Epic ConFusion

I'm off to Epic ConFusion this weekend...

Oh, wait, what's a con?  Hmmmm..... okay, "con" is short for "convention". In this case, specifically a science fiction convention.

'Round abouts these parts, we used to have three big ones: ConFusion, ConClave and (yes, I am dating myself) ConTraption. (see a theme there?) 'Traption, I'm sorry to say, went the way of the dodo. I'm not sure what's up with 'Clave; last year's event was frightfully small and they've announced there won't be a con in 2013, but promise to be back in 2014. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that that's true!  At any rate, PenguiCon sort of replaced ConTraption (I don't know if it was the same folks with a new name, I was never involved in the planning of these things, but PenguiCon not takes place right around the same time that 'Traption used to. Gods, I'm old!  My writer friends who do cons frequently hadn't known about 'Traption. Sigh.)

Metro Detroit cons are literary based (i.e. books/artists), except for PenguiCon which is also focused on open share software (totally out of my depth, what I know about computers would fit inside a thimble and there would still be room left over!)  There's always gaming (board games, role play games, like D&D, and occasionally live action, or LARP--I've run a couple of those myself. Always great fun to dress up like vampires and run around the con for a night  ;-)  There's filking and socializing, Uncle Richard's "bad movie night" (or whatever it's being billed as these days), room parties, food and friends... once upon a time, I used to *live* for those three times a year when I could go hide out in a hotel and forget the world outside. (Oh, and make no mistake, there's sex-a-plenty... where do you think the fodder for that BDSM story came from  ;-)  not that sex is what ever drove me to a con, I actually only ever picked up one person there. Sigh. Sweet, sweet man.)

One thing that makes me a bit sad, though, is that the folks in charge of our cons don't ever give us actors, screen writers, directors, or anybody associated with film or television. When I talk to my friend in NY and she tells me about *her* local cons, I drool with envy. I agree that the literary aspect is important, but would it be such a bad thing to bring in a minor or B list actor? I know actors cost money, but they also bring in people. People bring in money and--like it or not--money keeps the con alive.

Not that I don't love filking, and gaming and....filking?  No, it's not some kinky sex act... well.... erm...

heheh. Here, here's some filk for you:

Well, now that I've introduced the unwary to sci fi con culture, here's an itty bitty sniopet of that WIP I've been talking about. I'm desperately hoping to get it finished and submitted to a publisher by the middle of Feb.... which of course is no guarantee of anything, but I really love my boys in this one and have no intention of giving up on them, even if they don't happen to fit into my publisher's catalogue for 2012. (In other words, this piece *will* see the light of day, even if it takes me a while...it's pretty edgy and a total departure from Heart's Home.)

Heart in Knots

excerpt rated: hmmmm.... pretty warm and toasty

novel rated: BDSM scortcher

Thanks again to Kitsa for suggesting the new title!!

(last disclaimer: this is FAR from a final edit)

CHAPTER ONE

  

The gray leather was so soft, it felt like silk in Jason’s hands. It was a good solid piece, though, about two inches wide, with four heavy D-rings attached. It was the kind of collar that would tell a man he belonged to somebody—not that there was anyone Jason wanted to belong to. Still, if he did, this was the kind of collar he’d want to wear.

“Nice choice.”

Jason jumped at the sound of the rich baritone voice behind him—he not-so-silently cursed himself for getting caught “window shopping”. The dealers’ room wasn’t open yet, he was only allowed in because he was working off his convention membership by helping with setup, which didn’t include pestering the merchants.   

Normally, Jason didn’t pay even attention to anything in the dealers’ room, any more. He’d been going to science fiction conventions since he was fifteen—nearly seven years ago—and the dealers’ room pretty much always looked the same: displays over flowing with paperbacks, crammed with comic books, piled high with DVDs of movies and old TV shows (some legal, many not). There were action figures and plush Lovecraftian monsters; the sword dealer was next to the guy who sold replicas of Star Trek phasers and Stargate zat guns. Across the aisle was a woman who did custom corsetry work—for both women and men. Next to her was the guy who sold uniforms: Star Fleet, Storm Trooper, Alphan, Colonial (as in the Thirteen Colonies of Kobal)… if it was on TV or in the movies, he could get his hands on it.

The last few years Jason had noticed more brass and leather making its way in the dealers’ room, thanks to the rising popularity of steampunk literature and the Victorian culture it came from. He didn’t mind. There was nothing hotter than a good looking guy decked out in Victorian era garb—and all the better if he was wearing leather.

Jason wasn’t wearing leather, mostly because he couldn’t afford it, but what he did have on was almost as good: a black fish-net shirt that showed off the silver hoops in his nipples, and a pair of ass-hugging jeans with a couple of gray bandanas tied into the belt loops.

He turned to face the shop owner, to apologize, and hope the guy wouldn’t complain about him being where he didn’t belong—but suddenly his mouth went dry and his throat refused to work. He found himself staring into a brawny chest clothed only a brown leather vest.  He looked up. The shop owner smirked. The guy was at least a foot taller than Jason and, while he wasn’t exactly Incredible Hulk muscular, Jason didn’t think he lost too many arm wrestling contests, either. He certainly did a fair job of making Jason feel small, just by standing there.

He was the epitome of “classically handsome”, with short cropped dark brown hair, a full mustache and long straight nose. He had a strong jaw, cleft chin. Dimples. God damned dimples. He also had really nice lips. Jason’s heart beat a little faster in his chest.

“See something else you like?” the guy asked him with a lopsided grin.

“Yes. I mean no! I mean…” he floundered helplessly, certain the tips of his ears were as red as the ballroom carpet. “Sorry, I know you’re still setting up. I saw it and I guess I couldn’t resist.”

Steel blue eyes seemed to pierce right through him. “I know exactly what you mean.”

Jason’s heart hammered harder—the guy couldn’t have meant that the way it sounded. Could he?

“C’mon,” the merchant took him by the shoulders—his hands were huge!—and turned him around, so Jason’s back was to him once more. He let go of Jason’s shoulders and lifted the collar out of his hands—then he hesitated. “Jesus, boy, you got enough hair? Get that mop outta my way,” he snapped.

“I… huh? Sorry, I…” Jason blinked. Why was he apologizing to a total stranger about the length of his hair? Didn’t he get enough of that shit at home? “I should get back to work.”

The merchant leaned in so close, stopping him in his tracks. “I’m sure you can play hooky for a few more minutes,” he whispered into Jason’s ear, his tone lilting. Seductive.

“Huh?” Was all Jason came back with. God, could he sound any more like a clod?

“Let’s put this on you and see how it looks.”

“I… okay.”

“Good.”

Nervously, Jason lifted the long auburn hair off up off his shoulders, exposing his slender neck. The only collars he’d ever worn before had come from the pet aisle in Walmart, and he’d put them on himself. It was so much more satisfying when someone else buckled the soft leather into place, even if it was only someone trying to make a sale.

“There,” the merchant laid his hands on Jason’s shoulders once more. “How’s the fit?”

“Perfect, sir.” Jason faltered. But ‘sir’ was a generic enough courtesy, and the shop owner looked a few years older than him. Well. Maybe closer to ten years older, not that Jason minded. Older guys knew what the Hell they were doing. Not that he thought the merchant was flirting with him. He was just trying to make a sale. He wasn’t going to succeed. “I’m sorry, sir, but I really can’t afford it,” Jason admitted sheepishly, as he started to turn.

Strong hands kept him where he was. “Last time I checked, looking was free,” he said.

“I can’t actually see anything.”

The merchant chuckled. He reached behind him and passed Jason a brass hand mirror.

Jason accepted the mirror and gazed down at his reflection. He looked… perfect.  He tilted the mirror so he could see the other man’s smiling face; he looked just as pleased as Jason felt. Somehow that made wearing it even better. “Just… just out of curiosity, how much…?” Jason asked him.

The merchant told him the price, and Jason’s heart fell. “Definitely out of my price range.”

“You get what you pay for.”

“I know. But right now, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to afford to school next semester.” God, he sounded pathetic. He took a last look at himself in the mirror as the merchant undid the collar’s clasp. Jason felt an immediate loss when it came off his neck. He smiled anyway. “Thanks for letting me try it on…” he sought out the man’s name badge, but the only thing printed on it was ‘Sir’. He smirked.

“Henry Durand,” he held out his hand.

Jason accepted. “Jason Dullaghan.”

“Good to meet you, Jason.” Henry’s hand swallowed his whole, but his grip was light. Friendly.

“You too. Well, I… s’pose I should get back to work. See you around the con, Sir,” he added, despite having exchanged proper names.

Henry quirked an eyebrow, but then laughed. “I’ll be right here, boy,” he shot back with a wink. “I might even let you model a few other things, if you like. Got a set of cuffs you’d look good in.”

With heat burning in his cheeks, Jason beat a hasty retreat. He told himself that Henry Durand was an accountant or something, that selling collars and leather cuffs was just a weekend gig, but even the thought of Mr. Tall, Dark, and Leather Clad sitting in front of a pile of income tax returns wasn’t enough to make his dick go soft. 

The only advantage to showing up before 10 a.m. on the first day of a weekend-long convention to work setup was that as soon as his shift ended at six, Jason was free for the rest of the weekend. He had his own hotel room, a rare luxury, and one he knew he was going to end up regretting at the end of the month when his Visa bill came in. The interest rate was on his card was insane, but he was sick of sharing a room with ten other people—which was why he wasn’t telling anybody he had his own room.

He took a long, hot shower, and used two towels to dry off, just because he could. He wrapped a third towel around his narrow waist and enjoyed taking as much time as he wanted, to dry and style his hair. He shaved carefully—the only thing less attractive than stubble was little nicks he got when he rushed—applied smoky black kohl to his eyelids, then got dressed. Instead of putting the fishnet shirt back on, Jason opted for a plain black turtleneck. He wanted to feel something around his neck and after having that expensive collar on, if only for a few minutes, the Walmart collar in his suitcase just wasn’t going to cut it. Finally, shimmied into his best ass-hugging jeans, tied a single gray bandana into the belt loop on his right hip. Gray was to signal his interest in bondage—on the right meant he was the one who liked getting tied up.  

After a last quick once-over in the full-length mirror to be sure he looked perfect, Jason headed down to the main lobby to see who was hanging out. He wasn’t the best looking guy in any room, but his mother had always said it wasn’t what you had, it was what you did with it. He doubted she would have approved of his life choices, but didn’t matter. She wasn’t around to see them.

As soon as he stepped off the elevator, Jason spotted his friend Kendra Lonnineau, across the sea of costumes and faces. Kendra was in full Colonial Warrior garb—original Battlestar Galactica, not the one from a few years ago. She was a purist. They’d grown up together in Troy, two kids from the same trailer park. Now, she was a student way, way up north at Michigan Tech. He was living in the middle of nowhere going to community college. Jason hadn’t seen Kendra since last year’s convention, and was dying to talk to her—unfortunately, it looked like Terry had beaten him to Kendra’s side.

 Terry Carson was Jason’s on-again off-again boyfriend. At the moment, they were mostly off-again, which didn’t mean they weren’t speaking, it just meant that Jason didn’t feel like talking to him. Or fucking him. Or being fucked by him.

“You coming or going?”

Jason jumped; he turned and saw Henry Durand grinning down at him.  Jason’s brain seized up and his dick swelled painfully inside his tight jeans. Henry had changed out of the vest and was wearing a snuggly fitted black leather “wife beater” T-shirt. He was carrying a large duffle bag and had several lengths of nylon rope slung over one shoulder.

“’Course if that’s not just for show,” Henry went on, nodding at the gray bandana, “I’ll expect to see you in the demo I got ‘roped’ into giving. Pun intended,” he added with a lopsided grin.

Jason opened his mouth. Then he shut it again. What was his problem! Just because Henry was a totally hot guy who may or may not be an accountant, but who definitely did sell leather collars and cuffs on the weekends—a totally hot guy who might be flirting him, who knew exactly what the gray bandana meant… Before Jason had the chance to make a second attempt at intelligent speech, he felt a pair of arms wrapping themselves around his waist. He didn’t have to turn his head to know it was Terry.  

“I’ve been looking all over the con for you!” Terry landed a sloppy kiss on his cheek. “You avoiding me, or something?” His tone was playful, and he smelled like Aqua Net hairspray, cheap vodka and Juicy Fruit gum.

Jason pulled out of the unwanted embrace and turned to face the other man. “I was working set up. Sorry.”

“I thought your shift ended, what…? Like two hours ago?”

Jason didn’t answer.

“You’re not still pissed at me about the other week, are you?”

“No,” Jason lied. He turned around and realized that Henry was halfway down the hall. He considered running after him, but how pathetic would that look?

“I’m headed up to the con suite,” said Terry.

Jason shrugged.

“You coming?”

“I’ll meet you up there in a minute.”

“Where are you going? There’s nothing happening for a few hours—”

“I said I’d be up in a minute!”

“I could give you a hand getting up,” Terry offered, brows raised, lasciviously.

“No. Thank you. I’ll see you in a few.” Jason turned on his heel and walked away as quickly as he could, hoping to get lost in the crowd. It worked—either that, or Terry wasn’t in the mood to chase after him. Jason didn’t care which. He ducked into the first empty conference room he came to, to collect his thoughts. He really didn’t know why he’d bolted, last week wasn’t the first time Terry had stood him up. It probably wouldn’t be the last. Right. Now, all he had to do was figure out what kind of demo Henry was doing and find it…

Twenty minutes later, Jason stood outside one of the smaller ballrooms. The door was closed and he had a swarm of butterflies flapping madly around his stomach. He considered forgetting the whole thing, the demo was almost half over, anyway, but it was either go in late or go meet Terry up in the con suite. Or wander around pathetically on his own.

He didn’t want to see Terry and he didn’t feel like wandering around aimlessly.

The other option was to hang around outside the ballroom door and wait for the demo to end, catch Henry coming out. But that would be even more pathetic than running after the guy.

Taking a breath to calm his nerves, Jason opened the door and stepped inside. Thirty or forty people sat up near the front of the room, listening to Henry talk about safe, sane and consensual play. As soon as Henry noticed him standing there, he stopped his speech midsentence and fixed Jason with dark glare. “You’re late,” he snapped. Jason blushed—he was sure people in the hallway must have heard. Certainly everyone in the ballroom turned to stare at him.

“I was starting to think I’d need to find another volunteer,” Henry continued in the same angry tone.  Jason’s stomach lurched and his dick snapped to attention—he had no idea why. He was not into humiliation, public or otherwise. “Well don’t just stand there boy! Get your ass down here! These nice people don’t got all night, you know!”

Jason swallowed hard. Henry had to be kidding!

He didn’t look like he was kidding.

“You want to get tied up, or not?” Henry demanded.

Turning 43 Today!

Yowzers, I'm getting old :D

A couple of years ago, this became my "new" theme song. 

Of course it was sort of replaced by that super amazing song by

Abney Park that I posted a while back...

but this was such an adorable vid that I had to share

(I also wanted something upbeat for today):

(The song is called "Extraordinary"
 and it's by Liz Phair)

To celebrate my birthday,
I'm doing a guest post on 

Clare London's Birthday Blog
(her birthday is in January, too!!)  
*Thank you again for having me today*

Clare has graciously opened up her blog to guests once again this January; there are all kinds of awesome cool guests--so don't just read my story, check out what everyone else has to say too. One of my favorite entries (so far) is from Sara Madison (go figure, I love her writing!)

Anyway, for my guest spot, I decided to write a short story called Encantado. The premise has been kicking around my head for a while, ever since I read the story of the encantado, a creature from Brazilian folklore. (In other words, no, I did not fabricate were-dolphins out of thin air!)

I thought it would be a novel/novella, because I've struggled with writing short stories for so long, but I ended up enjoying the process (and the product) so much that I'm not only leaving it as is, but planning to write five or six more short stories along vaguely similar themes and self-publish them later in the year. (By vaguely similar, I mean that each of the stories will be m/m romance of one heat level or another, each will involve shape shifting or animal magic of some sort, and each of the animals will be "edge" animals, animals that are part of a distinctive ecological niche--and many of whom are critically endangered. Whatever I make off the project in therms of royalties will go to help further education and conservation of these truly remarkable and worth-saving animals. It truly breaks my heart that we've lost the baiji; we didn't have to.)

In the meantime, I'm almost wrapped up with the first half of the Ghost book, and I've pulled the BDSM novel out of the "bottom drawer" (no pun intended), to start polishing it up. It has a new title, compliments of my dear friend Kitsa (and "thank you" to fellow DSP author and all around lovely lady Tia Fielding, for pointing out that my second...third?...working title was already in use in the m/m world... sigh. Should've figured, it's a good title!) But I'm happy with the new title Heart in Knots... in fact, the title has inspired me to penning a new scene for the book.  :)  This book is a wild departure from Heart's Home,  in that it is contemporary, there is no paranormal aspect to it, and it is seriously kinky (but in the best way possible). I'm hoping to have more good news about its progress in the near future. Right now, the rough draft is pretty much complete, I just have to whip it into shape (pun intended that time) before submitting...maybe I'd better quiet with the double entandre (sp??) while I'm ahead! (Spell check doesn't know how to fix that, it just tells me its misspelled).

Please remember that I'll be at Epic ConFusion this weekend (YIKES! is it this weekend already?) in Troy, MI--if anyone is planning on being there too, I hope you'll stop into the Dealer's Room and say "hi!"  I'll have copies of Heart's Home, some of my 2- and 3-D artwork, and a friendly smile! (I might even have chocolate...)

On the February 4th, I'll be at the Rust Belt Market, in Ferndale, MI, with my lovely partner (that's the one I do business with, not the one I'm married to!) where we will be selling our wares (which sounds much naughtier than it is!)

I'm also booked into the Rainbow Book Fair in New York along with a bunch of other awesome Dreamspinner Authors. I am so totally excited! (That's happening in March).

And.... in May, I'll be at Animazement in North Carolina, helping man (or woman?) the Dreamspinner table in the dealer's room (thanks again, Shira!!)

Yikes, I'm staring to feel like a real author here!  :P


And now... happy birthday, me, I have to go to the Secretary of State and renew my driving licence.... Fun, fun, fun...

Getting in more reviews for Heart's Home

And by and large, no one has said anything I disagree with, even when they've had some negative things to say. There were some parts of it that I wish I had done differently.

I also know that no one can please all of the people all of the time... which is why one of the comments I've gotten (a couple of times now) has... well, bothered is the wrong word. It's made me feel a bit confused.

When I was writing fanfiction more steadily and getting lots and lots of feedback from readers, one of the things that I heard a LOT of was "it's really annoying when you use the characters' names every other sentence. You need to come up with other identifiers. How about things like 'the other man', or 'the younger man' or 'the older man' or the 'blond'?"

Then I heard from my beta reader that she felt "the other man" was cold and distant. But the others were okay.

Now I'm hearing from readers: "I hate it when authors use 'the older man, the younger man, the blond, the Welshman, the lycan', etc.--really, I GET IT already! He's a lycan, older, younger, etc.  Why can't authors just use the characters' names?!"  Here's a link to the latest review (and please note that I "like" it, because I appreciate the reviewer's honesty...but it hurts that now other readers are being put off my book, even though I guess if they wouldn't like it, it's better that they didn't read it...) http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/250556689

Anyway, to answer the question about why don't I just use the characters' names:  Because other readers told me not to.

Believe me, it is sooooo much easier to say Jim slapped Bob and then kissed Bob with naked, unabashed passion, than it is to say Jim slapped his French lycanthropic lover, then reached over and grabbed the back of his blond-haired head and kissed the daylights out of the younger man. It requires a lot less creativity to just use their names. Honestly, I am not that I'm trying to beat readers over the head with the fact that Jim is older than Bob and that Bob is a French werewolf with a blond crew cut. I get it that readers are smart and that they don't forget these details. I'm just struggling to come up with better ways to indicate which he is he. (It becomes increasingly difficult when both characters are "red-blooded American males humans".)

It is a little difficult on the ego to take a "hit" for doing what others have told me is the "right" thing to do. Are fanfiction readers just more inclined to like alternatives to names than non-fanfic readers? (For all it's worth, not a single editor had a problem with older/younger/blonder/Frencher...well, they would probably have a problem with "Frencher".) Or is it just that my work is now coming into the hands of a broader audience?

The best thing (other than just getting back to writing and not worrying about it) might be to try and find some sort of middle ground. I really does bother me when someone who might otherwise enjoy something I've written isn't able to finish the book because of tags and identifies. I want everybody to love my stories! (Which I know isn't going to happen, but I'd hate for the only reason someone hated it was details that are within my comfort zone to change/fix).

As always, I welcome thoughts...

Martin Luther King Day...

Monday is Martin Luther King Day. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a great civil liberties activist--this is something we all know. But a couple of years ago, when I was back at school to get my Library Technician certificate, I wrote an essay on Mrs. King, for my children's literature class.

Why?

Most Americans who have children have probably heard of the Newbery and Caldecott awards, but these aren't the only two awards out there for children's literature. So for my final paper in class, I decided to write about the lesser known awards--they may not get talked about as much but that doesn't make them any less important. The plan was simple: bring in a couple of books that had won each award that I touched on, and spend the bulk of my time discussing one award in particular--although I had no idea which one until I started doing some research. I was working in an elementary school library, so access to books wasn't an issue!

I had heard of the Coretta Scott King award; I'd just read We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, by Kadir Nelson (who both wrote and illustrated the book). It's a children's picture book. I happened to cross the check-out desk one day and I was immediately taken in by the illustrations, so I set it aside to read when I had a minute (it was one of those days when I had lots of minutes, and really, not many people are going to grumble about a library tech reading a book!) I wasn't at all surprised when I saw that We Are the Ship was an award winner. But what was the Coretta Scott King award about, I wondered. Of course I knew Coretta King was the wife of Martin Luther King (I didn't do that miserably in history), but beyond that, I knew absolutely nothing about the lady.

I read a couple of the books we had in our library--children's books are a great resource when you happen to be surrounded by them, anyway (and had some really good ones).  I also did some research online. I discovered that not only was Mrs. King an activist for "racial" equality (remember why it is I dislike the word "race"--there is only one race, the Human Race, but the word "race" has been used for so long, by so many people that it is difficult to get away from, even when we want to). Anyway, not only was Mrs. King an advocate and activist for "racial" and cultural equality, but she was also an advocate and activist for gender equality, for women's rights. Remember, the world was a very different place in the 50's, 60's, and even in the 70's. Sometimes I think we forget how far we've come--which isn't to say that we're done, there is a long, long, long way ahead of is when it comes to equality.

Human equality. Because when you get right down to it, there IS only one race. The Human Race. That race includes people of different genders, gender identity, sexual orientation, cultural background, religious beliefs (or lack thereof), national original... but in the end, we are all People. As people, we have the same rights: to love and be loved, to be accepted for who we are, to feel safe, to have food and shelter. And we have the same responsibilities: to love and be loved, to respect one another for who we are, to provide a safe environment for one another, and to ensure that there will always be enough natural resources on this planet so that our neighbors and our neighbors' neighbors, and our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren will always have clean air, clean water, food and shelter.

Kind of a no-brainer, don't you think?
 

My Review of Shira Anthony's Blue Notes

Published by Dreamspinner Press

Blue Notes

by Shira Anthony        

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.
Here are the rules:

1.      I’m not out to eviscerate anybody in public (or private for that matter).

2.      But my goal isn’t mindless flattery either.

3.      This exercise is really for me. I am picking apart other writers’ work looking for the “ingredients of fiction”— (a-character/character development/POV, b-setting/world building, c-plot/subplots—which includes lots of good conflict—and d-good writing. I’m not adding in theme because it’s just one of those things I’m fuzzy on.)  The idea is that if I can find them elsewhere, I will be better able to identify them (or their lacking) in my own work.

4.      Most importantly to you, the reader: there will be some spoilers. I will endeavor keep them to a minimum…but bearing in mind that I just don’t do bittersweet, we all know going in that there’s going to be a Happily Ever After. The point isn’t the ending, it’s how they get there. I don’t want to spoil that for anybody, but just the same, you have been warned…

Let me begin by saying that one of the basic components of Blue Notes is something that some readers object to vehemently: Gay for you—or perhaps bi for you. Or just plain confused. I’m not one of those people. Why? Because life and love are damned confusing! 

Now, did I believe Jason accepting Jules into his bed (admittedly on the heels of a pretty rough breakup) with only minimal resistance quite as easily as it ultimately happened?  Maybe not 110% but what I did buy whole heartedly was Jason’s reactions the next morning—and that got me past any little doubts that these two (and the author) knew just what they were doing.

Reading with a critical eye is a lot harder than reading for pleasure—and I admit that at a certain point, I stopped making notes, because I got so totally swept up in the story. (Note to Shira: there was, having nothing to do with you, it was just a formatting thing with the ebook, such a HUGE frickin’ gap between the end of chapter 17 and the beginning of chapter 18 that I was scrolling like a mad-woman petrified that I’d reached the end, that it ended at the end of ch. 17.  Yikes, lady you’ve had me up past my bedtime tonight!)

All right, back to thinking like a critical reader  ;-)

Character/POV

Blue Notes begins by with clearly marked alternating third person narration—but it’s Jason’s story we hear the most about (in fact, the bulk of the book is told from his perspective). There is a short bit of quick flipping back and forth between Jules’s and Jason’s perspectives as the author weaves together their first meeting—and the chemistry is instant.

Then for the rest of the first third of the novel we’re in Jason’s head almost exclusively. While I was momentarily annoyed (we’d been given glimpses into both men’s cerebral processes for the first bit), I quickly realized that it was exactly the right choice. Jules was, for me imminently more interesting as a character than Jason, but the “mystery” of Jules would have been lost if we’d seen him through his own eyes. Watching him through the lens of Jason’s perspective was ultimately much more satisfying.

Within about thirty pages, I felt I knew Jason—or Jaz to friends—pretty well. He’s not an especially complicated guy, even if he’s discovering that maybe he bats for “the other team” after all. He works hard, he lives a good life, he’s a little embarrassed by his own success, and trying desperately to get over his ex. There are a few surprises (a good thing) about him, but for me, it was Jules who stole my heart away. He is everything I like in  a character: sweet, vulnerable, tough… he’s had it rough, but his heart is pure gold (but without being a Mary Sue, he’s not perfect).

By about page sixty, POV begins to shift seamlessly back and forth between Jules and Jason; I don’t know if that was by design or if it just “wrote itself” that way, but it worked, (and this is where my critic’s hat will disagree with others’ critics’ hats) because by then Jules and Jason have begun to seriously “click”—even though Jason will only be in Europe another seven weeks and Jules knows he’s setting himself up for heartache when Jason leaves. But take what happiness you can get while you can, right?

My fanfic readers who stumble across this will get it when I say that Jules reminded me of Kam—which is probably why he stole my heart away so utterly and completely. (Seriously guys, if you love Kam and Jack you’ll really appreciate Blue Notes.)

All right. Back to business.

From a strictly technical standpoint, Jules and Jason come across as fully rounded human beings with thoughtful backstories. They did not simply hatch out from under a cabbage leaf; there is history, families, skeletons, the works. The chemistry between the men instant (but believable) and undeniable. It was palpable. It was beautiful. I love “love at first sight” when it works. It worked.

Secondary characters:

I love Jason’s sister Rosie, even if she’s a bit of the stereotype “sister” (in fact, someone in my own critique group said to me, of the family I’d created for one of my WIP something to the effect of “so which sister knows he’s gay? The gay guy always has a sister who’s his best friend!” And would you believe, I re-wrote it so that one of them was!) Rosie is, perhaps, a little too perfect, her timing is a little too good, and she’s a touch too successful and too generous, but she is also quirky and funny and likable. I have mixed feelings about her role in the end (not gonna give too much away), but I am pretty sure that those are just personal feelings. (And somebody has to hit stubborn boys upside the head, right?)

Rosie and Jules’s bandmates, Henri and David, also felt real to me; they were solid, they had backgrounds, we just didn’t get to see much of their backstory because they were secondary characters.

The “supporting cast” of extras was made up of well-constructed and properly used minor characters and stereotypes. No, really, good writers use stereotypes for a reason, so we all know them when we see them. Nobody has to work hard to picture the over worked, underappreciated social services employee. I really liked Sam and I hope we get to see him again someday.

Before I move on, let me say that I have an absolute pet peeve about “bad” dialogue. Seriously. I did not once cringe over something someone said in Blue Notes… let me rephrase. Of course I cringed when people said dumb things, but I never once groaned because of “bad” dialogue. Everybody sounded human, even the secondary and minor characters.  

Conflict/Plot

This is where I really would have liked to have seen more, at least in the first two thirds or so of the novel. Every time some external conflict came up, I thought ah-ha, this is it, the Big Hurdle. But each time the hurdle was jumped over with relative ease, and while as a reader I cheered that our heroes had gotten over another one of life’s obstacles, the critic in me wanted more. All I could do was picture my own critique group telling me to ratchet up the tension, don’t ease up, make it more than a beach read… and there were some places in Blue Notes where the hurdles could have been harder to overcome. There were also a few things that I would have liked to have seen rather than hearing about, particularly right after the business with Guy (not wanting to give too much away, just wanting to give a point of reference)

If some of the events in the middle had been drawn out, some of the hurdles harder to overcome, as a casual reader I would have been flying through the pages, anxious to see the boys back together. But as a critical reader, I kept wondering why the external conflicts seemed to get resolved relatively easily and with very little work.

Finally toward the end of Jason’s stay in Paris, there was a major issue that did require a lot more work and all I can really say is that when I saw that huge gap of white at the end of chapter 17, I swore that that had better NOT be how it ended! (Rest assured, it isn’t).

Where conflict existed (both in the beginning and toward the end) it was yummy! I was on the edge my seat, dodging phone calls, conveniently forgetting about household chores… I knew things would work out, but until they did, my stomach was in knots. Well done!

World Building and Writing

I’m putting those two together, because I don’t have a whole lot to say. Both the world building and writing were excellent.

Again, when I say “good writing”, I mean more than the ability to cobble sentences together, I mean the ability to artfully bring together the right words, in the right way, to convey real meaning. Shira Anthony absolutely knows how to do that. Language and sentence structure are well used throughout.

As for world building, all five senses were regularly engaged; I felt as if I could see, touch, smell, hear, feel places I’ve never been. (And part of that is good writing, knowing where to add details like the smell of grease, cigarette smoke and dish soap!)

Blue Notes is definitely a book that I’m glad I read and one that I would gladly recommend to friends. 

On Amazon and Good Reads I'm stuck with a five star system, so I'll end up giving Blue Notes four stars.

Working with more room on a 10 star system, I'd call Blue Notes at 8.5 stars. (Now, to put that into perspective, I can only think of maybe two or three books that I'd ever consider rating over 9 stars, because nobody but nobody is perfect). 

All right, I'm off to bed. I have a ton of work to do tomorrow... bloody migraine screwed up my day today, but I leave you with this... neither violin nor piano, but well... darned talented kid!

Reviewing Books to Become a Better Writer, Pt. 2

     

         Part Two

         So far I've covered...

1. Characters (who does what)
2. Point of View See this artical if you're interested in a more lengthy discussion of POV
   http://www.brocku.ca/english/courses/2F55/pt_of_view.php
3. Setting (because characters cannot exist in a vacuum)
   
   That leaves:
4. Plot (now that we know Who and Where, What are they going to do?)
5. Conflict (makes life interesting) 
6. Theme

I'd like to add writing, the actual nuts and bolts of cobbling a sentence together, to my list, because nobody likes "word salad". (How to make word salad: Toss a bunch of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and articles into a blender, hit frappe, and serve it up on plate with a side of ego...)

Now, my writing style is not your style is not that other guy's style. But style should never be used as an excuse for poor writing skills. We all remember third grade, right? (Or, if you've never diagrammed a sentence, you might want to learn how--not only is it guaranteed to prove endless hours of fun, but you'll learn something in the process). No, of course I didn't like sentence diagramming as a kid, but the point is that third grade English is where we learned the basic concepts of writing. It take it on faith that published authors are aware of those rules, and when we chose to break them it is indeed a choice.

But beyond the basics of good writing, there is something to be said for beautiful writing. (And yes, there are people who disagree with me on that point...but they can tell you about it on their blog. This is my blog and, so I'm going to do it "my way"....) One of the best examples of beautiful prose, in my humble opinion, is Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series. Bishop's writing flows effortless off the page. She conveys ideas and pictures with ease. She is also gifted at creating rich, complex characters. But more about characters in a moment...

It isn't an easy thing to catagorize and quantify "beautiful prose", it's just one of those things that you know when you see it--and you and I may see it differently. What we can do is is to look a the depth, complexity and sophistication of an author's words. Her sentences. Her paragraphs. (Or his, I'm not meaning to imply any gender bias, here.) One thing I'm not talking about is assaulting the reader with string after string of so-called ten and twenty dollar words. Plain language can be quite beautiful. It's all in the way you use it.

Good writers, like good lovers, know that there are more important things than huge size. Some readers--like some lovers--are intimated when things are a little too big and won't enjoy the experience one bit.

Erm.

Right.

Moving on.  ;-)



Plot

"In order to establish significance in narrative there will often be coincidence, parallel or contrasting episodes, repetitions of various sorts, including the repetition of challenges, crises, conciliations, episodes, symbols, motifs. The relationship of events in order to create significance is known as the plot."

(http://www.brocku.ca/english/jlye/criticalreading.php#fplot)


Wow. What a convoluted way to say that plot is what gets us from point A to point B to point C and so on. The plot is simply what happens in a story..."simply?" Well, okay, it's not really simple. Just as I found varying numbers of "elements of fiction", I also found varying numbers of "elements of a plot". Figures.

For me, it stacks up this way (and I'm speaking both as a reader and a writer here):

Set-up. While it's never a good idea to "front load" a story with a bunch of world-building and information at the very beginning, it is a good idea to "ground" the reader in the narrative. (And by the same token, we often read that it's important to "start with a hook" or "grab the reader with the firs sentences". This is absolutely true. Editors get literally dozens of unsolicited manuscripts daily, you need to wow them from word one. Readers can be pretty fickle, too.)  So... set-up... but don't forget that hook. (If writing is starting to sound like hard work, you're right, it is.)

Next, there needs to be some sort of conflict. Just as POV is part of character, conflict is part of plot. Conflict drives the story forward. Someone wants something. In order to get it, they must overcome an obstacle. Sometimes the obstacles are large, other times, they're small.

Conflict sometimes comes from within--we want something but stop ourselves from getting it because we think we can't have it, we don't want to upset someone else, we have baggage that sabotages us, etc. This can come out as angst. Personally, I like angst in my fiction--just not in real life!

The plot is resolved as the characters resolve their conflicts, whether that means sitting down and actually talking to each other, discovering that, oh, that conversation you heard where you thought I was cheating on you? No, I was just getting a quote on auto insurance! Or the conflict can be resolved by blowing up the alien spaceship moments before it destroys the earth.

Additionally, in a longer work, there should be an appropriate number of subplots (the number and complexity will be directly proportionate to the length of the work. I have a couple of fairly well developed subplots in my 89,000 word novel; there are only a few bare hints of subplot running through my 7000 word short story). I think of subplots as "the rest of the story". In real life, you don't just face one crisis at a time. No, you find out you're up for a promotion the same day you discover your spouse wants a divorce and your son just made National Honor Society (or conversely was arrested for smoking pot in the boy's loo) and just about the time you've finished half a bottle of wine because, seriously, you're a wee bit stressed, your best friend calls you to ask if she can crash on your sofa.... and on top of that, you still need to fix dinner, wash dishes, do laundry and oh yeah, hire an attorney to deal with that divorce that started out your day. Where's the second bottle of wine....?

Life happens all at once and it happens... well, at the speed of life. A good story is about characters that feel real, ergo, they have real lives.

The climax of the plot is when the characters come together to hash out their differences, discover they *can* be together (or die in the process of trying, like Romeo and Juliette)--or say screw it all and blow up the spaceship because they're sick of all the angsty crap and want to actually DO something for a change. (Hey, I'm allowed to poke fun at my own angsty characters).

In the final chapter/s of the story, there is some sort of wind-down, or "resolution".

So:
set-up (the who, what, where, and when)
complication (conflict)
climax (when it all comes to a head)
resolution (ideally, short and sweet)

Last but not least: Theme.

Theme is the thing that ties the whole thing together.

I was about half way through the rough draft of Heart's Home when I sussed out the theme: finding home (which is when it got its final title; up until then, I'd gone through several working titles).

Actually, homecoming is a theme I use a lot. I'll admit it; it's something that resonates with me. One of the sequels to Heart's Home, Daemon Heart, is more about honesty (or lack there of). I haven't exactly nailed it yet... like I said, theme is a hard one for me.



Now, back to reading Shira Anthony's Blue Notes, the first book up for "critical" review.  (And I've gotta say, it is REALLY hard not just tearing through it like a kid whose just discovered a gianormeous frigging chocolate Santa in her stocking on Yule morning. I want to rip into it and devour it... which should give you some inclination that it's a darned good book...or that I really like chocolate....)

New Art

Later on this month (on January 17th), I'll be doing a guest blog, on Clare London'spage, here:  http://clarelondon.livejournal.com/374609.html

And I decided what I wanted to do was (yikes!) write a short story. I'm not going to give too much away now, but here's the picture I did to go along with it; the story is called Encantado. So is the drawing (the title got clipped off in the scan). 

Reviewing Books to Become a Better Writer

PART ONE

Dreamspinner is having this lovely sale and that means I simply HAD to go shopping!  I bought four books: Blue Notes, by Shira Anthony, Ghost on My Couch, by L.A. Gilbert, Dirty Kiss, by Rhys Ford (which has already gotten rave reviews elsewhere), and The Inventor's Companion, by Ariel Techna. Ariel's has been on my list since I noticed it durning the 12 Day of Christmas sale at DSP. Dirty Kiss... gheeze, it's just getting such amazing reviews... and it's been on my wishlist for a while too.  Blue Notes has been on my list since it came out... less than a week ago, but hey... Shira posted some excerpts on her blog, but really, she had me at "violinist".  ;-)  The last book was a total whim purchase; I was browsing through the supernatural books looking for something interesting. I'm totally unfamiliar with the author, but I love ghost stories!

(The sale is going on through the 2nd... you know, if you wanna buy a book....)


Anyway, buying four books at once reminded me that one of the things I've been meaning to do for a while was to give proper, thoughtful reviews of some of the books that I read. (There are a couple of other books on my eShelf that I'm planning to give this sort of thoughtful treatment of, too.)  Do please bear in mind, I'm no one special. What will follow in the area of reviews is truly just one woman's opinion... and I'm not starting today. I may start reading today... if I can decide which one to start with!

I will admit up front that my reasoning behind this venture is purely selfish (although I hope other people benefit, too). Mostly, however, my goal is to become a better reader. What's a better reader? For me, that's someone who reads a book more carefully, looking at story arc, character development, setting, theme... all that fancy stuff I get asked about when I submit something for review to my critique group! I figure if I can learn to recognize it in other people's work, I'll become a better writer myself. It also (hopefully) will make me a better critiquer (is that word?)

And it will force me to read more slowly and actually digest what I'm reading, rather than tearing through a book--which isn't all bad. Most of the time I read romance for fun. But I guess as a romance writer, I should step back and examine my craft a bit more seriously, huh?

Darn it. I knew this writing thing would turn into work eventually.

I decided to start by going back to basics and reacquainting myself with what makes a story a story.
And would you believe that the first thing I found were inconsistencies?  Okay, I get it that there are inconsistencies in Kabbalistic correspondences. I get it that there are inconsistencies in the order of the Tarot. I get it that there are inconsistencies when it comes to planetary magic(k).

But here, too?  Oy. Pass me a glass of moscato and make it big one!

(really, there's a point...just watch...)

Okay. So I kept digging until I found a list of Six Elements (actually several lists that do agree with one another) that included all of the things I remember from my days listening to ivy covered professors in ivy covered halls. 

1. Setting
2. Plot
3. Characters
4. Conflict
5. Point of View
6. Theme

I'm going to rearrange those a little, though. See, I pretty much always start out with characters when I write, and when I read, its the characters I want to be able to connect with. Erm. With whom I wish to connect. Let's not have any dangling participles  ;-)

So...

1. Characters (gotta have a Who)
2. Point of View (because this is related to character)
3. Setting (Who needs a Where)
4. Plot (now that we know Who and Where, What are they going to do?)
5. Conflict (makes life interesting)
6. Theme (that over arching THING Stewart always asks us about in a critique session)

I'll admit that of the six, I have the hardest time with theme. Sometimes I can nail it down, other times... not so much. I have an even harder time finding it in other people's work.

But let's start at the top: Characters.

Characters are simply the people who inhabit the story. In most fiction (at least the kind we're talking about here), characters need to be "real people". They must be well rounded, multi-dimensional (rather than cardboard cutouts or caricatures). They need flaws and foibles (Mary-Sues need not apply). They need to be human, even if they're aliens, elves, robots, or fungi. Readers must be able to connect to the characters; not every character will resonate with every reader, but there has to be something there that majority of average readers can latch onto. If there isn't, it had better be intentional.

The exception may be in the realm of the fairy tale, especially children's fairy tales. The wicked stepmother can simply be wicked, she doesn't have to have a soft spot for warty toads. Likewise the charming prince is always charming and quite perfect. Charming princes never leave their dirty socks in the middle of the room and always use a coaster.

Most stories have a protagonist--or Good Guy--and an antagonist--or Bad Guy. The shorter the story, the fewer Good Guys and Bad Guys there will be. (Event in longer works, however, readers don't like to be overwhelmed by hordes of characters... introduce them slowly.... s-l-o-l-w-y.....) And remember, your Good Guys will probably leave their dirty socks in inconvenient places and your Bad Guys may want to consider using a coaster, just so they're not all bad. Just like in real life.

There isn't always an antagonist in romance, sometimes there are just people who make the protagonists life difficult--not out of any sense of malice, boyfriend stealing, home wrecking or the lot. I have a neighbor who installed bloody football stadium lights on his back porch (okay, maybe not quite, but seriously, these things are frickin' bright). He didn't do it to be mean or nasty, but it does make my life uncomfortable when I want to enjoy a glass of wine out by the fire pit and watch the stars at night.

Delving into personal preferences here, I don't want to see the antagonist's POV for one second. Not one word of it. I will skim through it to get back to what I care about: The Heroes. I have skipped whole chunks of books because I just did not care with the Bad Guy was doing or why. If it's that important, the writer can find some way of showing it to me through the Hero's eyes.

But speaking of Bad Guys, they have to be well rounded too. Unless you're reading/writing a fairy tale, villains must be believable. That doesn't mean the should start spontaneously rescuing a puppies in the middle of the book, but perhaps it turns out the Bad Guy has been such a prick all along because he's terrified of the Good Guy; maybe the Bad Guy recognizes what the Good Guy is capable of, even if the Good Guy doesn't see it (yet) himself. (That example taken from my own book). I knew that from page one. Readers don't get it until near the very end.

Every major or important character MUST have a backstory.
The reader should see very, very, very little of that backstory.
The author must know ever detail of it.

Sucks to be an author.  ;-)

Now, I will admit that sometimes (often), I start writing without knowing the full history of my characters. I allow them to introduce themselves to me over time... and then when I go back and re-write, I correct and fill in details. Other times, characters spring fully formed into my consciousness like Athene jumping out of Zues's head. Either way, part of the polishing (editing) process is deciding how much backstory to spell out, how much to hint at, and how much simply colors the characters' actions.

As a reader, I want to feel as if these characters have led full and interesting lives before I met them. I want to do the "getting to know you" dance throughout the story. I want to imagine what their lives will be like after I close the cover on the final page. I don't want to hear about their skinned knee or broken nose in the fourth grade unless it is somehow relevant to the story I'm reading.

Now, all of that blathering aside, there is a time and place for flat, or stereotypical characters. They're not main characters. They're not even secondary characters. Stereotypical characters are the people we all recognize: the punk kid, the smarmy salesman, the kind lady next door... of course even more fun will be had when those stereotypes are turned on their ear. Maybe the sweet lady next door is lacing the lemonade with arsenic and its the punk kid (who's really an all A student) and the smarmy salesman to the rescue.

Everybody has types of characters that they like and dislike; in learning to be a better reader, I'm going to try to step out of myself a little. Just because I don't like it doesn't make it bad. Just because I love it does not make it bad. I doubt that anyone is capable of total objectivity, but there are things that are simply good and bad writing. Such as character development.

It is important to every story, long or short, that the primary characters (the protagonists) undergo some sort of change between the beginning and the end of the story. For the most part, Change should be gradual, believable, subtle, and come as the result of the characters' response to plot elements and conflict (the Who reacts to the What and change accordingly).  It is a fact of life that we are all changing and growing. I'm not who I was ten years ago. Neither are you. (There are cases in a story when a character might truly be stagnent, but that has to be a conscious choice on the part of the writer; he'd darned well better be going it on purpose and for a reason).

I found a great worksheet for character development here:
http://www.the-writers-craft.com/support-files/character.pdf

This is the parent site:
http://www.the-writers-craft.com/creative-writing-worksheets.html

I don't necessarily love everything about it, but there are some really good questions like "what would this character want to most be remembered for (at the end of the story)?  Questions like that force you to get into the heads of your characters (whether you're a reader or a writer). I like that.

Point of View
I'm going to go ahead and lump POV (point of view) in with character, since stories are written from the character's/s' point of view.

POV comes in three (main) forms.

First person:  I. We.
Second person: You.
Third person: He. She. They.

I've had the displeasure of reading (a paragraph at most) of a few really bad "erotica" (read: "porn") stories written in the second person. My advice: don't go there. The only place you should ever find second person is in a "choose your own adventure" book.

I have mixed feelings about First Person. If it's done well...and I mean really, really, really well, I love it. Otherwise... meh.

But that's just me.  I've written in the First Person--but only because the central character was so bloody overwhelming that he wouldn't let anyone else's ego in!

There are two versions of Third Person (well, okay, I read one site with several more listed, but let's keep things simple). Originally, a very, very, very long time ago, I was taught to write in Third Person Omnicient--basically, in the Voice of God. That's fallen out of favor. Now, most writing is done in limited Third Person. We get a peek into one head and one head only--sometimes for the entire novel. One of the things I love about romance, however, is that we usually get to see into the heads of both (or more) of the lovers. I admit it: I'm a "head hopper". Romance allows the freedom to do this, at least selectively.

I'm not going to talk overly much about limited or "close" Third Person--I know others who are much more qualified to discuss it than I...and in fact, I'm taking his class, starting in February. Suffice it to say that when done correctly "close" or limited third person is almost the same as first person. The writer puts you so far into one character's head that they're practically narrating the story.

Personally, that is my favorite POV to both write and to read. Much like First Person, you can't always trust the narrator to be telling you the truth. Narrators lie. They slant things to their perspective.

Just like real people.

I suppose while on the subject of POV, I should make a comment about "tense".

99% -- no more than 99% -- of everything I've ever read has been in the past tense. "He said, he went, she asked, she made reservations..."  Once in a while an author feels the need to write in the present tense. "He says, he goes, she asks, she makes reservations".  Sometimes it works. Most of the time, it doesn't. It worked really well for me in a fanfiction piece I did, written in First Person POV. Then again, it was fanfiction. (Actually, no, if I had it to do over, I wouldn't change the POV or the tense).

Last up for today:
Setting.

I don't have much to say about setting. Why? Because I'm going to refer you here:

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions By Patricia C. Wrede

I have never completed the whole list of questions, but it is a valuable, valuable exercise to at least start them when you start a new project. Patricia Wrede's questions force you to take a seriously long, hard look at the world you're creating. Just getting through half the list will give you a solidly credible world (assuming you actually take your answers and incorporate them into your work.)

What I look for when I'm reading is a world that is consistent within itself, a place that follows its own rules. World building should be subtle. It should take its time. Things shouldn't jump out of left field. We should also never read: "Well, as you know Bob, here on earth the sky is blue...."  Bob can see that for himself. The reader should be allowed to, too.

Just like there shouldn't be huge info-dumps on character history, no one wants to read huge info dumps on the world's history, either, even if it's an Alternate Earth, Pern, Gallifrey, or Magrathea.

Good books are well paced... but that's dipping into the realm of plot and I think I've blathered on enough for one day....