Recently in on genre Category

(On the administrative side, I'm changing comment authentication on this blog. I can't deal with the thousands of spam comments anymore.)

I recently wrapped up Slip Point and have sent it sailing off into submission land. I sat on what I thought was a mostly-complete draft of this one for an entire year (I actually ended up adding 40% more in word count from that point, but conceptually the major bones were in place). So there's a bit of that dusting-off-hands feeling in having really finished this one. Why was I stuck for so long? Because it was originally envisioned as space opera — not my typical fare.

My brother, who often deals with literary science fiction but rarely romance (pretty much only when I force him to read my work), handed me Star Hero, a guide for RPG gamemasters who want to set up a science fiction campaign. It helped to have common options laid out in an organized manner for exactly the purpose I intended: world-building. This is instinctual for me with fantasy, but I needed the extra help outside of my usual genre. One hopes that with practice, this shall improve.

Secondary props go to TV Tropes for confirming when I should mock an aspect of my setting.

My latest romance read: Bound and Determined by Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow. I was warned about the sado-masochism aspects of this, but found it far more focused on the psychology behind becoming a submissive. I can't begin to say how much I appreciated the way characters talked things out and had families and friends; and the writing is good, smooth and easy without ever being drab or stealing the show. The arc felt a little oddly shaped to me, perhaps because of its length, but it's a worthwhile BSDM m/m read.

And I should belatedly mention that the Deviant Divas ran a spotlight feature on me. For someone without a particularly interesting life, I have too much fun coming up with different bios everytime I'm asked for one.

The Bite Club reviews all sorts of paranormal media, from TV shows with vampires to humorous books about zombies...and, of course, angel fiction. I talk about some angels found in books I love with other-world settings in a guest post today.

I'm also giving away a copy to a commenter, so if you've been wanting to try Demon's Fall, here's your chance to get it for free!

I've got a blog post up at Carina Press about the world that Demon's Fall is set in: "Welcome to Hellsgate."

I have been bemused by the number of reviews which consider there to be too much setting for a mere novella. I suppose romance is not particularly short-format friendly due to how most relationships take time to develop in a satisfactory manner, but I'm used to speculative fiction short stories that will erect universes (and sometimes destory them) in a few thousand words.

Saying I didn't explain all the aspects of the world is fair, though; and on the flip side, what writer isn't pleased to hear that more stories in this setting would be welcome?

Just a quick thought: that in much the way that fanfic leans upon the reader's knowledge of setting and characters, using a fairytale in a fantasy story is a shortcut. Once I introduce characters who are clearly part of a familiar fairytale, their roles are immediately understood, and even when I let them fade out of the plot, you know that they continue to play out their own story.

Someday I must mine more Korean folktales, which can serve safely as inspiration without as much recognition from readers.

I'll have news to share soon, but I'm going to wait until I have officially signed contracts in my hands. In the meantime, I'll talk about one of my current projects so at least you know behind the silence is progress.

If you're interested, read on. Otherwise, hie away.

I think a fair number of people have played a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book as kids. I found them frustrating, because there's no real sense that any deliberation behind your decision-making is rewarded. You might make what seems on the surface to be a wise choice ("You examine the puzzle box instead of rashly opening it"), only to die in a freak accident ("It explodes at your touch, taking your life in a fiery explosion"). If you keep your finger tucked in the page presenting the choices and go back to take the other path ("You flippantly flip open the lid"), you usually discover that there's no consistency at all ("Inside lies the dragon-king's heart, still beating" -- although it really ought to explode if you touch it to open it, if mere contact triggers such).

I'm not interested in a world that changes every time I turn my head. I want a world three-dimensional enough that I can explore it from different angles and find each one interesting. The fun part should be in how I interact with the story, not how it twists away from any semblance of cohesion.

Gamebooks help by adding stats: you might have a strength score that you could increase by deciding to lift things, or by starting out as a litter-bearer, and later when it comes time to bust down a locked door or hold onto a dragon's lashing tail, that score determines your success. Instead of arbitrary choices, you have an idea of what you're gaining or losing -- after all, starting off as a noblewoman instead would give you a higher charm score or access to jewels with which to bribe folks, which you might find more appealing than brute force.

It's a pain, though, to keep track of these scores while flipping merrily through the gamebook. Enter: hypertext and some handy scripting to record your scores. And you see creations like Alter Ego (life -- seriously) or Choice of Broadsides (swashbuckling naval adventure).

So all this to say that I'm working on one of my own. Naturally my main focus will be on the writing (definitely a lack in those early Choose Your Own Adventures), but I'll be trying to integrate the interactive element in both a sensical and entertaining manner. It's inspired by Swan Lake is all I'll say for now; I'll try to get a snippet up so you can actually play around with it and see what it's like.

I think I've figured out that for me, fantasy is all about description, and romance is all about dialogue. I had to discard my usual style of going quietly into the character's thoughts and surroundings and work at developing convincing chemistry between the hero and heroine — which I can't justify with just visuals.

My favorite romantic movies are Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, where the couple essentially wanders around a city, just talking. I love how realistic their conversations are: the topics are random, weave in their pasts, escalate into tears... everything you do when you talk with your lover.

So when I write dialogue, it's not about the passionate declarations or snarky remarks (although they both have their place). It's about letting the characters become comfortable around each other, and yet be excited at the same time by finding out till-then unknowns. Learning to deal with each other. Squabbling. Stuff it'd be hard to do with just description, unless they were two mimes.

I think the biggest adjustment I've had to make in writing romance is building in that first moment of physical desire. My romantic fantasy stories have generally set characters together without even a preliminary kiss. The relationship happened because it fit the story, not the other way around.

One guy I dated confessed that he asked me out because he caught sight of me brushing my hair. Something about seeing me in that pose that struck him. (He phrased it in a very gentlemanly manner, but I gather he found it erotic.)

I got involved with another guy after I'd had one too many Long Islands (okay, so just one of those may be one too much), tried to dance, and stumbled. An acquaintance caught me, my hands slid down his chest, and ever after I saw him as someone who was actively attractive to me, even when I was sober. Suddenly I was aware of him physically, although I'd seen him plenty of times before without any reaction. (It was a nice chest.)

These are the sorts of moments I need to try to bring into my romances. They do come out of the blue, but at the same time, they can't be completely jarring. In other words, the reader has to expect it, but not the character.

There are times I think I'm doomed as a romance writer, because the love stories that hit me the hardest tend to be ones that don't end happily. I just reread "Sorrel's Heart" by Susan Palwick, and I doubt many people would classify it as romance. But it was as a love story that it struck me.

In a world where people are divided into normals and freaks with twisted bodies, two freaks meet: Sorrel, a girl with a heart that's attached on the outside of her body, and Quartz, a man who enjoys inflicting pain. Sorrel's condition is literal and figurative; she feels emotions more intensely, because her heart is so exposed.

They begin as practical companions and end up as lovers. There's no elegant courtship, but I never doubted the intensity of their bond. And the story is about how Sorrel's presence in Quartz's life changes him — one of the ultimate ambitions of women in relationships, it seems.

Not an appropriate read for a morose day, but striking and beautiful, despite — because of — the twisted characters.

I think I've finally gotten used to romance terminology. I kept gritting my teeth whenever I heard references to the hero and heroine, and the mandatory HEA dismayed me. And I know these can be problems for other genres, but I've never encountered so many TSTL characters or as much discussion about head-hopping as I have in romance circles — I suspect because both the hero and the heroine's perspectives are important throughout the romance.

It reminds me of when I joined the corporate world and had issues with people talking about how much bandwidth they had to work on projects, or suggesting during a face-to-face meeting that we take a topic offline. I resisted for a while, but the point of language is communication, so if the other people will understand what I mean, why not use the word? I'm not going to say, "the female love interest of the main protagonist, who gets the POV in some chapters."