L. Jagi Lamplighter's Blog, page 9
March 28, 2017
Seeing the light on romance
Author Monalisa Morgan Foster has posted a very complimentary essay about my "Dating the Monsters" article. It makes an interesting counter to Dawn Witzke's insightful piece on Strong Female Characters.
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I have to admit, the last person I thought I’d see with an essay in Ardeur, a non-fiction book about Laurell K. Hamilton’s, Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, was L. Jagi Lamplighter.
I’d read several of the books in the Anita Blake series after a co-worker got me hooked. I did not stay a devotee of the series. I honestly can’t recall where the series lost me, and I really didn’t think much of it. Most series romances lose me a few books in. “It’s not you. It’s me.” Honest.
Lamplighter was someone whose reputation I was aware of and whose short stories I’ve enjoyed. I may or may not have read her back when I was reading just for pleasure (and the fact that I can’t recall if I had or hadn’t isn’t noteworthy either, trust me–ask me what I had for dinner last night; go ahead, I dare you!). I do miss the days when I never had to worry about reading-as-a-writer. Reading-as-a-reader is more fun. Honestly, if you love reading, and you’re considering writing, turn back now. “Danger, Will Robinson, danger.” (This is not a condition unique to writing. Beware of turning any avocation into a vocation.) But, I digress…
This enlightening essay is called “Dating the Monsters: Why It Takes a Vampire or a Wereguy to Win the Heart of the Modern It Girl” and here’s a woefully brief excerpt. To my happy surprise, said essay wasn’t about the failings of men. I almost did a happy dance.
March 14, 2017
Ruining Beauty
My latest article at Superversive SF
I have seen very few movies in the theater, compared to the average America. The number of movies I have seen twice is even smaller. The number of movies I have seen more than twice could be counted on one hand.
There is only one movie that I saw in the theater six times: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
Why did I—or I should say, we, for I saw it each time with my husband—love this movie so much? A bit of history…
I grew up out of step with the kids I went to school with, partially because I lived in the world of imagination, and many of them did not. My greatest joy was a trip to the local library, from which I would return with a stack of books as high as I could carry. I could read a book back then in a day or maybe two, and every new book was a journey into wonder.
As a bookish, imaginative person, my childhood was a lonely place.
Very few of the other kids understood why one would bother with such foolish things. Books did not make them “burn with the bliss and suffer the sorrow of all mankind.” * Daydreaming was a thing that was mocked.
Read on to learn how the new movie destroys the very thing that makes Belle who she is.
March 1, 2017
Vote now for CLFA Book of the Year!
Jagi here.
The Conservative Libertarian Fiction Alliance have their annual Book of the Year questionnaire up. One of the books is John's Iron Chamber of Memory, which is not eligible for a Dragon Award, as their cut-off dates go June to June, and it came out about a year ago.
There are other excellent books there as well, including Peter Grant's Brings the Lightning and Marina Fontaine's Chasing Freedom.
So go by and vote! Voting ends March 31st.
February 25, 2017
The Wrights Hijack Catholic Geek Radio!
Tomorrow from 7pm to 9pm EST, while the unsuspecting Declan Finn rests on his long-needed vacation, John C. Wright and L. Jagi Lamplighter will be hijacking his radio show: Catholic Geek Radio. As if this were not bad enough, the Wrights have turned the show over to a crew of imaginary characters. The Lady Rachel Griffin and her blood-brother Sigfried Smith the Dragonslayer will be conducting the show and interviewing other fictional characters from the works of Wright and Lamplighter, with an eye toward whether any of them are worthy to be hired to star in a book. Interviewees may include Miranda and Mephisto Prospero, Wendy and Raven Ravenson, Menelaus Montrose and Blackie Del Azarchel, Gil Moth and his trusty friend, Ruff the phooka dog (Not a spy for elfs.)
Tune in to find out how Montrose and Blackie survived living together in a tin can for all those years, what Ruff thinks about spying for the elfs, and whether Mephisto really does like cheese.
Feel free to leave questions for any or all of the characters below!
Catholic Geek Radio — February 26th at 7pm EST with Wright and Lamplighter
February 20, 2017
Signal Boost: The Ironwood Staff
The Ironwood Staff by J. H. Hamilton
This is a Superversive book. The story is like a high fantasy set in Africa with Zen elves, but the progressive ideas of the villains and the way in which evil corrupts and spreads, as well as what the hero must do to fight it, lends a Superversive thread to this simple fantasy.
Tomas the Lame was a scribe, until the goblinish Kchabani invaded his home, sacking the library and enslaving the people. Escaping to the eladi in their forest home, he fought back until he was injured and unable to fight.
When the eladi found he had strange gifts in communicating with animals, he thought he had a new life as a Magus – what he didn't know was that the invaders were seeking him by dark arts and vile monsters, putting his new friends and new love in danger.
On a desperate mission to the cold, wet south of the world, Tomas joins a party seeking the aid of an eladi king, leader of a people who have hidden themselves from the rest of the world for centuries. Will the southern eladi help? And, will they be in time to save the Sunlands from the kchaban hordes?
February 11, 2017
Valentine’s Sale…first two Books of Unexpected Enlightenment
On Sale today through Feb 14th — the first two Books of Unexpected Enlightenment!
Both books are $.99 Great time to try the series, or to pick up the second one, if you already have the first.
January 30, 2017
New Release: Live and Let Bite
New Release: Live and Let Bite
The third book in series following the Dragon Award nominated "Love at First Bite"
Merlin “Merle” Kraft has been fighting the darkness for months. He left San Francisco in the capable hands of Marco Catalano and his anti-vampire team to defend them against vampires. With special operators at his command, Kraft has been killing every vampire he can find in the Middle East. After clearing out a nest in Tora Bora, he is finally brought back to New York, and the investigation that led him to vampires in the first place.
Marco is starting to spiral. He knows it. His team knows it. Everyone around him can see that he’s just a bomb waiting to explode. The only woman who can bring him back from the brink is also the woman who lit his fuse.
Ever since the demon Asmodeus tried to murder Marco, Amanda Colt has been hunting down every lead to find the ones ultimately behind the attempt. After months of investigation, she learns that something in the dark is colder than the dark. It is a vampire assassin that Amanda has faced once before, and Amanda lost. This assassin is stronger than anything they’ve face before, and it isn’t alone.
With Marco ready to self-destruct, and the armies of Hell ready to descend, the three of them must come together and stop a thousand-year-old assassin that has never been stopped, and has never failed to kill her target.
January 20, 2017
Superversive Books
Today's the day!
We are actually beginning our Superversive Book List! Our goal is to have a suggested reading list that can be shared about, listing books–from all time periods–that are worth reading! Hopefully, this will eventuall lead to a Year's Best list and a Superversive Award.
But for now, we are merely compiling a list. The results will be posted in a special Superversive Reading List place.
What is a Superversive book, you ask? A book that lives up to the motto: Good storytelling, great ideas.
For convenience sake, while this is not necessary, it would be nice if you could mark your suggestions by catagory:
Superversive — good storytelling, great ideas
Starship Trooper
Harry Potter
Noumenal Superversive (NS) – what I call Superversive–a story that lifts you out of the ordinary into something finer and higher.
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe — and all the Narnia books
Wrinkle In Time
Childrens — books that are Superversive, but specifically for children.
Watership Down
The Dark is Rising
So come one, come all!
Write down your favorite Superversive book titles!
Suggestions so far:
Watership Down"
"A Wrinkle in Time"
"Awake in the Night Land"
Narnia books, of course
"Lord of the Rings", of course
Tunnel in the Sky —- Heinlein
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress — Heinlein
The Iliad ———Homer
Citizen of the Galaxy — Heinlein
Starship Troopers — Heinlein
"No. 1 Ladies' Detective Series
Harry Potter
Nine Princes of Amber
Screwtape Letters.
The Prisoner of Zenda
The Charwoman's Shadow,
The King of Elfland's Daughter.
Ballad of the White Horse
The Napoleon of Notting Hill
The Four Men: A Farrago
For Young Children: The Madeline series by Ludwig Bemelmans
The Berenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
The Christmas Day Kitten by James Herriot…
A Little Princess (or Sara Crewe) by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
A Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L'Engle
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
the Princess series by Jessica Day George
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne CollinsT
The Rachel Griffin series by L. Jagi Lamplighter…
O. Henry's short stories–The Last Leaf
The Gift of the Magi; the story story by Isaac Asimov
The Ugly Little Boy; Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
The Lord of the Ring series by J.R.R. Tolkien
True Grit by Charles Portis
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz
Shane by Jack Schaefer
The People series by Zenna Henderson
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmauska Orczy
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Antigone by Sophocles
Psalms of Isaak by Ken Scholes
Joy Cometh with the Mourning by Dave Freer
Frontier Magic series by Patricia C. Wrede
Saga of the Forgotten Warrior series by Larry Correia
the Chronicles of Brather Cadfael by Ellis Peters
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Good Omens e Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry
The Shifter series by Sarah A. Hoyt
St. Patrick's Gargoyle by Katherine Kurtz…
The Secret Garden
The Railway Children
Roger Lancelyn Green's Adventures of Robin Hood
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ring of Bright Water
Pride and Prejudice.
"Who Fears the Devil?" by Manly Wade Wellman
Appendix N and Why It Is Important…by me
I wrote an intro for Jeffro Johnson's Appendix N book. Later, it was decided to use only John's. (Originally, he planed to have several.) So mine has gone up as a blog post. Here it is:
Why Appendix N Started a Literary Movement
I still remember the first time I heard those three magical worlds.
My cousin Ariel was visiting. She was a whole year older than I was and lived in Manhattan. She was a sophisticated young lady compared to my country mouse self. A couple of years earlier, she had told my parents about some books she thought I would like, books by authors named Tolkien and Lewis. Those books changed my life.
Now, she was telling me about something even more astonishing. Some guys she knew from MIT were playing a new kind of game—a game like the kind we always played. Only they added rules, so anyone could play—not just people who really got along and could come to an agreement about their mutual story.
This game was called Dungeons & Dragons.
Three magical words.
It was a few years before I actually got my hands on a copy of the game. Everything about it was enchanting. It came with dice that were like none anyone had ever seen, and the book! It was solid and filled with art and charts. So many fascinating charts!
Not just in the main text either. The charts ran over into appendixes. There were even charts that let you run an entire campaign just by die throws.
There was one appendix I never paid much attention to. It was a list of books. Books I had read, or had on my to-read list, or knew all about because friends had read them. But the list did make me smile. It’s always nice to discover that someone shares one’s tastes.
Many years later, I began to read references to some guy named Jeffro who was reading and reviewing the Appendix N books. That’s nice, I thought, he’s reviewing those books we’ve all read.
Only, I began to notice something strange…
Jeffro’s reviews were being referred to everywhere and with growing excitement. People were reading them, talking about them, vowing to read Appendix N books themselves. But where was this excitement coming from? What were they so exited about?
It took me an embarrassingly long time to catch on.
Those books “we” had all read?
Apparently, “we” didn’t exist any more.
January 17, 2017
Book Bomb Day! — SET TO KILL and more!
Big day for books! I had originally going to be showcasing Declan Finn's Set To Kill. I will do so, but I will also mention two other book oportunities.
Set to Kill: A Sean AP Ryan Novel (Convention Killings Book 2)
by Declan Finn
Sean AP Ryan thought he was doing security for a science fiction convention … he didn’t know he was refereeing a war.
After the events of "A Pius Stand," Sean A.P. Ryan has spent the last year in Italy, keeping his head down and his mouth shut. But now, he has been brought out of his exile for one big job: security at the world's largest science fiction convention, WyvernCon. His mission? To keep the peace between two factions warring over the "coveted" Hubble Awards — the Tearful Puppies and the Puppy Punters. Even though Sean has a bad feeling about it, he takes the job, expecting a relatively quiet weekend.
Unfortunately, Sean soon learns that he has a bounty on his head. Every bounty hunter and mercenary within shouting distance of the internet is descending on the convention, each of them set on killing him. And his enemies list is long enough to cover half the free world, and most of the world still in chains.
If that wasn't bad enough, the first casualties of the War of the Puppies happen at the convention. Could it have been one of the Puppies, who are all armed and dangerous? Or could it have been one of the Punters, who claim pacifist tendencies, and fanatical devotion to their cause?
With the bodies piling up, and the attacks becoming more frequent, Sean has to discover who wants him dead, and who the true Puppy killer is, before all of WyvernCon goes down in flames
My take: If you consider yourself a Puppy (Sad or Rabid) or even Puppy-friendly, then you may enjoy this extremly humorous take on the Summer of Puppy Madness (2015). Finn's hero, Sean Ryan–think funny James Bond with an awesome elf sidekick–takes on both assassins and science fiction authors. If the first doesn't kill him, banging his head against a table out of frustration over trying to protect the second just might!
The action is over-the-top and fun, and fans of SF will get a kick out of spotting their favorite authors in this hilarious parody. (Finn's versions of their names alone are worth the price.) Put aside any serious bone in your body–then read and enjoy!
And now…a few more titles…
Jeffro Johnson's book, Appendix N.
APPENDIX N: A LITERARY HISTORY OF DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is a detailed and comprehensive investigation of the various works of science fiction and fantasy that game designer Gary Gygax declared to be the primary influences on his seminal role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons.
It is a deep intellectual dive into the literature of science fiction's past that will fascinate any serious role-playing gamer.
Author Jeffro Johnson, an expert role-playing gamer, accomplished Dungeon Master and three-time Hugo Award Finalist, critically reviews every single work listed by Gygax in the famous appendix, and in doing so, draws a series of intelligent conclusions about the literary gap between past and present that are surprisingly relevant to current events, not only in the fantastic world of role-playing, but the real world in which the players live.
CLFA JANUARY BOOKNADO!
Freedom’s Light: Short Stories
The first-ever CLFA-endorsed anthology of short fiction! Enjoy a variety of tales in assorted genres from CLFA members and supporters!
This is the month for anthologies! Savor a witty intro by the great Milo Yiannopoulos and enjoy popular authors including John C. Wright, L. Jagi Lamplighter, Nick Cole, Larry Corriea, Brad Torgersen, Brian Niemier, and Vox Day.
The Temple of Light (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 5)
by Kal Spriggs
Lieutenant Alannis Giovanni embarks on a mission to stop her ex-husband from gaining control of a superweapon that can destroy star systems.
Escaping Infinity by Richard Paolinelli
Thousands have checked into the Infinity Hotel. No one has ever checked out! (Sci-fi thriller)
Mythic Orbits 2016: The Best Speculative Fiction by Christian Authors
Another anthology! Features CLFA member L. Jagi Lamplighter among other authors.
Also, check out my radio show from this Sunday to hear from the authors.
Psychic Undercover (With the Undead) by Amie Gibbons
Singers are a dime a dozen in Nashville, so despite her mama’s urging, psychic Ariana Ryder’s working her way towards a career in law enforcement at the FBI instead. But vampires aren’t the only thing that go bump in the night…
Kindle Deals: $1.99 or Less*
*as of January 17 and 18, 2017
99¢
Pampered and cultured Katie Welch discovers the most unusual boy swimming in her lake and for the first time in memory, she connects. Overjoyed to find someone she can relate to, Katie defies her mother and ignores the warning signs – until it’s too late.
Ages 14 and up.
99¢
Chasing Freedom by Marina Fontaine
Geeks and outcasts vs. oppressive government in near-future U.S.
(Dragon Award 2016 nominee)
99¢
Domino
by Kia Heavey
Domino the barn cat learns that there’s no way to bite or scratch a poisonous idea and soon, he is in an existential struggle to save his family, his territory, and a time-honored feline way of life.
