I’ve always read a metric crapton of romance growing up, and when it began to mix with urban fantasy, I kind of felt like that was my calling. I’d written a few really bad epic fantasies (books that we shall never speak of again!) that had not turned out well, and when it came time to write a new project, I decided to go with fantasy…but in a modern setting. Alas, that book sucked too. But the NEXT one was good. ;)
In all seriousness, there’s just something so very fun to me about mixing the supernatural with the mundane. That your local Starbucks could be inhabited by werewolves and your hairdresser might be a vampire – or a goddess. I love that. It takes the humdrum out of daily life. As a writer, I really love the paranormal because it’s kind of like fantasy shorthand for an audience that doesn’t normally read (or like) swashbuckling elves and dwarves and crazy stuff like that. But throwing a few vampires into the big city allows people to explore the fun of a fantasy setting by framing it with familiar things, if that makes sense.
Who was your biggest inspiration?
My mom! When I was a kid, I ran across about 75 loose-leaf pages of a story – a man that had a gigantic St. Bernard dog as his bond animal, and it was set in a post-apocalyptic Earth (mental note – steal mom’s story idea, because it still sounds awesome). She’d never finished it — I think the typewriter broke and she just never got back to it. My mom is a huge reader and so smart that I kind of felt like if I could get a book published, it would be for both of us!
Three favorite authors/books?
Julie Garwood – The Secret
Meljean Brook – Demon Bound
Laura Ingalls Wilder – These Happy Golden Years
What does your family think about you being an author?
They are WAY more excited than I am – my parents went and had t-shirts and mugs made of my cover art, and passed out bookmarks at the local Wal-Mart. I love that.
Are you a do-it-yourself-er or did you have a writer’s group or beta readers pushing and helping you to pursue publication?
I have bounced in and out of multiple crit groups over the years, but I’m still in touch with almost all of them. If something’s not working, it’s awesome to have other people to bounce ideas/pages off of, even if it’s just tossing a paragraph to your friend and saying “Does this sound as stupid as I think it does?” Friends don’t let friends write crap.
What did you have to do to get published? Any specific obstacles or windfalls you want to share?
I wrote 4 books that sucked before I wrote a decent one! Don’t do that. ;) I’m still a little bitter over it. Seriously though – I wrote three novels that stank, and then one that didn’t stink as much as the last three, and then one that didn’t stink at all. I started querying WAY early, too. I remember querying the LUNA line back when it first opened and prepping a package (my big fat fantasy) and sending a regular size SASE with my ginormous proposal and chapters. Heck, I wouldn’t need them to send it back because they’d want to buy it, right? So why waste my money on all that postage?
Seriously – don’t be me. I was a douche. It was sent back, quite unceremoniously, and covered in coffee rings.
Anyhoo, many many moons (and a few books) later, I started querying novel #5 and it got agent interest almost immediately. I knew no one, had no connections, just determination and a willingness to revise.
What can you tell us about your latest work?
That they are AWESOME. I’m kidding. (No, I’m not. They ARE awesome. I’m just not supposed to say that.)
The Succubus Diaries are kind of like…urban fantasy meets HBO. There’s lots of sex, dirty jokes, and vampires. Curb Your Enthusiasm Meets Dogma Meets True Blood (Oh god, I’ve scared you all away now, haven’t I?) The books follow the story of Jackie Brighton, a normal, boring museum docent who gets turned into a succubus overnight and basically finds out she’s been flagged as an unofficial errand girl for the Heavenly and not-so-Heavenly hosts. Oh, and there are two hot guys in the series.
Here’s the blurb from book 1:
Who knew an angel could get a girl in so much devilish trouble?
Jackie Brighton woke up in a dumpster this morning, and her day has only gotten weirder. Her breasts grew overnight, her sex drive is insatiable, and apparently she had her first one-night stand ever . . . with a fallen angel.
Of course, she only remembers gorgeous Noah’s enormous, er, package. And their steamy shower sex. Hmm . . . and the dark stranger whose bite transformed her into an immortal siren with a seductive Itch.
With help from Noah and fellow succubus Remy Summore, Jackie adapts to her new lifestyle—until she accidentally strikes a deal that sends her lover into the deadly clutches of the vampire queen and lands Jackie, Remy, and the queen’s wickedly hot right-hand man into the middle of a fierce battle for an ancient halo.
But how’s a girl supposed to save the world when the enemy’s so hard to resist?
In a nutshell – dark, fun, sexy paranormal.
Your heroine, Jackie, really cracks me up. Waking up in a dumpster was the start to some very off the wall adventures. What prompted you to take such a bookish, unassuming docent (aka, museum tour guide) and turn her into a succubus? As we don’t really know the Jackie of “before”, could you tell us a little (more) about how she stumbled across a smokin’ hot serim like Noah and a très sexy vampire like Zane? Did I detect a hint dropped by Zane that he knew her prior to the “dumpster incident”…?
I was really attracted (writer-wise) to the thought of this terribly nerdy, not-too-great-with-people woman and what would happen if she woke up one day and was turned into Superbabe. All her life she’d prized herself on her brains and now everyone talks to her boobs – I thought it would be a major adjustment for her, and I liked the thought of making her seem like a total Mary Sue and then piling all this garbage on her to the point that she’s almost an anti-Sue. She screws stuff up more than she saves the day, and while her new life has some perks, I don’t think anyone would want to trade places with her in the long run.
And I did totally drop some sly hints about Jackie and Zane. Wasn’t that bad of me? *bats eyes* There’s a lot of stuff explained in book 3 and I wrote a short ‘prologue’ to the first book that my editor has, and it tells the tale of that fateful night that she gets turned. It’ll show up on the internet eventually.
Love, love, love your world-building! What do you feel was the catalyst or inspiration for having vampires and serim both having origins as fallen angels?
Oh, thank you! Um, it was kind of random. I wanted to write about fallen angels and I knew I needed an interesting foil for them. So I kept thinking about the angels and how they’d hang out on earth — how they’d cope with being here century after century after century…and how it would affect them. Would it make them crazy? Was there anything they wanted bad enough to bargain with the bad guys? The rest kind of wrote itself.
One thing I truly enjoyed about your work is that your supernaturals live alongside humans, interacting with them, but basically hiding in plain sight. Does this mean we’re going to see other supernatural critters (imps, gargoyles, gremlins, goblins, dragons, whatever) in the future? And, if so, how do they fit in to the Big Picture?
In book 2, we play with voodoo a little (a religion that deals with magic in a series that deals with another religion? seemed natural) and hint at other magics like curses and such. There are other supernaturals in the world that Jackie hasn’t met yet, but they are all tied in with the same basic Heaven/Hell/Fallen mythos, so you won’t see goblins or dragons. But there’s so much to play with already that I don’t feel lacking!
It is clear that you use a somewhat Christian-belief oriented system for your stories, in that you have creatures such as demons and angels (and variations thereof) as an active part of the supernatural community. For example, in your first book, GENTLEMEN PREFER SUCCUBI, you show that angels are incorporeal on this plane but can make appearances in churches and on other hallowed ground. (Very nice touch, by the way!) What kind of research did you have to do to fit your mythos in with older cultures (particularly with multi-God pantheons), such as with the Ancient Egyptians in SUCCUBI LIKE IT HOT?
I’ve always been a history dork, and I figured that if I could write about ANYTHING I wanted, I was going to write about Ancient Egypt and pyramids and missing tombs and all that good stuff.
I think if you dig enough with any research, you can find pieces that fit the particular puzzle you’re working on. For book 1, I wanted a really old culture and Egypt fit perfectly. Once you find the perfect answer, your brain starts fitting all these tidbits you’ve saved up mentally. I tore bits from everywhere to make them fit my mythology, and there were still moments that I was surprised at how well it all fit together.
Despite the serious nature of the issues Jackie runs into, you keep a humorous edge to your work. Will Jackie continue to find the funny in future Succubus Diaries stories? I detect a serious bent when the big C word (commitment!) gets bandied about in the snippet provided at the end of SUCCUBI LIKE IT HOT. What’s coming around the bend in your third book?
I hope so! I’m not an overly serious person myself, and you have to admit that if Jackie’s situation isn’t humorous, it’s just kind of absurd. So it will stay tongue-in-cheek and funny, but never to the point of ridiculousness (at least I hope). And as long as Jackie continues to hang out with Remy, nothing will ever be completely serious. I just turned in book 3 and I’m really happy with it and how it balances what I wanted in the story and the plot itself.
This one is more for me – I hear you’re a huge McCaffrey fan! Can we say, DRAGONSONG / DRAGONSINGER FTW? *g* What’s your favorite McCaffrey book?
My favorite McCaffreys are the ones that deal with planet exploration and people landing in a strange place/time trying to make the best of it. So I loved CRYSTAL SINGER and DRAGONSDAWN (the one where they colonized Pern) and DINOSAUR PLANET. Everyone laughs when I say DINOSAUR PLANET but it’s true! It combines two of my loves – space exploration and um, dinosaurs.
Now, for my favorite part of the interview! Everything You Never Expected Me To Ask. Strangest thing we don’t know about you?
I was born missing a small part of my right ear. Trufax.
Have you ever eaten at a Waffle House? ….more than once?
Yes. And yes. In college, I had friends that had cast-iron stomachs. I’ve avoided it for a while now, though. ;)
What is your one true regret?
Not finishing college. I think I would have liked to have been an editor. Not kidding.
Han Solo or Indiana Jones?
CURSE YOU. I think this just made my brain explode. How can I possibly choose? All right, all right, I pick Indy…but he has to wear Han’s belt.
Lastly, anything you’d like to pimp to the readers (such as an existing/upcoming book or short story, graphic novel, tv show, movie deal, etc)?
Oh! Yes! I have a book trailer that was made for me by my awesome husband — it’s kind of like an illustrated diary (get it, succubus diary? har de har) and I love it. I’m constantly shoving it under people’s noses.
There you have it, folks! We’ll be exploring the intricacies of inter-office stapler politics with another author or artist in the near future, so check back soon.
Welcome back to Meet The Artist! This time around, Brad Fraunfelter has answered the call to answer my wacked out — err, highly enlightening interview questions!
I’d have to say digital. A few years ago I never thought I would say that. I loved to paint in oil on canvas, and the thought of painting in digital – well I didn’t think that a computer program could ever match the real thing. But, there are programs now which can mimic the effects of real bristle brushes interacting with paint – its quite amazing.
I guess the ease and speed of working on the computer is what makes the difference. You don’t have to spend time mixing colors or cleaning brushes. These things can be done on the computer with the click of a mouse. One thing I’ve learned with the Illustration trade is that there are often tight deadlines, so speed can be important for an artist.
Who was your biggest inspiration?
Frank Frazetta – no question about it! In my own opinion I don’t think anyone has ever really matched him to this day. His use of color and sense of vigor and action in his paintings was astonishing; that along with his complete mastery of the human figure. I used to buy all of his art books, and spent alot of time studying them. I still don’t know how he did what he did.
Three favorite artists/pieces of art?
Three of my current favorites are: a) Ryan Church, b) Neville Page, and c) Donatto Giancola. Their work never ceases to amaze me. Ryan Church for his concept art for Star Wars, and Neville Page for his creature designs for Avatar.
What did you have to do to get your artwork featured (either by gallery, on a book cover, in a magazine, etc)? Any specific obstacles or windfalls you want to share?
I wanted to find an outlet for my work, so I started looking for Science Fiction magazines in book stores that had similar content to what I was painting. I found a digital art mag that featured fantasy art, and luckily there was a “reader Expose” section in the magazine that aspiring artists could submit to. I e-mailed to them two of my best pieces at that time, and amazingly enough they responded and said that they would publish my work in an upcoming issue. This was last November’s issue of IMAGINE FX magazine.
What can you tell us about your latest work?
My latest work – finished about a week ago is titled “Sea Creature”.
It was done purely for fun. A few months ago I was looking back at some of the simple monster sketches I had done as a kid, and I came across a very simple outline drawing of a sea monster – sort of half frog, half fish – swimming through the water. I thought it could make a nice painting and I made an off the cuff decision to paint it.
I see you’ve done both speculative artwork of a fantastical nature, as well as photography. Let’s take up the photography first – what do you usually focus on for your subjects? Any particular things you like to take pictures of more than others?
I’ll shoot almost anything that inspires me. Most of the time it happens to be landscapes or possibly architecture, but anything beautiful that captures my attention is game. It could be the reflections and curves in the painted metal of a classic automobile.
I love to hike and I often backpack a camera with me. Some of the skys and mountains right in my hometown of Glendale have been the reference material I have used in the backgrounds of some of my illustrations. The “Guardians of Ecthelion” is one example where I used a photo of the LA skyline and clouds as the model to create the futuristic city in this painting. Just a week ago I was walking to work and the snow capped peaks of the mountains and mist in the distance caught my eye gave me the inspiration for one of the current pieces I have begun work on.
I find that the early morning hours and twilight create the most beautiful lighting conditions, so that is usually when I am out with my camera.
My study of photography has taught me a lot about light and shadow and that’s invaluable for any artist.
For your digital artwork – I’ve seen both sci-fi and fantasy pieces. Which do you like more? (Lovin’ that white dragon, by the way!)
Thank you! There is not one nor the other which I favor more, but I am inclining more towards fantasy themes nowadays.
When I first began painting fictional subjects I was very much into Sci-Fi. Movies like Star Wars had just come out, I was influenced a great deal by films depicting Space Opera.
On your digital pieces, do you usually sketch an understructure? Use any particular models?
That’s an interesting question! I almost always like to start out with sketches. They help to work out the details, composition, etc, so that everything looks right before I get into the color work. Often times there will be elements in the painting that need to be designed such as clothing, vehicles or weaponry that a character is using, and for me sketching helps to do that. Then I will scan the sketch or sketches into the computer and use that as a base image to work over.
Any models that I use? Well, my very next project is to paint a scene of two dinosaurs battling it out, and my goal is to make this very realistic – almost like a photograph. For this kind of realism you’ve got to use a 3D modeling program (such as the ones used in film-making) or take photos and use them in the painting. For this illustration project I am going to model the two dinosaurs in clay and then photograph them using studio lighting to simulate natural lighting conditions. Then I will use those photos to work from. I don’t normally work this way, but for this particular project I think it will work best.
Most of the time I do use photos as reference material, particularly when I am not sure how to paint something.
What is your favorite piece of your own art?
I like the “Guardians of Ecthelion” finished in March 2009.
It is what I consider to be my first real “mature” painting. I look back on everything I had done before this point and it looks more or less OK but not great. This was also the first painting that I did exclusively digitally. I was pretty satisfied with the way it came out.
What would you most like to achieve with your artwork? Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Five years from now well I’m not really sure, but I usually set my goals each year to be pretty high. I would like to improve my skills and training to a much more professional level – a level that compares with some of the top concept arts in the film industry. When I look at the quality of their work in comparison with mine it’s a pretty humbling experience. I would also like to be doing what I love full time, and yet be earning a steady income that would support myself and my wife, and still give us alittle extra.
Now, for my favorite part of the interview! Everything You Never Expected Me To Ask. Best / worst movie(s) you have ever seen?
Best: Ben Hur, and 2001: A Space Odyssey
Worst: I don’t know. If it was THAT bad, then I would have forgotten it anyway.
Best time of the year and/or favorite holiday?
Winter, and Christmas time. There is still something magical about it. New fallen snow is beautiful – if you can just look at it and not have to drive in it.
Best way to start your morning?
Best way to start my morning would be with a 5:00am hike and some awesome scenery.
Lastly, anything you’d like to pimp to the readers (such as an existing/upcoming gallery showing, artwork featured elsewhere, book covers, etc)?
I’ve got nearly a dozen illustrations in the works for this year that are still in the developmental stage. I will be putting them on my website and releasing them on the web as soon as they are done. Also I’ve just added a new “Technique” category to my web gallery, which shows the stages of progress of two of my very recent works, for anyone that may be interested.
There you have it, folks! We’ll be exploring the intricacies of inter-office stapler politics with another author or artist in the near future, so check back soon.
Okay. I have a confession. It’s just a little one. No big deal, right?
I…
Wow. Deep breath.
Okay. I… reallylikecheesymonstermovies. *hides her face behind her hands*
I know. I know! It’s a crime against man. Horrible, right? I mean, who besides me could really sit through something like Ghoulies and Ghoulies II – more than once? (“Have you seen my Muffy?” “I thought everyone’s seen your muffy.” *gigglesnort*)
That’s not to say I won’t go for the classier monster movies. I’ll just as happily watch Interview with the Vampire or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as I will Leprechaun 4: In Space. The MST3K of Manos: Hands of Fate (yes, you bilingual types are reading that right – “Hands: Hands of Fate”) is one of my favorite craptacular movies. Better when watched with friends to join along the MST3K goodness but, either way, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable, brain-melting, cinematic experience.
I can’t stay away from the stuff. It’s like chocolate. Or coffee. Just one more round of Critters! Noooo, please let me finish Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood! I promise I’ll only watch Demon Knight one more time (this week)! Please!!
Today, ladies and gentleman, we have a new feature on the blog! I’ll be periodically doing interviews of authors and artists. In the future, you’ll be getting the inside scoop from Jill Myles, C.T. Adams, Stacia Kane, Brad Fraunfelter, and more! The schedule of these upcoming interviews? Who knows!
For now, my thanks to the incomparably awesome Kelly Meding, author of the Dreg City Series, for agreeing to swing by and allow me to interview her here today. Let’s get this party started!
Everything about it draws me to it. I was raised on horror, from movies with such titles as “Slaughter High,” to R.L. Stine books. One of the inescapable tropes of horror is the female victim/hero. She’s always there, but until the mid-nineties, she was a played-out stereotype (and made fun of perfectly in Wes Craven’s “Scream”). My first introduction to the strong, kick-ass heroine was Buffy Summers (thank you, Joss Whedon!) on “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.” We finally had a teenage girl who acted like a teenage girl, and who could still kick a demon’s ass from here to Sunday. I loved it!
But urban fantasy as a book genre hadn’t quite explored yet, and I didn’t discover it until late 2006/early 2007 (*hangs head in shame*). Once I did, though, I began devouring books. It felt like someone had invented a genre just for me. As I read and absorbed what was out there, I began developing my own ideas. And the genre is constantly expanding to accommodate more and more supernatural creatures, and a great variety of heroes/heroines and anti-heroes/anti-heroines. It’s always in flux, and it’s a great genre to be a part of.
Who was your biggest inspiration?
I don’t really have an inspiration in the writing world, persay. Does my huge crush of Joss Whedon’s brilliant mind count? *grin* I admire anyone who can write a book that I can’t put down, anyone who can draw me into their story and keep me there until I finish the last page. If I’m truly inspired by anyone, it’s those writers who don’t give up no matter how many rejections they receive. Not everyone writes and sells their first book, and it’s hard to take rejection after rejection, year after year. Knowing I wasn’t the only author who didn’t sell their first project helped keep me going (THREE DAYS TO DEAD was my seventh novel), and I hope that letting others know it can take several books helps others get through it, too.
Three favorite authors/books?
My absolute favorite novel is WATERSHIP DOWN, by Richard Adams. It’s been my favorite since I discovered it in seventh grade. Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read a good chunk of his work, and so far I love most of it. He has such a unique, creative mind and can spin amazing tales in so many genres. Also Joss Whedon, for the same reasons—he may write scripts instead of novels, but he has created a phenomenon with the Buffy-verse and “Firefly” is one of the best things ever put on television. His shows are examples of storytelling at its finest.
What does your family think about you being an author?
The vast majority of my family members love it. I’ve been writing for so long, and it was amazing to see all that hard work finally bear fruit. My immediate family is super-supportive. My dad is like a one-man publicity machine and tells everyone about my book. There are, of course, a few family members who object to my chosen genre (vampires, shifters, and trolls, Oh My!) for their own “moral” reasons, but that’s okay. I’m happy where I am and I have support where I need it most.
Are you a do-it-yourself-er or did you have a writer’s group or beta readers pushing and helping you to pursue publication?
The choice to pursue publication was my own, although the confidence to do so came from a few well-placed compliments from college professors and friends. I do have three amazing betas who have helped me on several projects, and I can’t imagine doing this without them. So I suppose I’m somewhere in between.
What did you have to do to get published? Any specific obstacles or windfalls you want to share?
Well, first I had to write six other novels. Hehe. It was all part of my learning process, I think, and of finding my niche. While almost everything I write has some sort of supernatural bent, THREE DAYS TO DEAD was my first actual urban fantasy novel. But I don’t think I could have written it without having written those other novels first. I don’t want to call them practice novels, exactly, but even my agent commented once on the difference between an older manuscript and what I’m writing now. Improving is part of the craft.
But I went about publication the traditional way—I queried agents, signed with one, and went out on submission to publishers. While the agent-to-deal process happened very quickly (about three months total), it was a result of years of querying other projects and learning with each one. Even an “overnight success” can be years in the making.
What can you tell us about your latest work?
The second book in the Dreg City series, AS LIE THE DEAD, releases July 27 from Dell.
It picks up where the first book leaves off, and Evy Stone is once again on a tight deadline to both save a friend’s life and protect the last members of a nearly-extinct species. Plus bird-shifters, two large explosions, a shady lawyer, a magic diner, and a (literal) cat fight.
Your debut, THREE DAYS TO DEAD, was awesome. Evy is one kick-ass heroine, with a strong drive to help others (in other words, not as “me”-centric as some heroes/heroines I’ve seen). You write how she handles waking up in someone else’s body remarkably well. Who or what was the inspiration behind her personality?
Thank you! Evy was such a difficult character to find a balance for, because of the way her personality shifts from the girl you see in the flashbacks to the woman she is by the climax of the novel. She’s influenced not only by her old life and personality, but also by her new circumstances, her current choices, and by the new body she’s inhabiting.
I don’t know that I ever made a conscious decision about her personality; a lot of it developed as I wrote the book. You can’t be a Dreg Hunter without some strong desire to help others, because at the end of the day, that’s what the job boils down to—protecting humans from non-humans. It isn’t very different from what drives, say, a police officer or a doctor. It’s a desire to help. She just does it in a slightly more violent way. And it was a struggle to find that middle ground between a heroine who makes no apologies for indiscriminant killing and a heroine with enough heart to make her sympathetic. Even though her body is now older, Evy’s only twenty-two. She’s still maturing and learning, and in AS LIE THE DEAD, you see her continue to struggle between the warring sides of her personality—the trained killer versus the more open-minded defender.
There are a number of interesting world-building tidbits you threw into this story. For instance, your take on gargoyles as being somewhat neutral as to which side of the supernatural fence they’re on, the different types of vampires (and the hints as to their hierarchies), etc. What do you feel was the most difficult aspect of this to portray?
Finding a good balance between information gathering and info-dumping was pretty difficult. Early on, I made the decision that this was going to be my “kitchen sink” book. I wanted a variety of creatures and I wanted to use some of the lesser-known supernaturals (goblins, gremlins, gargoyles, etc…), as well as try something unique with the better knowns (vamps, shifters), and I wanted the different races to have their own internal and external hierarchies in the city. Goblins are the bottom-feeders, Halfies are the roving street gangs, vampires are the mobsters, etc… . I needed to have enough information on these various species to keep the reader clued in, without bashing them over the head with it. Based on feedback, I think I did the best I could—some folks follow fine, others have commented on being overwhelmed/confused.
Researching was a lot of fun, as was picking and choosing the traits I wanted to use. And even though some species, such as gargoyles, choose to remain neutral, they are all divided between the Light Races and the Dark Races in my little Story Binder. And it may surprise you, in the future, who is really on which side
How do you keep track of who is backstabbing who and how Supernatural Critter A has an alliance/feud with Supernatural Critter B, C, and D? Are you a plotter (charts, diagrams, a synopsis or outline, Excel spreadsheets, etc, etc), or does it just come straight from your head down on paper?
When it comes to actually writing the book, I’m very much a pantser. I’ve tried outlining in the past, but end up discarding or rewriting the thing about halfway through. I do, however, have this wonderful thing I mentioned above called a Story Binder, where I keep track of those little details. I have sections for the different races—who’s cousin to who, who hates who, traits and physical descriptions, and major players. I did a lot of this planning ahead of time, but a good bit accumulated as I wrote.
For instance, the choice to make vampires a completely separate species and not even remotely human, was a decision from the get-go, before I wrote a word. However, making vampires and gargoyles cousin races occurred on the page—I didn’t know it until I wrote it. I have the Binder to reference if I think I’m contradicting myself, and new tidbits go in whenever I discover them.
Will you be exploring more about Evy’s background in your next book, AS LIE THE DEAD (coming July 2010 from Dell)? Totally aside, but I’d love to learn more about the Triads and her relationship with her Handler, Wyatt, before the circumstances that put Evy in Chalice’s body!
All of the above! AS LIE THE DEAD will answer a lot of questions folks have, especially about Wyatt and the history of the Triads. I hope some of the revelations help readers understand Wyatt a little more. He’s such a wonderfully polarizing character. Some readers love him, and some just don’t trust him. I don’t know if book two will help or hurt his case, but it will definitely shed light on his motivations. Evy’s personal history comes into play, as well—not only with Wyatt, but also her work with Jesse and Ash. And you get to see another Triad in action—Handler Gina Kismet and her boys have become some of my favorite secondary characters in this universe. I’m so excited for you guys to get your hands on this book!
Now, for my favorite part of the interview! Everything You Never Expected Me To Ask. Favorite Saturday morning cartoon?
Since “Saved by the Bell” isn’t technically a cartoon, I’ll have to go with a childhood favorite—”The Care Bears.”
Haagen Daaz or Ben & Jerry’s?
Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, please! *drool*
MST3K or do-it-yourself (with friends, of course)?
Do-it-myself-with-best-friend! I think one of our best beer-fueled MST3K was for “Twilight.” We should have video-taped ourselves.
Double-decaf soy non-fat zebra latte no foam or coffee?
Decaf? Ew! Give me plain coffee over decaf/soy anything.
Thanks for putting up with my wacky side. *g* Lastly, anything you’d like to pimp to the readers (such as an existing/upcoming book or short story, graphic novel, TV show, movie deal, etc?
We’ve both pimped AS LIE THE DEAD, July 27th, 2010. At the moment, that’s all I have in the pipeline, but this is a crazy business. Things change at the drop of a hat, and I have my fingers crossed for the future of Dreg City, as well as a few other projects.
__________________________________
There you have it, folks! We’ll be exploring the intricacies of inter-office stapler politics with another author or artist in the near future, so check back soon.
I’m quite pleased with this, let me tell ya. To save you some clicking, here it is in all its glory:
First of all, I’m excited that I got a pre-release copy of Hunted by the Others. That said, it was a great book! A fun and feisty vampire novel that reminded me of a kick-butt Sookie Stackhouse mystery, if Sookie was from New York and didn’t take crap from anybody. All in all, I loved it! Can’t wait for the next one!
Thank you, Julia! (Looking forward to that expanded review on your blog. *brow waggle*)
All right, guys. Here’s the deal — Mark Henry, author of the Amanda Feral books (who also gave me an absolutely fabulous blurb — thank you!!) — needs our help.
You guys love zombie mayhem and twisted humor as much as I do, right? Right. So help a fellow author out, and buy his books from a retailer — not a used book store. This will help push his sales figures up enough that his publisher will sign him up for more in the series. In fact, he recommends you purchase his stuff from the University Bookstore in Seattle.
Mark is a new author to me, but I don’t want to see this series nipped in the bud. Help the guy out, ‘kay? Spread the word. Blog it, Twitter it, Facebook it — just get the word out. You can click here to see where to buy his books, and what brought this on.
(Thank you, Sidhe Vicious, for being the first to bring this to my attention! Blog on…)
However, I’d like to point out that there was still a great deal of originality to this story. Mostly along the lines of the creatures and equipment being used and how these came into play rather than the story arc.
Let me explain. James Cameron had been working on this film for years, putting together a whole new world with different flora, fauna, races, languages, religious beliefs, etc. Most everything you’ll see there is something new, or old with a new twist. (*cough* Six-legged Gorean panthers, anyone? Wait, I don’t know anything about Gor! *innocent look*)
vs. (Strange New Alien from Pandora, or Strange New Alien from Gor circa late-1960’s? You decide!)
The basic story is that a company wants to mine a rare, expensive element called “unobtanium” (please save your groans for later, folks) on the moon Pandora. They are being thwarted by the natives, a species of sentient humanoid aliens called Na’vi. To counter the natives, the company develops a scientific approach of cloning some of the Na’vi and mixing them with human DNA. The miracles of science enable the human scientists on board to link their minds with these “avatar” bodies and interact with and study the locals.
Our hero, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is chosen to command an avatar when his twin brother is killed. The trouble with this is that Jake is a paraplegic former marine with no scientific training to speak of. The lead scientist, Doctor Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), takes umbrage at the thought that Jake could possibly replace his highly trained twin on the project.
Yet, Jake excels at this, and soon finds himself a place as a trusted member of the Na’vi society, helped along by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a female Na’vi. His allegiance to the company and fellow humans is gradually stripped away as his love for Neytiri and the Na’vi people grows. Soon, he is forced to make a choice – assist the Na’vi to defend against the destruction of the natural beauty of Pandora, or help the company reach their goal of displacing the Na’vi from their sacred grounds and homes so they can reach the unobtanium beneath the village.
It’s very true you can compare this plot to Pocahontas, Dances With Wolves, Fern Gully, whatever, and find more than a few similarities. Sure, the whole font thing was a cop-out. And, yes, I even detected some re-hashed Jurassic Park sound effects in the film.
However, that doesn’t make it a bad movie, or a bad story. It’s visually stunning, the music (courtesy of composer James Horner) is lovely, the plot gripping, and the message refreshingly clear and “clean”. It’s thoroughly enjoyable if you just watch the movie for the sake of entertainment rather than listening to the gripes about what’s wrong with it. Personally, I think its (fairly unobtrusive) message of peace, anti-war, and respect for the environment and others’ beliefs is something to get behind, rather than bitch about.
Plus, the helicopter-lizard things were freaking adorable. C’mon, people who’ve seen it, you know what I’m talking about. Don’t you just want to take one home with you?!
Of course, you can also make “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar” jokes ‘til the cows come home, but it doesn’t detract from the beauty of this film. I’d watch it again anytime.
While this is aimed specifically at Los Angeles drivers, it can apply anywhere you’ll find a freeway:
The left lane is the FAST LANE. People who drive FAST are supposed to use that lane. NOT people doing 55 in a 65 zone with nobody in front of them for a mile and a half. Also, cutting off someone going faster than you — particularly when no one was in front of you in the lane you started out in? Not cool. Especially when you do it twice in a row. ‘Kay?
Love,
-J
P.S. To assist you in future driving endeavors, here is an amusing list of tips I found on how to tell which state a driver is from:
HOW TO TELL WHERE A DRIVER IS FROM
1. One hand on wheel, one hand on horn: CHICAGO
2. One hand on wheel, one finger out window: NEW YORK
3. One hand on wheel, one finger out window, cutting across all lanes of traffic: NEW JERSEY
4. One hand on wheel, one hand on newspaper, foot solidly on accelerator: BOSTON
5. One hand on wheel, one hand on non-fat double decaf cappuccino, cradling cell phone, brick on accelerator, gun in lap: LOS ANGELES
6. Both hands on wheel, eyes shut, both feet on brake, quivering in terror: OHIO, but driving in CALIFORNIA
7. Waving at everyone that you pass, eating a moon pie, sipping an RC, smiling and chewing and talking to yourself. TENNESSEE
8. One hand on 12 oZ double shot latte, one knee on wheel, cradling cell phone, foot on brake, mind on radio game, banging head on steering wheel while stuck in traffic: SEATTLE (Wait, isn’t that what people are doing on the 405 in LA?)
9. One hand on wheel, one hand on hunting rifle, alternating between both feet being on the accelerator and both feet on brake, throwing McDonald’s bag out the window: TEXAS
10. Four-wheel drive pick-up truck, shotgun mounted in rear window, beer cans on floor, squirrel tails attached to antenna: ALABAMA
11. Two hands gripping wheel, blue hair barely visible above windshield, driving 35 on the Interstate in the left lane with the left blinker on: FLORIDA (and, I have discovered, occasionally CALIFORNIA)
12. Knee up against steering wheel, one hand on Tim Horton’s coffee cup, cell phone in ear, accelerator to the floor, applying makeup/doing crossword puzzle/reading morning Free Press, knocking down orange barrels, changing lanes without turn signals: MICHIGAN
Well, the holidays have given me a chance to catch up with everything! I hope everyone else had a great Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Solstice, New Year’s, [insert holiday of choice here], etc.
The first draft of the novella is DONE! I’m rushing headlong through edits. Which is just as death-defying and wacky as it sounds. No, seriously.
I’m always reading something, too. Over Christmas weekend, I finished the treat-like item won in The Rejectionist’s contest from a while back: A LONG, LONG TIME AGO AND ESSENTIALLY TRUE by Brigid Pasulka. I did a review on Goodreads. This is a book to be read and savored. Not my usual cup of tea, but a delightful read. It was refreshing to immerse myself in something other than SFF, horror or romance for a while.
Right now, I’m working on THREE DAYS TO DEAD by fellow AWer, Kelly Meding. I’m a little over the halfway point and am loving what I’ve read so far. I’ll give a detailed review after I’ve finished.
Speaking of reviews, I’ve been working on contacting book reviewers, and have sent out the first batch of advance reader copies of HUNTED BY THE OTHERS. Keep an eye out for reviews of the book (and some interviews I’ll be giving!) on these sites:
On the cooking front, I made some baked apples for dessert on New Year’s. They are delightfully tasty, and very simple/easy to make. Here’s the recipe:
6-8 large green apples
¼ to ½ stick of butter
Brown sugar
Powdered cinnamon
Powdered nutmeg (if desired)
Preheat the oven at 350 degrees. Core the apples – no need to take off the skin – and put them on a baking sheet (suggest covering the baking sheet with tinfoil first to avoid a sticky clean-up job later). In the cored center of each apple, insert a pat of butter, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and dust the top until the sugar is covered with powdered cinnamon. Add a dash of nutmeg to taste.
Pour a small amount of water in the bottom of the baking sheet. The sugar will burn if you don’t add it, so this is important!
Let the apples bake uncovered at 350 for one hour. Best consumed when still warm!
Lastly, I’ve made the following New Year’s resolutions:
– Submit my novella on time.
– Finish writing book #3 in the H&W Investigations series.
– Submit book #3 on time.
– Write more short stories.
– Figure out if I want to write book #4 in the series, or something else — and write it.
There you go! Feel free to share your own resolutions and thoughts in the comments.
