Suzanne Johnson's Blog, page 74

From the ROYAL STREET files: The Magical World

(Yes, and a reminder that you still have time to win thisweek's contests, with links below.)
One of the fun parts of writing fantasy is building aworld, and one of the fun things about writing a fantasy series is making thatworld deep and rich. Over the next couple of months, I'll be tossing outoccasional introductions to the world of RoyalStreet and the Sentinels of New Orleans series.
Today, welcome to the world of wizards!
The wizards are highly organized. A wizardly org chart mightlook like ...

YA Friday: Anime and ARCHON, by Sabrina Benulis

Today, we're looking at a new YA urban fantasy with angels and demons and a surprising influence: Japanese anime. I'm talking about Archon, the debut novel by Sabrina Benulis, and first in a new trilogy. Read on for a chance to win a copy!


"My novel Archon...is a story of visuals, of strange and alien settings and nonstop action," Benulis says in her essay Anime and Archon. "In a nod to some of anime's intricate plots and darker stories, it is a slow burn that deliberately toys with notions...

Review and Giveaway: IMMORTAL HOPE by Claire Ashgrove

Before I get to today's featured book, here's a chance to win the DVD set of theentire first season of "True Blood," the HBO adaptation of the Charlaine Harrisnovels. Just go over to my buddy Susannah's brand-new paranormal romance website, follow the site,leave a comment, and you're entered. As Sookie would say, "Easy peasy." Go HERE after you finish with thispage, but you want to win today's book here, too. Really.
Today'sfeatured book is IMMORTAL HOPE: THECURSE OF THE TEMPLARS, span

Preternatura Book Club: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, Chapter 5

Welcome to this week's "meeting" of the Preternatura BookClub! Today, we pick up chapter five of MoonCalled, the first book in Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series. I'mswitching to one chapter a week from here on out with this book since thechapters are so long. This is one of my favorite urban fantasy series, and it'sfun to be reading it again!
MOON CALLED, CHAPTER 5When we last left Mercy, the body of young werewolf Machad been dumped on her doorstep, and she ran to Adam Hauptman's house ...

Mixing Genres--And Get a Copy of THE DEMI-MONDE WINTER

It's an interesting time in speculative fiction right now, with a lot of genre-blending going on. Maybe it's always been that way to some extent, but as I've done the Fiction Affliction columns over at tor.com the last year and a half or so, it seems as if I'm finding more and more books that I have trouble classifying. 
Initially, I classified books as science fiction, traditional fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and YA paranormal...but where does time-travel fit in there if it's d...

New Releases Jan. 23-20 and Reader's Choice Contest

On to Reader's Choice after a brief commercial interruption. Today's issue of Publisher's Weekly hit the stands with the magazine's overview of Spring 2012 releases and guess what made their Top 10 in Sci Fi/Fantasy/Horror? Yep, Royal Street, which they called a "powerful debut." It all makes me very, very nervous....but in a good way :-)


Okay, commercial over.


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Ifit's Monday, it must be time to look at the new releases in speculative fictionthis week—and you get to pick which one you'd...

Did You Win a Book This Week?

First, a gratuitous photo from the Royal Street photo album. I haven't tackled a Mardi Gras story for the series yet, but it's coming eventually, I hope. And since it's almost Mardi Gras time, I'll salute one of my favorite krewes, Krewe D'Etat. Their floats are always political and scathingly sarcastic, not to mention very clever. But this is one of my favorite shots of their general standing floats that rides along every year--their symbol, or mascot if you will, is a skeleton. So, viva Le ...

From the Royal Street Playlist: Big Al Carson

Okay, and there's still time to enter the contests for the week--links below!

I listened to lots of Hurricane Katrina-related music while writing Royal Street--which meant keeping myself weepy a lot of the time. But sometimes DJ and I needed to kick back. So today I bring to you a fun song from the playlist: New Orleans' own Big Al Carson, singing the classic "Take Your Drunken A** Home." C'mon, how can you listen to this and not laugh? I almost fell over when I found it on YouTube. It's a fav...

From the ROYAL STREET files: Character Names

The process of naming characters is a funny thing. I've used baby name books; bursts of inspiration from nowhere; and the old standby, family names. When Royal Street was a work-in-progress and I had some different readers looking at it, I had a couple say: Can't you name your character something else?

Well, there are times I wish I had, but somehow, once DJ had her name, it stuck.

So, meet the Royal Street cast, and where their names came from.

*Drusilla Jane Jaco--aka DJ--is a Green Congress w...

YA Goes to Africa--Get Two Dystopians by Michael Kinch

Before I get to today's literary double-feature, a word from our sponsors…Ifyou have a book review blog or other review site and would like to review anARC of Royal Street, the first bookin my Sentinels of New Orleans series, it's now available on NetGalley! If youaren't on NetGalley and are interested in an electronic galley, email me at theaddress in the righthand column of the blog. And now...on to YA day...

 Today'sfeatured books are THE BLENDING TIMEandTHE FIRES OF NEW SUN, aYA dystopian...