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Denver Pride 2013

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A couple weeks ago I received an email/twitter follow from a fellow Colorado writer, with an invitation to join a local GLBT authors’ group called Out in Colorado. They were going to host a booth at this year’s Denver Pridefest and sell books, and she said I’d be welcome to join them if I could make it. So I pulled out my stash of books and headed off to Pride on Sunday. Turns out my stories were the only female/female ones there, and my ENTIRE STASH sold out in just a couple hours. Wow. Had a great time, and got to chat with so many sweet and lovely readers. I was really thrilled at how many folks walked by, looked at the Bold Strokes logo on my books, and commented on how many BSB books they’d read, and that they knew a BSB book would be a good one.

And I was completely over the moon to catch more than one eyeing my books and saying “Ooh, this is one of my favorite books ever! I love this author’s work!” without having any idea that I was standing right there. I think I probably fangirled over the readers way more than they did over my books, LOL…

Was SO much fun. Definitely going next year, but will be better prepared with a larger stash and maybe other BSB authors too… Huge thanks to Marie Sexton, Caitlin Ricci, Tabatha Heart, George Seaton and ML Rhodes for making this such a fun and welcoming event! (And for letting my little dog hang out with everyone.)

Hosen, by any other name… is *not* the same thing

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These dashing gentlemen are all wearing hosen. Which the Ithyria characters might wear, though perhaps without the exaggerated codpieces…

In my free time (ha ha), when I am not writing or working on home improvement projects, one of my other hobbies is costuming. I’ve done quite a bit of costuming in my time, first as a cosplayer, and most recently as a member of the SCA. My favorite costumes have always been historical in nature. I love the giant side-pocket hoops of the Marie Antoinette era, the big fur sleeves of the Tudors, the graceful lines of a Victorian corset.

And a big part of all this costuming stuff is the research. It takes hours of searching for the right books and online resources, trying to decipher the so-old-fashioned-it’s-barely-recognizable English language of period texts, and pouring over galleries of museum photos, zooming in on all the details. In the process, one learns a lot of very useful things that come in handy as a writer… The types of fabrics and clothing styles most likely to be worn in a medieval or pirate-based story, for example.

The problem is, the terms used for fashion have changed so much over the years that the correct term for an item of clothing back then means something completely different now. For example, in a scene I was working on over the weekend for the new Ithyria book, I needed to describe a character’s clothing and ended up using the words “tunic” and “leggings.” Now, “tunic” is an acceptable word, since most modern readers know it as a simple shirt-like garment. But “leggings” bothers me. It’s very much a modern word, and describes a modern article of clothing that essentially looks like footless tights made of stretchy fabric. The correct word for the medieval equivalent, a fitted garment for the legs that is made from wool or linen cut on the bias so that it will stretch, is “hose.” Or “hosen,” perhaps.

But using that word, the modern reader is more likely to suddenly picture the character running about in a pair of decidedly non-medieval lycra pantyhose. I am already certain that my editor will not permit it. It’s too jarring–even if it IS the correct word. So “leggings” it is. And it’s really a small concession, in the grand scheme of things, but it annoys my research-obsessed costumer’s sensibilities.

I’ll give you another example. In Branded Ann, there’s a scene in which I had originally described a “pair of bodies.” This was a term used for the very early corsets, or precursors to corsets, and the garment is a stiffened bodice that usually did not contain the heavy boning or rigid structure of the corset as we know it today. A pair of bodies was a supportive piece of clothing (well, really it was two pieces laced together, hence the “pair”) worn by women to support the bust and perhaps provide some soft shaping. In edits, though, the phrase was altered to “pair of bodices.” Which is not incorrect either… It’s just not the same thing. I think the reasoning was that readers might be more than a little confused as to why Violet would be charmed by a gift of dead bodies in a clothing trunk… so the term needed to be modernized a little. I get it, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t wince a bit.

Or how about the term “cotehardie,” which is one of the most prevalent fashions of the middle ages, for both men and women? Can’t use it without a careful description, because it’s not a word we use in contemporary fashion vocabulary. Sigh.
Granted, I don’t make it a point to be obsessively historically accurate in any other part of my books. You’ll never hear me claim that my pirate story is a good resource for historical study… Writing is storytelling, and when there isn’t enough information out there about a detail that the story needs, I get to make it up. Hopefully believably, but still… And fantasy stories are, at best, historically inspired. With a wide, wide margin for imagination. So I probably ought to take a deep breath and let it go.

Which I will.

Right after I blog about it. ;)

Indie Lesbian Paranormal / Monster Book List

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I compiled this list rather hastily in preparation for the Queer Monsters round table at Sirens this year, and I shared my list of round table discussion questions in a previous post, but I thought I would share the indie monster book list itself as a separate blog so that I could spend hours getting every book title linked to a page where you could research/purchase said book, if you were so inclined. ^~

I find it such a shame that so many book lists out there completely gloss over the existence of books published by independent presses and self-published authors, especially when it comes to seeking out queer fiction. I guess everyone assumes that queer fiction is bound to be amateurish erotica, and admittedly there is a lot of that out there… but there’s so much that’s truly great, too.

Anyway, this is a list of paranormal / monster themed books from independent publishers that feature a lesbian protagonist. This is by no means a comprehensive list as I know there are probably far more of these out there than even I’m aware of, so please do comment if you know of one that should be added!!

Series Books

By Gill McKnight  (Bold Strokes Books): The Garoul Series
Goldenseal, Ambereye and Indigo Moon (werewolves)

By K. Simpson (Bedazzled Ink): The Devil’s Workshop Series
The Average of Deviance, Several Devils and Hell for the Holidays (demons)

By Kate Sweeney (Intaglio Publications):
Away from the Dawn, Survive the Dawn, and Before the Dawn (vampires)
Residual Moon and Liar’s Moon (Druids/Celtic Mythology)

By Sheri Lewis Wohl (Bold Strokes Books):
Crimson Vengeance and the forthcoming Burgandy Betrayal (vampires)

By Winter Pennington (Bold Strokes Books):
Witch Wolf, Raven Mask and the forthcoming Bloody Claws (vampires, werewolves, witches)
The Rosso Lussuria Series
Darkness Embraced and the forthcoming Summoning Shadows (vampires and some other interesting creatures)

By L.L. Raand (Bold Strokes Books): The Midnight Hunters Series
The Midnight Hunt, Blood Hunt, and the forthcoming Night Hunt (werewolves and vampires)

By Nell Stark and Trinity Tam (Bold Strokes Books): The everafter Series
everafter, nevermore, nightrise, and the forthcomingsunfall (vampires and werewolves)

Standalone Books

By Nene Adams (P.D. Publishing, Inc.) -  Barking at the Moon (werewolves)

By Cate Culpepper (Bold Strokes Books) -River Walker and the forthcoming A Question of Ghosts (ghosts)

By Meghan O’Brien (Bold Strokes Books) – Wild (shapeshifters)

By Moondancer Drake (P.D. Publishing, Inc.) – Worlds Collide (vampires)

By Jordan Falconer (Bedazzled Ink) – Knight Predator (vampires)

By Ronnie Massey (Copperhill Media Corporation) – Crimson Dawn (vampires)

By Rebekah Weatherspoon (Bold Strokes Books)  – Better Off Red (vampires)

By Sarah E. Glenn (Pill Hill Press) – All This and Family, Too (vampires)

By Jewelle Gomez (Firebrand Books) – The Gilda Stories (vampires)

 By Ali Vali (Bold Strokes Books) – Balance of Forces: Toujours Ici (vampires)

I’m sure there are many more to come, so if you know of one you’d like to add please leave it in the comments!  :)

Sirens 2011 – A Wrap Up

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Had the most amazing time at the 2011 Sirens Conference over the weekend! I tried to keep my Twitter as updated as I could with the goings-on, but there was just so much that it wasn’t always easy to keep up with. The three guests of honor, Justine Larbalestier, Laini Taylor and Nnedi Okorafor, are such fantastic, creative women and it was so much fun listening to their keynote speeches and banter during the panels (and getting signed books, yay!!) I ran into other fantastic authors as well; Mette Ivie Harrison, Sarah Rees Brennan, Marie Brennan, and Clare Bell, just to name a few, and came away from the conference with a huge stack of new treats to read.

An entire weekend spent talking about women in fantasy literature was definitely just what I needed, and I came home positively *dying* to get back to work on Prayer of the Handmaiden. Of course, there hasn’t been nearly enough time for writing, since my day job started right back up again today ;) but I’m definitely feeling the creative energy flowing and I hope the momentum lasts for a while!

Things I loved about the conference: Women. Magic. Anime. Urban Fantasy. Epic Fantasy. Paranormal Fantasy. Feminism. Queerness. Monsters, especially monstrous women. Fairies. Vampires. Werewolves. Demons. Writers. Autographs. Costumes. YA.

Things I would have liked more of: Romance, and adult fiction. There was a strong emphasis on YA (and I love YA!!) and probably rightly so, since all three guests of honor were YA authors, and there are far more powerful female characters in YA fantasy than in adult fantasy right now. But I would love to see more of the adult stuff too – Charlaine Harris is a great example. And, of course, being a romance lover I can never get enough of the lovey-dovey stuff. *^^* My favorite panel of the entire weekend, in fact, was “Destructive Love Myths,” in which Laini Taylor, Mette Ivie Harrison, Justine Larbalestier and Dene Low discussed some of their most disliked romance tropes, and how to avoid using them poorly.

Since the conference theme this year was Monsters, I hosted a round table on the Monstrous Queer. SO many thanks to everyone who attended and contributed such thoughtful comments to the discussion!! For those who are interested I thought I’d post a recap of our discussion questions, which resulted in great conversation including such diverse materials as Charlaine Harris / True Blood, the X-Men, and the 1872 novella Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu:

1. In much recent popular monster-themed fiction, it seems authors increasingly assign a fluid sexual culture to their monstrous characters – vampires, werewolves, etc. – even if the protagonists of their story are strictly heterosexual. For example, in the Sookie Stackhouse novels, nearly all of the vampire characters demonstrate some degree of bisexuality. What is it about imagined monster culture that seems to lend itself so easily to sexual fluidity?

2. Do you think queer characters are more easily accepted by mainstream readers if they’re also portrayed as inhuman?

3. Does the increasing visibility of queer fantasy monsters in popular media contribute to the depiction of queerness, in and of itself, as a monstrosity? Do you think it reinforces the idea that non-straight sexuality is evil or unnatural?

4. Regardless of whether they’re being portrayed as heroes or villains, there is always a clear line of differentiation that sets monsters apart from “normal” people, often requiring them to hide their true identity from others. What parallels might be drawn between a fantasy monster’s isolation and the prejudice often encountered by GLBTQ people?

5. A key scene in any monster story is the moment when the monster’s true identity is revealed. How are these scenes usually handled? Does the monster “come out” themselves, or are they discovered and confronted? Does the way the revelation is made make a difference in how the information is handled by the other characters and ultimately, the reader? What consequences arise once the monster’s identity is known? Are there similarities to what queer people might experience when their sexuality is made public knowledge?

6. Can you think of examples of queer “monster” characters whose alternate sexuality is not depicted as contributing to (or arising from) their monstrousness?

7. The concept of lesbian vampires seems to hold particular erotic appeal for many readers, male and female alike. What makes the idea of a lesbian vampire so alluring? Are these characters usually portrayed as scary monsters, or romantic heroines? Who do you think the concept appeals to more, women or men?

8. Bonnie Zimmerman, in her essay entitled Daughters of Darkness: Lesbian Vampires, explains how the lesbian vampire poses a particular threat to men, thereby making herself the consummate villain. “When the lesbian is also a vampire,” she says, “[a man] has an added explanation for the attraction one woman might have for another. It is not he who is inadequate, he is competing with supernatural powers… He must destroy the vampire — the lesbian — who threatens male power through sexual attacks on women. For, in fact, whether the woman vampire is lesbian or heterosexual, her real object of attack is always the male.” She goes on to describe how many popular lesbian vampire movies of the 1970’s begin with a newly married couple on their honeymoon, who encounter a female vampire that seduces the young wife away from her (usually abusive) husband. So is it the vampire’s vampirism that makes her a monster in the man’s eyes, or her lesbianism?  Do you think the woman she’s seduced sees her as a monster, or as her savior? Is the story a horror… or a romance?

9.  Must lesbian monsters, when presented with a human love interest, always take on the traditionally masculine role of pursuer and seducer? Are straight female monsters usually assigned this role? What might this imply about the role of aggressor – is it truly based on gender, or is it more about who is in a greater position of power?

10. Bold Strokes Books currently publishes a line of Urban/Paranormal romances featuring lesbian “monster” protagonists. While a good number of these are about vampires, nearly half the books are about lesbian werewolves, and they are very popular among BSB’s queer readership. Is the concept of a lesbian werewolf as inherently sexual as that of a lesbian vampire? Does it carry the same feminist (or misogynist) overtones?

 

I also included a list of Indie GLBTQ Monster-themed books, which I’ll post up later as a separate blog. ^~

I had a great time signing books and programs at the Afternoon Tea sessions, and all the authors were so gracious and inclusive (especially Marie Brennan, who sat next to me at the signing table and was such a delight to talk with!)

What a wonderful weekend! And next year promises to be equally awesome, with the fabulous Malinda Lo as a guest of honor! I can’t WAIT…

Moo!

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I have been waiting impatiently for what feels like forever (but was, in fact, just a little over a week) to get my new Moo Minicards in the mail. These things are SO AWESOME!! The print quality is amazing, you can see all the teeny tiny details of the images, and the cardstock is thicker than a regular business card. I’m in love. For the first set I decided to use a couple of my 3D renders, just to see what the results would look like. Now that I know what these cards are capable of I have all kinds of ideas for Moo cards… more 3D characters — maybe individual portraits? – and book covers too, of course. I’m also dying to make a few for Prayer of the Handmaiden even though it will likely be a good while before I have a print copy of that in my hands.  *grins*  And before I go too crazy with the card-ordering I really probably ought to make sure that I am finding plenty of readers to give them away to, yes?

Anyway, I decided to try a little crafty project by using a bit of grosgrain ribbon and some sticky-back magnet strips to make magnetic bookmarks; just connected two minicards with a bit of ribbon and used the sticky side of the magnet to stick the ribbon to the cards. They’re super cute, see?

I only made a handful of them since I didn’t have very many magnet strips, but they turned out so well that when Shasta got home from work tonight and caught sight of them, she immediately demanded I make one for her too. *grins* Then I got extra industrious and printed out some simple business cards with my book covers on them, a little thank you message, and a “Please enjoy this free magnetic bookmark” clause across the top. Clip the bookmarks to the cards and voila! Sexy little book promotion swag, hee!

I’ve never really used promotional items like these before — for a while I was making blue feather necklaces, skull-shaped pirate rings and character-themed perfume oils, but honestly, those were really more for my own fun and need to work on something crafty than they were for real promotional purposes. I think I’m slowly getting better at shamelessly whoring myself promoting my books in regular conversations with folks, and every now and then I find myself scribbling down the name of my books or my website url on some cocktail napkin for somebody — these cards are a much cuter and  more professional way of giving out my information. Not to mention, they’re so cute that it’s actually *tempting* to whip them out in the middle of a completely unrelated conversation just so I can show them off!  “Hey, by the way, check these out, aren’t they cool?  I write lesbian romance novels, you should look them up sometime!” I’m kind of kicking myself for not having done this ages ago. 

Sirens is in just a couple weeks. I’m so excited, seriously… this is going to be SO MUCH FUN. I have a great list of discussion questions in regard to the topic of LGBTQ monsters, so I can’t wait for the round table discussion! Also, I’m finishing up reading books by the three guests of honor, and still contemplating which sessions I’m going to attend during the day in order to work up the ideal conference schedule. ^~ I’m trying to convince my wife to head up there with me as well. She’d be able to run around the mountains hiking or biking or reading or whatever else she wanted to do while I was at the conference during the day, and I think we’d have a really great time together…

 

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Straightening YA Fiction

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Came across a livejournal post today from authors Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith, originally posted here on Genreville, that makes me deeply, deeply sad.

Apparently these two excellent and accomplished YA authors were approached by an agent who offered to sign a book they had co-authored — provided that they make the one gay character in the story non-gay (or else remove him altogether.)

I won’t repost the full details, as I’m encouraging you to check the post out for yourselves in all its maddening glory, but the bottom line is that it’s so very, very sad to know that this type of thing is still going on in the world of literature. *sigh* I guess maybe I’m spoiled, since Bold Strokes Books is a LGBTQ publisher and I’ve never thought twice about the gay-ness of my characters. Heck, I wrote my first novel long before I even knew there was any such thing as gay and lesbian fiction out there. I wrote it for myself, and for my online friends, because I wanted to create a story that was something I’d want to read myself… and it wasn’t until I’d actually finished the whole monstrous 180,000 word thing that it occurred to me that maybe I could try to get it published.

Honestly, I never even considered the possibility that a mainstream publishing house would want my book. I’d never seen any of my favorite publishers put out  a book that was anything remotely like what I’d just written – but I was over the moon when I googled “lesbian publishers” and discovered that there were smaller independent presses out there that actually do publish gay and lesbian romance. Up until that point, I’d had no idea that such books even existed. I sent my monster of a manuscript off and I’ve never looked back since.

Now, though, with the advent of Malinda Lo’s successful mainstream novels Ash and Huntress (both lesbian YA fantasy published by powerhouse Little, Brown) and a steady increase in interest among YA readers and authors alike in diversity  in YA stories, I’m starting to think more often of the accessibility, or lack thereof, of LGBTQ fiction in the mainstream.

Why shouldn’t there be gay characters in YA fiction? Or starring (not just placed artfully off to the side to add “color”) in mainstream romance? In mainstream fantasy and sci-fi, for that matter? Occasionally you might find some truly excellent LGBTQ fiction in the mainstream (Sarah Waters is a stellar example) but usually such novels are quite literary/weighty/artsy.  And the weighty-artsy stuff IS awesome, but what if you just want something that’s pure and simple fun? Something you can devour easily right alongside the four hundred other equally devourable novels filling your e-reader?

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE Bold Strokes Books (and Bella, and Intaglio, and all the other indie LGBTQ publishers out there) and I wouldn’t trade my work with them for all the big-name publishing contracts in the world. I think these companies are doing something truly amazing for the genre by publishing stories that mainstream publishers hesitate to touch for fear that sales will not be high enough to turn the profits they’re accustomed to. And I think they’ve really cultivated the LGBTQ literature market in doing so, which is awesome for readers and writers alike. But it irks me that said big-name publishers seem to have discounted the market for gay and lesbian stories. And not only discounting, but actually attempting to SUPPRESS that market, if Rachel and Sherwood’s story is any indication.

So I tip my hat to these two authors, who would turn down an agent contract for the sake of preserving the diversity of their stories. I tip my hat to all the other authors out there who have encountered this kind of ridiculous censoring in their own attempts to share their stories with the rest of the world. And I extend my deepest gratitude to all the readers who are *dying* to get their hands on such stories, and who snap up copies of every one that does manage to get put out there through the courage of writers, agents, editors and publishers who aren’t cowed by the thought of a GAY BOOK.

Also, I’ve wanted to write a YA novel (or series, perhaps) for quite a long time now.  As of today I think this project has just significantly elevated itself in my list of priorities. The world needs more of these stories, folks… so that we can make frustrating encounters like these a thing of the past.

Hoping For Ithyrian Dreams…

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I updated the blog a bit tonight… mostly small changes that will hopefully de-clutter some of the social sharing buttons I was using (and add Google+, since I’m pretty sure it’s going to become as popular as Facebook relatively quickly) and made my little Facebook badge more functional. Also fixed some formatting issues that were causing links to render strangely in IE, etc., etc.

Mostly, I have to admit, I worked on blog formatting because I’m still not 100% decided on a lot of the details I’m going to need in order to write the next few scenes of Prayer of the Handmaiden. So… I’m procrastinating, until those details present themselves clearly enough to be turned into prose. :P

With all the hiking my wife and I did this weekend (my butt is going to be SORE tomorrow!!) I didn’t get to finish any more DAZ projects either. But I’m sort of hoping the muse will return this week with the PotH details I need so I can move forward with the story. Wish me Ithyrian dreams tonight, folks! :) Usually that’s where I end up with most of my answers…

A Thank You To Online Reviewers…

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The internet seems to hold the general opinion that responding to reviews of one’s own work is in poor taste, and I definitely understand where that comes from. But what if the response you desperately want to give is a resounding “Ohmigosh, THANK YOU!?” Because I was peeking at my books on Amazon the other day, which I haven’t done in ages, and found a whole stack of the kindest, sweetest, most wonderful and thoughtful reviews for both of my books that it was very difficult to restrain myself from posting thank-yous to the reviewers. I can only hope that maybe they’ll find their way to my blog at some point and perhaps see this post, and know how very much I appreciate not just the fact that they read my stories, but that they then cared enough about them to take the time to post such insightful comments.

Believe it or not, I especially appreciate those who offer up criticism of elements they didn’t like or that didn’t jive well for them. I actually enjoy readers’ critiques. While it doesn’t always mean I’ll agree with their opinions overall, it still often helps me identify holes in my writing that I might have the opportunity to plug up in a future installment of the series, or things I will pay more attention to the next time I’m pulling a plot together. The things that make you, as the reader, scratch your head and go, “Come on, really?” are the things I want to know about, so I can hopefully make those points stronger in the future. *grin*

Equally, of course, I love hearing what did work for readers; what specific themes or characters or situations they especially enjoyed, what they’d like more of in future books. Usually it’s right in line with the things I enjoyed most about writing the story, but sometimes readers really surprise me with these thoughtful analyses of elements that had never even occurred to me – and I love that! I also love, love, love to see how readers get so attached to the characters, which of course is one of the things I most hope to achieve in each of my stories. I get so close to the characters myself as I’m working with them, and so seeing how they then turn around and can affect readers as keenly as they did me is really gratifying. I feel like a proud mama, hehe!

I find myself wishing that Amazon reviews were considered more “legit” (and I did sneak a few of them into the SotG trailer, even) because in my opinion, who should have more credibility than the folks who are actually reading the books – the folks who read purely for pleasure and review books for the benefit of other readers and not necessarily for the author or publisher?

Anyway, I also find that when I’m in a writing slump—when my daily work and personal life are closing in around me and I’ve got no time, much less inspiration, to drag out a manuscript and plug away at it—that just one review like these suddenly makes me want to whip out my netbook and WRITE ALL THE THINGS. You guys make me feel like I might actually be okay at this writing stuff, and for that I send you the biggest hugs in the world… and hop back to my computer to get you some more of that story. <3