Carol Berg's Blog, page 4

Writing Evil

Blogging on my agent's livejournal today. The topic is Writing Evil.

I talk about how I try to avoid the Snidely Whiplash or anonymous Dark Lord kind of villains and aim to introduce ambiguity, choice, and realism into my work.

Peeking out from under

Spring of 2011 has vanished. No magic in my books could have done it so effectively. I have been immersed in The Daemon Prism, the third and last novel of the Collegia Magica, emerging every once in a while to attend a conference or convention. When at the computer, I've been working on the book. Two weeks ago now, I sent a first, very rough version to my editor. Whee! The freedom of having the story on the page is huge. Now I can start revising and make it a real story. But for a few days I've had to play catch-up: family, house,yard, plus one of teh most fun conventions I've ever done - MisCon, a regional sf/fantasy convention in beautiful Missoula, Montana. This is no podunk con - I blazed a trail for one George R.R. Something-other who will be the Writer Guest of Honor next year. (More about MisCon in another post.)

Now I've had a little vacation, it's time to get back to revising The Daemon Prism, as well as catching up on the blog, updating the website, and other tasks that feel by the wayside. Here is a teaser for what I've been working on. (Warning: possible spoiler if you've not read The Soul Mirror.)





Thou'rt Fallen, Dante. Born in frost-cold blood; suckled on pain. Thy repentance was ever a lie…

Dante the necromancer is the most reviled man in Sabria, indicted by the King, the Temple, and the Camarilla Magica for crimes against the living and the dead. Yet no judgment could be worse than his enemies' cruel vengeance that left him crippled in body and mind. Dante seeks to salve pain and bitterness with a magical puzzle - a desperate soldier's dream of an imprisoned enchantress and a faceted glass that can fill one's uttermost desires.

But the dream is a seductive trap that can drive a man to murder. Its tendrils have ensnared Dante's own past and his one-time partners, threatening to unleash the very cataclysm he fears. Aided by the unlikeliest of allies, the mage embarks on a journey into madness, slavery, ancient magic, and sacred legends, only to discover the appalling truth of his own role in divine mystery…

Cover Redemption

I have been very fortunate with cover art. As I've explained before, I--as with most authors--have no say in it. My editor now solicits my input as to who might be featured on it, that person's description, and what kinds of artifacts one might find lying about that person. I really appreciate that, as it might have avoided a few problems along the way.

Only two of my covers fall into the "ooh, I wish they hadn't done that" category. I'll leave it to the reader to speculate as to which two. A few years ago one those was featured on a "mock the cover" website with funny captions, along with a bunch of really sweaty romance covers. Oh, the humiliation!!

But today, that humiliation was redeemed...



...on a website reviewing covers for January 2011 releases. Here is the link. I fully agree with the reviewer's assessment. I'm sorry The Soul Mirror cover didn't make it in the female category. Maybe these were only for mass market pubs, and Anne's image will top the list in 2012.

Upcoming events

I am emerging from deadline pressure cooker to remind all Colorado folks that the last stop on my Colorado Soul Mirror launch is coming up.

Saturday, Feb 12th, 2pm
Barnes and Noble
2999 Pearl Street
Boulder
[Chocolate will be served!]

Then I go into writers' conference mode with

Fri-Sat March 11-12
Northern Colorado Writers Conference
Fort Collins Hilton
Fort Collins
[I'll be doing a workshop on Voice and one on Character Development.]



Later in the spring, I'll return to the Pikes Peak Writers Conference, consistently one of the best conferences around. More about that later.

And over Memorial Day weekend, I'll be Writer Guest of Honor at MisCon in Missoula Montana - check it out if you're in the territory!

Soul Mirror Release Day!

Hard to believe, but The Soul Mirror is here at last. Picture Carol wrestling with a 300-pound book for more than a year...well, no maybe don't picture that. But that's what it felt like. It is a big story and it took me some time to get it right. (And the third one is proving to be just as obstreperous.)

Anne de Vernase was a tough narrator. Portier was not entirely an extrovert, but he was accustomed to living in an academic environment, at least, dealing with students and teachers and visitors to Collegia Seravain. But Anne is a true introvert and was not at all prepared for what was awaiting her.

She has lived most of her life in the country with her family, reading, studying, learning under the tutelage of loving parents. When a young girl, her family traveled widely, but she was always sheltered under the protective arm of her father and viewing politics, natural science, and magic through his eyes. Her lively intellect and skeptical view of the supernatural reflected both his love of learning and his pragmatic approach to the wider world.

But when her father vanished, and later when he was convicted of treason, Anne was left on her own. Her mother went into a mental decline, and the king kept her brother hostage against her father's return. Though burdened with responsibilities for a grand estate and its tenants, she was still cocooned by the walls of her home and a few people who cared for her. And then?


Matters got worse. The Soul Mirror begins when Anne is coping with the sudden death of her younger sister, Lianelle, a talented, vivacious student of magic. And then Anne is wrench from the only home she has ever known and thrust into the intrigues of a queen's household...and a murderous plot in which she can't tell friend from enemy. Bad news...

I hope you all enjoy it, while I am hard at work on The Daemon Prism, the third and final chapter of the Collegia Magica tales, written from yet another viewpoint in addition to Anne's.

Allllmossst here...

As the days of December rush past, I'm beginning to believe The Soul Mirror is on its way to release. I'm setting up launch events (check the website if you're anywhere near Colorado this coming January.) And I'm starting to see reviews. Publisher's Weekly gives it a starred review, saying:

Berg refreshes and reinvigorates the familiar trappings of epic fantasy, shaping a novel that rings true both linguistically and imaginatively. This is one to savor.

Needless to say I'm delighted with that. Many authors claim reviews shouldn't matter, but of course they do!

You can find the opening chapter at Soul Mirror Opening on my website.

So what else goes on in the month before release?



Distributing fliers and postcards to bookstores (I've been slack on this).
Giving away ARCS and copies - see the website for details.
Scheduling conventions and appearances for all of next year.


And most importantly, writing the next book, the third and last in the Collegia Magica series: The Daemon Prism.

And another giveaway - short deadline!

My most excellent friend, the Vampire Shrink Lynda Hilburn, has posted an excerpt of Flesh and Spirit as a part of her series of Excerpt Mondays blogposts. to win an autographed copy of Flesh and Spirit...






...just visit Lynda's Paranormality Universe blog and comment on my excerpt.

DEADLINE: this Tuesday, November 9.

ARC Giveaway!

I am giving away an ARC of The Soul Mirror. I told people I'd draw in a week, but as I got delayed posting it around (due to two conventions and a cold) I'm extending the deadline. I'll give you an extra entry, if you can answer the following question:

What was Portier's mother's favorite scent?

To enter:



Send me an email with "Drawing" in the subject line.

If you want a double entry, put the answer in the body of the email.

Mystery on an Autumn Night

Point, the first. It wasn't the candy. Honest. I liked the candy, yes, and our neighbors were generous. (Though I was never a popcorn ball fan. Yes, those were the days when some people actually made Halloween treats and gave them away.)

Point, the second. It wasn't the dressing up. We dressed up all the time to play. And by the time I lusted after the long, gorgeous blue mantilla that a friend of the family had brought from Mexico, my elder sisters were too old for Halloween and my younger sister too little to wear the mantilla, so I pretty much got it whenever I wanted to be a princess or a dancer or a fairy queen. And, oh yes, I wanted.

Point, the third. It wasn't the tricks. Please! I was a good girl with three sisters. We never played tricks (except on each other). Besides, see point, the first, above.

Then why, you ask, was Halloween second only to Christmas Eve in dreamy deliciousness to this girl who never imagined she would become a fantasy author?


It was the dark, of course. Early sunset. And even the night's magical lights, the stars and moon, could hardly push the weight of it aside. Our flashlights and lanterns certainly couldn't. We would run down the street through the piles of oak leaves, our steps pushed just a little faster by the pooled shadows just beyond the light beams. Why does darkness cause those delicious shivers?

Vincent Van Gogh said that "the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day."

Uh-huh. He knew. There's a reason I love his "Starry Night" better than his "Sunflowers."

Certainly marvelous things can happen after sunset. Unexpected visitors. Romance. Fireworks. Escapes. Rendezvous. Kisses at the front door. Or in the garden. Or while floating down the Thames. Danae dance under the autumn moon.

But, of course, the dark can hide dangers, too. Thieves. Potholes. Spiders. How often do you read about "the Light Forest?" Ghosts, invisible in the daylight, take shape against the dark. Whispers and rustling are lost in the noisy business of day, but not in the night.

And the highwayman comes riding, riding... Wouldn't have been the same if it was noon and the road was a ribbon of asphalt.

Shapes blur. Endless possibility. Uncertainty blooms...

Ah, there it is. Uncertainty and possibility create tension, the magic ingredient in any story. It's what keeps us hooked, peeking around that next corner...or page. Night's essence is mystery.

Or perhaps Lemony Snicket said it best: "It is one of life's bitterest truths that bedtime so often arrives just when things are really getting interesting."

Magic!

On the air at Colorado Gold

A great first day at the Colorado Gold Writers Conference in Denver. I love doing writers conferences, which are multi-genre,rather than fantasy/sf specific, and intensely educational in nature. It's a change of pace from sf/fantasy conventions, which are networking, celebratory, and lighter weight. So how did the day unfold?


Breakfast with writer friends.
Sat in the lobby watching people as they arrived, excited, nervous, curious. Three hundred writers in one place means an...