Archive for the ‘Authors’ Category

Shame on Scholastic Books

Saturday, April 15th, 2023

Scholastic: Money before Honor

Author Maggie Tokuda-Hall wrote a Children’s picture book titled Love In the Library, a story based on her grandparents and the US internment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II. The book is published by Candlewick Press. Scholastic inquired about licensing the book for distribution in their channels, but the offer was contingent on Tokuda-Hall agreeing to remove references to racism. I urge you to read her blog post about the offer from Scholastic and the reasons she refused a dream contract. To the detriment of her career, by the way.

Publishers talk a big game about how they publish works that contain ideas some might disagree with or that challenge entrenched views. They talk about wanting to do better publishing for diverse readers and acquiring diverse voices. Scholastic makes a mockery of those professed ideals by caving in to people who want books to reflect their narrow, bigoted, racist, and hateful views.

Those who crow about Freedom aren’t asking schools to prevent their children from reading certain books. They don’t want any child reading books they don’t like, no matter the opinions of other parents. It’s their choice for everyone. They started with schools, and now they’re working on public libraries. Book sellers are next, online and brick and mortar.

Shame on Scholastic

Their cowardice is just one of many reasons that the consolidation of traditional publishers is bad for readers and authors alike. There’s no one else who competes in the Scholastic space and therefore no one else who could grow a spine and stand up to the voices of hate. They want to talk about how wonderful they are for putting books into the hands of children, but apparently only if those books have been sanitized enough to cater to the racists and homophobes.

Here’s where to contact Scholastic and let them know what you think.

Love in the Libary

Links to buy Love in the Library can be found at the author’s website. Hopefully most library readers can find the book at their local library.

Updated to add subsequent Scholastic spin: via NPR

Make no mistake. This isn’t a one-off situation, and chances are white authors are not hearing about the reality of non-white, cis authors. It’s critically important for people like me (white, straight, cis-gender) to understand that not hearing from the marginalized about the impact on them in no way means it isn’t happening. It is.

My DMs have been absolutely full,” [Tokuda-Hall] said. “People sharing pretty horrific stories that they’re just too afraid to share in public.”

Tags: Publishing, Racism
Posted in Authors, Books, Publishing | Comments Off on Shame on Scholastic Books

Jo Bourne, Rogue Spy, and a Giveaway!

Monday, October 20th, 2014

Interview and Giveaway With Jo Bourne

I’m thrilled to have Jo Bourne here at the website! She’s a wonderful, RITA winning author of historical romance who is also one of the nicest people ever. She’s also one of my very favorite authors. If you haven’t read her yet, you really, really should. Rogue Spy, by the way, has been getting amazing reviews.

About Jo Bourne

Jo Bourne

Joanna lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge with her family, a medium-sized mutt and a faux Himalayan cat.

She writes Historical Romances set in England and France during the Napoleonic Wars.

She’s fascinated by that time and place – such passionate conviction and burning idealism … and really sexy clothes.

About Rogue Spy

Cover of Rogue Spy by Joanne Bourne

Ten years ago he was a boy, given the name Thomas Paxton and sent by Revolutionary France to infiltrate the British Intelligence Service. Now his sense of honor brings him back to London, alone and unarmed, to confess. But instead of facing the gallows, he’s given one last impossible assignment to prove his loyalty.

Lovely, lying, former French spy Camille Leyland is dragged from her safe rural obscurity by threats and blackmail. Dusting off her spy skills, she sets out to track down a ruthless French fanatic and rescue the innocent victim he’s holding—only to find an old colleague already on the case. Pax.

Old friendship turns to new love, and as Pax and Camille’s dark secrets loom up from the past, Pax is left with a choice—go rogue from the Service or lose Camille forever. . .

Read an excerpt: http://www.joannabourne.com/

The Interview

Q: Rogue spy. Uh oh. Without spoilers, what happens and why does she/he go rogue?!!!

You know how I write my stories with some French spies and some English spies and then there are one or two who turn out to be both.

Pax is both. He gets himself unmasked and heads back to London, where he just about immediately steps in the middle of a super-huge-evil-plot ™ (of course). He also runs into Cami.

Cami is another ambiguously double agent . Cami and Pax go way back — to when they were children. They meet. They notice they aren’t kids any more. And ba-zoing!! (Sound of Sexxy Times coming.)

Cami has one agenda. The British Spy Service has another agenda. Pax gets to choose. (He even has his own agenda, come to think of it.)

Cummon. It’s a Romance. What do think he chooses?

A deer standing in a snowy field with trees

Deer. In The Snow

Q: You live in the wilderness. In a log cabin with no running water and no electricity. I heard you wrestled a bear for nuts and berries. Obviously, you won. Tell us about your thrilling battle. One time there was a huge stir here in my town when someone spotted a young bear walking along one of the creeks that run through town. I did not wrestle the bear. If I had, though, do you have any tips for me?

The bear wrestling — and, indeed, certain pre-technological details of the old domicile — may be just a tad exaggerated.

A possum and a dog. In snow. It looks cold.

Dog Encounters Possum

We do have a nice selection of possums/dog encounters. Here they are discussing interspecies relations through the door.

And we have deer. The dog chases them to the property line and then stops. Our grass is safe.

The deer walk off, sniggering to themselves.

Q: Pets. Tells us about your pets and how they help you write. Or not.

Helping Cat Helps

I have a writer cat. Everybody needs a writer cat.

She is particularly generous with her fur.

I find it everywhere in the crevices of the keyboard.

Q: You get a phone call from your agent. You’re being offered $10 Million to write any screenplay you want, movie is guaranteed to be made by the director of your choice. What story would you pick and why?

Of my own books? I think Forbidden Rose is the most cinematic. Maybe the only cinematic one.

I’d start it at the gates of Paris and go for a ‘Tale of Two Cities’ vibe..

Q: Favorite meal? Assume you don’t have to cook it or clean up afterward.

Pasta in brodo for soup. Broiled lobster with asparagus and maybe a nice beet-and-burrata salad. Lemon ice for dessert with a little thin lemon wafer cookie planted proudly in the top.

Yum.

Q: What’s next for you?

Séverine’s story. It’s fairly late in sequence. 1820 and some. I had to research a Long Time to find the political background here. And having set Rogue Spy in London, I’m putting Séverine in Paris.

Where to Find Jo

Website http://www.joannabourne.com/
Blog http://jobourne.blogspot.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/joanna.bourne.5
Twitter https://twitter.com/jobourne

Giveaway

Jo is giving away paper copy of Rogue Spy to a US winner.

Rules: Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Must be 18 to enter and have a US mailing address. Winner chosen at random from among the commenters at my blog. Comment before midnight Pacific, Thursday, October 30, 2014. An alternate winner will be chosen if the winner does not reply to my notification after 10 days.

To enter, answer this question in the comments: If you were a Rogue Spy, what would you wear?

Tags: Contest, Deer, Helping cats, Jo Bourne, Possum, Snow
Posted in Authors, Books | 28 Comments »

The Writing Space and Women’s Voices

Sunday, June 1st, 2014

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of discussion about the way women are silenced. It occurs to me that there is a writing space where women’s voices are heard. Not by men, however, and that’s part of the point of this post. To talk about that.

Over the last year or so, I’ve been following what’s been happening with Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) where, when women have objected to content and discussion that is openly denigrating to women, the very vocal response from certain men has been, more or less, “You have no sense of humor. You’re ugly, probably a lesbian, you talk too much, and what about my right to stare at your boobs and dismiss everything you write? Also, what was she wearing when she attended that con where she was assaulted?”

That’s a conversational misdirection women see all the time in lots and lots of spheres. We say, Dude, uncool, what you said or did, and the conversation is diverted to all the ways in which that can’t possibly be true, please shut up, ladies.

Within Romance, we rarely get that, because the voices in Romance– writers, readers, reviewers– are overwhelmingly female. It’s a space where we sometimes find we need to be more careful of male voices. It’s a delicious irony. But I notice, as more men enter this space, there are occasions when some of those men enter the conversation completely tone deaf.

Men Enter the Romance Space Confident Their Words Are Better

We have all watched men enter the Romance space confident that their words are better because they are spoken in a male voice. And we have watched some of them go head to head with women and come away stunned. We see their brains shut off when that woman making more money and selling more books happens to be attractive. It’s wonderful, amazing, fantastic to watch these men babble on and then realize that they have been out-everythinged by a woman they could not see or hear because she’s female and attractive. I will say that at least one man had the grace to admit that.

Some of these men mansplain, they are unable to hear what the women with more knowledge and expertise have to say. They make demonstrably incorrect statements and have difficulty tolerating correction. To them, it’s a personal affront instead of another person saying, but consider this or, even, you are wrong, and there is the data that proves you are wrong. Once someone is defending themselves because a woman disagreed, dialogue ceases with that person.

Women Know Who the Experts Are Here, And it’s Not The Men

What’s interesting, though, is that here in Romance all the women know exactly who the experts here are– and it’s not the men. There is not, to my knowledge, one single male Romance author killing it in Romance the way women are. There is not one single male Romance author with anything like the technical knowledge of the women who are proven experts. In this space, those mansplaining men are, often, ignored. Because here, in our space, they just don’t have the chops and we know it.

Every single one of the men routinely trotted out as the poster-child of success was preceded by a woman and is, in every case, outmatched, currently, by a woman.

Where is the Innovation in eBook Publishing Coming From?

Consider this: Where is all the innovation in eBook publishing coming from? Where’s the real and effective data analysis? If you read the mainstream media, you’d think it was all men all the time. And it’s not. The innovations in publishing are coming from Romance. I was going to say that Romance authors are quietly going about learning exactly what works and doesn’t work and experimenting and sharing and meeting up — yes, there are “unconferences” in our space. The first one was back in February and it was quite a success. There are more being organized right now. There was not one single man involved in the conception, design and execution of the unconference concept. It was first mentioned in November 2013 I think, and the first unconference happened in February 2014.

At the first unconference, women got together and shared what we knew, what we were doing, how we were doing it and why. We talked about how those things worked. Entirely female voices. Think about that. All the conversation that is silenced when men are present — (Men think women are dominating a conversation when women speak just 30% of time) happened here.

It’s not Quiet Here

Outside the Romance space, what we are doing does seem quiet. Because the men aren’t listening. And when they do happen to hear, they hear through a set of filters that are designed, whether they know it or not, to dismiss and silence the female voice. They go on to write articles that don’t even come close to representing what’s happening here because that same filter is in place. Their first and overriding belief is that women are not authentic experts.

In truth, it’s not quiet at all. Here in the Romance space, we are a noisy lot, talking about what we’ve done, how it worked or didn’t work. This space is, by and large, safe from the male voices and actions that silence, threaten, and harm us everywhere else. At the unconference, we quickly devised a method that gave a speaker the floor. She was not to be interrupted or spoken over while she had the floor. And she wasn’t.

As long as this set of conditions persists, women authors will continue our successes and innovations. It’s an amazing, living, example of what can happen when women are free of words and actions that silence us.

Imagine what might happen if more men learned to listen?

Should you be Worried?

Personally, I think men should be worried about that female silence, because look what happens when we’re not silenced: A woman becomes the largest independent publisher in the United States. (Bella Andre, in case you were wondering.)

If you didn’t know that, you would be wise to ask yourself why.

Tags: Voices
Posted in Authors, Publishing, Self-Publishing | 1 Comment »

there are things of more importance

Wednesday, February 19th, 2014

It may be said that there are things of more importance than striking a ball against a wall—there are things, indeed, that make more noise and do as little good, such as making war and peace, making speeches and answering them, making verses and blotting them, making money and throwing it away.

William Hazlitt, ‘The Indian Jugglers’ (1825); in The Selected Writings of William Hazlitt, ed. Duncan Wu, 9 vols (London: Pickering & Chatto, 1998), VI, 74.

And this citation is from this wonderful article: Hazlitt’s Prizefight Revisited.

Tags: Research
Posted in Authors, Books | Comments Off on there are things of more importance

Thank Goodness no Author would Do THIS!

Wednesday, November 13th, 2013

I’m posting this over here since my dyslexia and the captcha over at this post utterly defeated my attempts to comment there.

Go take a look at the comments to this post about tentacle romance over at Heroes and Heartbreakers

Here is the comment I would have posted if I could have:

All I can say is thank goodness authors aren’t the sort to comment on a blog post to flog their own product and then log on several more times pretending to be readers who loved that book. Because that would be a transparently idiotic thing to do. I mean, I’ve heard of that happening– was it at Amazon? I can’t remember, it was some place that sells books, anyway. But that’s all ancient history and authors know by now that almost no one is fooled by that kind of thing because, in this really shocking turn of events, readers are not stupid.

I know! Who knew?

Anyway, good thing no one here did that. Though, I suppose if someone did, we would all know not to buy anything by an author who thinks so little of her audience.

Tags: FFS, Really?
Posted in Authors, Books | 4 Comments »

Writing and Stuff!

Wednesday, September 18th, 2013

I’ve been working away on The Next Historical (Lucy and Thrale). I recently deleted nearly 10 pages (to be expected) and I’m now writing a different chapter. I’ve made back about half the word count I lost. I know I shouldn’t obsess over it, but I do. I’m better off with 2000 fewer words than 2000 more words that don’t work.

In other news, when I went running today, I was listening to Jude Devereaux’s RWA workshop. My only complaint? The workshop started with the usual statement about “recording, etc, and always repeat the question.” The moderator even said “I think we all know that…”

Here’s how the first question to Jude Devereaux went:

JD: Any questions? Yes?

Recording: silence
More silence.
More silence.
Some shuffling.
More silence.

JD: Yes.

Most of the questions were nothing but silence, and the answers were not always clear as to context. Very disappointing. It was far, far too close to the end before someone finally got around to urging repetition of the question.

Yeah. There needs to be a big RWA presenter and moderator class where everyone has to listen to this sort of thing on the recording. Lots of moderators and presenters make light of the announcement and request, and way too many moderators and presenters do not remember to repeat the question.

::sigh::

However, it’s still a workshop WELL worth listening to. She’s been in the business a long time and she related a story about how, way back, an editor told her that there was a problem with her book because the hero did not rape anyone. How, this editor asked, was anyone to know that the hero was virile if he didn’t rape anyone? And Ms. Deveraux’s answer to that was that she’d have to find someone else to publish her book because she wasn’t going to have her hero rape anyone. She was after that widely considered a difficult author.

And this, people, is how insidious and pervasive the “rapetastic” hero was. We are all still dealing with the consequences of centuries of believing this was how male virility was defined, and how women were to behave. This idea that Romance authors weren’t being pressured to write heroes who raped is just nuts. I lurk on an Academic list where this subject continually pops up and there’s always this naive belief that writers aren’t pressured to make changes they rather not. It seems like no matter now many authors (and there are a few on the list) say this happened then and happens now, there’s a rather willful refusal to accept that as possible.

When there’s money involved, the people with the money have the power to impose their views, and for that reason, outdated views die a long, slow death in the media. The Jude Devereauxs are few and far between. I don’t know at the time how much market clout she had. Obviously, not enough to avoid having the complaint made, and not enough to avoid being thought of as difficult for refusing. But enough that the book was published without rape.

So, thank you, Jude Devereaux, for saying no, and making the refusal heard.

Worth a listen.

Tags: Publishing Then and Now, Rapetastic heroes., RWA, The Next Historical
Posted in Authors, Publishing, Writing | Comments Off on Writing and Stuff!

Interview and Giveaway with Author Sam Wilde

Thursday, March 7th, 2013

Today, author Sam Wilde visits my blog and I grill her mercilessly until she agrees to tell us about her book and answer a few questions.

Why Sam Wilde is Awesome

Photo of Sam Wilde

Samantha Wilde is the author of I’ll Take What She Has and This Little Mommy Stayed Home (both from Bantam Books). The at-home mother of three young children, she moonlights as a minister and a yoga teacher. She’s the graduate of Smith College and Yale Divinity School and lives in Western Massachusetts.

Find her on the web:
samanthawilde.com
Facebook
Twitter: @whatshehas
Wilde Mama Blog

About I’ll Take What She Has

Cover of I’ll Take What She Has

Best friends since kindergarten, Nora, a reserved English teacher, and Annie, an out-spoken stay-at-home mother, wrestle with the green-eyed monster when the new history department hire at the suburban Boston prep school where they teach, Cynthia Cypress, arrives on campus. A missing grandmother, depressed sex therapist, and a financial crises add to the comedy in a novel about imperfect friendships, mixed up families, messy motherhood, and the quest for the greenest grass.

Carolyn: Every time I see that cover I smile. That baby looks so happy!

Praise for I’ll Take What She Has

Publisher’s Weekly: “With wit, compassion, and a keen ear for dialogue Wilde explores issues of insecurity, envy, young motherhood, and friendship in this fast-paced work.”

RT Top Pick! “Wilde speaks the language of women and communicates what lies in their hearts…a gem of a read.”

Read the first chapter at the Random House website.

Where to Buy I’ll Take What She Has

Sam Answers A Few Questions

What made you want to write this story?

I came up with the title and synopsis on the phone with my mother, novelist Nancy Thayer, during a brainstorming session just as I was getting my book contract. The initial idea, to write about envy and newlyweds, came from her, the title and plot from me. As soon as I sat to write the book, the three main characters, Nora, Annie and Cynthia appeared. And though they are all, in a sense, newlyweds, I really ended up writing about motherhood and friendship. Being led by your characters into a story is one of the pure joys of writing.

Every parent is busy, especially when their children are young. Can you talk about how you balance family and your writing day?

I wrote my first novel during my first son’s nap times. He slept one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. Through two more children I have, essentially, stuck with that same schedule. Now I work while my older son is at school, my toddler is napping, and my preschooler has quiet time (usually listening to books on tape). That gives me less than an hour most days—which is hardly enough time to look at emails. I work after bed-times as well, though not every night. Some years I have had a babysitter for roughly three hours a week, some years I haven’t. I love being a mother and for right now, as an at-home mother, I stay close to that identity and vocational calling. Working into the corners, edges, and crumbs of time in my day has made me a more efficient writer, a more patient person, and much less attached to my writing career. Writing an awesome scene and hearing someone call out, “Can you wipe my bum?” really puts everything into perspective.

Writing a funny book is hard. Do you think some writers are just naturally funny or is it something that can be learned? Any tips for those of us who are humor impaired in their writing?

I wholeheartedly agree. It’s hard to be funny! And, of course, when you’re funny, no one takes you seriously! I have the hardest time writing humor when I feel down myself. But I love to achieve funny. In the margins of the manuscript of I’ll Take What She Has, I often wrote, “Funny enough?” The best way I know how to get more funny juice (besides drinking it) is reading funny writers, watching funny films, and listening to funny comedians. Good humor always comes off as effortless, kind of like watching a ballerina float across the stage. Well, I studied ballet seriously for years and my toes bled! The word grueling comes to mind. When you know the hard work and effort required, it doesn’t feel so unnatural to have to work a little at it. But can anyone be funny? No. But a writer doesn’t need to be funny. A writer only needs to find her own authentic voice. Mine somehow came out funny.

One day, you’re walking along thinking about your next yoga glass. Suddenly, a time portal opens up right in front of you. Assume the following things are true:

you can go anywhere in time you want;
You will return to your family unscathed and not even late for anything;
You can bring something back with you without causing a rupture in the space-time continuum that will destroy us all.
You can’t go back in time to prevent some massive evil because that answer, while probably true, is not not where I’m going with this.

Answer the following: What time period do you choose and why and what object do you bring back and why?

Great Grandmother

That’s an awesome question! I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that. It also makes me want to brush up on my history. It’s been so long since I thought clearly; the deficits of mama-brain could potentially lead me to say something like: “I would go to the time of the Egyptians and return with a printing press.” Can I come back with a person? I would probably head out to the turn of the last century, the year 1900, because that’s the time period I studied while an English major at Smith. The changes, excitement and innovation of that time, the cusp of modernity fascinate me. Also, the clothes. Oh, such beautiful clothes. I really do live in the wrong time for fashion. I am the only person I know who doesn’t own a pair of jeans. I would return with (can I have more than one?) hats! Hats and more hats! All those gorgeous, fanciful, elegant, expressive hats. I can’t wait for hats to come back into fashion somewhere other than in my children’s playroom where they always boss me around saying, “Mama, that’s my dress up box.”

What do you hope readers will like best about reading your book?

I hope they will laugh! I hope they will laugh out loud. That’s always my favorite compliment: I never laugh out loud at books and I did when I read yours. In the end, for me, that big laughter is about recognition, a truth being seen, so in laugher, I think so much happens: levity, joy, relief, touch of freedom and healing and a sense that you are not alone.

Any surprises while you were working on the book? Characters who did unexpected things? Did anything make you laugh out loud/cackle evilly while you were writing? If so, what was it?

I rewrote that book so many times over so many years for so many editors that when it finally came time to write a brief description of the book for my publicist, I really didn’t know what the things was about! What surprised me was the adaptability of my characters. The two main ones, Annie and Nora, survived so many editorial changes and remained, at heart, nearly the same. I feel close to them and proud of them. I cheer for them now that the book is out in the world, almost as if I had nothing to do with their story. But then writers are allowed to be weird like that, aren’t they, thinking about their characters as if they were real?

What’s next for you?

In my house, we really take it one day at a time! My husband has such a hard time with planning ahead that he often leaves arranging airline tickets for major business travel to the last minute! This can make some things in life hard, on the other hand, it’s a blessing to find anything encouraging you to stay more in the present moment. I have a third novel that I love nearly done. How happy I would be to have it out there! In the meantime, someone has to clean my house (much neglected with all the publicity I’ve been doing), potty train my toddler, enroll my daughter in gymnastics, teach my son the proper way to print a letter “d” and eat the cake in my refrigerator. I volunteer!

Giveaway!

Tags: Giveaway, Ladies in hats, Sam Wilde
Posted in Authors, Contests, Interview | 11 Comments »

Ms. McGrump Has a Brilliant Idea

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

Prickly? Photo by Yours Truly.

This has been a week of short sleep and too much caffeine. Probably that’s why I’m grumpy. Anyhoo. I just had the world’s most brilliant idea.

If you’re an author and you have yourself worked up about reviews at places like Amazon and Goodreads, I have an utterly brilliant suggestion.

Start your own review website.

I know, right?

Here’s the rules:

1. Posters must provide proof of purchase before posting a review.

2. Posters must also sign an affidavit affirmatively stating that he/she is a true fan of the type of book she/he is reviewing.

3. Reviews must be a minimum of 250 words.

4. Reviews cannot be mean, disrespectful, or otherwise likely to upset the author.

5. The lowest possible rating is 4 stars. The highest is 5.

6. All reviews are sent to the author for editing and approval BEFORE it posts.

I’m sure readers will find such a site really informs their future buying decisions.

I am a genius.

A Kickstarter campaign to get this off the ground is in order.

I doubt I missed anything but if I did, please let me know in the comments.

Tags: Genius idea
Posted in Authors, Publishing, Rant Alert, Writing | Comments Off on Ms. McGrump Has a Brilliant Idea

Interview with Debut Author Hanna Martine – Plus Giveaway!

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

Welcome Hanna Martine!

Thank you for coming to my blog to tell us about your book and answer some questions! I LOVE that cover. LOVE IT. And it sounds really interesting. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Hannah will be doing a giveaway, of three (3!) books, so don’t forget to check out the contest and rules and then enter for your chance to win. Also, Hanna, I forgot to mention that I have a niece with one of your names. Did you know you spell your name wrong? She wants to have purple hair. I notice your hair is not purple. Huh. Fashion hints are free here, by the way.

About Hanna

Hanna Martine’s only goal growing up was to become a writer, specifically a fantasy writer. That dream stuck until she realized that most speculative fiction novels faded to black during the best parts or skipped over love stories altogether. When she discovered paranormal romance and urban fantasy, she found the genre of her heart. After the arrival of her daughter, she couldn’t think of a better lesson to teach the little one than: Have a dream. Go after it. Be fulfilled. So she set aside all thoughts of returning to the business world and focused on writing and learning about the industry. She finished two novels before coming up with the idea for the world of The Elementals. She joined the Romance Writers of America (RWA), placed in numerous contests, and found an agent and editor who believed in her unique stories. She loves writing about secret worlds, magic, and the intense emotional and physical relationships that exist within them.

About the book

Magic is Corporate America’s best-kept secret

Gwen possesses the unique ability to pick up any language in an instant—a power that will globally expand the profitable family business. As dutiful future leader of her race of water elementals, she’ll do anything to protect her people’s secrets and bloodlines—including enter an arranged marriage. Inside, however, she yearns for forbidden human men.

Reed is a mercenary addicted to the money and adrenaline rush of his work. After he inadvertently saves Gwen’s life, he ignites her taboo desire for men without magic—and with bodies of gods. Just as things heat up, Reed discovers that Gwen is exactly who he’s been hired to kidnap. He resolves to put work before lust, yet her luscious beauty and fiery spirit unravel him…

But there is a terrible truth behind Gwen’s family business—and now, caught between the kinsmen she no longer trusts and an enemy bent on vengeance, the only ally she has is her abductor…

Buy the Book

Read an Exceprt

The Interview!

1. So. “Elementals” What that heck are those? Is there anyone named Watson in the book? Does anyone say “It’s elemental, my dear Watson?” (If you want to use that phrase in your next book, feel free! You’re welcome.)

Ruin my hook for book 2, why don’t you!

The series circles around different races who control the “classic” elements– earth, air, fire, water–and who live outside human awareness in modern-day America. Liquid Lies focuses on the Ofarians, the water elementals.

2. What kind of sick, twisted mind thinks up people selling magic to corporate America? Or did you not make that up? To your knowledge, is that actually happening? Because I think this would explain some irregularities in my power bill. Is this an idea that came to you all at once in the shower or did it develop slowly over time? Or did you just take really good notes from your whistleblower friend?

It totally could happen, couldn’t it? The sick, twisted mind who thought this up survived ten years working with corporate types. When I was writing this book, I knew I wanted to use elemental magic, but I needed a new twist. With phrases like “mission statements,” “break-even,” and “synergy” stamped in my mind, I went with the corporate angle. The story also came about during all that Bernie Madoff craziness, which got me thinking about greed and power, and how it shapes a person (or group of people) over time.

3. I love “the call” stories. Will you tell us about selling your debut novel?

It happened so incredibly fast, I barely remember the details. In my head, three furious, nausea-inducing days have melded into a blur. I signed with my agent (whom I met through an auction when I bid on and won a lunch with her), and she somehow managed to get me a two-book deal barely two days later, right in the middle of BEA 2011. I may have hyperventilated when she called to tell me the news, I don’t recall. And I’m sure my timeline is off as I describe it here; I was a basket case for days. I do remember a really fine bottle of champagne being opened, however.

4. If you were in charge of casting the movie of your book, who do you call in for a screen test?

If Jason Statham could magically grow five inches and put on forty pounds of muscle and lose the accent, he could be Reed. Though she’s a little young, Blake Lively might work for Gwen. She did gritty and angry really well in The Town.

Another tidbit about Gwen: when I first saw the cover of Liquid Lies, I started crying because the model is exactly how I pictured her. I was choking and sobbing because she (and the whole cover, really) was so perfect. My husband jumped off the couch and rushed to me in worry, asking me who’d died. True story.

5. Got any cute pet pictures?

Why, of course. Mackenzie the Bernese Mountain Dog wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Dude. Awesome Hat.

6. Drop some hints about book two.

One, it’s allllll about sex, by nature of the hero and his tragic past. Two, it has my most favorite (and by that I mean the most twisted) character I’ve ever written (who also gave me the most trouble). And three, you will never look at city buses in the same way again.

7. Do you listen to music when you write? What kind? Now look to your left and tell us what you see.

I’m one of those people who can’t write to music, but I love writing in a super noisy bar or coffee house. One voice is distracting; lots all at once are the best white noise ever. If I do have to drown out the world, I listen to wordless electronica: Explosions in the Sky, Boards of Canada, that kind of thing.

Looking to my left … over the giant, furry dog hangs a board made of wine corks I pieced together myself. I used to remember for what occasion I drank all those bottles, but hell if I know now. Tacked on it are magazine photos of things I will never buy, a timeline for book 2, my first business card, and drawings from my kid that say “For Mom” in that wonderful, shaky writing.

8. What’s next for you?

Book 2, A Taste of Ice, is currently snuggling with my editor and awaiting release on December 31, 2012. Also fighting for the sheets is a novella in the Elementals world, to be included in a Berkley Sensation anthology, Unbound, with Angela Knight, Jennifer Ashley and Jean Johnson. I’m working on a hot bonus scene between Gwen and Reed to be released to my newsletter subscribers, and another extra (hopefully) to be released around the time of A Taste of Ice. Between those, more book proposals!

Contest

Hanna: To one winner I’m giving away three great books, all releasing July 3: my own LIQUID LIES, Roni Loren’s MELT INTO YOU (format of your choice), and Britt Bury’s THE DARKEST DAY (ebook only). Good luck and happy reading! I hope you discover a new author to love.

Rules

Void where prohibited. Must be 18 or older to enter. US residents only. No purchase necessary. Winner will be chosen via Random.org on or about Saturday July 7, 2012. You must comment by Midnight Pacific Friday July 6, 2012.

To Enter

To enter leave a comment in which you caption the photograph of Mackenzie the Bernese Mountain Dog. As you can see, I have myself added a caption. Go.

Tags: Contest, Cute dog, Hannh Martine
Posted in Authors, Contests, Interview | 14 Comments »

Brenda Novak at the Riskies

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

The fabulous Brenda Novak is at the Riskies with an amazing blog about her writing journey, self-publishing backlist and titles that didn’t sold. There’s a book giveaway, too. DON’T MISS IT!!

Go read about Brenda and all that she does at the Riskies

Tags: Brenda Novak, Risky Regencies
Posted in Authors, Writing | Comments Off on Brenda Novak at the Riskies

Writer's Diary