Isabel Roman's Blog, page 51

Thursday Progress

I'm nearly finished my dark Regency story, Dark Inheritance. I had to stop writing forward and read over what I had previously written. I'd grown paranoid that what I'd written didn't mesh with what I wanted to write, and that somewhere along the line I skipped something.

I had and I did!

I guess that's what happens when it's written parts here and there, and not looked over again in months. But I fixed it all and now plan to finish reading the last act and send the whole thing out.

It'll be a relief!

Wednesday Review: Murdoch Mysteries

Based on Maureen Jennings's Detective Murdoch Mysteries, this series takes place in 1890s Toronto. I watched the first two episodes, did NOT like Detective William Murdoch but for some strange reason wanted to watch the rest of the disc.
I don't know if it was because of the time/locale or the supporting cast, but whereas I usually wouldn't have bothered, I ploughed forward. I'm in the middle of Season 2 and am torn between Murdoch's staunch and quite rigid thinkings and the rather fore thinking of the rest of the cast.

For the first time in my TV watching life, I find myself not liking the main character as much as I do the supporting cast. I really like the ME, Dr. Julia Ogden, a woman who has fought her whole life to brush off the stigma of her gender for the career she wants.

Constable George Crabtree is obviously the less educated foil for our brilliant and ahead of his time detective, but Inspector Brackenreid is...it's hard to describe him. I really like him, he's a cross between a stereotype of his time and someone who doesn't like the rules but can't break them just yet. It's a rigid world but it's a changing one, and Brackenreid is caught between that.

If you like police procedurals set in unusual locations, give Murdoch Mysteries a try.

This is from an interview with Maureen Jennings :"The most surprising thing that struck me throughout all my research," Jennings says, "is just how vibrant the city was, its complexities, its people. And the things that happened couldn't have happened anywhere else." It's true: at that time Toronto really was caught between a rock and a hard place with Mother England and her Victorian morality on the one side and nose-thumbing Americans on the other. Toronto the Good was the moniker coined in the 1880s by Toronto Mayor William Holmes Howland in an attempt to wear the city's heart on its sleeve. (He too is the same mayor that appointed an Inspector to the Police Department to fight vice and prostitution!) "A lot of what happened and how things were handled came from the morality of the time, the Church, and the notion of 'Toronto the Good'," Jennings points out. "It was very specific to the city."

Rights reverted

I've recently learned that I might be getting the rights back to a couple stories. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I'm sad to see it no longer available. But then again, if I do get the rights back, I can post it for download on Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

It's an interesting cavet to all the stories going around about self publishing.

Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first.

~Frederick Wilcox

Changing world of publishing

There's been a lot of talk the past few weeks about the changing world of publishing. From the author who refused a $500,000 advance to self-publish to the self-published YA writer who signed a 4 book deal with St. Martin's Press. He's already in print, she wasn't but soon will be. I also stumbled across J.A.Konrath's blog where he goes into great length about self-publishing's pros.

As recently as last month I admit to being one of those people who poo-poo'ed self-publishing, but recent news has me thinking about changing my views on this. I'm not 100% ready to, and will only admit that at this point I find the whole debate fascinating. There are pros and cons about each, and when you really look at it, you have to wonder: is it about the money or the recognition?

Money is great, but seeing my book in bookstores is awesome, too. Plus there's the editing, the cover, the grammar corrections, another set (or 3) of eyes looking at the book for characterization, plot holes, depth of emotion, and all that goes into a fantastic book.

Here's the question, my lovlies: Knowing you could make 70-85% of the price of your ebook, would you go the money route? Or wait to find the right print publisher and go the more traditional route?

Saturday Excerpt

This week at Slip into Something Victorian, I'm posting an excerpt Dark Desires of the Druids: Temptations and Treachery  (only $2.49). I'll also be giving away a free PDF to one rendomally selected commentator.

Lady Isadore Harrington is a well-bred English lady. She's traveled the world in search of magickal artifacts to help her people and has seen the best and worst of humanity. But she's never taken time for herself-never done just for herself. Going to Philadelphia as the magicker emissary between England and the Americas, she intends to rectify that.

Then she meets James Blackthorne. Tall, handsome, witty, commanding, he brings out feelings in her she's always wanted to experience but never has. He makes her want him, makes her forget all else but him. Virginal, but far from naive, Isadore is tempted to experience everything James has to offer. Cautious by nature, she offers her body to him and discovers all her sexual desires fulfilled.

But the magicker world is far from safe, and Isadore is threatened from many who are jealous and distrustful. Temptations abound, but treachery is never far behind.

In DC

I'm in Washington, D.C. this weekend despite the threat of a government shut down. And frankly if Congress can't agree to a budget I think every government employee BUT them should be paid. Take that.

However today I'm doing the tourist thing and walking around DC, possibly finding the historic society, enjoying the sights and sounds of my nation's capitol. Then off to the Library of Congress. I'm really excited about this, and have already signed up for a library card.

Saturday it's the Crime Museum and Spy Museum (both of which I already have tickets for).

And through all this I hope to continue to edit Dark Inheritance and maybe get some insight of Washington during the 1920s.

What are you reading?

I'm reading 3 things at the moment:

Listening to The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart in my car. It's book #2 in a children's series and is smart, if oddly told. Very omniscient with flipping amongst the characters. I guess I'm used to a more narrow POV but it's not bad and the reader is excellent.

In eBook I'm reading unTied Kingdom by Kate Johnson. Alternate worlds where England is a 3rd world country with no concept of computers or technology. I'm not very far in but am enjoying what I've read.

At my nightstand is a paper copy of Caught Off Guard by Kira Sinclair. I've read the first chapter and enjoyed it but between my allergies and late nights, can't seem to keep my eyes open by the time I get to bed.

What are you reading?

Wednesday Reviews: Black Swan

A study in insanity. I enjoyed it, thought it could be a little shorter in parts, but overall not bad. If you like studies in insanity that is.

And it's easy to see why Natalie Portman won the Oscar. Wow, her performance rocked! (Very articulate I know but alas.) From White Swan to Black Swan and back again, virginal, pure, and kind to dark and manic she embodied each character perfectly.

As I said, I thought it went on too much in places, and the ending was ambigious enough to make me wonder, which is always a good thing. I'd recommend it but not as an absolute must see. It was good, and Natalie Portman was great in it, but I doubt I'd watch it again.

Historicals will never die

I've read and heard a lot about the death of the historical. HA! These people know nothing. I agree that preferences change for time periods--I remember reading loads of Civil War stories in college but it's hard to find a mainstream publisher willing to take a chance these days. Good thing for small pubs!

Regency--lack of the death of and all that. You can probably put Medieval in there, too. And anything Scottish or Irish.

But what about England of 1666? Or Moorish Spain? Or alternate history? Check out the Unusual Historicals blog for more crazy suggestions.

Nope, I don't believe historicals will ever die. Take that naysayers!

American Civil War BEGINS!

April 12, 1861, 150 years ago, the American Civil War started with the firing at Fort Sumter. It last 4 years, cost over 600,000 dead, and tore the very fabric of America to shreds.

There are lots of events commorating the war, if you can attend on, I highly recommend it--and then stop back here and tell me about it!According to CivilWar.org today, roughly 30 acres of battlefield land are destroyed each and every day, paved over and lost forever. There are many worthy causes to donate to, people to help, lives to save. But preserving our nation's past in important, too. If you can spare even $10, please do so.

"In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear, but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls. And reverent men and women from afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field to ponder and dream; And lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls."
- Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at the 1889 dedication of the 20th Maine monument at Gettysburg