Jim C. Hines's Blog, page 188

Taking the Hit

I've talked before about the similarities between writing and martial arts, but the more I study Sanchin-Ryu, the more I appreciate it as a metaphor for writing.  (Or maybe writing is a metaphor for karate, I don't know.)

One things I struggled with in Sanchin-Ryu is that there's no blocking.  Oh, you learn pretty quickly to keep your hands up to guard, and there are strikes to intercept an opponent's attack, not to mention learning to move into your opponent to disrupt their attack.  But no b...

Notes From a Booksigning

Thanks to everyone who came out to Schulers last night!  I hope you all enjoyed yourself.  Thanks also to the staff at the store, particularly Emily, who did the planning and prep work.

I'm told they ordered 50 copies of Red Hood's Revenge.  By the end of the night, I believe there were two left.  Booksignings can be hit or miss, but I'm counting this one as a solid win.  As always, it was a bit of a blur, but here are some of the things I remember:

1. Jim C. Hines, demonstrating his...

My Job Rocks, Part XVIII

For anyone in mid-Michigan, I've got a booksigning at pizza party tonight from 6:00 - 8:00 at Schuler Books in Okemos.  (Former Lansing signings have been at the Eastwood location.  If you go to the Eastwood store tonight, I won't be there, and neither will all of that hot, yummy pizza.)

Any suggestions or requests for what you'd like me to read?

#

I also wanted thank everyone who's posted reviews or comments about Red Hood's Revenge on Amazon, Twitter, blogs, or wherever.  It's very much...

False Rape Reports

After my Rape and the Police post, I said I'd do a follow-up on false reports of rape.  I do this for two reasons.

False reports do happen, albeit rarely.  Rare or not, they're worth discussing.
By posting this discussion here, the next time I talk about rape and someone starts to derail the conversation by talking about false accusations, I can redirect the commenter to this post.

The issue of false accusations used to come up every time I spoke to men about rape.  It's come up in almost...

PublishAmerica: Now With 67% More Poodoo!

Fun fact: did you know that back in 1997, Miranda Prather (Executive Director of PublishAmerica) was arrested for Atlanta Nights, the same company that published Night Travels of the Elven Vampire w...

A Star Shall Fall, by Marie Brennan

[image error]A Star Shall Fall [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon] is the third book of Marie Brennan's Onyx Court historical fantasy series.  (I've also reviewed books one and two.)

The series takes place in a very richly-described, well-researched London, where the Onyx Court of the faeries coexists beneath the city, magically intertwined with the geography and fate of mortal London.

I've said in my prior reviews that the first two books have a more leisurely pace in the beginning … but not book three.  A...

Book Sales Info (and Guppy TV)

One question I get asked a lot is how the release of a new book affects sales of my backlist.  I've said before that the only factor I've seen consistently and clearly improve sales of a book is the release of the next book in that series.  I figured with Red Hood coming out, I could indulge my inner graph-geek and share a little data to back that up.  (For legal/contractual reasons, I can't share the actual numbers.)

Let's start with the princes series.  The green line represents sales of...

Thursday Eclectia

Shortpacked on Wonder Woman and the Flag.  Heh … I particularly like the Captain America quote at the bottom.

#

I've seen the Bookscan numbers for Red Hood's Revenge [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon].  Sales for the official release week?  Best ever for any of my books, and about 30% higher than the first week sales for Mermaid's Madness, the previous record holder.  Thank you!!!

#

We bought a half-dozen guppies a while back.  As I should have expected, they soon produced bonus baby guppies. ...

Applying the Bechdel Test

Many of you are probably familiar with the Bechdel Test, named after Alison Bechdel, and originally posited by Liz Wallace.  The test simply asks whether a movie meets the following criteria:

(1) It has at least two women in it, who (2) talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man.

The rule works with written fiction too, and can be applied to more than just gender.  For example, The Stepsister Scheme passes the test with flying colors, but if you ask whether there are at least two...

Red Hood Discussion Post

This is your official discussion post for Red Hood's Revenge [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon].  It probably goes without saying that there will be spoilers in the comments.

I figure this is your discussion space, so while I'm happy to answer questions, I'm also more than happy to stay out of it and let people chat.  Hm … to clarify, I'm happy to answer questions about anything except what happens in book four

Have fun!