Here's A Quickie

...with Patricia Briggs.

Does that sound dirty? OK, I sort of meant it to, but it's just a tease. I did see Patricia Briggs, but nothing untoward happened, heh. Although the reading she did had its moments. I wanted to brag post that I got to see the author of all those fantastic Mercy Thompson books live in person last week. I have proof:

I picked up my very own copy of Bone Crossed, but I haven't started it yet. (I really MUST do something about this ridiculous TBR pile.)

You won't be surprised to hear from me that Ms. Briggs was a very charming storyteller -- likely you already knew that. Most authors are, but public speaking is a different kind of storytelling than hammering out text on a screen or notepad.

I haven't been hanging around on Brigg's message board (though I might check it out, it sounds fun) but apparently there's quite the saga about whether or not silver bullets can be cast. Verdict: yes, but it's a huge PITA, per Briggs and her husband (I wanted to ask what purity/ alloy they were using but I thought that might be a little obnoxious). Anyway, she had one of their hand-cast bullets on a necklace which she passed around -- it was gorgeous. And so appropriate for a teller of werewolf tales!

One of the audience asked if the convenience stores nicknamed "Stop & Rob" referred to the outrageous prices of things at convenience stores, or their propensity for getting robbed -- Briggs said the latter, and then told a wonderful story about a friend of hers and how chain mail really does work.

There was a little lull in the Q&A, so I asked which of her secondary characters she'd most like to have a beer with -- with no hesitation, she responded "Warren," and talked a little bit about her inspiration for the Warren and Kyle couple. Wouldn't it be cool to get a novella about those guys?

If you get a chance to see her in person, I strongly recommend it. And go early, it's such a hoot to chat with other fans (there were celebrity appearances by other local authors, making trouble in the back row, including Mark Henry and Christine Warren. Don't you wish you were me?!)

So you can definitely look for a review from me before too long-- I promise!

Thursday Thirteen, Edition 8

When it comes to romance novels, I'm a love 'em and leave 'em kind of gal.

I read them and I pass them along, either giving them to friends or building up ridiculous amounts of credit at the local used bookstore (I'm too lazy to sell them).

I've referenced my memory problems more than once on this blog. I read fast, I read a lot, and I don't manage to retain a lot of detail about most books, even those I really, really like.

Lately though, I've come across a few heroines that have really impressed me with their originality and fabulous characterization. Trying to think of a Thursday Thirteen for the week I was inspired by Carrie Lofty's Meg, and I came up with: Thirteen Unforgettable Heroines.

Now, I had to put some parameters on it. These are books that are marketed as genre ROMANCE novels, not fantasy, not UF, not YA, not horror, not even General Fiction.

(Um, except for that first one. Hey, it's my blog, I make the rules and I'll break 'em if I want to.)

These are also not necessarily the most unforgettable books. There are a lot of books I adore because of the hero, or the interaction between the two characters, or a handful of other important things. These are specifically heroines that I love, not just the heroines of books I love. If that makes sense.

Thirteen Unforgettable Heroines 1. Scarlett O'Hara (Margaret Mitchell) 2. Sirena (Fern Michaels) 3. Skye O'Malley (Bertice Small) 4. Rosamond (Virginia Henley) 5. Claire (Diana Gabaldon) 6. Esme Brentmore (Loretta Chase) 7. Sugar Beth Carey (Susan Elizabeth Phillips) 8. Francesca Bridgerton (Julia Quinn) 9. Fiona (Christine Warren) 10. Lilith (Meljean Brook) 11. Annique (Joanne Bourne) 12. Verity (Anna Campbell) 13. Meg (Carrie Lofty)

I'm not going to inflict my rationale about each one on you. They're women I remember, and books I love (there are a few that are memorable for being so incredibly bad, but that's not where I'm going with this....)

I'm feeling so lazy tonight I'm not even going to do the links. Maybe I'll put them up tomorrow.

In the meantime, tell me who you think is the most unforgettable romance heroine. Who has stayed with you in your mind's eye even as you burned through new books? What makes them memorable?



The New Thursday Thirteen Site

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

What A Scoundrel Wants – Review

This is a TKO of debut novel – it will take your breath away. I was up until 2:00 am the other night finishing it. Hell, Phury only kept me up ‘til 1:30.

Why am I using boxing metaphors? I hate boxing, I don’t even know anything about it. But phrases like “sucker punch” keep coming to mind as I try to find a way to describe the book.

I have never ever met a heroine like Meg. She’s a blind, slightly pyromaniacal alchemist with a sensual streak, making a living from fertilizer and fake emeralds. Her relationships are a mess of love and hate, pride and pity, dependence and defiance. She walks a fine line, using her potions to intimidate those around her just enough to leave her alone, but always risking the label of witch. Inevitably, she’ll remind you a little bit of Joanne Bourne’s Annique, both being blind ass-kicking women, but their personalities are just completely different. Annique is quiet, stealthy, a chameleon, while Meg is completely in-your-face; Meg navigates pretty well and takes occasional advantage of her facility in the dark, but she’s not nearly so ninja-like as Annique.

She might also make you think of Meriel, from Mary Jo Putney’s Wild Child, in that her disability threatens to condemn her as mad, with all the forboding consequences that implies. But Meriel is gentry, and for all her eccentric habits, lives a protected life at least from a material standpoint. Combined with the differences between Regency and Medieval eras, there’s no confusion there either.

Mad Meg really is a little bit crazy. Not especially noble or pure. But as she takes blow after blow in this story and comes back from each one, a little more battered but still screaming “Bring it ON!” to fate and her enemies, you can’t help but fall in love with her. Plus, I’m kind of a sucker for a non-virgin historical heroine; I love women who really know what they want.

Then there’s Will Scarlett. The book opens with a moment of clarity on Will’s part: he’s fighting for the bad guys; they've set him up, specifically, for a fall; and he’s about to be hung out to dry-- more or less literally. (Kinda puts the Monday office blahs in perspective, eh?)

A good part of the book is an extended medieval chase scene, with narrow escapes, bloody battles, and double-crosses. Possibly triple-crosses, I think I lost track a couple of times. In terms of an action/adventure story, I could easily see this book adapted for the big screen and it has a modern feel to fight scenes: gritty and realistic. Poor Will really takes a beating, sacrificing his body over and over to protect Meg. Offhand I can’t think of another story where the hero is so physically wounded and just. keeps. coming. (Maybe that part in the first Die Hard where the terrorist dude is hanging from the chains but isn’t really dead? Except of course you WANT him to be dead. Erm. But I digress. Sorry. Although I suspect that John McClane and Will Scarlett would SO be drinking buddies. Sorry again.)

The one thing I disliked about the story is that the author does that keeping-a-secret-from-the-reader thing that you all know I hate. Something not-so-good is up between Robin and Will and we don’t know what it is. For a long time. Set several years after the return of Good King Richard puts an end to the merry band of outlaws and their forest-dwelling adventures, I couldn’t tell if the author was presuming a cultural knowledge of Will Scarlett’s role or not. Now, I’m certainly no expert, but I have read more than a couple versions of the Robin Hood legend:

(those are just the ones I've kept...) and I couldn’t put my finger on anything that could be considered “general knowledge.” Eventually, all is revealed and it’s just one of those plot devices, or maybe “tension devices” would be a better term, that I particularly don’t like. Lofty’s research notes at the end reinforce what I thought: the Will Scarlett character plays many different roles depending on which telling of the tale is underway.

But this secret definitely keeps you wondering about Will and what he might do next. Is he really a good guy? Well, you can make certain assumptions, because it IS a genre romance. But you’ll definitely see some surprising twists and turns as his character develops.

They’re an odd couple, to be sure. Occasionally I doubted the chemistry between them. By the end though, I was convinced. Each brings out the best AND the worst of the other-- they force each other to grow, to confront the fears that hold them back. Each of them has good reason to be stingy with their trust, both in general and specifically with each other, but bit by bit, as they are forced into one extreme situation after another with no one to rely on but each other, trust grows, maturity grows, and love grows.

It's a great adventure and a great romance. Read it.

Some other reviews:

Jackie's Review
Christine's Review (with additional links)
Carrie Lofty Does DIK

Did you review WaSW? Feel free to leave a link in comments!

Sweet Trouble, by Susan Mallery -- Rant

Let me start by saying that I really like Susan Mallery’s full-length books (she has a ton of categories that I know nothing about, so no comment on them). I liked the Marcellis, I liked the Buchanans, and I started off liking the recent “Sweet” trilogy. The first one was good.

The second one was… OK.

The last one though, I have a number of problems with. The biggest one is not an uncommon thing – the hero crosses the line from Alpha to Asshole and IMO doesn’t manage to come back. Seriously, I don’t like Matt and when we get to the “black moment” and Jesse tells him that she can’t forgive him, I should’ve just stopped reading right then. I’d’ve been happier.

But what I’m going to indulge my inner bitch on today is not just Matt’s unloveability. It’s his whole character arc.

We see Jesse and Matt’s first meeting in a flashback:

He was tall and he could have been kind of cute, but everything about him was off. The haircut was a disaster, his thick glasses screamed computer nerd. His short-sleeved plaid shirt was too big and—she nearly choked on her coffee—he had an honest-to-God pocket protector. Worse, his jeans were too short and he was wearing geeky tennis shoes with white socks.

Jesse decides that she can give this guy a makeover, purely from the goodness of her heart. After all, if there’s hope for Matt, there’s hope for her.

Later, we also find out that Matt made his first “couple million a year” from a game that he rewrote: "I broke into their system, accessed the code and rewrote it. Then I took the new version to them. They licensed it from me.”

This is wrong on so many levels I hardly know where to start. First off, this is a recycled character. The Seattle computer nerd getting a makeover from his best platonic girlfriend has been done. I would’ve sworn it was an earlier Susan Mallery title, but I can’t find it. Maybe Jayne Ann Krentz?

Secondly, the nerd in question here is circa NASA 1966. You know how lawyers can’t serve on a jury? I believe the official reason is that they presumably know too much about law be susceptible to the usual courtroom bullshit. Technically. The thing is, I’m kind of like a lawyer trying to sit on a jury—I know way more about gamer nerds than the average romance reader. In fact, if there’s one thing I can claim some knowledge of, it’s the phylum and genus of nerd, and gamer nerds specifically. My credentials: engineering degree, 1988. Microsoft employment, 2002-2004 including a run with the XBox hardware team. Husband: video game artist since 1989. Video game artist AT MICROSOFT for over 5 years. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.

“Matt” would’ve gotten beaten up by real nerds. He would be wearing ratty cargo shorts and a vendor t-shirt with a stupid slogan on it. He would be either tattooed or pierced or both, somewhere vaguely disturbing. I could give you dorky tennis shoes, but more likely would be Teva knockoffs with gnarly toenails. Possibly with socks. Bad haircut, sure. If you want to be really out there, it would be white-guy dreadlocks or maybe a shaved head. There’s really no difference between a nerdy gamer and a cool gamer. Here’s a sample Microsoft game team. (I may or may not actually know a couple of those guys.)

Matt never once talks about playing games or liking games. He never plays a video game of any kind in the book. This really quite simply proves that he is NOT a game geek. Five years ago (when the flashback takes place) I can GUARANTEE you this guy would have tried to tell you how awesome Everquest is and what level his character was on. Even if you tried really hard to stop him. Even if you said right to his face, “I so totally don’t care about MMORPGs.” He would’ve kept talking. He would’ve said things like, “I have to meet my clan at 7:30 for a raid. I’m wielding the emerald-level enhanced magi-staff of enlightenment, so I HAVE to be there!” If he were a REAL gamer geek, anyway.

Then the thing about rewriting the game? Ahahahahahahahaha….. OK, when I quit laughing… I’ll try to break it down. First off, very few games retain much popularity for more than a couple years. Gamers are fickle, and manufacturers like it that way – they churn out new versions every 2 years or so for the really huge games. Not to mention the fact that if you do the math, the computers that would’ve been running the 15-year-old Matt’s hacked program are pre-Pentiums. Pre-Windows. We’re talking DOS, or maybe a Mac SE. Do you remember your computer in 1993? Neither does today’s software. So the likelihood of making millions for 10 years? Slim to… well, none really. Not slim, just none. Secondly, let’s just say he could “break into their system.” Whatever that means. He hacked the code on his PC? Well, OK, maybe. Not that hard, even, in 1993. Rewrote the code? Oh, so very unlikely. Million-dollar games are not simple and without a test platform, it’s unlikely that you could just “make it better” without fucking something else up. But let’s just say he did. Maybe it was some simple little puzzle game (these do not make millions per year, but whatever). Corporate America does not fall on its knees and hand over million-dollar licensing deals to people WHO HACK THEIR CODE. They SUE those people.

I realize that most readers won’t care too much about these tiny distinctions. But what gets me is that it’s just lazy. Mallery lives here in the Seattle area. Twenty minutes of internet research would have gotten her 80% of what I just told you, and dozens of contacts happy to talk about the gaming industry (gamers LOVE internet forums). And for all that gaming itself played into the book (ie, not at all), Mallery could have given us a way more realistic character – the Microserf who made a couple million in options and was smart enough to get out before the ’01 bust. Gamers don’t really make good hard-assed corporate moguls, which is what Matt turned into. Gamers are proud of their dorkiness and would have been far more likely to completely ignore Jesse as a shallow bitch with her Cosmo and Car & Driver –based personality makeover.

Damn. I hate doing negative reviews. Ms. Mallery, I hope I haven’t hurt your feelings if you’re reading this. It’s just that you got it so, so wrong, and these are some people that are actually pretty close to my heart.

I, Scrapper

This week, the Weekly Geeks ask, What are you passionate about besides reading and blogging?

Before I became slightly obsessed with blogging, I was a little obsessed with scrapbooking. I started with Creative Memories in 2002. My daughter was two at the time, I had scads of photos, and everywhere I went, I saw scrapbooking stores and supplies. I found a CM consultant through a friend of a friend, and what I expect to be a lifelong “hobby” was born.

I use quotation marks because I do think it’s a little more than a hobby. We live in a media rich age, so it’s unlikely that someday my albums will be found and considered some kind of archeological treasure. But I hope that my girls will appreciate the effort and that my love for them will come through the pages. I feel like that sometimes gets lost in the day-to-day effort of keeping up with household chores, and teaching the kids the lessons they need to get by in life. Sometimes I can be kind of a negative person, and scrapping helps me focus on the positive. I think that their kids and maybe their grandkids will enjoy the peek into their lives, too.

A couple of years ago, I started doing digital scrapbooks, too. It’s hard to express how much I love these. I live far from my extended family, so I do one “yearbook” per year (I’m in catch-up mode right now, so I’m doing two: the current year, and an older one—I’ve got 2004-2008 covered), and then I print out multiple copies of the same book. It's a fair investment of time for the first one, but then with a press of a button, everyone who wants one can have one. (This is nice for class gifts, scout troops, sports teams, etc, too). There are a number of places where you can get these books made, but I use Creative Memories. Their photo organizing software has some nice hooks into their digi scrapbooking software, and from there it’s very easy to import templates and have books printed. Lots of people use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to digi-scrap, but my one encounter with P-shop some years back left me very askeered.

As handy as the digital scrapping is, I don’t think I’ll ever give up my paper and pens and adhesive. As most “crafty” people will tell you, the process is as important as the product. It’s a tactile experience, and it balances my professional life which is extremely abstract. I like playing with colors and proportions, and telling a story and, in direct contradiction to why I love digital scrapping, I love paper/traditional scrapbooks precisely because they are handmade and one-of-a-kind.

My dad is an amateur photographer, and I have a lot of bitter-sweet memories of waiting, waiting, waiting for him to get the focus exactly right, and squinting into the sun because he didn’t want shadows on our faces. And film and processing were expensive, so I was taught to be thoughtful about the composition, try to get it right the first time, take few photos, and treat the prints very, very carefully. I have every print I took between 1978 and 1990 or so labeled, numbered, cross-referenced to the negative strip, and placed in sticky-page albums in chronological order.

So when I first started scrapping, I was ALL ABOUT the photos. Showcasing them, arranging them, choosing complimentary colors, etc. Then I came across a couple of photos of me blowing zerberts on Yvette’s tummy. Objectively, they’re pretty bad photos. Cluttered background, dark boring colors, my face is buried in one of the photos. But Yvette’s smile just lights up the world in one of them. This is the result I ended up with (sorry about the glare!):

And that’s when I had the epiphany: it’s about the MEMORIES. The photos, the journaling, the accents – these are the tools I use to try to keep vivid the joys of the moment. I think after that, my pages improved a lot.

I still have trouble keeping organized, now that I’m freed from the tyranny of physical film, but I’m getting better. Nadia’s books are closer to up to date, and Yvette is starting to journal some of her own pages – which is so cool.

For more of my favorite pages, you can check out my Flickr Scrapbook Set here.

And, say the Weekly Geeks, Get Us Involved.

Geeks, if you’re blogging this week about a collection you have, consider photographing your favorites (or the whole collection) and assembling a small scrapbook. For each item, write a few words – how and when did you acquire it, and what makes this one special? Find some themed paper or stickers and it will go together in a snap. If your items are valuable, include the receipt or pricing info, and you’ll have a valuable record for insurance purposes, too.

Knitters – I know you’re out there – a fun scrapbook project would be a scrapbook with a page per project – you could include a snip of the yarn, a photo or scan of the pattern, a photo of the project in progress and then complete, and journal about why you chose it, who it was for, how long it took, what problems you ran into. Or, do a scrapbook for one big project, taking photos along the way and show how it evolves. The yummy colors and textures of the yarn are just begging for some great photos.

Scrapping can be as simple or elaborate as you want it to be. Choose materials that are acid and lignin free, to keep them from crumbling or yellowing in the future. Don’t use those sticky-page albums I mentioned – they’re terrible for your photos. All you need to start with is a good album, adhesive, pen(s), and photos. Extras like patterned paper, stickers, die-cuts, and doo-dads are fun and I’d never do without them entirely, but which ones you choose and to what extent you use them is a stylistic choice.

A good place to start is with the Creating Keepsakes website-- there are tons of links, articles & blogs. I confess that I don't actually do much online with my scrapbooking hobby, so I don't really follow any scrapbook blogs except for my friend and upline, Erin (find regular updates in my sidebar!). A local Creative Memories consultant can give you one-on-one advice, encouragement, and will often hold “crops” where you can get together with other scrappers, away from the kids and the pets and the household chores and really focus on working on pages.

If you’re like me and you like to just dive in to a huge project with a lot of faith and not much of a plan, this is a hobby for you – all scrapbooks grow one page at a time, and there's no wrong way to do it. If you’d rather start small, choose a themed scrapbook, like a vacation. There are lots of “collection” type products on the market that are pre-coordinated so your book will have a cohesive, polished look from start to finish. (Personally, I like to tailor each page to the photos so you never know what kind of style jump you might get when you turn the page, LOL).

Last October, after 6 years of thinking about it, I went ahead and signed on as a consultant with Creative Memories. So folks, I am a PRO now (ha ha) and if you seriously want some one-on-one help, just shoot me an email.

Watch This Space

I’ll add in some links over the week here to other scrappers and Geek passions that would lend themselves to scrapbooking. ;-)

Charlaine Harris Boxed Set

Spotted this at Costco today. I passed it by because my TBR pile is way high and my book allowance is alarmingly low right now, but for $32, that's a damn good deal. FYI.

Rachel Vincent Giveaway

Backcover Blurb:

Here's hoping cats do have nine lives.

I’m on trial for my life. Accused of infecting my human ex-boyfriend—and killing him to cover up the crime. I’m not guilty. But tell that to the panel of Alphas sitting in judgment. Infecting a human is one of three capital offenses recognized by the Pride—along with murder and disclosure of our existence to a human.

I’m two for three. A goner.

On top of that, Marc is in danger of being tossed from the Pride, then we discovered a rogue stray terrorizing the mountainside, hunting a wild teenage tabbycat. I think I can protect her from both the ambitious rogue and the scheming of the territorial council.

If I survive my own trial…

I like the play on words for the title.

Rachel Vincent is on my list of New Authors to try this year, but I haven't gotten started yet on her Shifters series.

This works to my advantage, because the latest releases February 1st, so more books with instant gratification potential. Excellent.

On the other hand, it maximizes my wait for the NEXT book.

Hmmm. A dilemma.

Vincent is giving away the three-book series -- check it out.