At long last a LiveJournal by Jeri Smith-Ready

Every few years, or maybe once a decade, I read a book that humbles and crumbles me, a book that cores my psyche with the jagged edge of a diamond drill. A book that reminds me why we write.

Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert is one of those books. If you read my blog, you know that Stephanie and I are friends, and we have the same editor, Jennifer Heddle. But I have a lot of writer friends, and while most of them thrill and entertain me with their stories, and I will happily plug their books on my blog when I get special enjoyment from them, this is a whole other realm of awe.

( Oh come on, with an intro like that, how can you not click? )

I (or possibly Shane) will be appearing on Stephanie's blog some time in the next month, and Stephanie will come 'round here on the same day for an interview, at which point I'll tell you more about this fantastic book. But you should definitely stop by her blog each day to check out all the great authors, artists and musicians. And win stuff!

Today Stephanie told her own ballad of how she came to write this incredible book. Oh, and you can also see her very first "vlog," her ballad of a birthday tattoo, along with a live reading from her book. She is incredibly sweet and real, as a writer and a person, so go check them out!

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P.S.: I'm uploading photos from ALA and RWA one by one to my Twitpic page, and after I turn in my book next Friday I'll do a little montage here on the blog. Stories, I got stories!

Over on Facebook, my friend Kayley tagged me on a meme that I couldn't resist (which is saying a lot). The instructions were:

Don't take too long to think about it: fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. Make sure it's the first fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

Then we were supposed to tag 15 friends, but I didn't do that. I have a (nonexistent) sign on my (nonexistent) desk that says, "The Meme Stops Here."

With each of these books I remember something different--a scene, a character, a concept, or the way it made me feel in that moment. With most, I can remember where I was when I first read it, the same way I associate certain songs with certain stretches of highway where I first heard them (or where I played them on infinite repeat).

( Fifteen books I'll never forget: )


Rather than discuss the rationale for each one (because it was meant to be quick, after all), I wanted to point out one book that I was just thinking of a few minutes ago (which led to this blog post): Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.

In a central scene, the novel's protagonist Tita is forced to cook the wedding food for her older sister Rosaura, who is marrying the man Tita loves (and who loves her back but for custom's sake has to marry the oldest girl because the youngest has to stay home forever and take care of her mom--bogus!).

Anyway, Tita cries bitter tears as she's preparing the cake, and the tears kinda get mixed into the batter. At the reception, everyone who eats the cake starts crying. These episodes continue throughout the book, as Tita's repressed anger and passion infuse her cooking.

Takeaway message: the spirit in which food is prepared affects its taste. So ever since I read this book, I try to be merry or at least calm when I cook. I have certain carefully chosen CDs that can play while I make dinner. (Most of my favorite music would make food taste really nasty.)

Oh, and a glass of wine or beer helps a lot, but not until I'm finished with the knives.

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What are your "Forever 15" books? If you only have a minute, give me five, or even one, and tell me why. Which parts of the book will you always remember--the characters, a scene, the philosophy, or the feelings it gave you?

For our next installment in the Mostly Debut Author interview series, I'm thrilled to have Danielle Joseph (daniellejoseph), whose first novel, Shrinking Violet, came out last month.

Danielle and I first met in that decrepit old bar known as MySpace (just kidding--it wasn't decrepit back then). It turned out that we had the same editor, the lovely and brilliant Jennifer Heddle. Not only that, we each wrote about radio stations! How cool is that?

So of course I had to read her book, especially when I discovered that the main character, Tere Adams, is painfully shy. This may come as a surprise to those who have met me at a convention, but I could totally relate.

Like all shy people, Tere has an amazing imagination, and often dreams of being someone different, someone "better." Her secret fantasy alter ego is Sweet T, the hottest new DJ on Miami's SLAM-FM. She knows the new music scene inside and out, and senses in her heart that given the opportunity, she could be a fabulous disc jockey.

As an intern on her stepfather's radio station, she gets her chance. Of course she's terrified--millions of people hearing her voice? What if her classmates recognize her? What if the hot, sensitive guy from English class--the one who loves the same bands and who actually talks to her--finds out she's been living a double life?

Despite her fear, she goes on the air as Sweet T, and that's when her life changes.

I fell in love with Tere as she struggled to find her voice, both literally and figuratively. Her pain at being looked at and expected to speak--speak now, speak up, for crying out loud!--I could feel in my gut. I loved that she lived out her dream not because she wasn't afraid, but in spite of her overwhelming terror. That's true courage. I also loved that the Hot Dude in Question, Gavin Tam, appreciated her for everything she was--her real self and the Tere she knew she could be.

Though the book is ostensibly targeted at a teen audience, there's a lot here for us over-twenties, particularly music lovers and anyone who's had to overcome the fear of being oneself.


***BREAKING NEWS: THE DISNEY CHANNEL JUST BOUGHT THE FILM RIGHTS TO SHRINKING VIOLET!  WOO-HOO!!***

( If you don't click, you'll always wonder, won't you? )

To enter to win a copy of this sweet (in all senses) novel, just leave a comment or question for Danielle--or tell us the biggest fear you've ever overcome--in the comments below.

I'll draw a name Friday night at 11:59pm Eastern Daylight Time. Anyone is welcome to comment, but the prize will be limited to U.S. residents.

As they say in radio, thanks for listening!

Starting to crawl out of my post-deadline cave (it's even messier than the deadline cave) and hope to start blogging again on a regular basis, at least for the next few weeks.

Today I'm guest-blogging at Silk & Shadows, the group blog of several wonderful paranormal romance/urban fantasy authors, including jessaslade. I was honored to read her upcoming debut novel Seduced by Shadows for a cover quote. I had great difficulty finding the words to describe how much I loved it without using the phrase "OMFG!!", but I managed:

SEDUCED BY SHADOWS blew me away! Sera and Archer won my heart at first glance. Slade creates a beyond-life-or-death struggle for love and redemption in a chilling, complex, and utterly believable world--one I can't wait to return to again and again.

It's coming out October 6, and you must Must MUST read it. It features demons and angels battling it out here on earth, but also a separate group in between, the humans possessed by teshuva, repentant demons who are attempting to escape eternal damnation by fighting the really bad demons (djinn, ferales, and malice, to name a few). It's freaking awesome.

So anyway, speaking of other people's books, today at Silk and Shadows I'm talking about my favorite childhood book (the blog's topic of the week). You won't be the least bit surprised what it is. Leave a comment and enter to win a signed copy of Bad to the Bone. If you already have your copy, give it as a gift!  Hope to see you there.

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Now playing: Cake - Haze Of Love
via FoxyTunes

Hooray, the Guest Blogging Karma has come back to me in the form of one of my favorite authors, who also happens to be a good friend. Ann Aguirre's blog is one of the few I still take the time to read on a regular basis, as she's consistently thoughtful, funny, and sharp. (Not that other bloggers aren't, mind you.)

( Clicking builds strong bones. )

Please leave a comment below to enter, a question for Ann, or a note about your favorite secondary characters. I'll draw a name at random at 11:59pm eastern Friday. So show some love, and win a book!

Sad news for the genre broke yesterday: Realms of Fantasy magazine, purveyor of great short fiction and incisive reviews (one of which I've been meaning to post since July), will be closing as of the April 2009 issue. Even though subscriptions and advertising purchases were steady, apparently newsstand sales had plummeted.

*shakes fist at economy*

Last year's RavenCon in Richmond, VA was one of those cons so close to a deadline that I never had time to blog about it. But if I had, one of the things I would've mentioned was meeting David Coe. We did several panels together, and he even let me yak during his Koffeeklatsch. He was (presumably, still is) one of the nicest, funniest people I've ever met at a convention.

Back in the real world, we friended each other on LiveJournal, where David provided one of my favorite weekly blog features, the Buffoon of the Week (BOW) Award, which was particularly enjoyable during the election year.

Speaking of which, the results of that election made me totally forget to post this interview on Tuesday, when his new book, The Horseman's Gambit, was actually released.

Sorry David! I hope this is the last time your books are upstaged by Change^TM.

( Side effects of clicking include fascination, entertainment, and, in excessive amounts, sore fingers. )

David B. Coe's personal website can be found at www.davidbcoe.com. He blogs with some regularity on both LiveJournal and WordPress, and he is part of the MagicalWords.Net writing blog with fellow fantasy authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, and C.E. Murphy. The Horsemen's Gambit, book II of his Blood of the Southlands trilogy, can be purchased through Amazon.com. (Release date: January 20, 2009)

The winner of a signed copy of Adrian Phoenix's In the Blood is...macbeaner! Macbeaner, please e-mail me your mailing address (jeri AT jerismithready DOT com), so I can send your Amazon gift card and Adrian can send your book.

Justin Gustainis will be sending a signed copy of his latest release, Evil Ways, to...(I don't know why I bother with ellipses, it's not like it really adds tension. I mean how long does it take for your eyes to skim those three little dots. Now this, this is adding tension. I could do this forever, really, just blab on and on and on until eventually you have to scroll to find out who won. But I won't. I will, however, add another ellipsis)...Yolanda! Yolanda, do the thing I asked macbeaner to do in the previous paragraph so you can get your copy of this awesome book.

There's a sweet 'n' sexy excerpt of Wicked Game over at the Single Titles blog. This PG-13 snippet has been nominated for Smooch of the Year! You can vote at this post through January 15. But of course, only vote for WG's if you think it's the best.

Wicked Game has been nominated by Love Romances and More for Best Urban Fantasy of 2008. Members of the LR Cafe will be voting on the final winner, so if you want to have your say, join the Yahoo! group here. Note: this is a very busy list, so you definitely want to set your prefs to "Digest".

Now, back to the Steelers' game. If Shane were a real person, he'd be really nervous with the current score.

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Now playing: Mr. Mastodon Farm - Cake
via FoxyTunes

Welcome back, all you lazy sods relaxed folk who took off the entire holiday season. Here's what you've almost missed:

My latest Aspect of Crow tie-in short story is now live in its entirety! All eight weekly chapters are posted on my publisher's site, so grab a cup of cocoa and read all of "Storm Reaper" at once.

- The first in a series of booze-soaked mutual interviews between Dante Baptiste and Ciara Griffin, along with a chance to win a signed copy of Adrian Phoenix's fabulous new release, In the Blood (and possibly an Amazon gift certificate, too!) You can read my review and find out more about the subsequent giveaways in the previous post.

- On Friday, Justin Gustainis gave us an entertaining look at The Future of Urban Fantasy. Comment on his post and enter to win his newest Quincey Morris Supernatural Investigations release, Evil Ways.

Now, for my 2009 goals. They're pretty much a knockoff of my 2008 goals, which I reviewed last week. The only difference is they're a little bit more attainable.

( Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to click LJ cuts. )

Overall, more writing and less not-writing, which makes everyone happier. And of course, much of 7-10 depends on #2 coming to pass. Hopefully I'll know about that in the next couple of months, and I'll shout it from the virtual rooftops if it happens.

What are your goals for this year? Are they like mine, simply tweaks and updates from last year, or are you doing a major overhaul of priorities? How do you measure your progress? Do you see goals as a chance to stretch yourself, or as a way to set yourself up for failure? Or both?

Have a great 2009! I'll see you back here next year! (Just kidding. I think I'll be back tomorrow with another guest, but I have to check with them.)

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Now playing: The Newlydeads - Cities In Dust

Today's guest blogger (oh, we've got lots more coming, so stay tuned, or at least the blog version of 'staying tuned') is Justin Gustainis, who visited us last year to tell us about his Quincy Morris Supernatural Investigation urban fantasy series, beginning with Black Magic Woman. Read on to find out how you can win a copy of his latest release, Evil Ways.

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The Future of Urban Fantasy
by Justin Gustainis

The start of a new year is often the time for prognostications, and I have decided to join the parade, get on the bandwagon, go with the flow, and generally embrace every cliché I can think of. Since urban fantasy is something I know a little about (I read it voraciously, and even write it occasionally), and because I have a number of important contacts in the publishing industry (several of who make more than minimum wage), I offer here my predictions of what we can expect to see in the urban fantasy field, in 2009 and beyond.

1. New occupations. Let’s face it, if you’re an urban fantasy protagonist, (hereafter UFP) you’ve gotta do something for a living. Not only does it give you a pretext for messing around in the weird shit, it also helps pay the expenses that inevitably come with the territory (the rising price of precious metals, for instance, means that silver bullets are increasingly becoming a luxury item). We’ve already got UFPs who are wizards, witches, disc jockeys, bounty hunters, waitresses, private detectives, exorcists, cops, secret agents, and mechanics. The writer’s ongoing struggle to find a new hook, a fresh face, and a nice three-book deal, means that we can soon expect to find at our local Barnes & Noble such characters as: Biff Buttcrack, Supernatural Plumber (“No clog too small, no monster too large”), Suzanne Menskowitz, Publicist of the Preternatural (her PR releases have meant the end to more than one evil being’s career), Murray Michaels, Occult Accountant (Just one spreadsheet error, Creatures of the Night, and he’s got you!) and Krystal von Hellsting, Paranormal Porn Star (who can instantly drain any vamp or werewolf of his, er, bloodlust).

2. New lifestyles. Many UFPs are more than human. Some are witches or wizards, with the ability to work magic; others are dhampires, powerful as vampires but resistant to sunlight; still others are werewolves, who can shapeshift with the best of them. In order to build a fan base, new writers are going to have to avoid these well-trod literary paths and come up with their own dual-nature UFPs. In 2009 we can expect to see books featuring werehamsters (those cheek pouches can hold a lot of wolfsbane), occult comedians (while you’re laughing at “Stake my wife – please!” they’ll drench you with holy water) and ghoulgles (half human-half ghoul creatures whose breath can repel a whole horde of enraged elves).

3. New weapons. Fresh supernatural challenges demand advances in occult weapons technology. In the future, UFPs will have access to “smart” invisibility cloaks, which will automatically make them disappear in the presence of demons, goblins, and Mary Kay sales reps; magically unflattering pants, which will guarantee that they will never appear on a book cover with their rears facing the reader, and supernatural staffs which, when the proper spell is cast, turn into solid dark chocolate – because, sometimes, you’ve just gotta have chocolate.

Will these predictions come true in the New Year? Only time, the desperation of publishers, and the tolerance of the reading public, will tell.

Happy New Year, everybody!

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Leave a comment or a question for Justin, or tell us your predictions for the future of urban fantasy (or books in general) between now and 11:59pm EST next Friday (January 9) to be automatically entered to win an autographed copy of his new release, Evil Ways. For simplicity's sake, please comment at my home page blog (this LJ post will be closed to comments).

If you don't have a Blogger account, just sign your name and be sure to either check back next week to see if you won, or leave a way to get in touch with you (signing your e-mail address not recommended, due to spam issues).

My pal Adrian Phoenix and I have something special planned for y'all over the next four months. The hero (hmm, maybe word that should be in quotes) of her vampire series, Dante Baptiste, and the heroine (that word should definitely be in quotes) of mine, Ciara Griffin, found a wormhole and met for a few drinks at the Bar Between Universes. (Not to be confused with the Restaurant at the End of the Universe--that's much more crowded.)

So we'll be presenting Dante and Ciara's mutual interview/drinking game in four rounds, beginning tomorrow and continuing the first week of every month between now and April. Each round will give you a chance to win one of our books, so stay tuned.

( Click for stammering, awe-inspired review. )

If you're intrigued, you should definitely read A Rush of Wings first, as the story picks up pretty much where that book left off. Rush is currently available in trade paperback and will be out in mass market paperback February 24. But with Amazon's discounts on trade paperbacks, you're only paying $3 more for the larger, better quality version, so really you should buy that now. I'm just sayin', as a helpful financial tip.

Dante and Ciara will see you back here tomorrow morning, bright and early. Well, bright and early for them. And you'll have a chance to win that book I just talked about up there. ^^^

It's currently nine degrees Fahrenheit here at our house, with winds of tropical storm strength, which makes it...(checks weather.com)...approximately...(subtracts five degrees for being outside of town)...hang on, running some numbers...(subtracts another ten for living on a hill)...Greenland.

Which is the perfect setup for the book I want to talk about (and give away!) today. Need is a brand-new young adult contemporary fantasy from Carrie Jones, and it's guaranteed to make you shiver. Not just because it's set in Maine, but because its bogeymen are not vampires or werewolves (though there are a few of the latter), but pixies.

( Click or regret it the rest of your life. )

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Give Carrie a question or a comment, or share your secret or not-so-secret phobia, over at my main blog (it accepts anonymous comments so just leave your LJ name so I can contact you if you win), and be automatically entered to win a signed hardcover copy of Need, as well as a supah-secret bonus surprise goody! (I am curious about the latter, too.)

And as a special not-so-secret bonus, if we get at least 25 unique commenters (not counting Carrie), I'll throw in a $15 Amazon gift card for the winner, so you can buy another copy of Need for a friend.

So come on, people, prove that someone out there is still reading blogs this holiday week! Contest closes next Sunday night at 11:59 eastern. Have a great week!

Another of my fellow SFNovelists, Diana Pharaoh Francis, is having a big release this week. I've heard phenomenal things about her work, so take a gander at her newest. I can't wait to delve into this series as soon as the deadline trolls release their death grip from my throat.

*ducks back into cave*

( Clicking: it's what's for dinner. )

11) How do people find out more about you and your novels?

First, thanks everyone for hanging out with me. I appreciate it. To buy the books, head over here to Mysterious Galaxy, Barnes and Noble , or Amazon. For more about me, a taste of the books, or random useful information, go to my website. Here’s a link for my blog, Mad Libs.

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A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Mindy Klasky at Capclave. Now I'm proud to count her as a friend, but I'm not here to talk about her warmth, her disarming sense of humor, or her inexplicable faith in humankind.

About a year ago I read SORCERY AND THE SINGLE GIRL, the second in Mindy's Jane Madison series, without having read Book One, A GIRL'S GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT. This is not something I would normally do or even recommend (books are in a certain order for a reason, after all), but I was getting ready to write Bad to the Bone and was studying second books in series to see how other authors pulled it off.

Not only did I enjoy Sorcery immensely ("fun and charming" says my book journal), but I absorbed the characters and situation instantly. It was a masterpiece of seamlessly introduced backstory. This is a particularly tough challenge when writing in first person narrative. There's always the "Why would she be thinking this fact right now?" issue, and in most books I just accept the seemingly inevitable awkwardness.

I actually marked up my copy with a pen, bracketing every place where Jane introduced another tidbit of her past, so that I could go back and study how it was done, because the overall effect was, "I really want to read Girl's Guide, but not until after I finish this book." I was so thrilled to find a Book Two that truly stood alone while at the same time felt like it was part of a larger narrative tapestry.

Anyway, the conclusion of the Jane Madison series, Magic and the Modern Girl, comes out today, and I can't wait to see if (please please please) Jane ends up with David.

Here's Mindy to tell you more about the book, the series, her exciting new project, and her plan to raise charity dollars by making us all fat:

( Clicking tastes great, appears to be less filling )

Thanks for taking the time to ask these questions! I hope that people will stop by my website and/or email me any questions at mindy@mindyklasky.com.


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Now playing: Sad To Be Alone - Sonny Boy Williamson
via FoxyTunes

(Another quasi-personal post exclusive to the LJ community of like-ish minds--i.e., not cross-posted to my other blogs.  Which is another way of saying I don't want my mom to read this.)

Just now, for the first time in years, I drank a cup of French Roast coffee. French Roast is my favorite, but I haven't bought it lately because at my local Giant, the organic fair trade brand doesn't offer that variety. But for several months they've sold Newman's Own French Roast one shelf over. Newman's Own--fair trade, organic, profits go to charities, etc. You'd think I'd grab it with glee.

No. It costs fifty cents more. I was "saving" it for a time when I really deserved it.

But for some reason last week I'd had enough. I bought the Newman's Own. This morning I took a sip of the first cup and thought, hmm, I made it too weak. But as I kept drinking I realized it wasn't too weak, it was just smooth. Sweet. It didn't burn the back of my tongue with bitterness. It didn't make my stomach roil and rebel and crave the Pepcid AC.

It got me thinking: what the hell is wrong with me? Why am I such a masochist? Why do I habitually deny myself the things that would make my life a little brighter? What did I do to deserve such self-loathing? (Don't answer that.) Or am I just a modern-day Puritan?

For instance, the books I most want to read, the ones that would make me happy (such as Christopher Moore's A Dirty Job and a handful of funny contemporary romances) aren't even in my TBR pile. They're on my bookshelf, the place for books that will be read someday but right now don't even qualify for the on-deck circle. Because I don't deserve them until I've slogged forty-nine more dreary, "edgy" novels where tortured souls try to stop the Apocalypse of the Week. (Right, like there's a lot of suspense there. Gee, I wonder if the world will end? Please please please let it happen and put these characters out of my their misery.) 

Fuck that. Life's too short. From now on I'm going to read books that make me laugh and coffee that makes me go "Yum!" I'm going to reward myself for reaching milestones, instead of just telling myself I should've reached them sooner.

But I don't know how.  How do you reward yourself?  Can you teach me?  Can joy even be taught? 

What about you other workaholics?  Do you punish yourself for not living up to your own impossibly high goals?  Or am I the only one half-soaked in this ever-present puddle of dread?

A new study shows that crows are the smartest non-human animal, including chimpanzees. Take that, you damned dirty apes!

As some of you know, I'm not fond of non-human primates. They freak me out. Maybe I'm particularly susceptible to the Uncanny Valley, an innate revulsion to things that are almost human but not quite. Like mannequins or clowns or [insert easy celebrity joke here].

But I was able to get past my pithikosophobia recently to read the Y: The Last Man graphic novel series. I loved it despite the monkey.

(I should add that I didn't like the ending, partly because my favorite character was killed, and between that and Harry Potter and The Dark Tower and The Sopranos and Deadwood and Twin Peaks and Six Feet Under, I am forever swearing off series. My favorite characters always always always bite it in the last few episodes or final book. Not that I have room to talk, but hey.)

Where was I? Oh yeah--I hate monkeys, but I'll still read about them if the rest of the story is good.

How is this relevant to The Reawakened? Well, when I wrote this book, I figured it was the last in the series, so I would go for broke, write it exactly the way I thought it should be written and not worry about what people thought. Some of you will love it, and some of you will hate it. I respect that.

One of the risks I took was making two of the lead characters have the Aspect of Snake. Many people don't like snakes. But I always try to subvert stereotypes in my work, turn traditional symbols of evil (like crows or snakes) into something redemptive, and turn traditional symbols of good (like the sun or the color white) into something oppressive (i.e., the Ilion nation).

The Snake Spirit's domains are fire and sex (and, to a lesser extent, memory). So when our two Snakes, Sura and Dravek, meet for the first time, things get figuratively and literally H-O-T. This is bad for a lot of reasons I won't go into in this post.  But Snake is one bad-ass Spirit who will not be denied.*

So....for a chance to win an Advance Reader's Copy of The Reawakened, all you have to do is answer the following poll in the comments (or e-mail me at jeri@jerismithready.com if you feel shy):

Snakes are:

a) cool
b) gross
c) scary
d) sexy
e) more than one of the above (please specify)

That's it!  I'll take entries through 11:59pm Eastern time Sunday night, then draw a random name to win an autographed ARC of The Reawakened.  These suckers are pretty scarce, so it's a nice prize if you can get it. 

If you comment as anonymous, make sure you check back to see if you won, or leave a way for me to get in touch with you.

Also, there's one more day to enter the drawing for autographed copies of Eyes of Crow and Voice of Crow.  That's two free books for one lucky person.  Read them now and get ready for The Reawakened's November 1 release.

Good luck!

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Now playing: Our Lips Are Sealed - The Go-Go's
via FoxyTunes   

*Ask Indiana Jones and Neville Flynn if you don't believe me.

EDITED TO ADD: THE REAWAKENED just got a Top Pick review from Romantic Times--that makes it 3 for 3 for the trilogy!  Hat trick, bay-bee!

EDITED TO ADD MORE: The winner of the REAWAKENED ARC is...flip!  Flip, please send your mailing address to jeri AT jerismithready.com.  Congrats, and thanks to everyone who entered!

According to an article in the New York Times, a Philadelphia Poe scholar wants to dig up the remains of Edgar Allen Poe from the city where he died (Baltimore) and move them to the City of Brotherly Love.

Edward Pettit argues that Poe wrote much of his best work in Philadelphia and "that city’s rampant crime and violence in the mid-19th century framed Poe’s sinister outlook and inspired his creation of the detective fiction genre."

“So, Philadelphians, let’s hop in our cars, drive down I-95 and appropriate a body from a certain Baltimore cemetery,” Mr. Pettit wrote in an article for the Philadelphia City Paper in October. “I’ll bring the shovel.”

Not so fast, mister. We've got the Poe Toaster, a mysterious figure who visits the author's grave every year on his birthday and leaves three red roses and a half-bottle of cognac. We even named our football team in honor of his most famous work, "The Raven." Poe is ours--or rather, we are his.

“Philadelphia can keep its broken bell and its cheese steak, but Poe’s body isn’t going anywhere,” said Jeff Jerome, the curator of the Poe House in Baltimore. He'll be debating Pettit on January 13 at the Philadelphia Free Library.

Mr. Jerome added that everything would be settled at the debate, and in exactly the way that Poe would have wanted.

“I will argue the other guy down with grace and facts,” Mr. Jerome said. “Then I will walk over to him like a gentleman and punch him square in the nose.”

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Now playing: Nine Below Zero - Sonny Boy Williamson
via FoxyTunes

If you've ever wondered why I often don't blog on Mondays (yes, I'm sure you've pondered this mystery for hours on end, perhaps speculating with friends over appletinis at the local fern bar), it's because that's the day I post the Topic of the Week over at Fangs Fur & Fey.

Each Monday I present a question on a writing topic--sometimes urban fantasy-related, but usually more general. Then we discuss! Both Members (published UF authors) and Watchers (fans and aspiring authors) are encouraged to participate. Anyone can submit a Topic, but when the submission well runs dry, I make up my own. It's a great way to get a lot of people sharing their experiences.

Today's topic is How We Begin, what gives us the spark that makes us start writing a new project. Titles? Characters? Story? Scene?

Here are all the Topics of the Week in one place.

Anyone can be an official Watcher in the FFF community. All you need is a LiveJournal account (a basic one is free) and an enthusiasm for Urban Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy or Paranormal Romance.

And just to read the blog? You don't need nothin'! Here's a list of the fabulous FFF authors, many of whom can be found commenting there every week.

It's the place to be, so stop on by!

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Now playing: The Raveonettes - Somewhere in Texas
via FoxyTunes   

Here's a series I've been wanting to get my hands on for a long time. I've never met Kat but I've heard from reliable sources that she's really sweet and gives great panel.

Quick reminder: I'll be at the Author Extravaganza in beautiful Cumberland, MD, tomorrow from 11-3 at the Country Club Mall. Click here for directions. Hope to see you there!


Kat Richardson is the author of the Greywalker paranormal detective series. UNDERGROUND, the third book in the series, will be out August 5--it's her first hardbound book and she's very excited about it. You can learn more about Kat and her books by visiting her website or blogs (katrich.wordpress.com or katatomic.livejournal.com).

( Clicking fights cavities! )

This week I'm featuring interviews with two authors from my SFNovelists group. The first is Gregory Frost, fantasy author extraordinaire. I loved his take on the Bluebeard legend, FITCHER'S BRIDE. It was fascinating and absolutely riveting, and I would tell you more if I could a) remember specifics about books years after I read them and b) write a coherent book review. Regardless, Frost is definitely an author to keep your eye on, even if he never writes a frickin' vampire story.

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