Lucienne Diver's Blog: Lucienne Diver's Drivel, page 28

Men of Urban Fantasy – DD Barant

I’m thrilled to have DD Barant here with me today.  I must admit that I wanted to channel my inner UF heroine to forceably introduce some folks to their turn signals on the way to dropping my son at school today…exactly the kind of heroine that DD talks about here.  But before I introduce him, his wonderful perspective, and the link to the audiobook giveaway for KILLING ROCKS, one of his wonderful Bloodhound Files novels, a couple of quick things – for a limited time, Flux Books is making my novel VAMPED free(!) for Kindle and Nook.  I hope that you’ll want to take a look and that, if you enjoy it, perhaps you’ll check out the sequels: REVAMPED, FANGTASTIC and FANGTABULOUS, which is forthcoming in January.  Or, you can buy the print books and get them signed, along with the first book of the Latter-Day Olympians urban fantasy series, BAD BLOOD, at Necronomicon this weekend.  They’ll be available at the Books at Park Place booth. If you want to learn a bit more about the Vamped series, you can check out my interview yesterday on A Life Bound by Books, part of the Crossroads Blog Tour or visit my website.  This public service announcement has been brought to you by the letter “s” for “shameless self-promotion.”

And now let’s move on to the fabulous DD Barant…

 

 

 

 

 

I can sum up my biggest influence as a writer of urban fantasy in two words.

Joss Whedon.

I’m something of an anomaly, as I’m a guy writing in a female-dominated genre, and doing so from a female POV.  But then, the same could be said of Joss, who’s justly famous for his strong female characters and feminist stance.  I admire many things about Joss’s writing: the action, the characterization, the sharp, funny dialogue. I try to emulate those things when I’m writing THE BLOODHOUND FILES.  But what I draw on, more than anything, is an archetype that Joss may not have invented, but has arguably perfected: the Woman with No Social Filters.

Cordelia and Anya from Buffy, Ilyria from Angel, River from Firefly; all these women have one striking thing in common.  They speak their mind, with little or no thought as to the consequences.  They speak from different perspectives—Cordelia’s selfish, Anya doesn’t understand human customs, Ilyria’s an arrogant goddess, River’s brain-damaged—but they all fill the same role.  Like the jester in a king’s court, they use humor to say things no one else can get away with—things we wish we could say.  When I wrote the Angel novel SHAKEDOWN, I found writing Cordelia’s dialogue was both the easiest and the most fun; her snarkiness just seemed to flow from my brain with no effort.  I decided to borrow that for the main character of Jace Valchek in THE BLOODHOUND FILES, giving her a sarcastic, cynical worldview that she uses to help her cope with the stress and horror of her job.  Because the series is told from her point of view, I can also get away with a great deal of blunt honesty simply because it’s an internal monologue; we can say things to ourselves we can’t say out loud.

I get compliments on how funny the BLOODHOUND FILES is, which is nice—but the compliments I really treasure are the ones that can’t believe I’m not a woman.  If I can capture a female voice well enough to do that, I figure I must be doing something right.  But I can’t really take all the credit, either—a lot of that has to go to Joss, for doing such a damn good job of creating believable, honest characters that manage to make us laugh while still delivering the truth.

Or as Cordelia might say, “Look, he’s a genius and you’re not.  Too bad, suck it up, let’s move on.  Is that a new sweater?”

But if you’d like to judge for yourself, you can listen to the extremely talented Johanna Parker read KILLING ROCKS via the new audiobook from Tantor Audio.  What, you say?  You don’t have said audiobook or MP4 file?  Well, I can fix that.  Go to my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Officialicious-DD-Barant-Page/254542704590069?ref=hl and Like it between now and Halloween, and I’ll enter your name for a draw to win said audiobook or MP4 download.  And Happy Halloween!

Men of Urban Fantasy – John Hartness

John Hartness is…well, I’m just going to say it…he’s a character.  No, wait, I’m thinking CHARACTER should be in all caps, maybe even in bold.  If you’ve ever met him in person or sat down with him for a drink, maybe for one of his Literate Liquors talks, you’ll know exactly what I mean.  So I’m pleased to have him here talking about his “What If?” method of plotting.  But before I let John run away with my blog – and he will – I want to note one more quick thing: New York Times bestseller Chloe Neill is running some awesome contests in celebration of Halloween and her upcoming Chicagoland Vampires novel HOUSE RULES that you might want to get in on.  Check them out here.

And now, take it away, John.

“What If?” Questions and Plot/Character Development 

Hey y’all, I’m John G. Hartness, author of the Black Knight Chronicles from Bell Bridge Books and creator of the self-published super-series Bubba the Monster Hunter. Go buy my stuff, particularly the Black Knight Omnibus, which features three full-length novels in a revised, “author’s preferred” format with a badass cover. It’ll give you clear skin, clear up cellulite, lower taxes and take care of that embarrassing rash you haven’t told your doctor about.

Not really, but it might make you laugh.

I promise that’ll be the last (and most shameless) plug of the post, but I figured I’d go ahead and get it out of the way now. Lucienne asked me to join her “Men of Urban Fantasy” pinup calendar, so I figured I’d talk a little about how I build characters and plots.

You see, I’m a redneck. I grew up in a little bend in the road called Bullock Creek, SC. Don’t bother going to Google Maps for that one, because all you’ll figure out is that it’s an hour from Charlotte, and an hour and a half from Columbia, and close to a bunch of other stuff you’ve never heard of. As a redneck, we sit around a lot tellin’ stories.

We’ll sit on the front porch watching the heat lightning on an August afternoon, right about that dusky time of day when the first brave fireflies are flickering to life, and tell stories. We’ll sit on the tailgate of the pickup truck drinking cheap whiskey and Coke out of a Solo cup at the end of a long day of work watching the sun go down while the sweat finally dries on the back of our necks, and tell stories. We’ll sit on the banks of a little pond that might have three fish in the whole thing, smell of honeysuckle wafting through the air like Grandma’s Sunday dinner, and tell stories.

You get the picture? Well, all those stories start one of two ways. They either begin with “You ain’t gonna believe this shit!” Which means the story is 100% true. Or they begin with “What if?” Which means they might be as much as 20% true.

Well, that’s kinda where I get my plots and my characters from. They’re almost all “What if?” questions. With The Black Knight Chronicles, I started from the question of “What if there were a couple of uber-nerd vampires that were the good guys?” I had been reading some huge best-selling vampire books, and all the vampires were sexy. And they were all either badasses or tortured souls. So I wondered “what if the given circumstances were skewed, just a little?” What resulted was a series of books with funny characters that (I hope) make monsters more relatable to normal people.

With Bubba the Monster Hunter I thought “What if a psychotic cupid got loose in a nursing home?” Actually the first question was probably more like “what if the nursing home got Viagra mixed up with the blood pressure pills?” But you get the general idea.

“What if” questions are fun. They open you up to some wild flights of fancy, and can send you down some plotline rabbit holes if you’re not careful. That’s one reason why I’m a plotter, not a pantser. If I were a writer who could just “wing it” through the plot of my books, my love for “what if” questions could send me off on tangents that I might never recover from. So I have to exercise discipline in my exploration. I only allow myself to think about “what if”s when I’m beginning the book, working on the outline, or when I get stuck.

And that last bit is where “what if” questions can be really helpful, because if you’ve trained yourself to do a certain amount of brainstorming already, kicking into that mode when you’re stuck is a lot easier. And you’ve probably got a ton of crazy ideas all rolling around in your head just looking for a chance to get out, since you’ve been suppressing them since the outline!

So there’s a little tip from me on where I get plot and character ideas. I ask myself “What if?” And whenever I think of something else crazy I want to try, I ask myself “Why not?” It’s all worked out pretty well so far! See y’all in the funny papers!

 *****

John G. Hartness is a writer, actor, teacher, lighting designer, theatre consultant, raconteur, knight-errant, Panthers fan and drunkard from Charlotte, NC. Part of the Magical Words blogging team, he can also be found online at www.johnhartness.com or @johnhartness on Twitter. He finds himself far too amusing for his own good.

Men of Urban Fantasy Week – D.B. Jackson

I’m extremely pleased today to have two fabulous men of urban fantasy to introduce to you: D.B. Jackson and the hero from his new Thieftaker series, Ethan Kaille.  Kat Richardson calls the series, “A beautiful balance of magic and crime, history and fantasy that was fast-paced, compelling, and completely absorbing. Historical fantasy that reads like an old-school crime novel, as if Raymond Chandler were channeling Jonathan Swift. I loved it!”  I think this about says it all!  Before I introduce Ethan Kaille, a few other things to report:

In honor of her upcoming Morganville Vampires release, BITTER BLOOD (coming November 6th), Rachel Caine has some really fun “Decision Morganville” campaign videos up on her website with more on the way.  You might want to check them out…if you know what’s good for you.

Heroes and Heartbreakers is running contests with some fabulous prizes up on their sight, in honor of Halloween, including prize packs of books by Faith Hunter and books by Kalayna Price, Ilona Andrews and Karen Chance.  There’s also a vampire prize pack.  Enter soon for a chance to win!

Last, but certainly not least, the Crossroads Blog Tour is in full swing.  Answer all the scavenger hunt questions correctly for a chance to win a Kindle pre-loaded with books by all of the participating authors.  The full list of blogs, participants, etc., is here.  If you’re looking for me, I’ve been up at Most-Wanted Monsters, Confessions of a Bookaholic, and Late Bloomer.  Today, Christine Fonseca and I will be appearing on Mundie Moms, so check us out.

And now, without further ado, I present to you Ethan Kaille, hero of  THIEFTAKER and, soon, the sequel, THIEVES’ QUARRY, both from Tor Books:

My name is Ethan Kaille.  I am a thieftaker and conjurer.  Perhaps you’ve heard my name.

As a thieftaker in Boston, I am accustomed to treating with the town’s less savory denizens.  As a rival to the lovely and dangerous Sephira Pryce, the self-proclaimed “Empress of the South End,” I am also used to having my life threatened on a regular basis, either by Sephira herself, or by her toughs, Nigel, Nap, and Gordon (she employs others, but these are the three who harry me most often).  And as a conjurer living among men and women who equate any form of spellmaking with devilry and witchcraft, I have reconciled myself to living in constant fear of discovery and execution.

Until today, though, I believed that I had witnessed all the wonders and terrors that the streets of Boston have to offer.  I was wrong.

For today, Sephira Pryce summoned me to her home for a most unusual interview.  I say summoned, because even Sephira’s most genteel invitations carry with them the thinly veiled threat of violence should her request be rebuffed.  When I arrived at her home, Sephira invited me to sup with her.  I ate a bit of her food and drank a glass of what I admit was an excellent Madeira wine, taking care to sample only those foods and drink she herself had taken.  I am certain that the woman is not above poisoning a rival.  Her toughs stood off to the side, saying little, but watching me, and making clear with their expressions that any misstep on my part would be rewarded with a beating.

After telling me how honored I should be to have been invited to her home, Sephira informed me that she had spoken with a time witch, a woman who could travel to another time and place and report on events there.  I am familiar with many magicks, and have heard rumor of such powers, and so I was not as skeptical as you, dear reader, might expect.

But what Sephira told me next, did give me pause.  It seems — according to the time witch — that tales of my rivalry with Sephira have been retold, and even committed to paper, by a writer working nearly two hundred and fifty years in the future.  I received this news with a modicum of surprise and puzzlement.  Why would the mundane concerns of two Boston thieftakers in the year 1765 be of interest to anyone living in so distant a future?  I asked Sephira as much, and in doing so, inadvertently struck at the core of the matter, at least so far as she is concerned.

“Because of you,” she said, her mouth twisting, as if the words themselves tasted bitter on her tongue.

“Because of me?”

“Well, not you so much as your bloody magicking.  It seems the readers of this so-called writer are fascinated by your conjurings.  They see you as some sort of hero.  Apparently they fail to grasp the fact that without your witchery you would be nothing, that it is by sheer good fortune and your conjuring tricks that you manage to make yourself any sort of ‘rival’ to me.”

“And this bothers you,” I said, not bothering to mask my amusement.

“Of course it bothers me!” she said, her eyes like daggers.  “I am Sephira Pryce, Empress of the South End, and the most renowned and successful thieftaker this town has ever known.  I am a friend to no less a personage than the Governor of the Province, not to mention representatives of the Crown here in  Boston.  And you . . .”  She shook her head, her shining black curls shimmering in the candlelight.  “You live in a room that is barely the size of my wardrobe, over a cooperage that stinks of sweat and smoke and stale leather.  You earn in a year what I make in a fortnight.  And somehow you are the hero?”

She reached for her goblet with a shaking hand, her cheeks flushed.  But with a sip of wine and a moment’s silence, she appeared to compose herself.  When she spoke again, it was in a calmer voice.

“I enjoy my fame, and I want for nothing.  My . . . concerns about these erroneous accounts are more for the people of the future than for you and me.  We both know what you are and what I am, but these others — they are being presented with a skewed vision of Boston and our time.”

I nodded, managing not to laugh at her vanity and her lies.  “I see.  And so what would you suggest we do about this?”

She considered me for several moments, her eyes narrowed.  “To be honest, I had considered having you killed.  That would have put an end to the problem.  Except that this future writer would most likely have portrayed your murder as an act of petulance and jealousy on my part, which would serve only to make matters worse.”

“Yes, those nettlesome writers.  Leave it to them to twist a simple killing into something unseemly.”

“Exactly,” she said.  “So instead, we are going to try something else.”

I felt my stomach tightening.  I had a feeling that whatever notion she had settled on would be little better than my murder.  But even I was not prepared for what she said next.

“You, Ethan, are going to teach me to conjure.”

I gaped at her.  “What?”

“That way we’ll be on equal footing, and those future readers who find your spells so fascinating will read with wonder of my exploits as well as yours.”

“I can’t teach you to conjure,” I said, shaking off my shock at her solution.

“Someone taught you.”

“Yes, my mother did.  Just as her mother taught her.  But I have conjuring blood in my veins.  You don’t, Sephira.  And without it, you can’t cast spells, no matter how much I teach you.”

“Nonsense.  I don’t need different blood.  I just need the knowledge that you already possess.  If you can cast spells so can I.  And you’re going to teach me how.”  She shot a meaningful look at her men.  “Or we’ll return to my first idea.”

I considered my options, and decided that I had few. “Very well,” I said.  I picked up the fork from my place setting and dragged the tines across the back of my hand, making four parallel cuts in my skin.  Blood welled from the wounds.

Sephira cried out.  Her men lunged for me.  But I spoke the spell too quickly.

“Dormite omnes, ex cruore evocatum!”  Slumber, all of them, conjured from blood.

Her men fell to the floor in a brawny heap; Sephira slumped in her chair.  They would awaken before long.  But by then I would be safely away.  I stood, drained a second cup of wine, and smiled.

“So ends your first and last lesson,” I said, and walked out.

 

*****

D.B. Jackson is also David B. Coe, the award-winning author of a dozen fantasy novels. His first book as D.B. Jackson, Thieftaker, volume I of the Thieftaker Chronicles, is now available; the second volume, Thieves’ Quarry, will be released next summer. D.B. lives on the Cumberland Plateau with his wife and two teenaged daughters. They’re all smarter and prettier than he is, but they keep him around because he makes a mean vegetarian fajita. When he’s not writing he likes to hike, play guitar, and stalk the perfect image with his camera.

http://www.dbjackson-author.com/blog

http://www.facebook.com/dbjacksonAuthor

http://twitter.com/dbjacksonauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/dbjackson

http://amazon.com/author/dbjackson

Men of Urban Fantasy – James A. Burton

I’m very pleased to continue the Men of Urban Fantasy theme with author James A. Burton.  His novels are incredibly character driven, with lush language and, as he discusses, more than your typical heroes and heroines.

Heroes? by James A. Burton (aka James A. Hetley)

Lucienne suggested that I write something about non-traditional heroes and heroines, those being the sort I’ve written in POWERS (as by James A. Burton) and my earlier novels.  And my first thought was, “I don’t write heroes.”  What I write, what I try to write, are people I can respect.  To do that, I don’t start out with Athena springing fully-armed from the forehead of Zeus.  I have to meet the characters and get to know them, walk around with them — let them grow into people.  Some writers outline and know the story before they begin writing.  I find out the story as I write it.

My first published novels, THE SUMMER COUNTRY and THE WINTER OAK, began with a scared woman walking through a winter storm at midnight.  I had to find out who Maureen was, why she was scared, what she would do about it, the same way you find out things about a “real” person you’ve just met.  As I wrote her story, I watched how she reacted to the world, what she did when things happened.  She turned into a person rather than a character after the first twenty or thirty thousand words, and from there on, she told me what happened next.

POWERS began with another abstract character dealing with a problem, Albert Johansson faced with a demon materializing on the other side of the kitchen table, and then I found out who Al was by writing him reacting to and solving that problem.

He was a man faced with a demon, a man with certain skills and failings.  He had to be a loner by the setting, meaning he had to have a reason to live quietly alone, a reason readers could respect.  He wasn’t antisocial, he didn’t have psychological or physical problems with social interaction, so the reason developed into the problems of a man who doesn’t die and how that kind of man would fit into modern life.  He can’t form relationships, he can’t stay in any place too long, he can’t be any kind of public person, because humans age and die.  He doesn’t.  And people notice things like that.  Modern governments notice things like that.

Al asks, verbatim in that first chapter, “Why me?”  The demon has to answer that, which means I had to answer it before I could write it.  It isn’t the problem that the demon poses, it’s the question behind that and the one still deeper down.  Al turns out to be unique, not just a supremely talented smith with senses that go beyond human sight and smell and hearing.

Then, solving that problem, I had to have him collide with an antagonist, since stories require tension.  The demon seemed too abstract, an outside force with powers and motives neither Al nor I could really understand.  But an arson detective, another person with motives and shortcomings and secrets of her own — there I have another character I could respect.  So Mel entered the story, Melissa el Hajj, and just by naming her and describing her through Al’s eyes, she has a background.  She has a story of her own, and it goes way back because of the things she saw and figured out about Al that no normal human would see or understand.  “Antagonist” doesn’t have to mean “villain” or “enemy”, so I started with Mel . . . ambivalent.  Al tweaks her curiosity, the first new thing that has crossed her path in several hundred years.  Al fears her, and I had to give him reason for that fear.  He sees her as deadly and enigmatic, as swift and merciless as the killer mountain winds, as vengeful and long-memoried as the Asian hill-tribes of her people.

Somewhere in all this they turned into gods — very minor gods you’ve never heard of — but I’ve tried to keep them people rather than heroes.  They have powers, minor powers in narrow areas.  They have strengths and weaknesses and blind spots.  They have obligations, things they cannot or will not do because of who they are.  They can be hurt, hurt in ways that make death look like the easy way out.

Traditional heroes are ideals.  If heroes have weaknesses, those become mythic in themselves, like Achilles’ heel.  Heroes don’t have second thoughts and sobbing nightmares over past mistakes, like Mel.  Heroes aren’t afraid all the time, like Maureen in THE SUMMER COUNTRY.  Al’s only heroic attribute is that he never quits.  Real-life heroes turn out to be complex people when you get to know them.  I try to bring that to my stories.

(Note: THE SUMMER COUNTRY is currently just $.99 for Nook and Kindle, if you want to give his work a try!)

Men of Urban Fantasy Week – kick off with James Tuck

I’m very excited to present to you all my “Men of Urban Fantasy” week here on the blog.  Urban (aka contemporary) fantasy is so female dominated, that I thought it was high time for me to shine a light on some of the amazing men on the scene and their more-than-memorable protagonists.  I’m thrilled to kick off the week with James R. Tuck, author of the Deacon Chalk series for Kensington (BLOOD AND BULLETS, BLOOD AND SILVER and BLOOD AND MAGIC, forthcoming).

WHAT KIND OF MAN DOES THIS FOR A LIVING? by James R. Tuck

Before I was a writer of urban fantasy I was a reader of urban fantasy. Some of my favorites are Lilith Saintcrow’s Jill Kismet series, Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series, Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, and Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series. My bookshelves are full of urban fantasy books that have one thing in common.

They feature kick ass women characters.

Now all the series are different, the writers all bringing fresh takes to the wide world of urban fantasy, but they have common things about them and the main one is that they feature women as the lead character. It’s become a thing for people outside the genre to point at and use to easily categorize books.

“Oh, it’s a modern day world with monsters and a heroine that wears leather pants and has a gun? It’s urban fantasy.”

And that book would be. (and I would totally read it)

But, there is a growing number of us guys who are joining in the ranks of urban fantasy and bringing something a bit different.

We’re writing men as the lead characters.

Of course this brings a different take on the genre. When I read urban fantasy I think about what the characters go through. I examine it and in my head I think about how someone who fights monsters would be in normal life. Like how does someone who just got done shooting a pack of vampires in the face handle a fender bender, or simply ordering a coffee at a busy Starbucks? I think monster hunters would be pretty traumatized people. They would suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a way that is different even from combat soldiers. They would have all the violence to process that a combat soldier would, but it would be a lot closer in nature. I think there has to be a difference between shooting an enemy combatant and killing them with a sword or a stake through the heart. And you have to add in the fact that they would be dealing with things that were not human, which would add to the level of stress. It would affect them differently.

In my books every character but one suffers from some form of PTSD.

The women in my book handle it differently than the men and the non human’s deal with it differently than the humans. Kat’s past (losing her sister to vampires and being tortured by one) makes her burn with an almighty hatred for anything vampire. She is obsessed with keeping tabs on all of them so that the main character Deacon Chalk can hunt them down. She also never goes anywhere without a cross.

Father Mulcahy deals with his past by drinking, chain smoking, being a Catholic priest, and helping Deacon with his war on monsters. You haven’t learned what happened to him before the books started, but it’s a great story. He has a truly dark history and has witnessed and done some terrible things that drove him into the arms of the Church.

Larson’s past with monsters fills him with rage.

Charlotte the Were-spider (yes, you read that right) seems more adjusted due to her supernatural nature, but she’s not. What she went through in book one is what makes her get involved in book two, and what happens to her in book two will affect her, and her relationship with Deacon, for a long time. She seems pretty well adjusted, but she’s not.

And finally the main man Deacon Chalk. Talk about a study in PTSD. Deacon is one seriously damaged character and the books I write are an exploration of that. In book one we meet Deacon five years after his family was killed by monsters and for five years his coping mechanism for his grief has been to kill every monster he can find. He hasn’t really healed at all. This is a very guy way of dealing with grief and pain. Shove it aside and get on with work. It’s something we do. It’s not that men don’t have emotions, we have them hardcore, but our whole life has been skewed by our culture that we have responsibility before we have feelings. That is why we men push our emotions aside. Part of it is a coping mechanism, part of it is the way we are raised.

That is exactly how Deacon is. He thinks he’s doing alright, but he’s not, and that doesn’t begin to change until he meets Tiff, the one person in the Deaconverse who has NOT been traumatized by monsters.

Tiff likes Deacon and wants to be with him, but because he still loves his dead wife and he’s completely damaged, they do NOT have the instantaneous BOOM! Romance of love at first sight. It takes a while, months, before he is ready to even take the first step. He has work to do, a mission driven by vengeance AND a death wish, and hard feelings that make it near impossible for him to move past the loss of his family to allow someone in his heart. Plus, his lifestyle of monster hunting has made him nearly unfit for normal society. He’s almost completely nocturnal, carries more guns than a small army, and his first reaction to almost any situation is violence. That’s great for hunting a rogue pack of predator lycanthropes, not so great for ordering a cheeseburger at McDonalds.

For me writing the Deacon Chalk series is an exploration of being a certain kind of man. We all love the alpha male character and what I am writing is how that alpha male would react to being shoved into a world of monsters. Sometimes he comes off a bit cold, sometimes a lot cocky, but those are all coping mechanisms for his trauma. Not just the loss of his family, but the things he has to do in his role as a monster hunter. Like a combat soldier, Deacon puts himself between any human, even lowlife, despicable ones, and a monster. He holds that line for humanity, no matter the cost. In the Deaconverse the monsters are truly monstrous and do horrible things so that cost is just as terrible.

But Deacon is a man, and a man has responsibilities.

Even if it kills him.

Congratulations and bloggishness

I’ve been shamefully neglecting my blog lately because of extreme busyness, which is a good thing, but also insanity-inducing.  But I had to carve out a few minutes today to say a HUGE congratulations to Faith Hunter, whose latest Jane Yellowrock book, DEATH’S RIVAL is on the New York Times list for the second week in a row.  Awesome news for an equally awesome author!

In other amazing author news: Chloe Neill and Kristen Painter were both recommended in the USA Today article “‘Tis the season for fangs and flirting.”  I don’t think they ever go out of season!

Also, I just want to remind everyone that it’s Teen Read Week, so get out there and feed your own love of reading or help fuel another’s.

This Sunday, October 21st starts the Crossroads Blog Tour with thirteen amazing young adult novelists (well, twelve and me).  Check in daily for the question of the day and enter for a chance to win a Kindle pre-loaded with books from all of the participating authors.

And check in here next week, I promise to step up my game!

Motivation

Today I’m over at Magical Word, talking about authorial motivation.  If you want to see a full list of my guest posts, podcasts, etc., just click here.

And hey, you all know it’s Banned Books Week, right?  So, go forth and read!  Also, awesome to share your recommendations of books that push the envelope and offer hope, understanding and acceptance to those whose communities don’t, either here or in any form of social media.

Book Birthdays, Special Pricing, Contests…and it’s only Tuesday!

We’ll start with a contest that’s free to enter and might win you a membership to the brand new (and totally amazing) Olde City, New Blood conference in beautiful St. Augustine, FL in February 2013.  Details below:

Dearly Beloved, 
We are gathered here today, to join two awesome things in a state of increased awesomeness.
Today, we’re bringing together an author/reader mini-con, and the chance to WIN YOUR WAY IN FOR FREE!

       That’s right, ladies and gentlemen… starting today, you will all have 7 days to hop around from author to author, blogger to blogger, and enter at every stop to win one of 3 FREE REGISTRATIONS to Olde City, New Blood, the upcoming urban fantasy/paranormal romance mini-con in St. Augustine, FL next February.

       You can check out the official website for the complete list of Featured Authors (I’ll give you a hint… one of them is ME!!) and Featured Bloggers. There’s also a main contest post with all the participating authors, bloggers, and dates for the contest. It’s super easy. Visit each of the spotlight blog posts and author websites listed, fill out the Rafflecopter link on each one (one entry PER POST, not per day… and yes, they will be checking), and POOF, multiple entries to WIN!!

       The prize is one of 3 FREE REGISTRATIONS to see me and about 49 other authors on the sunny beaches of St. Augustine, Florida, from Feb 8th-10, 2013. We’re going to be doing panels, readings, meet & greets, and just generally having a fun weekend with our incredible fans!! Please keep in mind, if you win, you’ll have to cover your own travel and hotel expenses, but your ticket into the party will be on Olde City, New Blood!!!

       The contest runs from September 30th – October 6th, and the 3 winners will be announced on October 7th. Don’t forget to click the Rafflecopter link below before you hop off to check out the rest of the contest posts!! Good Luck, everyone!! I hope to see you ALL in Florida this February!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now, for your reading pleasure, two fabulous new releases and one extra special pricing promotion.  Just released: DEATH’S RIVAL by Faith Hunter, the latest novel in her New York Times bestselling series featuring Cherokee skinwalker Jane Yellowrock and the trade paperback of Rachel Caine’s BLACK DAWN, also part of a NYT bestselling series (The Morganville Vampires).  And you know why I love them both?  They just keep getting better and better.  I don’t know how it’s possible, but there it is.  The special pricing?  To celebrate Orbit US’s 5 year anniversary, they’re discounting five of their bestselling titles, including N.K. Jemisin’s THE KILLING MOON to $1.99 for the Nook, Kobo and Kindle.  A little about these series:

BLACK DAWN by Rachel Caine

Berkley JAM | Young Adult

Other series titles:  GLASS HOUSES (2006), DEAD GIRLS’ DANCE (2007), MIDNIGHT ALLEY (2007), FEAST OF FOOLS (2008), LORD OF MISRULE (2009), CARPE CORPUS (2009), FADE OUT (2009), KISS OF DEATH (2010), GHOST TOWN (2011), BITE CLUB (2011), LAST BREATH (2011)

“Rachel Caine is a first-class storyteller who can deal out amazing plot twists as though she was dealing cards.” —Charlaine Harris

“Heartbreaking drama mixed with heart-stopping action .” —Romance Reviews Today

Ever since the draug—mysterious creatures that prey on vampires—took over Morganville in LAST BREATH, the lives of student Claire Danvers and her friends have been thrown into turmoil. Most of the town’s residents have evacuated, but Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael have chosen to stay and fight.

Using the city’s water system to spread, the draug have rapidly multiplied. Things in Morganville look grim, especially since vampire Amelie—the town founder—has been infected by the master draug’s bite.

Now, if Claire and her friends don’t figure out how to cure Amelie and defeat the draug, it looks like Morganville will become little more than a ghost town…

DEATH’S RIVAL by Faith Hunter

Roc | Urban Fantasy

Other series titles: SKINWALKER (July 2009), BLOOD CROSS (Jan 2010), MERCY BLADE (Jan 2011), RAVEN CURSED (Jan 2012)

“Jane Yellowrock is one of the most intriguing heroines in urban fantasy, and Hunter skillfully doles out tiny pieces of Jane’s backstory to keep readers coming back for more. Mystery and action are at the forefront here, but the romance from the first book continues to build slowly. Readers eager for the next book in Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson series may want to give Faith Hunter a try.”    —Library Journal, Starred Review

Jane Yellowrock is a shapeshifting skinwalker you don’t want to cross—especially if you’re one of the undead…

For a vampire killer like Jane, having Leo Pellisier as a boss took some getting used to. But now, someone is out to take his place as Master Vampire of the city of New Orleans, and is not afraid to go through Jane to do it. After an attack that’s tantamount to a war declaration, Leo knows his rival is both powerful and vicious, but Leo’s not about to run scared. After all, he has Jane. But then, a plague strikes, one that takes down vampires and makes their masters easy prey.

Now, to uncover the identity of the vamp who wants Leo’s territory, and to find the cause of the vamp-plague, Jane will have to go to extremes…and maybe even to war.

THE KILLING MOON by N.K. Jemisin

Orbit | Fantasy

Other series titles: sequel – THE SHADOWED SUN

“Jemisin’s talent as a storyteller should make her one of the fantasy authors to watch in the coming years.” — Library Journal

An exciting new series from award-winning author N.K. Jemisin…

In the desert city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law.  Priests of the dream-goddess maintain order by harnessing the power of the sleeping mind to soothe, heal… and kill.

Yet Gujaareh has enemies both within and without, and those enemies have no peaceful intent.  A soul-devouring monster called the Reaper stalks the land, and an insidious, deadly plague of nightmares has been unleashed.  Two of Gujaareh’s priests, a holy assassin and a healer, must use all their magic and cunning to save the city of dreams.  But can even the purest priest dabble in corruption without becoming corrupt too?”

Teen Reads and TEN by Gretchen McNeil

Yesterday I posted about the Crossroads Blog Tour, coming October 21st – October 28th.  Well, guess what?  Just before that comes Visit Teen Read Week
">Teen Read Week!  It would be fabulous for you to choose one (or more!) of the authors from the tour so that it’s that much more meaningful when you follow us and maybe win that Kindle pre-loaded with great reads!  Other fabulous choices: The Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine, ">BRIMSTONE, HIGHWAY TO HELL, THE SPENDOR FALLS or TEXAS GOTHIC by Rosemary Clement-Moore, LEGACY by Molly Cochran, THE DARK ELITE and CHARMFALL by Chloe Neill, FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS by Diana Peterfreund, RADIATE by Marley Gibson, the Vamped series by, well, me…or any of my Girlfriends Cyber Circuit sisters, like Gretchen McNeil, interviewed below about her new release, TEN, a modern teen take on Agatha Christie’s classic TEN LITTLE INDIANS.

Syn opsis:

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives – three days on Henry Island at an exclusive house party. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their own reasons for wanting to be there, both of which involve Kamiak High’s most eligible bachelor, T.J. Fletcher. But what starts out as a fun-filled weekend turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly, people are dying and the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

Interview with Gretchen McNeil:

What is your writing process like?  Are you a plotter or a pantser?  Do you schedule time to write each day or are you a spree writer?

I’m like a plotpantser.  Basically, I outline the first act, and then I know what the end will basically be, but what happens between the beginning of Act II and the end of Act III is malleable!  When I’m on deadline, I try to write 1k words a day, 5 days a week.  That’s a comfortable pace for me.

What is the hardest part about the publishing process for you and how do you get through it? (For me, it’s copyediting and sour cream and onion chips.)

The waiting.  I’m not a particularly patient person, and so waiting for everything from notes to cover reveals to reviews to sales figures is so difficult for me!  I cope with champagne. 

We drop your hero or heroine on a deserted island.  Quick, what are the three things he or she can’t live without?

Meg can’t possibly live without her notebook, a pen, and T.J. Fletcher.

If your story were a film, who would you cast?

Funnily enough, someone tweeted last week how Michael B. Jordan (Friday Night Lights)  would be perfect as T.J. Fletcher.  I’m in total agreement.  And the only other character I’d definitely want the chance to cast would be Minnie – Elle Fanning would be perfect.

Are there any contests or upcoming appearances/interviews/etc. you’d like to plug?

Definitely check out the appearances page on my blog for all my upcoming events: http://gretchenmcneil.blogspot.com/p/appearances.html

And if you want be in the loop for exclusive meet and greets with me, sign up to join the Army of Ten!  http://armyoften.blogspot.com/

Congratulations on your fabulous new release!

Crossroads Blog Tour 2012!

It’s nearly that time again!  The Crossroads Blog Tour returns October 21st to 28th with thirteen fabulous young adult authors, and the chance to win a Kindle pre-loaded with a title by each author:

Judith Graves – Leap Books – Under My Skin, Second Skin, Skin of My Teeth, Killer’s Instinct

Joy Preble – Sourcebooks – Dreaming Anastasia, Haunted, Anastasia Forever. Soho Press (forthcoming May 2013) – The Sweet Dead Life

Stacey Kade – Hyperion – The Ghost and the Goth, Queen of the Dead, Body & Soul

Amanda Ashby – Speak – You Had Me at Halo, Zombie Queen of Newbury High, Fairy Bad Day, Demonosity

Lucienne Diver – Flux – Vamped, Revamped, Fangtasic, Fangtabulous

Kiki Hamilton – Teen / Macmillian – The Faerie Ring, The Torn Wing

Jackie Morse Kessler – Harcourt Graphia – Hunger, Rage, Loss

Christine Fonseca – Compass Press – Transcend, Libera Me

Carrie Harris – Delacorte Books for Young Readers -Taste In Boys, Bad Hair Day

Dawn Dalton – Leap Books - SPIRITED Anthology, Killer’s Instinct

Leanna Renee Hieber - Sourcebooks – Darker Still (Magic Most Foul, #1), The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart (Magic Most Foul, #2)

Ty Drago - Sourcebooks – The Undertakers: Rise of the Corpses, The Undertakers: Queen of the Dead

Janet Fox – Speak – Faithful, Forgiven, Sirens

I’m paired this year with Christine Fonseca, and our schedule of blog appearances is below, along with links!

21st Late Bloomer

22nd Confessions of a Bookaholic

23rd Most Wanted Monsters

24th Mundie Moms

25th A Life Bound by Books

26th Scribing Shadows

27th For What It’s Worth

28th A Simple Love of Reading

Hope you’ll come see us and enter for a chance to win!