CE Murphy Talks To Us

It was hard, and she tried to talk me out of one of my precious blogging ideas–she didn’t succeed–but CE Murphy is here at last.

“Blogging is hard,” I said to May while I was trying to come up with a topic for today’s guest blog. “Let’s go shopping!”

Inevitably, this led to a discussion of shoes. This is inevitable only because I accidentally turned May on to Duo Boots last year, and while I am not *generally* weak in the face of shoes, I turn out to be very weak in the face of boots that will fit my sturdy calves.

The truth is, actually, writing is hard, whether it’s blogging (me, I keep a journal, because blogging to my mind is more topical and focused than a journal) or writing books. It requires a certain discipline, ’cause at the end of the day nobody but you is making you do it.

That’s one of the hardest bits of being a professional writer. I took solitaire off my work computer (which is not hooked up to the internet) about six months ago, because when writing was hard going I
was spending hours and hours losing games instead of working my way through the hard bits. It’s soooo much easier to do anything other than write. Clean the kitchen, clean the kitty litter, go for a walk, aaaaanything at all.

But it has to be done. One way or another, if you want to be a professional writer, you must write. No way around that one, I’m afraid. You do whatever it takes to get yourself into the chair: word wars (a battle with someone else to see who can write the most words in 30 minutes!), a promise that you can quit “after 100 (or 200, or 300, or…) words”, a chocolate bar with your name on it (though you better put that at the end of a 3 mile walk, because writing is a sedentary job!), look at your looming deadlines, get up early, stay up late, write on the commute; a friend of mine says if you have time to watch TV, you have time to write. It’s a matter of making choices, and that’s more difficult than it seems. Even for me, who’s been writing full time for more than three years now, it’s not as easy as I think it should be. Many days I still have to drag myself to the keyboard to get any work done. I think that’s just part of any job, and has to be dealt with.

On the positive side, on days when the writing isn’t easy, I can always wear my knee-high, 3″ heel suede Duo Boots stilettos to work in, if I want.

CE Murphy is the author, most recently, of THE QUEEN’S BASTARD, in which she believes there is no mention at all of shoes. House of Cards was released in March, and the third book in the same series, Hands of Flame, will be released in September.

And the luck winner is…

Liz!

(I’m sorry this is waaaay late but I’ve not been online much lately.)

Liz, you’re getting an email, and I’ll be popping Iron Angel in the mail soon (well, I’m going to try very hard on the second part)!

Magic Sex Please

Now, you may not know this, but I, together with New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost, are campaigning for Kate and Curran porn by book 4 of the Kate Daniels series, written by the fabulous Ilona Andrews.

Ilona’s looking for titles for book 3, which should be Magic ___________.

She said no to Magic Sex, so I guess she’ll just have to save that title for book 4, but in the meantime, we need Book 3, so head on over and give book 3 a name–there’s a prize!

The Economics of Fiction

Via zornhau, Paul Krugman on the NYT Economics blog:

I’m startled at Brad DeLong’s ignorance: he thinks there’s something new about science fiction novels where the science in question is economics.

I’m honestly looking forward to the summer, because if nothing else, I’ll have to pick up on the economics blogs thing.

*eyes Google Reader mournfully*

Frog Princes

I’m not usually one for short stories, but I love this one.

Janni Lee Simner’s Frog Princes

I can’t wait for her YA novel to be out next year, and in fact, I’m so excited about it, I’ve already asked to interview her when it comes out.

A Reader Writer Contract

Sharon Lee, one-half of the couple who writes the Liaden Universe books (I’ve only read the first one, but I like!):

For instance, I, the Writer, do not agree to:
1) never kill off a beloved character
2) always provide a H(appy) E(ver) A(fter) ending
3) always write the same book
4) always write the same kind of book

You, the Reader, do not agree to:
#adore everything I write
#finish reading a book that doesn’t work for you
#buy a book in a genre you loathe, just because I wrote it

The rest of it is here.

I’ve nothing else to say except, “I agree! I agree! I agree!” Now back to the textbooks.

Alan Campbell: Iron Angel

In Iron Angel, the second book of the Deepgate Codex, we meet the other sons of the goddess Ayen, and we travel to the other side of the world.

It feels almost as though we’ve taken one big step backwards from Scar Night’s finer focus on Dill and Rachel, such that in Iron Angel, we look at the bigger picture, but without losing the pacing and certainly not the feel of being balanced on the knife edge of action.

It is by far a better book than Scar Night–which incidentally, I appear to have forgotten to review. It is less…rough, for lack of a better word. The story flows, rather than occasionally stopping and starting around passages of lovely description.

The worldbuilding is, again, amazing. It’s not only the level of detail, but also that the details given to you are just enough for you to draw your own pictures without dragging the book down, something I felt was an issue in Scar Night.

And all this is capped with what I consider to be an glorious ending. There will be people who will disagree with me, but I think it is a pitch-perfect ending for this book.

Iron Angel rates 4 out of 5.

(The publisher sent the book to me.)

I’m giving away a copy. I do think this book is that good. Comment to put your name in the draw.

6 Questions with Alan Campbell

1. On a scale of one to ten, rank your current level of insanity–where ten is belongs-in-lunatic-asylum insane–and tell us why.

One, because my deadline is still a few months away. And if I need reminded of the insanity of the rest of the world in the meantime, I can always switch on the TV.

2. You’re not really going to end Book Three with “Everyone dies after 80,000 words” right? Seriously though, do you think that there might be a Third Book syndrome that follows Second Book syndrome?

I don’t think my publishers would let me kill everyone off after 80,000 words. I haven’t heard of Third Book Syndrome, so… fingers crossed.

3. According to your bio, it says that you left game design to pursue a career in writing and photography. You’re a published writer now, so what happened to photography?

I still sell pictures to magazines and newspapers through a stock library, but I don’t concentrate on it full time now.

4. Do you think that SFF writers might be more political in general? Or are they just more vocal than other (fiction) writers about it?

SFF has a long tradition of exploring dystopian political structures, such as in George Orwell’s “1984″, Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” or Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451″. This type of fiction can act as a powerful metaphor for current events, or even as a warning. SFF is a perfectly-shaped hole for that particular peg. But are SFF writers in general any more political or vocal about politics than other writers? Certainly not, when compared to journalists. We’re more political than romantic fiction writers, I suppose. But that’s probably because Romance, as a genre, doesn’t really lend itself to hard political analysis (and nor should it).

5. Iron Angel and Penny Devil. Would you say that the differing titles for the US and UK markets refer to different facets of the book? If yes, how so?

The title “Penny Devil” has now been dropped. We all thought it would be a bit daft to have two different titles for the same book. It confused me, and I wrote the book. The titles refer to two different characters. “Iron Angel” will also refer to something subtle and clever, just as soon as I figure out what it is.

6. Having picked up the violin at a rather, umh, late age, how’s it coming along?

Late age? What do you mean late age?

Well, it’s coming along like a sick cat in surgery. It’s a very sick cat, and I don’t rate its odds too highly.

Alan Campbell’s current release is Iron Angel, coming soon to a bookstore near you.

Talking about Iron Angel, I’m giving away a copy. But just so you know, it’ll probably take awhile to get to you, since I can’t afford to ship it any faster. Just comment, and mention why you want it, and you’re in the draw!

Alan Campbell’s Interview up tomorrow!

Just to whet your appetites, check out this interview by Fantasy Book Critic of one of my favorite new victims authors.

I’m giving away a copy of his new book too, except that I can’t afford to ship this book anyway but slowly, so I’d recommend that you just buy it because it is that good. Scar Night was a big book too, so if you read really slowly, you could buy that and start on it whilst waiting for Iron Angel to get to you.

Men Who Explain Things

Via the amazing Janni Lee Simner: Men Who Explain Things.

* I’m linking to the original essay, not the shorter one in the LA Times.

Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis

The intelligent and outspoken child of radical Marxists, and the great-granddaughter of Iran’s last emperor, Satrapi bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country. Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. This is a beautiful and intimate story full of tragedy and humor–raw, honest and incredibly illuminating.

Unforgettable is a good word to describe this book. Amazing would also be another good word to describe this book.

I don’t usually buy graphic novels. Pictures? Nah. I want words.

I picked it up purely because I’ve heard of her and the book, and now I want more.

The artwork matches the tone of the book, and despite it being a translation, I think Satrapi’s voice shines through, which is as much a compliment to the author as it is to the translator.

In some senses, Persepolis is a coming-of-age story, and it’s wonderful how you can ‘hear’ the author grow up. For me, this is what’s made Persepolis into a keeper book for me.

Persepolis rates 5 out of 5.

Messing about with something

New Open Source Projects to Check Out

It’s the hottest thing on the internet! Join now to add 200 points to your coolness quotient!

The Open Source Boob Project

The Open Source Swift Kick to the Balls Project

The Open Source Knuckle-Sandwich Project

Are you going to be adding 200 points to your coolness quotient?

Via Ilona Andrews and Laura Anne Gilman

There’s a New TV series featuring Romance Heroes

Read all about it here at RTB!

Sigh. I have to write another post soon. So many things to do!

Spam is Disgusting

In more ways than one.

(Note to all Hawaiians: Today, just for today, I do not mean spam as in tinned Spam.)

Just because I’m blogging again?

Ish.

I’m kinda offline-ish at the moment, so you probably won’t hear from me very much again.

Next month’s schedule is pretty packed now. The afore-mentioned Alan Campbell and CE Murphy, plus Jes Battis.

BURKHART at SFC

To decipher this message, please clicky here.

PS If you actually like sociology, never ever show your face at this blog again.

PPS Maybe I should have titled it JSB at SFC, but I kinda didn’t want it to be too cryptic.

PPPS I shouldn’t be here, but my brain hurts.

Six Foot Under…

…a pile of books and papers and what not.

Deadline time, you know.

Next up will be Alan Campbell on May 1st, and don’t be too surprised if you don’t hear from me until then. I’ll be by on my LJ because the writing bug’s decided to bite me really hard.

It’s been quiet around here, I know, and I apologize, but next month should be a little louder, and a little more fun. I have CE Murphy of the Walker Papers, the Negotiator and the soon-to-debut Inheritor’s Cycle scheduled as well, though the date’s not fixed.

(For the record, don’t read the excerpt for The Queen’s Bastard, book one of the Inheritor’s Cycle because well, cliffhanger? CLIFFHANGER? Grrr….)

But you’ll probably hear from me with a review of Alan’s Iron Angel (good, much better than Scar Night which I never reviewed for some reason though I swear I planned to).

Last thing is, I’ll be scheduling into end-2008 in the next few weeks. Anybody want a slot? And anybody you want me to turn the thumbscrews on? Comment (probably easiest) or email me at miladyinsanity (at) gmail (dot) com.

PS This is MINE!!!! I utterly adore Elise Matthesen, also known as elisem on LJ.

Nothing But Red is out

Go buy it.

It’s for a good cause.

(Don’t make me make this an order.)

PS Thanks Angelle!

Is This a Joke? Pt. II

I have a terrible feeling that this isn’t a joke.

This is taken from the website:

How to Write Paranormal Romance 101 Advice from miladyinsanity.

God help us all.

Is this a joke?

On the resources page of the Writers’ Center of Indiana, there’s a link to a specific post on this wee blog.

Unfortunately, it’s not one of my erudite, intelligent posts that offer deeeeeeep insight into something or other.

It’s this one: How to Write Paranormal Romance 101

I sincerely hope that putting that link on the resources page was somebody’s idea of a joke, because I will hurl if somebody actually write a paranormal romance based on what I wrote.