Maron Anrow's Blog, page 2
September 23, 2014
Great concert and UK sale (£0.99)
First, I just returned from a great concert. After missing them on three previous tours (!), I finally got to see The Cave Singers tonight. They are a band that is well worth seeing live. Here is one of my favorite songs, with addictive drums that you'll want to stamp your feet to: Dancing On Our Graves
Second, today is the first day in a 7-day sale in the U.K. for Laika in Lisan If you're in the U.K., grab the Kindle version for £0.99 at Amazon.co.uk. If you're in the U.S., Laika in Lisan is available for $0.99 for just two more days at Amazon.com.
September 19, 2014
Laika in Lisan -- $0.99 at Amazon Kindle
Click the link below to find it at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JYNFXTC
August 15, 2014
The perils of a good book
Good books destroy my ability to lead a healthy, productive life. Arghh!
I just returned from an awesome two-week vacation in Oregon and Washington. (I’ll share pictures later.) Right before I left, I began the second book in Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders trilogy. I was thrilled to be traveling because the long flight meant I’d have six uninterrupted hours of reading. However, it was a 6am flight and I ended up sleeping (which is unusual for me when flying), so I didn’t get to finish the book until the return flight. As soon as I finished it, I immediately began the third and final book in the trilogy. My first full day home, I should have gone through my emails, cleaned out my inbox, and began facing the responsibilities of my professional life… But I didn’t. I just kept reading Ship of Destiny. (Oh, and cuddling my cats, who were thrilled to have us back. I missed them, too.)
Today is my second full day home. After 3 hours in the car to pick up my stepdaughter for the weekend, I immediately returned to Ship of Destiny. A few wonderful hours of reading later, I forced myself to face my inbox as the first simple and necessary task to becoming a useful person again.
Now that I’ve cleaned out my inbox (which also took a few hours) and written a scary to-do list (Noooo!), I’m going to return to Ship of Destiny. Unfortunately, I have about 6-7 hours of reading left, according to my Kindle. This is very bad. I have a lot of work to do… A lot… And it must get done… IT HAS TO. That scary to-do list contains seriously important and time-sensitive responsibilities…
…But ARGHHH all I want to do is read! Damn you, good book series. You completely ruin my ability to do anything else! The only solution is to finish you.
By the way, this is not the first time this has happened. You think I’d learn to avoid reading amazing books within a week or two of needing to be focused and productive. Nope. The books trap me every time. Instead of having the willpower to put them aside, I keep reading. (If the books weren’t so good, I wouldn’t have this problem…)
July 21, 2014
Mark your calendar: #5minutefiction tomorrow!
Mark your calendars! I’m the guest judge for the #5MinuteFiction contest tomorrow (Tues July 21) at 7:30pm Central time, and I hope you’ll participate in the event.
#5MF started in 2010 and is currently being hosted by Wendy of Write on Wendy. As the guest judge, I came up with the writing prompt for tomorrow’s contest. (You have to use the prompt phrase somewhere in your entry, which can be a short story, scene, poem, etc.) Entrants have five minutes to write their submission, which they share in the comments section of that day’s #5MF post. The post (which will reveal the prompt) and contest will go live on Write on Wendy. tomorrow at 7:30pm Central time, and submissions close at 7:45pm. I’ll pick the five finalists, and then there’s open voting for which of those five is the winner.
The contest is a nice way to practice quick and spontaneous writing, to meet people, and to have fun. The winner will receive a free digital copy of my book Laika in Lisan. I hope to see you there!
July 18, 2014
Dragons, animal welfare, and disability
This post is about dragons, animal welfare, and disability. That probably sounds like an unusual combination, but I promise it will all make sense.
I’m not much of a movie person, and I’m especially not much of a “talk about movies I’ve seen” person. When How to Train Your Dragon Came Out a few years ago, I wanted to see it because I liked the concept. (Humans bonding with dragons instead of slaying them = Awesome! I loved Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series as a teenager.) However, for years I never got around to seeing it because, well, I’m just not one much for going to the theater or renting movies. (Lengthy TV serials, on the other hand—like every HBO drama ever—are totally my thing.) I finally saw the movie with my sister a few weeks ago and thought it was entertaining, but nothing special.
Today my husband and I took my stepdaughter and her friend to see How to Train Your Dragon 2, and the sequelis definitely worth talking about. I really enjoyed the movie, and I especially loved the message of animal welfare throughout. The dragons in the movie are intelligent, which encourages viewers to anthropomorphize them. (There’s a lot of interesting research on factors that increase anthropomorphism, and I’ve even done some myself. Earlier this year a student and I published a study showing that briefly having people consider the psychological state of dogs—relative to a control condition—temporarily increases their support for animal welfare and rights.)
But wouldn’t it be nice if human-like intelligence and volition weren’t necessary to care about animal welfare? When I was 20, I became a vegetarian for moral reasons. I lived near cow pastures at the time, it became impossible for me to reconcile the beef on my plate with the cows I’d wave at whenever passing them (yes, I’m weird for waving at cows. But they’re so damn cute and I want to say hello).
While dragons obviously don’t exist, real animals clearly share these fictional dragons’ ability to experience pain, pleasure, and even affection toward humans. As a psychologist, I’m very aware of how easy it is to falsely anthropomorphize animals (a mistake I try not to make), but I think it’s undeniable that animals—even insects—have consciousness. We do, after all, share many brain structures with other species (a product of our shared evolutionary histories).
I’m basically rambling now, but the point I want to make is that I wish the empathy and support movie audiences can feel toward fictional dragons could be extended to real animals. I also want to applaud the movie for its animal welfare message. (One character’s comments about dragons being misled by bad people was a nice analogy for dog fighting.)
The last thing I want to note about the movie is its treatment of disability. A few weeks ago I read this terrific blog post about how disability is portrayed in fiction. How to Train Your Dragon 1 and 2 both do a great job presenting disability as something that doesn’t lessen a person in any way. So kudos to the movie writers for that! (The blog post also applauded Avatar: The Last Airbender for handling the subject of disability well. While we’re on the subject, Avatar is an awesome show for many reasons, and I highly recommend it.)
July 6, 2014
Meet Rodya (my favorite character)
This post is part of the “Meet My Character” blog tour. The authors in the tour are each posting an interview with one of their characters. For my post, I decided to interview my favorite character of mine: Rodya! In addition, because my novel Laika in Lisan uses a first-person narrative, I thought it’d be fun to have Laika interview Rodya and report it from her own point of view. Although the interview is meant to introduce us to Rodya, it also shows Laika and Rodya’s playful, sarcastic banter.
Many thanks to Katheryn Avila for inviting me to join this tour. Kathery Avila is the author of Reckoning, and you can read the interview with her novel’s protagonist, Lexia, here. Here’s a little info about Katheryn:
Katheryn J. Avila has always dreamed of being a published author, and recently, that dream has come true! Her novel, Reckoning, is the first in a paranormal sci-fi trilogy she’s titled The Breach. Reckoning tells the story of Lexia, a young woman who discovers that she’s psychic and is thrown into the dangerous world of the supernatural, where she must place her trust in an unexpected ally in order to protect her family.
Website: http://about.me/katheryn_avila
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LexiaReckoning2014
Twitter: @katheryn_avila
Laika’s interview with Rodya is below. I hope you enjoy it!
Hello. I’m Laika Roen, a scholar from the country of Trea. I interviewed Rodya, a friend of mine. It wasn’t easy to get him to agree to the interview.
We sat in two simple wooden chairs facing each other. My legs were crossed and I held a paper with the interview questions. Rodya’s jaw was clenched, as if he was bracing himself to have a splinter pulled out.
I knew he hated talking about himself, but I enjoyed seeing him uncomfortable and this interview would do exactly that. The list of questions was short, so if I felt at all guilty about what I was doing, at least his discomfort would be brief.
“Shall we begin?” I asked calmly, my pleasure a contrast to his tension.
Rodya gave a quick nod of assent, then crossed his arms and slouched down in his chair.
In my best impression of a professional journalist, I said, “Rodya, can you tell us where you were living and what you were doing when I met you?” Briefly dropping my formal tone, I explained, “I don’t want to spoil the story for people who haven’t yet read my memoir, Laika in Lisan.”
Rodya sighed before responding. “I was living peacefully in the mountains, minding my own business.”
“The mountains where? The audience needs a bit more information to go on,” I explained.
“The mountains in southwestern Lisan.”
“And Lisan is…?”
“A country.”
“Will you tell us more about this country?”
“No.”
Not to be deterred, I shifted in my seat and moved on to the second question on the list. “What would you like other people to know about you?”
Rodya laughed. “Nothing. I’d rather no one knew anything about me.”
I smiled. “Humor me. Tell us something.”
“All right. I like to be alone. Most people annoy me.”
“That can’t be true,” I said dismissively. “I’ve seen you with Mrs. Nashi, Leepsan, and Alma. I know you’re fond of them. In fact, you’re surprisingly generous toward them.”
“I said ‘most people,’ didn’t I?”
“So you did,” I conceded. Keep it going, I thought. Don’t let him win. “Okay, next question.” I looked at my notes. “What would you say is your main conflict or obstacle?”
“That’s an easy one,” he answered quickly. “Keeping people away from me. Pitiful, needy creatures are apparently drawn to me. Like…” He looked around searchingly, then his eyes widened as if he’d thought of the perfect example. “…like you and Leepsan.” He grinned.
Two could play at this game. “You’re right,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “What can I say? You try to look tough with that beard of yours, but it doesn’t work. Your delicate frame—” I gestured toward his spindly body “—hints at your soft nature. People are simply drawn to your tenderness.”
He nodded. “Exactly. I’m basically a saint, and other people know it.”
“Basically,” I agreed. “So, as a saint…” I paused to look at my notes for the final question. “…what are your personal goals?”
“To change the world through my good deeds, of course.”
“Of course.”
“And once I’ve done that,” he continued, “maybe people will leave me the hell alone.”
I folded the paper I was holding, signaling the conclusion of the interview.
“Well,” I said, “after the terrible sacrifice you’ve made today by sharing yourself with us, I will indeed leave you alone.”
When I stood to leave, Rodya looked up at me.
“What, no ‘thank you’?” he asked with feigned hurt.
“No. I wouldn’t want to sully your pure deed. Gratitude can feed vanity, you know.”
“I suppose you’re right,” he said in a resigned voice. “I’d hate to become vain.”
“Given how much you loathe talking about yourself, I’d say you don’t have much to worry about.” I smiled and held out my hand. Rodya took it, raising himself to his feet. We continued teasing each other as we left the room.
The following authors are next up in this “Meet My Character” blog tour. They’ll be posting their interviews next week. Be sure to check them out!
Yolanda Ramos
Yolanda Ramos was born in Zambia and raised in Zimbabwe. She travels frequently between Zimbabwe and South Africa and has two grown sons who live in Australia. The Seventh Sentinel is her first novel in an urban fantasy series that features archangels, demons, epic battles, and spans continents.
Website: http://sentinelsarchs.wordpress.com/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Seventh-Sentinel-Yolanda-Ramos-ebook/dp/B00JVR7YPW/
Goodreads: //www.goodreads.com/book/show/22025287-the-seventh-sentinel
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Yolanda-Ramos/222085451333907
Melissa Veracruz
Melissa Veracruz grew up in a tiny town in Texas. She has an expensive degree she doesn’t use and tons of cheap pens she uses almost daily. She is the author of Absolutely, Book One of the Larson, Texas series.
Website: www.literaryhomebody.com
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KL1KDVE
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissa.veracruz.90
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8281226.Melissa_Veracruz
Kyra Halland
Kyra Halland is the author of dark-edged tales of fantasy, heroism and romance. She lives in southern Arizona with her very patient husband and two less-patient cats, and has two young adult sons. She wants to be a crazy cat lady when she grows up.
Website: www.kyrahalland.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6950045.Kyra_Halland
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kyra-Halland/e/B00BG2R6XK/
June 29, 2014
Writing process blog hop
This post is part of a Writing Process blog hop. I was invited by Melissa Veracruz, author of Absolutely, a young adult high school romance novel. You can read about her writing process here, and follow her on Goodreads here.
What am I working on?
As of late, most of my time has been spent writing research papers for my regular job, but when I’m not working on those I’ve been making progress on the sequel to Laika in Lisan. The sequel is currently titled Laika’s Lament.
How does my work differ from others in its genre?
I categorized Laika in Lisan as fantasy because it takes place in a fictional world, but it definitely doesn’t fit the classic fantasy mold. First and foremost, there’s no magic, which some people might consider essential to fantasy. It also lacks mythical creatures like monsters or dragons. Lastly, rather than the novel being about a quest, mission, or some other “good vs. evil” conflict common in fantasy novels, Laika in Lisan is about a woman’s experience in an unfamiliar culture and her struggle with moral ambiguity.
Why do I write what I do?
I write stories that I’d enjoy reading. As a reader, my hope for every book I pick up is simply to enjoy my time reading it. Therefore, as a writer, I try to write books that deliver enjoyment. I also want my characters and their actions to make sense so readers can lose themselves in the story. From my experience, nothing destroys a good book like frustrating characters. Frustrating characterizes make me criticize their behavior, and as soon as I’m doing that I am no longer immersed in the story.
How does my writing process work?
I start with the basic story idea, which may involve nothing more than knowing the beginning, the end, and perhaps a few events in between. Then I simply start writing and see where that takes me. I’ll stop every once in a while to develop a more detailed outline of what comes next, but most of my creative magic happens in the act of writing (rather than in the planning stage).
NEXT UP! I’ve invited two authors to share their writing process with readers: K.R. Wilburn is the author of Changeling, the first book of The Siofra Chronicles. H.M. Jones is the author of Monochrome. They will post about their writing process in a few days on their own websites (follow the link on their names). Be sure to check them out!
June 23, 2014
South Korea
I’ve always been drawn to international travel, but it’s been quite a few years since I crossed an ocean. The desire to travel again has been nagging at me for a while, and writing Laika in Lisan strengthened it.
My employer has a few travel opportunities for its employees, and last month I applied for a trip to South Korea. I recently found out the trip was approved, and I’m thrilled! The trip will be one week in length and it will occur in March 2015. My responsibilities during the trip will be considerable (it’s definitely not a vacation!), but I’m pretty excited to spend time in another country while my employer pays for airfare and lodging.
The trip is far off, but that gives me time to learn some Korean phrases. I started using the BYKI (Before You Know It) app on my phone, and it’s been disheartening. I’m many years past the critical window for optimal language learning… I’ve also been known to pronounce English words poorly (and English is my native language! I guess I have a lazy tongue), so I doubt my Korean pronunciation is even close to intelligible. Sigh. In any case, I shall persist. At the very least, I need to have, “hello,” “excuse me,” “I’m sorry,” “thank you,” and “Do you speak English?” down pat. Yep; I’m setting some pretty low standards for myself.
June 13, 2014
"Laika in Lisan" free for Kindle on 6/13 and 6/14
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JYNFXTC
Please consider sharing the free promotion with friends who you think would enjoy the book. And if you haven't gotten the book yet yourself, now is a good time!
Thanks!
June 9, 2014
A dead mouse destroys my self-image
I recently disposed of a body for the first time. Before you get worked up, it was the body of a dead mouse. (Nothing suspicious here, I swear!)
This is not my first incident with a mouse, but this is my first time dealing with a dead one. My husband and I rent part of a massive old home that has been converted into four apartments. When we first moved here and brought our three cats with us, we discovered that at least one wild creature had taken up residence in the months when the apartment was vacant. That creature was a mouse. My oldest cat, Arwen, caught it. She used to be an outdoor cat, so it was no surprise that she’s the hunter of the three. (Our other two cats–who are littermates–don’t have her experience. They’re also small, adorable little cuddleballs who just love everything. Arwen is more discriminating in her tastes and can be a bit haughty.) After Arwen walked through the hallway with the mouse in her mouth–to show us what she’d done, of course–she dropped it under the kitchen table and then plopped down to rest, looking completely and utterly pleased with herself.
The mouse appeared to be dead, but it had us fooled. After a few seconds, it stopped playing dead. It flipped over and ran to the living room. We spent a long night trying to catch it. (When we had it cornered at one point, we grabbed our cats and threw them at it.) Eventually, we trapped it under a bowl, put a piece of paperboard under the bowl, and then released the mouse outside.
Is it better to deal with a dead mouse or an alive one? On the one hand, the still-alive mouse crawled all over our floors (disgusting!) and we had a hell of a time trapping it. It was a very unpleasant experience. On the other hand…
Holy fuck. Dead things are DISGUSTING.
So, fast forward to present day. I was home alone and I heard a loud “thump” sound. It was similar to the sound Arwen makes when jumping off a counter, but it was louder and more intense. The sound was followed by Arwen meowing strangely. I exited my room to search for her–just to make sure she was okay–and when I turned the corner to the living room, I saw Arwen sitting next to a dead mouse. Definitely dead. This time Arwen didn’t let the mouse fool her.
I like to think of myself as a tough woman who can handle anything. When I was kid, I would call for my dad whenever there was a bug so he could kill it. As an adult, I started doing that with my husband, but I quickly learned that he doesn’t kill bugs. He’s an even better vegetarian than I am; he adopts a strict “trap and release” approach to most bugs (mosquitoes and gnats excluded). This is a headache (trapping and releasing is time-consuming and annoying), so I eventually began killing the damn bugs myself just so they could be gone and I could move on with my life. (There are exceptions. Sometimes I am feeling nice and will trap and release.) Killing bugs is a source of dissonance for me; I’m a vegetarian because I don’t think animals should be killed… Why draw the line at harmless bugs? (But that’s a whole other topic.) Anyway, killing bugs contributes to my sense of myself as tough, strong, and self-sufficient. (There are many more–and much more important–reasons I see myself this way, but killing bugs is the most relevant one for this particular story.)
Well, the dead mouse completed shattered my image of myself as a tough woman. I squealed and jumped around in disgust and horror. It was just so fucking gross! Plus, I didn’t want the mouse to die. It’s an animal and I value animal life, so it was very sad to see it dead. Truthfully, I couldn’t look at it. I was so sad, disgusted, disturbed, and horrified, and whenever I looked at it I would reflexively jump away and make “ugh gross ahh” noises.
This meant it took me about 15 minutes to dispose of the body simply because I would turn away as soon as I glanced directly at it, so I was constantly re-steeling myself to the task of getting close to it. I used a plastic container, a flattened cereal box, a magazine, a cardboard box, and a plastic bag to get rid of the mouse. I needed as many layers between me and that mouse as possible. The layers were added one at a time, and when I’d scoot the mouse’s body from one layer to the next, I’d immediately pull away in disgust as soon as I’d see or feel it’s little, sad, and disgusting dead body move.
It was awful.
But what kind of dumb mouse enters a house with three cats in it? I love evolution, but I did not enjoy being involved in this instance of natural selection.
