What Kind of Faerie Am I? Dark, Dark, Dark...

A fun quiz to waste more of your precious time: What kind of fae are you?

I'm apparently dark, dark, dark... I think it was the friendly fire question that sunk me....

Quickie: Book in Day Challenge.

Not writing, mind you... reading!

Here's a fun challenge I ran across on the web today: Read A Book In A Day. The idea is to take a day off during a specified time and spend the day reading. Sounds kind of dreamy, doesn't it? Anyway, if you want to participate, check out the link and follow the instructions. They do something quarterly, but if you joing the community you can post any time you read a book and encourage others to join you in an impromtu "cover to cover challenge."

I brought several books to Indiana (where I'm vacationing right now) and my just give it a try. My biggest question is... which book?

8 Random Things About Me... (a meme)

Michele Hauf tagged me with this meme a couple of days ago, but as I'm on vacation in lovely Valpariso, Indiana, I just got it today. Here goes...

1. When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be a lawyer. I loved debate and figured that law was one job that would pay me to argue.

2. I was once so geeky that I was a member of the Future Problem-Solvers of America.

3. In high school, I won a speech contest and a trip to New York. We stayed in a hotel on Time's Square and I had a secret agenda (as a small town girl) to see a prostitute, a transvestite, and a drug dealer. I saw them all, and got lost on the subway to the Bronx. It was also the only time I ever used my French language skills outside of France or Canada. The hotel room doors had a trick, you had to jiggle the handle in a special way to get them to open. When I was stuck, someone else in the hotel tried to help, but we didn't have English in common. Turned out we both sort of spoke French.

4. My favorite color is yellow. I used to think it was blue until I owned a home. Whenever Shawn and I came to a room that needed painting, I'd say: "How about yellow?"

5. I still dial-up my internet connection.

6. I like to dance in the rain. One of my favorite memories of dancing outside was waltzing with a friend at the Winnepeg Folk Festival under the stars. It was one of those nights when you could see the Milky Way.

7. I'm a huge fan of country-western music.

8. I love Hello Kitty, although I don't own a lot of stuff. I have a pair of Hello Kitty pajama bottoms and I used to have a watch.

Now, I'm supposed to tag other people, but I'm not sure I know eight people who blog. Anyone want to volunteer?

Humor Writing: Dying is Easy, Comedy is Hard

Cross-posted from Wyrdsmiths.

One thing that all of us seem to agree on is that humor is difficult partly because it’s so subjective. As Eleanor says, what’s funny for me might not be funny for you.

One thing that Sean and I talked about when we first discussed this issue is that I’ve come to believe that one thing a writer needs to convey in order to successfully pull off interpersonal humor (like sarcasm, as opposed to say, slapstick,) is information. Interpersonal humor works when we _know_ the quirks and foibles of the people involved. They need to be people we can laugh with (or at). To do this well, in my opinion, you have to be superb at characterization.

I suggest then that one of the best places to start is by establishing your main character as someone the reader can trust to not mock people out of meanness, but out of a kind of appreciation or even love. Interpersonal humor is difficult because I think that there _is_ a fine line between laughing with someone and at them. An author needs to approach that division very carefully. I agree with Kelly that one of the best ways to deal with the issue of “meanness” is to remember that it is far more sympathetic for a main character to poke fun at themselves than at others. So, if you can establish your view point character who happily laughs at their own stupidity, I think a reader is then better able to accept when s/he pokes fun at other people’s idiocy, because you know s/he’s someone who is, at the very least, willing to laugh at her/himself for the same “mistakes.”

It establishes a baseline kindness. To be successfully snarky or sarcastic in text (and perhaps in life), I believe you ultimately have to be decent and nice. I think this especially important if you chose to introduce characters who are larger than life. I’m thinking of the character grandma in the Stephanie Plum series (by Janet Evonivich, ONE FOR THE MONEY). For me, those kinds of crazy, almost unrealistically hilarious characters work because Stephanie Plum loves them. She observes their insanity through the filter of familial bonds based in love. Even her father, who could read as dark and cantankerous reads as sweet and lovable because Stephanie’s word choice and description of him make her own appreciation for him obvious to the reader.

Just my two cents. Arguments? Agreements?

Are You A Vampire? Quiz

Because you know you want to waste more time on the internet....

Vampire Quiz

Other Me Publication Available

This probably doesn't have much cross-over appeal, but I wanted to let everyone know that Other Me's short story "Ishtartu" printed in Haworth Press's Periphery: Erotic Lesbian Futures is now avaliable for order.

Award Finalist

I just received word that Tall, Dark & Dead was a finalist in the best first novel category of the Bookseller's Best Award! Hooray!

New Review of DEAD SEXY!

Romance Reviews Today reviewed DEAD SEXY. You can check out the entire review here.

Here's a excerpt of the review:

Juggling the two DEAD SEXY men in her life should be more than enough trouble for Garnet Lacey, but somehow she manages to attract even more. Garnet has issues. Although she is in love with Sebastien, she can't give up Parrish. They have a history that can't be erased and, frankly, he generally is the first one she thinks of when she's in trouble. Unfortunately, it makes for a really rocky relationship with Sebastien. To be honest, I don't understand why Sebastien puts up with her, but I expect his centuries as a vampire have made him very egalitarian, and he does have his ghouls he feeds from after all. Add in a sexy FBI agent and a love triangle has become even more complicated.

The tale is told from Garnet's point of view, which is not what one would call extremely logical, but it is often absolutely hilarious. Her quandary over where to place Parrish's coffin is laugh-out-loud funny as are her interactions with Dominguez when explaining the paranormal. Secondary characters include William and Izzy, whom readers will remember from TALL, DARK, AND DEAD, and a few new additions such as Maureen, Izzy's cousin and voodoo queen.

It's another wild adventure for this powerful, if a mite ditsy witch. Check out the highly entertaining DEAD SEXY for a walk on the wild side, courtesy of Garnet Lacey.

Off to WisCON

Though I'll be bringing my laptop along, I may not post with the same regularity because I'll be off at WisCON starting tomorrow. I'm very excited about it because Mason is going to be dropped off at his grandfolk's house and Shawn and I get to continue on to the hotel ALONE. A childless vacation! Ahhhhh, sleeping in until six or seven o'clock! I can hardly wait. Plus, I'm sure that Mason will have a great time with his doting grandparents.

I won't be there officially, but my alterego will be. Here's her schedule, in case you're interested:

Please Explain Slash To Me (Reading, Viewing, and Critiquing SF&F)
Saturday, 10:00-11:15 a.m.
Slash fans and authors explain the appeal of their chosen pastime. Why are women in particular so drawn to this form of expression, as readers and writers? What's so special about mucking around in someone else's fictional world?
JJ Pionke, M: Sharyn November, Rebecca Marjesdatter, Lyda Morehouse, Yoon Ha Lee

Sexism: A Spotter's Guide (Feminism, Sex, and Gender)
Saturday, 1:00-2:15 p.m.
It's relatively clear what makes a work feminist...relatively... but in these days of more subtle sexism, and required at least lip service to equality, what makes a work non-feminist, or antifeminist?
Graham Sleight, M: Lyda Morehouse,Betsy Lundsten,M. J. Hardman, Lee Abuabara

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading (Readings)
Saturday, 4:00-5:15 p.m.in Assembly
Members of Broad Universe read very short selections from their work. (Note: 10-15 members of Broad Universe will read. The group usually includes both well known and beginning writers. This program usually runs about an hour.
Kristine Smith, Jennifer Pelland, Katherine Mankiller, Lyda Morehouse, Sue Lange, Anne Harris, Rina Elson, Jennifer Dunne, Leah Rose Cutter

Transsexuality as Trope (Feminism, Sex, and Gender)
Sunday, 10:00-11:15 a.m.
Much science fiction and fantasy of recent years deals with changing sex. But it treats it as a trope rather than a process: LARQUE ON THE WING, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL, "Changes," the work of John Varley. While there is no denying the usefulness of transsexuality as a trope in discussing the social construction of gednder, what are we missing by eliding transsexuality's nature as a process?
Jennifer Pelland, M: Lyda Morehouse, BC Holmes, Elizabeth Bear, Charlie Anders

Battlestar Galactica: The Debate (Reading, Viewing, and Critiquing SF&F)
Sunday, 2:30-3:45 p.m. in Senate A
Is the new BSG the most pro-feminist SF show ever, or is it a secret sexist scourge? Opinions differ -- markedly. So, let's debate! Instead of a panel, this programming item will consist of one pro-BSG representative, one anti-BSG representative, and one moderator.
Jef a. Smith, Annalee Newitz, M: Lyda Morehouse

More Ocean things.

Blame this on my son, but here's some more cool ocean depth thingies. An article from the New York Times: Mysteries to Behold in the Dark Down Deep

When you ask Mason what he wants to be when he grows up, he never hesitates. He says, "A marine biologist." Occasionally, without provocation, he will ask us when he can start taking diving lessons. I tell him he has to first learn how to swim. The thing that makes me happy about this is that, it seems to me that Mason will still have plenty to explore (provided we don't poison our oceans to death) given that scientists are discovering new species almost every day, it seems. This beauty is a ping-pong tree sponge. Cool, huh?

Oh, and I should probably report that the signing/reading last night at Dreamhaven was a mitigated success. It was successful in that a lot of people showed up (probably a dozen or more), but mitigated by the fact that in the middle of reading "Fire and Ice and Linguine for Two" (my upcoming pub in MANY BLOODY RETURNS) I discovered that I was missing a page. Everyone asked me to make up what was missing, but I guessed wrong and ended up telling them what I was about to read on the next page. Still, everyone was surprisingly forgiving and a good time was had by all (or, at least by me.) We all went out to pizza afterward and a friend from college, Nick, showed up! So that was a nice surprise.

Oh yes,

And, if you happen to be local to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) area and are looking for something to do tonight (Monday, May 21), please consider coming to visit me at Dreamhaven tonight. Here are the details:

Monday, May 21, 2007 from 6:30-8:00 pm I will sign and read from my latest novel Dead Sexy at Dreamhaven Books and Comics as part of the Speculations SASE Reading Series. Dreamhaven books is located at 912 W Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55408. For more information call 612-823-6161. This event is free and open to the public. Off-street parking is available behind Dreamhaven. You can also check out their web page at: http://dreamhavenbooks.com/.

While You're Driving....

... around the Antarctic, you might want to be careful of those 700 new species of marine life they've found! Check out this World Science article: Antarctic Depths Called Cradle of Life.

Bestseller!

My editor, Anne Sowards, had this news to share about Dead Sexy... [I'd told her that I'd noticed DS was #9 on the B&N contemporary paranormal romance bestseller list on-line]....

"Thanks for passing it on! DEAD SEXY is also doing nicely at the B&N physical stores--it debuted at #7 on their romance trade bestseller list, and moved to #8 the second week. It's #11 on Bookscan's Romance trade bestseller list."

New License Plate!

While at Como Zoo yesterday, Mason and I spotted a new license plate. This one is Nova Scotia (Canada)! Cool beans!

Mason really wants to see a license plate from Antarctica now. I'll bet you didn't even know they had them there...

Oh, and if you're keeping track, we still haven't seen West Virginia yet.

Review of Bloody Returns

Note the large amount of copy I got in this review of Many Bloody Returns. You can't even tell whether or not he liked my piece.

from Don D'Ammassa's Critical Mass...

Many Bloody Returns edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner, Ace, 9/07, $24.95, ISBN 978-0-441-01522-1

"Theme anthologies continue to get more and more specific. This one is a collection of vampire stories, but they all take place at birthday celebrations. What’s next? Left handed vampires with dolphin tattoos who knit for a hobby? Anyway, I only read a story or two a day to avoid overload, and on balance it's a pretty good collection if you're not already terminally overdosed on the undead. And while I'm including this under Horror fiction, most of the stories are anything but, ranging from mystery to humor to puzzle story to mild romance. The opening story by Charlaine Harris features her recurring character, Sookie Stackhouse, the waitress who gets involved with good and evil vampires in each of her novels. This time she meets and unmasks a Dracula impostor in a brief, well written but pretty minor story. It does have one good line. “If experience has taught me anything, it’s to dispose instantly of bloodstained clothing.” Christopher Golden follows with a far more substantial piece, and a different variety of vampire, a coming of age story like you’ve never read before. Bill Crider contributes a humorous take on the teenaged undead in “I Was a Teenage Vampire”, followed by Kelley Armstrong’s “Twilight”, which was a bit too long for its story.

Jim Butcher has a very long Harry Dresden story, in which his quest to find a missing vampire on his birthday turns into a mystery and near disaster. I thought this one was better than some of the Dresden novels, avoiding some of the formulaic aspects of that series. P.N. Elrod provides a pretty good short adventure of her popular vampire hero, Jack Fleming, and Rachel Caine draws on her new Morganville Vampire series for her contribution. Jeanne Stein, author of a couple of vampire novels, has one of the better stories with "The Witch and the Wicked", wherein a witch caters a vampire birthday party, incinerates the host, and ends up with his consciousness inhabiting her body. Tanya Huff also has an above average story, "Blood Wrapped", featuring her undead romance novelist.

Carolyn Haines adds a well written, tragic, but relatively slight story, and Tate Hallaway follows up with a romantic interlude. Elaine Viets' "Vampire Hours" is an interesting, semi-mystery involving murder and a nicely nasty bit of revenge. Last up is co-editor Kelner's "How Stella Got Her Grave Back", the best title in the collection. It opens with a nice image, a vampire visiting her grave on her birthday. There's a good deal of humor in this one; vampires are apparently fond of practical jokes. It's a clever story, but about as far from horrific as you can get and still have vampires. 5/9/07

Pagan Article

An interesting article in the New York Times today about Wiccans. Check out "Wiccan's Keep the Faith with Religion Under Wraps."

Arrgh!

Arrgh! I'm getting such mean, snarky reviews on Amazon.com. If anyone out there loved (or even liked) my newest book PLEASE post a nicer (notice you don't have to be nice, just nic_er_) review.

Pretty please. With sugar on top?

What's Next?

Having turned in book three of the Garnet Lacey series, I’m starting to think about what’s the next writing project. Of course, I’m planning on proposing a fourth book in the series, but I’m also wondering about whether or not I should consider what to do if my editor says she’s not interested because the vampire romance genre is in a slump (I don’t KNOW that it is, by the way, but anecdotal evidences suggests it might be.)

One thought is to transform Garnet Lacey into more of a paranormal romance/urban fantasy and less of a strictly vampire thing. It could be quite easily done given that Garnet is a witch. There could be any number of adventures involving the more occult aspects of her life. Book three has a hint of that when Garnet meets someone who may or may not be a werewolf.

The other thought is to consider abandoning Garnet completely in favor of another paranormal/urban fantasy heroine. I have any number of ideas, of course. I started a couple things that I’ve never pursued that I liked – one is about a detective in the Metahuman Special Unit (MSU). I envisioned this as a kind of police procedural, ala CSI, except with paranormal elements. The other is the one I’ve talked about on the Wyrdsmiths blog about an apocalyptic chick-lit, in which our heroine is told by a hottie angel that she is supposed to be the second coming.

I think this week I’ll write up a couple of proposals: the continuation of Garnet and one of these other two.

It feels weird not to be writing... and even weird to be in between contracts.

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/.