6 Questions with Maggie Stiefvater

I think Maggie Stiefvater must have very fierce faeries, because she is not afraid of my manuscript zombie. Fierce Faeries! *thumbs up* To meet the fierce faeries, comment!

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.

I would definitely rank myself at least a solid 8. I mean, a year ago, before I had any novels under contract, I was definitely a 6-7 on a good day, and now, having four novels under contract and working on editorial revisions for two at the same time has only pushed that number up.

I battle the insanity with sweet tea and cookie dough, and it seems to be working. Or maybe it’s just making me too hyper to notice that it’s not working. It helps that I have a very tolerant/ supportive husband. Without the tea, cookie dough, and my fearless companion-in-life, the men in the clean white coats would definitely be taking me away soon.

2. Have you always written and painted? Or did one come before the other?

Yeah, I was always a compulsive doodler and storyteller. I still remember sitting with my brother playing with our toy horses and before we sat down to actually play, he would ask, “What’s the ‘way’?” Way meaning plot. I had to plot out the rough happenings of our characters before we could even get started.

And then I took over my dad’s old word processor and all was lost.

As for painting and drawing, suffice to say that one of my early habits that I had to work to get rid of was drawing in the air with my finger. When no one was around and I had no paper to occupy myself, I’d draw figures in the air with my finger, practicing facial expressions and shapes. Yep, I was possibly even crazier back then.

3. Will we see a book written and illustrated by Maggie Stiefvater any time soon?

Actually, yes, though not in the way you were thinking. I have a weekly original short fiction blog (http://www.merryfates.com) with my friends and fellow writers, Brenna Yovanoff and Tessa Gratton, and at the end of this year, we’re collaborating on an anthology of the best stories from the blog this year. Nothing formal, but it will definitely have a couple internal drawings by yours truly and of course a third of the short stories will be mine.

One of these days, though, I would like to do a graphic novel. I’m a sucker for the art of J. W. Waterhouse and Maxfield Parrish and I’d love to do something fantastic and gorgeous like that. One of my favorite books growing up was a lushly illustrated version of King Arthur with all the squicky bits left in.

4. We all have a well for creativity. Do you have separate ones for art and for fiction? Does doing more of one mean less ‘creativity’ left over for the other?

I think the answer for this is sort of yes, sort of no. To a certain extent, I think that when one creative pursuit is going well, your other creative pursuits tend to go well too. So in that case, the art helps the writing, or vice versa. But sometimes, if I’m doing something really intensive – like working on a rough draft – I find that I’m just too mentally beat to start working on another creative pursuit.

5. And you’re a musician as well! Many writers have soundtracks for each of their books, songs that especially speak to the story they are telling. How about you?

Oh, absolutely. Not only do I tend to write songs to go along with my novels, I also listen to music 100% of the time while I’m writing. I burn CDs of songs that fit the mood of the novel and label them as such. For instance, I have ‘Homicidal Faerie Mix,’ ‘Angst Etc.,’ Wailing Atmospheric Females,’ and ‘Relentlessly Cheerful’ sitting on my desk right now, for four different novels. I can’t really seem to concentrate on writing unless I have music playing.

6. Since you first made your name as an artist, did it make it easier for you to put your fiction out in the world?

I think so. Actually, I put myself out musically before I started really displaying my art or sharing my writing, so that really broke down the barriers. Because I played the bagpipes, and you just don’t get much more public with your abilities than with an instrument that is as loud as a fire engine. Also, I had siblings that read over my shoulder all the time – I started the submission process with a far thicker skin than a lot of people, I think. It’s a fine line to walk between having a big enough ego to not get beaten down by rejection or easily swayed by subjective opinions and having an ego so big that you don’t keep learning or take note when you hear the same sorts of criticism over and over again.

Maggie Stiefvater @LJ and @website. Lament is coming to a bookstore near you!

If you’d like a signed copy, however, comment! Tell us why fierce faeries will beat up manuscript zombies!

6 Unspectacularly Quirky Things? Only 6?

I’m kidding about the second part.

As always, Nadia Lee is the Queen of Evil.

1. I fiddle with fonts for every project. Fiction, non-fiction etc. The only one that goes untouched are my blogs, and that may not last for very long.
2. I always have to read library books first. No matter how many hundred books I have in my TBR pile.
3. I like chewy things, like mitarashi dango and caramels and toffees and glutinous rice balls.
4. I like sashimi and sushi, but I don’t particularly like salmon or maguro. My current favorite is nama hotate.
5. I speak a number of food languages, but only 1 fluently and another kind of in the sense that I sound like a native speaker even if I don’t read like one.
6. I don’t believe in Wikipedia but I do believe in the power of the wiki.

Because I am the Queen of Evil’s chief councillor, I must tag people. Therefore, I tag you, you, you, you, you and you

MG Braden Comes To Town

She cheated. I wouldn’t give her questions, and guess what she does? She cheats and gets the Divas to give her some. *tosses severed hands at her*

Mock her for her cheating, and you could win a copy of Harmony!

When May said I could guestblog I had no idea what to talk about so I asked people to tell me what they’d what to know about. Here are the questions they asked:

What were your struggles when you started writing for publication and how did you over come them?

When I started my struggles mostly involved juggling family time with writing. At the time I started writing seriously, for publication, I became pregnant and experienced a difficult pregnancy. That sidetracked me for a while, but then when my youngest was a few months old I came back to it and my first published story was written with him in my lap. Really, it’s just been a matter of finding time for everything. I’m not really sure I’ve over come anything, some days are easier than others. My family has to come first, especially because my kids are so young right now.

How do you deal with writer’s block or do you think there is such a thing? I totally believe there is such a thing. It is hard. My worst was last year when I went three months without writing anything. I was miserable, but I just couldn’t write. The well was empty and I didn’t really know why. I just kept in touch with my CP and hung out with Romance Divas for inspiration. It finally came back. Thankfully I wasn’t on contract at the time, although I tend to work better under stress and when work is due, so hopefully that won’t be a problem.

Why are you the way you are?

Because God made me this way.

What is the nastiest, dirtiest non-writing job you’ve ever had and do you think it contributed to you becoming a writer?

For me it was being a busser at busy restaurant where the kitchen was downstairs. We had to haul trays of dishes, cutlery etc. up and down those stairs without killing ourselves or breaking anything. I know that’s not necessarily nasty, but it was dirty. And I didn’t last long at it, so I don’t really think it contributed much of anything to my life, let alone writing. I waitressed for a long time and was much more suited to that. I love people-watching and working at restaurants provides a great venue for that. People-watching contributes a lot to my writing.

When you write do you keep pictures of your heroes and your heroines in front of you?

Nope. They’re in my head.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

A pantser for sure.

How would you describe a typical writing day?

I have three kids aged 2-9, there really is no typical writing day for me at the moment, but mostly it would start at 9pm when my house is quiet. When I’ve got something due then I try to write between 9 and 11pm every day and then whenever I can catch some time throughout the day.

Is there anything you have to have on your desk or you can’t write? And I don’t mean a computer.

Duh. LOL Coffee!

If you could choose just one, would you rather win the National Book Award, a Nobel prize, or be on Oprah for something unrelated to your writing? And we aren’t sayin’ what!

Wow – well, I’m not really eligble for the National Book Award because I’m Canadian, but I’d probably pick that if I was. Otherwise, Oprah, for something unrelated to writing.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

I’m not sure I could just choose one. I choose different things from different people. But, I guess, if I had to choose just one, it would be Imogen Howson. She is brilliant with world-building and description/narratives. She puts words together in a way that makes them magical and she’s a grammar goddess.

What book are you reading now?

I just finished Lara Adrian’s Midnight Awakening.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

I need to work on descriptions more. I love dialogue and I like the pace to move along. When I read I don’t like a lot of filler, so I tend to write that way, but sometimes you need descriptions—you need more information.

You write within a few romance sub-genres. How do you think that affects your writing? Are any of the sub-genres the one you aspired to write?

I honestly didn’t intend to do that. I honestly write what I am called to write. What I mean is, the story in my head evolves the way it evolves and I let it. At the base, everything I write is contemporary romance. What I actually aspired to write was romantic-suspense, but my voice seems to be lighter than that requires. I like to read gritty romantic-suspense, but I just don’t have a dark voice. I’ve learned to accept what my voice calls for and am slowly finding what works for me.

How did you get so tall? Can I have some?

It’s my genes! And I’ll Fedex you some.

I think this is srsly unfair. I’m her sister. How come I’m so short? I throw more severed hands than she does. I should be taller!

Seriously, does the butterfly (in your banner) have significance to you or is it just pretty?

It’s all about the emergence of me as a writer and how I coccooned and… No, really, it’s just pretty! LOL

What is your favorite cheese?

Brie

If you could write anywhere in the world, where would it be? why?

Probably on the beach in Mexico, because I would really rather do anything on a beach in Mexico. LOL Truly, I am lucky to have a great office to write in at home, where I can look at the trees, squirrels and nature in my backyard. Sometimes, I wish I had walls so that I could shut out the household noise, but otherwise I’m good.

Michelle (MG) Braden is the author of several contemporary romances, the latest of which is also a paranormal. Vampire Oracle: Harmony cover Vampire Oracle: Harmony was released by Cobblestone Press on August 1, 2008.

You can find out more about the book at http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/harmony.htm and more about Michelle at http://www.mgbraden.com

And so. Giveaway. Harmony. One lucky winner, one vampiric copy. It’s gonna suck your soul out into its pages. *nods* That’s why I haven’t read it yet. Not sure I have one, but if I have a soul, I wanna keep it. So comment if you dare!

6 Questions with Justine Musk

I have been looking forward to the release of Lord of Bones ever since I found out that there would be a sequel to Bloodangel. And now it’s out, though I’ve been unlucky thus far in my search for a copy. That’s mostly why I’m going to giveaway an ebook copy of Uninvited.

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.

Oh God. I’d say I’d range from 7 to 15, depending on the day. I’m going through some tough stuff right now that I’d love to blog about but as a favor to the other party involved will keep entirely private unless given a reason not to. Ahem.

2. Lord of Bones is being released almost three years after your debut with Blood Angel. Care to share us the story of what happened during the interim?

This is kind of a two part answer, so first: My husband and I decided to try and give our twin boys a little baby sister. So again we did the IVF route, this time with sex selection, and instead of one girl ended up with triplet boys. I kid you not. It seems the sex-selection process was faulty. Thankfully my husband is one of those visionary genius types whose talents tend to meet with extraordinary financial rewards, so we have all the help we need – like they say, it takes a village, in this case a village of nannies – but I wrote the first two drafts of Lord of Bones in the last trimester of pregnancy and then while recovering from a C-section, which meant I wrote while stoned on painkillers. I was also nursing the triplets, whom the baby nurses would bring me one at a time, during which I would somehow tap away at my laptop with my iPod plugged into my ears. Not surprisingly, the draft turned out to be terrible. Terrible. I had to throw out about three quarters of it and start over – so instead of a final rewrite I was basically writing a whole new book. On top of that, I had surgery to correct the kind of damage that twins and triplets will do to you physically, no matter how fit you are or how successfully you manage to lose the baby weight. I had a massive hernia, so my stomach muscles had to get stitched back together, and recovering from that took the longest of all. And, of course, more painkillers.
The second part is a lot less dramatic – for whatever reason I went through kind of a dry spell. Writing became difficult and the ideas just weren’t there. I hadn’t really thought of the story beyond BLOODANGEL, except for a few things I knew about the characters and their mysterious connections to each other. The sequel just took an extremely long time to come together, possibly because this time I really was thinking in terms of an actual series and how each book could still be a complete saga on its own while still leading into the next one. In sharp contrast to that, I expect to finish the next book in the series – tentatively called SOULSTICE – within a few months. I knew from the beginning where I need to go with this one.
So while wrestling with story ideas for LORD OF BONES, I went ahead and wrote UNINVITED, which became my second published novel with a different publisher. It was an idea I’d been kicking around since high school and really wanted to get out of my head. I also felt the need to write something short and fast-paced – the kind of book you could finish on an airplane ride – after the epic multiple-perspective plot of BLOODANGEL.

3. Last year, you published a young-adult novel with MTV, Uninvited. At least for me, it was very different, and not simply because it’s a young adult novel. If it didn’t say Justine Musk on the cover, I would not have thought you wrote it. It just reads so differently. It doesn’t read like a YA novel for me either, except that Kelly is in the right age group. So what do you think makes a novel a YA novel versus something else?

It’s interesting that you would say that – UNINVITED is in many ways a book I wrote to and for my much younger self, the same self who dreamed up that story in the first place. Although the villain in that book – who became one of my favorite characters, actually, and I plan to use him again at some point – was in some ways a rehearsal for the villain in LORD OF BONES (although he is a much more dangerous piece of work and not someone I’d ever want to encounter in any way under any circumstances whatsoever).

Some readers really love that book and some readers don’t. BLOODANGEL tends to elicit that kind of reaction too – for the most part the response was extremely positive, but there are readers out there who just hated it. I also have a few friends who just couldn’t handle BLOODANGEL because they found the opening chapters too intense and scary. But at the same time they really did want to read something of mine, so they were happy (or maybe relieved) to get UNINVITED, which one of those friends not only whipped through but emailed me an ongoing commentary of the experience. It was worth writing the book just for that.

In my mind UNINVITED was always a young adult novel, maybe because the protagonist is a teenager and it’s a coming-of-age story, as YA novels usually tend to be in one way or another. And YA novels tend to be short and maybe a bit more linear than adult novels, although certainly not always. Other than that, I never saw much of a difference. Especially in this genre. In fact, when I was a teenager there really weren’t any YA supernatural thrillers – it was mostly realist or problem novels or romances – so you had to ‘read up’ into adult fiction if that kind of genre was what you wanted. And I did.

In fact, it turns out there’s so much reader crossover, or at least seems to be – so many adults telling me they enjoyed UNINVITED and so many teens passing around copies of BLOODANGEL– that there doesn’t seem to be much of a point labeling me one thing or the other. Which is one of the things you learn after you publish – who your audience is, which is not always the audience you expected. For example, I was surprised (and delighted) to hear from so many guys who read my first book. I thought my audience would be mostly female, which doesn’t seem to be the case at all. Which maybe shouldn’t have surprised me so much, given that I actually do write from the perspectives of several male characters, but still. I also didn’t realize that Ramsey would be by far the most popular character, or that the demon Del, who appears very briefly, would get such a great response from readers that I actually went out of my way to figure out how to include him in the next books. Which I’m really glad I did, because he brings a neat dimension to the tale.

4. Since you have twin boys of your own, do you have any insight as to why people are often so fascinated by them? It’s such a common trope in fantasy that I swear that every writer must have written about twins or have an idea filed away somewhere starring twins.

Heh. I’m not immune to that – I play a little bit with the twins trope in LORD OF BONES and when I was a teenager I wrote a novel about twins who can communicate telepathically with each other, and then one of them gets kidnapped. As the mother of twins, I can say that it’s just a neat relationship to watch unfold. There was never a time when either twin knew life without the other – I have a photograph of the two of them, 4 years old, watching TV together on the edge of my bed. The photo is of their backs and how their seated bodies just fit so neatly and nonchalantly into each other, like pieces of a jigsaw. I think it’s that idea of closeness, of intimacy, that really fascinates – it seems natural to imagine that that kind of knowledge of each other extends into the preternatural – they know each other’s thoughts, have a mysterious mode of communication, that kind of thing. Or that they come into the world already made complete by each other. We’re kind of a lonely species, when you get down to it – trapped inside ourselves. The idea of twinship opens up this possibility that maybe there’s this alternative way of being. So behind the sheer fun of the idea – the cool image of it – I think there’s some wish-fulfillment involved about being that strongly connected to another person…or even just the narcissistic fantasy of having this other you walking around.

5. One of the reasons why your blog is such a good read because it’s a mix of you and the people you see, meet etc. Do you think the whole ‘writers are boring’ thing is a cliché, or true most of the time?

Thank you! The blog kind of took on a life of its own. I really thought it would be much more of a writer’s journal, talking about craft, etc. , and maybe it will become more that way. But I’ve always enjoyed describing the people and events I see around me – observing, analyzing. When I was an exchange student in Australia or away at college I would write extremely long, detailed letters to a small handful of individuals. Which is probably, I realize now, when I first started to develop what eventually became the voice of the blog — it’s a very different voice from my novels, influenced by a different group of writers, the sharp-witted social observers like Edith Wharton or F. Scott Fitzgerald or a much more contemporary favorite, Paul Theroux. There’s a part of me that was always drawn to that kind of writing, of bearing witness. So landing in this life in Los Angeles and blogging about the less-private parts of it was inevitable, I think, and took my ‘writer’s journal’ in a completely different direction.

What I want to do at some point is bring both those voices together – the blog voice, the dark-thriller voice – in some fiction. There are a couple of novels I’m planning that are set in an LA milieu based on the one described in my blog and I think those will be a lot of fun. Although I still need to soak up more of LA and the people here and creatively digest my experiences a little more to get some really compelling fiction out of it.

Do I think writers are boring? Not at all. I’d much rather listen to a writer or director talk about a movie than any of the actors who starred in it… a successful writer is someone who spends a lot of time reading and really thinking things through and has the ability to take a personal experience and make it interesting and relevant to other people by finding the universal aspect of it. In contrast, I’ve met people who have lived through experiences that seem so amazing and fascinating…if only they could process, analyze and express those experiences in an interesting way. You can lead an extremely exciting life and still manage to bore the crap out of people…I think the reason why writing about writers has gotten such a bad rap – to the point where one of the ‘rules’ of making fiction is that you’re not, apparently, supposed to write about a character who writes fiction — is because it’s so easy to do it so badly. When it’s done well, I think it’s great. Stephen King wrote one of his best books, MISERY, about a writer, the process of writing…. Writers are a quirky breed with some truly wild inner lives. There’s nothing boring about that.

6. You are one of the most mysterious authors I’ve ever interviewed who has an online presence. If you had to write your bio in five minutes, what would you write?

Here’s the bio I just wrote – in a hurry – for the San Diego Comic Con:

Justine Musk grew up in Ontario, Canada and started writing at age eight when her parents refused to buy her a dog. She entered her self-conscious and perilous adolescence planning to be either an actress, a vet, or a writer of fine literature like the Sweet Valley High novels.

Then she discovered Stephen King.

Thanks partly to a less-than-stellar social life, Justine wrote her first few novels before graduating high school. She attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, where she was rejected — twice — from the school’s lone creative-writing workshop, which she didn’t want to join anyway. Really. After living abroad in Australia and Japan she made her way west, as a young woman should, to California. She is the author of the dark-fantasy novels Bloodangel and Lord of Bones, about a race of men and women descended from fallen angels who go to war against demons, and sometimes each other, as well as the YA supernatural thriller Uninvited.

Justine lives and writes in Los Angeles, where she blogs about living and writing in Los Angeles. She also likes to Twitter.

I really do recommend reading her blog, and she’s quite fun on Twitter too–though I am also a Twitter addict and hence understand the liking Twitter part.

As to the contest, the usual rules apply. Comment to enter. Either way, go buy Lord of Bones! There’s going to be a third book!

Charlene Teglia Talks To Us: Wicked Hot…Behind the Scenes

I was trying to figure out how to introduce Charli when I stumbled on this. So instead of an introduction, we’re all going to beg her to come back and guestblog in sonnet form next year. *g* The most creative beggar wins a signed copy of Wicked Hot!

It’s always hard to know what to say about a book. There’s the obvious: Here’s the cover!

Charlene Teglia's new book!

And the blurb!

The struggle between good and evil is about to get…Wicked Hot

Edana is a succubus—a breathtakingly beautiful demon who offers men their most decadent fantasy in exchange for their souls. No one can get close to her without being destroyed..until she meets Eli and Dal. Both men are Nephilim, immortal warriors who bind and banish demons. Edana’s mission is to arouse their lust and steal their souls before they can destroy her—she never expects to fall in love. Shared by two virile lovers and lost in a world of sensation, Edana begins to fall for one of the warriors, jeopardizing her mission. Only he has power to save her, but first she must give him power over her heart—and her destiny…

But while covers are shiny (and this one has a hot nekkid guy) and blurbs are designed to catch a browser’s attention and get them to pick up a book, it doesn’t say much.

So there’s the book trailer to convey more of the mood and tone:

But what about the story behind the story? Er, well, I wanted to write a book set on Washington’s remote and rugged Olympic Peninsula. I wanted to write about Nephilim because they’re fascinating. And writing about a succubus heroine posed a lot of challenges. Writing a ménage relationship that ends in a traditional hero/heroine happily ever after posed even more challenges. I mean, if she spends the book sleeping with both of them, how do you pull off the believable romantic resolution?

To be blunt, this book gave me fits. It forced me to rethink and reinvent my process and change the way I write. It stretched me. It frustrated me. It delighted me. And in the end, it was a book I could look back on and say with satisfaction, “I did good work.”

Wicked Hot is erotic and fun and romantic and hopefully will entertain readers as much as it entertains me. Unless they are Barry Manilow fans. In which case, er, sorry, but come on, they WOULD punish people with Barry in hell.

Charlene Teglia‘s latest releases are Wicked Hot and the Naughty Nights anthology, in which you can find her story ‘Wolf in Shining Armor.’ At least she doesn’t have a pink cover to embarrass me with this time. *g*

She’s also giving away a copy of Wicked Hot, which is, indeed, Wicked Hot. You guys know the drill, comment and one lucky winner gets a signed copy.

Beta Reader

I’m not sure what it’s a sign of but I can’t remember a RTB post I’ve written that wasn’t gone over by somebody else before it went up.

Barb Ferrer got shanghaied into the job the last time.

Any volunteers?

I’m trying not to name names in this one, just because it seems rather mean and I’d rather not get flamed for this. If that’s going to happen, it’s going to happen here on this wee blog rather than over there, where I am Queen of my Domain (not exactly, since I think I’m going to postpone getting my own domain because it looks like it’ll be a massive PITA).

PS It’s not going to go up for awhile, but I usually have a dearth of ideas when it comes to relevant ideas for my column, so I might as well get it down whilst I can.

RTB day

I’m at Romancing The Blog today:

The Happy Ever After’s just lost its zing for me. I don’t read a romance and go all ‘awww….’ or ‘happy sigh’ when I turn the last page. It’s more of a ‘That’s it? That’s all?’ type of feeling.

I’m counting on people telling me I should stop writing from RTB to make my day.

6 Questions with Marjorie M. Liu

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.

Right now — and this is remarkable for me to write — my current level of insanity is perched at a very nice and lovely ONE. Despite the fact that I’m suffering from jet-lag and have deadlines — a lot of work to do — my ideas are flowing, and life is good. Life is always good, but I’m not letting myself get stressed about things. I’m taking it easy.

2. Recently, you announced that you’d be writing six issues of Marvel’s NYX series. How is writing a comic different from writing a novel?

Not that different at all, except in the format. Telling stories is mostly the same, no matter whether it’s a comic book or a novel, but it does take some getting used to when writing a script versus prose. I’ve been lucky, though, to have received a lot of support from my Marvel editor, John Barber.

3. Even before NYX, you have had experience writing in worlds not your own. Two years ago, you published Dark Mirror. Do you not find it constraining in anyway?

Not really. Because even when you’re writing a character that isn’t yours, you still have the opportunity to explore that character is ways no one ever has. And that is very fun, indeed — especially when you’re getting the opportunity to play with characters as remarkable as the ones in the Marvel library.

4. Every author influenced by who she is and where she’s from. You are half-Chinese, you majored in East Asian Languages and Culture, and your first book, Tiger Eye, is set partially in China. Have you ever read the old Chinese folktales, and if you have, do you have a favourite supernatural creature amongst them?

I have read them, and while I must say that Monkey is my favorite supernatural creature in the Chinese pantheon — of all the books I’ve read, folklore or otherwise, the Chinese literary masterpiece, THE DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER, remains the most lovely, as does the hero of the story — Bao-yu, the magical stone who is born upon earth as a boy, to learn the ways of man.

5. What’s the one thing you think that one must do in Shanghai? And aren’t you excited about World Expo 2010?

There are so many things to do in Shanghai! First off, just walking around on the side streets of the old city, mingling with locals, is a lovely experience. Wander! Keep your eyes open! But if you like more formal experiences, I highly recommend the Shanghai Museum, the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, strolling along the Bund — during the day, and at night — and exploring some of the parks in the evening, when the elderly come out to practice their ballroom dancing. There are also some beautiful bookstores in Shanghai.

And yes, I’m very excited about World Expo!

6. Name a place that you’ve been and would love to include as a setting in one of your books, but haven’t yet done so and tell us why.

Gosh. I’m pretty good at mining most places I’ve gone to. I would love to travel to Europe, though, and see what inspires me there!

Marjorie’s latest release is The Iron Hunt.

And one lucky winner will get a mystery prize!

6 Questions with Larissa Ione

Larissa is an occasional partner-in-crime and well, that’s enough said about the type of gal she is, right?

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.

Ten-point-five. Why? Let’s see…I have two books due in just a few days – the fourth Sydney Croft ACRO novel, Taming The Fire, and the third Demonica book, Eternity Embraced. I also have a proposal to write for the fifth ACRO novel, and I’m getting ready to head to Washington state for a month to visit my parents…as well as getting ready for RWA in San Francisco at the end of July. Just hand over the straight-jacket. Yeah, that’s it…buckle it tighter…feels good…

2. Since winter is your favourite season, what are your top tips for dealing with summers? (I’m going from gloomy old England to tropical Singapore…should be fun.)

Ooh, I LOVE England!!!! I wanna live there SO bad!!! And my tips for dealing with summers? Avoid them at all costs. *g* Yep, I pretty much just stay inside and take vitamin D tablets. Oh, and drink lots of cold drinks. You know, like margaritas…

3. Broadly speaking, isn’t the series that you write with Stephanie Tyler as Sydney Croft rather similar to the Demonica series? Both are paranormal, erotic and romance.

You know, it a lot of ways, they are similar…on the surface. But the differences are huge. The ACRO series is really more science-fiction than paranormal, and it’s also VERY erotic. The Demonica series is hot, but it’s not anywhere near the ACRO series in terms of erotic content. Another big difference is that the Demonica series is very, very dark. I definitely tapped into my horror background to write these books.

Also setting the books apart are the basic setups and settings. The ACRO books are about humans with special powers who work for a secret agency called the Agency for Covert Rare Operatives. The world is basically contemporary, with some grounding in science.

In the Demonica series, the main characters are three demon brothers who run an underworld hospital. The inhabitants of this world are a mix of demons, vampires, were-beasts, and humans. There isn’t a whole lot of science in these books – it’s pure imagination with mythical undertones.

4. The first generation of authors who started blogging before they were published are now maturing as a breed. Do you think it’s made you a little more savvy about the internet as a tool for authors than you would have been otherwise?

You know, I talked with Stephanie (Tyler) about this, and she brought up a good point – that basically, that first generation hasn’t changed their style much. I agree. I know I started blogging in 2003, and at the time, there weren’t a lot of author or reader blogs out there. Blogging was pretty much in its promotional-tool infancy, and authors who blogged were big on conversation and craft more than straight promo. I think, because of that, I’ve never seen my personal blog as a huge promotional tool.

Yes, that’s what it is, but really, my blog is my home, my personal space, and if I want to talk about something as mundane as what I had for breakfast, I feel comfortable doing so. But I also see the value of blogs as a hardcore promotional tool, and I know a lot of authors use them a LOT more effectively than I do.

So, savvy…in my case, not so much. I think that because I started blogging so long ago, I’ve continued to use my blog more casually than many authors. It’s a tool, but for me, it’s probably not as effective for promo as it could be.

5. Do you think that there will ever be anything that could tempt your sweet tooth back into action? And what do you crave during PMS if you don’t want sweets?

LOL! What a fun question! But alas, I think my sweet tooth is the one that got the root canal. It’s dead. I do crave sweets every once in a while, but it’s very, very rare. When I do get a craving, for some reason I want a Dairy Queen sundae. Of course, I usually eat two bites and I’m done. I also enjoy the Godiva chocolate cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. Takes me three days to eat a slice, though!

For the most part, I crave salt when I’m PMSing. Potato chips, popcorn, and cheese!

6. Are you sure it says Demonica and not Demented on the cover of Pleasure Unbound?

*g* Pretty sure, but I’m working on that Demented proposal! *g*

Larissa Ione‘s current release is the first book of the Demonica series, Pleasure Unbound, and she’s giving away a signed copy to one lucky winner!

Links to the Good Stuff

I don’t have time to do this much any more, but there are good things to be had.

Elise Matthesen, aka elisem on LJ, is holding a June Shiny Sale! She’s a jeweller, and she makes the most gorgeous pretties! My Elisian jewelry count is at 1 pendant (Cabinet of Dreams…I need access to my email so I can pay her damn it!), one necklace-crown and one pair of earrings. *beams* I am much accomplished in the jewelry department now.

Jessica’s running contests. This is the last time I’m linking to her, and I’m only doing it because she’s giving away stuff. After this, bah to Jessica! She is gone! I have gotten rid of her!

Romancing The Blog is doing a giveaway. I think the schedule for this one is every other weekend. Also, still on RTB, Barbara Ferrer and I have evil plans so you should read our next columns (I think in July) to find out what they are. You do not want to mess with Barb Ferrer and Me.

Shiloh Walker Talks to Us: How Writing is Like…

The Brat is back, this time with a new WIP. Wanna win a Bratty book? Details below.

Giving directions to your husband while going on a road trip…WITHOUT GPS.

You see, I know where I want to go. On the road trip. In the book.

On a road trip, it’s usually a bookstore, or a library, or a mall, in some town I haven’t visited before, or it’s been a long time since my last visit.

I know where I want to go. I just am not very sure on how to get there. It usually involves me scouring a map, looking for cross streets, checking on the printed directions from Google maps…and then me shouting at the last second, That’s where we gotta turn.

He acts like I do it on purpose. Hey, I can’t help the road doesn’t lead where I think it should.

Same with my story.

I know where I want to go. I’m just not sure how to get there. Even with outlines, notes, bouncing ideas off a friend’s head, I’m not too sure of the road I need to take. I think it’s this road, but this road doesn’t lead to that one after all and that one is the road I need to be on.

But my husband ought to consider himself lucky. Because in a story? Usually when I see the road I need, it’s always in hindsight. Like oh say… 30, 40, 50 pages past the turning point that I didn’t see until it was too late. Last minute is better than way after, right?

So in the story, I have to back track. And I realize there are other twists in the plot (roads) that I do need to keep, but I need to figure out how to work them in while still arriving where I need to be…when I need to be there…and without missing any of the other vital things.

My husband keeps telling me I need to learn to read a map. I think I’m just fine-we’ve got a GARMIN now. What I really need is some sort of GARMIN for authors-one that will spit out helpful little things like… Important plot turn in 5 pages, 4 pages, 3 pages, 2 pages…on the next page you need to work on a new plot development.

Somehow, I don’t see it happening.

Shiloh Walker’s latest release is Through The Veil. Excerpt coming up!

Contest: I’ll buy one lucky person a copy of any Bratty Book that you can find on Fictionwise up to 6USD.

Brat Attack!

Shiloh‘s spending tomorrow with us. I’m giving away a copy of any one of her backlist titles available at Fictionwise because I’ve got too many Micropay dollars.

There’s a fabulous excerpt of Through The Veil too.

Jes Battis, Tess Corday and Derrick Siegel Talk to Us

Want to get the inside track on the world of Occult Special Investigator Tess Corday, and the world of the Core? You’re in the right place. Details on the contest below.

Jes: Welcome to the studio. I’d like to introduce Tess Corday and Derrick Siegel, who both work for the Central Occult Regulation Enterprise, or CORE. Tess, can you describe your job for the readers?

Tess: I’m an Occult Special Investigator.

Derrick: Level One.

T: [glaring]. Yes. Level One. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

D: I can read minds. Some people might think that’s much cooler.

T: But I get better hours. And I have a gun.

D: So do I!

T: But you couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with it–

J: [interrupting] Maybe you could both talk about what the CORE does, exactly.

T: Sure. They’re a transnational blanket organization that investigates occult homicides. They use a mixture of forensic technology and mystical rituals to analyze paranormal crime scenes.

D: Like on CSI Las Vegas.

T: Not, not like on CSI Las Vegas. They don’t have demons and warlocks.

D: But they have Bill Petersen. He’s hot.

T: Of course. But he doesn’t have to analyze vampire DNA.

D: Also, we don’t wear fancy clothes like the people on CSI. There’s no point, since we’ll just get blood and demon guts on them anyways.

J: What’s the most difficult case you’ve ever been on?

T: In Night Child, we have to investigate a crime-scene with a dead vampire’s body (really dead, not just undead). It turns out to be a big vampire conspiracy. Things get pretty hot and heavy.

J: What’s a “night child?”

D: Didn’t you come up with it? You’re the writer.

J: I’m trying to be mysterious.

T: Well, then–everyone should read the book so they can find out.

J: What did you find particularly hard about the case in Night Child?

D: [giggling] I’ll tell you what she found ‘hard’–

T: Shut up.

D: His name is Lucian Agrado.

J: Is he a love interest, Tess?

T: He’s a big pain in my ass. Like a black hole.

D: Imagine if Gael Garcia Bernal was a necromancer. He’s that hot.

J: What does a necromancer do, exactly?

T: They can manipulate necroid materia, which is forbidden by the CORE.

J: And your specialty is earth materia?

T: Yeah. I’m good at channeling geothermic energy. Derrick’s telepathy comes from dendrite materia, but we’re not even sure if that exists.

D: My materia is just as good as yours.

T: Sure [inaudible] you’re invisible materia.

D: I heard that, betch.

J: Were you two ever an item?

T [snorting with laughter]. Derrick’s a homo.

D: [proudly] I am.

T: We made out once. It was funny.

D: I’m a good kisser.

T: [stage whisper] He’s really not.

D: That was back in college, though.

J: Is that how you two met?

T: We were both working for the CORE at the time, but that was the first time we met, yeah. They tend to enlist you early. I joined when I was 12.

J: How do you think that affected your life?

T: Um–made it a lot less predictable?

D: Luckily, they have full dental.

T [nodding]: The benefits are quite competitive.

J: What’s the scariest thing about Night Child?

D: There’s a butt plug.

T: He’s serious.

D: And a shark demon. Oh, and cursed house music.

T: And a bondage chamber, remember?

D: Oh yeah. And also, there’s a horrible scene with a gumball machine.

J: I don’t remember writing that.

D: You were probably high.

J [shrugs] Probably.

T: There’s also a lot of gruesome autopsies, bloody fingerprints, demon DNA, an eyeball, and second-hand couch that swallows people.

D: And Tess gets naked.

T: I do not!

D: Well, sort of.

T: OK, fine. Sort of.

D: Oh, and the black playdough. Don’t forget that.

T: [shivers] How could I?

J: Derrick, do you have a love interest in this book?

D: Well, Jes, you should know the answer to that. I’m just hoping that I get a lot more action in Hextacy.

J: That can be arranged.

D: Have I mentioned how awesome you are?

J: Yes. Many times. Anything else you want to add?

T: This book will scare the crap out of you. Seriously. Mo Hayder and Karin Slaughter and Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs all think so.

D: None of them have read it.

T: Not yet. But when they do, it’ll scare them. I promise.

D: The cover is also amazing. Tess doesn’t look that hot in real life.

T: You’re an ass.

D: I’m just being honest.

T: You’re just jealous because I got the whole cover.

D: I’m going to be on the next one. Tim Lantz promised to make me look just like Zachary Quinto.

T: No he didn’t.

D: Ok…he didn’t. But I do sort of—

J and T stare at him.

D: OK. Never mind. Just read Night Child. It costs the same as a venti mocha raspberry frappe with an extra shot. That’s a bargain.

Jes Battis debuts today with Night Child, the first book in the series starring Tess Corday. He has just finished writing the second book, so head on over to his blog to congratulate him!

Now, for the contest. Comment to enter, but the devil’s in the details, as they say:

You have to live in an area that has a locally-based (in other words, I won’t have to pay for international postage) online bookstore through which I can order Night Child for you, and if you win, you have to write a review of the book that I will post here on the blog.

Twisted Makes This Story Full of Win

Check it out here.

I’m at RTB today

I’m talking about the Ruthless Reader.

Slightly bemused about some of the responses, but there you go.

Kill Your Brain Cells, or Why I Wouldn’t Want to be a Short-Story Editor

Ellen Datlow offers us this gem.

Click if you want to rot your brain cells, or if, like me, you have been examined to the point where you have no brain cells left.

Also, above eighteen only. Though the mental images, if it can be called that, are so cartoonish as to be not pornorific…on the other hand, the Japanese do have anime porn, so maybe not.

Top Search Strings

I am gratified to hear that most people come here looking for miladyinsanity. At least, my ego is gratified anyway.

Charlene Teglia is the number one author people who come to my blog are looking for. You will be gratified to hear that Charli’s popping by again in July. (Charli, if you read this, I swear I didn’t ask you again because of this as I didn’t know when I emailed you that time.)

Other popular authors include Ilona Andrews (much love), Vicki Pettersson (much love), and Colette Gale (uh, haven’t read her but I can guess why).

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.

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*