Lucienne Diver's Blog: Lucienne Diver's Drivel, page 18

Book news!

Some very exciting book news!  First, happy book birthday to Dixie Lyle for the first in the Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot mystery series.  If you like the weird and wonderful, the dangerous and deadly, dogs and cats and ghostly gators, oh my!  This might be the book for you (more below).

In other news, the book that started off Lynn Flewelling’s award-winning and long-running Nightrunner series of spies, thieves, skullduggery and intrigue, LUCK IN THE SHADOWS, is just $.99 for a limited time for Nook and Kindle, so you might want to grab that while it’s hot!

And last, but not least, the new Knight Agency newsletter is out.  Those of you following along at home can view it here.

 A TASTE FUR MURDER by Dixie Lyle

Introducing an animal-loving Gal Friday with a telepathic cat, a shapeshifting dog, and a ghost of a chance of solving supernatural crime…

Meet Deirdre “Foxtrot” Lancaster. Trusted employee of eccentric zillionairess Zelda Zoransky, Foxtrot manages a mansion, a private zoo, and anything else that strikes her boss’s fancy. Her job title is Administrative Assistant, but chaos handler would be more accurate. Especially after she glimpses a giant ghost-beast in Zelda’s pet cemetery. For some strange reason, Foxtrot is seeing animal spirits. And, ready or not, in this mystery from Dixie Lyle, the fur’s about to hit the fan…

Still reeling, Foxtrot comes home to find her cat Tango—her dead cat Tango—alive and well and communicating telepathically. But that’s not all: There’s an ectoplasmic dog named Tiny who changes breeds with a shake of his tail…and can sniff out a clue like nobody’s business. So when a coworker drops dead while organizing closets, Tiny is on the case. Can Foxtrot and her new companions ferret out the killer among a menagerie of suspects—human and otherwise—before death takes another bite?

Having my say on recent bouts of bias and entitlement in the industry…

Enough is enough!  There’s been a lot turmoil in the publishing industry lately.  I’m thinking particularly of the spectacularly sexist and biased remarks flying around from some in the science fiction and fantasy field (see as a reference Dave Truesdale’s absolutely unbelievable rant here) and the recent Huffington Post Article, “If J.K. Rowling Cares About Writing, She Should Stop Doing It.”  I’ve had so much to say on these matters that I’ve literally been unable to say anything, because it all wants to tumble out at once, creating a bottleneck at the source.  But here it is.  I know that I’m not saying anything new, but I have to say it: all of this—ALL OF IT—comes down to entitlement.   I’m entitled to what you have and HOW DARE YOU stand in my way.  What comes next is belittling, bullying and badmouthing others in order to tear them down so that you can climb over their backs to raise yourself up.

Well, let me tell you, it’s not going to happen.  Even if you were the next person in line for the accomplishment you think should be yours, there’s only going to be another you waiting in the wings to tear you down.  It’s craziness.

Here’s the truth: a person’s sex, sexuality or skin has NO bearing on that person’s merit.  NONE.   Of course, I’m starting here with the SFWA insanity.  I have to start somewhere.  Does the first amendment protect your right to spout off biased and bigoted rhetoric?  Just recently Adam Baldwin and Nick Searcy have proven that it does.  However, an organization  does not have to let those people speak for it or give them a forum for their words and yet there is a petition circling claiming censorship for not allowing the bias to stand.  N.K. Jemisin did a wonderful post on all of this which says everything I’d want to say more eloquently than I can put it, but I’ll quote just a little bit here: “I am all about the First Amendment. Most writers are. And if this current brave blow in defense of artistic expression had been actually about artistic expression, I might’ve been in their corner. If they’d gone to bat like this, poured out all this sturm und drang and all these Privileged Writer Tears, over the kinds of things the First Amendment was meant to protect — the voices of the minority; the rights of those who need to speak truth to power; subversive art, incisive journalism, political protest — then I would’ve signed the damn petition myself.”

Here’s a write-up about the petition from Black Gate Magazine.  Now, I was a columnist for the SFWA Bulletin—the very incarnation of it that was suspended.  Sadly, all of us were ditched, along with the editor, who I really enjoyed working with.  I agree that the magazine needed an overhaul and I do believe that the egregious columns should have been edited for content or suspended all together, since they provided a biased and outdated view of many things, not the least of which was the role of women in the industry.  Do I like the way things went down?  No.  But will I argue to be rid of any oversight?  Again, no.  A professional publication should serve its members, not alienate them.  It doesn’t mean there will never be any difference of opinions.  Get any five members of the industry on a panel and at least one is bound to be the odd man or woman out over an issue.  However, a professional publication needs to be professional.

Moving on to the Huffington Post article…  Amy Christine Parker did a wonderful vlog yesterday for YA Rebels (below) expressing so much that I would have said, but I want to add my voice here.  1- Criticizing anyone’s work without so much as reading it is bad form. 2- Suggesting that anyone leave a field so that others can get ahead…where do I even start?  When someone like J.K. Rowling (for middle grade fiction) or Stephenie Meyer (for YA) or Laurell K. Hamilton (for urban fantasy) comes along, it calls attention to the entire field.  Publishers realize that there’s an audience hungry for it and they begin looking for more.  It can actually pave the way for other writers of such fiction to come up in the industry.  Plus, BOOKS, SELLING = good for bookstores, good for the industry.  3- As Amy suggested in her vlog, writers aren’t workhorses.  We write because we have to.  We’re artists.  Ask an artist to stop creating art and you might as well ask us to stop our hearts.

Full disclosure, I loved J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books.  I read the whole series not because I have a son the right age (he actually read them on my recommendation), but because I really enjoyed them.  Are they perfect?  No.  What is?  But she created a world and characters that I lost myself in, and that to me is magic.  Do I like some of what she’s said in interviews since, like that she doesn’t write fantasy?  (As if a) we could swallow that and b) there’s anything wrong with fantasy.)  No, I don’t.  However, I would never suggest that she step aside and am stunned that anyone would feel she had the right to try to elbow another author off the stage.

People, if you can’t get ahead on your own merits, maybe you should look to the mote in your own eye.  ‘Nough said.

Amy’s vlog…

Coastal Magic Con write-up

As you might be able to tell from the gallery and the number of hugs involved in these photos, the Coastal Magic Convention was wonderful, casual and, in a word, awesome.  Our organizer, Jennifer Morris goes out of her way to create a fun environment where no one is up on a pedestal, no one (well, almost no one) is just talking at you, but we’re all talking =with= each other.  Meet & Greets, Flash Fiction Panels, Come as your Character cocktails…you name it, we did it.  To the readers and bloggers who came, I have to say YOU ARE ALL AMAZING.  The boxes of books bought, the great questions and conversations…I feel like my heart grew three sizes that day, and I was no Grinch to start with.  I carried my glow from the convention all the way home and then got the after con blues because we weren’t going to do it all again the next weekend.  Seriously.  So much fun.

If you want to hear/see more from the convention, one of Wednesday’s YA Rebels (Sarah/Aria Kane), posted a vlog last week:

And I posted an interview just today with the fabu J.A. Souders.  Enjoy!

A P.S. to this post, brought on by recent events:

1- I attend Coastal Magic Con and a few other conventions during the year as an author rather than an agent, which means that I pay my own way and feel freer to be me as opposed to my agent persona, who is also me but a lot less casual and never spotted in the wild wearing a coconut bikini.


2- Anyone currently spouting sexist and bigoted diatribes who decides that the wearing of such means I “can’t” be a feminist and I’m not to be taken seriously…I’m so sorry, but didn’t you go extinct with the dinosaurs?  (Anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about can follow this link to be clued in.)

Amazing Books and Literary Loves

A huge WHOO HOO and shout out to:

Chloe Neill, whose latest Chicagoland Vampires novel WILD THINGS is on Amazon’s list of Best Books of the Month for February!

Rosemary Clement-Moore and Amy Christine Parker for being named to ALA’s Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers for their novels SPIRIT AND DUST  and GATED respectively!

 Molly Cochran, whose young adult novel LEGACY is currently specially priced for Kindle at just $1.99!

Quick quotes:

“Cochran’s first title for young adults is a rip-roaring adventure featuring half-witch Katy Jessevar, newly exiled to boarding school when her widowed father takes up with a cutthroat businesswoman…. The well-conceived history and culture of Katy’s magical world make this first title unique in the panoply of series featuring a half-mortal, half-magic character. Other interesting features are Cochran’s emphasis on nature’s role in magic, a definite pro-environment and anti–big business slant, and her inclusion of characters of color. The teasing epilogue promises a sequel, and readers will be ready for it.” – Booklist

“Cochran’s first book for teens will satisfy readers hungry for a little paranormal excitement and romance in a post-Twilight world…a quick, entertaining read.”–Kirkus

“In her YA debut, bestselling adult author Cochran (the Forever King trilogy) presents an exciting and well-written tale of contemporary witchcraft and romance…should please the legions of paranormal fans looking for a sophisticated supernatural thriller”–Publishers Weekly

“The unsettling and unique plot details and well-drawn secondary characters make this novel stand out from others in the genre.” —School Library Journal

Rachel Caine, who is currently on tour for her latest novel PRINCE OF SHADOWS, an intriguing retelling of Romeo & Juliet from the point of view of Benvolio.  She talks about it here with The Huffington Post and here with USA Today!

And last, but not least, Amy Christine Parker and I share our literary heartthrobs this week with the YA Rebels!

Happy Book Birthdays and a new Rebel vlog

I’m so thrilled to wish a happy book birthday to Rachel Caine for her amazing Shakespearean novel PRINCE OF SHADOWS — which casts Benvolio as the hero in a trilling and wonderful Romeo & Juliet retelling, which Kirkus Reviews called, “Simply superb”  — and to Chloe Neill for her latest Chicagoland Vampires tale, WILD THINGS, which A Book Obsession blog calls, “An absolute treat not to be missed”!  So awesome!

Also, Amy Christine Parker and I thought it would be fun for this week’s YA Rebels video to talk about what we’d be doing if we weren’t writing.  Come join in the fun!

Big Announcement & Rebel Reads

First, Publishers Weekly posted the sale of Rachel Caine’s exciting new Great Library series, so we can now shout it from the rooftops.  Words cannot possibly express how excited I am about this new trilogy.  So awesome!

In other news, Amy Christine Parker and I got together again for this month’s YA Rebels for some more reading recs.  Come check us out and see how we roll.  If you have any suggestions of other great rebel reads, please feel free to comment here or on our vlog!

Congratulations and my 2014 Convention Schedule

First of all, a HUGE congratulations to Ramez Naam for finaling in the Kitschies Awards (given out by The Kraken Rum!) for his debut SF thriller NEXUS from Angry Robot Books.  You can check out an interview with him here on the publisher’s website.

For those of you who want to find me in person as opposed to just on-line, here’s my 2014 Conference/Convention schedule:

February 9-11 Coastal Magic Convention in Daytona Beach, FL

Friday

4:30 – 5:30 Fantasy luau meet & greet with  J. A. Souders, Mari Mancusi, Janice Hardy and Tawdra Kendle

5:30 – 6:30 Flash Fiction Word-a-Palooza w/ Damon Suede, Kiernan Kelly, Angie Fox, Alex Hughes

Saturday

2-3 Mythology & Fairy Tales with Amanda Carlson, Aria Kane, Deborah Cooke, Boone Brux

3:15-4:15 Mini-Monsters: Young Adult UF/PNR with Janice Hardy, Lea Nolan, Mari Mancusi, Chelsea M. Cameron

5-7 signing

8-11 character mixer

March 15 SCBWI Writers Unleashed Workshop from 9-12 in Orlando Orange County Downtown Library

Presenters: Amy Parker (Random House Childrens), Christina Farley (Skyscape/Amazon Childrens),Lucienne Diver (agent with The Knight Agency/ author with Flux), Vivi Barnes (Entangled), Jessica Souders (Tor/Macmillian), and Jessica Khoury (Razorbill/ Penguin)

April 7-10 London Book Fair

May 14-18 Romantic Times Convention in New Orleans, LA

July 23-26 RWA National Conference in San Antonio, TX

August 7-10 RWA 2014 Romance Rocks Conference in Sydney, Australia

September 4-7 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference

October 3-5 Necronomicon

October 18 Emcee for the 5th Annual Trash to Fashion Show at the W. T. Bland Public Library in Mount Dora, FL

November 6 – 9 World Fantasy Convention in Washington, DC

Contrats and a new YA Rebels Vlog!

First off, a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Faith Hunter for hitting the New York Times printed mass market bestseller list last week at #16 for her latest Jane Yellowrock novel BLACK ARTS!  If you haven’t discovered this series yet, you’ll want to start with SKINWALKER and move on through BLOOD CROSS, MERCY BLADE, RAVEN CURSED, DEATH’S RIVAL, BLOOD TRADE and then BLACK ARTS!  (And if you have discovered it and are all caught up, there’s always her Rogue Mage series!)

Second, Amy Christine Parker and I have posted Part II of our publishing misconceptions blog, where we go into what to expect after the book deal is done.  Enjoy!

Tuesdays Rebels with Publishing Misconceptions Part II

 

 

Quick things – a “Holla!” for Chloe Neill & a new Rebel vid

Hey, all, still playing crazy catch-up after the holidays, so I’m just posting quickly to give a WOOT! for the fact that we can now announce the big deal for three new Chicagoland Vampires novels by the bestselling and entirely unforgettable Chloe Neill.  Here’s the PW announcement.

In YA Rebel-land, Amy Christine Parker and I chose to do today’s vlog on publishing misconceptions (part 1, because there’s too much to cover in a single vid!).  Check us out.

 

YA Books Central Choice Awards & GoodReads Reminder

First, huge congratulations to Amy Christine Parker, whose debut young adult thriller GATED is up for a YA Books Central Choice Award for Best Teen Horror/Thriller of 2013!  To vote or to find new books to love, check out the Choice Awards here!  (And if you want to check out GATED for yourself, there’s a free sampler available from Random House Children’s!)

Also, a quick reminder that I’m doing a GoodReads chat today from 1:30-3:30 pm ET. Even if you’re busy at the time, you can leave questions now and come back for the answers later or tune in any time to see what questions were asked and answered.  If you’re here on my blog, you probably already know my relevant deets, but just in case, here’s a handy dandy bio:

Lucienne Diver joined The Knight Agency in 2008, after spending fifteen years with Spectrum Literary Agency in New York. Over the course of her dynamic career she has sold over seven hundred titles to every major publisher, and has built a client list of more than forty authors spanning the commercial fiction genres, primarily in the areas of fantasy, science fiction, romance, mystery, and young adult fiction. Her authors have been honored with the RITA, National Readers’ Choice, Golden Heart, Romantic Times and Colorado Book Awards, and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.  Clients include such bestsellers as Rachel Caine, Chloe Neill, Faith Hunter, Rob Thurman, Susan Krinard, Kalayna Price and many others.

She’s also an author in her own right with her Vamped young adult series for Flux Books (VAMPED, REVAMPED, FANGTASTIC and FANGTABULOUS) and the Latter-Day Olympians urban fantasy series for Samhain (BAD BLOOD, CRAZY IN THE BLOOD and RISE OF THE BLOOD), which Long and Short Reviews calls, “delightful Urban Fantasy, a clever mix of Janet Evanovich and Rick Riordan.”  In addition, she’s written short stories and essays that have appeared in the Strip-Mauled and Fangs for the Mammaries anthologies edited by Esther Friesner (Baen Books), in Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories (HarperTeen) and the anthology Kicking It edited by Faith Hunter and Kalayna Price (Roc Books). Further information is available on The Knight Agency website and her author site.

Whew, I’ve been busy!