tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42826128664716822372024-02-18T21:23:03.438-07:00Robin AmbroseAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.comBlogger333125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-40141439396372770402016-06-20T11:20:00.001-06:002016-06-20T11:20:33.997-06:00*Waves*In January of this year, I started up my very own law firm, practicing Family Law, Estate Planning and Criminal Law in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area.<br />
<br />
In a few months, I hope to find a better balance between Law and Writing... but for now, Law is being a cruel, grabby mistress. If only the kids didn't insist on eating three times a day....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-7108179389343572862015-05-04T10:40:00.001-06:002015-05-04T10:40:30.638-06:00On FailureI was going to write 50,000 words during April for Camp NaNoWriMo. I was going to finish my current WIP ahead of LDStorymakers, now less than 2 weeks away. I was going to work more at my freelance writing job. I was going to exercise daily and eat fewer calories. I was going to do a lot of things.<br />
<br />
Instead... I didn't. I wrote NO fiction. I increased my freelance hours by a mere fraction of what was possible. I <i>gained </i>weight - and it's not muscle.<br />
<br />
Part of my failure is because I had to shift priorities, part of it is because of my continuing addiction to social media (curse my interesting friends saying interesting things!), and part of it is because, well, I got bored with my WIP's plot, and didn't much care what happened next.<br />
<br />
I have great excuses, like being a mother, having a traveling husband, trying to jump-start a new career in mediation, and all sorts of other stuff....<br />
<br />
But I wrote more words on Facebook last month than I did in my WIP.<br />
<br />
I ate third helpings at dinner even when I was full. And then ate a full helping of dessert. I didn't exercise as often or as hard as I could have, preferring to hurry up to my office to web-surf.<br />
<br />
But here's the thing about failure: I don't HAVE to do it today, just because I did it yesterday. Just because I spent the last hour on pointless surfing, I don't have to spend the next three hours on the same thing. My day might be shorter, now, than it should be, but I can still accomplish more than nothing. More than I accomplished Thursday and Friday last week.<br />
<br />
Besides, I've finally figured out why I was bored and, though I'll have to rewrite about 5 chapters, my book will be better.<br />
<br />
Now if I can ignore that shiny blue F.... Hey! Did you know it's possible to CLOSE the Facebook tag on your browser? So weird.<br />
<br />
How do you overcome your own failures?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-3539120099529423742015-04-17T08:49:00.001-06:002015-04-17T08:49:11.560-06:00Roots of KnowledgeLast week, I had the chance to visit <a href="http://holdmanstudios.com/" target="_blank">Holdman Studios</a> at Thanksgiving Point, where my friend DawnRay Ammon works. If you're ever near there, I highly recommend a visit: The glass they work there is so gorgeous!<br />
<br />
Holdman is a glassworking studio that provides the stained glass for many of the world's LDS temples, as well as for other religions. I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the temple glass, but it was amazing to see it all come together, from sketches to individual pieces of glass, to the finished windows.<br />
<br />
Holdman is working on a huge project for Utah Valley University right now called <a href="http://holdmanstudios.com/roots-of-knowledge" target="_blank">Roots of Knowledge</a>. It's a truly epic project that promises to be a major attraction in the UVU library.<br />
<br />
I did get to take pictures of the Roots of Knowledge project. This is one of the windows currently being assembled:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvCBLPMQbWcNdSbXRfoUGEMLOiz8TFGgRPgXnNgKUmLH5ApN6Xr1qA_1ZRpVb3qXqJgrIku5QmQ8AEI7Gk_zstN12_lr8-GzSZu56tqoN67d02kSY1mZMdCh1DijkHzZHeI_xfGUNw1yn/s1600/2015-04-09+12.14.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvCBLPMQbWcNdSbXRfoUGEMLOiz8TFGgRPgXnNgKUmLH5ApN6Xr1qA_1ZRpVb3qXqJgrIku5QmQ8AEI7Gk_zstN12_lr8-GzSZu56tqoN67d02kSY1mZMdCh1DijkHzZHeI_xfGUNw1yn/s1600/2015-04-09+12.14.58.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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DawnRay sent me more pictures, too. This sequence shows the assembly of the Adam and Eve window:<br />
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What I didn't know (but should have guessed) is that the detail in the glass is painted onto the individual pieces. They're still assembled like puzzle pieces, but the shading on the rocks and the faces and other detail on Adam and Eve is accomplished by painting the glass before refiring it. Several layers are usually needed to get all the right colors, and they have to be done in a specific order, since some colors are more durable than others, and will survive the repeated firing while still maintaining their hues.<br />
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<br />
The point of the Roots of Knowledge project is to tell the Story of Man from the creation of the world. This will be the first time it is told with art glass, and Holdman Studios is doing an amazing job.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="283.5" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2rf0_pjvqXY" width="504"></iframe><br />
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Whether you're a storyteller in search of plot bunnies, a lover of stained glass, or just someone who loves learning stuff, this series of windows will be amazing. Please consider donating to help bring the project to life.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-85781872401240844292015-04-10T11:38:00.000-06:002015-04-10T11:38:17.859-06:00"No Award" and How to Parent Unruly Children<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Old news in the 2015 Hugo Awards debacle is that those who hate
the Sad Puppies - not the works on the slate, mind you, but the very idea of
public slates, the proponents of the slate, those who agree with the proponents
of the slate, and, by extension, every author named on the slate - are lobbying
that everyone who hates what they hate should vote "No Award" in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>every<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>category dominated by the slate,
regardless of whether they like any of the works nominated. This, they seem to
think, will prove to the Sad Puppies that they cannot continue to present
slates for mass voting. (Hmph.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">In response, a contingent of SP
supporters, led by nobody-likes-him-and-he-doesn't-care Vox Day, are promising
that if the 2015 Hugos are No Awarded out of existence, they'll do the same in
2016. And in 2017. And will continue to do so until everyone stops being mean,
shares their toys, and admits that the other side is right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Did you get confused, in that last
sentence, and wonder which side I was talking about? Me, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Since we're already
confused, let's talk about my sons for a minute, huh?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I have three sons, all spaced two years
apart. By the end of the summer, they'll be 14, 12, and 10. In
true brotherly fashion, the 14 year old likes to tell the others what to do,
and they HATE that. They respond by telling HIM what to do. He persists in
asserting his older-than-thou superiority and they strike back with
name-calling, pseudo-ugly gestures ("That wasn't my middle finger,
mom!"), and general button-pushing. He grows frustrated at being ganged up
on and allows his temper to get the best of him. Physical threats follow.
And are returned. Actual physical violence often ensues. And ends with three
angry, crying boys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Ever since the start of this
on-again-off-again war, a few years ago, I've sat down with each of them as the
dust settled, and tried to impress upon each what HE could have done to avoid
the most recent skirmish. I was universally assured that there was absolutely
NOTHING he could have done, as the fault lay entirely with his brother(s). Each
would insist that I immediately go talk to his terrible, horrible, no good,
very bad brother, and convince him to change his behavior to better comport
with the preferences of the one I was conversing with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">No one, you see, was ever responsible for
his own actions, as they were always the natural result of his<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>brother's<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>actions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I have pointed out countless times that
they all have ample instances of actual bad things their brothers have done to
them in the past. These bad actions can serve forever as justification for
whatever retaliation they want to inflict upon said brothers. And their
retaliation will be added to their brothers' lists of wrongs, fueling their own
righteous indignation... and so on and on until my boys are the next Hatfields
and McCoys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Unless.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Someone</i>.
Starts. Forgiving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">In desperation, I started selecting family
scriptures to memorize. One of the earliest was this, from Proverbs:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYaCxIF8tHWkFhX7qjtY0319NJl1N6t9DtpZ-Odo9sshQWWGvWtHLDSYpqmkgWacCbY98TJVX40v8S6Je-0_fa4Da__EB7pXEf9VNmUPf5ASOiyiI7BsRs_cIiaWhO_uuTqMDhOC-q5_E/s1600/Yoda+slow+to+anger+meme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYaCxIF8tHWkFhX7qjtY0319NJl1N6t9DtpZ-Odo9sshQWWGvWtHLDSYpqmkgWacCbY98TJVX40v8S6Je-0_fa4Da__EB7pXEf9VNmUPf5ASOiyiI7BsRs_cIiaWhO_uuTqMDhOC-q5_E/s1600/Yoda+slow+to+anger+meme.jpg" height="241" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Be like Yoda. He can control himself AND take a city.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Then came the hard part: I had to actually
stop getting angry, myself.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Screaming at the boys when they were in
the middle of a scream-fest only made things worse, I slowly realized. Throwing
my own temper-tantrum might have momentarily halted their conflict a time or
two, but it contributed to the general idea that yelling was a great, effective
way to solve a conflict. Striking them or throwing things only taught them that
striking and throwing things was an okay way to react to stress.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">THEIR bad behavior was a direct outgrowth
of MY bad behavior. Once I changed my behavior, we started to see a lot more
peace at home. My more calm and measured responses to their disagreements help
to diffuse the conflict instead of adding fuel. The boys still get into it on
occasion, but I can see them actually trying to choose better reactions to
their brothers' bad behaviors. It's awesome to watch, even when they fall
short of actual harmony.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Which brings me back to the
Hugos.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I've had fun watching the sides duke it
out, but my fun was tainted this morning when someone on the side I agreed most
with started name-calling, cursing, and offering actual physical violence to
someone who disagreed with him in a comment thread.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">That.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Won't.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Fix.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Can we talk for a moment about how we want
this to end? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Do we want to lay waste to all SFF fandom
awards? To divide into politically-polarized sides? To someday find that we
can't tell our closest friends that we enjoyed a book by a liberal or a
conservative author lest we reveal that we've crossed some line in the sand? Do
we want to have separate awards, which will be universally derided by half of
the fans of the genre as not "legitimate?" How about separate cons,
where liberals and conservatives will never have to mingle with each other and
so can avoid the actual physical shoving that is coming (and fast)? Should we
rename SFF to LibSFF and ConSFF? Lobby book stores to designate separate
shelves lest we accidentally like a book whose author we dislike?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Or, we can start to forgive each other for
the stupid, mean, rotten things we've all done/said/written. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">We can, a few years from now, find
ourselves in a real fandom award show, inwardly hissing for the winning works we
didn't like and cheering the winning works we did like while knowing that, at
least, we'd had a fair chance to see the award go to the books we liked.
Resolving to rally more voters for next year. Blogging afterward about why we
did or didn't like the results without once mentioning the personal politics of
the authors, except when those politics reflected themselves in their works.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Folks, this is more than the Golden Rule,
though that's a great place to start. If YOU don't like a No Award nuclear option,
REFUSE to give it legitimacy by threatening to use it yourself. If YOU don't
like the nasty conflict in fandom, REFUSE to give it legitimacy by
participating nastily. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">If you want everyone to be reasonable, YOU
must be reasonable. Usually, you have to do it FIRST.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">In any fight - especially those that are
recorded forever online and can be reviewed years later by heads free of the
adrenaline rush of conflict engaged - the actual winner isn't the one who
scores the most points. The winner is whichever side is most gracious. Most
reasonable. Most clear-headed. The side which controls its anger, rules its
spirit, and doesn't try to take someone else's city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I wanna be on<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Now, since I can't resist,
some specific advice:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">If you're part of those who don't like how
the Hugos are going this year, you have some options short of blowing them up
completely. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">1) You can do as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/please-stop-with-the-death-threats-and-the-hate-mail/" target="_blank">Mary Robinette Kowal is doing</a>, actually review all the
works on the ballot, and vote for the ones you like the best, ensuring that, at
the very least, the most worthy nominees win. You can follow that up by
rallying behind your favorite works in next year's nomination process, convince
your friends and family to do the same, and get your favorites nominated by
sheer force of votes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">OR, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">2) You can seek to have WorldCon change
how the Hugos are awarded and appoint a contingent of "approved"
judges, who will henceforth choose the nominees, review all nominated works,
and decide on the winners. Careful with this one, though: You can't guarantee
that you'll agree with every judge, and you will lose your individual vote.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">What you can't do, of course, is claim
that the award represents the voice of all fandom while silencing the fans you
don't like. That's got some definitional problems: Either you want everyone to
vote or you can't call it everyone's vote. Choose wisely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">If you're part of those who are currently
celebrating, keep this in mind:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">1) Gracious winners are more important
than gracious losers. Sore losers at least have some excuse in the emotion of
severe disappointment. Some temper-tantrum throwing is normal, if not quite the
"adult" thing to do. The sore winner, however, who is too busy
trash-talking to smile graciously and shake his opponent's hand... well, that's
a special kind of stuck-up, isn't it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">2) Nothing is more maddening to those who
act badly than to receive only kindness in return. Kindness isn't being a
door-mat, and it isn't being a victim. Only the truly superior can muster true
kindness. Only those who can love their enemies – the ultimate sign of superiority
– can see those enemies for all their parts (and not just the parts currently
acting badly). If you’ve ever been in a fight with someone who knows you that
well, loves you anyway, and refuses to return insult for insult, you know how
disconcerting it is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">In
conclusion…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Both sides are right. Both sides are
wrong. Let’s stop trying to figure out who is right and who is wrong on which
point and just rejoice that the speculative fiction genre we love has such a
wonderful spectrum of thought, opinion, and creativity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Larry Correia would tell me, now, that I’m
an idealistic fool, and that trying to get people to play nice is useless. He
has years of hard experience to back up that opinion, and parts of it are obviously
correct: There are those on both sides who will always be rabble-rousers who
are hungry for a fight and unsatisfied with a cease-fire. There are those on
both sides who are incapable of logical thought and who are ruled by their
emotions almost entirely. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">But there are also those on both sides who
are weary of the conflict, and who are actively trying to calm it down. Larry,
for all his fire, is not an illogical rabble-rouser: He fights </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">back</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">, and he hits hard, and he has his
agenda, but </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">I've</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> never seen him engage in a conflict for the sake of conflict. Sad
Puppies was begun as a campaign to give voice to thousands of fans who </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">weren't</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> being represented in the “ultimate award of fandom” and I truly believe he’d be satisfied
to see works he </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">didn't</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> like still win Hugos, if only he could be assured that
everyone had a voice in the awards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Mary, too, though she and Larry see
eye-to-eye on very little, is also a friend, and a <a href="http://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/how-to-tell-when-mrk-is-angry/">lovely
voice of reason</a>. She is generous with her knowledge and her talents and has
been publicly trying to calm the flames for days, now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I want to give ammo to <i>the peace-makers</i>, no matter what else we
might disagree on. I want to convince the fence-sitters that an all-out civil
war is not the answer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 18px;">I've</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> been a lawyer for over a decade and a
mother for even longer, and I can promise you this: Conflict without utterly annihilating
the other side resolves nothing. And annihilation is rarely a viable option.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Which side are you on?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-46707201874094096752015-04-09T07:46:00.002-06:002015-04-09T07:46:58.378-06:00Guesting on Writerly PassionHead on over to Nathan Barra's blog to see my guest post on <a href="http://nathanbarra.com/2015/04/writerly-passion/" target="_blank">Writerly Passion</a>.<br />
<br />
I love professional writers who have been able to dedicate their lives to writing. I love their dedication, I love their obvious talent, and I love that they are so free with advice on writing.<br />
<br />
I don't love it when they say that a writing career is so hard, you shouldn't do it if you can do <i>anything</i> else.<br />
<br />
I - all of us - can do anything that's in our hearts that we also put our minds and wills to.<br />
<br />
And wonderful books can come from anyone, even if they excel at other things, too.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-8589589081115512102015-04-07T09:31:00.001-06:002015-04-07T09:42:23.301-06:00Of Hugos, Sad Puppies, and Worthy Blog EntriesOver the last few years, I've been happily diverted on a regular basis by the plight of <a href="http://www.thehugoawards.org/about/" target="_blank">The Hugo Awards</a>. The Hugo awards, for those still in the dark, are self-proclaimed as "science fiction’s most prestigious award" since 1955. And they're awarded by anyone who is interested enough to pay $40 for a membership: "The Hugo Awards are voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention (<a href="http://www.worldcon.org/">“Worldcon”</a>), which is also responsible for administering them."<br />
<br />
Anyone can join. Anyone who joins can vote. Just, well, if you value your right to live a peaceful, unbullied existence, vote RIGHT. Or is that left? Er... vote CORRECTLY.<br />
<br />
Enter <a href="http://monsterhunternation.com/" target="_blank">Larry Correia</a>, a friend of mine and one of the nicest, most accessible and honest people I know. If you manage to refrain from telling him how he should think, calling him nasty names, or claiming that the entertainment he enjoys is unworthy, he's a wonderful guy. Funny, humble (kinda), eager to share his knowledge on how to become a bestselling author. A real decent sort. Husband to an amazing lady and father to several awesome daughters.<br />
<br />
Larry, however, doesn't play well with others when those others want him to conform. He has a loud acerbic potty mouth and he uses it to cry foul in hilarious fashion whenever fouls are thrown.<br />
<br />
Larry and the Hugos are not friends.<br />
<br />
Three years ago, Larry grew tired of the prevalent idea in the Worldcon community that the only Right and True SF/F deserving of awards also conveyed a Message. Or were written by minorities. Yanno, like women, People of Color, non-heterosexuals, and the like. Because white straight men are, naturally, incapable of writing great SF/F. Or something.<br />
<br />
Larry - who, it should be noted, is NOT white - decided to do something about it, and Sad Puppies was born. (Check out <a href="http://monsterhunternation.com/tag/sad-puppies/" target="_blank">Larry's own Sad Puppies blog tag</a> for a more complete history. Just get popcorn and a very comfy chair, first.)<br />
<br />
Sad Puppies set out in tongue-in-cheek fashion to expose the bias of the majority of the Worldcon voters by asserting that the then-current voting norms were "the leading cause of puppy-related sadness." The movement urged followers to get involved in Worldcon by voting for well-written fiction that was more entertaining than preachy. Larry proposed a list of worthy titles, but never once suggested that his followers should limit themselves to his favorites.<br />
<br />
Three years later, the suggested Sad Puppies 3 - The Saddening - slate dominated the nominations. The vocal message-and-minority loving Worldcon members had a complete breakdown. As they've been doing for years, they've attacked Larry personally, calling him a racist and a misogynist. <a href="https://bradrtorgersen.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Brad Torgerson</a> - a white, straight male who only coincidentally has been married to a black woman for the last 21 years - has been helping run the movement this year and got painted with the same brush.<br />
<br />
Possibly worse, the authors of works on the Sad Puppies slate have been maligned, regardless of the quality of their work (more on that, below).<br />
<br />
Last night, <a href="https://archive.today/X2HPi" target="_blank">Entertainment Weekly stepped in it.</a> Big time. In a truly reprehensible bit of "journalistic" laziness, the writer (who I'm not naming because shaming her for her laziness isn't the point, and she's obviously not actually affiliated with either side beyond her 30 second bit of "research" for her article) presented the following headline:<br />
<h1 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #131313; font-family: jaf-bernino-sans-condensed, 'Francois One', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 2.6em; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0.5rem 1em 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-transform: initial;">
Hugo Award nominations fall victim to misogynistic, racist voting campaign</h1>
<br />
<br />
Yeah. The article followed suit, claiming that the Sad Puppies only wanted white males to win... utterly ignoring the presence of women, minorities, and homosexual lead characters in the Sad Puppies slate.<br />
<br />
Larry, no stranger to controversy or to lies being spread about him, took to Twitter and Facebook and quickly disabused Entertainment Weekly. As of this morning, when I finally noticed this delicious bit of fun, the article bears a new headline (Correction: Hugo Awards voting campaign sparks controversy) and has been greatly altered. The following disclaimer appears at the top:<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1.3rem; padding: 0px;">
<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">CORRECTION: After misinterpreting reports in other news publications, EW published an unfair and inaccurate depiction of the Sad Puppies voting slate, which does, in fact, include many women and writers of color. As Sad Puppies’ Brad Torgerson explained to EW, the slate includes both women and non-caucasian writers, including Rajnar Vajra, Larry Correia, Annie Bellet, Kary English, Toni Weisskopf, Ann Sowards, Megan Gray, Sheila Gilbert, Jennifer Brozek, Cedar Sanderson, and Amanda Green.</em></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.3rem; padding: 0px;">
<em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6em;">This story has been updated to more accurately reflect this. EW regrets the error.</em><br />
<br />
Well, of course they regret it. Larry may actually sue one of his libelers this time.<br />
<br />
What I thought was interesting was that even the "corrected" article still links to Philip Sandifer's blog post, calling it "worth reading in full" and explains that Philip's blog "addresses what this disaster means for the sci-fi world."<br />
<br />
Philip's post is entitled <a href="http://www.philipsandifer.com/2015/04/the-day-fandom-ended.html?m=1" target="_blank">The Day Fandom Ended</a>. He spends exactly ZERO time discussing the merits of the nominated works, only detailing the Bad Politics of Vox Day, who fronts a Sad Puppies spin-off entitled Rabid Puppies. He claims that the Hugos are a completely useless award, since books that dare to be liked and promoted by someone with Bad Views have now been nominated. He ends by calling for voters to vote "No Award Given" in every category dominated by the Sad Puppies slate. </div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.3rem; padding: 0px;">
Because, naturally, it is impossible for someone who thinks bad thoughts to like ANYTHING that is good, ergo, NONE of the books on the slate are worthy of the award.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.3rem; padding: 0px;">
I don't know Vox Day, and I have no idea if the Bad Politics Philip describes are actually his views. Given the way he's blowing everything else out of proportion, I rather inclined to visit a salt mine while I read Philip's denunciations.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.3rem; padding: 0px;">
But I can't help but echo Larry's oft repeated position: Even if Vox is a Bad Person... who cares? If the Hugo awards are only supposed to be given to Good People who have Correct Politics and who Never Say Anything Wrong (as defined by the message-and-minority-loving Worldcon folks), why do we even bother reading at all? Why do we talk about quality writing and excellent plot and moving themes? Why list blurbs at all? Why not just have every nominee spell out their pedigree, sexual orientation history, and political views, so we can vote on what's Really Important in the SF/F world?</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.3rem; padding: 0px;">
As apparently awful as Larry's position is, I'm rather solidly behind him (mainly because he's a big guy, and I can hide). Books are good if the content is good. Authors may be bad people, but if they write good books, those books are still good. Content is good if I enjoy reading it, if I learn something from it, AND if it promotes good things.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.3rem; padding: 0px;">
I don't care what my favorite authors' politics are. Do you?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-38173393366290665412015-03-20T09:19:00.003-06:002015-03-20T09:19:51.444-06:00Er... I mean 3000I recalculated with my handy-dandy spreadsheet, and it turns out I actually have to write 3000 words a day to finish my novel by mid-April. <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At my current top speed, that takes a minimum of 2 hours, 30 minutes. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And I need to spend 4 hours per day writing other things, for which I get money for food and stuff. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
And 9 hours being a mother and homemaker (6:30-8:30 am, 3:00-10:00 pm). </div>
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<br /></div>
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And 2 hours being a newlywed (10-midnight). </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
And 8 hours sleeping, or else I'll eventually get sick and nothing else will get done.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
And 2 hours reading or I'll shrivel up and die for lack of creative stimulation.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And 2 hours (here and there) on exercising, eating, getting dressed, etc.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
2.5 + 4 + 9 + 2 + 8 + 2 + 2 = 29.5 hours each day</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyphenhyphenedG7YO3vfCLBIRQLg85jTEAiYrn0xtev1q1WbbvSZ8DrXFY6ESjIZXXehWmCU3AM6a7ve7VTZnNZxDmwHoAXOIH8glwV8YJ0XxnkQvwQWZxZEnIC2BZYEWStjpheIBIL8sgk0NCvI3F/s1600/Calculator+20Mar15+post.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyphenhyphenedG7YO3vfCLBIRQLg85jTEAiYrn0xtev1q1WbbvSZ8DrXFY6ESjIZXXehWmCU3AM6a7ve7VTZnNZxDmwHoAXOIH8glwV8YJ0XxnkQvwQWZxZEnIC2BZYEWStjpheIBIL8sgk0NCvI3F/s1600/Calculator+20Mar15+post.png" height="320" width="232" /></a></div>
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Totally do-able.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-38368713442625685712015-03-13T08:00:00.000-06:002015-03-13T08:00:02.841-06:002000 words a day...So, I have this little self-imposed deadline, where I have to have almost 70,000 words drafted by the middle of next month. In order to do that, I need to write around 2,000 words a day. More, if I want to take Sundays off.<br />
<br />
Most days so far, I haven't accomplished that. Or anywhere close.<br />
<br />
Here's what I've done instead:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Freelance writing (yay money, boo time lost on non-fiction writing)</li>
<li>Volunteer writing and editing (yay service)</li>
<li>Kids and husband (yay human connection)</li>
<li>Housework and meals (usually while watching Netflix--yay inspiration)</li>
<li>Facebook (yay friends)</li>
<li>Shopping, dentist appointments, driving kids to school and/or visitation, etc (yay... uh... living?)</li>
<li>Blogging (yay outlet)</li>
<li>Squirrels! (boo. just boo)</li>
</ul>
<div>
BUT, I've been getting better each day that I've actually sat down and made myself draft. Faster.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thursday morning I drafted almost 1000 words and then spent some time fine-tuning my outline, so future drafting days can go more smoothly.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At my normal top speed (sometimes I can go faster, but not often), I write around 1000 words in an hour. I'm thinking I need to do more 1k1hr sprints, and leave off the break I take if I only write for 30 minutes. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Anyway, to hold myself accountable, I'm going to start posting my word count each week when I blog. This'll be fun, no?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
What do you do to make yourself write faster?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-17320071369174823472015-03-06T08:00:00.000-07:002015-03-06T08:00:06.909-07:00Writing Routine?Nathan Bransford asked about <a href="http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2015/03/whats-your-writing-routine.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NathanBransford+%28Nathan+Bransford%2C+Author%29" target="_blank">writing routines</a> on Wednesday. He described his own routine, which basically consisted of waking up, getting coffee and breakfast, and finally settling down to write.<br />
<br />
That sounded nice.<br />
<br />
My own routine is a bit more complicated, but I'll describe a day that has the maximum writing time, devoid of pesky things like helping out at the elementary school driving for carpools (happens regularly, but not every day) or taking care of church callings.<br />
<br />
6:30 am: Alarm goes off. Spend 30 minutes getting out of bed and getting son and husband out the door with breakfast and lunch.<br />
<br />
7:00 am: Writing time! (Except on Tuesdays, when this is get-middle-son-ready-for-debate time)<br />
<br />
8:00 am: Wake up elementary kids, continue to write in between nagging them to get dressed and eat breakfast, then take them to school by 8:45.<br />
<br />
9:00 am: Breakfast and writing time! And maybe exercise!<br />
<br />
10:00 - 3:00: Writing time. Unless I decide to actually unpack something that day, do laundry, clean the house, go shopping, get gas.... When I do write, it's divided between volunteer service writing, paid writing, and actually writing my novel. I try to get 2000 words of fiction every day. That's happened once so far.<br />
<br />
3:10-3:30: Pick up oldest from carpool, greet elementary kids. Kiss writing goodbye for the day in favor of homework, dinner, family time, and bedtime. I'm honestly perplexed at how I used to get any writing done after working all day.<br />
<br />
That's my best day for writing, folks. Most days aren't like that, though. Lately I've been swamped with helping out at the school, getting my legal name changed (yeah, still), and generally trying to keep my house standing. I really must get better at writing when I only have a 30-minute window to do so, but it's so HARD to get in the zone for 30 minutes. *whine*<br />
<br />
Now ask me when I find time to read. That's the <i>real</i> tragedy.<br />
<br />
How about you? When do you write?<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-42833342545767250372015-02-27T08:00:00.000-07:002015-02-27T08:00:00.893-07:00Consequences, Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?My sons talked me into watching <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4189442/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Expelled </a>this week. It's an hour and a half I'll never get back, so I figured I'd spend more time trying to save everyone else from it.<br />
<br />
The acting was so-so, with a few moments that rang true and just as many that were forced, canned, or relied too much on charm rather than honest emotion. As a Theatre Arts major with a directing emphasis, I blame the director (who is also the writer, which explains SO MUCH). The actors were talented enough that they could have pulled off a terrific movie if someone had been there to say "Um, yeah, that didn't quite work, did it? What, exactly, does your character want in this scene? What is he doing right now to try to get it? How does he feel about what he's doing?" Yanno, the basics.<br />
<br />
But that wasn't the real problem with the movie.<br />
<br />
The real problem was that, from the beginning of the movie to the end of the movie, there was no actual change. No consequences. Nothing got significantly better or worse for anyone, even though several of the characters did Very Bad Things.<br />
<br />
Let me explain. No, is too long: Let me sum up:<br />
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[Spoiler alert. Or whatever.] Prankster Felix pulls one prank too many and is expelled from high school in the first scene. For the rest of the movie, he pulls one felony after another (breaking and entering, hacking, blackmailing, theft, fraud, forgery, etc) all so that his parents won't find out and send him to the same juvenile prison-slash-school his older brother is already attending.<br />
<br />
Along the way, he gets help from his brother who has escaped from the school, hooks up with the beautiful girl who delivers pizza to ex-high school boys during school hours, and discovers that the high school principal is embezzling money from the school fund (what school has $10,000 just sitting around that no one will immediately miss?!!) to support his nightly gambling habit.<br />
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Felix uses this information to... blackmail the principal into letting him back into school and lying to Felix's parents about Felix's grades and general progress in his academic career.<br />
<br />
At the end of the movie, the principal is still the principal (and, we can assume, will now allow Felix to pull whatever prank he wants, whenever he wants, and will give him all A's for his trouble), Felix is back in school (with a 10-second nod to "gonna try harder"), and his brother is back in the juvie facility. OH, and Felix now has a hot girlfriend. So there's that.<br />
<br />
When I complained to my husband about the movie, he naturally brought up Ferris Bueller's Day Off, that classic yarn of teenage invincibility in the face of overbearing adults trying to make the kids Be Good. Overlooking the obviously superior acting, There are several - okay a few - notable differences in the eventual consequences and especially in the overall message.<br />
<br />
First, the Beuller movie is super-duper tongue-in-cheek, with overblown concern for Ferris's "illness" and fantastical escapades that intentionally stretch the limits of credulity. The tone in Expelled seems to want viewers to believe this sort of caper could actually happen - even with an "incredibly light sleeper" mother who slumbers on through ringing phones, creaking windows, and even banging drums.<br />
<br />
Then there are the relatively minor pranks in Beuller compared to the antics in Expelled. Ferris wants to take a day off of school. Felix wants to destroy the rest of his life. Ferris fakes a sickness. Felix fakes a report card. Ferris lies for a day. Felix lies for a week.<br />
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The principal in Beuller is overzealous and crabby, with a mission to catch the trouble-maker Ferris and expose him for his lie. While his quest is commendable by adults everywhere, his personality makes it easy to root against him. This isn't necessarily a good message, but as an antagonist, he works. The principal in Expelled, on the other hand, comes off in several scenes as a stern father trying tough love... but then he loses all credibility and sympathy when he's first revealed to be a gambler and embezzler and then caves to the blackmail. Where the first principal is a kill-joy, the second is a felon. The kill-joy has a truly rotten, slap-stick-pain-filled day. The felon... is frustrated in his plans. Ouch.<br />
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Most notably, there is the classic Beuller scene where Cameron destroys his father's Ferrari, and remarks "I can't hide this." Cameron, at least, will have to face his father and admit what he did. There will be change of one sort or another, though we're not told what it will be. By contrast, Felix... destroys his mother's expensive ceramic bowl to create a distraction. He's forced to help clean it up. Yikes.<br />
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The climax in Beuller requires him to race home before his mother gets there. The climax in Expelled requires Felix to work a quick bit of theft and blackmail before his mother arrives at the school for her meeting with the principal. The race is thrilling. The blackmail is deeply disturbing.<br />
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At the end of the day (which is how long Expelled felt), Ferris Bueller's Day Off promotes light-hearted fun. Expelled promotes doing whatever you want, so long as you keep committing felonies until no one's the wiser.<br />
<br />
So here's a tip for writers everywhere: If your characters don't ever have to face consequences for anything they do... don't bother making them do anything. Like with fantasy magic systems, you don't get to create actions and then skip the equal and opposite reactions. Real life has rules, too... even if you don't get caught.<br />
<br />
So... Ferris Bueller's Day Off is on Netflix right now. Now that my kids have already seen (and enjoyed, dang them) Expelled, how do you think they'll like the original?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-11663790112228436862015-02-20T08:00:00.000-07:002015-02-20T08:00:00.804-07:00Creating One-Dimensional Villains - in real life and in fictionI've been fascinated, lately, by reports of public shaming of one sort or another. Several months ago, <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/style/society/2014/06/monica-lewinsky-humiliation-culture" target="_blank">the Vanity Fair article on Monica Lewinsky</a>....<br />
<br />
Be honest: when you read her name, did you Boo and Hiss? Even a little? Just about <i>everyone</i> does. I sure did. I read it, in large part, because of her infamy, and with a doubtful, gleeful eye toward what she could possibly say to redeem herself. It brought me to tears. Tears for her shame and tears for my shame that I was a tiny, crowd-follower part of it.<br />
<br />
Monica Lewinsky's very name is synonymous with Every Awful Thing. And, of course, we all have Very Good Reasons for this. After all, she had sexual relations with a married man, didn't she? And not just any married man, oh, no: The President of the United States... who managed to come out of their affair relatively unscathed. When you mention Bill Clinton, it's bad form to connect him to That Woman, lest his wife - the possible Future Ms. President - be humiliated by the reference.<br />
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I'm not going to waste a lot of space, here, going on about how completely asinine that imbalance is. I'm not going to expound at length on the relative severity of misconduct in an affair between a young single girl who falls in love with her boss and the married powerful boss who has made promises to love and to cleave and to not sexually or romantically tempt his interns. I'm not going to detail my personal experience that tells me that the other woman is vastly less blameworthy than the oath-breaker husband.<br />
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All of that is irrelevant to the real point: in a few months of public outrage, we as a nation turned a well-rounded, talented young woman with a bright future into a one-dimensional villain. A hiss and a byword and the butt of late-night jokes. We stripped her of the right to have good qualities because her one bad choice was forever going to trump any good quality she might try to muster.<br />
<br />
Shame on us.<br />
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Now there is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=0" target="_blank">a new article about public shaming in the New York Times</a>, and the author has a whole book coming, appropriately entitled <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/So-Youve-Been-Publicly-Shamed-ebook/dp/B00L9B7IRC/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=" target="_blank">So You've Been Publicly Shamed</a> (available for pre-order). In the article (and, presumably, the book, from which the article is excerpted), the author details his experiences with others who were publicly shamed for relatively minor things--like a really bad joke taken out of context and spread throughout the world to the glee of trolls everywhere.<br />
<br />
Last week at <a href="http://ltue.net/" target="_blank">LTUE</a>, I sat on a couple panels where I got to talk about my decade as a Public Defender. One comment I made more than once was that, when you're building a villain, you really must give him good qualities, too. Genuine ones, that any reader would relate to. I've sat across from murderers and rapists and drug dealers and all manner of society-defined Bad People, and there is hardly a one of them I didn't laugh with. Very, very few of them who didn't have family and friends in their corner, ready to stand up and swear in court that this defendant was, actually, a good person, despite the bad thing he'd done. They are fathers who love their children, mothers who will drop everything to help a friend in need, daughters and brothers and the truest of friends to <i>someone</i>.<br />
<br />
And, yet, we as a society want to define everyone by their worst trait and stop the definition there. We don't want to look past that to the goodness that is <i>always</i> present. We bemoan our history of placing scarlet letters on offenders while gleefully slapping digital and rumor-driven red letters everywhere we look.<br />
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It's devastating in real life, and awfully boring in fiction. Mustache-twirling, top-hat wearing, love-to-be-eeeviiil villains are the stuff of melodrama. The kind we got off on in grade school. If we're going to grow up as writers or as a society, we need to be better than that.<br />
<br />
There are some few troll-chased "villains" who are able to fight back, like my friend Larry Correia, who eventually dubbed himself the <a href="http://monsterhunternation.com/2014/04/15/larry-f-correia-international-lord-of-hate/" target="_blank">International Lord of Hate</a> as a hilarious counter-punch to those who called him everything from a racist to a homophobe. Those who, like Larry, are firmly established on their public platforms with thousands of loyal followers are practically immune to public shaming. The shaming and thick-skin-building process may still hurt at first, but these few manage to eventually almost thrive on attempts to shame them.<br />
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Most of us aren't that famous. Most of us don't have hoards of people waiting to build us back up when someone tries to knock us down. Most of us have armies of supporters that are woefully outnumbered when the Society Hive-Mind decides we are Bad People. Most of us wouldn't survive our 15 minutes of infamy if our worst Bad Thing were ever made public.<br />
<br />
Plenty enough lives have been destroyed by tiny black marks multiplied hundreds of thousands of times. We've had enough of the pillories and stocks and scarlet letters that deprive us all of the good that our fellow flawed humans might have done if only we'd let them.<br />
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Plenty enough fictional villains have perpetuated the fallacy that being bad definitionally excludes all goodness. We've had enough mustache-twirling and evil-for-the-sake-of-evil and antagonists that no good person will ever understand.<br />
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Let's grow up, huh? Let's fight badness by empowering "bad" people to slay their own dragons. Let's call off the wasted-earth nuclear air strikes that get launched every time someone makes a hurtful comment. Let's acknowledge that even people who hurt us badly can have qualities that any unbiased person would see as good.<br />
<br />
Why do you think we're so addicted to the culture of shame?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-36246147245767500962015-02-13T08:00:00.000-07:002015-02-13T08:00:01.102-07:00Happy Valentines Day!Tomorrow is my first Valentines Day with my new husband, Nate. We were married in December and are still trying to get used to the married-to-each-other life (it doesn't help that he was traveling for most of the last three weeks).<br />
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So you'd think that I'd be focusing on this love all weekend, right?<br />
<br />
Instead, I'm enjoying myself with my tribe at LTUE. Because he's awesome, Nate will be joining in the fun for a little bit during the weekend... even though, as an introvert, it's not gonna be much fun for him.<br />
<br />
He wins V-Day.<br />
<br />
Now to try to figure out a present that will be half-comparable.<br />
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I love you, Nate!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-7023092519753329672015-02-06T08:00:00.000-07:002015-02-06T08:00:07.075-07:00Life, the Universe, and Everything 2015It's that time again! <a href="http://ltue.net/" target="_blank">Life, the Universe, and Everything</a> is upon us once more next week, February 12th, 13th, and 14th.<br />
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<br />
This year, I'm reprising my role as <a href="http://ltue.net/pitch-or-crit/" target="_blank">Pitch Master</a>, which basically means I get to hang out with the cool kids and boss people around. Because I'm not fond of leaving well-enough alone, I even talked most of them into expanding the format choices to include group sessions. [By which I mean I asked and they enthusiastically said yes.]<br />
<br />
Well, except for Toni Weisskopf, Baen Editor and LTUE's keynote speaker. She's insisting on doing individual outline critiques instead.<br />
<br />
And Peter J. Wacks, editor for Word Fire Press. He's insisting on doing a clinic on how to present a pitch.<br />
<br />
I told them I didn't think we could handle that much awesomeness, but they were persistent.<br />
<br />
In all my spare time, I'll also be on some panels--and I know what you're thinking, here. "What? Why is Robin Ambrose on panels when she hasn't published a lick of SFF? And that's a Very Good Question, with a pretty decent answer: I'm on three panels related to my recently-ended career as a Public Defender:<br />
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<b>Thursday at 5:00 pm: Crime: What to get right? with Michaelbrent Collings, Eric James Stone, Al Carlisle, and Eric Swedin</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Friday at 3:00 pm: Psyhology of a Serial Killer with Al Carlisle (who is the expert)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Saturday at 12:00 noon: Law Enforcement with James Ganiere and Zachary Hill</b><br />
<br />
I bet you didn't even know I was a Public Defender, did you? Well, good. As it should have been. Because confidentiality. But I still know a thing or two about criminals and the criminal legal process, so LTUE is letting me near a microphone. Fun, huh? :D<br />
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I might also be on one or two other panels as a moderator (which means I have some great questions to ask, but no answers), but those are subject to change, so I won't tease you. I'd hate to have you show up and find I'm not there anymore.</div>
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So who will be there?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-76560798107957338222015-01-30T08:00:00.000-07:002015-01-30T08:00:02.019-07:00Ah, FreelancingI'm new at this, so you experienced freelancers out there should bear with me if I'm painfully naive, but I was quite tickled by this "offer" I received for a freelancing job (from a list I subscribed to).<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; font-size: 14px;">I'm seeking a writer for an ebook about an international space expedition that becomes lost in outer space. The series will be a serial (meaning it will take several ebooks to finish) and will follow this expedition as they: become lost in space, struggle to return earth, and then finally reunite with their loved ones on Earth. Typical science fiction elements will be involved with the story as the expedition will come across alien species, habitual planets, etc. The story will predominately be about the adventure, but the companionship between each of the astronauts will be largely incorporated. </span></span></blockquote>
Up to this point, I'm mostly just amused, if slightly appalled that someone is so confident that they can commercialize the creative process quite this far. As if good, profitable sci-fi were as simple as plugging specified elements into a basic plot with standard sci-fi tropes. I dunno. Maybe it is that simple, but my experience with talented sci-fi writer friends would suggest otherwise. If you want quality, that is. Maybe my true naivete is that I rather expect ANY producer of ebooks to want to make them GOOD ebooks.<br />
<br />
Then the advertisement keeps going, and I realize I'm wrong.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; font-size: 14px;">A "simple" understanding of science fiction elements (aliens, space, etc.) is preferred for this story, but not necessary. Newbies are highly welcome (as long as you understand grammar). </span></span></blockquote>
Yeah... no. Simple understanding of the complex vacuum of space? Simple understanding of the possibility of alien life and how that alien life could develop in a different environment? Etc? And, the kicker: IT'S NOT EVEN NECESSARY. He'd be just as happy with someone who might have heard of Star Wars once, but never saw it. And the solicitor "highly" welcomes newbies who understand grammar. I... can't... even....<br />
<br />
But there's more....<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; font-size: 14px;">I'm expecting a delivery of 7 days (1 week) for the finished project and if achieved before the deadline, I'll gladly double the pay. In terms of the length, I'm looking for about 6,000-10,000 words. </span></span></blockquote>
6,000 - 10,000 words in a week. With a double-pay bonus if that goal is met. (More on that later.) Let's forget about the pre-writing for a moment and pretend that the entire plot of the multi-ebook serial just comes to the chosen writer in a dream. Let's pretend that the dream included specific plot arcs that would span 6-10,000 words so that you're getting a complete mini-story in each book. Let's acknowledge that any writer who has completed NaNo or who is making a living at freelancing is very used to this sort of grueling pace, and can churn it out at that speed.<br />
<br />
But let's also acknowledge that 90% of writing is rewriting and that, if these books are to be GOOD, 7 days is utterly insufficient to meet that goal. 7 days is enough time to create a first draft, perhaps, but first drafts Are. Not. Publishable. Or, they wouldn't be, if "Publishable" were universally synonymous with "Quality." Which, apparently, it isn't. And that's a darn shame.<br />
<br />
It goes on:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; font-size: 14px;">The ideal candidate will be able to/have: -Microsoft Word (any edition) -Understand the Subjects/Genres -Writing Skills and Style (you should be able to write coherent and engaging sentences). What I expect: -The Word Count to be Met -An Engaging e-Book -Coherent, Competent Sentences -A Simple Understanding of the Subjects/Genres If you're interested, please submit an example of your work. It doesn't have to be supernatural or space oriented, but needs to show competent writing and grammatical skills. </span></span></blockquote>
Well, I'm an ideal candidate, then. I have MS Word, understand the genre, I'm able to write coherent, engaging, coherent (coherent seems important), and competent sentences... oh, wait. He wants engaging AND the word count met. Yeah, guess that counts me out.<br />
<br />
But let's look at all the money I'll be turning down, shall we?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; font-size: 14px;">The Pay is </span><span class="il" style="background-color: white; color: #424242; font-size: 14px;">$20</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; font-size: 14px;">. I'm looking to commission several more e-Books, so further work will be possible for those interested. </span></span></blockquote>
$20. For a week of constant work. Even assuming that the writer can write 1,000 words in an hour (hard to maintain, but I've done it during NaNo), this solicitation is offering to pay $20 for 6-10 hours of work. That's (pulling up my calculator....) $2-3 per hour. With the chance of doubling to $4-6 per hour if I meet the deadline, edit nothing, and turn in the sort of drivel I'd be ashamed to have my name on. Goody!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; font-size: 14px;">LEGAL: All rights of purchased work will belong to me.</span></span></blockquote>
Which is exactly as it should be. #yougetwhatyoupayfor<br />
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Please, fellow writers, don't ever let someone pay you this little for your work. Even ignoring the fact that there are freelance projects with a base pay quite a bit higher than this, don't ever undervalue your work so much that you do it for nothing.<br />
<br />
If you're writing your own book, that you will OWN, and that you and your heirs will hold the royalty rights to forever, it doesn't matter if you never make enough on sales on that book to pay more than $2 per hour for all your work. You'll have your sales and you'll also have your book, and that's more valuable in experience and pride than quadruple what this guy is paying.<br />
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Freelance writing is honorable work, and you don't need the rights to every word you've ever written--but this guy is trying to capitalize on a writer's hard experience to turn a quick buck for himself while cheating the writer of a fair wage and the reader of the quality of work they <i>should</i> be able to expect. He's a snake-oil salesman looking for children to work in his sweat-shop, and I have no respect for him.<br />
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Have any of you seen scams like this?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-47990686651994721502015-01-23T16:31:00.000-07:002015-01-25T13:58:08.762-07:00My Identity CrisisBoy, have the last two years been a rollercoaster of fun. In two days, I'll hit the two-year anniversary of my sudden divorce. Four days after that, I'll hit the two-month-iversary of my almost-as-sudden new marriage. [Edit: Dang, but do I suck at dates. I was married on December 19, 2014. My 2-month-iversary isn't until February 19. I just passed my 1-month-iversary on January 19th, so what I MEANT to say is "four days ago, I celebrated my 1-month-iversary...." I need more sleep. If you all will just do the dates for me from now on, that'd be great.]<br />
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<br />
A week ago today, I said goodbye to my decade-long career as a full-time Public Defender, moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, and have embarked on a new career as a full-time sorter-of-junk-in-moving-boxes, organizer-of-junk-in-closets, and motherer-of-children-who-scatter-junk... or is that just how it seems? Part time (while the kids are in school, and trusting that the boxes will wait) I'll be a freelance writer, with some law stuff training to take care of on the horizon. *Makes note to send in bar dues, just in case*<br />
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I'm also planning to really get serious about that Become Bestselling Novelist bucket-list item I've been fiddling with for years. Because I need more red carpets in my life. (Doesn't everybody?)<br />
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At the same time that I'm trying on all these fancy new hats, I'm changing my legal name (well, theoretically--the project keeps getting buried in other minutia) to Kirkham. I'm trying to figure out how to alter my scribble of a signature to make the A in Ambrose look more like a K (mostly by writing a K over the top of the A that magically appears .2 seconds after I put pen to paper, despite my best intentions to pause after Robin). (The rest of the letters are utterly illegible anyway.) I'm getting used to introducing myself as Robin Kirkham. To answering to Mrs. Kirkham and Sister Kirham. Even my kids are getting used to my new name.<br />
<br />
But...<br />
<br />
Here, and elsewhere in the world where I'm a writer first and the rest of it hardly at all, I'm still Robin Ambrose. I've always loved my maiden name, and one of the silver linings of two years ago was the realization that I hadn't yet published a book under my ex-husband's name. When I go to writer's conferences with Robin Ambrose on my name tag, people think I made the name up, it's so perfect. So as much as I love and trust my new husband, Nate, I'm embracing this chance to splinter myself into separate personalities and make myself so confused that I have no idea WHO I am or WHAT IN THE WORLD I'm supposed to be doing, now. Because, fun!<br />
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6 months ago, I was a single working mother, a full-time lawyer, and a (let's face it) hobbyist writer. Starting this week, I'm a Stay-at-Home married mother, freelancer, and a serious-but-unpublished writer. The "What do you do" question just got more complicated.<br />
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Anyone else ever change just about everything about the Definition of You in one fell swoop?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-7414034714187133692014-06-24T07:30:00.000-06:002014-06-24T07:30:01.076-06:00What OW Can Teach Us About Building a Better Hero <div dir="ltr">
There's been a lot--possibly too much--said about the Ordain Women "movement" (can we call it a movement when it's so tiny?) lately. This isn't a religion blog, but today a comment on a Facebook thread abut OW struck me. The commenter was an LDS woman who mentioned that she had two friends, who had been leaders in the young woman's program, resign their church memberships and even divorce their husbands over the controversy.</div>
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These women were demonstrably strong and, just like that, they... weren't. If we look at the church as a fantasy magic system, the antagonist just scored some major points, yes?</div>
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This got me thinking about Kaladin in <i>Words of Radiance</i>, Brandon Sanderson's brilliant second book in his <i>Stormlight Archive</i> series. </div>
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Kaladin is one of the most heroic heroes I've ever met. <b>[Minor <i>Way of Kings</i> Spoiler Alert]</b> Kaladin started as a gentle surgeon's apprentice, went to war to protect his younger brother, lost his younger brother, stayed at war to protect others who were weak, became a powerful leader, lost everything, lost everything a few more times, wound up bound to a living hell, crawled from the literal and figurative pit to lead others once again, and ended up by the end of the first book a legendary figure who had saved thousands of lives and elevated himself and his friends from dust to eye-popping influence.</div>
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If there is something you need done, Kaladin can get it done. Something killed, someone protected, a battle won, a puzzle solved, a life saved: Kaladin can do it all. Lesser men should just stand aside, for Kaladin is IT. A leader of leaders, a friend of the fallen, inspirational and awesome. </div>
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But, as Mr. Sanderson knows better than any of us poor imitators, flawless characters are rather boring in book two. (True in fiction, true in life.)</div>
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I'm not going to spoil <i>Words of Radiance</i>, since the book is 1008 pages long and has been out for less than a year, but know this: Kaladin is also deeply flawed, and one main flaw prevents him from becoming EVEN MORE AWESOME than he was at the end of <i>Way of Kings</i>. That flaw comes this-close to destroying all the good he was trying to accomplish. Clinging to that flaw, in fact, LOST HIM a great measure of the good he had already accomplished. </div>
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Only when he overcomes that flaw can he come into his full measure of awesomeness. And. It. Is. Awesome.</div>
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Mr. Sanderson is brilliant. Lesser authors would have struggled to tear down such a paragon of all things good as Kaladin had become. His strategy, though, is rather timeless: he took Kaladin's greatest strength and then simply made Kaladin RELY ON IT. Kaladin was a great leader? What if Kaladin was unwilling to follow? Kaladin was a friend to the underclasses? What if he held the <i>upper</i>classes in contempt? Kaladin was great at surviving hardship? What if he accepted hardship as solely the work of cruel fate, and took no personal responsibility in the events that shaped him?<br />
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I'll stop there: read <i>The Stormlight Archive</i>. You'll thank me.</div>
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Let's discuss someone who is even better than Brandon Sanderson at taking extreme strength and turning it into weakness. Someone, perhaps, who was once called the Son of the Morning, but became the Father of Lies. What would HE do if he wanted to turn our greatest strengths into our greatest weaknesses? How would he convince a strong, intelligent, faithful woman to turn her back on the power she'd embraced since birth? How would he convince others to follow her? How would he convince them all that everything they once knew to be true was flawed, rotted, and powerless?</div>
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The strong can be too strong when they rely only on their own strength.</div>
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The intelligent can become idiots when they erroneously believe themselves the masters of all knowledge.</div>
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The faithful can become apostates when their faith turns inward instead of upward.</div>
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Do you have a character in your WIP who needs to be taken down a notch or two? Have you someone in your story who hasn't quite suffered enough for true change? Perhaps you should stop building in extra weaknesses and start inflating their strengths. Tell him he's wonderful, that he's always right, and that others--especially those the character himself has always looked to for guidance--would be wise to heed his counsel. Convince her she's invincible. Whisper that she's infallible. Let her glory in the wonderous joy of being practically perfect in every way.</div>
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Then just turn them loose and watch them fall. </div>
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Won't that be awesome? Insta-tenderized characters all set for your build-them-back-up plot lines. Wiser and humbler and far more teachable heroes ready to step onto the higher plane of powerful perfection. And all you need to do is knock them off the pedestal you convinced them they belonged on. Spectacular fall, hard rebuild, fantastic end.</div>
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Just what every writer--or human--needs.</div>
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On a more serious note, my wise friend <a href="http://www.jaredgarrett.com/" target="_blank">Jared Garrett</a> posted an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jarednathangarrett/posts/10152476125015821" target="_blank">excellent commentary</a> on Facebook yesterday that basically reminded all of us that 1) the best discipline is all about RETURNING someone to grace, and 2) exulting in anyone's fall from grace is... bad. Real bad. </div>
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Let's all be like my friend, <a href="http://weavingataleortwo.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Donna Weaver</a>, who, while she was reading the bad-Kaladin parts of <i>Words of Radiance</i>, kept texting me, seeking reassurance that her beloved hero would come out right in the end. Who was so agonized over his slightly less-awesome decisions that she wanted to avert her eyes and not finish reading it at all. Who loved him too much to take joy in watching him squander his potential.</div>
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None of us have seen the endings of our real-life stories. It would behoove us all to check our judgment of others and to take careful inventory of our own strengths, lest we, like Kaladin and so many others, fall prey to the oldest trick in the book.</div>
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So what's <i>your </i>favorite way to tear your hero to shreds?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-12793300416692378812014-06-17T07:30:00.000-06:002014-06-17T07:30:01.245-06:00What I've Been Doing Instead of WritingI'm planning to get better at blogging. Soon. I AM! If nothing else, I have hours of notes from writer's conferences to share, and heaven knows I need to have some sort of accountability to get back to writing.<br />
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Lately, though, other things have been more important (I know, I know, incredible but true). The end of school was... time consuming. We made it, and everyone is advancing to the next grade, but it was touch-and-go. One young son was one retake away from summer school. (He utterly aced the retake, by the way, proving he's smart enough, if we can find a way to motivate him to study. Money will be involved next year.)<br />
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To relax from the frenzy of the end of the school year, I took a weekend to attend a different kind of conference. Have you noticed there're seminars to teach you about every major aspect of life? I've learned about the law and about writing that way, so it was just natural that I'd want to learn about dating that way, too. I attended a wonderful seminar in South Jordan a couple weekends ago taught by Alisa Snell, Utah's Dating Coach, working with <a href="http://www.theldsmatchmaker.com/" target="_blank">The LDS Matchmaker</a>. Just for fun, the same day, I attended a casting call for <a href="http://www.themormonbachelorette.com/" target="_blank">The Mormon Bachelorette</a>. (I know, right? It gets worse.)<br />
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I applied to BE the Season 5 Mormon Bachelorette. I even made the required 2 minute video, which I'm only linking to here because, well, after so many months of zero posts, NO ONE is reading my blog anymore. So, <a href="http://youtu.be/LjfNYaN076g" target="_blank">here</a>. I'd embed it, but, honestly, the video is unlisted. You can't find it without the link.<br />
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In all honesty, I auditioned because dating and this kind of personal publicity both scare me. It's not so much the inevitable rejection--I'm totally old hat with rejection. It's the requirement of opening myself up to the possibility of someone who WON'T reject me. Of being vulnerable in the dating scene. I'm not sure I'm good at that, but I want to be, because, well, that's what I need to succeed, right? Though it's unlikely I'll actually be chosen as the next Mormon Bachelorette, I'm hoping the application process will at least... tenderize me. In a good way.<br />
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Anyway, chosen or not, there's a chance my little video will be viewed by a virtual score of people, and those people might be coming here at some point, and I really just want to have something friendly to say to them. (Uh... hi!)<br />
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So... what important things pull YOU away from writing... or whatever else you SHOULD be doing?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-65622789482476381182014-03-06T23:12:00.001-07:002014-03-06T23:12:36.711-07:00Twist of Luck Blog Tour<p dir="ltr">[Jaclyn was smart enough to write her own blog post (she spent a lot of time with me at LTUE and knows how scattered I can get). So, in her own words, heeeerrrrres Jacklyn!]</p>
<p dir="ltr">Every day a different blog will post a question. When you find the answer, send an email to me at:   jaclynweist@gmail.com</p>
<p dir="ltr">I will draw a winner each day from those that got it correct. You can find the answers on Wikipedia.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The answers will also be posted the next day on the next post in the tour, along with the next trivia question. Some questions deal with colors of the rainbow. Other questions deal with leprechauns.</p>
<p dir="ltr">And, of course, at the end of the rainbow, there's a pot of gold. In that pot of gold will be an Amazon gift card! Those that answer questions by sending me an email will be entered to win the gift card on the last day.</p>
<p dir="ltr">And don't forget to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Luck-Jaclyn-Weist-ebook/dp/B00H1UIAHC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394168739&sr=8-2&keywords=Stolen+Luck">purchase a copy of book one, Stolen Luck</a>. The great news is that it's $.99 right now!</p>
<p dir="ltr">Good luck!!</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Yesterday's Answer:</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Stolen Luck is set in Burley, Idaho — not far from where Jaclyn grew up.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Today's Question:</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">The background color on the Irish coat of arms is called St. Patrick's ________.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>The prize:</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">A cute leprechaun charm! Carry it in your pocket for good luck!</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>About Twist of Luck</b>: </p>
<p dir="ltr">Megan finally has her luck back and hopes that life will return to normal. Unfortunately, the magical world has other plans. Suddenly, she find she has fairies following her to provide security, dragons become a constant threat, and an imp tracks her every move. As if that wasn’t enough, her luck begins to manifest itself in ways she could never imagine.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>About Jaclyn</b>:</p>
<p dir="ltr">Jaclyn is an Idaho farm girl who grew up loving to read. She developed a love for writing as a senior in high school, when her dad jokingly said she was the next Dr. Seuss (not even close but very sweet). She met her husband, Steve at BYU and they have six happy, crazy children that encourage her writing. After owning a bookstore and running away to have adventures in Australia, they settled back down in their home in Utah. Jaclyn now spends her days herding her kids to various activities and trying to remember what she was supposed to do next.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Find the answer and tomorrow's question at: <a href="http:// www.kristawayment.com">www.kristawayment.com</a></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlqXd9CY96iqvOpkFf76DfLk0GP-Xq8hCB2A_elYnXa4x14L_wylcQ_vXCzxIhEpFMYgPNHFrsAd8Pm62mKp-nXURYvrYGL9IWofrq6dnndPkCNv3FlMv4a-kbXYf6IKoReBzB1HGxYxn/s1600/TwistOfLuck72dpi-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlqXd9CY96iqvOpkFf76DfLk0GP-Xq8hCB2A_elYnXa4x14L_wylcQ_vXCzxIhEpFMYgPNHFrsAd8Pm62mKp-nXURYvrYGL9IWofrq6dnndPkCNv3FlMv4a-kbXYf6IKoReBzB1HGxYxn/s640/TwistOfLuck72dpi-2.jpg"> </a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ0J1eV9Ozh2QkBji80Zcvdl0rLP1MW086nAIOTTN8PLhDyyi5zjt0y3NKNAbGyGismKLZnR38OakuchKnl3yMDL-jiUpO_KcXgxkPbkYzwDBOgObbrf7MMQrWbaCCcfDs94aa-yUa1KXa/s1600/leprechauncharm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ0J1eV9Ozh2QkBji80Zcvdl0rLP1MW086nAIOTTN8PLhDyyi5zjt0y3NKNAbGyGismKLZnR38OakuchKnl3yMDL-jiUpO_KcXgxkPbkYzwDBOgObbrf7MMQrWbaCCcfDs94aa-yUa1KXa/s640/leprechauncharm.jpg"> </a> </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-88042262436460420372014-01-17T07:30:00.000-07:002014-01-17T07:30:01.374-07:00Hope's Watch by Donna K. Weaver--with a rafflecopterHave I mentioned how much fun it is to have author friends? Especially when they're the sort where I can say I "knew them when?" And since I only pick awesome friends, all my wanna-be author friends who actually become authors are still friends. I. Love. That.<br />
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Even better is when your author friends are some of your favorite authors, and you don't have to just pretend to like their books. :)<br />
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In the interests of full disclosure, Donna Weaver is such a friend. This February will be my fourth year (wow) staying at her house for LTUE. I've watched her grow from wanna-be to awesome author and I couldn't be happier for her.<br />
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Donna's first book, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18681391-a-change-of-plans-safe-harbors-1" target="_blank">A Change of Plans</a>, told the story of Lyn and Braedon, who fell in love on a cruise and, after a pirate attack, spent a year or so marooned together on a tropical island. If you haven't read it, you simply must. Buy it on sale this week on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Change-Plans-Safe-Harbors-ebook/dp/B00FIOHTHK" target="_blank">Amazon </a>or <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-change-of-plans-donna-k-weaver/1115288145?ean=2940045323819" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20429736-hope-s-watch-a-safe-harbors-short-story-1-5" target="_blank">Hope's Watch</a> is a short story about the friends they left behind, especially Lyn's best friend--and the woman who convinced her to go on the darn cruise in the first place--Elle.<br />
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But first, the pretty cover:<br />
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Elle Reinhardt loves people and has a gift for turning groups of strangers into friends. When she talks her best friend Lyn into taking a month-long Pacific cruise, Elle is in her element, gathering fellow passengers to her. But things go horribly wrong when a ship excursion ends in death and disaster at the hands of modern-day pirates.<br />
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Filled with her own emotional wounds from the experience, Elle tries desperately to buoy up the grieving loved ones as they wait for news on those lost at sea. Malcolm Armstrong, friend of one of the missing men, arrives to act as family spokesman. Elle knows it’s unreasonable, but she resents his presence. When Mal offers the strength she so desperately needs, will she be able to let go of her animosity and accept his support?<br />
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This ebook-exclusive short story includes special excerpts from both A Change of Plans and Torn Canvas.<br />
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You can also buy Hope's Watch at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hopes-Watch-Safe-Harbors-Story-ebook/dp/B00HOUC29Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389373848&sr=8-1&keywords=hope%27s+watch+donna" target="_blank">Amazon </a>and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hopes-watch-a-safe-harbors-story-15-donna-k-weaver/1118033582?ean=2940149072729" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a>.</div>
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In case you're wondering, Torn Canvas is also a spin-off book about another of Lyn and Braedon's cruise friends. That's coming out later this year.</div>
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To celebrate the release of Hope's Watch, Donna is giving away $50! Seriously. Behold the Rafflecopter:</div>
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<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2572e941/" id="rc-2572e941" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>
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Oh, and if you're not doing so already, you're gonna want to stalk Donna:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><a href="http://weavingataleortwo.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Blog</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-37590714425269119812013-11-21T07:30:00.000-07:002013-11-21T07:30:02.932-07:00Battle Unicorns are here! Introducing Warrior Beautiful<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">My awesomely prolific friend, Wendy Knight, has ANOTHER book out. I know, I know. You're thinking "What? Another one? Isn't this, like, her debut year? And isn't this her <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wendy-Knight/e/B00BWU9NBE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1385009274&sr=8-1" target="_blank">fourth</a> book?" And being the informative soul I am, I'll tell you that you're partially right. One of the Feudlings books was actually a novella, so we can pretend that didn't count... but she also published another book as a pseudonym. So, depending on how you count, she either published five books or four and a half books. In. One. Year. Also, they're fantastic. Which isn't fair, but how can you hate her when you're too busy wanting her to write another one?</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Also, the girl has amazing covers. Behold!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;">As one of her privileged besties, I remember when she came up with the idea for this book (earlier this year, naturally). For the longest time, she kept going on and on about battle unicorns... and how she needed to find a plot for them. I think she did a great job with a really fun concept, and I think you will, too.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;">Wendy has been kind enough to provide me with a short explanation about why she is drawn to the YA Fantasy genre. Since I'm similarly drawn to it, and we get along famously (yes, it's fun to flaunt my friendships with amazing authors, thanks for asking), this comes as no surprise:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00R9UedMkyYC5QtK6crtdKGw1a0kP4k6o8UxtzFKjTxzjenBhT3gU1yY-htv4SmJKKh1C0F0keipwwduY7uBz9DaJGqT8H8lZHbKd4APvUkN61oR26MpfX8jL4M9pAFCOfutc0UsNAw0J/s1600/Wendy+Knight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00R9UedMkyYC5QtK6crtdKGw1a0kP4k6o8UxtzFKjTxzjenBhT3gU1yY-htv4SmJKKh1C0F0keipwwduY7uBz9DaJGqT8H8lZHbKd4APvUkN61oR26MpfX8jL4M9pAFCOfutc0UsNAw0J/s200/Wendy+Knight.jpg" width="135" /></a><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Hi there!
I’ve been asked to write about why I write in Young Adult Fantasy—what it is
about these genres I love so much. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;">SO.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;">I love the
Young Adult genre because there is still so much potential at that age. Life’s
decisions haven’t been made. Young adults still have their entire future before
them, and I love that. Me, for example, I have three kids. I write. That’s my
life and while there might be some changes in the future, it isn’t wide open
and beckoning like it was when I was a teenager (I thought I was going to live
in Africa and study lions. Never mind that I hate bugs and the sun and don’t
like to watch things die). Teenagers can
save the world, and I love that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;">My reason
for loving the Fantasy genre is pretty much the same—there are no limits. I can
make up entire worlds, new words, new animals, new everything! There isn’t
anything that can stop me but my own imagination! That being said, I do prefer
writing urban fantasies—which is magic set in our world. I love the idea that
there might be magic right in front of me and I don’t even know it. In Warrior
Beautiful, there are unicorns protecting us, but we can’t see them. I LOVE that
sort of thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;">I started
writing Young Adult Urban Fantasy because that’s what I love to read. Yeah, I’m
in my thirties and I have children and I’m married and stuff, but still—those
are my favorite kinds of books! In fact, getting me to read anything else is
sort of…difficult. I’ll do it, but I may or may not be pouting the entire time.
This genre makes my head spin with possibilities. So many things can happen, so
many different directions to take it. It’s just so much fun!</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> She's so cool, right? So here's the deets on her book:</o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Warrior Beautiful (Riders
of Paradesos, #1)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Author: Wendy Knight<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Check out on </span></b><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18458891-warrior-beautiful?from_search=true"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Goodreads</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Purchase on </span></b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Beautiful-ebook/dp/B00FWEGHZ6/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383244300&sr=1-5&keywords=Wendy+Knight"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Amazon</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">
and </span></b><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warrior-beautiful-wendy-knight/1117140240?ean=2940148376675"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Barnes
and Noble</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p>
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Synopsis:</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Working
with the ex you secretly love to save the souls of the innocent is almost as
bad as working with a mighty battle unicorn who would be thrilled to watch you
plummet to your death.<br />
<br />
Scout is used to pain. Her body has been broken, her heart has been broken, and
the only thing keeping her together is her relationship with her younger
sister. Lil Bit be-lieves in unicorns and terrifying monsters she calls soul
stealers. But unicorns and monsters aren’t real…are they?<br />
<br />
When Lil Bit falls prey to the mysterious disease sweeping the country, Scout
has two options – believe the doctors who say it’s a pandemic or believe Lil
Bit, who says it’s the soul stealers. She chooses her sister and goes looking
for the unicorns who are supposed to save them. What she finds aren’t the cute
pastel mythical creatures she expects. Battle unicorns are big and tough and
full of attitude. Who knew?<br />
<br />
Unicorns are real and so are the monsters. Soul stealers are reaping the souls
of the innocent, and the unicorns are fighting to stop them. But to save the
world, they need the help of humans – the enemy they’re dying to protect. And
first to sign up for the fight is the ex-boyfriend Scout’s heart won’t stop
loving, no matter how determined she is to hate him.</span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></o:p></span>
<br />
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif";">GIVEAWAY</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">**Must be 13 or older**<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">**Opened to U.S. Only**<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">**Winner has 48 hours to respond before a
new winner will be chosen**<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p>
</o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">**Winner will win: an ecopy of Warrior
International, a Warrior Beautiful key chain & a signed bookmark**<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d7355131/" id="rc-d7355131" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a> </div>
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></o:p></span>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Love it, right? Have you also harbored a love of flying unicorns?</span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span>
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p>Also, this was supposed to have a top ten list on it, but Wendy didn't send that, and I'm NaNo-fried and can't possibly think of one myself. Instead, I want you to tell me the one or two things that SHOULD be in a Top Ten Best Things About Befriending Authors List. Go!</o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-47622116807214009072013-11-02T00:30:00.002-06:002013-11-02T00:30:59.952-06:00Returning with a VengeanceThis last year has been rough for me. Wild, crazy, with a lot of good stuff and a lot of really, really bad stuff. My few regular readers who followed me here from my old blog know what I'm talking about. For the rest of you, know that the day the world shifted on its axis was November 30, 2012. I'd finished NaNo. I'd WON NaNo. Then my whole life fell apart. Just. Like. That.<br />
<br />
And, whew, it's been a bumpy ride.<br />
<br />
In trying to save life-as-I-knew-it, I made a promise to NEVER again participate in the time-suck known as NaNo. Turns out that wouldn't have saved anything, but that's largely moot at this point. As is my foolish promise.<br />
<br />
Still, this year has been too full of adjustment and single-mothering to leave room for such sanity-saving trifles as writing and blogging. I've read about half my normal quota of books, which pains me more than I can express. (Susan is getting ahead!) My NaNo 2012 book has been completely neglected since I crossed the finish line. I hope to someday go back to it, but maybe after I figure out what the villain(s) really want. I've been working a little bit on a new-shiny, but I've hardly been able to call myself a writer all year ('cause writers WRITE, and I haven't been).<br />
<br />
So here we are on November 1, 2013. Well, I guess, since it's after midnight, it's technically November 2. I'm gearing up to do NaNo again. This is my third year, though I registered under my shiny old name, so NaNo won't acknowledge that I'm a veteran. I'm scared, I'm nervous, I'm wondering how I'm ever going to pull off 1667 words a day all month when I've barely been able to manage 100 words a month--and that's if you count writing-related Facebook posts.<br />
<br />
All day, the world has been conspiring to keep me from writing. I had 161 words--half of which had to be re-rewritten (my tablet neglected to save my brilliant changes before I could transfer them to the desktop)--when I finally started sprinting at around 10:30.<br />
<br />
By 11:55, I had 1,739.<br />
<br />
I'm back.<br />
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I'm a:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3c9Cy1NqygfV3-OCPQFHccXCfE7wEqCSmzgG4qYF1dO4fQevX6ax_VRDe_BFa7znrMvlGr33sLUtvWh7EVMP8WJyJ9IFAaAHNRRjqUD8M95Em2AKFDwaEcf1668aQ_KIMYea5ea4icir/s1600/2013-Participant-Facebook-Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3c9Cy1NqygfV3-OCPQFHccXCfE7wEqCSmzgG4qYF1dO4fQevX6ax_VRDe_BFa7znrMvlGr33sLUtvWh7EVMP8WJyJ9IFAaAHNRRjqUD8M95Em2AKFDwaEcf1668aQ_KIMYea5ea4icir/s320/2013-Participant-Facebook-Cover.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-10496760615374785932013-10-20T07:00:00.000-06:002013-10-20T07:00:00.681-06:00It's here! Slayers: Friends and Traitors!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5cH_L6L1gDFozB6KIgrRGMHPlqPJGB-G1JpScglJhFgnQVzHTDS23FZtE5Xxe4957_FlY7M9FGevAhv3Kg6ONG1NeHJG4jTeafiDgrY9Iw0C-sgmiVbAtkszcOXOJLzZcQoZd4XeFThe/s1600/FireandIceSlayersBanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5cH_L6L1gDFozB6KIgrRGMHPlqPJGB-G1JpScglJhFgnQVzHTDS23FZtE5Xxe4957_FlY7M9FGevAhv3Kg6ONG1NeHJG4jTeafiDgrY9Iw0C-sgmiVbAtkszcOXOJLzZcQoZd4XeFThe/s320/FireandIceSlayersBanner.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hosted by http://fireandicephoto.blogspot.com/</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There's something about dragons that makes geeks like me geek-out. I have absolutely no idea why we so adore giant flying lizards known to roast virgins for lunch, but, well, we do. Probably because they're imaginary. I can't see us holding the same love if our loved ones started getting barbecued on a regular basis.<br />
<br />
The Slayers series by <strike>Janette Rallison</strike> CJ Hill proves my point: dragons might be pretty and sort of awesome, but when if you're ever given a chance to meet one... run. Run fast. Actually, better if you can fly. (Not that that will save you.)<br />
<br />
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Slayers: Friends and Traitors and I. LOVE. IT! It's the perfect continuation from book one, with teenagers acting like teenagers would if they had superpowers and were instructed NOT to contact anyone from camp over the school year. Also, if the danger they thought they had years to prepare for was happening... oh... NOW. Lots of awesome high-flying action sequences and on-the-ground intrigue. And high-flying intrigue. And on-the-ground action.<br />
<br />
Have I mentioned that you can't grow up with the name of a bird without loving all things that can fly?<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27yxfrAsl2BLlHxScCMMqTFKJVRl_11uiOYdXiUk_U3EIJfCKz2PMgy2fnR39ljleFPnD_tJMpGaBK8zq5uvxnJmGMwfALXYPhustOqw_7i-HuRWKcAgFQq0spTYcjjREvOJXo_EcVHXl/s1600/IMG_20130830_175942_892.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27yxfrAsl2BLlHxScCMMqTFKJVRl_11uiOYdXiUk_U3EIJfCKz2PMgy2fnR39ljleFPnD_tJMpGaBK8zq5uvxnJmGMwfALXYPhustOqw_7i-HuRWKcAgFQq0spTYcjjREvOJXo_EcVHXl/s320/IMG_20130830_175942_892.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of these is for a giveaway. Both are awesome.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I asked CJ for a character interview, so she, um, <i>attempted </i>to interview Jessie, one of the hot guys you can see on the cover of Friends and Traitors, the book up there on the right. He was kind of squirrely, but can you blame him?<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">CJ:
So I’ve had requests for a blog where I interview my characters and I thought
it would be fun to try. I’ve got Jesse here with me today. He’s captain of the
Slayers’ Team Magnus. (<i>I shuffle through
my papers because I’m disorganized and can never find what I’m looking for the
first time around)</i> Okay, Jesse, here’s my first question: How do you feel
about having superhero powers?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Jesse:
<i>(looking squarely back at me)</i> I don’t
know what you’re talking about.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">CJ:
You know, the power of flight . . . the extra strength . . . night vision . . .<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Jesse:
You must have me confused with someone else.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">CJ:
I’m pretty sure I don’t. After all, I did create you. I’m your <i>author</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Jesse:
<i>(shifting uncomfortably in his chair)</i>
I’m just an average teenage guy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">CJ:
Except that you fight dragons.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Jesse:
<i>(sending me one of his intense glares)</i>
Look, if you’re really the author, you know that certain facts about me are
supposed to be <i>kept secret</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">CJ:
But . . . I mean . . . being a Slayer isn’t <i>really</i>
a secret. You’re on the cover holding a weapon . . .<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Jesse:
Would you want me telling your secret identity to everyone?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">CJ:
I don’t have a secret identity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Jesse:
Really CJ, or should I call you Janette Rallison?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">CJ:
That’s a pen name, not a secret identity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Jesse:
Pen name, alias, secret identity—it’s all pretty much the same. It means you’ve
got something to hide.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">CJ:
<i>(putting my papers down)</i> Um, okay. I
guess that concludes my interview with Jesse, the average teenage guy, who
isn’t necessarily a descendant of the knights who killed off most of the
dragons during the Middle Ages. Can I at least say that dragons are coming back
and a dragon lord is using them to take down the government?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Jesse:
You can say it, but no one will believe you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #274e13;">CJ:
Right. Thanks for coming, Jesse. <i>(To
myself)</i> Next time I’m <i>so</i>
interviewing Tori instead.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I'm going to have to catch Tori's interview, too.</div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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Anyway, Janette has been one of my favorite authors for years and years, and I was thrilled when she branched out in to urban fantasy. I'm loving the Slayers series and honestly still can't decide which guy I want Tori to end up with. Just when one seems obvious.... Ah, I'll just stop there and let you read them yourself.</div>
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To that end, Janette has given me a copy of Slayers to pass along to one lucky blog reader. I'm sort of torn about it, though. I mean, I HAVE a copy of Slayers, of course, and it's personalized and everything, but it has the old cover with the egg on it. And I love that cover, but <i>this one</i> has a DRAGON on the front! But, well, the letter that came with it said I had to give it away, so I guess I will. Unless there are no entrants. Then I'm keeping it.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="292" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dYR-3C6e-LI?feature=player_embedded" width="519"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-47674001665023318212013-10-01T18:57:00.000-06:002013-10-01T19:00:46.673-06:00Book Launch for AWAKENING by Christy Dorrity--With a Giveaway!<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Christy and I met simply ages ago when we were both writing books with the same name (only she spelled hers "Geis" and I was using the so-much-cooler "Geas"). We bonded over the insanity that was the general ignorance of the SFF-writing community as to the definition of the word... and the sad fact that it was probably hard to market a book when no one understood the name.<br />
<br />
I eventually changed the name of mine completely to the oh-so-much-better Dusted (which is still sitting on a virtual shelf somewhere around here, waiting for some needed edits), and Christy titled hers Awakening: Book One of The Geis. AND she got her awesome husband to create a to-die-for (or by) cover for it. AND she's published it!<br />
<br />
She totally wins.<br />
<br />
Anyway, while I pretend not to be bitter, read up on the awesomeness that is her debut novel, then enter the giveaway below.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-jAxP8PWa096T6kyXUQpZSwgEjIUE-EiVL_GjodwfLEpI_xT9wGXZk7Nr9a_JzEUuLKsaPvP6gDiL_f398T82fBYrhKfkcsjAAIkQRD8XZ8Umpo3799FYYu3_jyQglrBFkKvB6GjEQ04/s1600/Blog-Tour-banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-jAxP8PWa096T6kyXUQpZSwgEjIUE-EiVL_GjodwfLEpI_xT9wGXZk7Nr9a_JzEUuLKsaPvP6gDiL_f398T82fBYrhKfkcsjAAIkQRD8XZ8Umpo3799FYYu3_jyQglrBFkKvB6GjEQ04/s640/Blog-Tour-banner.jpg" width="550" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>About the Book</b><br />
<br />
<i>. . . because some Celtic stories won’t be contained in myth.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>A little magic has always run in sixteen-year-old McKayla McCleery's family—at least that’s what she’s been told. McKayla’s eccentric Aunt Avril travels the world as a psychic for the FBI, and her mother can make amazing delicacies out of the most basic of ingredients. But McKayla doesn't think for a second that the magic is real—it’s just good storytelling. Besides, McKayla doesn’t need magic. She recently moved to beautiful Star Valley, Wyoming, and already she has a best friend, a solo in her upcoming ballet recital—and the gorgeous guy in her physics class keeps looking her way.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<i>When an unexpected fascination with Irish dance leads McKayla to seek instruction from the mute, crippled janitor at her high school, she learns that her family is not the only one with unexplained abilities.
After Aunt Avril comes to Star Valley in pursuit of a supernatural killer, people begin disappearing, and the lives of those McKayla holds most dear are threatened.</i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i></i>
<i>When the janitor reveals that an ancient curse, known as a geis, has awakened deadly powers that defy explanation, McKayla is forced to come to terms with what is real and what is fantasy.
A thrilling debut novel based in Celtic mythology, Awakening is a gripping young adult fantasy rife with magic, romance, and mystery.</i><br />
<i><br /></i> <br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/isbn/1940427029" style="border: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Awakening (The Geis, #1)" src="https://www.goodreads.com/images/atmb_add_book-70x25.png" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSifGMUazdDHPRRtbWaCNiaBlJ8jrWqPQqScR5oF9FurlebjfYVwcJWCuUJupkineWXfK8QjOeTofloM20KYdESCAsrj0IguBo67KKm6fj51l6nPj4xTl4lgKfGUReA6zVnSFtvFgAYM/s1600/AwakeningFrontCoverHighRes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSifGMUazdDHPRRtbWaCNiaBlJ8jrWqPQqScR5oF9FurlebjfYVwcJWCuUJupkineWXfK8QjOeTofloM20KYdESCAsrj0IguBo67KKm6fj51l6nPj4xTl4lgKfGUReA6zVnSFtvFgAYM/s320/AwakeningFrontCoverHighRes.jpg" width="210" /></a><b></b></div>
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<b><b>Praise for Awakening</b></b></div>
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"AWAKENING is a wonder and a delight. Christy Dorrity is a talent to watch."
<br />
~David Farland, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of Nightingale<br />
<br />
<br />
"I thoroughly enjoyed AWAKENING, a captivating and unique debut novel that creatively integrates Irish dance."<br />
~ CHRIS NAISH, Riverdance member and Creative Director of Fusion Fighters Irish dancers.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8f41w0_Nd6xYdG9de6HHzjVa4WYjuXdL7lsuu5VRwWwb3z_gSytJNK-mhX0c6Ds2GnL2JFQ3SYQSbTJpjzBVZ5u787RLzzCvCuuptkkm829PaFfqipZjFltLpNcEhkmJQGdGK8wjnDQg/s1600/Christycolorfull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8f41w0_Nd6xYdG9de6HHzjVa4WYjuXdL7lsuu5VRwWwb3z_gSytJNK-mhX0c6Ds2GnL2JFQ3SYQSbTJpjzBVZ5u787RLzzCvCuuptkkm829PaFfqipZjFltLpNcEhkmJQGdGK8wjnDQg/s320/Christycolorfull.jpg" width="237" /></a><b>About the Author</b><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">Christy Dorrity lives in the mountains with her husband, five children, and a cocker spaniel. She grew up on a trout ranch in Star Valley, Wyoming, and is the author of The Geis series for young adults, and The Book Blogger’s Cookbooks. Christy is a champion Irish dancer and when she’s not reading or writing, she’s probably trying out a new recipe in the kitchen.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Purchase Awakening by Christy Dorrity:</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://amzn.com/B00F996AGU"><img alt="Purchase Kindle Book" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7282/9795096723_5432a4d96d_o.png" title="Purchase at Amazon" /></a>
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Ready for the giveaway?<br />
<br />
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<br />
Congrats, Christy!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-79407896016260263732013-08-23T07:00:00.000-06:002013-08-23T07:00:09.168-06:00A Change of Plans Audio Book!<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7dQ7gw6L8UfnjtS4y-aidrFblwuog2v2jGHj8_JG9xOynth-MveIQzMgETL19jsl26pvPaPaU0aZNZCdwyjyg3RIcr0ABmen2xv9Y5hKoS0WGX0cVfLm7KaDekDVM9XEqQEvEC3GNBT8o/s1600/vertical-banner-audiobook-giveaway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7dQ7gw6L8UfnjtS4y-aidrFblwuog2v2jGHj8_JG9xOynth-MveIQzMgETL19jsl26pvPaPaU0aZNZCdwyjyg3RIcr0ABmen2xv9Y5hKoS0WGX0cVfLm7KaDekDVM9XEqQEvEC3GNBT8o/s400/vertical-banner-audiobook-giveaway.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">My awesome friend Donna K. Weaver is releasing the audio book of her adventure romance <i>A Change of Plans--</i>and she and her publisher, <a href="http://www.rhemalda.com/">Rhemalda</a>, are hosting a giveaway. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And there can be two winners!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWNLh7mtBo2ZpRklY8qxdoW_d-RxxyGQuSEy246gWUebq4E1kJtz-elqzhCQGtGdirBqwFWcy_KiNPIwuc24jMmpgu56kK5fo_TZJCYKwdMOvEMUSBl_LB5qz7S0pIWe9-Te6dmtfzUaq/s1600/ACHANGEOFPLANS_FRONT--Audiobook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWNLh7mtBo2ZpRklY8qxdoW_d-RxxyGQuSEy246gWUebq4E1kJtz-elqzhCQGtGdirBqwFWcy_KiNPIwuc24jMmpgu56kK5fo_TZJCYKwdMOvEMUSBl_LB5qz7S0pIWe9-Te6dmtfzUaq/s200/ACHANGEOFPLANS_FRONT--Audiobook.jpg" width="194" /></a>When Lyn sets off on her supposedly uncomplicated and unromantic cruise, she never dreams it will include pirates. All the 25-year-old, Colorado high school teacher wants to do is forget that her dead fiancé was a cheating scumbag. Lyn plans a vacation diversion; fate provides Braedon, an intriguing surgeon. She finds herself drawn to him: his gentle humor, his love of music, and even his willingness to let her take him down during morning karate practices. Against the backdrop of the ship's make-believe world and temporary friendships, her emotions come alive. </div>
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However, fear is an emotion, too. Unaware of the sensitive waters he's navigating, Braedon moves to take their relationship beyond friendship--on the very anniversary Lyn is on the cruise to forget. Lyn's painful memories are too powerful, and she runs from Braedon and what he has to offer.</div>
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It’s hard to avoid someone when stuck on the same ship, and the pair finds themselves on one of the cruise's snorkeling excursions in American Samoa. Paradise turns to piracy when their party is kidnapped and Lyn's fear of a fairytale turns grim. Now she must fight alongside the man she rejected, first for their freedom and then against storms, sharks, and shipwreck.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="284" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kiMpq7NUFV8" width="504"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_2?asin=B00DUGRIGU&qid=1375999155&sr=1-2">AUDIBLE</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Change-Plans-Donna-K-Weaver/dp/193685077X/">AMAZON </a>| <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-change-of-plans-donna-k-weaver/1115288145?ean=9781936850778">BARNES AND NOBLE</a></span></div>
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So where do you fall on the audio-book-lover scale? Do like them? Love them? Hate it when the voice doesn't match the one in your head?</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282612866471682237.post-44980303162168222462013-08-14T07:00:00.000-06:002013-08-14T07:00:08.163-06:00What Works BlogfestLTUE's annual contest is taking it to the next level in 2014: it's going to publish the winners in the newly-created <a href="http://ltue.net/Sibyl" target="_blank">Sibyl's Scriptorium</a>! To celebrate and to get everyone writing and drawing their submissions in time to have them polished up for the submission deadline, we're having a blogfest!<br />
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<a href="http://ltue.net/blog/2013/07/27/what-works-ltue-contest-blogfest"><img border="0" src="http://ltue.net/images/contestbutton.png" /></a></center>
<br />
Because one of the three LTUE contests is for illustrators, I'm blogging about what draws me to a great SFF illustration.<br />
<br />
Now, I'm not an illustrator, and my stick figures tend to look more like ants than people, but even I can appreciate the covers of <a href="http://www.brandonsanderson.com/" target="_blank">Brandon Sanderson</a>'s newest epic fantasy series, The Stormlight Archives.<br />
<br />
The Way of Kings came out in 2010 and I immediately loved the cover art.<br />
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<img height="237" src="http://opionator.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/wayofkings_rev_lo.png?w=595" width="400" /><br />
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The thing that's so great about this is that, in one picture, you get a sense of adventure, heroism, war, and that the landscape and the weather will be very important in the book. I'm sure someone with a better knowledge of illustration could tell you why it works so well, but, for me, I can't ever concentrate long enough on one spot to really take it in. My eyes want to keep wandering from the swirling clouds to the flag, soldier, spear, landscape, lightning, and back up to the clouds. The intriguing figure on the distant peak is shrouded in mystery, but not quite as fascinating as the rest.<br />
<br />
<img alt="Words of Radiance" height="253" src="http://www.tor.com/images/stories/blogs/13_07/WordsofRadiance.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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The cover for the second book, Words of Radiance, was released at the end of July and it is just as awesome. Do yourself a favor and read <a href="http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/07/brandon-sanderson-words-of-radiance-cover-reveal-michael-whelan?utm_source=newsletter-" target="_blank">the article by artist Michael Whalen</a>, on Tor.com. This cover shows something interesting happening in the skies which will excite anyone waiting eagerly for the book to come out, but the most interesting elements are the characters. Kaladin, of course, is on the front cover, holding his spear and looking poised for action. Then, ominously, we have Szeth in the background on his pile o'bodies, looking very threateningly at Kaladin. If you've read Way of Kings, this scene can't help but excite the same feelings we experienced when we put the first book down: terror, pity, giddy glee at the thought of the coming battle, and a sense that something much, much bigger than either of these two is going to crash down on them both.<br />
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Do you judge books by their covers? Do you think that's fair or just to be expected?<br />
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Also see my blog post about what I like in a short story on the <a href="http://sibscript.org/2013/08/whatworksblogfest/" target="_blank">brand-spanking new Sibyl's Scriptorium blog</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14628412968169366744noreply@blogger.com3