Kelly Meding's Blog, page 8

MetaWars Fun and a Giveaway

Every time I look at the calendar, I'm amazed to see how quickly this year is flying by.  May is almost over, and it feels like it was just March.  Which means that CHANGELING's release is right around the corner (35 days, oh my!).

Speaking of CHANGELING, it received 4 stars from Romantic Times! I admit, I was crazy nervous when I checked for this review.  CHANGELING takes our intrepid superheroes in a few unexpected directions, and when you get to the end...well, all I can do is ask that you trust me.

The review:

The second title in Meding’s MetaWars series is an admirable follow-up to its highly regarded predecessor. The series features a wholly new approach to superheroes and how they interact with our world. The author throws some fantastical sci-fi and thriller elements into the story, and the result is fast-paced and exciting with a good dose of intrigue. It’s a fun read that will have you reaching for the first book if you haven’t read it already, but it still adds new layers for those who have. When empty human skins are found around Los Angeles, the police ask Dahlia “Ember” Perkins and her superhero teammates to help solve the grisly murders. The case takes a dangerous turn when a bullet meant for Dahlia hits one of her fellow MetaHumans. Then coincidences start piling up, after she gets romantically involved with an old friend, and Dahlia realizes that she has a unique connection to the killer — or killers. (POCKET, Jul., 384 pp., $7.99)

The MetaWars books were also featured in a nice little article on RT about superhero novels. With the monumental success of The Avengers (which I'm going to see again tonight), we can only hope that there is a renewed interest in this very small niche of novels.

Red Hot Books is doing an Author's After Dark Feature on my books, as well as an interview and giveaway.  There are only 13 hours left to enter, so pop on over to win any book from my back list.  You can also find links to reviews of the entire Dreg City series.

I'm going to leave you with a tiny snippet from TEMPEST (MetaWars 3). It isn't easy finding snippets on a book that's chock full of spoilers from the previous two (especially since CHANGELING isn't even out yet), but I have a few sentences that really summarize one of the themes of TEMPEST.  It's part of a longer telephone conversation between Teresa and Ethan.  Enjoy!

"Ethan, I know you," [Teresa] continued.  "You think of other people before yourself, sometimes to a fault.  And I know how the need for revenge can eat at you, but you aren't a murderer.  You wouldn't let a personal vendetta ruin what we're trying to do."
"Which is what?" I asked, because I'd be damned if I knew anymore.
"Correct the mistakes of the past whenever possible.  This is about the future of all Metas, new and old.  We can't keep killing each other if we're going to survive."

Celebrating Moms

Since my day to blog at the League of Reluctant Adults fell on Mother's Day, I thought I'd do a post around the topic of mothers. I've been lucky enough to have had a good relationship with my mother for my whole life. I haven't always lived close by, but I know I'm loved and that I can depend on her (and in case you were curious, I'm tight with my dad, too, but this is about mothers). It's funny, though, that the majority of the characters I write about either have absentee mothers, bad mothers, or dead mothers. Evangeline* Stone's mother died when Evy was a kid, and before that she was a pretty terrible mother. Wyatt's mother is dead, too. The only genuine mother/child relationship I can think of in the Dreg City books are Aurora/Ava.

(*On the other hand, we haven't had a chance to look at the relationship between Chalice Frost and her mother, which was supposed to be part of book five….)

In MetaWars, all of the main characters are orphans. Although you could argue that Dahlia Perkins had a great relationship with her mother—except her mother died a few years before….well, you'll learn all about that in CHANGELING (June 26, 2012). The Sekrit Project I've been mentioning here and there follows the same pattern of dead mothers (although for variety, there are some fantastic father/son relationships in that series). One of these days I'll write something with a healthy, solid mother/child relationship, I swear.

Since today is supposed to be about celebrating Mom, I want to list some of my favorite mothers in books, movies and television. In no particular order:

 JOYCE SUMMERS. "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." She rocks it as a mom. Smart, funny, protective of her only child. Her death was one of the saddest moments of that entire series (admit it, you cried, too).

CAROLINE INGALLS. "Little House on the Prairie." As a little girl, I used to play Little House with my neighbor. Because I was younger, I got to be Laura a lot. I wanted to be Laura, and I wanted Ma Ingalls to make my dresses and braid my hair.
  CHARLIE MADIGAN. The "Charlie Madigan" series, by Kelly Gay. A single mom urban fantasy novel protagonist. You don't see many, and Charlie handles both her professional life and her role as a mother with a deft hand. If you haven't picked up this series, grab it now!

MRS. BRISBY. "The Secret of NIMH." This movie is part of my childhood, and I still adore it to this day. No one can touch Don Bluth's animated movies, and NIMH is my absolute favorite. Mrs. Brisby faces her fears and finds courage she never knew she had in order to save the lives of her children.

 FAITH YOKAS. "Third Watch." I adored all six seasons of this show, which few people seem to remember. Yokas was a fascinating character to watch grow. She was a patrol cop, but she was also a wife and mother, and those relationships developed over the course of the series in very complex ways.

KAREN SANDERS. The "Shifers" series by Rachel Vincent. She's the wife of the Alpha. She's Faythe's mother (really, enough said right there). She protects her family with a quiet strength, and when she's angry? Look out.

EVELYN O'CONNELL. "The Mummy Returns." She's a bookworm turned action heroine. She's also a reincarnated Egyptian princess. She trades blows and sarcasm with equal finesse. Plus she's just plain funny.

HEROINE. "Feast." Probably the most clever horror movies in recent decades, Heroine is a mama on a mission. She's not afraid to violently kill a bunch of radioactive monsters if it means getting to her daughter.
MARILLA CUTHBERT. "Anne of Green Gables/Anne of Avonlea." Do I really have to explain why Marilla is, like, the most awesome mom ever? Anyone else who adored the Anne movies as a girl will understand.

So that's my short list, and I'm certain I've forgotten some awesome mothers.

 Who are some of your favorite fictional Mom's?

Change and Stuff

I don't like change. I'm a creature of habit and I like things to be familiar. Nu-Blogger makes me a little crazy, as does Firefox 12. Plus, when things update there are inevitably bugs and other issues to be fixed. No thank you. Anywho, that baby vent about change ties into why I've been so quiet on the blog lately. My old boss at my day job transferred to another store. So I got a temporary promotion to a full-time position--so temporary that it's been going on for the last five weeks, and there is no actual end in sight. Working full-time again has, in a way, been a godsend right now, with things so uncertain in the writing side of my life. But it's also been a drain on my time and energy, so my blog has been suffering. So has my social media time. And for all of that, I apologize. The good news is that I've finished a first draft of TEMPEST (MetaWars #3). I really had fun writing this book. It's from the POV of Ethan "Tempest" Swift, and he's one of my very favorite characters from the MetaWars series. You'll learn a few new things about him in CHANGELING (June 26) that I hope pique your interest in his story. TEMPEST and Metawars #4 will both be part of the newly revamped Pocket Star imprint, which is digital first content. Once I have release information beyond "in 2013" I'll let you know. Along the lines of other new things, the "Sekrit Project" is now on submission. Keep your fingers crossed for good things. This project is a closed trilogy, and it's something I'm very excited about. Oh yeah....GO SEE THE AVENGERS!!!! It was all kinds of awesome.

Today I am blogging at Literary Escapism, talking about A...

Today I am blogging at Literary Escapism, talking about Authors After Dark and the things I hope to see and do in New Orleans this summer.

Fangirl Squee

I don't usually post just to link to a single review, but I'm super excited that Charles de Lint reviewed ANOTHER KIND OF DEAD in the March/April issue of FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE. He reviewed both THREE DAYS TO DEAD and AS LIE THE DEAD in past issues, and he liked this installment, too.

Thanks to Melissa and Beth for pointing me toward this review!

Update and CHANGELING Snippet

So I've been quiet lately, and I know I kind of left folks hanging a little with my last post. I want to start by saying thank you to everyone for your kind words and support of the Dreg City books. It means a lot to know there are readers out there clambering for more of Evy and her friends.

The good news is that I will, in all likelihood, self-publish the rest of the series. I can't tell you when, because I have other projects in the pipe right now, but I hope to have something new for readers, even if it's just a short story, by the end of the year. Maybe the first of 2013. I will keep y'all posted as that develops.

The Sekrit Project is also finished and in the hands of both my agent and my crit partner. I'm pretty excited about this trilogy, because it is centered around my favorite supernatural creature: shifters.

I'm also gearing up for the release of CHANGELING (MetaWars #2) on June 26, so to round out the post, I'm going to offer another snippet from the book.

A little set-up: The team has purchased an abandoned mansion in Beverly Hills and are fixing it up as their home base. Dahlia "Ember" Perkins has been saddled with the task of hiring an electrician so their home improvements don't accidentally burn the place down. She finds herself at Scott & Sons, a place now run by someone she went to high school with--and who may or may not have had a crush on her once upon a time.

#

From Chapter Four


Dirty sneakers descended from the darkness, followed by tight, ripped jeans, and a T-shirt clad torso. An unbuttoned flannel shirt, sleeves rolled up, flapped in the wind he created as he charged forward. I looked up, past a narrow jaw, and into the brightest green eyes I had ever seen on a human being (except for Marco, but his eyes weren't quite natural).

If he wasn't Noah Scott, he was definitely related. He was about my age, with spiky auburn hair and a light smattering of freckles on his sharp nose. He stood about my height, thin-waisted, muscles rippling beneath his tight T-shirt. A runner, maybe, or a swimmer. Nothing like the skinny, gangly boy I remembered from high school. That boy had enjoyed loose clothes, kept his hair shaggy and long, and he couldn't possibly have been so handsome. Even his eyes seemed a brighter green than before.

Of course, a distance of six years can change your perception of a person.

Slim eyebrows arched as he studied me back. Wide lips puckered into a silent question, and he tilted his head to one side.

"Can I help you?" he asked. His voice had a rough quality, like sandpaper.

I licked my lips, trying to calm the butterflies in my stomach. "Yes," I said. "I, um, need lights." I could have slapped myself. Obvious and stupid.

His smile broadened, baring bright white, but somewhat crooked teeth. Some small amount of recognition had crept into his eyes—it could have as easily been knowing me as Ember as remembering me from school. "You're in luck, because that's all we sell here," he said.

I laughed, feeling like an idiot, and walked confidently up to his counter and squared my shoulders. His eyes dropped briefly to my chest, and I had the sudden, irrational urge to flee this shop and never look back.

"What kind of lighting to do you need?" he asked.

"All kinds. We're, um, remodeling an older home and a lot of the ceiling fixtures need to be replaced. That's our biggest need right now. And installation. Ethan's not so good at it."

"Your boyfriend?"

"My what?"

"You said Ethan isn't good at installation. Is he your boyfriend?"

Laughter bubbled in my chest, but I tamped it down. Maybe-Noah was much more Ethan's type than I was. "No, he's not my boyfriend. One of my roommates. A bunch of us are fixing up the house together."

He walked around the counter and stopped an arm's length away. I liked that we were the same height; I didn't have to strain my neck to stay under his intense gaze. His eyes roamed all over. Most days, I would have walked off in a huff after being openly appraised like that. With this maybe-not-a-stranger, I rather enjoyed the attention. Even living with five other people, I was often lonely.

"Do you see anything you like?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah." His eyebrows shot up, and I realized what I just said. "I mean, I haven't really looked at your lights." Eyebrows higher. "What you have to offer, I mean." Lordy, there was nothing coming out of my mouth that didn't sound like innuendo. Teresa would kill me if I screwed this up.

"How about some track lighting?" he asked, indicating the wall behind me. "Brightens up a room pretty quick, and you can set it on a dimmer switch. How many rooms?"

"Quite a few." Good, simple answer to a simple question. I was back on track to having an intelligent conversation. "We don't need all of them done at once, but there are half a dozen rooms downstairs, and at least six upstairs."

"The house sounds huge."

"It's in Beverly Hills."

His lips parted in surprise. "Wow, that's an interesting neighborhood to pick. Few people can afford those houses."

Dollar signs danced between us, taunting. It was a social barrier that I'd never dealt with growing up—at least, not from the rich side of the line. I never wanted money from my father, and I ignored my trust fun when I turned eighteen. Mom's insurance paid most of her medical bills. Everything I had, I earned on my own. I was no different than this man in front of me, self-made and struggling to be independent. But the squint in his eyes, the harder line of his mouth, indicated he didn't know that. He just knew I had money. Money he could make.

"It's a group effort," I said. I wanted him to understand and didn't know why. "We needed a big place with good security. A bungalow in Inglewood wasn't going to do it for us."

"So you're looking for at least a dozen fixtures," he said, as though I hadn't spoken. "Plus installation and any necessary rewiring. Some of those old places can have exposed wires that cause shorts. Fires. You should definitely have a thorough inspection."

I bristled. Yeah, he was milking those dollar signs. Ass. "Do you provide those services?"

"As a matter of fact, we do. Why don't—?" Footsteps thumped down the back stairs, cutting off his train of thought. We both turned toward the sound.

A girl appeared behind the counter, maybe eighteen or twenty years old. She had long black hair and equally long legs that disappeared beneath a short, white skirt. "Hey, Noah, how come I always—?" Her almond-shaped eyes landed on me. "Oh, sorry. Didn't realize you had a customer."

Okay, so he was definitely my old schoolmate. Someone I obviously hadn't made an impression on, since he'd yet to indicate he remembered me.

Noah eyed the girl's outfit, from the pencil-heeled white sandals to the low-cut orange tank top barely reigning in her breasts. "Are you going out in that?"

"Sure." She twirled, the flared skirt riding up a little too high for decency. "Why the hell not?"

"You look like a hooker."

She belted out the perfect flirtatious giggle. "You think I'm going to go out and pick up some strange man to bring home? Be serious."

"Just be careful." He sighed, and I wondered if he'd had this conversation before.

She blew a kiss and flounced out the front door.

"Sorry about that," Noah said.

I shrugged. "What were you saying?"

"I was going to suggest I make an appointment to inspect the property. I'll be able to get a better idea of your needs, see the wiring as it is, and know where things are going to fit. Then I can order what I don't have in stock, and we can start getting you guys set up."

"Sure. What's good for you?"

"How about right now?"

An Announcement of the Worst Kind

I've spent the better part of two days trying to figure out the best way to write this post. This isn't news I imagined ever having to break to my readers, but like ripping off a Band-aid, sometimes you just have to say it.

There will be no more Dreg City books.

As much as I want to qualify that statement with "for now" or "in the near future," I don't want to impress false hope when I cannot make those guarantees. What I know is this: Bantam has opted to not buy any more Dreg City books due to the sales numbers of the first four books.

Basically, the series isn't selling. Despite being reviewed well and despite you amazing, wonderfully loyal fans, the sales numbers just aren't there. This certainly drives home the point that no matter how artistic you may think writing is, publishing is still a business.

As Michael Corleone once said, "It's not personal, Tom. It's strictly business."

Intellectually, I know it isn't personal. Emotionally, though, it feels like I've failed somehow. I was raised with a "do the job you're given and do it to the best of your ability" work ethic. I did everything I was supposed to do as an author (wrote a good book, promoted it, interacted with social media) and I fulfilled my contracts--but it wasn't enough. I don't know what I could have done differently, or if the series was just too dark, too different from the start. I just don't know. But it doesn't stop me from feeling like I failed.

Worst of all, I feel like I failed you guys--my readers. While WRONG SIDE OF DEAD does not end at a cliffhanger, there are promises of things to come and stories yet untold. I adore writing for Evy, Wyatt, Phineas, Kismet, Milo, and the others. I adore playing in Dreg City. And I adore interacting with you guys.

As I said above, I can't promise anything right now.

Do I know where Evy's story is going? Yes.

Do I know how many more books it will take? Yes.

Do I know if/when/how they'll be written/made available? No.

This is my job, so right now I have to focus on other advance-paying projects. I have something new in the works (folks who follow me on Twitter have probably seen me using the #SekritProject hashtag recently). I still have CHANGELING releasing in June, and I have two new MetaWars stories releasing digitally next year. As much as saying good-bye to Evy & Company hurts right now, hopefully it's just temporary.

I'm going to close by asking a favor of you guys: if you've read and enjoyed the Dreg City books, tell someone else. Tell a friend or a neighbor, or a fellow book blogger, or the lady on your commuter train whose nose is always in her Kindle. Post reviews on Amazon and BN.com. Post reviews on Goodreads. If your local library doesn't have it, ask them to stock it--or better, donate a copy, as many libraries work on very tight budgets.

And even if superheroes aren't your thing, give TRANCE a try. It's more urban fantasy than you might think.

Teaser Tuesday: Changeling

With CHANGELING (MetaWars #2) releasing in just under three months, I thought a snippet was in order. The scene below is taken from Chapter Two. Dahlia, Teresa, and Ethan have responded to a call from the city police regarding...well, a "dead body."

You'll see.

Enjoy!


#####

Trance approached the scene with confidence in her stride. Tempest and I flanked her, creating a perfect triangle. My palms were sweaty and not from the day's heat. I schooled my face into the perfect picture of calm as we approached. The wall of human bodies parted, and I gazed down at my first murder victim.

And almost lost my breakfast.

It wasn't a body as much as it was a body's case. Skin, hair and nails, in the perfect replica of a human being. The pink and tan body looked like an inflatable doll that had gone flat, but it wasn't plastic. The details were too perfect, from the lines around the empty eyes to the warts on the tops of the man's feet. There was no blood, no gore, no sign of the eyeballs or anything else that wasn't external.

A human slipcover.

"Oh boy," I muttered.

"You okay?" Tempest asked, a little pale himself. His good hand squeezed my shoulder.

I tore my eyes away from the graphic—yet oddly, not gory—sight. "Yeah, I think so. Wh-what could do that to a person?"

"That's why we called in you people," Detective Forney said. She wore shockingly red lipstick and matching nail polish. A scar ran the length of her left cheek, from ear to chin, thin as a pencil line, but noticeable in the bright daylight. Heavy makeup covered her face, thickest under her eyes and cross the bridge of her nose, which seemed slightly swollen.

"You people?" Trance said, shoulders tensing.

"Yes, you guys, you people," she said. "Christ, don't be so touchy. We're doing you a favor by bringing you into this case."

Trance squared off with the mouthy detective. "Funny, I assumed you brought us in because you don't have a clue what did this, or why, or how you'd fight it if you met it in a dark alley. Am I anywhere close, Detective Forney?"

Forney sneered. Detective Pascal placed a warning hand on his partner's shoulder. A good six inches taller than her, he was an intimidating presence, and she backed off. Her hand brushed mine as she swept past and stalked down the alley to the street.

"She's not very good with people," Pascal said. "That's why she works Homicide. Gets along great with dead bodies."

Tempest snickered.

Trance crouched over the skin. "I take it your Forensic team will inform us of anything they find? Any indication of how the skin was removed and why."

"Of course," Pascal said. "Forney might not like you, but this is far beyond our abilities to solve alone. Maybe if there was some sign that the skin had been cut, some evidence of a knife or scraping tool, but there isn't. Everything that was inside of the skin is just…gone."

Audio Books

I've received several email queries recently from folks asking if there will be an audio version of WRONG SIDE OF DEAD, so I thought I should do a quick post on the topic.

Tantor bought rights to do audio versions of only the first three Dreg City books, all of which are available right now. They did not buy rights to WRONG SIDE OF DEAD. I would love for fans of the audio books to have the chance to hear the fourth book, but unfortunately that's not up to me. Just like the future of the print books depends on sales, so does the future of the audio versions.

Someone asked what you could do to let Tantor know you want WSOD in audio. The best, easiest step (if you haven't already) is to purchase the audio books of the first three. If you borrowed them from the library, then write to another local library and suggest they also stock the books. Recommend them to a friend (or two or twenty). Review them online. Help get the word out so others can find them, too.

You can also drop Tantor an email and let them know directly that you're interested. Tell them you want the fourth Dreg City book in audio format! Xe Sands has already told me she'd be on board for it, if the deal ever happens and I'd love to give a talented performer more work.

Evy Needs Your Help!

So the Suvudu Cage Match has begun, and Evy's up against The Fool in round one. Someone at Suvudu seems to think that Evy will be susceptible to the charms of this fellow (or his friend, I'm not sure which). But if they think a pretty face will fool Evy into losing, then They Don't Know Evy! She is smarter than that, and she's never been one to be led around by her hormones.

Evy needs your votes! Head on over and vote for her to win!