Fifty bucks for my book???

Okay, I was just on Amazon, where new copies of my book are posted at $48.00. Notice I don't say they're selling for that amount of money, because I find it hard to believe that they are. Not to be self-insulting, but fifty bucks for LDS light romance??? I don't think there are many women my age, surrounded by screaming children, willing to fork over that kind of cash. Fortunately there are used ones available on the site, or you can go to www.seagullbook.com to get it for about six bucks.

Or if all else fails, email me. I have a few copies I bought for six pounds I'd be happy to pass on at cost.

Obituary for an old friend

I got news today that one of my classmates, Dan Pendergrass, passed away. Dan and I grew up in the small town of White Rock, New Mexico, and were very good friends as children. He was one of the first male best friends I ever had; people thought we were totally weird or our cross-gender bond, but throughout the subsequent years I've had a lot of guy friends and have considered life all the richer for it.

My memories of Dan are of a stunningly intelligent person, a gentle soul who struggled with the cruelty the world showed him. He was an eplileptic and one of the few kids in our class who wore a medic alert bracelet, and he was small for his age and uncoordinated. The last kid picked for sports teams (unless it was me). Some of the saddest memories I have are the birthday party at his house that was just me and his family, as he didn't feel like there was anyone else who'd want to come, and when I was hospitalized after a car accident when I was eleven, Dan ended up in the room across from me thanks to one of his many health problems (sad to say, there were enough that I don't remember which one this was.) While my room smelled like a flower shop and looked like an overstocked toy store, Dan's was relatively empty. I had a regular stream of visitors and Dan was usually alone. I brought toys and games over to him and that was one of the first experiences to show me that not all childhoods are created equal. I had a fantastic one with unlimited love and attention, but a lot of children go without.

He and I drifted apart in middle school and high school, but he'd been in touch again recently on Facebook. He was working on becoming a children's author, and would occasionally ask for advice. There I felt like I had to be the bearer of bad news as I let him know how difficult it is to break into that industry, though I hope his family saves his books and continues to work on getting them published.

I don't know the circumstances of his death, but I hope against hope that he wasn't alone and that he found the love and support that everyone deserves in life. Rest in peace, old friend. I'll never forget you.

Kitty's House of Horrors (Book 7 in the Kitty and the MIdnight Hour series) by Carrie Vaughn

Kitty's House of Horrors by Carrie Vaughn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Werewolf talk radio meets reality television, what's not to love? Kitty finds herself roped into a reality tv show, thanks to some underhanded tactics by Hollywood producers. She and several characters from previous books, along with some new ones, are flown to a remote cabin in Montana. One of their cabin mates does not believe in the supernatural, so the war of truth vs. ego is on.

And then things take a horrifying turn. The reason I gave this 4 stars was because I found the bad guys a little too stock horror. This is no doubt intentional. Carrie's being meta with it, putting horror movie monsters into a horror movie themselves, where they are the ones stalked by creatures who are mysterious and scary. Like in a horror movie, the bad guys don't just blow up the house and have done with it, but rather tease and bait and trap and pursue. This kind of thing drives me nuts, but I get that that's how horror works. It's scarier when the baddies are insane and will want to make you suffer. I'm just a pedant on that score.

I'm not sure how I missed this one, as I know I bought it, but I must not have packed it when I moved and thus skipped it and gone on to read the next one. I'm certain I bought it because it's dedicated to Mike and Daniel, both of whom are friends of mine. Mike is author, Michael Bateman, who primarily does short stories and has been featured in a lot of top magazines, like Asimov's. Daniel is author, Daniel Abraham, who now does mostly novels under his own name and the pen names MLN Hanover and James SA Corey. Both of these guys, Carrie, and I have shared many a convention hotel room for the sake of cutting costs. Daniel and Mike both gave Carrie comments on this novel before it was published - Mike used to be in her writer's group.

It's been tremendous fun to watch Carrie's star rise. She and I got to know each other at conventions, and I knew her back when she'd just started selling her short stories. I still remember how funny it was to buy one of her novels from the dealers room of a convention. The bookseller told me in a very excited tone that if I came back a few hours later I could *meet* Carrie and maybe even get the book signed. I had to explain to him that Carrie and I were sharing a room, and for that matter, a bed. Given we were often the only women in the group, this was a common arrangement, and as authors, with insane career ups and downs, we'd always split the room bill, sometimes those of us with good finances would support those without, and thus we could have a home base with friends and as Carrie puts it in her dedication "comrades in arms".

This book is the seventh in the series. To begin the series, see Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Kitty Norville, Book 1).

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Prayers for the eastern seaboard

It's been a record year for disasters, and this year isn't over yet. In fact, there have been so many disasters I've only blogged about a few of them. I missed out ones such as, oh, the forest fire that my home town had to evacuate to avoid. Not normally the kind of thing I just miss out on writing a post for!

I've got a lot of family and friends in the potential path of Hurricane Irene, and I hope they all have a most uneventful weekend. I'm praying for boredom! For lots of extra supplies that will end up stashed in the attic to rot.

Take care, everyone.

Drown by Junot Diaz

DROWN by JUNOT DIAZ
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this kind of thing best when I've got a good and intelligent friend to talk it over with. I'm not the kind of person who unpacks the layers of modern literature very well on my own. I need the interaction because the act of communication forces me to grasp concepts more firmly than merely thinking about them does. DROWN is a series of short stories, most of which center around a greater story arc of one family's emigration from the Dominican Republic to New York City. Most of the stories are thick on atmosphere and tone and thin on plot action (let that be a warning to all plot junkies, though it isn't meant as an insult to Junot). I'll admit that the last story held my attention best, just because it had the strongest narrative, and if you're not sure about the hardcore literary style of the book, I recommend reading that last story first to get grounded. There is a lot of swearing and some gore and sex and drugs, so avoid if you don't like reading about that kind of thing. His story, "Aurora", captured the nauseating netherworld existence of a drug addict so effectively that I felt a little dizzy after I read it.

Like many of the authors I review, Junot Diaz is one I have met - these days that's because I've met a lot of authors, not because I go out of my way to read stuff by people I've met. He was in Santa Fe for an event at the Lensic Theater, an interview by Samuel R. Delany. Alas, I could not make it to that show, as I was very pregnant and very sleep deprived, but I did make it to dinner with him and Delany beforehand. My writer's group, many of whom knew Delany, set that meal up, and there were about eight of us around the table. Those more published than I shared stories about their adventures in the business. Mr. Diaz was very personable, introducing himself as "Junot" and genuinely interested in meeting our motley crew of writers and aspirings who knew Delany well enough to call him "Chip" rather than Samuel. Seated at our table, he could have been anyone, and he didn't conform to the industry norm of looking down his nose at us science fiction hacks. A lot of fantastic work is done by total jerks and many wonderful people write utter drivel. Junot Diaz is a pleasant exception to both. If you are a fan of his, I'd encourage you to reach out to him - in a sane, non stalkerish way please.

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Across the Sea receives an Honorable Mention

Eric Choi posted yesterday on the Facebook Group Page for The Dragon and the Stars that four stories from that anthology received honorable mentions in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Eighth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois. One of those stories was mine, Across the Sea! Needless to say I'm very excited to hear this. I've sold only eight short stories in my entire life, and two of them have been honorably mentioned in Year's Best anthologies.

The other stories were The Character of the Hound, by Tony Pi, The Water Weapon, by Brenda Clough, and The Son of Heaven, by Eric Choi. This is an impressive showing from the anthology, so I'll again say to the editors, WELL DONE! They worked so hard to take this anthology from initial idea to printed book, and didn't stop there. They've worked tirelessly to promote it and boost its sales. I'm honored to be included in this project, and I wish Eric and Derwin much success in their future ventures.

And meanwhile, squeeee! I find short stories very, very difficult to write, so this kind of recognition makes me giddy.




  

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book was tough for me to get though. In fairness, though, I should say that if you like atmospheric writing and a cool setting, this may be the perfect book for you. I'm a plot junkie, and if I don't see interesting moving parts coming together, I get bored.

The premise of ancient legends coming alive in modern times was interesting enough, but the characters' main objective was to find an individual, and their searches were uninteresting, just a lot of traipsing around Provence to historically significant places that weren't presented in a way to add much to the story. Other characters would show up and have random fights, a whole scene was devoted to one of them getting his fight injuries bound up for a second time (because the first time wasn't interesting enough?), and none of this moves the plot forward at all. There're allusions to a tragic family history and a final revelation that made me shrug.

But what is unfair about this, as I'll openly admit, is that I downrate authors who've disappointed my expectations. I *love* Kay's "Lions of Al-Rassan". That had a richly layered narrative structure that was complex and captivating. I thus hold the man to a higher standard. "Tigana" and "A Song for Arbonne" also held my attention, so I'm not going to give up on Kay. I recommend those other books over this one, though.


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London Burning

I've spent a lot of time this afternoon on the phone with family in the US, assuring them that our area of London has not been affected by the riots. I tried to get people on the phone before they turned on the news and saw the pictures of buildings going up in flames and stores being looted by thugs wearing masks.

For anyone unaware, the riots began three days ago when the family of Mark Duggan organized a peaceful protest against the police, who'd shot him dead in an altercation. This peaceful demonstration was hijacked by more violent individuals who began setting cars on fire and looting houses in North London. Over the course of three days, the riots have gotten worse each day, and last night 6,000 police on the streets battled outbreaks of violence all around London, and riots broke out in several other major UK cities, including Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Leeds, and Bristol. Despite the scale of the rioting, there has only been one fatality. Otherwise most of the damage has been in the form of theft and property damage, including an apartment block that burned and left the inhabitants homeless.

The Prime Minister and Home Secretary have interrupted vacations abroad to return to London and have recalled the Parliament. Tonight they will mobilize 16,000 police and authorize them to use more force, perhaps including rubber bullets, to contain outbreaks of rioting. So far, our neighborhood hasn't been affected, and I don't expect it will be. The main target seems to be retail stores, and there aren't many of those near us. The nearest high street is a mile away.

We're all hoping they bring the situation under control tonight. #londonriots on Twitter, and for the positive side of all this: #riotcleanup and #riotwombles.

The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb

The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I hesitated before I bought this one, as I've found Hobb's last two trilogies overstuffed with words and lean on story and characters, but in this one she seems to be back in fighting form. Right from the get-go you meet a cast of fascinating, fleshed out characters, each of whom is the hero of his/her own story, but not all of whom can be the hero of Hobb's.

There's Alise, the Trader bred woman from Bingtown who's resigned to becoming an old maid. She's not beautiful, nor does her family have much fortune, so she's applied herself to scholarship of dragons and Elderlings and this, she feels, will keep her amused as a spinster. Then there's her suitor, Hest, who sees her as an ideal life partner. He offers her the chance to spend his money on her library if she'll provide him with an heir and keep house. Too bad she develops feelings for him. He's not interested in people of her gender.

Leftrin, the captain of the liveship, Tarman, isn't above trading on the black market if it'll earn him good money. Early on in the book he makes a deal that could ruin him if ever discovered, and he must bind his entire crew to him for life in a bid to keep anyone from leaking the information. He'd be easy to hate, but by the end of the book, he's shown a side of himself that one can't help but admire.

Thymara is Rain Wilds born and bred, with claws instead of fingernails and scales all down her back. Her father made the scandalous decision to retrieve her after the midwife left her in the wilderness to die. Hated by her own kind and forbidden to ever mate, she must decide whether to respect the society that's brought civilization to her part of the world, or to try to do better for herself, regardless of the consequences.

These are the game pieces Hobb puts on the board, and she gets them interacting and playing off each other in good time like the masterful writer she is. Things I'm wary of as this series goes on: repetitive conflicts that need not be repeated. I.e. Fitz's issues with his ward in the Golden Fool series. He keeps on not doing anything about the kid, the kid keeps screwing up, etc. etc. It's annoying. Or even more irritating is when Hobb uses a break between books to cut out interesting conflict, i.e. Dutiful deciding he really does love Elliana between books two and three of the Golden Fool series. His divided heart was interesting, why kill it when it can produce such great drama?

I am hopeful, though, that this series avoids all of these issues and just gives a cracking good story. So far, so good - though I must warn you, the end feels like an arbitrary break. Be ready to buy the next one immediately if you invest in the first.

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The Boy at the End of the World by Greg Van Eekhout

The Boy at the End of the World by Greg Van Eekhout

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Post apocalypse, the last human on Earth is awoken from suspended animation. The Ark that has housed him and countless others has been destroyed, so it is him, a broken custodial robot, and a very big world that has changed drastically since the humans went extinct. This reminded me a little of Alien Earth by Megan Lindholm (aka Robin Hobb). Greg Van Eekhout's clean, flowing prose pulled me through to the very end. I finished this in one day.

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The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith

The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Even before this series got picked up for television, I thought it was perfect for tv. The detective agency has short, episodic cases and the main characters, while they do change, do it gradually. These books don't have a lot of high drama and suspense, but rather a comfortable, easy pace, like a long walk with good conversation to make the miles fly by.

I first met Mma Ramotswe when I found the first of these books for sale at Costco. That was where I'd try out new authors, from their book table. After I read the first book, I immediately went to get the others. Alexander McCall Smith is capable of evoking vivid images with deceptively simple prose, and when I read these books I feel like I am in a place much warmer and sunnier than London, with acacia trees and the good company of these characters. Thanks to Kindle, I'll be buying the rest of the series at Costco prices in short order!

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