Ms Kay - Tale of Addict Demoness

So far 2010 has not been off to a smooth start. I’m hoping this just means that I’m getting my year’s worth of stresses out of the way early *crosses fingers*. My husband, being the sweet guy he is, attempted to find ways cheer me up through some of the rockiness. The other day, he surprised me by giving me two novelty tee shirts he’d found online.  

Now, my husband isn't really a big vampire fan (and he ended up with me, poor guy ;) but of course he's well aware of my love for the Fanged Ones. So both tee shirts had a vampire theme. The first one had “The sunlight is trying to KILL me” written across the front of it. This amused me, because I probably avoid sunshine even more than my Night Huntress characters. So, perfect tee shirt for me!

As I pulled out the second tee shirt, my husband remarked, “I don’t know who Edward is, but I guess Buffy killed him?” The tee shirt said “And then Buffy staked Edward. The End.” That, plus my husband's complete lack of knowledge about anything Twilight, cracked me up, too.

Speaking of all things vampire, no, I don't have a release date yet for Cat and Bones #5. My publisher is mulling their schedule and I should know more in the next month or so. As I've said before, I'm hoping for a very early 2011 release. Cross your fingers for me :). For the past two days me, my editor, and my agent nailed down the back cover description for ETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESS, Night Huntress World book two. I'm so grateful my editor allows me input on cover descriptions, because sometimes an author sees their story summary only when the book is in print. And of course, I'm glad my agent takes her time to help with this process, too. Can't post the description yet, but expect it in the next month or so. Today, I'm working on copyedits for EKOD. Then later tonight, I have a date with hubby to see DAYBREAKERS. Yes, hubby can run from all things vampire, but he can't hide, lol.

Anyone else seeing DAYBREAKERS tonight? Or what movie have you seen recently that you really liked?

 

Just wanted to take a minute and thank everyone for coming by to chat tonight.

A lot of people were upset to not see their questions, but here's the deal. The chat room was FLOODED with questions, and I don't see them when they get submitted. All comments and questions go to a very hard-working moderator (imagine your monitor being filled with hundreds and hundreds of questions and greetings) who looks through them and then has a very short time to pick ones for me to answer. That's when I get to see them. It keeps everyone's screen from being spammed with things like "lol" or "OMG."

As for why some questions were chosen over others, well...like I said, I heard there were tons of people who showed up. (We'll have numbers tomorrow). So, there were too many questions to answer, simply because of time and things moving so fast. Another reason is that questions with spoilers weren't posted, per my request. So, if you wanted to know why someone died or something like that, the moderator wouldn't select the question.

So, again, thank you so much for coming by. For those of you who didn't get your questions answered, I'm sorry it didn't work out. I'm sure they were good ones! Hopefully we'll do another chat sometime.

Hey, guys! Just wanted to put one more reminder out there for the online chat with me tonight. Here's a few time zone conversions I've done to help you figure out when it starts. It will run for one hour.

In the U.S., these are all today, Thursday, January 7.

8pm - U.S. Eastern time
7pm - U.S. Central time
6pm - U.S. Mountain time
5pm - U.S. Pacific time

International folks...
1am - GMT (I guess it's technically Friday for you at that point)
Noon - Eastern Australia (also Friday for you)

Here's the link to the chat site. Remember, I'm just relaying the info. I can't answer any technical questions about the page. See you guys in a few hours!

And if you need to convert your time zone, here's a good place to do it: World Clock

Yes!  Yes!!!

SCORE!!!!

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Mirrored from One Crazy Dame. Comment here or there

A commenter from yesterday asked how the publication dates for my books are decided. The short answer is that the publisher determines the publication date based on when they think the book will do best and if a particularly book can fit into that calendar period. The author almost never has a say.

Basically, publishers like to give an author a year to write a book (shorter if the author can do multiple books a year) so the publication date drives the contract delivery date more than the other way around. Depending on the publisher, book production takes anywhere from six months to a full year. Why the range? Schedules, schedules, schedules. A whole bunch of people involved in the process are simultaneously doing OTHER books, so each new book that comes along has to get in line.

For instance, I love my copyeditors and they've worked on all my books. Their familiarity with me and the books help get things done faster. But, if my book is ready for copyediting and they are under deadline for something else, my publisher is often willing to wait a week or two if the schedule allows it. This may seem counterintuitive--two weeks of nothing happening in order to get a particular copyeditor because it's faster--but it is faster. I've been able to turn a copyedit around in three or four days and resolve outstanding issues in one day using them.

With a series, publishers also like to keep things rolling a book a year, so that first book publication date starts to drive the subsequent dates. So far, readers have been able to expect a new Connor book in January every year. If I fall behind, we have less flexibility to extend my delivery date because that then affects production which affects the publication date and makes readers unhappy if a book is delayed.

Which is why I'm ending the post here to work on FACE OFF (Laura 2)! I had to delay delivery on that book, which my publisher graciously allowed. I'm trying to "give back" that extension by handing in the revision weeks earlier than asked. The more space in the schedule makes EVERYONE happy!

I wanted to talk a little bit about disappointment this morning. This comes from several different conversations I had over the past week or so.

We live in an odd culture. I was reminded of it when I spoke to my father recently. We talked about a visit and he said, “At least you’re over there. Here you walk out on the street and all you see are pissed off faces.” “Pissed off” expression comes naturally to most city-born Russians: life is hard and if you look pissed off, you’re less likely to be mugged. If your life is good, no need to rub it in by smiling too much.

In US, we’re conditioned by society that any negative emotion must be securely hidden from the outsiders. We’re encouraged to put on a happy face. If you’re grieving, do so in private and please be at work as soon as possible. I remember when my mother died, my company rep said, “You can take a day off, if you would like.” If you’re a pessimist by nature or if you are traumatized and saddened by some tragic event in your life, the society assures you that this situation should be corrected and offers an array of mood-controllers to bring you back to the default and normal state of happy. Otherwise, you might make other people aware of your negativity.

It’s curious, because as a society, we don’t have much to be happy about: we have the least amount of social safety net among developed nations and we work the longest hours. According to Forbes, we didn’t make it into the top 10 happiest countries. We get richer as we grow older, just not happier. But we’re encouraged to pretend that everything is fine and to carry this pretense into absurdity: nobody is obese, they’re just big boned; everybody is gifted and special; everybody is a winner.

But underneath all of this real world still exists. And occasionally it chews us up in a rather detached manner and spits us out. It’s not personal.  Afterward, we’re left to deal with things like disappointment, for which we have no coping mechanisms in place. Hiding negative emotions doesn’t make them go away. Wallowing in them and pretending to be a martyr and climbing on a cross isn’t healthy either, but that’s another post.

For writers, disappointment is a constant companion. The system we have in place now tells us that as long as we make an effort, we’re entitled to a reward and success. It doesn’t work that way. Sometimes you make all the effort you can and you get nowhere. And if you failed, you have no right to self-pity. No, you pick yourself up and dive right back in, and work harder than ever before.

Bullshit.

I’ve talked to several people this past week. Someone was disappointed in their numbers and their publisher shared in that disappointment, and their contract was not renewed. Someone was disappointed in the launch of their new title. Someone was disappointed in their agent. And the dominant thread through the conversations was, “What’s wrong with me? Why didn’t I do better? Why do I suck so much?”

There is nothing wrong.

We all feel disappointment.  Writers feel bad about our sales, about our reviews, about lack of enthusiasm from the publisher, about being passed over for an award.   People in other professions feel  disappointed at being passed over for promotion, at being asked to take a pay cut, at losing benefits. Those are terrible, awful events, and they require time  and often support of others to go away.  It’s the universal reality of life. We’re not designed to be permanently stuck on happy. We bust our asses, working like crazy, and in the end we still can fail and often do. There are no guarantees in life. Disappointment happens and we have to own it before we can move on. So the next time you fail, I suggest taking two-three days and letting it rip.

Just let it go. Email your friends. Tell your family – or at least those members of it who are not predisposed to judge you. Get some human contact and let your friends help you out, whether it’s a movie together or a cup of coffee.  Lift some weights, go for a run, turn the music up and dance. Accept that this is normal and it too will pass and just go along with it. And then, when your three days are over, go back to work, not because you have to pretend to be unaffected, but because while we’re not meant to be constantly happy, we usually feel better when we’re productive.

Mirrored from One Crazy Dame. Comment here or there

All is quiet on this front. I stopped by the grocery yesterday to find that half of the city had decided to join me in its rush to buy bread, milk, and toliet paper ahead of today's massive blizzard that is supposed to hit the city. Keep in mind that a Cincinnati-sized blizzard is somewhere between five and eight inches of snow. Most regions to the north would scoff at such an amount, but here, we're not equipped to handle such amounts of snow -- physically or mentally. If it hits hard and fast enough, it could actually shut the city down. To make it worse, the snow is supposed to hit just before evening rush hour. It makes me glad that I work from home now.

I'm looking forward to the snow. We've been getting a steady flurry of snow for close to a week, but it's barely managed to cover the grass and the streets are completely clear. I want snow! I want a thick covering of snow so that the world outside my window is covered in a glistening layers of white. It'll be too cold to make a snowman, but I still just want the beauty of the wonderful white world of snow.

Of course, after a couple days, I'll be sick of it and ready for it to melt....

In the meantime, I'm chipping away at the synopsis for book 6. Some of the scenes aren't lining up how I thought they would and I'm struggling to remember my original thought process. The knot I'm stuck on will finally untangle itself, but I have to keep picking at it. My fingers are crossed that I'll get it done today so I can finally start writing the book.

Interesting news this morning:

From Bakka-Phoenix 2009 Bestseller List:

“Just for interest’s sake, we took a look at which titles were our bestsellers in 2009. And because we know you’re interested too, we thought we’d share. The top five in each category, in order:

Mass Market Bestsellers
1. Ages of Wonder, Julie E. Czerneda & Robert St. Martin, eds.
2. Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss
3. Anathem, Neal Stephenson
4. On the Edge, Ilona Andrews
5. Tyrant, Christian Cameron

Trade Paperback Bestsellers
1. Wondrous Strange, Lesley Livingston
2. Black Man, Richard Morgan
3. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith
4. Cast in Silence, Michelle Sagara
5. Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, Adrienne Kress

Hardcover Bestsellers
1. Wake, Robert J. Sawyer
2. Makers, Cory Doctorow
3. Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff
4. Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett
5. Give Up the Ghost, Megan Crewe”

Ahem. Muhahahahahahahaha! Muhahahahahahahaha!

IN celebration, here is more frogs. The Ninja Frog is especially funny, because we just watched Ninja Assassin, which must be the bloodiest ninja movie of all time.

Mirrored from One Crazy Dame. Comment here or there

The Magic Does Things part of the website has been updated with two bio’s.  We’ll try to put up more as we go along.

Link: http://kate.ilona-andrews.com/

Tiny Snippet:

It’s generally not a good idea to growl at law enforcement officers.  They tend to frown on that.  I gulped my coffee instead.  The coffee was the temperature of molten lava.  Spitting it wasn’t an option, so I heroically swallowed it.  Hopefully my tongue wouldn’t fall off.

Also Princess Coconut introduced the lot of us to a new anime. Since this song is constantly playing in my head, I will now infect you.

Suffer:

Mirrored from One Crazy Dame. Comment here or there

I hope everyone had a nice new year's. I had dinner with friends and it was relaxed and drama-free. I'm not a huge fan of New Year's Eve. I think people put too much pressure on themselves to have a good time. It's the only major holiday I can think of whose main point is to have An Awesome Party. Not that I don't enjoy a good party, mind you, but someone people seem to feel they've failed somehow if they haven't had a Great Time (which, imho, also relates to the overdrinking that happens). I don't mean to come across as a downer--I just wish more people took having a good time in stride because that's often more of a good time than mandatory fun.

In other news, my previous post on ebooks had some interesting responses. Just to be clear--I'm not anti-ebook. I'm unimpressed with ereaders. The tech is still evolving is all.

I'm working on revision for FACE OFF, the second Laura Blackstone book. It's in good shape and should be back to my editor shortly (which will surprise her!). Then I'm back to writing Connor 5.

Oh, did I mention UNPERFECT SOULS, the next Connor Grey, is published at the end of this month? I didn't? It is! I'll be updating my main website soon and will give you all a heads up.

Why don’t people add feeds to their blog?

It’s so convenient to just click the RSS, get the feed, and then read the custom blog list in Google Reader.  For example, Lisa Shearin – no RSS link.  I’ve got the feed anyway, by adding /feed on the end of her blog URL

So here is what I resorted to:

• if it’s a Livejournal blog – add /data/rss on the end of blog URL
• if it’s a Wordpress  blog – add /feed on the end of blog URL
• if it’s a Blogger blog -  add feeds/posts/ dfeault or feed/posts/default

Any other tricks?

Mirrored from One Crazy Dame. Comment here or there

Okay, we've got some cool news today. I'll start by reminding everyone of my upcoming visits to Miami, New Orleans, and New York City this month. I know I've mentioned them before (yesterday, in fact), and you'll hear me talking about them a lot more. But, you'd be amazed how many people miss that kind of info, and I'll be sad the day after my Miami signing when someone writes, "When are you coming to Miami?" It happens. So, here's the info on that.

And here's what's going on this week. Our pals at Penguin Books are hosting a live online chat with me this Thursday, January 7, at 5pm U.S. Pacific time. So, that 6pm Mountain time, 7pm Central time, and 8pm Eastern time. If you don't live in the U.S., you've got to go calculate your time zone over here. Remember Australians: U.S. Thursday = Australia Friday. Check the link above for the time.

Basically, you'll be able to sign into a chat window and send me your questions and comments LIVE. My publicist will sift through them and send them to me, and then I'll type back responses to as many as I can. You won't see all the questions (because that would be kind of chaotic), but my answers will pop up in the window. Good times. I'm not sure yet how long it'll go (I wouldn't guess more than an hour), but here's the link you need to go to. It has instructions and will explain more about how it works. I've given you as much technical detail as I can. So get online this Thursday, and good times will ensue!

My last bit of news is still in the works, and I'll notify everyone as soon as I've got the dates and locations. But, I figured it was time for a heads-up. Ready? I'm coming to the UK in February. Get ready!

First, check out the comments on Sarah’s post for the give-away winner.

I’m naturally a night owl.  Given a chance, I would revert to completely nocturnal living.  But after years of getting up at dawn with Gordon while he was in the army, I have successfully retrained myself to be up around 6:00 am. I feel accomplished when I get up early.

However, during the Christmas vacation Lord Panda and his traitor panda children stay up to ungodly hours, just to see if they can do it.  Especially Princess Coconut, who occasionally goes to bed around 7:00 am.

Apparently, she also once binged on soda and put away a twelve pack while I was asleep.  We found the cans as evidence.  No more soda for a long, long while.

Gradually they wore me down and I stayed up with them.  So, today is the reset day.  It’s time to pay the piper.  We got up around six and I am so sleepy, I need matchsticks to put into my eyes.  Can’t work…  Too sleepy… Must stay awake.  If I nap, then all is lost and I won’t be able to go to bed at a decent hour and then I still would have to get up early and then I will be sleepy tomorrow.

YAWN…  YAWN…

Must not sleep.

Mirrored from One Crazy Dame. Comment here or there

Book Nook overview at Odd Shots.

Mirrored from One Crazy Dame. Comment here or there

2009 closed quietly for me. We celebrated my youngest brother's birthday and just played board games as a family. Since then, I've laid low, enjoying some well-deserved peace and quiet following the tumultuous year that passed. I've played video games, taken down my Christmas decorations, and watched some movies. But I feel that I've earned it as I've put in a solid year of work in 2009.

Rachel Vincent has gotten me addicted to the numbers of the business as she frequently posts numbers related to finishing a book or a year. I like it because it gives tangible evidence that I actually got something done in 2009.

For the curious:
Books written: 2 (Pray for Dawn and Wait for Dusk)
Words written: more than 235,000 words and deleted thousands more
Revised: 2 books (Pray for Dawn and Wait for Dusk)
Copyedits: 1 book (Pray for Dawn)
Released: 2 books (Dayhunter and Dawnbreaker) and 1 anthology novella (Unbound)
Attended 1 conference (RomanticTimes Book Lovers Convention)
Gave away more than 2 dozen signed books
Had first solo book signing

Up for 2010:
Releases: 2 (Pray for Dawn and Wait for Dusk)
Books to write: contracted for 1, hoping to finish 3
many edits
Conferences to attend: at least 2 (RomanticTimes Book Lovers Convention and Romance Writers of America Convention)

Speaking of writing books, I have finally started chipping away at the work for Book 6. On Sunday, I actually finished the plot outline for the book. I was having trouble with this one so I turned to post-it notes on a blank wall. When I started, I knew about this much -- just a few post-it notes. It was sad and more than a little daunting.

However, after letting the book stew in the back of my brain for a few days and staring at the wall, the plot finally started to fill itself out. The pink and yellow are two major plotlines, the blue is a major subplot, and the orange are some minor writing notes to myself. It still needs some smoothing out and filling in, but that will come when I tranfer this format to a formal outline and then an synopsis for my editor. With any luck, I will actually start writing the novel either late tonight or tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to writing this one. I'm trying out some new techniques, revisiting some old characters that I haven't seen in a while, and I just miss playing in the Dark Days world. What's more, I actually have a title for this one -- something that never occurs to me. I doubt it will get past my editor, but it's a starting place. Fingers crossed.

Over on the Rath (click "forum") I give away 6 books I like every 6 weeks or so.  In doing that, I've already given away a lot of books. Some are by authors whose books I read & loved before writing (Holly Black, Tithe); some are books I've blurbed & gushed over (K Cashore Graceling; Kami Garcia/Margie Stohl Beautiful Creatures; Kim Derting, The Body Finder; Gillian Shields, Immortal), and others I just really liked and wanted to give to my readers (Sarah Rees Brennan, Demon's Lexicon; Malinda  Lo, Ash; Lauren Kate, Fallen; and Janni Lee Simner, Bones of Faerie).

I was in a mood the week before Solstice, thinking about the books that were a factor in my world & the authors who have kept me from falling to pieces. So I went shopping & requesting bookplates & signed copies from a few friends :)

By the time I was done, I had around 60 books . . . you have about 6 weeks to enter to win them.

TO ENTER/DETAILS:
Reply to this blog post with the number of your entry (count off!!!)  ETA: I give up on the numbers. Just reply. I'll count them later :)

ALSO: If you don't have a LJ acct, use a signature/blog link.

DON'T include your email address for privacy reasons. 

Winners will be announced here at or on the 14th of February. At that time, I'll announce the winners names/numbers, & you will email to say which book(s) you want to claim. Prizes will be on first requested basis at that time NOT now.

THE BOOKS YOU CAN WIN:

"Lyric Poems" John Keats (6 copies, NOT signed)-- In WL, Ash is in Lit class & reads two of my fav poems. The first is "La Belle Dame Sans Merci."  I used to love teaching this poem.

"Goblin Market and Other Poems" Christina Rossetti (6 copies, NOT signed)--This includes second poem from that class in WL. Rossetti is the reason I became an English major.

The Hollow Kingdom Clare B. Dunkle (6 copies with signed bookplates)-- In WL, Seth has all sorts of books including a "Clare Dunkle novel." I didn't expect that the book would sell when I wrote, but when it did . . . I panicked. I am a huge fan of hers (hence Seth reading her book). So I looked Clare up online & sent her an odd email asking if she'd be offended to be referenced in my book. Yeah, it was neurotic. Clare not only was okay with it, but she asked to read the book, became a mentor, a friend, & when I needed a new agent, I remembered Clare telling me how fab HERS was, so I queried her agent (but didn't tell Clare until afterwards bc I didn't want a reference).

American Gods: A Novel Neil Gaiman(3 copies--with signed bookplates)-- The short story "Stopping Time" has a character reading this. Plus, Neil is my favourite living author (one of the only 2 authors I ever went to see for a book signing prior to becoming a writer), and oddly, the person I was having dinner with the night I got the call that I'd sold my first adult novel. The bizarreness of that happening cannot be overstated. I wasn't sure if I was more stunned by him or by selling my book, but either way it was an amazing day.  

and

Coraline Neil Gaiman; Hardcover (3 copies--with signed bookplates)-- Reading this makes me want to go back to teaching so I would have an excuse to study this book over & over again.

Flowers of Evil: A Selection (translated) Charles Baudelaire; Paperback (1 copy, NOT signed)--I'm not sure if it'll make the final version, but the current start of Darkest Mercy (aka WL Bk #5) includes a reference to a Baudelaire poem.

The Blue Girl Charles de Lint; Paperback (2 copies, NOT signed)-- Quite simply, I love this book. I love the characters. I love the lore.

Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and England Jack Zipes; Paperback (1 copy, NOT signed)-- This was one of those books that influenced me to be a fairy tale & folklore based writer. Zipes is brilliant. Before writing, I considered getting another degree just to have an excuse to take a class taught by him.

Sanctuary: The Corrected Text William Faulkner; Paperback (2 copies, obviously NOT signed)-- I did my thesis on this book.  Faulkner is my fav dead author.

This Heart of Mine Susan Elizabeth Phillips (3 copies--with signed bookplates)

and

It Had to Be You  Susan Elizabeth Phillips (3 copies--with signed bookplates)-- At a conference, this amazing woman swooped up to me, told me she loved my book & informed me she was adopting me. I mostly stuttered. Like Clare, Susan has been right there offering advice, support, & words of wisdom.

And then there are the poor folks who keep me from running screaming into the dark.. .

One of each of the 4 Night Huntress books (Halfway to The Grave, One Foot in the Grave, At Grave's End, & Destined for the Grave) Jeaniene Frost (4 signed copies)-- J is my crit partner. (Yes, that means I get to read all the Cat & Bones books first. *happy dances*). It would take pages to explain all she does to keep me on solid ground.

Skin Deep (Laura Blackstone series Bk #1 Mark Del Franco (1 signed copy)
and
Unfallen Dead (Connor Grey series Bk #3 Mark Del Franco (1 signed copy)
--Mark & I have an odd research overlap (which makes shopping together fun). Sometimes I get to swap crits w him, and often, he's my 1am phone call.

City of Souls Vicki Pettersson (6 signed copies)--Vic and J and I proposed an anthology (Unbound) to get to share a table of contents, & then we critted each others stories. I get lost in her worldbuilding, & then I get lost when I talk to her. Someday, when I'm a grown up, I want to be as funny as she is.

Stray Rachel Vincent (3? signed copies)-- Rachel & I have these lovely-unpredictable chats & great bar outings. She never complains either when I forget to say hello, but dial her up mid-thought. . . and, well, I read all of her books (even though I rarely get early looks despite plaintive sighs).

On the Edge Ilona Andrews (3 signed copies) Ilona tells the world's best late night stories. If we reach an endstates, I want her on my side.

Nightmare Academy Dean Lorey (6 signed copies)-- My son was a beta reader for Dean (who, as my son tells it, is Much Much Cooler & writes Great Funny Stuff . . . which, "by the way, Mama, he lets me read . . . unlike YOU.") Once I quell the the temptation to envy Dean for the coolness, I remember that he's also a helluva friend, who did me the huge favour of talking me through the film deal for Wicked Lovely  AND prepped me for the meeting with my producers.

Ballads of Suburbia Stephanie Kuehnert (3 signed copies)-- Every tour, I get to go to Chicago, & every time, Stephanie reveals an amazing bar . . . and then I find myself thinking that life in a freezing cold city isn't that bad, really, I could do it. I realize after I leave again that I really & truly hate the cold, but she's awesome enough that she makes me forget that detail. Also? Her books make me cry, & sigh, & remember things I often set aside. She writes powerful stuff.

It’s A Great Big City…

When I started out in science fiction and fantasy, I was going to write space opera (as detailed in my post at Mad Genius Club ).  Those of you who know my work or are willing to check out http://www.sarahahoyt.com probably know the story took various detours.  However, my seventeenth written/sold book is definitely space opera… whoo-hoo.

Only when my most reliable writing friend – Dave Freer – read it, he told me “Sarah, it’s urban fantasy.”

Okay, I’ve written UF in the past and hope to write it again in the future.  But this was pushing it.  “It’s in space, Dave,” I said, reasonably.  “Oh, okay, fine, I’ll give you that the asteroid is mostly one large, large city, but it’s still in space.  And there are no vampires.  Or werewolves.”

“Your main male character/reluctant love interest is an Enhanced Life Form with cat eyes and calico hair.  He has the superpower of moving very fast.  He has a vulnerability to light other humans don’t have.  His job title IS Cat.  Face it, you’ve written urban fantasy in space!”

I did what any reasonable woman does when faced with a stubborn male.  I flung the door shut loud enough for him to hear it – and let me tell you, considering he was in South Africa at the time and I was in Colorado, that was very loud.  Yes, that IS what you heard around September some time – and went into my office to sulk over a cup of Earl Grey and a rousing game of computer Mah Jong.

After a while my disgruntled mumbles of “Urban fantasy my foot” and “I know I can write Science Fiction” and “Special power, ah!” grew slightly more gruntled.  After another while, they stopped altogether.

Thing is, you see, Dave just might be right.  When I started out, in the Ordovician, I wanted to write science fiction, and I read mostly science fiction.  But a funny thing happened on the way to publication.  I got interested in urban fantasy.  And mystery.  And all sorts of other things.  And all of those seem to have… uh… seeded my writing, so that it’s no longer “pure space opera.”  In fact, it’s not really pure anything.  Except perhaps pure me, which is very scary indeed.

Which probably explains that while I took forever setting up the world, working through future history, building plausible tech and researching all the little finicky details, the book reads like Urban Fantasy.

There’s Athena Hera Sinistra, who starts out as Daddy’s daughter.  At least if one understands that daddy is “Daddy Dearest” who is one of the fifty most powerful men on Earth and who has tried to subdue her by putting her into mental hospitals, juvenile correction facilities, tough boarding schools and even tougher reprogramming camps.  None of it worked.  Athena can clean up and be the society daughter.  Most of the time, though, she faces life with clenched fists and a ready foot – known and feared wherever fighting men cover their privates.  Her extraordinary speed – not a super power! grumble – gives her an edge over even a superior number of enemies.

But even she cannot do much against her father’s contingent of goons clad head to toe in dimatough armour.  No, her only defense against that is to escape Father’s space cruiser in a life pod into what should be uninhabited space.  Only to be rescued by Kit Klaavil, a dangerous man who, beyond his cat eyes and calico hair, and his speed that is much faster than hers, has issues.  Oh, and his issues have issues.  And those are coming home carrying little litters of issues.  That one of those issues is with women due to a very bad first marriage doesn’t help things.

Athena, of course, does what comes naturally and tries to strangle him.  He’s a match for her strength, but not for her … inventiveness.  An inventiveness that will get her – and him – in serious trouble as they face problems in his native – and illegal – colony, Eden, and even bigger problems and a man hunt for her back on Earth.  A man hunt that, if successful, will be worse than death for Athena, and at least death for Kit Klaavil.

The book also features the world’s weirdest love declaration, odd societies and even odder people.  And I suppose the villains could marginally be considered vampires.  For a definition of vampire.  From a science fiction point of view.  They do live off the lives of others.  And both Kit and Thena find out they, themselves, are not exactly as normal (for a given definition of normal) as they seem to be.  Grumble, grumble, grumble…  Dave was right, I suppose – slams door – and this has to count as the most far-flung urban fantasy ever.

The weird part is that I can’t wait to write the (already started) sequel.  Even if it is – grumble, grumble (grabs Earl Grey) – Urban Fantasy.  In space.  With cat-eyed love interest.

                                                                                                                                                         *********

For those wishing to check it out, I have three chapters at sarahahoyt.livejournal.com  I also have a copy to mail to someone who comments on this post OR on the (long) snippet.  I’ll put all the names in a hat and get one of the many cats (you don’t want to know) to pull one out.  (It’s NOT unlikely.  My husband has taught one of them to high five.  No, you don’t want to know about that either.  Grumble.)

Mirrored from One Crazy Dame. Comment here or there

Today we’ll have a special guest.  Her name is Sarah Hoyt and she is a lovely person all around.

Gordon and I met Sarah at a convention in Colorado, which she attended with her husband and her two sons.  Sarah is originally from Portugal and she speaks with an accent, just like me.  We’ve had several late night conversations, and we understood each other just fine, but I suspect nobody else could figure out what we were saying to each other.

Sarah writes a wide variety of science fiction and fantasy (and I am shamelessly plagiarizing her website here):

Shifter Series (Draw One in the Dark and Gentleman Takes a Chance), or my

Musketeers Mysteries series (Death of a Musketeer, The Musketeer’s Seamstress, The Musketeer’s Apprentice and A Death in Gascony)

Magical British Empire series (Heart of Light, Soul of Fire and Heart and Soul).

Shakespearean Fantasy series (Ill Met by Moonlight, All Night Awake and Any Man So Daring) or my collection, Crawling Between Heaven and Earth.

Today she will be profiling her new release, which she calls urban fantasy in space.

Mirrored from One Crazy Dame. Comment here or there

As my mini-tour looms in less than two weeks, I realized that I haven't been in "show mode" in almost four months. That was when I had the 3.5 week Blood Promise tour, a feat that I definitely needed time to recover from. But now it's time to get out my dresses and author smile again!

A lot of readers who come to see me (particularly my younger ones) tell me mine was the first signing they'd been to and that they didn't know what to expect. Based on that, I thought I'd walk you through what happens at a Richelle Mead signing.

First things first: Reading and Q&A
I start off reading aloud from one of my books, usually the newest or an upcoming one. That lasts for 10-15 minutes. After that is Q&A, when the audience gets to ask me whatever they want--though I do warn everyone to be careful of spoilers. Q&A usually goes for at least 20 minutes. Sometimes the crowd wants it to go longer, and we decide based on turnout. If there are a couple hundred people there, we may have to keep this part brief.

The Signing Part! Come meet me!
The bookstore will line everyone up to see me, and sometimes they even institute a bracelet system where readers who arrived earliest get to go first. Staff will likely put post-it's on your book so I know how to spell your name. I've recently reduced the number of books I'll sign, due to the fact that it took 2-3 hours to get through some of the lines on my BP tour. My current limit is three books per person (and yes, you can get your mom or friend to carry another three). One is personalized, i.e. "To John, hope you enjoy!" And then I'll just sign my name in the other two. I'm sorry to have limits, but when you're one of the people waiting two hours, you'll appreciate it. If we have a small turnout, we might be able to adjust the limit. When you come up to me to get your books signed, you can ask me questions if you want. Don't be afraid! I'll probably ask you some things too.

Pictures
I do pictures, but they can make a signing really long. What helps move this along is if you tell me as soon as you come up to me that you want a picture. That way, you can start to pose with me while I sign, and then I'll look up for the camera. The other thing that helps is to have someone with you (or to make a friend in line) who knows how to use your camera or cell phone. Train them! A lot of wacky mishaps occur when the photographer doesn't know how to use the camera and attempts the picture five times. I like doing pictures and know a lot of you do too, so cross your fingers that we can keep doing them!

Etiquette
Please be nice to the bookstore staff because they're trying their best to keep things moving. Also realize that patience is key if you've ended up near the end of the line. I've seen people argue with the staff and insist they need to move up front because they "have to be somewhere." But so does everyone else. If you've got friends or family with you, it'll pass the time. The people at the end of the line always seem to be with large groups of friends, and they're always in such good moods! It's like they've been having a party the whole time and didn't notice the line.

How early to get there?
Honestly, I don't know because I never know how many will show up or how big the place is. I've had anywhere from 20-300 people. On the BP tour, a lot of the venues turned out to be too small, so last minute arrivals often had to stand. Some readers arrived six hours early, which I have to think is a little too early because I'm not that big! But it's your call. This upcoming tour will be held in larger venues, which should help things a lot. So, even if you don't get in the front row, you'll still probably get a seat. When I go see an author signing, I show up 15-60 minutes beforehand, depending on how big I think the turnout will be. If you're in doubt, call the bookstore beforehand for advice.

Requirements
Unless noted on my website, there are no fees or purchase requirements to come to a signing. You can bring in your books from home, but if there's a book you want to get, it's really nice if you can buy it from the store hosting me. It costs them money and time to have an author in, so supporting them means they can bring me back.

Okay, hope that helps! Don't be scared when I mention lines. They go fast! Book signings are super fun. I love them and love meeting you guys, so I hope you'll come out when I'm in your area. It's your chance to ask me those burning questions and my chance to see what people think of the books. I could stay there all night! It's also your chance to get pens and color-changing pencils.

My appearances page recaps a lot of signing info and lists my schedule. I'm really looking forward to seeing readers in NYC, New Orleans, and Miami later this month. In another couple months, we'll know where I'll be touring for Spirit Bound, so that'll be fun too. So, stay posted, and if you can't keep up with my website, my mailing list will send out reminders.

On Writer Humor, We’re Still a Little Tired

Me: Prologue done.  Chapter 1…

Gordon:  Rocks fall, everybody dies.

Kate 5, finished in two thousand words.  Oh yes.

On Character Humor, A Bit Psychotic

The first thing you noticed about Barabas was his hair.  Cut short on the sides and the back, it was about an inch and a half-long on top of his head and he brushed it back until the entire inch and a half stood on end.  The haircut broadcasted an agressive edge, just like Barabas himself, who had a sleek, defined build, but almost no bulk.  He moved like an acrobat, cut his opponents with surgical precision, and knew more about politics of the shapeshifters than I would ever learn in a lifetime.  Anybody could tell that carrying off a reckless haircut wouldn’t be a problem for him.

Unfortunately his hair was deep vivid red, and since it radiated from his scalp, it looked like his head was on fire.

“You have rats.”

I blinked.  “No, I don’t.  I had my place exterminated.”

He smiled.  His face looked a little deranged.  “You have rats, Kate.  Big squirming juicy rats.  They’re in your walls.”  He leaned toward me, his pupils like two black moons, and tapped his temple with his long finger.  “I can hear them.”

Why me?

“Don’t worry.  I will take care of them for you.”

On Kid Humor, The Evil Kind

Kid 1 and Kid 2 are bickering right after we watched White Noise 2, a horror movie about dead spirits trying to contact the living through static on electronic devices, in particular TV screens.

Princess Coconut: Well, at least I can stay up past eight o’clock!

Alice: Well, at least I won’t be sleeping in a room with a TV in it.

Princess Coconut: O_O!!!

Mirrored from One Crazy Dame. Comment here or there