Christine Rains's Blog, page 121

The Booker Award

A big thank you to the lovely Theresa Paolo for this award.I am, indeed, one of those who refuse to live in the real world!
The rules for this award:This award is for book bloggers only. To receive this award the blog must be at least 50% about books (reading or writing is okay)
Along with receiving this award, you must also share your top five favorite books you have ever read. (More than five is okay) You must give this award to 5-10 other lucky book blogs you adore.  Here are my favorite books:1) The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.2) The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning.3) The original Kushiel trilogy by Jacqueline Carey.4) The Downside Ghosts/Chess Putnam series by Stacia Kane.5) THE STAND by Stephen King.6) The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin.7) The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.8) The Troy Game series by Sara Douglass.9) The Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher.10) The Coldfire trilogy by C.S. Friedman. I'm passing on this award to these five fabulous people:1) Lynda R. Young2) Laura Josephsen3) Rek4) M. Pepper Langlinais5) Andrea Teagan

A couple of great contests

Roland Yeomans is having a fantastic contest with prizes includingan autograph from Robert Downey Jr.,an autographed copy of Michael Whelan's book,ANDan autographed photo of Alexander Skarsgard!*FAN GIRL SQUEAL*
All you have to do is write a post or an Amazon review of Roland's book,END OF DAYS.You can find the details here on his blog.
I have his book. I need to get reading and write that review before July 4th!
In celebration of 100 followers, Allison atGEEK BANTERis having a drawing to win any one book byTerry Brooks.How to pick only one?Allison has a great blog with book and geek fun. Here's the post with the details.

June anthologies, awards, and stuff

A big thank you to the awesome Chris Fries for the Stylish blogger Award and the Versatile Blogger Award. The Versatile one has been going around a lot lately. I'll not bore you with more random facts about myself. I've never gotten the Stylish blogger award before, though. For this one, I have to share the last time I dressed up.
I hate dressing up. I'm a jeans and t-shirt woman. I own only one black skirt I use for interviews, weddings, and funerals. The last time I donned the skirt was for our friends' wedding nearly 3 years ago. I was pregnant, but we hadn't told anyone yet. I hadn't gained any weight at that point, so the skirt still fit. I don't wear heels either. Flats for me. First off, I'm tall. It feels weird if I'm taller than my husband who's only two inches taller than me. Second, I'm a klutz. I sometimes can't keep my balance if I'm bare footed, never mind putting me in heels! That's a broken ankle waiting to happen.
Yup, I have no dressy style or grace. I happily pass off this award to five of you that do:1. Trish2. Amy3. Theresa4. Clare5. Joshua (a shout-out to a fellow geek who loves t-shirts more than I do!)
I need to get started on writing a short story for June. I'm going the fantasy route this month. Here are a few anthologies seeking submissions that interested me:
AIRSHIPS & AUTOMATONS - 1-time print/eBook (White Cat Publications); steampunk (fic). Pay: 5¢/word +copy. Words: 4k-6k. RT: varies. Reprints: yes (1¢/word +copy). E-subs: ONLY . Charles P. Zaglanis, Editor . Deadline: when filled.
ONCE UPON AN APOCALYPSE - 1-time print/eAntho (Chaosium); h (fic). Pay: 3¢/word. Words: 2k-4k. RT: 2-3 months. Reprints: no. E-subs: ONLY . Rachel Kenley & Scott T. Goudsward, Editors . Deadline: July 31st.
THE DARK SIDE OF THE WOMB: From Their Cradle to Your Grave - 1-time POD/eAntho (Cruentus Libri Press); h (fic). Pay: shared royalty. Words: 2½k-7½k. RT: receipt=<1 week; final=<1 week after DL. Reprints: yes. E-subs: ONLY . Kevin G. Bufton, Editor . Deadline: August 31st. (You could totally write one for this, Lily!)
SWORDS FOR SALE: An Anthology of Fantastic Mercenary Fiction - 1-time POD/eAntho (Sorcerous Press); mercenary f (fic). Pay: $20. Words: <10k. RT: <1 month. Reprints: query. E-subs: ONLY . Robert Lewis, Editor . Deadline: June 15th.
Finally, Writer's Digest is having a fun contest here: Your Story contest on Writer's Digest. Write the first sentence for the picture below (25 words or less). It's free and simple. I already entered!

Ocean Stories anthology

Ocean Stories is a great collection of 22 short stories from the deep.Myth and magic. Mermaids and monsters.My horror short story, "A Ticket on the Train" is featured in this anthology.It's full of suspense and a train you never want to ride.
The anthology will be available by the end of the month.You can put it on your TBR list on Goodreads,and pre-order it on the publisher's site.It will also be available on Amazon and B&N.

Wicked Wednesday - paranormal romance written by men

Paranormal romance is a genre dominated with female writers and readers. Perhaps it's the "romance" in the name that scares off men. Yet men like love stories too. In fact, because of male readers, paranormal romance is becoming one of the top sub-genres of romance. Sometimes paranormal romance blurs the line with urban fantasy, and this draws the male readers in as well.

What about men who write in the genre, though? I looked up lists and seen names like Jim Butcher, Sergei Lukyanenko, and Scott Westerfield. I wouldn't label any of them paranormal romance. There's elements of romance in their books, but it isn't the focus of them. I came across a few names like Sam Lang, Andrew Fox, and Mario Acevedo, but I've never heard of them, and their titles and blurbs lean more to the witty/humorous side.

Why aren't more men writing in this genre? I still think maybe the name of "romance" frightens some off. There's the misconception that men can't write emotions as well as woman. Men most certainly can. Men fall in love too. Perhaps men don't believe they can write convincing female protagonists. Right now, the majority of protagonists in paranormal romances are women, but that doesn't mean male protagonists aren't equally accepted. If it's a well written story, then it will speak for itself.

Also, there are a few men out there that write in this genre under pseudonyms.

This is an increasingly popular genre. Young readers are eating it up, setting up an audience for a lifetime. This is the perfect time for men to start writing paranormal romance.

Do you know any male paranormal romance writers? Why do you think few men write in this genre?

Teaser Tuesday with The Iron King

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!This is one I've been wanting to get a hold of for a while. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa is the first book in the Iron Fey series. I love the concept of the Iron Fey. It's unique in the YA fairy genre even though the protagonist is failing to draw me in fully.
Here's your teaser:
"You've gone off the deep end. Time to cute back on the anime, Rob. There's no such thing as faeries." (page 58)

Review for The Backworlds (Book 1)

Blurb:
After the war with Earth, bioengineered humans scatter across the Backworlds. Competition is fierce and pickings are scant. Scant enough that Craze’s father decides to hoard his fortune by destroying his son. Cut off from family and friends, with little money, and even less knowledge of the worlds beyond his own, Craze heads into an uncertain future. Boarding the transport to Elstwhere, he vows to make his father regret this day. 

My review:
Craze is his father, Bast's son. He's learned how to swindle with the best of them. Bast announces he's sending Craze off to another world to make his fortune. Craze thinks maybe his pa believes in him. But then Bast says he's sending him away from his home for good, stealing his girl, and having him declared a leecher, shamed in front of his people. Surely Craze's luck can't get worse than that? Yet as he heads off to Elstwhere, he discovers a whole universe meaner and greedier than his pa.

This was so much fun to read. The world building, or shall I say, universe building, is incredible. Amazing planets and beings. The imagery is vivid and filled my head with so many amazing sights. It was the little details. The living hair and amazingly soft skin of the Verkinn. The gender-bending of the Jix and the bird-like aviarmen. M. Pax so easily transported me to this other world and took my breath away.

There's edge-of-your-seat action and tension. Who to trust? Craze is immediately likable. Clever and yet naive. I found myself cheering for him and hoping he made it through in one piece. The friends and enemies he made came alive on the page, well, screen. I particularly liked Talos and Lepsi. They're fascinating and made the story all the more entertaining.

The Backworlds (Book 1) is a fantastic piece of science-fiction. I cannot wait until the next book comes out and we can see what sort of trouble Craze gets into next!

I'm craving chocolate now. *winks*

The Backworlds (Book 1) is now available for FREE on: Amazon / AmazonUK / Smashwords / Feedbooks / iTunes / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Diesel.

Please visit M. Pax's site and pop on over to her blog!

Lucky 7 Meme - another round

I want to thank the wicked Mina Lobo from Some Dark Romantic for awarding me the Lucky 7 Meme. She posted a cool excerpt from her WIP and it involves vampires. Check it out!
I've done this one before, but I'm going to pick an older manuscript that's in need of a bit of sun.
Here are the rules:1. Go to page 77 of your manuscript.2. Go to line 7.3. Copy down the next 7 lines as they're written. No cheating!4. Post them on your blog.5. Tag 7 other writers. (I'm not going to tag anyone. I'm doing this again just for fun. So if anyone else wants to, go for it!)
This is from my epic fantasy called "The Cursed Land." It's near 200,000 words. Yes, I was ambitious. It would work better as a fantasy romance and broken into three books. Maybe one day!
Here's my excerpt:“Rodolf is not going to send the soldiers to get you! If he was going to do that, then he wouldn't have taken us with him. Not everyone is out to get you, Peri.”Peri made a little noise of disbelief. “No, you’re not, but Rodolf is a Guard, remember? It’s his duty. I’m a marked girl."

Friday Five for May 25th

1. I've started work on a new project and I'm writing from the male POV. It's slow going. I adore the character, but it's difficult for me to grasp his male voice. I'm telling myself to just push on and get the story out. I can work on the voice when I revise it.

2. In that same story, characters are naming themselves. I had names picked out, but they refused them! Even the city named itself. It baffles me when this happens, but it lets me know this is going to be a great story.

3. I've been keeping up with my goal of writing one short story a month and submitting it. My writer's group liked my latest sci-fi short story. I've revised it and submitted it. I still haven't heard about my Cthulhu short story, but their deadline is July 31st. I might not hear for a while yet.

4. The public pools open tomorrow. I'm excited about it, but at the same time it begins my annual exercise on how to work around not wearing a bathing suit in public. I don't know why people still accuse me of being a vampire. I'm pale, yes, but those are freckles, not sparkles!

5. Sherlock was awesome. The finale of Modern Family was hilarious. I'm finally catching up on Game of Thrones. And True Blood starts in a few weeks!

Wicked Wednesday - taboo?

When you're submitting a story to a publisher, there's usually a list on their site that states what they will not accept. These are the taboo topics like incest, rape, pedophilia, and bestiality. The reason publishers don't want stories about these types of things is obvious.

Paranormal romance is a genre that dances around subjects that are taboo. Mainstream novels tend to follow the general romance guidelines in this. Yet there are things you read in paranormal romances that you wouldn't find in other romances.

Multiple partners - Usually we have the heroine and hero together, and the story focuses on them alone. Most publishers require it. There are stories that have the protagonist with more than one person, though. There's a supernatural reason for it, of course. The most popular examples of this are Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series.

Addiction issues - Most publishers won't consider a protagonist that has a substance abuse problem. It takes away from their likability. Yet in an urban fantasy world, things are different. Characters can be addicted to magic or blood. It's apart from our normal reality and thus more acceptable. An example of a protagonist with an addiction problem is Chess Putnam in Stacia Kane's Downside Ghosts series. Awesome novels, and you find yourself sympathizing with Chess rather disliking her.

Forced seduction - Rape is not acceptable anywhere. It might be a traumatic event in a protagonist's past, but that's the most publishers accept. When it comes to paranormal romances, we tend to see a lot of forced seductions. Some think this is just another word for rape and it's hard to see where the line is drawn on this. Forced seduction is where one dominant character forces themselves on an at first unwilling character and then that unwillingness becomes yes, yes, yes. An example could be an alpha male having found his mate, but she's resistant to the big arrogant fellow. He hunts her down, loses himself to the need to take her, and after a little bit of a struggle, she decides she wants him too. A forced seduction book is Elfking's Lady by Hannah Howell.

No HEA - Most publishers want a Happily Ever After (HEA) ending, or at least, the Happy For Now (HFN) one. Paranormal romances bring the possibility that we might never be able to have that HEA. War between supernatural creatures, immortality issues, and the more mundane they're-just-too-different-for-it-to-honestly-work-out reason. Also, sometimes readers like tragedies. A good example of this is The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan.

What are some things you consider taboo in other books but might accept in paranormal romance? Why do you think paranormal romance can cross the line when other genres cannot?