Mad Libs

writing snark

Sat, 17 May 2008 20:05:04 GMT

It's funny. Gacked from here.

Snippet Saturday

Sat, 17 May 2008 16:52:15 GMT

First, I have a post up today at sfnovelists. Go have a read if you like. It starts like this:

The first title of this post was: I write crap. I changed it though and the rest of this post is about why and why I would call my writing crap. Read more . . . .

And now a snippet from The Turning Tide:

As Fairlie pushed through behind him, the path closed again. He was caged within the metal thornbush. William looked at her, pressing his handerkerchief to his cheek, refusing to let his rising fear show. Her nostrils flared and he knew she could smell it.

“You’re heart is racing,” she said.

He didn’t answer. He became aware of another sound, soft and sibilant. He couldn’t place it. He started to step forward. Fairlie caught his arm.

“Look down.”

His gaze dropped obediently. At his feet was a blue basin made of worked sylveth. Inside it, silvery raw sylveth swirled and lapped like a miniature sea. It was making the noise he’d been hearing.

And what have you got for me today?

Oh, and on another note, bought some plants and seeds today. Going to dig in the dirt.

amusement to be had

Fri, 16 May 2008 21:41:15 GMT

So I feel like crap today. Shaky and a little off balance. I don't know why. My temp is almost to normal, so that means I"m running a little fever. Sigh.

So I give you some amusement. It requires clicking. These via Smart Bitches.

First, book cover snark. It's amusing. Just scroll through some of the posts.

And then, the Austrian National Rugby team lost a match 48-0 to Lithuania. I don't know if they did this performance to show that they are still brave, strong, and whole, or if it's one of those things you do to avert bad luck, or if they were just awesomely drunk. However, they did a striptease. This is not work safe. Not at all. And they go full monty, though I never laughed so hard as when they are down to the nitty gritty and everything's still around their ankles. And on top of all that yummy funniness, They SING! So go here and scroll down until you get to the video and then play. Do not be drinking things.

And from otterdance whose Nightrunner book is nearly out (just one more month left!!!! And that falls after my deadline, so I'll get to read it when it comes out!) We have this, which should tell you most everything you need to know about my sense of humor. But just in case it doesn't, let me tell you a story . . . .

I grew up on a cattle ranch. On one side was a set of train tracks where major freight trains rolled in from all over the place. I used to go down to the tracks and walk along them, looking for marbles. When the brakes on the train would heat up, the silica would melt and blob off as big marbles, usually clear or pale green or blue. So anyhow, I'd not known my new boyfriend long, but dragged him off to look. We're walking along the tracks and I find this bit of jackrabbit. It's the legs (all skeletal) hooked together at the hips with some tendon or ligament. The feet were still covered with fur. So of course I picked it up and waved it at my boyfriend and said "hey! Guess his feet weren't that lucky, were they?" And I laughed. Hard. Because I'm easily amused. He still married me. He also still looks at me very very strangely some times. Most of the time. Whatever.

Maybe one day I'll tell you about the ditch . . . .

There will be snippet Saturday. It will, coincidentally enough, be tomorrow after my son's soccer game.

And now, to write some more.

The good news

Thu, 15 May 2008 18:39:09 GMT

I haven't written much today. Instead I've been reading the manuscript thus far. I still haven't found what I'm looking for, which is a bit of description. I may not have put it in anywhere, though I thought I had. But here's what I did discover about The Turning Tide. It doesn't suck. It's actually not bad.

Okay, you may think that's the oddest thing for a writer to say, and maybe even me looking for kudos. Not so. The thing is that all three of the Crosspointe books have been challenging for me. In The Cipher, I found myself struggling with developing the action and tension the way I wanted, and creating a character who I liked but who was not particularly likeable overall (waves at Marten). In The Black Ship, the struggle was with getting certain elements right in the plotting, making the characters work, and having only one point of view to work with--and a completely miserable scene that Would. Not. Go. Right. (remember to remind me that we're going to have a contest to see if you can figure that one out). Again, I have a character who is not particularly likeable at first (I adore him though).

And then The Turning Tide is more a book of intrigue. We don't have any huge action sequences. And we have four points of view. And we have betrayals and every point of view sees things happen differently so only the reader can really understand the full truth of a situation as things progress. And we have very complex character relationships. So, with The Turning Tide, I haven't been able to tell if the pacing or the characters or anything was working. Part of that was I was really avoiding going back and reading so I wouldn't fall into the trap of revising before I had my draft done. Part of it was a bit of fear that I wasn't keeping the balls in the air and I didn't want to know *that* until I had a draft done also.

But wow. I'm now into the part that I'm most comfortable with--where the action really picks up--and looking back at the first part of the book, I'm actually feeling relatively good about how it reads. Wow. My hands are shaking as I type this. I didn't know I was going to be *that* nervous about the book. Holy F***! (Yeah, trucker mouth has set in for the day.)

Some highlights from this book--we get to see majicars in full action and get to see how the majick works. We get to see the transformation of sylveth spawn and the results--over a long term period. We learn a whole of secrets about Crosspointe. And other stuff that I don't want to give away before you read The Black Ship.

So, now back to work.

Dear Character

Wed, 14 May 2008 23:26:44 GMT

Dear suddenly horny character:

WTF? I mean, for real? I don't like this. This wasn't a part of you we talked about. What are you doing? And by the way, you're wife's only been dead for less than a year. And your new lust-interest isn't going to be interested. I don't think. *turns head to look at lust-interest character* You aren't, are you? For real. Cause I don't know if there's any way this can play out well.

Seriously, the both of you are throwing spanners in the works. Stop it. I cannot have the book derailed at this point. So stop it. Stop. It.

Now.

Sincerely,

Freaked out writer

a few words from NG

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:13:11 GMT

So first, I still haven't uploaded what I want to upload because I don't seem to have an FTP program that will work. And Dreamweaver wants nothing to do with it. So trying to get it in another format so I can do this. See, that's me teasing.

There is no longer ANY wiggle room on the deadline and so despite the extravaganza of docs and tests I have scheduled, I still must meet deadline. So I am feeling just a little bit like my icon today.

And from Neil Gaiman, words of wisdom from his blog:

We are creators. When we begin, separately or together, there’s a blank piece of paper. When we are done, we are giving people dreams and magic and journeys into minds and lives that they have never lived. And we must not forget that.

I don’t want to sound like an inspirational speaker here. "Be you." "Be the best you that you can be." But this is really important. It’s something that we mostly lose track of when we starts, because when we start in comics we’re kids, and we have no idea who we are or what our voices are, as artists or as writers.

Young artists want to be Rob Leifeld, or Bernie Wrightson, or Frank Miller, just as young writers want to be Alan Moore, or Chris Claremont or, well, Frank Miller. You’ve seen their portfolios. You’ve read the scripts.

We all swipe when we start. We trace, we copy, we emulate. But the most important thing is to get to the place where you’re telling your own stories, painting your own pictures, doing the stuff that one-one else could have done, but you. Dave McKean, when he was much younger, as a recent art-school graduate, took his portfolio to New York, and showed it to the head of an advertising agency. The guy looked at one of Dave’s paintings—"That’s a really good Bob Peake," he said. "But why would you I want to hire you? If I have something I want done like that, I phone Bob Peake."

You may be able to draw kind of like Rob Leifeld, but the day may come, may have already come, when no-one wants a bargain basement Rob Leifeld clone any more. Learn to draw like you. And as a writer, or as a storyteller, try to tell the stories that only you can tell. Try to tell the stories that you cannot help but tell, the stories you would be telling yourself if you had no audience to listen. The ones that reveal a little too much about you to the world. It’s the point I think of writing as walking naked down the street: it has nothing to do with style, or with genre, it has to do with honesty. Honesty to yourself and to whatever you’re doing.

Don’t worry about trying to develop a style. Style is what you can’t help doing. If you write enough, you draw enough, you’ll have a style, whether you want it or not. Don’t worry about whether you’re "commercial". Tell your own stories, draw your own pictures. Let other people follow you.

If you believe in it, do it. If there’s a comic or a project you’ve always wanted to do, go out there and give it a try. If you fail, you’ll have given it a shot. If you succeed, then you succeeded with what you wanted to do.

Now toddling off to write some more. I'm not sure I like the Hole version of Gold Dust Woman . . . .

belief-o-matic

Wed, 14 May 2008 02:23:46 GMT

otterdance did a belief-o-matic and I thought I would too. It asks some questions to see where a person most closely aligns religiously. I thought it would be fun, and so here are my results. And I'm thinking it pretty much gets me into the right neighborhood, though, really, this is not exactly a way to discover yourself:

1.	Neo-Pagan (100%)
2.	Unitarian Universalism (93%)
3.	New Age (88%)
4.	Liberal Quakers (76%)
5.	Secular Humanism (76%)
6.	Reform Judaism (75%)
7.	Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (74%)
8.	Mahayana Buddhism (73%)
9.	Sikhism (71%)
10.	Theravada Buddhism (68%)
11.	New Thought (66%)
12.	Scientology (62%)
13.	Taoism (52%)
14.	Nontheist (50%)
15.	Hinduism (47%)
16.	Jainism (41%)
17.	Bahá'í Faith (41%)
18.	Orthodox Judaism (41%)
19.	Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (39%)
20.	Orthodox Quaker (37%)
21.	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (34%)
22.	Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (27%)
23.	Eastern Orthodox (24%)
24.	Islam (24%)
25.	Roman Catholic (24%)
26.	Seventh Day Adventist (17%)
27.	Jehovah's Witness (6%)

quick update

Tue, 13 May 2008 22:17:41 GMT

Just a quick fyi. First, I've got a cool thing for you and I'm just trying to figure out how to upload an adobe file to my website, or to LJ for that matter. GRRRRRR. Help! Seriously. Help.

Second, many more blood tests came back, mostly in the green zone, today. The scheduling of many other tests is getting underway. Blech. Okay, most of them are okay, but there are a couple I could do without. Still, must get done, must find out what's wrong, must function better.

THANKS for the crimson and black on the Crown Shields!!!! Even though I thought there were different colors, I think you're right. For those of you eager for lotso Crosspointe faster rather than not . . . Found out today that the schedule right now for The Black Ship and The Turning Tide is for November of '08 and May of '09 respectively. And probably later in 09 or early 10 you'll see Bitter Night, my contemporary epic fantasy that Pocket is putting out. They are doing the cover conference on The Turning Tide tomorrow (where various parties of great knowledge talk about what the cover should look like, then get in touch with the artist who will magically make it happen.)

So now back to the salt mines. I've got a lot left to write and it really feels like three or four bigs scenes, it's probably a lot more small connected scenes.

The dork needs some help

Mon, 12 May 2008 17:24:45 GMT

The dork (me) needs some help from you who've read The Cipher. And even the one or two of you who've read The Black Ship. Here's the problem. I know that Crosspointe has royal colors. I just can't for the life of me remember what they are, and so far I can find them. (I usually take notes on the books and have not done a very good job with the one I'm writing, and apparently left that detail out of the notes on The Cipher--anyone want to update my notes for me? Yeah, didn't think so). Anyhow, if you can remember, I will be eternally grateful. Help! Please!

Di

not a snippet Saturday

Sat, 10 May 2008 20:59:08 GMT

I'm not feeling much like snippeting today. I had bad news this week and it's kind of kicked me in the gut. It started with me trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Then jaylake was diagnosed with cancer, for which he had bits of himself removed. Now Jay and I aren't close, though we're pretty good acquaintances, and I was feeling pretty blue about that. Then I learned the 13 year old nephew of a friend is hours away from dying from a brain tumor. Thirteen years old. And their one hope is that they can get him home so they can all say goodbye. And then a good friend was diagnosed with breast cancer and she's about to have a double mastectomy. She's my age with a 2 year old daughter. The tumor is very large and there's no telling how aggressive the cancer is at this point.

So.

I don't feel much like snippeting.

Mostly I feel like throwing things. Though Jay is admittedly lightening my mood by his unceasing good humor. I admire him. Go to his journal and admire him too.

I think I'll go hug my kids now.

AAAAARGH!

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:22:55 GMT

It is snowing.

That is all.

I am amused

Thu, 08 May 2008 16:20:51 GMT

I'm putting this behind a cut because, well, I probably should, though I find it hugely funny and think there should be t-shirts.

ETA: And then of course I wonder what the "How to properly respond to this" panel would look like. Anybody care to give it a try and upload it?

Potential answers coming in now . . .

From clowe:

"Quick. Hide it in the cheese grater/microwave/coffee pot/cement mixer/Lorraine Bobbitt's closet (that should be a band name)/Monica Lewinsky."

"Here. Big Gay Al can hide it for you."

"But it's so small! How could they ever find it?"

And from benreeder:

"Good luck with that."

And:

"You're right, we are. I'm Agent Smith. This will only hurt for a couple of days."

new things

Thu, 08 May 2008 02:43:09 GMT

My agent is Lucienne Diver (aka varkat). She is now Lucienne Diver of the Knight Literary Agency (formerly of the Spectrum Literary Agency). What this means for me, I'm not entirely sure. But I'm along for the ride, since, well, she's fabulous and why wouldn't I? The Knight Agency looks pretty nifty and I'm looking forward to meeting some of them (I read their blogs already, muwhahahaha).

In other news, there isn't much. It rained today. Still downing iron. Feeling somewhat better, but I wonder how long it takes to get my blood more normal.

My son had his school music program. Man they were all so cute. They finished out with two kazoo songs. And then he brought his kazoo home.

I got my preliminary schedule today for Miscon. I'm looking forward to that. Looks like some fun panels.

Someone cut a fiber optic line about 40 miles away today and our town lost phones, including cell phones. I had a landline okay, since I bet mine through the cable. It was weird though. Couldn't call anyone here, nor access the campus webpage. It was the last day of the block and semester--imagine all those students trying to access WebCT and email in tests or projects or call their professors in desperation . . . . Nope. All lines read as busy.

yesterday that was

Tue, 06 May 2008 23:18:54 GMT

So I went to see a doctor yesterday, as many of you know I've not feeling particularly well. I found her through a friend and she's a combo hematologist, internist and oncologist (no I don't have cancer). But the reason I wanted to see her is she is extremely thorough, believes in all sorts of approaches to medicine (she has a guy who does reiki on staff, and a number of others), and she believes in treating the whole person, not just a select bit.. And though my friend warned me how it would be, I wasn't entirely prepared for this experience.

I get there and do the paperwork thing and I have to wait. That's okay. It's late in the day and there are a lot of people there getting chemo and other things and I'm just glad to have gotten an appointment this soon. Then I get called. First things first. The usual height and weight thing. Then a phlebotomist comes and draws four large vials of blood, six medium vials of blood, and three or four smaller ones. And then there was the quick trip for the urine sample. They run off to do tests. I then start meeting with nurses and doctors who are either getting information from me--and they want to hear EVERYRTHING. Nothing's too small. And some just want to stop in and say hello and introduce themselves. And then there were Lucy and Sophie the two puppies. Cuties.

Then I met with the doc's main nurse who had tattoos and was down to earth and told me some things I didn't know--she's one of the people who does a lot of the research on things for the doc. She's very very thorough.

Then I met with the doc. For something like two hours. Talked about everything regarding my health. Got back labs. Imagine that. Getting back the labs in the same appointment!!! Turns out I'm incredibly iron deficient. Which may mean I'm bleeding inside somewhere. Which of course means looking around inside. Can't hardly wait. Then there's the thyroid. Seems to be a problem there. And then we are going to start doing some tests, especially on some stuff that I've ignored over the last few years because other issues were more pressing. Ignoring no more. We are going to gather a lot of info (did I mention she wanted all the records of all the tests and surgeries and docs I'd seen for the last 10 years or so? She went and got them). Then had the physical exam.

So the upshot is that I'm starting a very heavy dose of iron, which will hopefully help me feel a lot better, plus starting some other meds and vitamins to help get me more healthy. It's nice to have someone that thorough looking after to me.

Which all of means I got precious little done yesterday and today. I did, finally, start reading the Kris Longknife series by Mike (Moscoe) Shepherd. I kept forgetting I bought them and decided when I found them the other day they'd be perfect for the 350 roundtrip drive and wait in the doc's office. Probably why the wait in the doc's office wasn't annoying, come to think of it.

a roundup

Sun, 04 May 2008 18:03:47 GMT

Today I'm hoping to write a little, then go off and see Ironman, and tomorrow I plan to be gone all day on a doctor's visit/bookbuying jaunt.

So for today, you get a roundup of stuff that is interesting.

First up, I posted a post at SFnovelists about bad guys.

Second up, if an agent rejects you, Do. Not. Do. This. Same thing applies to editors, lovers, and pretty much anything.

Third up, the contract between reader and writer. Worth reading. Thanks rolanni.

Soon you will get to see something very very cool related to The Black Ship and there will be goodies involved. Hopefully by the end of the week.

Di

invitation to snippet

Sat, 03 May 2008 03:58:11 GMT

C'mon everyone! Snippet with me! If not your own work, give us something cool from something you love.

From The Turning Tide:

Something moved out from her with the word. A wave of . . . something . . . powerful. She didn’t even let herself think the word majick as the paving stones fractured with a sound like snapping twigs. Spiderweb cracks chased up the walls and across the ceiling. Dust clouded the air. Fairlie breathed it in. It filled her nose and her lungs and sank into her blood and her muscles. Her body flushed hot with heat and vigor.

Additionally, msagara has a fabulous post about choosing what you write and being kind to your writing community. She's absolutely on target and made out of awesome. Go read.

I am remiss

Fri, 02 May 2008 21:47:53 GMT

You guys mentioned some of the coolest books in the last post. And I plan to comment and followup, but you made me also think of something that I've been remiss about. Duh.

Okay, so there are some new books out that I've been wanting to go get. Waiting for to go get.

They include:

suricattus's new Wren and Sergei book (Retrievers book) Free Fall.

mizkit's The Queen's Bastard (I love her Urban Shaman and Walker Papers books. You really should try them out).

Lisa Shearin's Armed and Magical (sequel to Magic Lost, Trouble Found, which I loved)

smokingpigeon's The Brass Bed (been looking forward to this one for awhile and the second and third books will be coming close on its heels in June and July I believe).

frost_light's One Foot in the Grave (sequel to Halfway to the Grave and I've been waiting to hang out with Bones again.)

Tate Hallaway's Romancing the Dead (interview with her posted here)

Jeri Smith-Ready's Wicked Game And the worst part is she's got other books out that I've forgotten that I wanted to get, so this is just a tip of the iceberg. *points to icon* Exactly so.

I know there are more, but these I've been jonesing for--just this month. Next month there are more coming out. How am I ever going to keep up?

So what books are you jonesing for? On your shopping list?

favorite books as a kid

Fri, 02 May 2008 02:43:19 GMT

So let's get nostalgic, shall we? Over at Romancing the Blog, Jennifer Estep talks about her favorite books as a kid. Which made me want to talk about my favorite books as a kid. These are all the books I reread a billion times. I loved the Narnia books. And the Little House on the Prairie books. And Nancy Drew and also the Three Investigators. I loved the Black Stallion Books and the Anne of Green Gables books. And the Madeleine L'Engle books. Oh, and the Marguerite Henry books. I was a voracious reader. I know I'm forgetting some of my favorites.

But tell me, what were your favorites? The books you cherished and reread when you were younger?

Dear character

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:09:56 GMT

Dear character who's been turned into spawn:

Really? Cause I didn't see that coming as a by product of spawnage. What else are you hiding? Are you planning to mess with my plot? I know you are. Don't lie to me. I need to know what's going on. So fess up. What are you up to next?

Sincerely,

author

snow day

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:20:08 GMT

So you've heard me whining about snow. Now I thought I would make it more pictoral. Since I woke up this morning to the following:

This is the Canadian Cherry in the back yard

This is the lilac bush and the rowan tree and the hedge of Cariganans (no idea if that's spelled right)

Blue spruces above the garage

toys and the red barberry bush

Looking out the office window first version

Looking out my office window the second version--see the snow still falling?

And so, that is the beginning of the day. It will warm up, this will all melt off by tonight probably (though it may snow again tonight). My friend's grandfather used to say that March came in like a lion and left like a son-of-a-bitch. Given that, April is leaving like . . . well, I can't really say without washing my mouth out with soap.

I hope it's sunny where you are.

Di

The Turning Tide Progress

55101 / 120000 words. 46% done!

cutthroat island

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 04:32:57 GMT

I'm not going to say much about how not good Cutthroat Island is (thought it could be far worse. Trust me on that). But I will say this. If you want to look at squarerigged ships, you should see this flick. Seriously. It's got a lot of ship footage on deck and in the rigging and also all around the exterior of the ships and a few cabin shots. Worth having a look at. I wonder what actual ships they used.

ETA: spurs? On a ship captain? Really?

Tate Hallaway: an interview

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:47:12 GMT

Hi folks. I have to tell you how much I love the Garnet Lacey books by Tate Hallaway. Garnet is a witch who is hiding out from the killers who slaughtered her coven. She works in a New Age store in Madison, Wisconsin and finds herself mixed up with vampire who's also a witch, the FBI, zombies, and oh, yeah, her ex-boyfriend is kind of a problem too. Then too, there's that pesky problem of the goddess Lilith wanting to inhabit her.

The writing in these books is just plain fun and Garnet is a great character. Anyhow, the third book in the series is about to be released and I thought you'd like to hear a think or two from Tate. So . . .

What was your inspiration for writing ROMANCING THE DEAD?

ROMANCING THE DEAD is the third book in my paranormal chick-lit Garnet Lacey series. People often ask me how I, as a writer, stay inspired when writing about the same characters. I think I could get pretty bored if I didn’t allow my characters not only to be human (and thus full of flaws), but also to change and grow.

A lot of the romance I read when I first started reading romances were “first blush,” as in the main point of the story was the excitement of meeting someone new. At the end of these novels, things faded very quickly into the nebulous (and unrealistic) happily, ever after. One of the things I’m trying to do in the Garnet Lacey series is promote the romance that can be found in a long-term relationship. I mean, Garnet is in love with a vampire, for goodness sake. You don’t get more “ever after” than that. I, myself, have been together with my partner for more than twenty years, and I don’t think those kinds of relationships get a lot of glory in romance novels, you know?

Plus, in every novel I like to take on one of the tropes in urban fantasy and do my own thing with it. In this book, I have Garnet meet someone who may or may not be a werewolf.

Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?

Currently my favorite authors are writing graphic novels. I’m in to Brian Michael Bendis’ NEW AVENGERS. I just finished reading NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI in preparation of the up-coming Secret Invasion. I’m also a huge fan of Ed Brubaker’s CAPTAIN AMERICA, particularly his WINTER SOLDIER stuff. Comic books haven’t been this fresh for me since I first picked up Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s FANTASTIC FOUR when I was a kid.

For more traditional fare, my favorites are Rachel Caine, who writes the Weather Warden series, and Kristin Katheryn Rusch who writes the Disappeared series, which is a kind of futuristic a police procedural set on Mars. When I was growing up my favorite authors were Katherine Kurtz and Anne McCaffrey.

What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?

The explosions.

Seriously, I was talking to a friend about this at a bar the other night, and I confessed that one of my favorite things about writing paranormal romances/urban fantasy is that you get to have all the relationship/girly stuff married to the high-octane adventure/boy stuff. That’s pretty near perfect for me.

Why did you decide to make Garnet a Witch?

Because I am.

And it can be very difficult to find realistic portrayals of Wiccan religion in novels. One of the things that drives me crazy in movies and TV shows like “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” is when a complete novice reads a spell they find in a dusty book and they conjure a demon without breaking a sweat.

Of course, because the Garnet Lacey series is fantasy, I take liberties, too. Real-life witchcraft can be pretty dull. The scope of Garnet’s power is a lot stronger than anything I’ve experienced in real life, but I try to show ritual as part of her daily practice as well. In other words, she doesn’t just cast spells, but she also prays to a Goddess and observes the cycle of the seasons, like the real witches I know.

What (besides writing) do you do for fun?

I’m an aquarist. I have four fresh water fish tanks in my house and have had over the course of a year: powder blue dwarf gourami, neon tetra, bettas (a spawning pair), a white cloud minnow, yellow tuxedo guppies, and several goldfish (comet and shubunkin). I’m so into it I read fish magazines and occasionally write long, boring blogs about my fish triumphs and woes on my livejournal: [http://lyda222.livejournal.com]. My betta Johnny/Giant-Girl is even a YouTube star: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Gg0mfEfTw.

What sort of research did you do to write this book?

Well, because I’d decided to play around with the urban fantasy trope of werewolves and the story takes place in Madison, Wisconsin, I did a little research and discovered that Wisconsin has its own werewolf myth: “the Beast of Bray Road.” There’s a book about it by Linda S. Godfrey called BEAST OF BRAY ROAD: TAILING WISCONSIN'S WEREWOLF.

Garnet loves astrology. Is that your favorite thing too?

One of them. Just like Garnet I’m an amateur astrologer. Yeah, we’re talking about predictions and horoscopes and stuff. No, I don’t think the stars rule my destiny, but, yeah, I think it’s all a very fascinating and entertaining way to look at life and relationships.

I love astronomy, too. My friend Rachel takes me and my four-year old out star-gazing on clear nights. The science fiction fan in me loves seeing the rings of Saturn and such.

What are you writing now?

There’s more Garnet Lacey in the works. I’m currently putting the wraps on book four, DEAD IF I DO, which I like to describe as “The Wedding Planner” meets “Night of the Living Dead.”

Did you always want to write? Or did you stumble into it? How did you get where you are now?

It took boredom to turn me into a writer.

True, I was an English major in college, but other than dabbling a little in fanfic as a teen I didn’t really do a lot of creative writing. After college, I had a series of dead-end secretarial jobs and really didn’t require a whole lot of my brain power. One of these jobs didn’t even come with a computer, but when I incessantly bugged my boss for work she taught me the art of the slack. She said, “Sometimes it’s important to LOOK busy.” So, I started typing letters home to friends. The letters turned into little silly stories, limericks, and finally, the beginning of my first novel, Sidhe Promised, which has never been sold.

Someone either a friend or my partner talked me into taking a science fiction writing class at the Loft http://www.loft.org I had an awesome teacher who taught us the art of critique and encouraged us to form writers’ critique groups outside of class. The one I formed from that class with my friend and fellow writer H. Courrage LeBlanc, Wyrdsmiths is still going strong today, nearly twelve years later. If you want to check out the "life" of a writers' group, we have a blog: http://wyrdsmiths.blogspot.com

Eventually, through a friend of a friend I got my second novel, Archangel Protocol, under the nose of an agent. The rest, as they say, is history.

What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?

Well, I’m in crunch time now, so I write close to four hours a night, from about 8:00 pm to midnight. Normally, however, I tend to clock closer to only a couple of hours, if that. I have a full-time job as a mom, so my writing time doesn’t start until everyone is fed and tucked in their beds. When not writing under a deadline, I also take weekends off.

Hm, which may explain why I'm in crunch time now, eh?

Where do you write??

Wherever my laptop is. I tend to write propped up in bed or on the couch in the TV room.

What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?

I’ve always found dialogue the easiest to write. That’s probably because it’s the part I practice the most. Not only do I love to talk, but also when I’m falling asleep at night it’s the fictional conversations that I play with in my head.

As for hard, that would be plot. If I had my druthers, no one would do anything. They’d all sit around in a coffee shop and argue.

There’s an excerpt of the first chapters of all three books available on my website http://www.tatehallaway.com.

Buy Tate's books at Mysterious Galaxy: Tall, Dark, & Dead, Dead Sexy, and Romancing the Dead

things that come out of nipples

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:56:42 GMT

When Species first came out, I went to the theater with my hubby and a friend and it was the best fun ever. The little highschool kids in front of us were disturbed because we seemed to find more humor than not in the movie (hence the best fun ever). But the crowning moment was when (if this is a spoiler, I'm seriously sorry), it turns out alien-girl has nipple tentacles. I cheered. I mean, come on. All she needed was vagina claws to be perfect.

That brings me to last night's movie. It was called Infected, I think. With Gil Bellows and Judd Nelson and aliens are infecting the water and food supply to make humans better hosts for their spawn. So at one point, Isabella Rossalini is confronting the good guys. Turns out she's an alien. And guess what comes out of her breasts???? Big honking arms with lobster claws on the ends!!!! (The guy aliens all had them come out of the sides, but she had them come right out of her breasts). I couldn't help it. I had to stand up and give it an ovation. I'm just that way.

You ever notice that guys don't get a big tentacle or claw coming out of their penises? (I'd kill to see that, by the way) But women have scary breasts? Which brings me to Nina Kiriki Hoffman's short story "Savage Breasts." If you've never read it, hunt up a copy. It is soooooo good. And funny. No tentacles or claws, but the breasts are pretty damned cool all the same.

Di

ETA: We need t shirts. Anybody got a good t-shirt idea for scary female breasts?

snippetage

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:30:25 GMT

Thanks for the answers on the shooting up and downward. You guys rock. I don't know that I'll ever actually use it for writing, but the curiosity worm is now satisfied. Yum.

Okay, a snippet now:

He startled away from the fear like a deer from the lonely howl of a wolf. It didn’t bear thinking about. His stomach growled. He looked down at himself in dull surprise. Then he looked again at the walls. He could wait no longer. Every passing moment exhaustion and hunger stole his strength.

The smother spell had not been activated by his work with his illidre because he’d directed no majick at attack or escape. That was about to change. Coming now was the real test of his determination and stamina. And he’d come so close to failing already . . . .

The thing he was about to try was simple, really. Just separate the silver from the walls while carefully unwinding the smothering spells. At the same time, he had to dissolve the knackerstone and keep the released sylveth from turning everything it touched to spawn. Then, when he was finished, he could blast open the door.

A simple plan, as easy as plucking the moon from the sky.

Okay, there's mine. Where's yours?

for the gun folks out there

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 05:28:46 GMT

First, shippetage will be tomorrow. Today was Thing 2s birthday.

But in the meantime, a question. Why exactly is it more difficult to hit a target shooting downward? What exactly makes it harder? Apparently it's not limited to guns but bows too. ideas anybody?