The sexiest yet most tragic power

Great Moments from Last Night's Reading
Book: Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre
Page: 285
Okay, I'll stop fawning over this book, and I won't spoil the ending except to say that it has a perfect and delicious balance of action, character fun (including the full, freaky flowering of a crazy-ass secondary character) and excellent psychological/emotional ramifications to things.

Anyway, for me, my emotional center of the book comes with this wonderful moment of dancing on p. 285 that Chance and Corine have, and all these different things come together in it. I was so taken by it, even though it's seemingly quiet. I think it's almost easy to miss.

Let me set the stage
Our heroine, Corine, and her sexy ex Chance are with their pal Chuch, settling into a sketchy dangerous sort of bar hoping to find a mercenary who might know something to help them in their desperate search for Chance's mother. They're hoping Chance's luck will lead them to the right scary guy.

"Do your thing, [Chuch] murmured to Chance.

I had no idea what I should be doing, if anything, so I took my beer with a nod of thanks and waited for some sign from Chuch. He merely sat there, quiet, drinking, and looking watchful. I guessed you couldn't hurry something like this. Chance, on the other hand, fairly crackled with purpose. What must it be like to be able to focus your will and shake whatever you needed from the cosmos?

A song comes on the jukebox that Corine really loves.

Chance touched me on the arm. "I can do this and dance at the same time," he whispered. "You want to?" I must've looked astounded because he added, "I can, you know. I just never did. Not with you."

From his expression, he regretted it, but back then, he didn't want to lose control.

And they have this wonderfully written dance:

I took his hand - five steps to the dance floor, and the world went away. There was just the rhythm and the desperate longing in the singer's voice.

And so they lose themselves in each other and then when they come up for air, a scary fellow has joined their pal Chuch at the table; the way I read it, their absence had allowed it to happen.

Chance's luck: so sexy.
Chance's luck is so fascinating that way. It's a sort of super one-ness with possibility more than muscle or force. It attracts more than alters things. It's magnetic, a pull instead of a push. I think it's interesting that words like charm and charisma can mean magical gifts as well as personal sparkle. That's the deal with Chance--he's all charm and charisma with that luck of his.

Chance's luck: so tragic.
What's tragic about it though, is that it hurts the people around him when there's trouble; when you're with Chance, it's never him who will catch the bullet or be standing under the piano when the rope breaks. It's whoever he's with. He has an old lover, and we don't know much except she died. Who knew luck was such a potentially isolating power!

Corine pays a price of physical pain with her power, but I found myself wondering if this is the price Chance pays--that the people around him get it instead of him. In a way, that phrase: rhythm and the desperate longing is so poignantly Chance. At the end of the book, there is still some mystery around his luck. I loved that.

To savor - or to ravish wildly!

Great Moments in Last Night's Reading
Book: Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre
Page: 111
Spoiler level: very low

Here's the thing with Blue Diablo: I want to savor the world and characters and cool writing, but I also want to tear through it like a kid at Christmas. I’m so into it!

For one, I’m highly curious about the unfolding mystery—esp. last night, as an exciting piece of information turned up that I won’t divulge. (Except to say this: eeep!) Also, I love how the magic is layered just below the surface of our actual world.

Unlike with many paranormal/UF books, you can actually believe that this world could exist on this planet at this moment. (Unlike, say, BDB, where you’d think Anderson Cooper would've taken notice by now.) The Mexico/Texas setting totally adds to that. And the powers have grown in coolness from when I first noted same. But what struck me most last night was the characters.

Actual humans for characters
The characters here are so like real people, especially the two we start the book with, Corine and Chance. I really get them, right down to how they dress or decorate their homes. I get that that Chance drives when they go somewhere, I know what that says about his personality and also what it means when he doesn’t drive. It make the book like a friend.

Corine and Chance’s raw and broken relationship
This is one of my favorite things about the book, this compelling and expertly drawn picture of a couple who broke up many months ago, but who are still raw from their wounds, and still half in love. Chance and Corine have sworn each other off, but this quest has thrown them back together.

Their knowing each other so intimately makes for all kinds of cool minor details like this: He ate with silent economy that told me he knew he needed the fuel more than he wanted the food.

And poignant moments like this (Corine narrating):

I stood for a moment, wrapped in my plush hotel bathrobe, and watched him sleep. Somehow he always looked innocent in repose, a ridiculous premise if you knew him at all.

As I turned, I heard him whisper, “no, don’t go.”

I didn’t hesitate because he wasn’t alive in the moment with me but remembering in dreams, perhaps remembering someone else as well, In a remote corner of my mind, I wondered whether he had spoken those words aloud as the door closed behind me. Could I believe he’d loved me once?

That scene of her leaving him all those months ago slides back now and then in exquisite and haunting ways. I also enjoy how their relationship continues to evolve within its brokenness:

Chance turned his head, and in the sunlight angling through the window, his eyes looked inexpressibly weary. “Thanks.”

I tried to smile. “You’re welcome.”

Jesus, I didn’t know what to do with this Chance. He frightened me with his intensity Once, I’d believed he was all cool calculation, but I was starting to think that maybe he’d hidden a lot of what he felt. I just didn’t know why.

“Nothing in the world is like I thought was.” He paused before adding quietly, “not even you.”

Ooof. Okay, and I just have to put out this description, so bewitching, and emblematic of the story:

The sun was setting by that point, blazing fire over the Sierra Madre. Slate and charcoal clouds gathered over the mountains in the distance. The highway uncoiled before us like a dark, patient snake.

Dark, patient snake!! Dude!

What is Ann Aguirre trying to hide about Blue Diablo? Miss Doreen's explosive interview!

Please give a warm welcome to Ann Aguirre, who has agreed to stop by and talk about Blue Diablo! We're so excited to have her here! And also, please welcome Miss Doreen on her first interview here at Thrillionth Page.

***

Miss Doreen: Hello Ann! My goodness, your book hit the stands this past week! Congratulations! Carolyn Jean started it the other night and she's been gushing about it rather embarrassingly (see below), but I have some reservations. I noticed, for instance, that your heroine wears a 'western look' outfit on the cover. I can't help but think there might be cowboy menages in this book. Are there?

Ann Aguirre: The outfit is misleading, I am afraid. As readers have noticed, the cover model is a bit sexed up in comparison with the real Corine. She sports "hippie chic" in the book. As for menage, I am sorry to report none.

Miss Doreen: Then what exactly is this book about?

Ann Aguirre: It's a totally kick-ass urban fantasy, completely devoid of vampires, weres or fairies. I give the world a Southwestern twist and fill it with the mythos and culture of Mexico. There's action, humor, some kissing, things blow up, and I just generally beat the crap out of my characters. Trust me, you will love it.

Miss Doreen: Are you sure you aren't just saying that there aren't any menages, and then when I read your book, I'll find myself drawn firmly and inexorably into a torrid menage scene that I'll have no choice to read?

Ann Aguirre: You should really read it, just to be sure.

Miss Doreen: You talk a good game, Ms. Aguirre, but how do you explain the following comments, which you recently made on Stacy's blog when discussing this series??

"The cool thing about cross-genre is that I have a little more leeway than straight romance [...] I can even offer the heroine several male leads to choose from, and explore various options as I go."

And later you say, "I can also fiddle around with several sexy love interests." Please explain this in full detail.

Ann Aguirre: That's the beauty of urban fantasy. In a romance, the hero has to be clear from the very beginning or the reader may wind up conflicted about who should get the girl. In UF, that kind of confusion is fine. Now mind you, I am not necessarily talking about a love triangle, rectangle or parallelogram. It just means Corine doesn't exactly know what she wants at this juncture, and she's learning as she goes, just like any single woman in real life.

I intended Chance and Jesse as possibilities when I wrote the book. Here are some descriptions to whet your interest.

Chance:

My heart gave a little kick. After all this time, he still had the power to make my pulse skip. Some genius genetics had gone into Chance's making: long and lean, chiseled face with a vaguely Asian look, capped by uncanny tiger eyes and a mouth that could tempt a holy sister to sin. I wondered if he'd felt the last kiss I brushed against that mouth, eighteen months ago. I wondered whether he'd missed me or just the revenue.

To make matters worse, he knew how to dress, and today he wore Kenneth Cole extremely well: crinkle-washed shirt in Italian cotton, jet with a muted silver stripe, dusty black button-fly jeans, polished shoes, and a black velvet blazer.

Jesse:

I gave him the once over, an intriguing mix of long, tall Texan in battered boots, touched with Latin heat. He had legs that stretched forever in jeans faded almost white, not the kind bought with designer ‘wear’, but Levis washed ‘til the seams and creases got thin. He’d clipped his badge to his belt in plain sight.

As I checked out the rest of him, I admired shoulders showcased by a rumpled white shirt and a forest green blazer. He had a striped tie stuffed in his right jacket pocket, probably to satisfy the letter of the dress code. Nice face, I decided, if scruffy and unshaven. Frosting the hunk cake was a tousled mess of tawny, sun streaked hair.

But interestingly enough, readers are asking about me the potential in Booke and Kel, as well. To learn about those two, you really need to read the book. However, at this point, I am not ruling anyone out except Chuch, who is happily married to Eva, and Eva is Corine's friend. (Look, urban fantasy with female friendships!) And there will be more added in books two and three. I have no interest in writing about Corine as some kind of queen bee.

Miss Doreen: Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but I'm sure all the readers are thinking it: Jesse seems to be wearing battered boots. What's more, isn't it true that with some writers, their characters sometimes come up with their own ideas, and they have to write them? Are you that kind of writer? What if Corine desires a cowboy menage involving Jesse and Chance? Will you be able to stop her?

Ann Aguirre: I suspect Chance would put Jesse through a window before agreeing to share Corine with him, but as one reader said (*waves to Kat*), an empath would be a good third in a relationship.

Miss Doreen: I understand your copy editor wrote you a fan letter on your upcoming Jax book. That's really impressive and unusual, my dear. However, the content of that letter has me a bit concerned. Here is the portion I'm concerned about. Your copy editor writes:

Really good stuff, both the love story and the main plot.

The [spoiler redacted] are simply overpowering. Got to the point where [spoiler redacted] and said to myself, You do not want to read this just before going to bed. Fortunately, I was right, as became clear the next day after finishing it. The [spoiler redacted] was so affecting I had to get up and walk around before being able to get back to the job. WOW!!!

Forgive me for again pointing out the obvious, but I can only think of one sort of scene that elicits that type of reaction in a man. What's more, readers of the Thrillionth page are not stupid. I think they will find it suspicous that if one were to put variations of the phrase "cowboy menages" in where it says [spoiler redacted] that the letter works perfectly? If he's not talking about what I think he's talking about, then to what does this copy editor refer?

Ann Aguirre: I'm afraid I cannot answer this. It would constitute a major spoiler and that would make Jax fans sad. However, it is definitely not a cowboy menage, nor does Jax get it on with March and Vel. (I'm writing that under a sekrit online handle. Hey, I'm allowed to write my own fan-fic!)

Miss Doreen: Well good luck with your deadline! And thanks for stopping by, Ann--it has been fun to talk with you. Readers: Learn more about Blue Diablo and read an excerpt here!

Win a copy of Blue Diablo!
Readers, are you convinced by Ann's arguments? Or do you think this is a case of thou doth protest too much? Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a copy so you can clear up this mystery for yourself, and see exactly why Patricia Briggs says:

"Ann Aguirre proves herself yet again in this gritty, steamy and altogether wonderful urban fantasy. Outstanding and delicious. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next."

Contest Rules: Contest lasts 24 hours (It ends 9 am Friday, Central Time) and the winner will be randomly selected from commenters on this post and announced here tomorrow. Winner will also be contacted via email, so a valid email address must be provided for the comment to be entered in the giveaway. I think a link with your comment will work, as long as it leads to your email address. Good luck!!