Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I'm over here recovering from the plague and from the holidays, but I'll be posting regularly again soon.

In the meantime, you guys relax and try to enjoy the post-holiday bliss. :D

Moving! Again!

Hi guys! Just a quick note to let you all know we're moving today, and life is crazy as usual. I'm also blogging at my website address too, in case you missed some sweet author interviews.

Somehow I can't quite give up this blog, though, nostalgia and all. I can't quit you, Blogger!

So that's the scoop!

What's up with you guys? Ready for the holidays yet? *snicker*

Overcome

I’ve tried to write this several times over the years, and it’s never sounded right. This year, I just need to let the words lie on the paper and trust myself, and you, to understand the heart of what I’m trying to say.

I’m going to spend very little time on the Internet today, because the 9/11 tributes are just too much.

The tributes have their place, and we certainly should remember the people we lost. Continuing to flay a wound that’s been festering for over a decade and prolong a war without clear cause and meaning anymore, not so much. I support our troops; my husband was in the Air Force and spent most of his time overseas. My dad was a Marine. I have no issue with the military, and for most of the soldiers, they can’t do anything about their orders, but I don’t support this endless war. But I’m getting off topic.

I was in tenth grade on September 11, 2001, and just before ten in the morning I had to be at history class. Our school was very overcrowded so my class was in a trailer near the bus loop. My previous class was right inside, so I was always one of the first people to arrive. When I opened the door Mr. Harrison had the TV on. I thought we were watching some war film, because I saw the buildings and the smoke.

“What’s this?” I asked.

He didn’t stop looking at the TV. “It’s the news. Someone’s flown a plane into the World Trade Center.”

I couldn’t speak. I was born and raised in Upstate New York until I was thirteen years old. I’d been to New York City several times, and remembered the buildings. I sank into my seat. I could not picture, I could not fathom a plane flying into the buildings. The rest of the class filed in, and we all watched, dumbfounded, as the South Tower collapsed on itself and crumbled away.

We were numb. We didn’t talk. Normally when we watched a movie in class the kids took advantage of the teacher’s distraction and talked to each other, or passed notes. I liked history, but even I wasn’t above writing my book during class if it was a slow day.

But we couldn’t. We just watched the news, the endless loop the stations were playing of the planes flying into the buildings, the buildings crashing, the news about the pentagon. I wasn’t thinking about the irony of seeing something like this in history class. I wasn’t thinking that I was literally living through a momentous moment in history. I wasn’t thinking about the eventual backlash the Muslim community would receive when the news broke that it was al-Qaeda terrorists. We just watched and waited, holding our breath to see what would happen next.

For people who were born after this time, who grew up hearing references about 9/11, I can’t express to you the feeling of utter loss, of innocence gone. We were soft and assured in our Americanness that wars happened, but they didn’t happen here. There was strife and poverty, and guns blazing in the streets, but that all happened far away from here. This was America after all.

By next period, the school had instructed teachers to turn off their TVs, but that didn’t stop the kids from panicking and worrying. This was before four year olds had cellphones, so it wasn’t like we were all calling or texting our parents to find out what was up. To make matters worse, Delta had a major hub in Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, and a good chunk of students had family members working for the airlines. Kids were frantically trying to figure out if loved ones were affected or hurt by the airline breech, let alone kids with families in New York City.

This was two years after Columbine, so the school went right to lock down. We sat and waited, while teachers vainly attempted to resume classes, as if anyone would be able to pay attention that day. We went home, and assessed the damage. Living in Georgia, most of our tragedies was the shared tragedy of the nation. Little by little, the stories came out, about the heroics on the airplanes, about people who were supposed to be in the World Trade Center but weren’t or vice versa. We started tallying up all that we had lost.

We’re still counting that cost.

Every year there’s an outpouring of remembering, and it’s more than I can handle. It’s just too much, the grief is tangling up with my frustration over how events are still playing out, the war that keeps going, the people that keep dying, using such a horrible thing as justification to increase the invasion of our privacy. It seems like there’s no way to just express grief over a tragedy without it turning into a nightmare political debate about the ends justifying the means.

So today I choose the honor the dead, and the people who’ve suffered under the banner of “freedom”, but away from Facebook and other avenues where nuance is a lost cause.

Slinger Saga by Matt Wallace Review

The SLINGERS SAGA by Matt Wallace is a story set in the distant future about gladiators who battle to the death over a live wormhole for the amusement of the world, and uncover a dark conspiracy behind the scenes of the arena.

For those of you pressed for time, and want to get to the point of this review, here it is: SLINGERS by Matt Wallace is one of the best additions to science fiction in the history of the genre. It will rock not only your socks, but also your face, completely off. Go read the first chapter for free, and then buy it off of Matt Wallace’s website directly, or here’s the link to Amazon.

For those of you with more time on your hands, here’s the rest of the review:

I am notoriously picky when it comes to science fiction. I enjoy a great many of it’s sub-genres (hello, post apocalypse and cyberpunk, you’re looking well this evening), but most hard science fiction does nothing for me as a reader. I like to think about society and people and other Deep Thoughts, but most hard science fiction misses the mark in favor of complex scientific jargon at the expense of plot and characters. I enjoy reading about wormholes and spaceships as much as the next person, but that’s not the only reason why I read science fiction.

So I’m picky. I love science fiction, but prefer a blend of character drama and oh cool science stuff, like the early seasons of Battlestar Galactica and Babylon Five.

I found Matt Wallace through Chuck Wendig’s blog at terribleminds (which is hilarious and awesome if you’ve never stumbled across him before). He linked to one of Matt’s posts, and I started to follow him on Twitter because he says funny/clever things. When he tweeted about his new book series, I checked it out and put it on my wish list. Again, it’s science fiction and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. A week later he gave away the first episode for free, and I snatched it up, figuring this was a no-lose situation. I read it a few days later, and I was immediately hooked.

Since reading the first installment, I have jonesed for the latest installment like a crack addict joneses for…well, crack. I’ve gone as far as gently (hopefully) pestering Matt Wallace on Twitter to see when the next episode would be released.

I don’t usually get this excited over a book. I like a lot of books, but there’s very few that I absolutely love, especially the older I get. I’ve been reading voraciously since I was very young; one year in middle school I read the entire library starting from A and working my way to Z. That high I get after reading an amazing book comes less frequently, because as a writer, I can’t help but think about what I wish happened differently.

It’s not usually major problems (if I really don’t like the book I’ll stop reading it. I don’t have time to waste on books I’m not enjoying), but minor details. I wish the magic system was better explained; I wish the main character wasn’t such a chauvinistic pig; I wish the action scenes were better explained; I wish the writing was a little better. Nothing major, but after a while these things add up, and the end feeling is like, not love.

I started to read Slingers and the entire world disappeared. For a little while I was in another place, another time, and nothing made me leave that world until it ended. Everything was perfect. The style in which it’s written is perfect. The bardic voice gives you the POV of most of the characters without ever once sacrificing intimacy of character. It’s even played for laughs a few times, and that deft wit is very hard to do. Matt Wallace is a very talented writer on top of being a great storyteller. The story itself is gripping, moving from exhilaration and heartbreak, and each episode feels complete. I love the characters, and I love how Wallace makes you fall in love with them, and then he breaks your heart by letting them mess up or even die. It’s the very best sort of entertainment, where you get to vicariously live inside someone’s head and feel their joy and pain as your own.

I’ve read several novella series trying to prepare for my own, and most of them leave me wanting. It’s like the authors are holding something back because they know there’s going to be another episode coming up, but SLINGERS never left me feeling like it was just filler. At the end of every episode I desperately wanted to read the next one right then and there.

Wallace held a really cool question and answer session that you can read here. Readers got to submit questions and he answered them, picking his favorites for prizes. I submitted some questions, and was shocked and overjoyed when I got the first prize of having my name in the last volume. It’s not every day you get to step inside your fandom, and I’m still walking on clouds at the thought. Given the body count so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if the character named after me dies a bloody and glorious death.  

This is where I reveal my selfish motives for reviewing this series. If I tell more people about this series, and they discover a new book they love, more people will buy the books. Then Wallace gets to keep writing SLINGERS books, and I get to keep going back to the deadway, living moments of glory above a live wormhole in front of a crowd of billions.

So if this series sounds vaguely interesting to you, go read the first chapter. You can download the first and second episode at an incredible deal for 2 dollars if you download directly from Matt, or you can download the first episode from Amazon for a dollar.

People bandy about the .99 price point saying it’s less than a cup of coffee, and that’s true. But reading takes precious time out of your day; the time I’ve spent reading these books was worth way more than what Matt’s charging for them.

Rating:

I haven’t gone into depth yet about my particular review policy, but basically, I’m not a book blogger and I’m not going to review books I didn’t like. I’m not out to nit-pick every book I read, since a lot of that stuff is subjective anyway.

I just want to talk about books I really love in hopes that maybe some of you will find a wonderful new book, because there’s no better feeling in the world. So there’s no rating system here, but if there were, I’d give SLINGERS Eleventy Billion Slinger stars.

My Website

It's been a long time coming, guys, but I finally have the bare bones of my website up.

I'm not going to stop posting here until I've got it more fleshed out, and for a while I will cross-post to make sure you see the updates. I've got some really exciting interviews lined up, some wonderful news, and book reviews galore. There is so much awesome to come I can hardly stand it. Currently I'm working on getting the email sign up stuff taken care of, but it's been a little more annoying than I suspected. I think I have it all in place, so if you want to sign up for updates and freebies, it's there.

Here's the link: http://elizabethjpoole.com/

Bookmark the page, sign up for the email list, do whatever you'd like to stay in touch. The biggest reason why it took me so long to switch was I didn't want to loose you guys, but I need to be able to do things with my website that Blogger won't do. So it's time for a change, but I will still be here, posting and letting you know about all the wonderful stuff to come. 

Interview with Stephen Blackmoore

Hi everyone! Today we welcome Stephen Blackmoore to the blog today, to talk about writing, zombies, and his latest book, BROKEN SOULS. BROKEN SOULS, the sequel to one of my all time favorite books, DEAD THINGS, released to a store, virtual or brick, near you yesterday. Blackmoore's also written some other amazing books. You really can't go wrong. Check it out on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and other places of your choosing. 

Without further ado, I give you the interview!  

Describe yourself in one tweet:

I AM SPARTACUS! If Spartacus were a slightly doughy, over 40 writer who walks into walls a lot.

Where did you get the idea for DEAD THINGS, the first book in the series? 

It really came from a couple of things. I had a snippet of dialog I wrote years ago about a guy infested by ghosts. I sat on it for a long time and nothing came of it. Years later I was going through a folder on my hard drive and ran into it and I had just rewatched MEMENTO with Guy Pearce. The two of those came together in my head and that's where the character of Eric Carter came from. From there I re-read a piece from my novel CITY OF THE LOST, which is a stand-alone that takes place in the same world before DEAD THINGS occurs that cemented the whole thing for me and things sort of unfolded from there. 

On a scale of one to ten, with one being the sound of soft rain on your windshield, and ten being cage match with an angry grizzly bear covered in bees, how difficult was it for you to write the sequel?

Mmm. Six-ish? I knew pretty much what I wanted to do with it after I wrote DEAD THINGS. The trick for me was figuring out how much to call back to DEAD THINGS in BROKEN SOULS. It drives me nuts when I accidentally pick up a book later in a series and realize too late that I haven't read the first one and then I'm lost. If there's enough detail in it to let me move forward it's fine, but if there isn't and I can't figure out what's going on it drive me nuts.  

So I wanted to make sure I had enough to let a reader get into the story quickly without having to depend too much on having read DEAD THINGS. No idea if I pulled it off, of course. Guess we'll see.

For anyone out there about to write a sequel, do you have any advice?

Reread your previous book. I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but it can really help a lot.

There were quite a few times while writing BROKEN SOULS where I got stuck and found the solution was something I had already laid the groundwork for in DEAD THINGS. In fact there are some things I found that I set up in CITY OF THE LOST. Going through those can not only help solve problems but it can also help you keep from screwing yourself. I had a scene in BROKEN SOULS at one point that I got quite a ways through and realized almost too late that if I kept going it would contradict something I had said in DEAD THINGS. 

I know some people who swear by a series bible, and I think that's useful, but it won't help solve all of those problems. 

This is actually a brilliant idea. A series bible helps, but there's lots of little things you throw out into a novel that can sometimes trip you up. 

What is your favorite paragraph in BROKEN SOULS? 

That's a tough one. I don't know that there's a single paragraph, but I do have a favorite scene. I don't want to spoil things, but there's a scene at the La Brea Tar Pits where Eric finally gets the truth of what's going on and it really screws with his head. I particularly enjoyed writing that one.

One of my favorite things about the series is the wonderful gritty L.A. vibe. I started reading DEAD THINGS expecting the neutral urban fantasy setting, but was quickly blown away at how you mashed up horror and noir. Was this intentional at all? Did you go into the book wanting to write something different, or did it come out organically as you were writing the story?

It was intentional.  Noir and horror are pretty closely related, I think and I wanted to write something that really brought in Los Angeles as a setting. I really didn't want this to be a generic UF, but still wanted to play with the tropes. As much as I knew how I tried to tilt them all to one side to, hopefully, keep them interesting and put a different spin on them.

It makes me really happy, for some reason, to hear it was intentional. I love urban fantasy as a genre, but the settings can be generic, and setting to me is very important. DEAD THINGS really did take the standard tropes and twist them on the head, so the stuff I love about the genre is there, but still felt fresh and new.

Your main character, Eric Carter, is a necromancer. I’ve read tons of books about death magic that gloss over what someone with those sorts of powers would actually experience. Which is why when I read DEAD THINGS, and saw how you focused on Eric’s grief and isolation, I was pumping my fist into the air shouting, “Yessss!”. Was it hard to write from this perspective? 

It was easy in that I think I understand the character well enough to be able to express how he's feeling, which isn't always a straightforward thing, but hard in that, well, writing about grief is always hard. We don't like to look at it and it's certainly brought up some things for me that I wasn't expecting.

I think as a character Carter's not done grieving, particularly because so much of what's gone wrong for him is his own fault. That's something I hope to explore more in the next book. I see him as having a perspective on death that actually makes it harder for him to grieve. He's constantly surrounded by reminders of what's on the other side and it isn't pretty. Every day he sees tragedy after tragedy and he never gets a break from it. It wears on him. 

One of the things about grief, and we've all run into this at some point in our lives, is that it requires a certain amount of stillness. You have to be able to think about it and face it. And Carter doesn't get that chance. 

That is a wonderful point, and one that I hadn't considered yet. *makes notes* And there is something wonderfully awful reading about a character making bad decisions and then trying to climb out of that mess by making worse decisions.

What does your typical writing schedule look like?

Weekends and evenings.  I have a full time day job and so I have to wedge writing in wherever I can. It's easy to get overextended and I'm running into that right now, actually.

While writing, what do you struggle with the most? 

Time more than anything. Even full time writers struggle with this, so I'm nobody special. And I don't know that having more time would necessarily help. I'd probably just piss it away on videogames. 

Is there any one book or author you feel inspires you the most?

I think there's a group of writers who really do that for me. Chuck Wendig, Kevin Hearne, Jaye Wells, Karina Cooper, Richard Kadrey, Tobias Buckell, Kat Richardson, and that's just who I can think of right off the top of my head. For some of them it's their prose, some of them it's their plotting, all of them it's their work ethic. I feel like a slacker next to these people.

If someone asked me to make a list of my favorite authors, that would be a good start to that list.

Is there a third book in the series planned? Please say yes. 

There is! I'm working on it now, actually. I'm playing with about half a dozen different titles at the moment, so I'm not sure which one's going to stick. After that, who knows? Hopefully my publisher will want more books. I have at least two more planned and would love to keep writing them.

You hear that? Everyone go out and buy ten copies each so he gets a contract for more books. 

You’re rather hilarious on Twitter with your fake horoscopes. How do you divine such wisdom? Pig’s blood? Aeromancy?

I dance naked in the moonlight and am showered by divine wisdom. That may actually just be the sprinklers in the backyard.

And most importantly, during the inevitable zombie apocalypse, what is your survival plan?

Who says I'm going to survive? If we're being swarmed by the undead I'm switching sides.

Or Plan B, since I plan on learning the ancient art of necromancy, is I'll keep you as a pet zombie writer. Mwhahaha!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Interview with Delilah S. Dawson

Hi everyone! I'm really excited to welcome Delilah to my website to talk about her newest release, SERVANTS OF THE STORM. Ever since I read the blurb and saw the cover for this book, I've been excited to get my hands on this book. I'm already halfway through it, and it's so so so so so so good.

You can buy it at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and other book stores of your choosing.
Without further ado, here's Delilah.

*Edited to add: I am so sorry this didn't post first thing this morning like I had it scheduled. I have no idea what went wrong, and I didn't get to my computer until just now because basically everything from leaky faucets to toddlers refusing to nap happened today.

Describe yourself in one tweet: 

Author, geek, centaur. Takes writing srsly. Does not take self srsly. Likes cake & boots. Corybantic, fierce, introverted. Butt= won't quit.

What is your favorite paragraph in SERVANTS OF THE STORM? 

Honestly? I have no idea. I gave away my last ARC and am waiting for my author copies to be delivered. ;) I really love the creepy dream scene, which was the first scene I wrote in the book.

Where did the idea for SERVANTS OF THE STORM come from? 

This: http://www.lovethesepics.com/2011/05/creepy-crusty-crumbling-illegal-tour-of-abandoned-six-flags-new-orleans-75-pics/ I saw these pics of Six Flags New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and had to write about it. Dovey herself came from an ad flier from Ulta. Add in my husband's stories about growing up in Savannah plus demons, and you've got it.

SERVANTS OF THE STORM has a dark tone to it—demons, dead best friends, hurricanes—than even your Blud series, which has an occasional satisfying dark bent to it. Was it difficult to separate yourself from the grief and loss (I assume) Dovey feels? How did you juggle writing an emotionally heavy book with real life? 

Experience. ;) I had an emotionally rough childhood and learned to lock those memories up and focus on the good parts. I also have a very dark playlist that I used every time I was writing or editing Servants, and I conditioned myself to be in that world when I heard the music. Once the music was off, the darkness lifted. Of course, now, when I hear Saturnalia by The Gutter Twins, I immediately feel precarious and vulnerable and bleak.

I have since listening to this entire album and guys, it's moody dark goodness.
Did you do anything different to prepare for writing a YA Southern Gothic (read certain books, watch certain movies) since your other books are romance/steampunk? 

I write whatever idea obsesses me and completely immerse myself in that world. I did take a few research trips, including visits to Savannah cemeteries and some great horse-drawn carriage tours with my brother-in-law, The Dread Pirate Robert. I don't actually use movies to help me get into book worlds, although I do watch Pride and Prejudice a lot when writing Blud and Firefly when trying to make characters more complex.

Do you have any tips for people writing Southern Gothic/Gothic horror? 

If you're not intimately familiar with the setting, go there and *feel* it. I originally wanted to write about New Orleans and Katrina, but I'd never been to New Orleans and didn't want to dishonor anyone who'd lived through a real hurricane. So I moved the story to Savannah, where my husband is from, and mined him (and our visits there) for setting details. The alley where Dovey takes her trash is the alley behind the house where he grew up. Paper Moon Cafe was a real coffee shop that my husband took me to in the 90s. The smell and feel of Savannah, the way the heat sits on you and the trees go skeletal with moss like a scarf-- that's very real, and you can't write those details unless you've experienced them. Picking a dark place like Savannah helps. :)

Did you find it difficult to get into that creepy, atmospheric mind set while writing or did it come naturally? 

Very naturally. I'm a creepy girl, and Savannah is a creepy place. I feel quite at home in cemeteries.

I’ve read that you enjoy reading horror, one of my favorite genres. Any horror recommendations? 

I need to read current horror books more widely, but I started reading Stephen King when I was 11 or so, and it influenced me heavily. I did blurb ASK ME by Kimberly Pauley, which is a fun YA that has forever scared me away from Florida forests. And I recently bought ROT AND RUIN by Jonathan Maberry, so I need to get on that.

I know you occasionally post your Spotify playlist for your novels. Are there any specific bands or songs that you feel encompasses SERVANTS best? 

There is a playlist for SERVANTS, but the core of it is the Saturnalia album by The Gutter Twins. I have never listened to music so bleak and dark and powerful. It feels like walls crumbling, to me.

(Whenever I hear Florence and the Machine’s What the Water Gave Me, I get the same sort of feels the cover for SERVANTS OF THE STORM gives me: drowning, watery graves, swampy isolation, unquiet spirits.) 

Aw, yay! That's so cool! I need to listen...

You are extremely good at world building, both in creating worlds and rendering them without going too short or too long. Did you read books on world building, or was it all trial and error? If you were to give aspiring writers three pieces of advice for efficient world building, what would it be? 

I've always been an avid reader, and world building came relatively naturally to me. My first books were actually flawed in that the worlds were rich and specific, while the characters were flat and almost cardboard cut-outs. I teach a class on world building for LitReactor (http://litreactor.com/classes/become-a-god-with-delilah-s-dawson) that includes lots of tips and a first chapter critique. But if I had to choose only three pieces of advice, I would say:
1. Your world must be internally consistent, which means environment must gel with religion, science, society. It has to make sense.
2. Your world must challenge your characters; it can't be too easy.
3. Maximize details to draw your world in text instead of purple prose. When I see a big paragraph that starts with, "The hills were…" I tune out. If you're bored writing or reading it, your readers will be bored. 
 
(Delilah also teaches a kick-ass class on world building here, if you want to find out more) 

Ha! Thanks!

When you have a new idea, is there a certain process you use to tease the idea into a novel, or do you just let it simmer until you feel like you have enough to start writing?

I don't start writing until I know the world and main character, the beginning of the story, the instigating factor that changes things, the climax, and the ending. So when I have an idea, I write it down in my notebook and cogitate on it. If it obsesses me, I start building a playlist. Once I have all those things and can't wait a single second longer, that's when I start writing.

I think most beginners start writing before they know enough about their character and world, and that's how you end up with a first chapter that's a solid info dump, where the character wakes up, looks in a mirror to describe their physicality, meditates on what's wrong with their life, stares out the window and describes what they see, etc. Your story should have plot from page one, and that plot should raise questions that draw the reader along.

What does your typical writing schedule look like? 

First draft = manic, sleepless, write as fast as possible, straight through. Edits = driven, grouchy, eats trash, stays up late. Line edits = studious, thoughtful, measured. Basically, when I'm obsessed, I'm obsessed. I have two small children and a husband who works at home, so I write whenever I can.

While writing, what do you struggle with the most? 

Honestly, I struggle more with promo than writing. Writing is my escape, and I tend to ignore real life in favor of immersing myself in the next shiny.

Is there any one book or author you feel inspires you the most? 

Stephen King's ON WRITING was the book that took me from "I'd like to write a book" to I CAN DO THIS. The way that he tears down his own first and second draft to smooth out the prose is fascinating. It was my game changer.

I was super-duper over the moon excited to see you announce a fourth Blud book. Can you give us any details about that or would you have to kill us?

Look at the last paragraph of Wicked as They Come and extrapolate. ;) Loooooots of Criminy. And thanks! I can't wait to write it!

More Criminy! I am over the moon with joy!

And most importantly, during the inevitable zombie apocalypse, what is your survival plan?

Find the nearest drugstore and stockpile all the Synthroid. I have thyroid disease and am more worried about that than hordes of undead.

Thanks so much for having me!

Thanks for coming and chatting with us, Delilah! I'm going back to reading SERVANTS OF THE STORM.