Thea Harrison's Blog, page 28
July 15, 2012
Blog Post: RWA’s Readers for Life Literacy Autographing Event
I, along with many other authors, will be participating in the Romance Writers of America Readers for Life Literacy Autographing event at the RWA convention in Anahaim, California on July 25th.
RWA has put out a map for the event, so those who wish to attend can find their favorite authors. I’ll be honest–I don’t understand the seating arrangement in this map, since there doesn’t seem to be a grouping category, either by alphabetical order, by publisher or by subgenre.
There may be some organization to the seating order, but if there is, it isn’t intuitive and I don’t know of it, so if you are attending the event, you may want to print the map up so that you can locate the authors you wish to visit.
(I’ll be seated at table #907, in the upper left hand corner.)
This is an exciting event, and I’m looking forward to it. If you’re attending, stop by and say hi! I would love to see you.
Thea
July 14, 2012
Blog Post: Excerpt from LORD’S FALL
Here’s an excerpt from LORD’S FALL, just for fun. Hope you enjoy!
~~~
Since he knew Pia’s true Name, bringing her into a dream was easy. Still, he took time with this one and worked to get the details right, brushing them into place with his mind like an artist putting the finishing touches on a painting. Then he cast it out, an invisible net woven with Power, and he went to sleep himself and waited.
Part of him marked the passing of time even as he drifted quietly. Then he felt her presence slide into the dream, and he came alert.
The setting was cool and quiet, and a light, delicate wind blew. He had recreated the subtle hues of night.
She was outside. The light, musical tinkle of bells danced through the air. “What the . . .” she said, sounding disoriented and puzzled. Then she laughed, and the sound was more beautiful than the bells.
He smiled, rose from the couch where he had been reclining and lifted the flap of the tent to look out.
Sand dunes rippled underneath the silvery cascade of moonlight. Several feet away from the tent a small oasis of water, little more than the size of a comfortably large hot tub, was surrounded by a collection of ferns and palm trees, which didn’t make any ecological sense, but still, the scene was pretty.
Pia stood on the path between the tent and the oasis, looking down at herself. Pleasure washed through Dragos. She was a symphony of the precious colors he loved the most, silver, ivory and gold, and those gorgeous sapphire eyes. Her loose hair rippled down her back, and the harem outfit he had devised for her to wear was skimpy in all the right places. Bracelets and anklets of tiny bells adorned her graceful wrists and ankles, and her slender, arched feet were bare.
She looked up, still laughing. “You made me look like a belly dancer . . . oh my. Oh, very much my.”
“What?” he said, strolling toward her with a slight smile. He was barefoot as well. He wore a simple linen robe that wrapped and belted at the waist, with thin cotton pants underneath. “The belly dancer outfit was my favorite part.”
“How very sheikh-ish you look.” Her face tilted up as he neared, and her midnight-colored eyes were wide.
He played with her jewelry, letting the dangling earrings slide over his fingers. The heavy, gold linked necklace at her neck was shamefully erotic. It highlighted the delicacy of her throat and collarbones, and evoked the concept of bondage. He said deeply, “You should wear jewelry more often.”
The bells at her wrist tinkled as she raised a hand and laid it at his chest where the robe parted. Her fingertips were cool on his bare skin, her hand unsteady, resting against him as light as a trembling butterfly. “It’s at times like this that I want to say something incredibly foolish,” she said. She sounded breathless.
He captured her fingers and brought them up to his lips. “Like what?”
She murmured, “Like I’ll wear anything you want me to, whenever you want.”
“I see nothing at all wrong with that statement.” He mouthed the words against her fingers.
She snickered. “Of course you don’t. And I’m not saying it. I’m only confessing to the impulse.”
He told her, “You should always tell me your foolish impulses so that I may take advantage of them.”
“That is not going to happen, your majesty,” she informed him. “The ones I do tell you are bad enough.” She looked down at herself and her voice grew mournful. “This outfit makes me look fat, doesn’t it?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he growled. He had started to bend down to her for a kiss, and he reared his head back to glare at her. Without a clever layering of clothing to hide it, her slender waist flowed gracefully out to a lightly rounded belly, and her breasts were lush and ripe, the creamy skin soft as a white peach. Everything inside him tightened at the sight. “You look utterly incredible.”
She swayed forward. He put an arm around her as she leaned against him, and his head came down over hers. He rested his cheek in her thick, soft hair, and for the first time that day the dragon’s constant, rogue urge to violence subsided. What it left behind was a deep, hungering ache. He wanted to drag her to the ground and ease his cock inside of her while she gripped him with her inner muscles and rocked him with her strong, supple body until he spilled everything he had into her. He was the hardiest of all creatures, but good gods, these dreams were going to kill him.
~~~
Available November 6th. To pre-order:
July 13, 2012
Blog Post: this week’s Writer Wednesday winner with Ilona Andrews
The winner of this week’s Writer Wednesday, with guest author Ilona Andrews, is Biki! I’ve emailed Biki separately–congratulations!
On the schedule for next week is Carly Philips!
Happy reading, everybody.
Thea
July 12, 2012
Blog Post: cover copy for RISING DARKNESS, A Game of Shadows Novel
The following is the cover copy for RISING DARKNESS, the first of two paranormal stories with Berkley. The release date for RISING DARKNESS is April 2, 2013. We’re working on cover art ideas now, so we will probably have a cover design sometime next month that I’ll be able to share with you.
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USA Today bestselling author Thea Harrison begins an all-new, darkly romantic paranormal saga, in which the fate of existence itself lay in the balance—and the key to victory may rest in the hands of two eternal lovers…
In the hospital ER where she works, Mary is used to chaos. But lately, every aspect of her life seems adrift. She’s feeling disconnected from herself. Voices appear in her head. And the vivid, disturbing dreams she’s had all her life are becoming more intense. Then she meets Michael. He’s handsome, enigmatic, and knows more than he can say. In his company, she slowly remembers the truth about herself…
Thousands of years ago, there were eight of them. The one called the Deceiver came to destroy the world, and the seven came to stop him. Reincarnated over and over, they carry on—and Mary finds herself drawn into the battle once again. And the more she learns, the more she realizes that Michael will go to any lengths to destroy the Deceiver.
Then she remembers who killed her during her last life, 900 years ago…Michael.
July 11, 2012
Blog Post: Writer Wednesday guest author Ilona Andrews and giveaway
From Thea: Ilona Andrews is one of those wonderful authors that I have connected with through the magic of Twitter. Initially we started talking because we both have Shit Tzus, which can be a challenge to get groomed properly. I think very highly of her writing, adore her Kate Daniels series, and was very excited when she accepted my invitation to come visit this week.
This week she’s writing from the perspective of a reader as she talks wallpaper historicals. She’s kindly offered a giveaway, and the details follow at the end of this post.
~~~
I write urban fantasy, some of it with a lot of romance elements, but I’m also a historical romance reader and I occasionally talk about books I’ve read. That’s probably why this question landed in my email box.
“You recommend a lot of historic romances. What’s your opinion on wallpaper historicals?”
For those of you who are not familiar with the term, a wallpaper historical is most often used to describe a romance novel that takes liberties with its historical setting. It may feature anachronistic attitudes, wrong clothes for the time period, and other details that would not pass scrutiny by a historian. For example The Mummy is a film version of a wallpaper historical. It uses the ideas and details of Ancient and turn-of-the century Egypt, but it’s not historically accurate.
My answer is, depends on the historical.
The wallpaper historicals break into two broad categories: those that are poorly researched and those that are deliberately inaccurate.
Baby Jesus holding eyeglasses: deliberate or a mistake? You decide. Learn more at http://www.antiquespectacles.com
The poorly researched historicals are easy to spot. They take themselves seriously, but get non-essential details wrong, such as having a Regency dandy flit about town in a gig (a single-horse cart used in the country) instead of a curricle (two-wheeled maneuverable urban carriage) or having a 12th century Scottish laird eating potatoes, which didn’t arrive to Europe until the late 15th century. In real life, the Book of Mormon is perhaps the most well-known example of a narrative with many anachronisms. When describing civilization of ancient America, it mentions domesticated horses and swine, wheat, silk, and chariots, none of which were introduced to the New World until the arrival of the Europeans.
I don’t care for the historicals that are poorly researched. It’s just sloppy work.
The deliberately inaccurate historicals take purposeful liberties with their setting in the name of artistic license. It could be argued that Loretta Chase’s latest series Dressmakers is anachronistic by design. The first book, SILK FOR SEDUCTION, paired a dressmaker with a Duke and the second, SCANDAL WEARS SATIN, has a dressmaker heroine and an Earl. Marriages between aristocracy and commoners did occur in that time period, but only under dire straits, as in the noble would have to be severely impoverished. A wealthy Duke would not marry a poor dressmaker.
I like deliberately inaccurate historicals. I view them as a fantasy on a historical theme, because let’s face it, if I want to read a historically accurate novel, I will pick up Sharon Kay Pennman. When I reach for a romance novel, I want fun. I’m perfectly willing to let go of certain historical details, if it means I get my entertainment. For example, I love Eloisa James’ Fairy Tales. Are they 100% strictly historically accurate? No. It says “fairy tale” in the name of the series. :D
I don’t believe this is an either/or issue. The genre has plenty of room for both fun fairy tale historicals and the very well researched, accurate to the smallest detail works such as Joanna Bourne’s series or Courtney Milan’s historical romances. I believe Courtney actually pays out of pocket for a historical copyeditor, but please don’t quote me on that.
It can also be argued that if we were to demand that all romances adhere to historical accuracy to the smallest detail, people would stop reading them. For example, it wasn’t uncommon for a Scottish Highland laird, so often used in the romances, to beat his wife with a belt or a stick for infractions. In fact, it was considered to be beneficial to a woman to be beaten. An unmarried woman was considered to be ancient by twenty. I’m with Felicia Day on this when she says in one of her Goodreads reviews
“AGE 24 IS NOT OVER THE HILL AND OLD! OMG IF THAT’S OLD AND SHE’S “LOST THE SPARK OF YOUTH” THEN I”M AN OLD HAG! I DO NOT WANT TO FEEL LIKE AN OLD HAG WHEN I READ TRASHY ESCAPIST LITERATURE.”
There you go. Yes, it’s historically accurate and I even did it in STEEL’S EDGE, when a slaver expresses regret that Charlotte is thirty, because if she was fifteen years younger, he’d get more money. But I don’t want to feel like I’m an old hag either. Furthermore, all those witty conversations and fun repartee we see in the historical romances of the 18th and 19th century is an anachronism in itself. Here is Leo Tolstoy (whose father was a Count from one of the old Russian noble families) for you:
“The vicomte appreciated this silent praise and smiling gratefully prepared to continue, but just then Anna Pavlovna, who had kept a watchful eye on the young man who so alarmed her, noticed that he was talking too loudly and vehemently with the abbe, so she hurried to the rescue. Pierre had managed to start a conversation with the abbe about the balance of power, and the latter, evidently interested by the young man’s simple-minded eagerness, was explaining his pet theory. Both were talking and listening too eagerly and too naturally, which was why Anna Pavlovna disapproved.”
War and Peace
No lively discussion permitted.
You know what else is anachronistic in the current romance novels? Hot sex. Not that sex didn’t exist – it did – but grabbing a heroine and dragging her off to seduce her somewhere on the balcony while the ball was going on? Nope. Most marriages were arranged, the interaction of males and females was strictly controlled among the upper class, and furthermore, it is highly likely that young people of that period weren’t savvy enough about sexual education to engage in some of the more adventurous things.
As a mother of teenage daughters in the age when sexual education materials are readily available, I can tell you that it is amazing what the kids do and don’t know. They keep coming up with the weirdest nonsense, and when I tell them that they’re wrong, they run off to the internet to try to prove that they are right. I finally bought a book on sexual education and now refer them to it. Certainly there were some books that dealt with those topics – and here is an interesting blog post about them – but they were not readily available and not all of young nobles had parents or governesses who would take time to explain things or would even broach the subject.
Even now, with all of the information that is out there, poor Dan Savage has to travel to college campuses and explain to college students the basics of sexual education. Let’s say you’re a sixteen year old girl, and you’ve spent your life learning etiquette and dancing and having almost no unsupervised interaction with young men of your age. You don’t know what the sexual parts of male anatomy look like. How would you react at the suggestion of performing oral sex?
Another anachronism? Happily Ever After. HEA is perhaps the most important aspect of romance genre, and many readers, myself included, like epilogues when a happy couple is shown enjoying family life with their children. Cold harsh reality: the historical Europe had lousy health care and atrociously high child mortality. King Stephen of 12th century England, while not being a great king, loved his wife Matilda with all the passion of a proper romance hero. She loved him back. They had seven children. Five survived to adulthood. This is the King of England, who presumably had access to the best medical care of the times. When looking for escape, I don’t want to read about dying babies. :(
In the end, it’s up to the the individual reader how much historical inaccuracies he or she can endure. There are times when historical inaccuracies aggravate me and then there are times when I just want a love story with pretty dresses, hot nobles, and improbable adventures. That’s the beauty of the romance genre – there is something for everyone.
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Readers: what are some of the historically inaccurate novels you’ve read and enjoyed, and why?
Answer for a chance to win copy of Gunmetal Magic. Important note: Gunmetal Magic comes out on July 31st, and this prize will be shipped when Ilona received her reader copies.
Giveaway ends on Friday July 13th, at 12 noon MDT.
July 5, 2012
Blog Post: Cover art for HUNTER’S SEASON
Here is the fabulous new cover art for HUNTER’S SEASON (Samhain novella #4, September 18th). I love it so much and hope you do too! Enjoy!
July 4, 2012
Blog Post: For today’s Writer Wednesday, a blog post from me
Unfortunately, my scheduled guest Sylvia Day couldn’t be with us this week, so instead of holding a Writer Wednesday with a single guest author, I thought I would share some fantastic YouTube videos about writing from several very big names in writing.
First, Ray Bradbury. What a video! Mr. Bradbury tells us to love life.
Ray Bradbury speaks about writing
Secondly, Stephen King.
Stephen King: Writing is Hypnosis
And last, John Irving offers advice.
John Irving: Advice to Aspiring Novelists
Hope you enjoy!
Next week, author Ilona Andrews visits, and the week after that, Carly Phillips!
Happy reading–and writing.
Thea
June 29, 2012
Blog Post: This week’s Writer Wednesday winner with Lauren Dane
The winner of this week’s Writer Wednesday, with guest author Lauren Dane, is Kaye! I’ve emailed Kaye separately–congratulations!
On the schedule for next week is Sylvia Day!
Happy reading, everybody.
Thea
June 27, 2012
Blog Post: Investing in characters
I just had a terrific exchange with Lauren Dane on Twitter.
Lauren wrote: “I love it when I can take a thread from 3 books back, just a tiny thing, and bring it into the book I’m writing now.”
I told her, I do too. I’m excited and grateful at the opportunity to develop a series. I’ve just been thinking about all the readers who have contacted me about characters they’ve read in the Elder Races series and hope to see again.
I think you should know– As a writer, I fall in love with these characters too. I’m just as excited as any reader at the chance to revisit them. Sooo… once again, readers, THANK YOU for opening up this opportunity for all of us to enjoy.
You guys rock. I thought it was important to tell you that.
Blog Post: Writer Wednesday guest author Lauren Dane and giveaway
From Thea: I connected with author Lauren Dane through the magic of Twitter, and I’m so glad I did! Lauren is not only extremely talented, but she’s sensible and strong minded. I was delighted when she agreed to come visit on my blog this week!
Lauren is offering a giveaway. As always, details follow at the end of this post.
~~~
Tropes/Themes Whatever You Want To Call Them
by Lauren Dane
Romance novels often get a bad rap because they tend to deal with themes people outside the genre like to think are clichés. The thing is, tropes, clichés, themes, whatever, are part of our consciousness because they concern issues we connect with.
A trope, to me anyway, is an idea or theme that people recognize. It can be through a character or through the story as a whole.
It’s up to the individual author to take that well recognized idea/theme and give it a unique spin or twist. But in and of itself, I will always argue that a trope is not bad. It’s not lazy. It’s not even a cliché. It can be those things if it’s used without any creativity and instead of a way to introduce readers to your world, you use it to bear the weight of the story and let it do your work.
There’s nothing wrong with writing on themes readers connect with. There’s nothing lazy about it. Nothing silly about it or any of the other things people try to connect romance and romance readers to in a negative way. In fact pretty much all novels, art, movies, etc are based on tropes and themes basic to the human condition. We connect, or not, based on our life experiences. It’s why some people read a book and rave about it forever as being the best book ever written while others rant about that same book as being horrible. Reading is personal. Which is why it’s so amazing. And romance connects to those buttons—both good and bad.
I love small town romance. I love the way small towns work. They’re wonderful and infuriating all at once. They can be filled with hilarious characters as well as small minded villains. But in the hands of say, Nora Roberts or Linda Howard you get Carnal Innocence and After The Night. Both books deal with some of my very favorite tropes. Small towns, class divides and tough, misunderstood alpha male heroes. Both authors push that envelope with their heroes and the story setting. Which is what makes both books so memorable to me.
The hardened assassin hero – and no one does this one better than Anne Stuart. She pushes that line so much, in such a fearless fashion. I absolutely love her books and her writing. Some of my favorites are Moonrise (and OMG she nearly broke me with this book. It’s one of her best and I think so totally underrated) and her Ice series (most notably Black Ice where the hero breaks at least 3 of my hero rules and I loved him anyway). Another favorite in this trope is Linda Howard. All The Queen’s Men introduced me to John Medina, who remains in my top 25 heroes list.
I also have a thing for older men/younger women stories. This is a more difficult trope for me because I loathe stories where the man is predatory and the woman is weak. I want her to be strong. Strong and smart enough to enjoy the experience and awesomeness a man in his 40s can bring to the table. I think I was imprinted with this one after reading Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (Jo is a younger woman to her older Friedrich) Suzanne Brockmann has several I also love – Breaking Point most especially. Oh and Nalini Singh’s Kiss of Snow with Hawke and Sienna.
So I’ve written books with hardened assassin heroes (Phantom Corps mini series). Small towns (Chase Brothers, Petal, Georgia) and in August, SWAY, the first in my new contemporary erotic romance series, Delicious, will release in the CHERISHED duology I’m in with Maya Banks.
Sway is an older man/younger woman story and I hope I’ve created two characters readers connect with! Daisy might be 24 to Levi’s 40, but she’s not innocent. She’s not naïve. And she’s most certainly not a doormat. Moreover, Levi might be older (and he does have some reservations about their age difference), but he’s intelligent, caring and most of all, he respects Daisy very much.
I hope folks enjoy Daisy and Levi, despite (and if you’re like me, because of) the age difference! What are some of your favorite themes/tropes? Any favorites? I’ll give away a signed copy of NEVER ENOUGH, the book that comes before SWAY, to one commenter. International entries are absolutely fine 
https://twitter.com/#!/laurendane
http://www.facebook.com/LaurenDane
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Giveaway ends at 12 noon, MDT, on Friday June 29th!
