New Review: Many Bloody Returns

This one from Romance Reviews Today

MANY BLOODY RETURNS: Tales of Birthdays with Bite – Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner, Editors
Ace (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-0-441-01522-1
September 2007
Anthology – Paranormal Fiction

I don’t know about the rest of you in reader land, but I’ve always had a fascination for vampires and other things that go bump in the night. Imagine my delight when I received an anthology about one of my favorite subjects – vampires. To make things even better, some of my very favorite authors are included in this anthology. Well, vampires, birthdays, and my favorite authors combined were guaranteed to make this a great read for me, but an unexpected bonus is that I was able to read short stories by authors I’ve long considered trying – such as Jim Butcher. Come along with me and get a glimpse of some of the dark, sexy and sometimes deadly creatures created by thirteen outstanding authors.

Dracula Night by Charlaine Harris takes place in the world of Sookie Stackhouse. In this little vignette, it’s Dracula’s birthday -- yes the original vampire -- and Eric Northman the big, bad and scary Viking vampire and one time lover of Sookie is throwing a birthday bash to end all bashes -- all with the hope that Dracula will show up. Eric is like a kid at Christmas, and his eager enthusiasm has Sookie a little worried. Dracula Night is classic Harris -- with all the angst, humor and…dare I say… blood her fans have come to love.

The Mournful Cry of the Owls is a tale brought to us by Chris Golden and is eerily entertaining. A little strange but completely fascinating tale of a young woman’s coming of age -- and the truth about herself that she is soon to learn. Readers are sure to want to read more from this author.

Told in the first person, I Was a Teenaged Vampire is a well written, if rather pointless tale by Bill Crider. It tells the story of how one young man’s quest to grant his sister’s birthday wish (so she won’t beat him up) changes his life in ways he could never have imagined.

Twilight by Kelley Armstrong takes place in the world of her Women of the Other World series and features the vampire Cassandra and the anniversary, or birthday, of her death and new life as a vampire. A somewhat sad tale that will have readers wondering what the future holds for Cassandra, Twilight is one of my favorite stories in the anthology.

From well know author Jim Butcher, we have a tale from the Dresden Files featuring the wizard Harry and his vampire brother Thomas. In It’s My Birthday Too, it’s Thomas’s birthday, and Harry has to track him down to give him his gift. Unfortunately, he finds more than just Thomas at the mall -- he finds a crazed vampire and a store full of innocent young people who need protection. Wow! This was an amazing little story that has made me decide I definitely want to read Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series -- now if I can only find the time!

In Grave-Robbed by P.N. Elrod, vampire Jack Flemming comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress, or the damsel’s sister at any rate. Jack is determined to stop the charlatan medium from tormenting the young widow -- and from robbing any more graves. A fast and short story set in the late 1930s, Grave Robbed is an entertaining piece of fiction.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life by author Rachel Caine is the story of how Eve Rosser celebrates her eighteenth birthday and declares herself emancipated from the vampire protector of her family. Unfortunately, now she is just fresh meat and fair game for any vampire who can catch her. A terrific short story that is sure to wet readers' appetites for the other books by Ms. Caine -- I know I’ll be looking for them!

The Witch and the Wicked by Jeanne C. Stein is a very different tale about Sophie, a caterer who is also a witch. Sophie’s decision to change careers after her latest client goes up in flames is understandable. But her decision to mix the ashes of a recently deceased vampire (the candles on his birthday cake, made by Sophie, lit him up like a Christmas tree) in her face creams does more than just make her look twenty years younger. This tale could also be called “Be Careful What You Wish For.”

Blood Wrapped by Tanya Huff is the tale of a wizard and vampire who are experts at finding missing people. When a little girl is abducted from her yard, Henry and Tony are determined to find and save her before harm befalls her. A suspenseful tale by a very talented author.

The Wish by Carolyn Haines is the tale of one woman’s tragic loss and her battle with the spectra of death. After years of wishing for death, Sandra has changed her mind. Death has visited Sandra before with tragic consequences -- now Sandra is determined that her fate will not be decided for her -- she alone will determine her fate. A truly remarkable tale, The Wish will leave you wiping away a tear or two.

Fire, Ice and Linguini for Two by Tate Hallaway brings readers a brief glimpse into the lives of Garnet Lacey and Sebastian Von Traum, from the Garnet Lacey series. It’s Sebastian’s birthday, and even though Sebastian believes his birthday is a curse, Christmas Day, Garnet is determined to prove him wrong. Unfortunately, after their car breaks down on the highway and a storm blows in, Garnet and Sebastian find themselves in the clutches of a nasty weather demon. A fun and humorous tale with an edge of darkness, this little story is a treat.

In Vampire Hours by Elaine Viets, a woman, Katherine, knows that her marriage is over. But she doesn’t want to face it. If she confronts Eric about the affairs she knows he’s been having, she is afraid he’ll divorce her and she’ll end up like so many of her friends. With no skills and little education, she fears she’ll never make it on her own. But sometimes, a woman has no choice, and when a tall, dark and handsome stranger offers Katherine the gift of immortality and the opportunity for vengeance -- what do you think she will do? They say a woman scorned is a deadly enemy -- if that woman happens to also be a vampire, tarts and faithless husbands beware.

How Stella Got Her Grave Back by Toni L.P. Kelner is an intriguing tale about a woman searching for...well, her grave. But it’s more than that. Stella left home a vampire when she was eighteen years old and she’s never been back. But this year, for her birthday, she wants to visit her hometown and her grave. Imagine Stella’s surprise when she finds that her marker is missing and a Jane Doe is buried in her place. Stella and her vampire lover, Mark, decide to find out if they can discover the identity of the Jane Doe and have her removed from Stella’s grave. Stella wants her grave back, but she also wants to help Jane Doe get home. An intriguing tale by an author who is new to me, I enjoyed this short story very much and will be looking forward to reading more from Toni L.P. Kelner.

Thirteen tales, each with a birthday and vampire theme, MANY BLOODY RETURNS is an anthology no paranormal fan should miss. From the sad and poignant The Wish to the truly bizarre The Mournful Cry of Owls, each story is entertaining and engaging. Whether you’ve read these authors in the past, or they are new to you, I guarantee that this anthology is the perfect book to read while contemplating your “to be read pile,” Who knows, you may be just as inspired to search out new authors as I am.

Terrie Figueroa

New Review Dead Sexy

This is from Bibliogramma (LJ):

Dead Sexy, Tate Hallaway

This is the second of Tate Hallaway’s supernatural romance novels, featuring the adventures of Garnet Lacey, witch on the run with a penchant for getting tangled up with vampire lovers, vengeance goddesses, and just plain wonderfully weird shit.

Garnet is trying to live quietly in Madison, Wisconsin, following the murder of all the members of her coven by a Vatican hit squad, and Garnet’s overshadowing by the goddess Lilith – who promptly took out the Vatican assassins. But it’s hard to hide that many bodies forever, and now the FBI is looking for her for questioning. And if that wasn’t bad enough, suddenly the town is just crawling with zombies – and you know that’s always bad news.

Hallaway – who is actually the alter-ego of Lyda Morehouse, author of the Archangel Protocol books – has a delightfully light touch that carries the reader through twists and turns of plot as Garnet tries to keep the FBI agent from finding out too much, deal with the zombie invasion, and keep current lover Sebastian from finding out that she’s letting former lover Parrish crash in her storage locker.

Dead Sexy is quick-paced, cleverly tongue-in-cheek (what else can you call a book that opens with a zombie buying a copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Voodoo - with counterfeit cash?) and a hell of a fun read.

Embarrased by Romance... What?

Over at SF Novelists, there's a really interesting blog by Jackie Kessler about what happens when you discover that cool novel everyone is talking about is shelved in the (*gasp*) romance section called You Shelved it... Where?

I wrote a comment (actually my alter ego did) amounting to the fact that I understand why someone might have felt embarrassed to go into the romance section years ago, but I don't get it any more. I was just at my hometown B&N last weekend standing in the romance section looking at books. There was a surprising amount of erotica with some fairly racy covers, but they're not the kinds of covers that used to make me cringe -- you know the ones with, well, Fabio looking down some babe's cleavage. Now there's a lot more photographic covers (some that still make me blush, but in a TOTALLY different way, see the cover for VAMPIRE QUEEN'S SERVANT I posted here... yowch! HOT!!!) and the cartoonish, stylized ones like the ones I've got.

Plus, I think that a lot of what she's talking about comes from the fact that people like to have someone to look down on, and for a lot of my SF/F friends, that's romance. It's peer pressure based on misinformation. Romance gets the big dis because people still think writers are writing to a formula and that all the heroines are wall-flowers in pink sundresses waiting for a man to make it all right. Anyone whose read romance in the last decade knows better than that.

Romance is where some of the best writing is happening right now. I say, go to that section with pride, sister!

Another Review for Many Bloody Returns

I'm not mentioned in this one from Amy's Book Nook, but it's still fun to see:

Birthdays mean another year is behind you, that you are another year older. But what if you were an immortal creature, such as a vampire? How would a birthday’s significance affect you? That is the issue several best-selling authors tackle in "Many Bloody Returns" edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, who also contributed a tale for the anthology.

New York Times best-selling authors Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher and Kelley Armstrong all bring back well-known characters from their series to mark another year older — regardless of whether they age.

Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse attends the vampire holiday of Dracula’s birthday — the party is held on my birthday, which is a fun coincidence. But as all vampires gather around the world to hope the presumed dead Dracula will show up at one of the festivities — what would happen if he actually did? Hilarity and chaos, of course!

Armstrong’s Cassandra also must tackle her vampire birthday, a time at which all vampires must feed or start the process of dying. Cassandra is finding it hard to maintain interest in her immortal lifestyle — is it a sign of ennui or something more deadly? Armstrong proves what a talented writer she is in this short, heart-wrenching piece.

Butcher’s wizard detective Harry Dresden is looking to celebrate his vampire half-brother’s birthday. But when delivering his gift he stumbles upon a group of humans playing vampires - to the deadly delight of some real vampires. It is up to Harry to save the day again, in typical Harry fashion, by practically destroying the place!

"Many Bloody Returns" also invites readers to try stories from Christopher Golden, Bill Crider, P.N. Elrod, Rachel Caine, Jeanne C. Stein, Tanya Huff, Carolyn Haines, Tate Hallaway and Elaine Viets.

"Many Bloody Returns" is published by Berkley, a division of Penguin. It is $24.95 and 355 pages long.

New Review for Dead Sexy

Rambles.net has posted a new review of Dead Sexy. Here are the best parts:

I wasn't that crazy about the zombie portion of this story, as it seemed a little far-fetched to me (yeah, I know this is a vampire book!) and I had a really hard time buying into it. Otherwise, I think Hallaway really wrote a tale with a lot of feeling this time around. There is so much going on between Garnet, Sebastian, Parrish and Dominguez, emotionally, and she writes it beautifully on each page. Garnet must come to terms with and say goodbye to her past and there are several heartfelt moments that made me a little weepy.

This was an excellent followup to the first book. I really enjoyed Dead Sexy and it was a hard book to set down. The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, leaving me hoping Hallaway is a fast writer and will be coming out with the third book -- soon

Oh, and P.S. today is the first official day MANY BLOODY RETURNS is out.

Saturday False Starts

Over at Wyrdsmiths, my alter ego posted her usual Saturday Mornings Funnies. This time I've chosen to embarass myself with something more recent -- from my college years. As I explain in my post, like most writers, I have a collection of these sorts of short beginnings that fizzle out and don't go anywhere. I've never "thrown them away" (read: deleted, as most of them are Word files of one sort or another), because I always secretly hope that inspiration will hit and I will find the perfect ending for them some day.

How about you? Do keep your scraps? Have you ever finished one of them?

Quick Re-Direct: SF Novelists

My alter-ego wrote a blog over at SF Novelist about her (and, secretly, my) titling process. It's called Something Clever or What I Usually Call My Novel. As you can probably guess from the title of this post our process is, as we say in the MidWest, "interesting."

Another Great Review (Bloody Returns)

A new Review! This one from Library Journal Many Bloody Returns: Tales of Birthdays with Bite. Ace: Berkley, dist. by Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2007. c.368p. ed. by Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner. ISBN 978-0-441-01522-1. $24.95. FANTASY

In this anthology, 13 talented writers have found clever ways to intertwine two seemingly disparate themes, vampires and birthdays. Christopher Golden's "The Mournful Cry of Owls" tells of a mother who, on her daughter's birthday, must explain the strange truth of the girl's ancestry. In Kelley Armstrong's mesmerizing "Twilight," the rebirth date of the vampire Cassandra has arrived. Now she has one unpleasant task to perform. And in "Fire and Ice and Linguini for Two," Tate Halloway writes a funny, romantic piece about the vampire Sebastian reluctantly celebrating his birthday, although he believes it cursed. Some stories are better than others, but all are entertaining and worth reading. This excellent collection will appeal to the growing legion of paranormal fans. Recommended for public libraries.—Patricia Altner, BiblioInfo.com , Columbia, MD

Rituals of Beginning

I started DEAD IF I DO yesterday. I didn't actually write any words on the page mind you, but I started. You scoff, "How can you say you started when you didn't write any story?"

There are a certain number of things I do as part of my rituals of beginning. First, I have to create a folder under my "novels" directory with the title of the new novel. Then I have to create a document with my novel template (which has all the necessaries already in place like using Courier 12 pt, having my contact information, space for the title, my byline, etc.) and then I make space for the first chapter and rename the thing.

Then I closed my computer and watched "Little Ms. Sunshine."

So, see! I started.

What do you _need_ to do in order to start? Do you have to buy that special notebook or special pen?

Wyrdsmith Writing Meme

Kellyover at Wyrdsmiths posted a meme about writing and I thought I'd play along...

What do you find _______ about writing?

Hardest? Lately, starting. But, after I get over that initial hurdle, the hardest part is usually keeping the plot moving forward. I have a tendency to like just hanging out with my characters soap opera style. Fun for me, but hell on the plot.

Easiest? Character. A lot of people live in my head many of them fully-formed. Getting them out is easy. Figuring out what to do with them is hard.

Most fun?

Honestly? Seeing my name in print. It's a rush.

Most Tedious? Some days, depending on my mood it's the writing down of all the scenes in my head. Slowing down my inner play long enough to write it all out and have it make sense to someone other than me.

Coolest? Knowing that I make s**t up and people pay me for it (sometimes).

Least cool? Some of the business aspects. I wish the publishing climate was such that there was a place for all good stories, regardless of "the market."

Best? When inspiration strikes and I look up from my keyboard and realize it's 2 a.m. and I feel so pumped like I could write more.

Worst? Realizing my kid will be up at 5:30 am....

Caveman Appeal

This is new from Yahoo News: Chick Magnets Look Like Cavemen -- which actually explains the popularity of time-travel romance.

To be fair, TT romance is one of my biggest guilty pleasures. I really like the clash that happens when you combine a fiesty modern woman and a lunkheaded, knuckle-dragging alpha male from some backward society.

And, apparently, that's hardwired into my brain.

Oooooh, look! Pretty!

The Pumpkin That Ate St. Paul

This is a picture out of my second story window (facing our backyard). That's a pumpkin vine. This pumpkin has been slowly devouring our neighborhood. I found one tendril making its way into the yard of the neighbors to the south and another headed to the north. I curled both of those around back on themselves and now its headed for the roof. The cool thing is that this vine is sporting a pumpkin half way up the wall. That ought to be fun to harvest.

Too Much of A Good Thing

Here's a funny: My editor's comment after reading the revised manuscript of Romancing the Dead was that now there was too much sex.

Uh, is that even possible?

Writing Colorblind

As many of you know, I've had lots of rants here on this blog about this very thing: Why Writing Colorblind is Writing White (a rant) by Brutal Woman.

Her reaction is to something that John Scalzi said here.

Unlike Scazli, I intentionally identify my characters by race. In the AngeLINK books by my alternate personality I describe Jibril as a black African Muslim. Mouse is Arabic and Muslim, and he's brown enough that Rebeckah (an Israeli born American) misidentifies him as an Indian from India. Michael is an olive-skinned Mediterranean (his surname identifies him as Italian) and Ariel is Asian, though I never identify which specific country. I did this in my science fiction particularly because the future is so very often shown to be the purview of white people (specifically white males).

But more than that it seems unrealistic. Sure Americans and Europeans seem to dominate the political and economic landscape currently (at least from where I'm sitting), but that certainly wasn't always the case. And it only makes sense to me, particularly given the tendency, shall we say, for the U.S. to mismanage its economy, that some other ethnic/political/economic group could rise to a similar kind of dominance given the passage of time.

But those are the kinds of things you think about when you write SF. When it came time to write the Garnetverse books, I could have not bothered with race. The stories are all set in the pastoral (though not entirely rural) Mid-West, and a person could make the case that there just aren't a lot of people of color living in Wisconsin. Except, of course, that's a lie -- or at the very least a gross misrepresentation. Thus, I consciously identify Izzy as black.

I think that Brutal Woman is absolutely right when she says that when you don't overtly point out that someone is a person of color, the default in the majority of readers' minds = white. It's even a problem when you *do* it subtly, as I argue with Elizabeth Bear in the interview I did with her for the Internet Review of Science Fiction.*

Subtly doesn't get us anywhere. People like to say that race doesn't matter, but I think it does. I've admitted to "the default" when talking to Bear, and my partner and I have had long conversations how sometimes our "racial programming" will work pretty hard to ignore clues if they're too subtle. (She never imagined Poohka from Emma Bull's WAR FOR THE OAKS as black despite Bull's fairly overt, "He looked like Prince.")

I don't know what else to make of that except to say that this is just a really long-winded way of saying, "right on, sister" to Brutal Woman.

* You need to subscribe to Internet Review of Science Fiction to read this, but its free.

Wedding? I'd Rather Be With Rogers.

Wedding bells are in the air for Goddess-toting, now-immortal witch Garnet Lacey and her day-walking vampire lover Sebastian Von Traum. The caterers have been hired, flowers ordered, invitations sent, and Garnet is finally introducing Sebastian to her hippie, organic egg-ranching parents at Portabello’s, one of Madison, Wisconsin’s finer dining establishments. Of course, that’s when Téresa, the mother of Sebastian’s dhampyr son Mátyás, appears and ruins everything with her whole night-of-living-dead/raving-lunatic/he-was-mine-first shtick.

Sounds fun, right? Well, that's the beginning of the proposal for DEAD IF I DO (Book 4 in the Garnetverse), and I should be writing it RIGHT NOW. Instead, I've been diddling around reading comic books and dreaming about Captain America. (Makes you wonder though, doesn't it? Has someone done a superhero romance novel?)

I tell myself I'm allowed a little vacation. The revisions for ROMANCING THE DEAD kicked my butt into next week, so it's reasonable to want a little vegging time, right? Right? Thing is, I'm violating my own superstition, which is that I start writing the next book as soon as I get word from my agent that a deal has been struck. (Oh, if I haven't reported it, Berkley wants two more: DEAD IF I DO and HONEYMOON OF THE DEAD). I might just have to open up a Word Document tonight and do my initial formatting just to say I've started.

I dunno. I guess I'd rather be thinking about that dreamboat Steve Rogers....

When I Grow Up...

...I've decided I want to be Captain America.

Thing is, Steve Rogers? He's hot. When Mason starts school in September I plan to start hitting the gym in earnest. My plan is to have a body like Cap's by the time I'm forty-five. (Okay, yeah, minus the whole gender thing and the probably foot difference in our hieght.)

If you can't tell I've started reading comicbooks again. I blame Target, actually. When Mason and I were hanging out in the book section looking for new dot-to-dot books, I noticed that Marvel had what they were billing as "All-Ages" comicbooks. Mason instantly was attracted to the FANTASTIC FOUR. I was a big FF fan when I was a kid (and in those days, had you asked me, I would have said I wanted to grow up to be the Human Torch.) So, of course, I bought him all of the issues he wanted. While I was there, MY eye was drawn to Bendis' NEW AVENGERS.

It's been all downhill since then. I had to try to find the next collection of graphic novels after "Breakout" and have started branching out into other titles. I even picked up J. Michael Straczynski (of Babylon 5 fame) and Mike Deodato, Jr's AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: New Avengers (Vol 10) and CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER and CAPTAIN AMERICA: RED MENACE by Ed Brubaker. Goddess only knows where this will end.

It's strange, actually, but this is the sort of thing my mind craves right now: High action, high romance (there's a lot more sex in adult comicbooks these days, I've noticed. Hello, Kitty Pryde and Peter Rasputin in Joss Whedon's X-MEN! Phasing during the big "o"? We didn't do that back in my day.) But, what I'm particularly enjoying as a returning fan is how the current batch of writers seem to be deeply familiar with the storylines I followed feverishly in my youth (okay, and young adulthood. I didn't give up on comics until sometime in college). I was really happy when in SPIDER-MAN Peter Parker makes a reference to the time he grew six extra arms. I remember that issue! As an adult I probably should think it was lame, but instead I find a kind of nostalgic guilty pleasure in reading that its acknowledged as having happened, you know? It's like the new writers are willing to accept Marvel history warts and all. As a long time fan, this makes me very, very happy. And it's eased my transition back. I don't feel out of it. I know this stuff.

Also, can I say? My tastes have changed. Now that I'm an adult, burdened, apparently by more responsibility, etc., I find myself attracted to characters I used to think were hopelessly square: Captain America, Spider-Man, (god help me) Iron Man. Though I still love Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, the comicbook version doesn't do it for me the same way any more (although Whedon's "I had a beer" cure made me quite happy).

It surprises me that romance readers haven't embraced comicbooks. There are some seriously studly guys parading around in skin-tight spandex, a**-kicking women, and romantic sub-plots -- no, let's be honest, soap operas -- that have spanned decades. It's kind of too bad that comicbooks have been branded "boy's" lit because the best storylines, IMHO, have always had the elements that readers of either gender can appreciate: heart and soul.

Feeling It

Cross-posted from Wyrdsmiths:

R. J. Anderson has really interesting post over at Fangs, Fur & Fey today. S/he talks about how she used to write sceens that would make her cry or be otherwise emotionally entangled with her characters, but now she doesn't. She worries that this lack of empathy will affect her writing. She ends the essay with this:

And yet I know I'm not alone in this, and I feel sure that powerful, emotionally resonant stories have been written by authors in much the same situation -- people who for one reason or another just couldn't do the Method Acting thing. Maybe because, like me, they have young children or other needy family members to look after; or maybe because their brains just aren't wired that way, and they find it more natural to cook up a story intellectually than live it vicariously.

I would like to hear from those authors. How do you make your stories and characters come alive -- and what gives you confidence that they are working -- when you aren't "feeling it" yourself?

Or, if you believe that identifying closely with your story is essential to good writing, what techniques or tricks do you use to submerge yourself in the narrative atmosphere when your environment is full of distractions?

If I think about this question seriously, I am forced to admit that I, too, have written both ways. I've had stories that grab me by the throat and force their way out, and stories that I've been able to tell with an intellectual distance with an eye more on craft. It's hard to say if the ones I wrote full of passion and verve are more "alive" than the others. I am, however, reminded of the interview my alternate personality did with Neil Gaiman for Science Fiction Chronicle where he talked about how some days he felt like the Muse moved through him and some days it was like squeezing blood from a turnip (obviously I'm paraphrasing, even on the fly, Gaiman has much better metaphors than I.) His point, however, was that when he went back and read the whole manuscript, he couldn't tell the difference between the days that hurt to write and the days that it was a joy. It all read the same and with the same "magic" or passion, if you will.

I think a lot of people miss opportunities to write because they feel like they have to be in the mood to write, or that this kind of empathy that Anderson worries about has to be present in order to craft "the good stuff." I'm with Gaiman on this one: write when you can, even when writing is hard. It's the only way to get stuff done. In the end, you won't know the difference and neither will the reader.

I do think, however, the writer has to be passionate about the story s/he is crafting. The stories that I can't finish are often ones that I, as an author, have stopped caring about. This is different than the question of empathy, though, I think. I can care about a story that I just don't want to write TODAY. And usually, if I push through today, I get get back in the swing of things TOMORROW. Sometimes, too, I find that if continue writing even when I *think* I don't care about the storyline, my mind will invent something about one of the characters or the situation that I can get fired up about again and the story is saved.

Local Folks!

If anyone would like to hear my alternate personality read, tomorrow night I'm going to be at the cafe for writers: Nina's Cafe. Here are the details:

On Thursday, August 16, 2007 starting at 7:20 pm, my alter ego will be reading from her work-in-progress "The Second Coming of Emily" at Nina's Coffee Cafe with Lucie B. Amundsen, who will read from three humor essays culled from the everyday drama of family life; Sharon Chmielarz, who will read poems from her latest two books, The Rhubarb King and The Other Mozart and possibly some newer poems; and Sherry Roberts, who will read from a work in progress about a dyslexic woman who fights a small town in North Carolina that is trying to ban books. Nina's Coffee Cafe is located at 165 Western Avenue North, Saint Paul, MN 55102. For more information or directions call: (651) 292-9816

When Literary Allusions Go Bad

My partner and I were headed back from our friends' cabin in Siren, Wisconsin, when we had to make a pit stop at one of the many gas stations along 35. It just so happened that a whole slue of women all had the same idea, so I found myself standing in line. Next to the women's was a cork board full of people's business cards and advertisements and notices about lost dogs and cleaning services. My eyes wandered the list and came across this:

Needful Things: Antiques & Designs/Interior Design Consulting

And I thought to myself: Seriously? Has Ms. Andrea Aydt (proprietor) never read any Stephen King? Doesn't she know that everyone who shops at Needful Things dies a horrific death? Does she really mean to evoke that particular sensibility?

I just thought it was a strange choice on her part.

What's the worst book title you would name a store?

Also, next time we go up, I'm going to bring along our digital camera to capture some of the more amazing church billboard signs. There were some seriously funny (unintentionally so, I think,) ones this time. Of course, now I can't remember a word of them.

Amazon Obsession

The New York Times has an article about how authors obsessively check their Amazon.com sales rankings: The Highs and Lows of Rankings on Amazon.

I, of course, have NO IDEA what they're talking about.

Fairy Queens and Vampire Lords

Over at Fangs, Fur & Fey Jill Myles asked the question: What's the fantasy element that makes you steer away from what might otherwise be an excellent book?

My answer?

Fairies.

It's not that I object to books about faeries. I've read (and even written, though not published) books I've loved that center around the land of fey/fairy queens, etc. What I can't stand is when I'm reading an otherwise perfectly good vampire/urban fantasy book and some character introduces themselves as half-fairy or something similar. I can't explain it, but, for whatever reason, that makes my suspenders of disbelief go "BOOOOIIIINNGGG!" and, more often than not, snap completely.

What about you? What's your answer to Jill's question?

Locus Reviews

I couldn't wait for my subscription to come, so I picked up a copy of Locus at Dreamhaven yesterday. Here are the reviews by Carolyn Cushman:

Tate Hallaway, Dead Sexy (Berkley 978-0-425-21508-1, $14.00, 294pp tp) May 2007. Cover by Margarete Gockel

Murder comes back to haunt Garnet Lacey in this sequel to Tall, Dark & Dead. Garnet first went on the run after Vatican witch hunters killed her coven and the goddess Lilith possessed her and killed the Vatican agents. Now the bodies have been uncovered, and the FBI is on Garnet's trail, so she's forced to turn to her vampire ex-boyfriend for help, while trying to keep her current boyfriend, the vampire alchemist Sebastian, from finding out, not to mention trying to keep Lilith from reappearing and wreaking havoc. And then there are al those zombies turning up around town... Garnet's an engaging narrator, and while the plot occasionally seems a bit over the tope, it's also a consistantly fun, fast-paced romp.

Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner, eds., Many Bloody Returns (Ace 978-0-441-01522-1, $24.95, 355pp, hc) September 2007. Cover by Lisa Desimini.

What do birthdays mean to vampires? Thirteen authors come up with as many answers in this amusing original anthology, which tends to the lighter side of vampire fiction, with birthdays frequently tangential to the stories at best. Several stories are part of popular series; among the best are Jim Butcher's Dresden File story, "It's My Birthday, Too," in which Harry Dresden tries to get a birthday present to his vampire half-brother, only to run into some live-action roleplayers facing real vampires in an after-hours shopping mall; P. N. Elrod's lively Vampire Files story, "Grave Robbed," finds PI vampire Jack Fleming taking on a phony medium; in Tanya Huff's Smoke series, "Blood Wrapped" sets Tony and Henry searching for a kidnapped child and for an appropriate gift for Vicki Nelson's 40th birthday; and Tate Hallaway's "Fire and Ice and Linguini for Two" finds wiccan Garnet Lacey (of Tall, Dark & Dead and Dead Sexy) trying to convince her vampire boyfriend that his birthday isn't cursed, despite some chilling encounters. Charlaine Harris's own entry, "Dracula Night," is amusing but slight, a Sookie Stackhouse story that finds the human telepath fortunately on hand when things go wrong during the vampires' celebration of Dracula's birthday. Co-editor Toni L. P. Kelner, a mystery writer, presents a punchy, but touching, tale of a vampire who catches a serial killer while on a nostalgia trip to her own home town in "How Stella Got Her Grave Back." The remaining stories are a mixed bunch, mostly standalones, and some less than satisfying -- possibly because they don't have well-developed series backgrounds to draw on. For fans of the series represented here, however, this is an entertaining birthday party well worth checking out.

My Spaced Out

I decided to try to be one of the cool kids and put together the rudimentary bits necessary to have a my space page. If this sort of thing trips your trigger, go check it out at:

http://www.myspace.com/tatehallaway

Now, I expect I'll be up half the night "friending" people and whatnot. :-)

Revisions Done and New Book Deals!

Exciting news first: my agent just made a deal with my publisher for TWO -- that's right, count 'em, two -- more books in the Garnetverse! Book number four is tentitively titled Dead If I Do (thanks to Plaid Adder for the title suggestion) to come out in 2009, and book five will be Honeymoon of the Dead for 2010.

Whoot!

My 2008 book will be Romancing the Dead, and I'm also happy to report that I sent away the ginormous package containing two paper copies of the revised manuscript yesterday. After much wrestling, I'm actually quite pleased with the final version of Romancing, too. Huzzah!

Toni Kelner sent this along to the contributors of Many Bloody Returns:

First off is Harriet Klausner's review, which is on B&N.com and elsewhere on the web (http://www.alternative-worlds.com/2007/07/26/many-bloody-returns/):

Many Bloody Returns
Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner (Editors)
Ace, Sep 2007, $24.95
ISBN: 97804419015221

These thirteen new vampire tales focus on the theme of birthdays (and many happy returns). Although the theme is incredibly narrow and restrictive, the contributors provide fresh interesting tales with no losers and star some of the more famous series characters; this the collection serves as a great introduction (albeit limited) to heroes of the supernatural. The most innovative entry is “Twilight” by Kelley Armstrong in which she insists a vampire’s birthday is the day they convert as that is a rebirthing. The rest of the stories make for a fun compilation with the lively authors being superstars in the undead realm such as Jim Butcher (with Harry), P.N. Elrod (with Fleming), and Charlaine Harris (with Sookie), etc. Still singing happy birthday thirteen times even too many series favorites can become a bit long in the tooth and difficult to blow out the zillion candles for some of the recipients; this reviewer suggests leisurely enjoying the anthology over a few weeks.

Harriet Klausner

Then we've got this one from Romantic Times BOOKreviews

MANY BLOODY RETURNS
4 1/2 stars (Out of 4 stars, which makes this "FANTASTIC--Keeper")

In this highly readable and memorable anthology, 13 top fantasy writers tackle the subject of vampires and birthdays. This is a must-buy book for genre fans, and a fantastic introduction for new readers to some of the best-known writers in the field, including Harris, Jim Butcher, Tanya Huff, Kelley Armstrong, and P.N. Elrod.

SUMMARY: Thirteen authors have 13 very different takes on birthdays and vampires. Highlights include Harris' "Dracula Night," in which Sookie Stackhouse finds herself the only human in attendance at Dracula's birthday party; Elrod's Jack Flming striking a blow for honest mediums everywhere in "Grave-Robbed,; and Butcher's "It's My Birthday Too," where Harry Dresden finds himself in a sururban mall with a bunch of live-action role players and a few vampires out for revenge--and blood.

Natalie A. Luhrs

And from a web site reviewer I've never heard of (http://darquereviews.blogspot.com/2007/08/many-bloody-returns-anthology.html), but now revere because she liked the book:

Many Bloody Returns (Anthology)
Tales of Birthdays with Bite
Edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner
ACE – The Berkley Publishing Group
September 4, 2007
ISBN# 978-0-441-01522-1

Dracula Night by Charlaine Harris shares a tense night at Fangtasia as Sookie Stackhouse and her supernatural friends celebrate with a birthday bash for Dracula.

The Mournful Cry of Owls by Christopher Golden is Donika’s sixteenth birthday and a night for revealing a past secret that leads to a surprising future.

I Was a Teenage Vampire by Bill Crider tells the tale of how Carlton’s young life changed the night of his sister’s birthday party.

Twilight by Kelley Armstrong takes Cassandra DuCharme on the yearly hunt she needs to extend her vampiric life.

It’s My Birthday Too by Jim Butcher follows Harry Dresden and his assistant to deliver a birthday present when things turn dark and dangerous.

Grave Robbed by P. N. Elrod has PI Jack Flemming intervening when a woman is desperate to contact her deceased husband and the séance appears to be a con.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life by Rachel Caine is Eve’s eighteenth birthday in Morganville, and the night she’s expected to sign away her future.

The Witch and the Wicked by Jeanne C. Stein brings Sophie to the Deveraux home where she caters a vampire’s birthday filled with surprises.

Blood Wrapped by Tanya Huff has Henry on the hunt for Vicki’s birthday present when he’s influenced to do a good deed.

The Wish by Carolyn Haines shares Sandra’s forty-third birthday and the painful tale that leads her to live and die on her own terms.

Fire and Ice and Linguini for Two by Tate Hallaway celebrates Sebastian’s birthday with more surprises than Garnet had planned for the evening.

Vampire Hours by Elaine Viets is Katherine’s birthday to face the reality of her current life and make the decision to have the future she dreams of.

How Stella Got Her Grave Back by Toni L. P. Kelner travels along with Stella and Mark as they set out to solve the mystery of a Jane Doe.

Many Bloody Returns is a carefully crafted anthology that envelopes readers in the dark and often humorous world of the paranormal. A fabulously fun visit with the characters, both old and new, of some of the best paranormal fiction authors in print today.

Kimberly Swan, Darque Reviews

LOCUS Bestseller!

My agent just informed me that Dead Sexy is the Locus List #4 bestseller in the trade paperback catagory. Whoot!

Carolyn Cushman at Locus also did a review of both Dead Sexy and Many Bloody Returns (and, apparently, *GASP* she mentions my story!!) Those aren't available on-line, however, so I'll have to wait impatiently at my mailbox to see what she says.

Two New Reviews

First, my relatives in Indiana sent me a copy of a review from the Indiana Post-Tribune for Dead Sexy by Scheffie Sarver. It's HUGE. The nicest thing Sarver said might be this: "One of Hallaway's strengths is the way she weaves Garnet's tale. Garnet is human enough for the reader to sympathize with, but her circumstances are outrageous enough to give the reader a good chuckle. In one scene, hungry zombies chase Garnet into the confines of a garage. She vows to go on a diet when her hips get stuck in a window frame as she's escaping. We've all similarly vowed to start dieting, just perhaps not with a pack of zombies hot on our heels."

Second, Paula Chaffee Scardamalia reviewed Tall, Dark & Dead for BroadUniverse's BroadSheet. You can read it here: http://www.broaduniverse.org/broadsheet/0707pcsth.html

Okay

In case anyone is seeing the news about the collapsed bridge in Minneapolis, we're okay. If there are other Minneapolis/St. Paul SF/F writers or fans you're worried about, there's a check-in set up here:

http://community.livejournal.com/mnstf/

If anyone thinks someone might be worried about them, they are encouraged to post an OK with Mnstf. Oh, and if you don't have an LJ account the person managing the site has kindly offered her email address laurel@tvpicks.net for check-ins.

Cthulhu Origami

I think this is a whole lot of awesome. Thanks to Shawn for sending it along to me. Check out the instructions at http://spinflipper.com/blog/

Nerds No More!

The July 27, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly had an article about Comic Con in which, although they mentioned Klingons and Renaissance costumers, they referred to us as a "blog-savvy army of early adaptors..."

What I like about that phrase is that it evokes pocket-protectors and horn rim glasses, while actually making us sound kind of cool and hip.

Ms. Silly Pants

There I was, minding my own business at my favorite hang-out Amore Coffee when this guy came up to me. He was probably not much older than me, say in his fifties, and he had a touch of what I like to call "the fabulous accent." Anyway, he said, "I just want to compliment you on your cut-offs."

I looked down at my paint-stained, obviously homemade cut-off shorts and thought, "Is this guy being a jerk?"

Apparently sensing my concern, he went on. "No, really," he said. "They're genuine, you know? Not like those fake ones all the kids are wearing. If you're going to wear jeans old jeans they should be really old. Otheerwise why not just wear brand-new?! I mean, just look at yours! They have paint splotches and uneven cuffs. I have an old pair of jeans like that and they're precious."

I'm still not sure if he was putting me on or what. But I feel like I got a taste of what my life would be like if I lived in Southern California, ie people thinking I was making some kind of fashion statement with my slovenly, lazy ways.

More Writing Woes

Romancing the Dead continues to kick my butt. I've written about my latest struggles over at the Wyrdsmith's blog.

I'm sorry to keep putting all the good stuff over there, but all my energy is being sucked out by this book. I will report that Mason and I saw two new license plates at the Mall of America... Alberta and another consul plate. This time I realized I had to take note of the alphabetical prefex and it was "TG" -- which, according to wikipedia, is the designation for Canada. When I told Shawn about this, she said that it might have been the same car as the one we saw at Minnesota Historical Society, since someone there is married to the Canadian consul. So mystery solved?

Still no West Virginia

Seven days to Mason's birthday.

Writers' High/Writers' Block Survey

A friend of mine, Rosanne Bane, is writing a non-fiction book about writers' block/writers' high and she's looking for writers (at any level in their career) to fill out an on-line survey. If you have the time/inclination, please check out: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2bxhgsIhnjrOxgQ_2bRPD7x2Q_3d_3d

The Book That Ate My Brain

Just a quick re-direction pointer. I wrote a whole long complaining song, as Pooh would say, about my experiences with revision on Romancing the Dead (or, as I call it in my own head, Dead on Arousal) on the wyrdsmiths' blog. Check it out, if you're interested.

Sale! Sale! Sale!

Once again, Amazon.com is running a "Bargain Price" on Tall, Dark & Dead, so if you're like me and you think that it's outrageous that anyone charges $14.00 for a book, now's your time to order. TDD is available for only $5.49. The Barnes & Nobel sale was over very quickly, so dare I say it? Act now!

I should warn y'all, though... I ordered a bunch of books when B&N had their sale and they were clearly books that were marked to be returned by the bookstores. They all had a black marker line on the bottom of each book, so they no longer would qualify as "new." However, given THEIR price (B&N was giving the books away at 4.00 a piece, which is way cheaper than my publisher sells them to me), I was okay with that. I've never ordered these bargain price books from Amazon.com, but given that they don't have any brick and mortar stores that would be returning books, I suspect they won't be marked up.

Also, any authors, editors, booksellers, other industry professionals or people with an insider track on the business out there reading this blog? Because I'm wondering why Tall, Dark & Dead is getting such discounts from the booksellers. Is this a good thing? I mean, I suspect it is, given that they are trying to sell them and not, say, returning them to the publisher. But... this is the third time the book has been deeply, deeply discounted (first at Amazon.com, then B&N, and now Amazon is doing it again.)

Thanks to my previous history, I'm terribly gun-shy about things like this, so if anyone has information that would assuage my freakage, I could really use it.

Sometimes I wonder how anyone ever lasts in this business.

Podcast!

My alter-ego and I did a podcast with Shawn Ferrell that is available at http://adventuresinscifipublishing.com/ today. Go check it out, it's free!

I Should Be...

...working on revisions, but instead I stumbled across the Ghost Reseach Society's Ghost Photographs.

A lot of the pictures are pretty spooky, but this one in particular scares me.

New License Plates (still no WV)

Mason and I continue to play the license plate game, even though we have not YET seen West Virginia. Today, we saw to brand new ones (yes, there are still more to see). First, just outside our usual coffee shop, we saw the Creek Nation (Okalahoma Native American) and then at the Minnesota Historical Society on our way to see the Capitol Wind Ensemble at Rice Park, we saw a diplomatic plate. Alas, I did not realize that I needed to write down the first letters so that I could identify what country the consul was from so that's a mystery.

And, the other day I saw what probably this one... a temporary tourist plate from France. Mason's magic is strong indeed.

New Review: Many Bloody Returns

Monsters and Critics reviewed Many Bloody Returns and GUESS WHAT?! They mentioned me by name!! Whoot!

Here's what they say:

This compilation of brand new vampire themed tales, penned by some of the top names in the genre including Tanya Huff, Tate Hallaway and Kelly Armstrong is much like visiting old friends. The majority of stories feature characters and settings from previous novels while putting a different spin on birthdays in general.

Editor and author Charlaine Harris starts things off with “Dracula Night” that finds Sookie Stackhouse from the Southern Vampire series attending Dracula’s birthday party. Hosted by vampire sheriff and entrepreneur Eric Northman, this proves to be a party to remember when the guest of honor shows up and considers Sookie part of the entertainment. Eric may suffer from a serious case of hero worship but Sookie does not intend to become dinner and will do whatever it takes to stay off the menu.

Return to P.N. Elrod’s gritty noir series as vampire PI Jack Fleming agrees to aid a young woman in revealing an unscrupulous charlatan before he can fleece her sister in “Grave-Robbed.” Christopher Golden conjours up a delightfully different coming of age tale with “The Mournful Cry of Owls” that finds a young woman growing strangely restless as her sixteenth birthday draws near. When her mother reveals the secret of her birth, everything changes and perhaps, not for the best.

Fans of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files will enjoy further adventures of Harry the wizard and his apprentice Molly as they go up against a revengeful vampire of the Black Court in the suspenseful “It’s My Birthday, Too”. Eve Roser is having a bad birthday, not only is she in a car accident but worse, now that she’s turned eighteen she is expected to sign a loyalty pledge that will forever bind her to a psycho vampire in the further adventures of Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampire series entitled “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life”. From Jeanne C. Stein comes “The Witch and the Wicked”, a fresh tale of an unlikely blending between witch and vampire as the result of murder by incineration and a desire for youth and beauty goes terribly awry.

Each of the authors lend their unique perspectives ranging from humorous to melancholy, fiendish to hopeful making for a thoroughly enjoyable take on vampires and birthdays. Editors Toni L.P. Kelner and Charlaine Harris have done a fine job of cooking up a toothsome collection of birthday treats you will not want to miss.

New Review - Dead Sexy

A new review of Dead Sexy from Paranormal Romance Writers.

Here's the salient bits:

"This story also involves Parrish, Garnet's ex-boyfriend and Gabriel, a hot FBI agent. Dead Sexy is the 2nd in a series but can be read alone. I found myself liking the characters so much that I plan on reading Tall, Dark & Dead also. Tate Hallaway did a wonderful job with interweaving this story and the previous one together. I found the story fascinating and it kept my interest through til the end. I hope Ms. Hallaway will continue to write more Garnet Lacey Books."

Basement Bargin Prices

Just in case you've somehow neglected to purchase a copy of Tall, Dark & Dead, Barnes & Noble is selling it for a low, LOW price of $3.98 (for non-members/members it's even cheaper.) Do you have a great-aunt Tillie who reads romance? At these prices you can afford a little familial love!

Also, although I'm hardly what you could call a regular blogger, I'm probably going to be even spottier of late. I just got my revision letter from Anne, my editor, and I've got some serious work to do. Remember all my whiney posts about how much it sucked to write this one? Well, brace yourselves for a whole lot more whiney posts about how hard it's going to be to unravel and rebuild this sucker.

I LIKED It, So Sue Me

Before I review GHOST RIDER, I feel compelled to mention that I was probably one of the only professional reviewers who gave Mathew Brodrick's remake of GODZILLA a thumbs up... in print. Yes, that's right. Sizes Matters? I totally thought so.

Having said that, it should come as no surprise that I thought Nicholas Cages' GHOST RIDER totally rocked. No, I am not kidding. I'm serious. No, really.

Come on, you know I really hate it when you point and laugh like that.

What was I smoking, you ask? No, man, I was totally sober. Here's the thing. Though I'm a true believer (as my man Stan would say), a Marvel Grrl to the core, I never read a single issue of GHOST RIDER. I always looked at the covers when I was hunting for the newest issue of X-MEN, and honestly thought RIDER was both too cheesy and had too much of a Hell's Angel's vibe to it.

I grew up in a working class town in the Midwest. Biker guys with flaming skull heads were my neighbors, you know?

But I LOVE comicbooks. Ever since the moment my cousin Laun unwrapped from the mylar the first issue of AMAZING STORIES with Spiderman on the cover, I was hooked. Though I read DC comics, they didn't captivate me the way Marvel stories did.

I think that being unfamilar with the original, but totally into comic book sensiblities helps explain my reaction. Flaming chains? Nifty! Motorcyle that becomes the death ride? OOOOooh, pretty! Nicholas Cage's head exploding into flames? Added bonus!

The other part comes down to Other Me's obsession with Christianity. (See my previous review of Hellblazer). This movie is surprisingly Christian, which may explain it's failure at the box office. I was totally enchanted by the moment when the Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze discovers that he can walk in both worlds. He may have sold his soul to the devil, but because he did it for love God give him face. Plus, I know people are annoyed by Cage, but in this film, I thought he was hillarious. When he's talking to himself about second chances and he notices his hand in glowing... made my day. The whole quirky bit about the Carpenters and monkey videos? What can I say? It worked for me.

Am I telling you to go Netflix this movie? No, probably not. But, Shawn and I kept turning to each other and high-fiving at every explosion (and when the Ranger rides again...? ahhhh! Shiney! I think if you were in the mood for comicbook cool Velvetta, this is totally the film for you.

Publisher's Weekly Review

It's been one of the biggest thorns in my side that I have never been reviewed by Publisher's Weekly -- not me as me, nor me as alternate me. In my more paranoid moments (which as an author, are often), I've begun to take this lack of notice as a personal slight, because I now know several local authors who have not only gotten reviewed, but have gotten the much-coveted starred review. I've also met a few people who work for Publisher's Weekly, and despite what they say, just KNOWING these people has got me exactly nada.

Thus it comes as no surprise to me that MANY BLOODY RETURNS has been reviewed by PW, but with absolutely no mention of _me._

SF/Fantasy/Horror
Many Bloody Returns Edited by
Charlaine Harris and
Toni L.P. Kelner. Ace, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 978-0-441-01522-1

This patchwork anthology of 13 new vampire stories proves that heavyweight contributors can give some substance to a relatively slight theme. Harris (the Sookie Stackhouse novels), Kelner (the Laura Fleming mysteries) and 11 other writers with serious vamp credentials craft stories around the concept of birthdays for bloodsuckers. Most of the tales only blow out candles in passing, as with P.N. Elrod's “Grave-Robbed,” which mixes pathos and comedy as vampire PI Jack Fleming busts a phony medium mid-séance, and Tanya Huff's “Blood Wrapped,” in which Henry Fitzroy's search for the ideal gift for a vampire's 40th mixes with his pursuit of a human kidnapper. Christopher Golden takes birthdays to heart in his poignant coming-of-age story, “The Mournful Cry of Owls,” while Kelley Armstrong proposes in “Twilight” that a vampire's real birthday is the date of transformation from mortal to immortal. Fans of the many series vampires on parade here will be undeterred by the variable quality of their adventures. (Sept.)

And, of course, there's that absolutely brilliant story by Tate Hallaway called "Fire and Ice and Linguine for Two." How could you miss that gem, PW? How?

The Blank, Mournful Stare of Horror Films

When did Hollywood horror film characters get reduced to the blank, mournful stare?

Last night, Shawn and I watched part of The Return with Buffy, er, Sarah Michelle Geller. We probably only got about half way into the film before I started to fall asleep. Okay, yes, I was tired, having stayed up until 2:00 am on Monday stargazing with a friend, but the silent, blank, mournful gazes that everyone was casting didn't help.

When did the baleful stare replace characterization in horror films?

I know that it's supposed to be MOODY, having everyone stare deeply into the eye of the camera, but you know what Mr. Asif Kapadia, Director Guy? It's dull! Dull, dull, dull, dull as Mason would say. When scary bits start popping up, all I could think was, "Well, thank god something is happening" not, "Oh, my god, I hope nothing terrible happens to this character I like."

The whole deep, broody stare is a trend I see a lot of in horror films. I'm not saying it can't be done effectively, but I find it better used AFTER a character has been established. You know when you find someone who has previously been engaging and normal and suddenly they're all broody and dark.... well, done right, that can be spooky.

/ Rant

Quick Link/OT

This isn't the sort of thing I usually post here, but I thought some readers might be as fascinated as I am by this...

http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html

The link will take you to an essay called "Viewing American Class Divisions Through Facebook and MySpace." I have to confess that I'm far too old for either MySpace or Facebook, but I found this discussion really interesting, particularly what the army has done in regards to MySpace (it's apparently banned, while Facebook is not. Rank and file soldiers were using MySpace, while officers used Facebook.)

The author talks a lot about how difficult class is to talk about in America, and I think s/he has a valid point, but I'm glad s/he tries anyway. That's why, even though they tend to over simplify the issues, I really appreciate when shows like Battlestar Galatica have their "very special episode" about labor/working class issues.

Book Promotion, A Poll

Mindy Klasky, a fellow SF/F/Romance writer, is running a poll on her LiveJournal about book promotion as part of an on-going discussion a number of SF/F authors are having about what makes people pick up a book. If you have an LJ account, please consider filling out her poll. The more people answer, a better sense we'll have of "the truth."

http://mindyklasky.livejournal.com/103432.html

Thanks.

New Proposals in the Works

I just thought I'd share... I'm currently working on two new book proposals for my editor at Berkley. They would be Garnet Lacey Book #4 (currently titled: DEAD IF I DO) and #5 (currently titled: HONEYMOON OF THE DEAD). Can you guess what might be happening in those books???

In other news, it's hot here. I know, I know, not hot like Texas or Egypt or Peru, but it's hot for Minnesota. I like days that don't exceed 75 F, what can I say? Mason and I had to go to Minnehaha Creek to splash around and cool down today.

Hope the rest of you are doing well and staying cool.

New Review of Dead Sexy

I came back from Indiana to a nice e-mail informing me of a new review of Dead Sexy at Kwips and Kritiques by Joyce. Here's a excerpt of some of the nicest bits:

What I love about Garnet is her perseverance and her unpredictable nature. She usually gives everything a try even if she knows it could backfire. If it wasn’t for her misfortune at times these novels wouldn’t be as addicting as they are. Garnets life is spiced up through her involvement with two utterly delectable vampire beaus, and her indecisive nature on which is the best fit is for her life. She isn’t the only person that would have to live with her choice, and the Goddess within will not let her forget it.

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.