulations, I should note that this book is still seriously flawed and needs several more weeks of revision before I can truly claim to be finished with it. However, I have the important bits committed to paper and all the plot is officially (if not yet neatly) wrapped up. The even better news is that I'm right on schedule. My writers' group volunteers will now have plenty of time to read through the rough draft, comment, and get back to me before the May 1 deadline. HOORAY!

Second.... Mason's magic prevails. Yesterday, we saw MAINE.

Even More Plates!

Of course, given our astounding success so far, you'd think we'd stop seeing NEW license plates. However, while driving back from taking Mama in to work, Mason and I spotted three new ones: Connecticut, Tennessee, and Red Lake Band of Ojibwe (Tribal.) [Cool wikipedia note: according to them Red Lake Indian reservation was the first in the nation to issue its own license plates.]

What could be next? Hawaii????!!

More Plates!

While out at Como Zoo, Mason and I spotted a few more new plates!

There we saw Kentucky and Nevada. But, the biggest score of all came on our usual drive back from Minnesota Historical Society where Shawn works. RHODE ISLAND. I couldn't even believe it. I mean, for crying out loud. It's the smallest state in the union -- how did a license plate from there end up on Summit Avenue? (Well, obviously, Tate, it drove.) Still, this is getting almost spooky, especially given the we may have had a spotting of the elusive Maine today as well. (It zipped past in on-coming traffic so I couldn't be sure, and I promised Mason I wouldn't put it on our "list" until he had a chance to see it as well.)

Romantic Times Reveiw -- FOUR STARS!

Written in the first person, book two of this terrific series by the genuinely talented Hallaway continues to build a likable, if somewhat overwhelmed, heroine who struggles to escape the past and face the future. This is first- rate paranormal reading.

Summary: Powerful witch Garnet Lacey thought she had buried the truth about what happened when six members of a Vatican paramilitary organization murdered the other 11 members of her coven. Besides arriving late, the only other reason Garnet wasn't killed was because she instinctively drew on the power of the goddess Lilith. Possessing Garnet's body, Lilith made short work of the murderous Vatican agents, but Garnet and her then boyfriend, vampire Parrish, had to get rid of the evidence.Unfortunately, the bodies have surfaced, and an FBI agent is looking at Garnet as a suspect. Current boyfriend, vampire Sebastian, is not thrilled with Garnet's need for Parrish's assistance, and this puts their romance on rocky ground.

Adding to her problems is the large number of zombies suddenly roaming around. Apparently there's a new voodoo queen in town, and when she starts messing with Garnet's friends, it means war.

(BERKLEY, May, 294 pp., $14.00) MILD—Jill M. Smith

License Plate Addenum - MoA

Driving around the Mall of America parking lot with Mason, we added just a few more license plates to our list.

We saw: Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Leech Lake Tribal Plate (pictured above), Missouri, Michigan, Manitoba (right) Canada, New York, New Jersey, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Ontario (Canada), Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.

Lesser Magic

Mason and I have been playing the driving game where you try to spot as many liscence plates from around the country as you can. Ever since we started it, Mason has proven especially lucky. Just while driving around Saint Paul, we've seen: Deleware, New Hampshire, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Ontario, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Gerogia, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Illinios, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Washington (State), Oregon, Alaska, and California.

When we first started, he said, "I wish we'd see California today!" and, no joke, not two seconds later, one drove by. Then he asked for Utah, but forgot to say when. When we were in Colorado visiting friends what did we see in the airport parking lot? Utah. He really wants to see Maine now, but we haven't yet. I suspect, however, given how close we've gotten (Ontario? New Hampshire? What ARE these people doing in Saint Paul -- and all within blocks of our house!)

Now, when we want to see something new, just for fun, Mason wiggles his fingers like the magician from Fantasia and says, "I'm doing magic!" and often something new will, in fact, appear.

Pretty cool magic. Fairly useless, but still cool.

Jupiter Retrograde

From astrology.com.

Restless? Feeling the need to seek greener pastures? You're not alone. Ever since Jupiter entered Sagittarius, the sign of the traveler and the explorer, on November 23, 2006, we've all been itching to get away. You most likely have pals who've recently fled to some exotic locale or taken serious steps to find a more fulfilling career. If you're been deliberating your own move -- whether it's taking that trip to Mexico or getting an MBA -- it's crucial that you take notice of the next big astrological event: From April 5 to August 6, Jupiter is going retrograde into Sagittarius, the sign of the Archer.

What does this mean for you? Jupiter's movement through Sag means your own moving-and-shaking tendencies are sticking around. However, during the retrograde period, even the most seemingly insignificant of obstacles could throw a long-term monkey wrench into any plans you've made. Sounds sinister, but in actuality this is a positive -- not to mention cyclically natural -- opportunity for you to step back and ensure that your actions are in line with your goals. In addition, fiscal belt-tightening is in your best interest now, so think twice before maxing out your credit cards! Finances often improve when Jupiter turns direct, and new opportunities for advancement and growth will present themselves. That which is inaccessible today will prove unnecessary in the long run; further, the actual withholding will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Don't let Jupiter's retrograde impede life's pleasures. Sure, it's time for introspection -- but fun is on the agenda too! In fact it's advisable that you go off your diet for a gourmet meal, or read a tabloid gossip rag. Indulge, but study the cause-and-effect patterns in your life and look for ways to improve. Then, enjoy the resulting revelations!

Pre-Apology

It's deadline crunch time, so I'm going to pre-apologize for not blogging much in the month of April. I have to write about 20,000 words (and do some revisions) before April 30. Shouldn't be a problem as I religiously write 1,000 words a day. BUT, I like to get a draft done ahead of schedule so that I can have some writer friends review it for major plot problems, etc.

Even so, I'm going to try to keep up with it, if only because I have a pretty good schedule for blogging -- Mason gets to watch TV on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week. I usually sit in the TV room with him because wireless reception is good... and sneak time to check my emails and such. I can't really write during this time, as I get interrupted a LOT. Plus, the TV is on, and I'm just not one of those people who can completely tune it out.

Hugo Nominations Announced

NOVEL
Blindsight, Peter Watts (Tor)
Eifelheim, Michael Flynn (Tor)
Glasshouse, Charles Stross (Ace)
His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik (Ballantine Del Rey; Voyager as Temeraire)
Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge (Tor)

NOVELLA
"A Billion Eves", Robert Reed (Asimov's Oct/Nov 2006)
"Inclination", William Shunn (Asimov's Apr/May 2006)
Julian: A Christmas Story, Robert Charles Wilson (PS Publishing)
"Lord Weary's Empire", Michael Swanwick (Asimov's Dec 2006)
"The Walls of the Universe", Paul Melko (Asimov's Apr/May 2006)

NOVELETTE
"All the Things You Are", Mike Resnick (Jim Baen's Universe Oct 2006)
"Dawn, and Sunset, and the Colours of the Earth", Michael F. Flynn (Asimov's Oct/Nov 2006)
"The Djinn's Wife", Ian McDonald (Asimov's Jul 2006)
"Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy)", Geoff Ryman (F&SF Oct 2006)
"Yellow Card Man", Paolo Bacigalupi (Asimov's Dec 2006)

SHORT STORY
"Eight Episodes", Robert Reed (Asimov's Jun 2006)
"The House Beyond Your Sky", Benjamin Rosenbaum (Strange Horizons Sep 2006)
"How to Talk to Girls at Parties", Neil Gaiman (Fragile Things)
"Impossible Dreams", Tim Pratt (Asimov's Jul 2006)
"Kin", Bruce McAllister (Asimov's Feb 2006)

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer [Not a Hugo]
Scott Lynch (first year of eligibility)
Sarah Monette (second year of eligibility)
Naomi Novik (first year of eligibility)
Brandon Sanderson (second year of eligibility)
Lawrence M. Schoen (second year of eligibility)

Full list at: http://www.locusmag.com

MIA

If you're wondering why I haven't posted anything new in several days it's because I'm on vacation at the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado with my family and our friends the Jacksons.

See ya when we're back!

Spring Equinox, Astrologically-Speaking

From astology.com

On March 18, a powerful solar eclipse in sensitive Pisces signaled the importance of your spiritual life, so now is a great time to take a retreat or set aside time to be more contemplative. Additionally, with Pluto in a tight square to this eclipse, intensity ratcheted up and something had to be released.

Now, as the Sun enters Aries, we begin a new solar year, a new season and a new journey. Aries' pioneering spirit signals that it's time to take the initiative, express your creativity and make your move. Yet, with bold Mars held in check by an opposition to taskmaster Saturn, it is vital to be careful and thorough. Assessing your plans can be essential to your success, so don't bang your head against a closed door, but don't walk away either. Maturity helps, and so does the capacity to work hard.

Furthermore, Mars -- the planet of personal will and the ruler of Aries -- conjuncts Neptune, the planet of spirituality and illusion. Determine the difference between your fantasy life and your dreams. Ask yourself what you are willing to work for. This is an aspect of manifestation if you know how to use it.

Balance is key. Hard work mixed with a healthy dose of idealism will help you begin something new, whether you want to start a new business, turn over a new leaf or embark on a new path. Aries loves adventure, so take a few risks of your own -- and have fun doing it.

Ta-Dah, Full-Stop

I’ve ended my novels the same way for years. I rush headlong toward a climax, and then when all the various threads are all tied up, I stop writing. Invariably, some critic (either professional or amateur) says that the book feels rushed or as if it’s missing something. Comments like this used to leave me confused and baffled. I mean, you have to quicken the pace the closer to get to the big, final showdown, don’t you? And, as long as all the bits are nicely tidied up at the end, you’re done, right?

I used to think so, and, in the end, I think that the answer comes down to a matter of style. Because, after all, for every person who complained, there were probably dozens who thought the book ended just fine. Certainly, my editors have never asked me to change the way I do endings, so they must be “correct” in at least one sense of the word.

But, I think I’ve figured out what so many people have that reaction to the way I tend to end books: readers don’t like to leave stories. As writers, sometimes, I think we’re so driven towards writing those precious words “The End” that we forget about the experience a reader has during the final chapters of a book. The headlong rush is great, but when all the bad guys are defeated a reader wants to take a moment and catch their breath and know that the characters that they’ve come to know and love (hopefully!) are going to be all right in the end.

I don’t usually give this moment to my readers. I tend to stop writing when the action is done. It’s very much, “Ta-Dah! Full stop.” I get why a reader might feel a little whip lashed by that, even though I still tend to resist the idea of the “wrap-up” chapter. It reminds me too much of the “let’s all stand beside the captain’s chair and make some lame joke at Spock’s expense” wrap-up of the Old Trek episodes. The “morning after when everything is okay again” chapter always felt to me (as a reader, but even more so as a writer) as contrived.

I’ve come around, however. I think about what Charlotte’s Web might have been, for instance, if the last chapter was “Final Triumph” where, after Wilber’s life is saved and the egg sac is safely on its way back to the farm, Charlotte dies alone. That’s definitely the end of the whole character arc and conflict that White set up for Wilber and Charlotte. Even some minor character’s issues, like Templeton, the Rat’s, are resolved. Everything is tidy. She dies. The end.

Except White knows better than to leave us there, with a sob in our throats. He gives us a condensed vision of the winter, and brings us around to the next spring when Charlotte’s babies are born, grow, and leave Wilber to say good-bye again. Though three of her daughters stay, White tells us that no one is ever a match for Charlotte, and, in effect gives the reader several small chances to slowly let go of a beloved character and to be filled with the sense that although her death seems unfair, she will be remembered fondly by the one who loved her best, and that’s all any of us can ever hope for, and that’s all right. Sadder than sin, but all right.

Readers need an opportunity to let the story go. I think I have been ending my novels too quickly, without a good sense of that need.

And so, without further ado, good-bye.

Good-bye. See you tomorrow.

Music and Mason

In our household, Leopold Stokowski is a rock star. Leopold conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in the 1940s and is the conductor featured in Fantasia. Mason adores this man. In fact, he’s made him into a kind of “invisible friend.” Mason’s imaginary friends are actually interactions he has with me, while I’m “in character.” Such as:

Mason: Who is that I hear knocking at the door?

Me: (trying to guess, because when I ask him he says, "you have to tell me!") Is it Leopold Stokowski?

Mason: (hopping with excitement) Yes! Hello, Leopold!

Me (as Leopold): Hello, Mason. How are you today?

Mason: Good. Do you know what I learned today? I can conduct jazz! (Mason then demonstrates by standing very still and waving his hands around very frenetically.)

Me (as Leopold): That’s great. You’re ready to be a conductor like me.

Mason: Do you like the zoo, Leopold Stokowski? (or another completely unrelated question, which then continues in several minutes worth of conversation with “Leopold.”)

Mason has generally been very interested in the music of Fantasia, to the point of quizzing me about which instruments might be playing at any given moment. The only draw back is that my ear is not very well trained in this regard. I can pick out strings from brass, but when it comes to specifics I end up doing a lot of guessing. People have suggested Peter and the Wolf as a good story that helps break down various instruments, and also another friend (thanks Paul!) suggested checking out various concertos from the library that feature various instruments. We’ve also tuned the car radio to the classical station so that as we drive around doing our various errands, we can listen to “Fantasia-like” music.

Hooray!

You may (or may not) have noticed that my web site was off-line for several days. I'd called my service provider and found out that their server "got fried. bad." but they were working on it. Well, it seems things are up and running again, so if you want to read an excerpt of Dead Sexy or find out where I'm going to be in the next several days, feel free to hop on over to my web site and check all that out.

Hooray!

Things To Waste Time On...

Here's something to waste your time on: Which Famous Vampire Are You? quiz!

Seasons of Writing

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s still jacket weather outside. Even though I’ve seen evidence that spring is on its way – crows gathering sticks for nests, buds darkening on our silver maple on our boulevard, large clumps of brown grass, litter, and mud poking through the shrinking clumps of snow – the temperatures here in the Midwest are still hovering awfully close to freezing.

Yet the novel I’m writing is taking place in June, in the full blossom of summer.

Sometimes, when I sit down to write a scene, I forget. I find myself typing “she shrugged out of her coat” because that’s what I would do, now, when coming in from outside. After tapping the delete button, I have to take a moment to remember what summer was like. I have to mentally call up nights so hot that the only relief is a bathtub full of ice cold water. I have to remember sundresses and sandals – or even bare feet on hot sidewalks or through stiff pokes of drying grass. I have to picture birds – summer birds, not the winter juncos, chickadees and cardinals, but the great blue herons, noisy red-breasted robins, and squawking blue jays. Bugs! Mosquitoes, cicadas, blue-bottle flies, crickets, gnats, ants – all the stuff that’s EVERYWHERE during the summer, that, somehow, I completely forget about during the winter.

It’s weird to write out of season, but I kind of enjoy the process of trying to recall a summer day while snuggled under six blankets. In fact, it’s one of my favorite things about writing contemporary settings. I love the challenge of trying to convey what a Midwestern season is like. I try to imagine someone who’s lived their entire life in southern Texas cracking open my book and being (hopefully) transported to a farm in the upper Midwest in springtime. I want that reader to smell the clover and alfalfa in the gentle spring drizzle. Just the way I FELT the oppressive heat and smelled the magnolias the first time I fell into the New Orleans of the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke.

Burke made me appreciate location. He made me realize that if you’re going to write about a place, you should fill it with the sights and sounds that are unique to the place you’re writing about. Why? Because, as a reader, I like going there as an armchair tourist – and weather (along with fauna and flora) is a surprisingly large part of that experience. Some of it didn’t work, because I didn’t have reference points for some of the specifics, but most of the time that didn’t matter because he gave me enough that I could imagine it (however wrongly.)

Eh, besides, you know us Minnesotans. We love to talk about the weather.

Vampire Books -- An Unscientific Survey (by Michele Hauf)

Check out this great post about vampire lit at Dusted Michele Hauf's blog. Interesting stuff, especially if you're curious about whether or not vampire fiction has "jumped the shark."

Writing and Ego: A Love Story

One thing I’ve learned about myself over the years I’ve been a writer is that I write better (stronger, faster) when my career is going well. This is frustrating if only because the times when I most need to produce are often the times when my career is in need of a boost.

For instance, I have a hard time starting the next book until the contract is signed. (By “signed,” I don’t mean literally, since getting an actual copy of the contract often takes months after the deal has been struck, but more when my agent calls and says “they’re buying it.”) This, of course, is absolutely stupid. It’s a little like waiting for “inspiration to strike” before sitting down at the keyboard. Lois McMaster Bujold once told me in an interview that the best thing a writer can do when s/he finishes a book is start the next one. Editors always want to know “what else you have” and it behooves a writer to have lots and lots of offer. (Would you like this flavor? No, how about this one?)

I could do that, and did, before I broke into publishing. Now, I find that if I don’t have a deal on the table (or if I feel like my career is in any kind of jeopardy) I choke… or at least sputter.

If I have any concerns about my sales figures or whether or not my publisher is going to buy the next book, I find myself so consumed by those thoughts that I have trouble getting words onto page. Thankfully, even though my writing becomes more labored, I have yet to be completely paralyzed by this problem.

I need to learn how to get over this because in today’s publishing climate careers stall – a lot. Currently, I’m needlessly fretting because my editor informed me that the publisher is not printing any galleys for the second book in my current series. She says that in series romances, they often don’t print galleys, which may well be true. To me, the importance of advance copies is that they often mean advance reviews in places like Booklist and Library Journal (places that libraries, a big buyer of books, scan for titles of what they should be ordering next.) I believe my editor, I do. But, I’m suffering a bit of “once bitten, twice shy.”

Because... when my previous publishing house (which is actually my current publisher, only a different imprint) was unhappy with my sales figures and were trying to “shuffle me out the door” (my then-editor’s phrase) the thing that prompted my discovery of their disinterest was the fact that they didn’t print a galley for my fourth book. Thus, when hearing that I’m not getting a galley for the current book out in May of 07, my first thought is, “Oh, crap, time to come up with another pseudonym.”

As far as I know, my current book has sold well. At least, it’s sold well for a book of mine, which given that I was in a different genre all together, might not be saying very much. I also know that publishers these days are expecting bigger and better things from books that in the past would have happily taken up residence on the “mid-list.” My book made some bestseller lists, but not the bragging rights ones like New York Times or USA Today. My editor tells me that my publisher has ordered a larger print run for book two, which she says is a vote of confidence.

What scares me about the bigger print run is that without any advance reviews (or few) how are they expecting to sell all those extra books they’re printing? And when all those extra books are rotting in the warehouse, the publisher is going to turn to me and say “your book’s sales figures sucked. We’re dumping you, you loser.”

Thoughts like that keep me up at night.

And not writing.

Vampires in the News (and my website)

From Metro.co.uk = 'Impaler' Pledges to Impale Bush and Guards to Protect Milosevic's Body from Vampire Hunters from Ananova.com.

Also, if you've been trying to connect to www.tatehallaway.com (or Other Me) lately, I got word from my provider that the server got "fried" and they're "working on it." But, apparently the damage is quite extensive and it may be a matter of days before the site is active again. Until then, my photo won't appear on the sidebar here either, since that's where it lives.

Alex, I’d Like to Buy A Clue for 200, Please.

I feel dumb. I’ve been really very stuck on Bloody Charming. There are a number of contributing factors, not the least of which is my ego (but I’ll write about that tomorrow) and the fact that I’m writing “late at night” (read: 8:00 pm and know that by nature I’m a lark, not a night owl.) However, while talking to Shawn the other night I realized something so profoundly obvious that I nearly smacked myself in the head hard enough to give myself a concussion. Here it is:

If you’re going to have a mystery, you need to provide some clues as to “who dun it.”

Wow, Tate, really?

Yep, really.

Turns out that if person x is casting magical attacks on your heroine, you can’t just keep that information in your head until the final “ta-dah!” The reader needs to see person x on stage doing something that makes them go “hmmm, that’s curious.” So that by the time you get to the end the reader can say, “Ah ha!”

Writers even have a special word for this. It’s called “foreshadowing.”

As many novels as I’ve written, you’d think I’d know this by now. Other me has even won the Shamus Award, so you’d assume I might be familiar with the basic principles of mystery writing, right?

Apparently, not today.

What this means is that I’ve had to revise the entire novel starting at page 50 or so. The good news is that when I’m finished with this backtracking, I should be primed to write straight through to “THE END.” Wish me luck.

This goes with my theory that every novel, for me, is like starting over. People always ask me, “Does it get any easier?” I’m supposed to say yes, of course, the more you write the easier the whole thing becomes, but the truth is that getting words down on page becomes easier the more you do it – structuring a novel, at least for me, is complicated every time because each novel is like the next baby, complete with their own personality and quirks.

As I often say with a sigh, “Someday I’ll learn how to write a novel.”

Pre-Order Available

Many Bloody Returns is now available on Amazon.com for pre-order. My short story "Fire and Ice and Linugine for Two" is featured in this anthology. Reserve your copy today!

Knocked Out by Weird Details

I’m still enjoying the book with the smoker [ See: Tate Hallaway's Blog: Personal Habits and Reader Sympathy], by the way, though I’ve run into something else that this author does that knocks me out of the story.

She over-shares.

It’s a strange phenomenon, and, I realized, one hundred percent related to my reaction to the nasty-details of the smoker’s habit. Because, if I wasn’t clear, the thing that most lost sympathy points for me as a reader wasn’t so much the smoking, per se, but the intimate details about it. Things I “saw,” like overflowing ashtrays, added just a bit too much realism for my comfort.

I wouldn’t think that it would be possible to knock a reader out of a story by writing a detail that’s accurate, but it happened to me twice in this book. Once, in the scene I previously described, and again in a moment after sex that was just a touch too real. Later, after some consideration, I ended up liking the later detail, but my initial reaction was “ewww!” which inadvertently knocked me out of the story.

Knocking a reader out of a story isn’t the same as making them uncomfortable in a self-actualization kind of moment. When an author stretches my mind, it’s not usually a painful jarring, “whoa, I have to put this book down for a second,” moment, it’s often an “ah-ha!” Either it’s an ah-ha that makes me look at something in a new way, or it’s an ah-ha, “so this was the author’s agenda” thing. Either way, getting knocked out of story is usually a fraction of a second when my reader brain tilts -- when I’m no longer IN the story, but suddenly aware that I’m reading a story.

This is often death for a story. Too many moments like that, and the book goes back on the shelf.

What’s weird to me about my experience with this particular book is that the knock-out moments I’ve experienced aren’t ones that “ring false,” (which is what usually kicks me out of a story), but those that are simply too graphic. I’m getting too much information about stuff I find kind of gross.

This realization distresses me. One of the things I always tell my writing students is that the way to universality is through truth in details. If you describe a scene with unflinching accuracy, your readers will feel it, the scene will become real to them, I tell my students. Now, I’m thinking that I might be wrong about that. There may be such a thing as too much realism.

Perhaps you have to be careful regarding details. Pick the things you expose with accurate description with caution. Too much perfect imagery about garbage is going to turn your readers off, which might be okay if the story is supposed to do that – like in a horror story, for instance. Ah, perhaps I’ve hit on the key. The details need to be appropriate in tone to the story you’re telling. Don’t linger on the gross bits in a story that’s meant to be a romantic, light-hearted romp.

The devil is in the details, indeed.

Mercury Goes Direct, Lunar Eclipse

From astrology.com:

When a planet goes direct, it's always a noteworthy occurrence. When the event happens during an eclipse, it's even more intense -- and this time is no exception! And as if that weren't enough, Uranus, the planet of change, is in the vicinity of the lunar eclipse with a conjunction to the Sun. The message? Revolutionize your life!

Lunar eclipses are like extra-intense full Moons: emotionally charged. In Virgo, a sign of work and health, this lunar eclipse indicates that you need to cast a spotlight on how you're tending to your emotional and physical needs. Are you due for a gym membership, or do you need to eat more vegetables? Perhaps your working conditions could use an upgrade. Take some time before the next new Moon on March 18 (also a solar eclipse) and get a plan together to improve your body, mind and spirit. Make changes that will make you feel more comfortable. Apply yourself to a goal, a project or a cherished dream. This is a 'work Moon' -- encouraging you to accomplish your goals. Analyze, plan, get organized and implement!

As Mercury turns direct in Aquarius, make sure to incorporate everything you've learned since it turned retrograde on February 13 in Pisces. As this communication planet has traveled from a sensitive water sign back into a logical air sign, it's been necessary for you to go back to old conversations with a more detached perspective. At times you may have felt that you were straddling two worlds: the emotions of your heart and the intellectual perspective of your mind. Now, with Mercury direct, you can confidently implement the changes that you desire.

Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced

March 1, 2007--Finalists for the 19th annual Lambda Literary Awards were announced on March 1 by the Lambda Literary Foundation. Awards are presented in 25 categories, and winners will be announced on Thursday, May 31, at the Lambda Literary Awards Ceremony in New York City.

Finalists were chosen by a jury of judges who come from all walks of literary life: journalists, authors, booksellers, librarians, playwrights, illustrators. In all, 87 judges participated in the selection of finalists from the pool of 381 books that were nominated.

Please note: Finalists are listed alphabetically by author. The publisher appears in parenthesis.

Nominees for SCI-FI/FANTASY/HORROR

Carnival by Elizabeth Bear (Bantam Spectra)
Mordred, Bastard Son by Douglas Clegg (Alyson)
A Strong and Sudden Thaw by R.W. Day (Iris Print)
Izzy and Eve by Neal Drinnan (Green Candy Press)
Spin Control by Chris Moriarty (Bantam Spectra)

Nominees for ANTHOLOGY

Confessions of the Other Mother, edited by Harlyn Aizley (Beacon)
From Boys to Men, edited by Ted Gideonse & Rob Williams (Carroll & Graf)
Love, Bourbon Street, edited by Greg Herren & Paul J. Willis (Alyson)
Charmed Lives, edited by Toby Johnson & Steve Berman (Lethe Press)
No Margins: Writing Canadian Fiction in Lesbian, edited by Catherine Lake & Nairne Holtz (Insomniac)

Nominees for ARTS & CULTURE

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin)
Cinemachismo by Sergio de la Mora (University of Texas Press)
Sex Objects by Jennifer Doyle (University of Minnesota Press)
GAY L.A. by Lillian Faderman & Stuart Timmons (Basic Books)
Blood Beats: Vol 1 by Ernest Hardy (Redbone Press)

Nominees for BISEXUAL

Eros by Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio (Harrington Park Press)
Affirmative Psychotherapy with Bisexual Women & Bisexual Men by Ronald C. Fox (Harrington Park Press)
Three Sides to Every Story by Clarence Nero (Harlem Moon/Doubleday)
Bi Guys, edited by Ron Jackson Suresha (Harrington Park Press)
Bi Men, edited by Ron Jackson Suresha & Pete Chvany (Harrington Park Press)
The Bisexual's Guide to the Universe, Michael Szymanski & Nicole Kristal (Alyson)

Nominees for CHILDRENS/YOUNG ADULT

The Manny Files by Christian Burch (Simon & Schuster)
Full Spectrum, edited by David Levithan & Billy Merrell (Random House Children's Books)
Between Mom & Jo by Julie Anne Peters (Little Brown)
Tale of Two Summers by Brian Sloan (Simon & Schuster)
Erik & Isabelle's Junior Year at Foresthill High by Kim Wallace (Foglight Press)

Nominees for DRAMA/THEATER

Questa by Victor Bumbalo (Broadway Publishing Inc.)
Confessions of a Mormon Boy by Stephen Fales (Alyson)
1001 Beds by Tim Miller (University of Wisconsin)

Nominees for HUMOR

Queen of the Oddballs by Hilary Carlip (HarperCollins)
My Lucky Star by Joe Keenan (Little Brown)
Roy & Al by Ralf Konig (Arsenal Pulp Press)

Nominees for LGBT NONFICTION

Hello, Cruel World by Kate Bornstein (Seven Stories)
GAY L.A. by Lillian Faderman & Stuart Timmons (Basic Books)
Different Daughters by Marcia Gallo (Carroll & Graf)
Behind the Mask of the Mattachine by James T. Sears (Harrington Park Press)
Unspeakable Love by Brian Whitaker (University of California)

Nominees for LGBT STUDIES

Every Inch A Man: Phallic Possession, etc. by Carellin Brooks (UBC Press)
Gay Power: An American Revolution by David Eisenbach (Carroll & Graf)
Their Own Receive Them Not by Horace Griffin (Pilgrim Press)
Crip Theory by Robert McRuer (NYU Press)
Beautiful Bottom, Beautiful Shame by Kathryn Stockton (Duke University Press)

Nominees for SPIRITUALITY

Sex & the Sacred by Daniel Helminiak (Harrington Park Press)
The After-Death Room by Michael McColly (Soft Skull Press)
Spirited edited by Lisa Moore & G. Winston James (Redbone Press)
The Singing of Swans by Mary Saracino (Pearlsong Press )
Mobius Trip by Giti Thadani (Spinifex Press)

Nominees for TRANSGENDER

Transgender Rights edited Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, and Shannon Price Minter (University of Minnesota Press)
Drag King Dreams by Leslie Feinberg (Carroll & Graf)
Supervillainz by Alicia E. Goranson (Suspect Thoughts)
The Transgender Studies Reader edited by Susan Stryker & Chris Whittle (Routledge)
The Testosterone Files by Max Wolf Valerio (Seal Press)

Nominees for LESBIAN FICTION

Punk Like Me by JD Glass (Bold Strokes)
Slipstream by Leslie Larson (Crown)
Outrageous by Sheila Ortiz Taylor (Spinsters Ink)
Rose of No Man's Land by Michelle Tea (Macadam Cage)
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (Riverhead Books)

Nominees for LESBIAN ROMANCE

Fresh Tracks by Georgia Beers (Bold Strokes)
Wild Abandon by Ronica Black (Bold Strokes)
Finders Keepers by Karin Kallmaker (Bella Books)
Chance by Grace Lennox (Bold Strokes)
Turn Back Time by Radclyffe (Bold Strokes)

Nominees for LESBIAN MYSTERY

Sleep of Reason by Rose Beecham, Rose (Bold Strokes)
Night Vision by Ellen Hart (St. Martins)
The Art of Detection by Laurie R. King (Bantam)
Idaho Code by Joan Opyr (Bywater Books)
The Weekend Visitor by Jessica Thomas (Bella Books)

Nominees for LESBIAN POETRY

Domain of Perfect Affection by Robin Becker (University of Pittsburgh)
Days of Good Looks by Cheryl Clarke (Carroll & Graf)
The Truant Lover by Juliet Patterson (Nightboat Books)
Lemon Hound by Sina Queyras (Coach House Books)
Touch to Affliction by Nathalie Stephens (Coach House Books)

Nominees for LESBIAN MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

Intimate Politics by Bettina Aptheker (Seal Press)
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin)
Queen of the Oddballs by Hilary Carlip (HarperCollins)
Hit by a Farm by Catherine Friend (Carroll & Graf)
Incognito Street by Barbara Sjoholm (Seal Press)

Nominees for LESBIAN EROTICA

Walk Like a Man by Laurinda D. Brown (Q-Boro Books)
Glamour Girls edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Harrington Park Press)
18th & Castro by Karin Kallmaker (Bella Books)
Master Han's Daughter by Midori (Circlet Press)
Best Lesbian Erotica 2007 edited by Tristan Taromino & Emma Donoghue (Cleis Press)

Nominees for LESBIAN DEBUT FICTION

The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery (Riverhead)
Black Marks by Kirsten Dinnall Hoyte (Akashic)
Erzulie's Skirt by Ana-Maurine Lara (Redbone Press)
Slipstream by Leslie Larson (Crown)
Origami Striptease by Peggy Munson (Suspect Thoughts)

Nominees for GAY FICTION

Every Visible Thing by Lisa Carey (HarperCollins)
Izzy and Eve by Neal Drinnan (Green Candy Press)
Alternatives to Sex by Stephen McCauley (Simon & Schuster)
Now Is the Hour by Tom Spanbauer (Houghton Mifflin)
Suspension by Robert Westfield (HarperCollins)

Nominees for GAY ROMANCE

Someone Like You by Timothy James Beck (Kensington)
When the Stars Come Out by Rob Byrnes (Kensington)
Two Boys in Love by Lawrence Schimel (Seventh Window)
Surf 'N Turf by Scott & Scott (Romenticc)
Going Down in La-La Land by Andy Zeffer (Harrington Park Press)

Nominees for GAY MYSTERY

Mardi Gras Mambo by Greg Herren (Kensington)
The Hell You Say by Josh Lanyon (I-Universe)
The Back Passage by James Lear (Cleis Press)
Provincetown Follies, Bangkok Blues by Randall Peffer (Bleak House Books)
The Lucky Elephant Restaurant by Garry Ryan (NeWest Press)

Nominees for GAY POETRY

Gutted by Justin Chin (Manic D Press)
The Album That Changed My Life by Jeffrey Conway (Cold Calm Press)
A History of My Tattoo by Jim Elledge (Stonewall)
Other Fugitives & Other Strangers by Rigoberto Gonzalez (Tupelo Press)
When the Eye Forms by Dwaine Rieves (Tupelo)

Nominees for GAY MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

Untold Stories by Alan Bennett (FSG)
The Bill From My Father by Bernard Cooper (Simon & Schuster)
Tweaked by Patrick Moore (Kensington)
History of Swimming by Kim Powers (Carroll & Graf)
My Father's Keeper by Jonathan Silin (Beacon)

Nominees for GAY EROTICA

Best Gay Erotica 2007 edited by Richard Labonte & Timothy J. Lambert (Cleis Press)
A History of Barbed Wire by Jeff Mann (Suspect Thoughts)
Hot On His Trail by Zavo (Alyson)

Nominees for GAY DEBUT FICTION

A Scarecrow's Bible by Martin Hyatt (Suspect Thoughts)
Send Me by Patrick Ryan (Dial Press)
The Zookeeper by Alex MacLennan (Alyson)
Suspension by Robert Westfield (HarperCollins)
5 Minutes & 42 Seconds by Timothy Williams (HarperCollins)

For more information, contact asklambda@earthlink.net.

You Think You Have Trouble Writing….

This photo was taken last night and I apologize for the fuzziness -- it was dark, but I had to have Shawn snap a picture of my "helper" Miss Piggy. I'd just opened up my laptop, cracked my proverbial knuckles, and... PLUMP! She sat on my hands.

It's hard enough to motivate myself to write without the help of cats!

And, yes, Miss Piggy is a gray Maine Coone just like Garnet's cat Barney. Miss Piggy, however, is not a sneezer. That's our other Maine Coone (a black one) named Deliha.

Astro Altert: Saturn Oppostion Neptune

From astrology.com:

Last August, when serious Saturn and idealistic Neptune began the first of three oppositions in a year, it was important for you to get serious about your life -- especially about your dreams and how to manifest them. This month, a second opposition with Neptune occurs, helping you assess how far you’ve come. Over the past few months, people and events in your life have probably revealed whether you've been realistic (listen-up 'American Idol' hopefuls!) or not. Perhaps someone you know is expressing dissatisfaction with the progress of a relationship or the results of your work.

As uncomfortable as they can be, oppositions are a time of reflection, and they can provide valuable information. Make sure that you use this period to get clear about what's most important to you, and be honest with yourself about what you're willing to do to get what you want -- otherwise you may become disillusioned.

A Saturn opposition always requires hard work; it’s a roll-up-your-sleeves time. Meanwhile, Neptune encourages you to tune in to your dreams, ideals and spirituality. You have desires, ambitions and goals -- now is the time to evaluate your progress and let go of anything that's holding you back. There is still a fair amount of uncertainty in the air, so don’t worry about nailing everything down.

Personal Habits and Reader Sympathy

I’m reading a book right now, one that has a publication date of 2007, in which one of the main characters smokes, and it’s clear that the author has some working (although perhaps secondary) experience with cigarettes because a lot of the details are so accurate they cause my lip to curl. Admittedly, I’m a pretty vehement anti-smoker. I don’t smoke and I really have a hard time dealing with people who do, partly, I think, because my mother smoked the entire time I lived at home. I hated the smell, the ashes, and the ashtrays. This being said, I have no problem with the IDEA of someone being a smoker, particularly when I don’t have to smell the smoke or deal with the mess. I most certainly believe a person can be a noble and wonderful human being and smoker.

Yet, I still have a weird unconscious reaction when someone lights up in fiction. It’s especially strange because when I see someone smoking in a film (or on the street), I don’t have this kind of visceral reaction at all. Maybe Hollywood has over all this time actually convinced me that smoking “looks” cool. Conversely, it “reads” completely differently – at least for me.

I wonder if some part of my stronger reaction to reading about a personal habit I don’t much care for is that in a way that is experienced differently (I might even postulate opposite) for film, a reader becomes the characters they read. In other words, my lizard brain puts me in the room – possibly in the body – with the smoker that I read; as opposed to observing from the outside, the smoker that I see on film.

Plus, the way in which the art form of writing works, i.e. causing pictures to form in my head from abstract marks on paper, means that I’m drawing directly from my own personal experience. When the author writes about an overflowing ashtray, the one that most stuck in my mind from my own real-life interaction with a real-life version of said ashtray is what pops into my head. The things *I* remember about it (the texture and appearance of the butts, the residue smell) are what the author draws forth in me. It becomes personal, even if s/he never described those particular details.

It’s this magic – the way a few sparse words can evoke an entire image in the reader’s brain – is why writers are cautioned away from purple prose. Too much detail clogs the brain’s capacity to reach for the picture it already has stored in its own memory vaults. Of course, the converse is true also. If you don’t give enough detail, the brain fills it in anyway, and sometimes factors that may be important to your storyline like gender or race get muddled by the reader’s overcompensating (of course, every writer knows that this happens sometimes anyway, despite best efforts. It’s also been used to great effect and/or to prove a particular point by master writers like James Tiptree, Jr.)

Beyond all that, I’m still wondering how to deal with my reaction to this particular character in this particular book. Can I still like her, even though she makes me smoke with her? Does my own lizard brain’s reaction to the gory details knock me out of the story so much that I’ll have to give up on the book entirely? And, if that’s the case, then shouldn’t I wonder what odious personal habits I’ve written into my own characters that outside readers might react to negatively?

Plus, smoking has so fallen out of “fashion” as to seem almost anachronistic. As science fiction writers, we also have that aspect to consider. Will my characters tendency to drink copious amounts of organic, trade-free, shade-grown, bicycle-delivered coffee seem completely bizarre to readers reading that book twenty years from now?

Goddess knows, there are some stories where I’ve run into that time warp – there’s a Robert Silverberg story that I have in one of my Nebula Award anthologies from the Sixties, where we’re supposed to imagine we’re at a cocktail party in the future (who even has cocktail parties any more?), and the more you read the story the more its clear that the social interactions are very, very dated. The way the men treat the women, their smoking, recreational drug use, drinking, and “swinging,” all mark it as not-the-future-at-all, but a product of a particular time. I should say, however, in Mr. Silverburg’s defense, that the SF aspects of the story are still interesting and compelling, though the what-read-as-anachronisms made my reading of the story a very bumpy ride. At least with that story, I was able to remind myself that this story was written at a time when those things were the norm at parties (or possibly, the norm at parties Mr. Silverburg was invited to.) Also, it was easier for me to deal with behavior I found odd and slightly off-putting in the quick span of a short story.

Am I still reading this book? For now, yes. Am I sympathetic to the character? Less so, though I haven’t (and don’t intend to) written her off completely. Thankfully, the smoker is only one character out of five, so only a fifth of my novel “time” will be spent sharing her body and her odious personal habits. I can cope with that.... I think.

I’ll let you know.

New Meaning to Bird Brained

Birds Plan Future Meals

One of the scientific arguments I hate the most is the whole "brain size equals intelligence." For some reason, people like to hypothesize that if you have MORE brain matter, you must be smarter. A corollary to this is body to brain size ratio. Meaning: if your brain is big relative to body size, then you're smart. This argument is often used to dismiss the native intelligence of animal species that aren't primates (or cetecea -- whales, dolphins, etc.) It's this same argument that makes people SHOCKED, I tell you, SHOCKED to discover that Einstein's brain was actually smaller than average.

I've always thought that corvids (ravens, crows, jays, magpies, etc.) are smart. My evidence, of course, is all just intuition and anecdotal, however, it's nice when science backs up my feelings.

This bird is smarter than me. Half the time I don't remember to eat breakfast.

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...