S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 209

Winners

I's great to know so many of you are giving books as gifts, and what a terrific range of titles you mentioned in the 2 Magical Holiday Reads giveaway -- Santa would be proud.

We de-iced the magic hat, and the winners are:

Bethany K. Warner, who is giving the "first two Rachel Caine Morganville vampires books."

The Bonz, who is presenting a lucky niece with "a gorgeous set of illustrated LOTR hardcovers."

Cora, who is giving away a pile of books, including a novel from one of my favorite series "Nightlife by Rob Thurman."

Bunnie's Mom, who is hoping her guy will "go to the book store and gift me an actual book."

Claire Cherven, who gives "Borders gift cards as well as gift certificates to the Clinton Book Store."

Winners, when you have a chance please send your full name and ship-to info to LynnViehl@aol.com so I can get your books out to you. My thanks to everyone for joining in.

Holiday Karma

If he picked out the expensive perfume in your stocking, prepare to smell like a mango, an opium addict or a streetwalker for the next six months.

If she picked out a special holiday sweater for you to wear, be prepared to flash, ring, shed sequins, itch unbearably and possibly have your manhood questioned.

If you bake your own cookies, no matter how carefully you plan, you will make too many or not enough. You will also burn the ones you're giving your boss but won't realize they're scorched on the bottom until he's about to take a bite.

The day after you finish all your holiday shopping someone will ask you to get a gift for someone who wasn't on your list. P.S., the recipient will be someone you don't know, someone you don't like, and/or insanely difficult to shop for.

The food item you are highly allergic to will be the secret ingredient in your neighbor's famous pumpkin bread. You will not discover this until after the emergency room visit.

The giant hole/termite infestation/occupied bird's nest in your Christmas tree will not become evident until you are putting on the last ornament.

The mail carrier you chewed out for delivering a battered box last July will assure that no gift package addressed to you ever again lands unscathed.

The mall Santa will smell like Ben-Gay, denture cream or Jack Daniels, and will go on his lunch break just as you and your exhausted preschooler reach the front of the line.

When he visits, your weird uncle will definitely ask where you've displayed put the semi-pornographic statue he gave you for your wedding.

While cooking dinner for your family you will drop something on the kitchen floor that 1) shatters into a million razor-sharp pieces, 2) creates a small lake of something nearly impossible to clean up fast (like cooking oil) and/or 3) is an essential part of the recipe for your entree, one you had to drive 20+ miles to purchase.

2 Magical Holiday Reads

One reason I love the holidays is because it means I can go to the bookstore as often as I like. Browsing through the shelves to find books for family and friends is fun, and I can always find something to please even the pickiest reader.

One book I'm giving this year to all the paranormal fantasy and romance lovers on my list is In the Dark of Dreams by Marjorie M. Liu. This newest Dirk and Steele novel tells the story of Jenny, a gifted paranormal researcher, who travels the world looking for the legendary merfolk, people who live in the sea, and Perrin, an outcast merman sent to live in exile on land.

Since meeting briefly as kids, Jenny and Perrin have had tough lives filled with betrayal, loneliness and brutality. All that sustained them through those grim years were their memories of each other and the dreams they share. When they find each other again you'd think they'd get a break, but no, fate isn't finished messing with them yet. What brings them together also threatens to rouse an ancient, slumbering monster capable of causing worldwide catastrophe and the death of millions -- unless Jenny and Perrin can avert disaster before becoming its first two victims.

This story was intense, and has all the fascinating characters, exquisitely detailed world-building and unique, heart-stopping conflict that Marjorie is known for. The great thing about the Dirk and Steele novels is how well they work as standalones, so new readers will enjoy In the Dark of Dreams as much as loyal followers of the series.

Patricia Briggs also has a new novel on the shelves, Wolfsbane , which is the second of her Sianim novels and the long-awaited sequel to Masques , a novel she wrote back at the beginning of her career. You'll see my quote on the reprint of Masques, which I am very happy Ace decided to reprint, as people keep asking to borrow my first edition (which I don't let anyone touch much less borrow because I think it's now worth more than my car.)

Aralorn, a shapeshifter who works as a spy, travels home to attend her father's funeral, only to find that he's not dead but held in a deathlike state by a spell that will soon kill him. To save his life she must enlist the help of her magic-scarred companion, Wolf, who was the son of the most powerful and evil mage in their world. To avoid spoilers for Masques that's all I can say about the plot, but from there it gets very interesting and twisty.

If you have someone on your list who enjoys adventurous romantic fantasy (ala Patricia's The Hob's Bargain), then Wolfsbane is the right book for them. I am going to recommend getting both books for readers who are new to Patricia's early works, not because the Sianim books have to be read together, but because once they read one story about Aralorn and Wolf, they're going to want the other one.

As always, you don't have to take my word for it. In comments, name the title of a book you're giving as a gift this year (or if you're not playing novel Santa, just toss your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Thursday, December 16th, 2010. I'll draw five names at random from everyone who participates and send the winners unsigned copies of In the Dark of Dreams by Marjorie M. Liu and Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

Totally Psyched

E.E. Smith has a post over at Psychology Today about the top ten careers with high rates of depression. As you might guess, we scribes hit the list squarely at #5:

Writers, Artists, Entertainers: Those of us in this category -- so-called "creative" people -- complain of irregular income, odd hours and isolation. Depression leads some to become bipolar.

Hmmmm. On the other hand, we so-called "creative" people may be living very fulfilled lives, thanks to our ability to adapt to almost any situation and make do with what we have to reach our goals.

So which is it? Both? Neither? Equal parts of each? The writer of the depressing careers list admits to some personal experience with depression; did that factor in to putting our profession on the list? Or this other guy who thinks we're so adaptable -- can anyone really know what the creative mind is like by observation?

Such mixed signals are not uncommon. Every day is a gift, we're told. Be the change you want to see in the world. Forgive and forget. There are a million more motivational sayings for creative people floating around out there. They're nice. We want the writing life to be nice.

That said, we all know that every day is not a gift. Some days are nightmares that turn into weeks and months and years of struggle, misfortune and unhappiness. What you change may be something other people didn't want changed, and you find this out only when -- surprise -- they're running at you with torches and pitchforks. Also, how do you honestly forgive and forget the kind of stuff that requires absolution and amnesia?

Yes, the writing life -- or any creative life -- can be difficult, lonely, problematic and at times very depressing. That life can also be joyous, comforting, as easy as breathing and an endless source of delight and satisfaction. I know that I've lost enough of my writing life to misery, and what it's taught me is that I have better things to do. I have things to learn, ideas to explore, and worlds to build. I have people to love, and to entertain, and to help get through their dark times just as they've helped me get through mine.

I thought a lot about what both writers said, and I keep coming back to one thing: I have stories to tell. That's always been the center and the foundation of my writing life, and as long as I have that I know I can deal with anything else that comes along.

What do you guys think? Should writing be ranked as one of the top ten depressing professions? What other careers do you think should have made the list? Let us know in comments.

Play Me Ten

Ten Things for the Free Game Lovers

Age of Conquest is "a medieval Risk-like turn-based strategy game where you take the reins of a budding empire and struggle against fellow empires for control of the world" (OS: "Available for all major operating systems including Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Android and iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad")

Based on the classic Frank Herbert fantasy series, Dune Legacy is "an effort by a handful of developers to revitalize the first-ever real-time strategy game. The original game was the basis for the hugely successful Command and Conquer series, and the gameplay has been replicated an extended to a wide variety of storylines and series. There are currently two different branches of Dune Legacy" (OS: designer notes that it will run on Mac, Linux and even Windows)

Homonym Madness is "a very challenging and fun word puzzle game. It is a completely different kind of word puzzle than you have ever played before" (OS: Win 9x/ME/NT/2K/XP/2K3/Vista/7)

LettersFall2 is a free game that "combines Scabble with Tetris" (OS: Windows XP/Vista/7)

Monopoly Deluxe is a virtual, point and click freeware version of the classic game (OS: Windows 95-98, Windows XP)

pChess is "a basic chess programme" ". . . with nice graphics and a built-in FEN Viewer. Uses a classic Shannon type MiniMax search with Quiescence extensions and Alpha-Beta pruning. It supports copy/paste of FEN positions, a 'Visual Brain' feature, and a small (700 move) opening book. Comes complete with FutureBasic 5 source code" (OS: Mac OSX)

Rasputin's Curse is "a mind-bending hidden object game" (OS: Mac OS X 10.4 or later)

RPGSuite is "a collection of free software aimed at making Role-Playing Games (RPGs) easier to play and manage. It takes programs from a variety of developers and puts them all in one clean, shiny package. You can install what you want, and ditch what you don't" (OS: Windows XP/Vista/7)

Suqoku is "a sudoku game written in QT 4. It can open game files from other sudoku games and generate random games" (OS: OS X, Linux, Windows 7, WinXP)

WordBog is "a challenging word creation game. Those who enjoy word games such as Boggle and Scrabble will find WordBog addictive" (OS: Windows Vista/XP/2000)

How to Save the World (or Not)

I'm late posting because we have family visiting and they're more fun than the computer. Sorry.

I read a very interesting post about how to save the world the other day over at Chris McKitterick's LJ. I think the Rifkin video that he pairs with it is charming and entertaining, and like so many theories, it works nicely on paper, but I think it would probably fall apart the minute you add real humans to the mix. Still, if you want to know more about evolutionary sociology for your world building, this video is probably the best crash mini-course I've ever seen (about ten minutes long, with some mild/vague cartoon nudity.)

Samhain has an open call for their End of Days anthology: "Samhain Publishing invites you to step into the future when Earth as we know it no longer exists. But the End of Days doesn't mean an end to hope and heroes and, most importantly, love and happiness. Will the world end with a bang or will humanity be changed for the better? Only you can decide." Also: "Stories can be of any genre or heat level, and submissions are open to M/F, M/M, or multiples thereof, but all submissions must feature either an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic theme (or both) as integral to the story. Submissions should be 20,000 to 30,000 words in length. All stories must end with a happy ever after for the hero and heroine. Yes, a HEA in an apocalyptic story – don't you just love the contrast?" [Should make for an interesting antho, anyway.] Payment isn't mentioned, but they pay 40% of net on single-author books (I'd e-mail the editor and ask about this up front.) Reprints unspecified, electronic submissions only, see submission guidelines for more details.

Dog Watching

I hope to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am. ~ Unknown Author

I've always had dogs in my life. The only time I haven't lived with a furry friend in my home was when I was in the military, and traveled too much and worked too many weird hours to take care of one (which was propbably why I spent so much time with my parents' pups whenever I went home on leave.)

I am equally fascinated by other people's dogs, and over time have become a secret/sneaky photographer of them. Seeing dogs and people together sometimes gives you a little insight into their personality -- both human and canine.



This pretty girl and I met in town, and I had the chance to discreetly observe her and her owner for about an hour. Both were laid back, down-to-earth types who looked like they handle just about anything life throws at them: strong, content, not easily intimidated. From the casual affection of the owner and the relaxed adoration of the pup it was obvious they'd been together for years.

The most charming thing was seeing how the owner handled the pup -- with quiet voice commands or a brief touch on the head or neck -- and the dog's slow but good-natured response. Despite the breed's rep (these are powerful, muscular dogs) every rottweiler I've ever met has been a big sweetheart, and always seem to have a glimmer of amusement in their eyes when they're watching us.



When I spotted this little princess with her owner I thought, Which came first, the hair color or the Pom? A reasonable assumption, as I often see small dogs being treated like fashion accessories by their female owners. Princess also had been ruthlessly groomed; she didn't have a hair out of place and was so clean she practically glowed.

I grew up with Penny, my grandmother's chihuahua, so I know with small dogs there's a lot more than meets the eye. They're smart, intuitive, and own their humans, not the other way around. These little ones are often so in tune with their owner's emotions they seem like pint-size psychics. For an elderly person, owning a small dog provides opportunities for exercise and welcome relief from loneliness and depression.

When I first saw Princess Pom she was behaving skittishly, evidently made nervous by the crowded conditions of the sidewalk. She tried to retreat into a doorway, at which point her vigilant owner scooped her up and carried her. From that moment on Princess grinned at everyone she and her owner passed, as if she'd gotten exactly what she wanted.



I don't know what breed this pretty pair of pups are (I love their fur; they look so exotic) but seeing them together reminded me of the joys of having two dogs in the house. I've never owned two dogs at once until this year, when we adopted Skye and brought her home to meet Cole. If one dog is a big responsibility, two are double that. Even something simple like walking the pups together can turn into a real challenge.

The owner had no problem with handling these two; they strolled in delighted sync, their eyes bright and heads high. The owner didn't seem to be paying much attention to the dogs, but then, they weren't misbehaving at all. As much as they belong to their owner, they were each other's companion, too. It was a beautiful day, they were together, and all was right with their world.

When I'm busy with housework or writing, I often see Skye and Cole forget about me while they play with their toys or curl up together for a nap. They also hate to be separated; when I took Skye to be spayed Cole was utterly miserable and wandered around the house looking for her for hours.

Not every story we write can include pets, but one good creative exercise is to imagine what sort of dog (or other type of pet) your character would own. You can go back in time to imagine a furry friend from their childhood, or what type they might consider adopting someday. If you're not familiar with the characteristics of different breeds, do the research, but also talk to other people about their dogs, why they chose that breed and what life is like with their pet.

What do you think a character's dog or other pet say about them? Let us know in comments.

DIY Gifts for Writers

Writer friends are not difficult to shop for (hint - bookstore gift cards - hint), but this year the holiday budget may not extend to purchasing gifts for all the scribes on your list. Writers also understand what it's like to exist on a shoestring budget, so don't sweat it. An e-mail greeting card is fine with us; I just got one last night that was absolutely gorgeous.

If you'd still like to do a little more for your writer friends, here are some low- to no-cost ideas that make great gifts:

Art Journal: There is more to the art of writing than just words, and an blank art journal can encourage the artist in your favorite writer to come out and play (you can also find blank art journals at remainder tables at most of the chain stores for under $5.) Add a small set of watercolors, markers or other art supplies as additional incentive. Art journaler Teesha Moore has some fabulous technique videos on her site that include an easy way to make a 16 page journal from a single sheet of watercolor paper.

Blog Collection: For the writer pal who is an avid blogger, copy and paste the best of their posts from 2010 into your word processor. Play with the font, add some pics and design cover art for the collection. Once you've got it all together, generate a .pdf version to e-mail to them, or print a copy to put in a binder and send via traditional mail. If you don't have the ability to create a .pdf file, get a freeware program like CutePDF Writer*.

Custom Bookmarks: Design some bookmarks for your author buddy's latest or upcoming release. Include all their public contact info and (if possible) a title backlist on the flip side. Print them out, cut them up and bundle them along with a CD backup of your designs so your friend can print out more as needed.

Find Freeware: All writers need freeware; we just don't have time to check out every program we'd like to try. Step in for your friend and test drive one or more than you think might be helpful to them, and then backup the download on a CD or e-mail it along with your thoughts on how the program worked. I have a fairly big collection of freeware links here, and you can search out more at sites like Freewarefiles.com and Primewares.*

Guided Journal: Using a notebook or a pretty blank book, create a guided journal for your writer pal. At the top of every other page put a prompt directing them to write about something specific. For prompt ideas, The Creativity Portal has an entire page of links to writing prompts as well as the imagination prompt generator.

Special Slideshow: You can say a lot with pictures, so gather together some great images that would have meaning to your scribe and put them in a slide show with captions, music or whatever would wow your pal. If you're particularly gifted with video, put together a book trailer for your pubbed writer's next release (or if you're like me and video-clueless, Slide.com will generate a decent slideshow for you pretty painlessly.)

Submission List: If you know what sort of story your writer pal is working on, put together a potential submission info list for them with publisher names, addresses and editor contact info. You can find most of this online or in a Writer's Market at your local library (always try to verify anything you find in Writer's Market as they tend to become outdated pretty fast.) Also check out market sites like Ralan.com for interesting open calls for anthologies, writing contests, and the latest on new sub ops.

Writing Cards: I've talked about using the Trading Card Maker to create character cards, but you could also use it to make a custom-designed deck of writing prompts, motivational quotes or other words of wisdom for your writer pal.

Writing Class: If you know the areas of craft where your scribe is interested in learning more or improving, hunt down a free online class and download the info to a CD or print it out and put it in a binder. You can also hunt down free e-books on writing (I've got a couple available on the freebies page under nonfiction) and make up a CD of them. For broader perspective, author Steven Barnes has a free online version of the nine-week writing course he's taught for years at UCLA.

Your Story: If you're a writer, why not write a story about your friendship? You can recount anything from the funniest conference experience to the day your pal kept you from throwing in the towel. The point is to show your friend how they've become a part of the narrative of your life (and if you can make them laugh, that's even better.)

*As always, remember to be cautious with freeware and scan anything you download for bugs and such before you put it on your hard drive.

Do you guys have any DIY gift ideas for writers to share? Let us know in comments.

New Art

These are so gorgeous I have to show them off:



These superb covers are from LYX, the publisher of the German editions of the Darkyn novels and now some of my Jessica Hall titles. These two will be released in August (Night Lost) and September (Into the Fire) next year.

My German is pretty limited, but I think the new titles translate to Blind Desire and In the Heat of the Night.

LJ

I'd like to ask everyone to send good thoughts and prayers to our blogpal Lisa J. Cohen; she and her family are dealing with the aftermath of a house fire. Her husband has pictures posted on Flickr here of the terrible damage it caused. One great blessing is that they were able to get out of the house in time.

Each year during the holiday season fires kill 400+ people, injure 1,650 more, and cause over $990 million in damage.* Houses can be rebuilt and possessions replaced, but fire-related injuries are often devastating, and lives lost to fire are simply gone forever.

So: if you didn't put fresh batteries in your smoke detectors back when the time changed, please do it today. If you don't have smoke detectors in your home, please buy and install some now. Also, make sure you have an escape plan to get out in the event of a fire, and talk to your kids about it.

*Stats are from USFA's article A Season for Sharing in Fire Safety , which is also something you should read when you get a chance.