Year: 2007

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    Some early thoughts on Hot Mama … and books in general …

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    So, ARCs (advanced reading copies) of Hot Mama are currently going out to reviewers far and wide. (Nervous giggle.) I sent one of my ARCs to my pal, Edie, who blogs over at Magical Musings. Here’s what she thought about it:

    “I really like that you gave Fiona such a distinct personality, different from Carmen. You didn’t write the same characters with different names. And I want to be able to eat like her without gaining weight. Also, the fact that with every gift there’s a cost (I can’t remember the wording). Also, that it’s not “romancy.” The sex is hot but Fiona is hot. So you have hot sex without cliches. It’s really fresh and different — and fun! You’ve created a great world in Bigtime.”

    Pretty good, huh? :ww:

    Edie said a lot of nice things about the book, but mostly what caught my eye was the phrase not romancy. And I started thinking about the kind of books I like to read and write, and romance books in general.

    Romances often get a bad rep because people assume the love story is the whole point of the book — and that they’re just a series of sex scenes strung together. Well, that’s true in some cases. But in the vast, vast majority of romance books, the characters have more to deal with than the search for Mr. and Ms. Right. Problems at work. At home. Inner conflict and turmoil. Romance is only part of the story, part of the journey.

    I like the second kind of books the best, mainly because that’s how it is for people in real life. Sure, you might be drooling over your new, hot, ex-football player neighbor, but you’ve still got to get up and go to work every morning. Deal with your boss. Family. Pets. The woman across the street who wants the hot football player for herself (that shameless hussy!) 😈

    A couple of people have told me my books aren’t very romancy. There are probably a couple of reasons for this, the main one being I write in first person (most romances are third person, so you get the guy’s point of view too). But in my books, the focus is on the woman — and her journey to discover that makes her happy, strong, special.

    And I’m not writing shrinking violets. My women have gone to college. Have careers. Support themselves. They can be sweet or bitchy. Some are beautiful; some are not. Some have superpowers; some do not. Some are rich; some are not. They have hobbies, interests, obsessions. They might be looking for love, but it’s not the only thing they’ve got going on. I think that’s an important message to send — and how people are in real life.

    My books are also pretty different because they’re about superheroes, which most people think of as more of a guy’s genre. But mainly, I think my books are different because they’re just fun.

    Some reviewers and readers have ripped into me for not being more serious — about superheroes, about fantasy, about life in general. But I’m not trying to write the Great American Novel. I write the kind of fast-paced, fun, slightly implausible adventures I like to read and watch – James Bond, Buffy, Xena, The A-Team.

    This isn’t to say my books don’t have themes or deeper meanings. My heroines struggle with doing the right thing and coming to terms with their own personal demons. But I’m not going to beat you over the head with that kind of stuff for 350 pages. Angst gets old after a while, which is probably one of the reasons I’m not a huge Superman fan.

    So, does all this make my books romancy or not? I’ll leave that up to readers to decide. Romance, fantasy, comic books, whatever label you want to put on them is fine with me. All I want to do is entertain folks. Given the great response I got for Karma Girl, I think I’m pretty good at it. 😉

    What about you? Do you like romance books that are mostly about the romance? A 50-50 split? More action? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • 823 and counting …

    Finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

    There is so much stuff in this book that I will (very simply) summarize it by saying the book focues on Shadow, an ex-con who gets caught up in a war between the “old” gods (Odin, Easter, etc.) and the “new” American gods (Media, Technology, Credit Cards, etc.). It appears the new gods want to knock off the old folks, but nothing is really as it seems.

    Shadow takes a job working for Odin, and the two of them basically go from city to city, old god to old god, recruiting them for the upcoming war. There’s a lot of talk about blood and power and what sacrifices mean, interspersed with some stories about how immigrants brought the old gods to America simply by believing in them — and how those gods are all but forgotten.

    My significant other and I had a long discussion about this book. He absolutely loved it. I was a bit more ambivalent. My SO said Gaiman thinks differently from any other writer he’s read. I agree with him there. Gaiman sees the world in a unique way, which really flavors his writing.

    My main quibble is that there was too much of some things and not enough of others. Gaiman had some really wonderful descriptions (like comparing veins in a woman’s breast to those in blue cheese). But there are just so many dream sequences that meander here and there, they lose their impact after a while. Pages and pages go by, and nothing much seems to happen (except the dream sequences). I wanted him to pick up the pace.

    I also wanted to see more of the “new” gods. The book is called American Gods, but we really only get the perspective of the old folks.

    Gaiman also spends a lot of the book on characters that don’t seem to have anything to do with the main plot (the war between the gods). This really annoyed me until I got to the last 50 pages — and then he tied it all together with a big red bow in a clever twist I didn’t see coming at the end.

    I liked Gaiman’s short story collection, Fragile Things better, but American Gods is one of those books that will make you stretch your mind. And it’s always good to do that. 😀

    So, thumbs up.

    Up next: Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward.

    What about you? What are you reading now? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • Some good girl karma …

    Girls Read Comics is holding an auction in October (the tentative dates are Oct. 7-14). They’ve got some pretty cool stuff you can bid on, like art and books. And, of course, there are some items from yours truly. 😉

    Check out the main auction page here, or see what I donated here. It’s the page called Good Karma.

    Happy bidding! :ww:

  • 822 and counting …

    Finished Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh. I am on a reading tear! 😈 Also, this post has some spoilers, so beware.

    Yes, this another book I got at RWA. I met Nalini at the Berkley signing. She was lovely, and since she’s from New Zealand (I think I’m telling you right), she has a gorgeous accent too.

    Visions is the second book in Nalini’s Psy-Changeling series. It focuses on Faith, a Psy, or woman with psychic powers (foretelling the future), and Vaughn, a changeling, or shapeshifting jaguar. Faith uses her powers to predict business trends, but lately, she’s had visions of a serial killer — and sees the murder of her own sister. So, she seeks out Sasha, another Psy who’s gone rogue and lives with a group of changelings, which includes Vaughn. But the killer senses Faith and begins to pull her deeper and deeper into his visions …

    And the fur really starts to fly. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist). 😀

    I’m not even scratching the surface with my synopsis. There’s a lot of stuff in this book — about emotions, about family, about being human. It’s an interesting read on a lot of levels, even if you’re not really into romance books.

    Visions is basically a fantasy-science fiction hybrid. I’m usually not a big fan of science fiction, but Nalini’s concept is really cool – all the Psy folks have cut off their emotions to curb violence and are telepathically linked by a Net — and really well executed. (Although I did get a little tired of the Net and light descriptions toward the end).

    There was a lot going on in Visions I didn’t understand right away (like all the Psy distinctions), mainly because I haven’t read the first book in the series. A problem I intend to rectify, especially since the third book, Caressed by Ice, comes out next week. A glossary in the front still would have been handy, though.

    My only real quibble was the ending. There’s all this buildup to finding and catching the serial killer. And then, he’s just taken out. Poof! A former assassin (Judd, the hero of Book 3) does some sort of mind mojo on him, and the killer is dead. I wanted a face-to-face confrontation with Faith and the killer or more danger or … something. We never even learn the killer’s name, and Nalini hints that he was possessed, but we never learn that for sure one way or the other. (And honestly, I thought the killer would turn out to be Kaleb, another Psy battling Faith for a position on the Council, or governing body).

    Despite that, the book is very well done. I can see why folks are buzzing about Nalini. So, thumbs up.

    Up next: American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

  • Adios, summer … hola, fall …

    7 Comments

    I occured to me this week looking at the calendar that Labor Day is Monday. Which means that summer is more or less over.

    Who-hoo! :blos:

    Summer is not my favorite time of year. Too much heat. Too much cut grass. Too many allergens in the air to make me sneeze. This year has been particularly brutal. We’ve had 20 straight days of 90-plus degree heat. That’s pretty hot for my neck of the woods. And it hasn’t rained in forever. Seriously, we’ almost 14 inches below normal. The grass is crunchy now.

    Although, on the flip side, I’m glad we haven’t had some of the flooding and other problems that have plagued the rest of the U.S. It’s been a weird summer, as far as weather goes, all the way around.

    Anyway, I am more than ready to say hello to fall. Cooler temperatures! New TV shows! Football! A chance of rain! Pumpkin-flavored desserts! :scooby:

    What about you? What’s your favorite time of year? Inquiring minds want to know …