Sorry to be all about my alter-ego lately, but I (as her) am the featured "Big Idea" over at John Scalzi's enormously popular Whatever Blog. Ironically, I so deeply nervous about this post that I kind of hope no one reads it -- though that kind of defeats the whole point....
I am hoping to continue to blog (with pictures!) about the places around St. Paul that are featured in my Ana books. Just last night I wrote a brief scene that happened outside of this St. Paul landmark:
One of my seekrit agendas when I proposed the vampire princess of St. Paul books, was to feature various cool locations around St. Paul. Minneapolis has been written about extensively. When I was in college, I devoured Emma Bull's WAR FOR THE OAKS. The book was especially cool because I could drive past places where events in the novel took place. I've always wanted to do that with much much less celebrated St. Paul.
I live not far from Ax Man on University Avenue. Despite what my friend Ember used to think, they don't sell axes there -- not the wood chopping kind nor the musical variety. They just sell... weird stuff. It's actually very difficult to explain what you might find inside Ax Man. The University Avenue store, for instance has an iron lung and paper clips and tires and... weird stuff. It's whatever they get that's been remaindered or "surplus." In other words cool junk.
Unfortunately, Ana doesn't go IN to Ax Man in the current novel. It makes an appearance as a landmark to another University Avenue destination.... Porky's.
First of all, Happy St. Patrick's day for those of you who celebrate it!
I thought I'd drop a quick note to remind all y'all of the various places you can catch me doing my publicity thing.
This weekend, Saturday, March 19 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm, I'll be teaching my "Mars Needs Writers" workshop at the Bloomington Art Fair's "Writer's Workshop."
On Tuedsay, March 22, in my guise as Lyda Morehouse, I will be the featured "Big Idea" author at John Scalzi's Whatever Blog.
Saturday, March 26 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm, again as Lyda, I'll be signing the newly released Resurrection Code at Uncle Hugo's. Uncle's is located at 2864 Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis, but, even if you're not local, it's not too late to put in a mail order with Don for a personalized, signed copy from me! Check out details about Uncles at: http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/!
Then in a bit of multiple personality shuffling, I will be both Lyda and Tate during an interview on KFAI's "Write On Radio" show on Tuesday, April 5 from 7:00 - 8:00 pm CDT. KFAI broadcasts at 90.3 FM Minneapolis/106.7 FM in St. Paul. If you want to listen in even though you are in another time zone, you can check out http://www.kfai.org/ for live, streaming options and/or their archives which are usually updated the very next day.
In case you can't make ANY of those other dates, I as Tate will also have a signing at Uncles on Saturday, May 7 from 1:00-2:00 pm.
I'm committing fiction over on my LJ.
As I'm one of those people who takes great comfort in working during stressful periods, I actually wrote this little section while waiting for the cardiologist to tell us what was going on with my partner's "failed" stress test.*
I was thinking about this as I wrote it, because mood affects writing. I suspect this scene would have be a lot scarier, if I wasn't already overloaded on that particular emotion. I don't buy into the myth that you have to be in the right "mood" to write, but I *do* think that where you are emotionally creeps into what you write.
See if you agree.
* Everything seems to be okay. We probably got a false positive reading, though we're scheduled to go back and take a "stress echo" today sometime just to make sure.
Just want to note that, while there are a lot of panels out there in the SF/F community about the struggle of writing with kids, there are some bonuses too. Mason is sitting across from me at the Coffee Grounds reading the advance review copy of ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN giggling. This is his third time through (and he tells me, it's not his favorite. He still likes ALMOST TO DIE FOR better.)
Also, last night as I was trying to write while watching TV (a bad idea, btw,) he poked his head in a couple of times to read over my shoulder. He kept asking me, excitedly, what was happening and what would be coming next.
I know that it's a little like having your mom like your writing, but it's still cool. And some days, it's enormously satisfying to live with one of my greatest fans.
...which means my alter ego has some free pre-prequel fiction on offer over on her LJ.
In case you missed the previous installments you can read them in order:
Enjoy! In case you are tuning in for the first time, let me explain. I write science fiction under another name. I had four books published in what I called the AngeLINK series. The books take place in a relatively near future where, thanks to a devastating world war, science has fallen out of favor and religions of all stripes have become even more dominant in politics than they are today. My books start in America, but span the entire globe. One of the characters that a lot of people really enjoyed was an Egyptian Sunni Muslim computer hacker named Mouse. The prequel follows his story. But there are also angels, devils, ghosts and mutants called Gorgons in it.
Ten years ago, my alter ego published a book in which I imagined something not unlike this. Fellow Wyrdsmith, Naomi Kritzer, saw this article and forwarded it to me with the subject line "Egyptians invent mouse.net." Of course, that didn't EXACTLY happen, and certainly no one has a LINK receiver in their head, BUT I love that most of the technology being offered is actually a low-tech solution to a high-tech problem. That's totally the sort of thing I wrote about, and, as Naomi said, "If Mouse had been born yet and, of course, weren't fictional, he's be all over this."
I totally agree.
Go Egypt!
I got a call last night from Don Byly at Uncle Hugo's in Minneapolis and we've arranged not on, but TWO signings for me (and my alter ego) in the upcoming months. Mark your calendars because here they are:
Saturday, March 26, 2011 from 1 - 2 pm at Uncle Hugo's, my alter-ego will be signing RESURRECTION CODE, the long-awaited prequel/sequel to her AngeLINK series.
Saturday, May 7, 2011 from 1 - 2 pm I'll be back again, this time as me, signing ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN, the second book in the vampire princess of St. Paul book.
You can find Uncle's at 2864 Chicago Avenue South, Minneapolis MN 55407. If you would like directions or any other information about the signing or the store, you can call (612) 824-6347. Also, if you are out of town or otherwise can not make the events and would like to still get a PERSONALIZED, signed copy, Uncles will fill mail orders. For information contact Don Byly at UncleHugo@aol.com.
You can also check out Uncle Hugo's website for more info at: http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/
Got that? Good! I expect you there!
Today is Tuesday, which means that I'm posting the continuing saga of Mouse in a series of pre-prequel vingettes over on Lyda's LJ.
Because I'm that person who talks to everyone, I had an interesting conversation with a virtual stranger today at the coffee shop. It came up that I'm a writer and she asked me a question very few people ask. She said, "Is that a good job? Do you like it?"
I told her the truth. My job is the best damn job EVER.
One of the perks that never occurred to me when I was first starting out was the free books. Two good friends of mine have asked if I'd be willing to blurb their babies, and I'm always happy to say yes, even though I'm always baffled that *my* name could actually contribute to any book's success (given what little help it's given my OWN work.) At any rate, I got to read a novel/la by my friend Keith Hartman. It's being published by Pyramid Press and it's called MURDER BENEATH THE BURIED SKY. Here's the Kindle edition. Narf it up. It's cheap (3.99!), and it's AWESOME. I don't want to give too much away, but I found it to be very a engaging science fiction murder mystery. Did you like that section in the HUNGER GAMES series when Gale and Katniss are at District 13, underground? Well, this is like that, only better.
Go read it. I swear you won't be disappointed. Plus, it's going to take you like two hours to read the whole thing. It's that kind of book that pulls you in and you wake up when it's all over and think, "dang, that was great."
Anyway, speaking of writing. I must go do my own. Alas!
My alter ego has a new book out in March from Mad Norwegian Press, and as part of that she is posting some pre-prequel promo fiction vingettes on her LJ. If you're curious about what I write when I'm not writing Garnet or Ana, check it out. It is not entirely safe for work (there is one instance of the f-word under the LJ cut.) However, it is my intention that you do not need to have read any of the previous books in the AngeLINK series to understand and enjoy these free stories or RESURRECTION CODE when it comes out.
I haven't done much of anything this morning other than sneeze. I don't quite know what happened, but I didn't just have an allergy attack... it was some kind of ambush!!
But my eyes and nose are starting to recover, I think. And, I did manage to get two other things done.
1) The dishes. This was a rather monumental feat, as we had a full-on Sunday dinner yesterday, including a roasted chicken, gravy, fried potatoes, beans, and a salad. I think I pretty much used all the dishes in the house, especially since I'd made scones earlier for breakfast. While I was doing said dishes I got a call from the folks at Mad Norwegian. They had just one more thing for me to look at...
So, I downloaded the file and 2) I went over the final proof of the short story included in RESURRECTION CODE, "Ishtartu." After having re-read that I have to say that there is absolutely NO HOPE of me having a lucrative side-career as an erotica writer. It's actually not a bad short story (which, again, is not one of my stronger suits), but there's not a lot of sizzle. There's sex, and, you know, I spell some of it out, but it's actually quite *sweet.* You could actually read it out loud at a late-night reading, because, while *I* might blush at some of the words, there's actually not that much that even happens on stage. Much of it is left to the imagination.
It's kind of sad, really.
If only because I have this weird notion in my head that some day I'm just going give up on this hard stuff and write fun, "trashy" erotica. Yet, you'd think I'd remember that every time I sit down to write something I think will be fun and "easy," it's still writing, and writing is always hard. And, sadly, writing something good enough to be published still means I need to have character development, plot, etc., which is all that stuff I find "hard" about writing in the first place. And, frankly, writing graphic sex scenes really difficult for me. Oh, I can imagine them, no problem. Write them down? That's a bit harder. I'm easily embarrassed by committing the erotic things I imagine to print, and also, like any description, writing a good, graphic sex scene takes practice that I just don't really have yet... you need to know when to brush stroke and when to stroke stroke, you know? Gah! I just embarrassed myself!
You see the problem.
Anyway, I need to get writing on Ana. My cat, Ms. All Ball, has just curled herself, like a baby, against my chest, so I guess that means I'm stuck at the computer anyway. I might as well be constructive.
It's Thursday, which is my busy day. I just finished the dishes, and pretty soon I'll have to tackle the fish tanks. Then, it will be off to Mason's school to volunteer. After that, if I have any energy, I hope to go work out, as I've had to miss kuk sool wan one night this week. Ah, the glamorous life of a writer, eh?
Speaking of writing work, I finished going through the page proofs for RESURRECTION CODE over the weekend, and I should probably look through ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN before the deadline. Sometimes I have a really hard time looking at my own writing, especially after it's all typeset for printing. There's something so permanent that makes it sort of scary, you know? There's really not a lot you can do at the page proof stage either. There are plenty of opportunities for major change prior to that, but by the time you see page proofs, the publisher really only wants to you to scan for typos.
So, I've been dragging my heels a bit on the last one. RESURRECTION CODE was more fun, actually. There are some scenes in that book that I'm actually quite proud of and are fun to re-read. Even though enjoying my own work also makes me feel weird, but in a completely different way.
***** Permission to Forward Granted and Encouraged ******
Horizontal tango.
Roll in the hay.
Gild the lily.
Hanky panky.
Hippity dippity.
Knock boots.
Mattress mambo.
Nookie.
Whatever you call it, we’ll judge it.
Enter the Greater Detroit RWA’s 2011 Between the Sheets contest to see if your 10-page love scene explodes like a rocket or leaves the judges unsatisfied.
Rules, forms and final round judges are at www.gdrwa.org/contests.html. Entry fee is $25Deadline is February 14, 2011.
A couple of nights ago, and I don't quite remember how it started, I ended up telling Mason about an incredibly charming character that my friend and fellow writer Eleanor Arnason created for her Lydia Duluth short story series named "Three Hoots." Alas, the story "Three Hoots" appears in hasn't been published yet, but Mason has been at the coffee shop with Eleanor when she was struggling with the plot of that exact story. Anyway, it's been marvelous to hear Mason running around the house shouting, "Fierce! Fierce! Many bodies in the shadows, ready to defend!" (which is a paraphrase, but close to some of the dialogue in the story.) At any rate, I knew I had some Lydia stories arounds, so he read all of "Tomb of the Fathers" and pronounced it, "nearly as cool as Harry Potter." So, I spend a few minutes this morning searching my house of the rest of the series. I found Asimov issues that contained "Cloud Man," "Lifeline" and "Moby Quilt," but couldn't locate my copy of "Stellar Harvest" to save my soul! Hopefully, Eleanor will have an extra copy she can loan us. Mason is quite determined to read the Lydia ouevre. I'm sure he could read the other stories out of order, but he's kind of stuck on reading "Stellar Harvest" first. I couldn't find a non-pirated version of "Stellar Harvest" on-line. Am I an idiot? If you know where one is, please send me the link.
Can I say, too, how amazing it is that I can share stories with Mason that, if he has some question about, he can just ask the author? It's super-cool amazing. I don't know if he realizes *just* how super-cool amazing that is. I mean, he's growing up in a house where his ima is a published writer, so I'm sure he kind of expects that anyone can be.
But it is one of those things I always remind my students. If someone as dorky as me can get published, there's a pretty good chance you can too. Not that it's an easy road, mind. Just that it's possible.
I don't really feel like writing today, especially since I read one of the WORST (as in harshest) reviews of ALMOST TO DIE FOR this morning on Red House Books. Check it out. I'm not saying it's unfair, it's just kind of brutal. It's never good, for instance, when the one thing the reviewer liked about the book is its cover. The one thing, in point of fact, I have zero control over.
Yowch!
I suppose it's better than saying they only liked the font... but wow. I think, too, one of the reasons that this review hit home for me is that, most of the time, I *know* when I've written a book that isn't my best. It's not something you're ever allowed to say out loud, and, you always kind of hope that no one else will notice. In fact, with ALMOST I've been quite taken aback by the fact that Publisher's Weekly liked this book enough to give it a starred review, when I personally believe EVERYTHING the reviewer at Red House had to say (before she said it.) I worked hard on the book, but I thought it was fairly deeply flawed from the beginning. And, you know, try as you might, not every book you write is going to be your best.
The Emperor, in case you wondered, has no clothes.
But, reading that first thing this morning kind of sucked the life out of my already fairly weak desire to work today. Alas.
Now don't feel compelled to tell me how awesome I am or run out and post "you're so wrong" over at Red House Books. Well, okay, you can tell me I'm awesome, but you know... don't harrass the reviewer. She's just expressing her honest opinion, which I actually respect. I post critical reviews of books by colleagues all the time. I think it's part of the deal I signed up for when I took on this writing gig.
It's all part of the life of a published writer. You get to take the good times (like finding out yesterday that ALMOST will be published in Chinese!) and you take the kicks in the teeth, too. I don't get mad when people honestly express their opinion of my work. It's sometimes demoralizing to read, but what can you do? If I could write a book that pleased everybody all of the time I'd be a best seller.
If I were a boy, I would totally date Sir Ian McKellen. Plus, it would be weirdly sexy to call him "sir" in bed. The reason I say this, however, is not just because I'm perverse, but also because I watched "Neverwas" last night via Netflix. What a surprisingly good film. It was not the "thriller" it was advertised to be, but Shawn and I decided it was kind of like a psychological drama, rather than a psychological thriller. It was also kind of a fantasy, but not.
I can see what it wasn't exactly a blockbuster.
But, I really ended up liking it tremendously. The story is about a Christopher Robin/Christopher Tolkien type character, whose father wrote a massively famous epic fantasy/children's story in which, like the first example, he was the star of. The father, unlike either of my two examples, suffers from manic depression and ultimately kills himself. The son blames himself and has distanced himself from his father's work (the "Neverwas" of the title) as well as devotes himself to the study of psychology. He ends up back at his hometown on the 25th anniversary of his father's suicide and worms his way into a job at the very mental health facility that had unsuccessfully treated his dad. The mystery/fantasy part comes in when it starts to seem as if there is a very REAL possibility that Neverwas was a real place... there even seems to be photographic evidence suggesting this... and that Ian McKellen's character is its king.
The movie has a lot of very moving, subtle moments. Shawn didn't trust the ending to satisfy. In fact, she was so convinced it was going to be utterly tragic that she got up and got ready for bed ten minutes from the end telling me to let her know if it was okay and she'd only watch it if it was.
The ending was way more than okay. It was borderline "feel good." It satisfied me deeply, if I were to be perfectly honest. It wasn't quite dramatic enough to be a tearjerker, but I think that might be another reason it wasn't a huge blockbuster. Subtle isn't usually what people go to the movies for.
One of the best part of being in a writers' group, IMHO, is the free coffee. I should explain that one of the things that my writers' group does to assuage jealousy/envy is that we strongly encourage our members to buy a round of coffee/drinks at our coffee shop when there are successes, like publishing stories or books or whatever.
Doing that helps makes it much easier for me to feel really PROUD of my colleagues. To that end, I'd like to point you to my friend and fellow writer, Douglas Hulick's new debut, AMONG THIEVES, which is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com, and which he talks about in this lovely interview at Fantasy Faction: Interview with Douglas Hulick.
If you like BFFWM (Big, Fat, Fantasy with Maps), or even if you don't, but love a good character study and a rip-roaring adventure go out and buy this book. No, buy six.
On Twitter, Victoria Strauss linked to an article from the LA Times that implies that social media doesn't work for retailers.
I think that may be entirely true for people selling cans of beans. Personally, I can't imagine following a promotional link from a twitter from JC Penny to buy socks or whatever at half price, though I could see how some people might. But I think that to say this is an argument for not bothering with social media as an author misunderstands how readers interact with authors (as opposed to booksellers) these days.
I have to admit to finding an author not only through Facebook, but also through silly videos of cats on YouTube. I actually went out and bought books by these two people after my interaction with them (or their cats) on-line.
And I don't think I'm the only one.
I think that an author, these days, is expected to be available for the consumer almost like a product him or herself. You like my blog? Try my book! This may seem crass, but we -- at least in the science fiction community -- should be used to the concept of this. It's really not unlike the idea of going to a convention and being on panels so people can get an idea of who you are. It's the same, only a lot more international (and a lot harder to stand out.)
Also, frankly, I'm glad retailers haven't figured out how to dominate Facebook and Twitter entirely yet. I'd like to keep my social media fairly social, and leave the ads elsewhere.
---- * reposted from Wyrdsmiths.
We decided on a whim over this vacation, on Friday, to start watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy on DVD. Mason wasn't interested at first, but got caught up when Aragorn fights the ring wraiths and Frodo gets stabbed. When Boromir dies we all wept like dogs, and Mason was totally hooked. After that, it kind of became a thing. We met upstairs in the afternoon and sat down to watch the next one. Which went along fine until Sunday night, when --right at the point when Frodo is stung by the giant spider queen, Shelob -- the DVD flaked. We washed it. We tapped the DVD player. But the disc would spin no more.
So began my quest.
I drove out to Target just up the street on University, but they didn't have it. I called Borders on University, but they only had "Two Towers" in Blueray. Moving northward, I tried Barnes & Noble at Har Mar, called HPB in Roseville, went to Best Buy, called the Borders in Roseville Mall... NO ONE had it.
The guy at Barnes & Noble thought that there might be a copy in Maplewood, but he wasn't sure. I was losing hope. Then, I remembered who I was. I am a proud geek, member of the nerd herd. I got the phone and started calling my friends. Someone that I know must be a fan of the LotRs enough to have a copy! Or at least, maybe they would know someone who knew someone. I mean, come on, this is fandom, I figured I was probably only seven degrees of seperation from Peter Jackson himself.
When I called around, my friend and fellow writer, Naomi Kritzer happened to be talking to friends who had a copy. I could meet them at their place and they would "but lend it to me." (Remember the scene in Fellowship with Boromir and Frodo? "If you would but lend it [the ring] to me...")
Hooray!
So we were able to watch the end last night. Now Mason is thinking we might do a "Harry Potter" with the Lord of the Rings -- which means read each book out loud and at the end of each book, watch the movie again. I'm totally up for that. I'd forgotten how much I loved the movies and how well I remember the first book. Speaking of fandom, it is my utter shame that I have, in point of fact, never read beyond Fellowship. What can I say? I was thirteen and dyslexic... still, I've always been embarrassed by this and usually deny it, if pressed.
Kind of cool, too, that today is J. R. R. Tolkien's birthday. It's almost like we planned this (only we didn't.)
-----
Excerpted from my LJ.
First of all, I want to say that I am old enough that typing "2011" just looks *WEIRD*. It's like some kind of star date.
But I thought I'd do that thing people do this time of year. I'm going to review all the things I did this year, and then look ahead at projects up-coming for next.
2010 was actually surprisingly busy for me as a writer. Let me see if I can put all of my various publications down in order:
May saw the end of Garnet Lacey with the publication of the final book in that series, HONEYMOON OF THE DEAD. As I posted here and talked about in interviews elsewhere, the ending of this series was kind of a shock to me. I'd hoped to be writing about Garnet, Sebastian and the gang until they were all DEAD & RETIRED. I also posted full proposals to the three books I'd offered after HONEYMOON, which you can read if you'd like.
But, with every ending is a new beginning. This year also saw the beginning of the vampire princess of St. Paul series, with the August publication of ALMOST TO DIE FOR. This book received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, which was actually one of my life goals (I'd never been reviewd by PW at all, much less, actually getting the coveted starred review!) I also wrote and revised the next book in this series, ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN, which will be coming out in May of 2011.
My alter-ego was busy too.
You can still purchase this book at Book View Cafe. It's an e-book.
I also sold a science fiction/fantasy story to the Northern Light's anthology, which celebrates 20 Minnesota writers. The story I sold is called "Bright, Bright City Lights" and was my very strange attempt to deal with my feelings about the untimely death of Minnesota state senator Paul Wellstone... erm, with magic and binary spells.
You can find this book at Genre Mall.
And, I also had a story appear in SHE NAILED A STAKE THROUGH HIS HEAD: TALES OF BIBLICAL HORROR. This was another weird one called "Jawbone of an Ass," a retelling of Samson and his first wife (*not* Delilah) reimagined in 1980s Derry.
This book is available on Amazon, either as in Kindle format or as a trade paper.
Whoa. That's a lot for one year.
Next year promises to be slightly less intense. In March, I'll have two books out as my alter ego, both from Mad Norwegian Press:
The biggest one being RESSURECTION CODE, which represent my alter-ego's return to the award winning world of the AngeLINK series. If you'd like, you can pre-order it via Amazon.
I'll also have an article about vampires and Joss Whedon in WHEDONISTAS: A CELEBRATION OF THE WORLDS OF JOSS WHEDON BY THE WOMEN WHO LOVE THEM. That non-fiction anthology comes out in March 2011 also.
Back to Tate, 2011, will also see the publication of ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN, which it seems you can also pre-order now, though the book isn't out until May 2011. I've also heard a rumor that TALL, DARK & DEAD may come out in mass-market paperback in December. The third Ana book may also be scheduled for late 2011.
So I guess I should get working on that, eh?
Inky guards the Yule Log, which will be lit tonight! May your life be full of brillance!
So, I guess Twitter is good for something, after all.
I just found out that there will be a lunar eclipse on Winter Solstace for the first time in 456 years.
That's pretty cool! I wonder what kind of magic Ana or Garnet could cook up on a night like that, eh?
Being a parent is so wierd. You bring home this squishy little loaf and eventually, through some miracle (and a surprising amount of hard work), they grow into people. One of the things I'm always astounded by is when children have these breakthroughs. Mason struggled and struggled with learning to tie laces on shoes and then, this year, whammo! He figured it out. Also new this year: independent(ish) swimming. We signed him up for a Red Cross class, and this year, after starting with a six month old "waders" class, all of a sudden, it clicked for him.
I mean, you TELL them that with practice, they'll eventually learn, but it's still kind of surprising when it works!
In case someone out there wonders about the timing of book production. I got the cover art for ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN on Monday, and turned in the copy edits today. I often see cover art before the book is "done" (though never before I turn in the book.)
Next, I'll see the readers' proof, which may or may not become a galley/ARC, depending on how invested the publisher is in the book's success. And, yes, I have had books that have NOT had galleys made (which means no reviews from any print publication that needs a lead time of a couple of months or more, like Romantic Times, Library Journal, etc.)
All the while, I'm working on the next book in the series, which is due in April a month before ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN hits the stores.
Here it is, the cover for Ana's second installment, called ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN, which I like to describe as Glee meets Vampire Diaries. It is due out in stores May 2011!
So.... what do you think??
Yesterday was my birthday, though I very wisely celebrated the week before. Thing is, because Mason goes to a year-round school, he has a lot of time off around the holidays. Inevitably, his fall break happens over my birthday. This is not a problem, as I like spending time with him, but it means that things like romantic dinners or lunches are out of the question on birthday actual.
So, Shawn and I went out the week before and did all the stuff I like to do on my birthday that doesn't involve small children. :-)
Yesterday I did all the things I love to do with Mason. We went to Adventure Peak. We played video games (actually, more amazingly, he played video games on his own while I *napped*) The only thing that was a bit of a bummer about yesterday was that I woke up with a headache and it kept trying to come back throughout the day.
Now, today is back to normal life. I'll be spending much of the day taking care of the animal duty that I ignored yesterday. I have to clean fish tanks, change the gerbil bedding, and take care of a few litter boxes.
Ah, the glamourous life of a published author!
So here's some stuff that happened while I was away from the internet:
My alter ego is now available to be researched: Morehouse Papers Available.
My newest graphic novel review is up: Contrasts in Space
Despite this seasonal bout of ennui I seem to be experiencing (what the [bleep]? It's dark ALREADY???!!), I managed to start Ana Book #3. I think this will be fun to write, even though it takes place during summer vacation. I hope to draw on my memories of working out at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, which could add to the fun.
So I finally saw the new Sherlock Holmes on PBS that everyone has been raving about on Facebook last night. I have to say, I agree. It's pretty awesome. In fact, my subconscious liked it so much that I dreamed I was Sherlock Holmes last night.
I'd actually not been intending to watch it, but I happened to have been watching "Nature" while Shawn put Mason to bed and I'd left the TV on while I hopped into the bath. I heard the opening while soaking, and the actor who plays Holmes sounded like Alan Rickman's Snape. So I had to jump out early to check it out.
I'm glad I did. Even though last night's episode ended in a cliffhanger.
I don't remember much about the dream, except that I was enjoying being ridiculously brilliant. Later, I dreamed I was invited to be the Guest of Honor for Mile High Con.
It was a good night to be me.
Preposition Cats:
Inky... BEHIND!
Ms. Ball... INSIDE.
Deliah.... IN! (Waaaaaaaaay IN)
Ms. Ball... ON... and, of course, regal.
Join CAMEO, Chapter 123 of RWA as we proudly present "The Hotness-- Writing Love Scenes that Make Readers Fan Themselves. Kim Louise published author some very 'steamy novels' guides you into this world of Love Scenes. Learn how to put the sizzle into that dialog and enjoy learning the techniques.
The Hotness—Writing Love Scenes that Make Readers Fan Themselves
Class Description
In “The Hotness” Kim Louise will take you on a provocative tour of sensuality and ways to weave it throughout your fiction. Good sex starts at “Hello.” Learn how to add narrative elements, actions, and dialogue that start foreplay before the physical foreplay begins. Also presented in this class will be 5 important techniques to make your characters (and your readers) sweat including: choreographing your love scenes like a dance, making your loves scene unique, and how to eliminate purple prose like “her heaving alabaster mounds” and “his throbbing rod of conquest. “
Biography
Kim Louise is a hope-full romantic who still can't believe that she gets paid to do what she loves. She's penned over fifteen novels & novellas, writing for BET Books, Genesis Press, and now Harlequin. She has been a lead author for Kimani Press/Arabesque and 3-time Emma Award finalist. Her novels garner top reviews from Romantic Times Magazine, Romance In Color, and RAWSISTAHZ Book Reviews. Kim’s 2005 presentation at the RWA National Conference on FINDING TIME TO WRITE was selected as one of the top 25 presentations that year. Her novel SWEET LIKE HONEY was a finalist for 2008 African-American Romance of the Year by Romantic Times Magazine. Presently she is working on a Blaze for Harlequin.
Registration Information:
If you have questions you may email them to Lpatrice9@aol.com. Subject line: CAMEO class.
Cost for the Online class is $15.00 for CAMEO members.
For RWA members the cost is $25.00.
For non-RWA members the cost is $35.00..
Payments may be sent via Paypal to cameowriterstwo@yahoo.com
Payments for Class: Must be sent by November 1, 2010
Classes will run from November 1 through November 30, 2010
I'm not a constitutional scholar by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm starting to be driven batty by people (or their supporters) who feel that their "freedom of speech" is being infringed upon when they experience public backlash for saying something homophobic, racist, Islamophobic or otherwise bigoted.
I just looked up the first amendment to the United States Constitution and it reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
I'm reading that to mean that the goverment (specifically Congress) can not make it illegal for you to speak your mind. It does not say that you get to keep your job, your contract should be renewed or that you can't be disinvited to be a Guest of Honor at a science fiction convention after you go on record saying something hurtful and stupid.
All the first amendment protects a person from is from being JAILED (specifically by the government) for saying what they think and feel.
Kelly McCullough posts pictures of his cats every Friday over at Wyrdsmiths, and, I feel like being a copy cat today. Here's my Ms. Piggy enjoying the radiators of fall.
The ever thoughtful Jim C. Hines has another excellent post over on his livejournal. Today, he's wondering what does it mean to be mid-list?
I think most of us think of ourselves as mid-list, even though it's a term that's very nebulous and has never been defined for me by any professional, like my editor. We writers tend to talk to ourselves about such things, and make a lot of educated guesses. I think as long as I'm not, as Jim echoes, not J.K. Rowling, Stephen King or other obvious multi-millionaire type writers, I'll probably think of myself as mid-list, right or wrong.
It's time for me to leave the coffee shop and go home. I have a synopsis for the third book in the vampire princess of St. Paul to finish writing.
I've been struggling writing this synopsis for several months now. I finally realized that one of the reasons may be because I've become very once-bitten-twice-shy about the last book on a contract. When I sold ALMOST TO DIE for, the publisher bought three books. Now that I'm sitting down to plan out the third, I find myself wondering: should I prepare for "goodbye"?
I was very casual about Garnet, and that ended up leaving me in the lurch... with a lot of unfinished business for her character. So I'm thinking that for this last contracted book, maybe I should assume the worst and tie up loose ends JUST IN CASE.
That makes it slightly more difficult to plan, however. Because I don't want to imply to the editor that I'm done and that they should feel free to terminate this series, you know? So, I need to tread carefully. Wrap stuff up, but also leave a new storyline open so if they think I've been selling well enough, they can go for another book or two.
Sigh.
Wish me luck!
My beloved planet Gilese 581g might not exist! Man, this depresses me BEYOND words.... it's like, like someone decided Pluto wasn't a planet! Oh, wait. Dang.
My alter ego got a new volunteer gig reviewing graphic novels, comic books and more over at the Science Fiction and Other ODDyesseys! Check out her first review! Angels and demons and superheroes! It couldn't get any better than that, if you know anything about what my alter ego writes....
In news about ME, I am happy to report that I delivered my revised manuscript to my editor for ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN (the second book in the vampire princess of St. Paul series.)
....We were JUST missed by an asteroid this morning!* Apparently, TD54 came within 28,000 miles of us.
Um, eek?
*Unnerving knowledge brought to my attention thanks to an SF Signals tweet.
A new Harris poll shows that of the people who read fiction, a surprising percent (surprising to me, anyway,) read science fiction. Maybe there's hope for my alter ego's comeback, after all!
Over on his blog, Jim C. Hines analyzes his royalty statement. The charts and his discussion are plenty interesting all by themselves, but he just casually says a couple of things in his blog that really resonate with my experience.
First of all, I have to say that I'm impressed that Hines has so many books that have earned out. It apparently takes me a lot longer to do that (perhaps I'm slightly better paid). However, I'm only JUST NOW getting royalties for my second book, Dead Sexy, which was originally published in 2007 (and had a Romance and Science Fiction Bookclub h/c edition.) So, of five books, two of them now earn royalties.
But, on the flip side (and knocking liberally on wood) at least all of my books are still IN print, which by five years into Lyda Morehouse's career all her books were out of print.
Which is why I agree that having in-print back list is really important. It's tough to encourage readers to pick up book #4 in a series (even if you wrote each to stand alone) when #2 is already out of print, which happened to me as Lyda.
Secondly, Hines says, "Some authors who get that bajillion-dollar advance for their first book. I’m not one of them. The slower but steady approach seems to be working for me though, at least so far."
This is something I think about a lot. I have had fits of absolute jealousy over other authors' advances, but one thing I try to keep in mind is that it's much harder to earn out a "bajillion" dollars than it is ten thousand. And, while a bajillion dollars would be nice to have in pocket, I have to imagine that unless you happen to actually be the one-in-a-million that actually earns out the bajillion, your editor/publisher will have to be disappointed in your sales figures. Whereas, if you at least break even for them, they might be more likely to keep hiring you for those midlist jobs that someone's got to fill, right?
Though I still dream of a bajillion dollar advance, I think I'd continue to trade it in for a long and glorious career.
* X-posted from Wyrdsmiths blog.
Okay, this is too cool not to pass on... if I were more creative in the poetry department, I'd totally enter this: Werewolf Hiaku Contest over at Bite Club Blog.
I've been working steadily on my editorial revisions for the second vampire princess of St. Paul book, ALMOST TO DIE FOR, and doing a lot of cold-weather reading. You know what I mean by cold-weather reading, right? It's the kind of reading that involves a couch, cats (if you have them,) a roaring fire (if you have one), and a lot of blankets.
What I've been snuggling up with has been a wide range. I read CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins, the sequel to HUNGER GAMES (which I loved). I ran out and bought MOCKINGJAY, but things were left in such a depressing place that I found I bounced out of the book almost as soon as I sat down to read it. So my restless fingers lighted on one of the books in our bathroom bookshelf. We intentionally keep a lot of cheesy classics in the bathroom just for those moments when you want to read a chapter or two of something you don't necessarily need to finish. So I picked up TARNSMAN OF GOR.
There are slave girls and manly men and... well, if you don't take it too seriously, a great deal of adventure.
What about you? What are you reading?
This morning, I found an invitation to submit to an anthology called Crimson Dreams in my inbox. I would _LOVE_ to write for this, but vampires aren't the subject of my nightmares, _ever_.
I had a very memorable dream about a vampire once, though. There was some dreamscape plot that involved the FBI, I no longer remember the details, but at some point someone needed pushing around. I used my super-vampire strength and tossed them into a wall. I woke up from the dream with a smile on my face. I was thinking, "Yeah, that would be AWESOME."
But that's the extent of my vampire dreams. Do you dream about vampires? Have nightmares about them?
MANY BLOODY RETURNS is now available as an audio book from Audiobook Stand.com. My short story "Fire and Ice and Linguine for Two" is collected therein. The theme of the anthology is vampires and birthdays, so my story involves Garnet and Sebastian's wacky attempt to celebrate his birthday one Christmas. For those of you who have read HONEYMOON OF THE DEAD, this story is actually the first appearace of Fonn, the Frost Giant.
I've pointed you to the .mp3 version, but it's also available as a CD. I might have to order both, since the CD will fit nicely on my bookshelf of achievements, and I can actually listen to the .mp3.
I'm psyched about this because I've NEVER had anything of mine appear in audio format before. It's going to be weird/cool to hear someone ELSE read my words.
My alter ego donated a short story reprint to the anthology, BREAKING WAVES: AN ANTHOLOGY OF GULF COAST RELIEF. This is an e-book available in a number of formats from Book View Cafe. 100% of the proceeds go to the Gulf Coast Relief Fund. Contributors include Ursula K. LeGuin, Vonda McIntyre, David D. Levine, Sarah Monette, David B. Coe, Kristine Kathryn Rusch and many more.
The theme is ecological disasters with hopeful endings (preferably involving the ocean.) Mine is "Indigo Bunting," which is a strange coming of age story in a recovering post-nuclear winter Yellowstone National Park.
In Stephen King's ON WRITING, he has this great little bit about how writing is awesome because it's like time-traveling telepathy. I read his example, and I thought, yeah. He's nailed it, that's pretty much how it is. I'm thinking it now; you're reading it later. Cool.
Except, when I get my revisions from my editor, it hits me. You can only read my mind if I actually tell you what I'm thinking. And, depending on who you are, I might even have to spell out things that I don't bother thinking because they seem so patently OBVIOUS to me.
Telepathy: Fail.
I think, too, this is why a lot of authors think their editors are morons. We utterly fail to spell out critical details (which seem so CLEAR in our own minds,) and they write to say they didn't see it coming. And, my first response is: "What, are you some kind of idiot!? I clearly... oh, wait. I didn't actually SAY that anywhere in the text. I just knew it to be true, so I thought you would too. Um."
But, on the flipside (and to be fair to both sides of telepathy: fail), it can be irritating when you, the writer, feel like all the subtlety is being lost because you're writing in 2 x 4s for every ah-ha character moment, etc. because the editor doesn't share your brain cells. Especially when your writers' group had no problem with said issue(s), which only exaserbates the sensation that your editor is a complete dolt.
Alas, my editor is not a dolt, or a moron, or an idiot. I only feel like she is because, in reality, I'm the moron, and she only managed to quite astutely noticed all the missing bits in my thought process.
*sigh*
A lot of people have been writing me to ask when the next book in the vampire princess of St. Paul series will be coming out. Answer: I still don't know exactly. It's on my contract somewhere, but I have no idea where my contract is right now other than "in the house." (My filing system leaves a lot to be desired.)
But I do know that the second book is coming along. On Friday, I got what used to be the "editorial letter." Now, it's an email that has a couple of macro comments as well as the manuscript marked up (line by line) by my editor.
Way back in the early 90s when I started my life as a professional writer, I used to get an email with notes like "pg. 145, second paragraph, which begins 'Once upon a time...' change to be less cliche?" Having the actual manuscript with the comments function turned on makes the process more convenient and, strangely, a heckuva lot more work.
I'm sure it wouldn't seem like more work to a writer who has never experienced any other method, but I find that I tend to feel compelled to respond to the comments. I end up doing it, because it's a simple click and type, and, suddenly, end up writing a mini-thesis on my word choice decisions, characterization, etc. In short, I'm a much bigger diva thanks to the convenience of technology.
It the early days, I would grumble quietly to myself and either make (or not) the changes while going over the entire novel.
Now, I find I flit right to the next comment and not re-read the whole thing. (I tend to skim the bits that aren't marked-up.) That targeted revision is the quicker, more convenient part, at least. But, as you can tell, I worry that I'm not nearly as thorough as I used to be.
Technology is a weird thing. It's such a lie that it makes our lives easier. Busier, yes, but easier? I'm not convinced.
A short story of my alter ego's appears in Northern Lights: 20 MinnSpec Tales edited by Michael Mirriam which is now available for purchase through Genre Mall (Sam's Dot Publishing). Her story, "Bright, Bright City Lights," has never before appeared in print, and was my attempt to deal with the death of Senator Paul Wellstone with... magic and the Irish Republican Army. Anyway, even if you find the conceit of my story to be a bit weird, surely you will find something to enjoy given the list of talented Minnesota writers involved in this anthology, which includes:
Jaye Lawrence, Catherine Lundoff, Haddayr Copley-Woods, Jason D. Wittman, David Steffen, Kelly Barnhill, Damian Sheridan, R. Scott McCoy, Terry Faust, Lyda Morehouse, Carrie Devall, Michael Merriam, Patrick Sullivan, Roy C. Booth, Britt Aamodt, Sharon Boerbon Hanson, Joel Arnold, Abra Staffin-Wiebe, Maggie Della Rocca and Hilary Moon Murphy.
My alter ego needs to take over this space for a moment to announce that her science fiction novel, RESURRECTION CODE, is now avaliable for pre-order on Amazon.com.
This book, which will be coming out from Mad Norwegian Press officially on March 15, 2011, is both a sequel and a prequel to her other books (Archangel Protocol, Fallen Host, Messiah Node, and Apocaypse Array.)
The back cover blurb goes something like this:
Where were you the day the Aswan dams broke? It’s the question that defines my generation. Me, I was stuck in British School al-Rehab hundreds of kilometers from the destruction that plunged North Africa into darkness and drowned twenty million people as massive floods reclaimed the ancient Nile valley. We watched the privileged and the sane abandon Egypt to the criminals, prostitutes, and a mysterious murderous cult of Osiris known as the Deadboys. Not much of the capitol remained, and my life really went to hell.
But that’s not where my story really starts.
My story starts the day I, Christian El-Aref, distinguished myself from the thousands of Cairo street rats and became the Mouse. And I had that dead UN soldier whose body that I, quite literally, stumbled over to thank for it all. Now, if only I can keep myself from getting murdered…
I just got the cover art for the British edition for Many Bloody Returns, in which my short story about Sebastian and Garnet, "Fire and Ice and Linguine for Two," appears.
It's not much to look at, but, hey, I'll be appearing in ENGLISH. Whoot!
And below we have Dead Sexy, which became BEISS NOCH EINMAL MIT GEFUEHL....
... and Romancing the Dead, which became VAMPIR SEIN IST ALLES.
Here's a very nice review of Almost to Die For for that's found on "Fragment of Life".
Paranormal Reads isn't sure what to think of Tall, Dark & Dead.
For those of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you may have heard me complaining (whining, really,) about having to write a nonfiction blurb-y type thing for Romantic Times' web magazine. Well, here it is in all its glory: Message from the author. I thought there was also supposed to be an excerpt available, but I don't see it here. But, aha! If you back track to the review, you can read it there.
Enjoy, and realize that I sweat and struggled over this... yeah. See why I hate writing NF?
I notice people have been writing into the blog wondering when the next book in the Vampire Princess of St. Paul series will be coming out. I don't really know. I only just turned in my manuscript to my editor a month ago, so there's no cover art yet or any back cover copy or anything. I'm sure it won't be long now. I'm going to be be starting soon on the synopsis for #3, and get writing soon after that (I have an April 15, 2011 deadline.)
Which would make me think that maybe that's when the next book might come out? I notice that I often have the delivery for the next book close to when the first book comes out.
Anyway, thanks for all the love! I'm glad to hear people are enjoying it. Not to be a tease, but I think you'll like the next book even better!!
Okay, this took a LOT less time than I thought it would, and so I must apologize profusely... here is the excerpt from ALMOST TO DIE FOR. Please enjoy!
To the couple of people who wrote to say that they're looking for the link to the excerpt from ALMOST TO DIE for and found it broken. I'll try to fix that by this weekend. The problem is that it's not so much broken as not finished... I'm my own IT/web person. Plus, I need to re-key the chapter myself... no staff to do that sort of thing for me, alas. So, with my son on vacation and life proceeding apace, I'm afraid a bunch of other things took precedence. On the flip side, you can find the book in bookstores now. If you wish, you can pre-read it there live and in person!
:-)
Here's another short, fun interview with me over at Fantastic Book Review: "Sensastion 7 with Tate Hallaway."
Here's a teaser:
If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you/ Why?
Matthew Broderick. He’s about the right height, has my haircut, and we’re close to the same age. He’d have to wear a fat suit, but, you know, I think the guy could use the work.
ALMOST TO DIE FOR is in stores today, and as part of that I was on KARE-11's "Showcase Minnesota" _live_. The link to my segment is here:So Sixteen Ain't So Sweet in Tate Hallaway's Almost to Die For.
I wrote a bit about how weird it is to be on TV over at my LiveJournal blog.
Also, there's an interview with me over at Ellz Readz: Interview Tate Hallaway.
Hopefully, with all this publicity, people will feel as though they simply can not live unless they run off to the store today and buy my book (or three.)
The Book Butterfly posted a lovely 10-question interview with me on her blog, which you should check out: "Ten Tantalizing Questions with Tate". Alas, I have since learned that my alter-ego's new book won't be out until March 2011. However, just for fun, let me reprint one of my answers here.
If you could inhabit the life of one literary character and dive into their world for just one day, who would you choose and why?
It’s a well known fact that I want to be Captain America from the Marvel Universe. Actually, I’m sort of surprised I haven’t gotten the casting call for the new movie. Something about my gender and only being 5’2”, I guess, I’m not sure…. ;-) The super soldier formula could come in really handy when I need to catch a bus is all I’m saying.
A very nice article about me (and my alter ego, pictured above) and the end of Garnet and beginning of Ana appeared in the Pioneer Press today. Check it out: St. Paul Author Introduces Her New Series About a Vampire Princess.
Yesterday was another one of those ridiculously busy days.
I had gutter installers coming at some point (you know, the whole between noon and midnight,) and a staff photographer from the Pioneer Press at 3:00 PM. And guess when the gutter guys came? That's right! 3:00 PM! But, as it happens our house is such a mess, I decided that I'd offer to go to some other location with the photographer. We ended up at that cemetery on Front, Calvary? He offered to go to a place featured in the book, but I didn't think I could get onto the roof of the Saint Paul Farmer's Market or into any house in Cathedral Hill. Anyway, I think the cemetery will be fine. People expect cemeteries and vampires, and I did NOT dress goth, so it might make a fun juxaposition. We'll have to wait and see. The article is supposed to come out Sunday, August 1.
Of course, when it does, I'll post a link here.
If you missed listening to me blather live on KFAI's "Write On! Radio" you can catch it in the archived files: http://www.kfai.org/writeonradio.
Actually finding the file is kind of confusing. You have to click on the archive for 7/20/10, and accept the terms and conditions. Then it looks like you got nowhere because there's a list of all the guests, etc. BUT, if you scroll down past the announcements you'll find a tiny little header "Previous Shows" and a reddish button for either .mp3 stream or real audio. That's the show. I'm in the second half. As far as I know there's no good way to skip ahead, alas. I'd say I'm worth the wait, but I'm not sure that's true. (I felt like SUCH a dork.)
So this has been going around the Interwebs: "I Write Like" It's one of those thingies where you put in a couple of paragraphs of your writing and a program analyzes it. I tried it, and the first result was Dan Brown.
While I like the idea that I write like an international bestseller, I mean, who wouldn't? But, I see myself as a bit more breezy, chatty, etc., so I thought I'd try a few different paragraphs in the same book. The results were Vladimir Nabokov and David Foster Wallace. The more I tried, the more it kept coming back to Wallace. I even tried my alter ego's science ficition and got Wallace. So, I think that must be a more accurate reflection of who a computer thinks I write like.
Secretly, I was hoping it would say: You write like Lyda Morehouse.
I've got a new book coming out in August, and, consequently, I'll be out and about town promoting it. I thought I'd invite all y'all to a few:
----
Tuesday, July 20, I'll be interviewed on KFAI's "Write On Radio" show. They're going prime time, so the show now starts at 7:00 PM. You can find KFAI on your dial at 90.3 Mpls/106.7 St. Paul or streaming live at http://www.kfai.org/writeonradio (look for the button in the sidebar). Also, for those in other time zones, there is a running archive at the bottom of the page so you can listen at your leisure.
Tuesday, August 3, I will be interviewed LIVE on KARE-11 TV at about 10:15 am, possibly for the "Showcase Minnesota" show. Details are still a bit uncertain as my publicist just landed this gig for me today. This will quite literally be five of my fifteen mintues of fame, so if you tune in DON'T BLINK or you'll miss me. :-) I haven't checked the website thoroughly yet, but I suspect the show will also be archived somewhere.
Saturday, August 7, I'll be two places at once. Actually, what happened was that I accidentally booked these signings right on top on one another, so first I'll be at Uncle Hugo's at 1:00 - 2:00 pm. You can find Uncle's at 2864 Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis. Then, I'm going to make a mad dash across town to the Roseville Barnes & Noble for a reading officially starting from 2:00 - 3:00 pm. I've talked to the event coordinator and she knows that I'll be a bit late, but she suggests you come at 2:00 pm anyway and enjoy the free cookies and beverages while you wait. If you go, head to 2100 Snelling Avenue North (the HarMar Mall) or call (651) 639-9256 for directions.
Sorry for the long absence, but I was finishing up writing (and making revisions to drafts of) the next ALMOST book, which I'm pleased to say I turned in two WHOLE days early. This is somewhat of a miracle for me, as I'm one of those people who always turns in project the very last second of the deadline. If a professor said a report could be turned in by midnight on Friday, I'd have it in at 11:59 p.m.
Also, I wanted to pass on this very sweet review of HONEYMOON of the DEAD from Paranormal Romance. Like me, she's very sad to see the end of Garnet's adventures.
RT Book Reviews has this to say about ALMOST TO DIE FOR, which they gave 4 1/2 stars:
Ana is a lovable teen whom just wants to make everyone proud, and in the end, must see that she has only to accept herself. Hallaway has created a paranormal Princess Diaries that is sure to please readers.
Whoot!
I participated in an article for GEEK SPEAK MAGAZINE called "Dead and Doing It" where the authors Rachel Hyland and Kate Nagy do an in-depth examination of the question: Why Vampires?
Those who know me best as my alter-ego will laugh when they read my answer in comparsion to the others... I, er, got a little _deep_ and acted like I was on a panel at WisCON or something.
My editor just sent me this, and I nearly died:
STARRED Review, Publisher's Weekly:
"Hallaway's witty, fast-paced series starter cheerfully details the horrors of magical war and high school. Anastasija Ramses Parker is a modern day witch's daughter fond of wearing "black with black and black" but hopelessly unable to perform actual magic. When she flunks her coven's initiation ceremony, she learns her father is a vampire -- and not just any vampire, but a vampire leader, which makes her "some kind of vampire princess"... Ana's narration is pitch-perfect and totally teen: half calculated attitude, half wistful empathy. This all-too-brief tale will have readers hunting down Hallaway's Garnet Lacey series while they wait for Ana's next adventure. (Aug.)"
I guess I get to cross that off my "life list": Get starred review in PW....(faints!)
My alter ego, Lyda Morehouse, is going to take over this blog for a moment to announce that the anthology that her short story "Jawbone of an Ass" appears in has an official release date, October 19, 2010. The title of the anthology is SHE NAILED A STAKE THROUGH HER HEAD:TALES OF BIBLICAL TERROR, and, more importantly, you can pre-order it NOW through Amazon.com.
Also, if you happen to be in the Twin Cities area for CONvergence next weekend, you can get an early copy from the editor Tim Lieder during his 2:00 pm Friday, July 2 signing at CONvergence.
Lyda describes the short story this way: "What would it be like to know that God is absolutely *not* on your side? 'Jawbone of an Ass' is a modern day retelling of the story of Sampson’s first wife (known only as the woman of Timor), who slowly comes to realize the horror of knowing she, through no fault of her own, is on the wrong side of the wrath of angels." She sometimes also refers to it as her Samson/IRA story.
