A David Cassidy outrage in comments from my last post must not go unanswered

Often, my commenters are reasonable, rational people, but I have to say I was shocked at two certain comments that came in on my Wicked Game post below, apparently in reaction to my posting of a photo of the ULTIMATE ALL-TIME BEST teen idol who most kicks ass on all other teen idols, including this Ryan fellow.

I think you know who I am talking about. Keith Partridge.

I will let these outrages speak for themselves. First, here is Hilcia's comment. Dear readers, I found all this just as shocking as you must be finding it right now.

Hilcia is somewhat new on the blogging scene, at least to me (visit her at her blog, Impressions, or Musings of a Bibliophile, where she co-blogs with Brie).

Anyway, when contacted, Hilcia got right back to me, and responded like any reasonable person: she was mortified she'd said that and totally didn't mean it.

From Hilcia's email:
CJ, Now that you e-mail me, I notice that when I posted I made an error. I was excited about Wicked Game and posted Shaun instead of DAVID CASSIDY!

DAVID CASSIDY Rocks, that's what I meant to say.... **sigh** ...When he sang "I think I Love You" I used to melt like a grill cheese sandwich.

CJ NOTE: right on sister! I THINK I LOVE YOU is an amazing song. David Cassidy is AMAZING!

HILCIA CONTINUES: Never mind when he wore one of of those little leather chokers around his sexy neck --THEN the panting would start -- AND, when singing, he always looked sideways..

CJ NOTE: Totally! The sideways look! It is so coy and mysterious yet manly, and sexy. **Pant pant** Personally, I was always partial to his puka beads, but those leather chokers did have a certain dangerous charm...

HILCIA: ...while tossing his shiny hair and puckering his sexy lips **sigh, sigh** -- THEN, the drool would just fall and gather on my chin.

CJ NOTE: Hilcia, I am just falling out of my chair thinking of this. You have practically written my post for me. David is the essence of all manhood.

HILCIA: I'm not even going to mention the pants... no, I'm not going there, because then I would have to cop to fainting spells, lolol!

CJ NOTE: Oh, yes, please do mention the pants! Yes, yes.

The pants...
Twenty minutes later
Dear readers, click here if you want to see the lameness that is today's "hottest bachelors:" Chace Crawford, Chris Pine, yada yada, as reported on by an unimpressed Kati. These men have nothing on David. Unfortunately, not everybody understands this.

Exhibit 2: Leslie's comment. Leslie runs the blog Leslie's Psyche. She has always seemed like such a nice person to me, so I contacted her, assuming it was a mistake--I wanted to give her a chance to clear her good name.

Below I have reproduced the hugely troubling email from Leslie. As you can imagine, I nearly choked on my coffee. It pains me to even let it be on my blog:

Leslie SEZ: Why Shaun Cassidy rules over David Cassidy:
1) The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries - one of the best shows ever. Joe Hardy was a smart, brave hero who always solved the mystery. The Partridge Family - *rolls eyes* Keith spent the show combing his hair and hitting on girls while Danny spent it pulling pranks on Keith. CJ: totally not true!


2) Shaun has golden locks that feather more naturally than David's mousy brown hair. CJ: Cough sputter cough. See photos above.

3) Shaun drives a cool van in the Hardy Boys. David drives a bus that looks like it was painted by someone on an acid trip. CJ: umm, no comment.
4) Shaun as Joe Hardy is smart, funny and brave. David as Keith Partridge is constantly made to look like an idiot by Danny. CJ: Danny would've made mincemeat of Shaun!

5) Shaun can sing way better than David. Da Doo Ron Ron is a classic. I Think I Love You - David's voice squeaks. (No, wait. That's Peter Brady.) Still, David can't sing, his step-mom was the real singer in the band. CJ: Da Doo Ron Ron? What does that even mean? I think it demonstrates a poor grasp of the English language.
6) Shaun is 3 inches taller than David. Shaun - 5'11. David - a short 5'8.

And if the attached Rolling Stone picture is what you consider attractive, well CJ, I think you're even scarier than Little CJ. CJ: Umm. *g*

And there's the pic of Shaun, David and Shirley. Shaun looking good in jeans. David wearing bizarre shiny pants. CJ: Uh, Hilcia? Help!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to watching my Hardy Boys Mysteries Marathon on YouTube.
~Les

Oh, oh, this is all far too distressing! I have to believe this shiny pants photo was photoshopped. David would never wear those pants! As for the RS pic (which Leslie entitled David_Cassidy_mantitty_not.jpg), well, those were some crazy times back then. You have to understand.




Daaaaviiiiiiiddddddd!!!!

The hugely satisfying mix of familiarity and monsteryness in the hero of Wicked Game

It practically takes an act of God to get me to pick up a new vampire series these days, but wow, I'm sure glad I gave this one a whirl. Wicked Game is book 1 of the Ciara Griffin/WVMP radio urban fantasy series by Jeri Smith-Ready. I bought it because I wanted to read Bad to the Bone, Book 2, which came out last month, and I'm constitutionally incapable of starting a series at Book 2.

The plot, quickly: Vampires, stuck forever in the eras when they were turned, work as DJs in a radio station. (The '40's guy does blues, the '60's guy does psychedelia, etc.) and the radio station is in danger of being bought and destroyed; intern Ciara Griffin to the rescue.

Anyway, I am loving the character of Shane MacAllister the youngest of the vamps, who spins grunge (he was turned in the 90's).

The hugely satisfying familiarity of Shane MacAllister

This is an exquisitely and perfectly drawn portrait of the grunge guy, a species that roamed the streets of Minneapolis in small herds in the late 80's and early 90's, though I think even somebody who missed all that would recognize this type of guy--I think he's typical of the counterculture 20-something you find in a number of alternative scenes, and it's just really fun to read about him.

A few of the details that make Shane so 'that guy'

• Shane is sleeping on the couch when Ciara is first introduced to him and his co-workers, but really, he's highly aware of everything going on in the room.
• His blend of ideals and pragmatism is pitch perfect: He opposes the idea of degrading the purity of the station with a cheesy advertising campaign, even if it means it's eventually destroyed, but in the end, he accepts the save.
• He has a genuine rock-guy pedigree but is the first to mock himself ("My first concert was Night Ranger and .38 Special, but don't tell the other DJs. They think it was Black Flag.")

The most perfect Shane scene was when he takes Ciara, who has trust issues with him at this point, to a bluff to watch fireworks, and packs this little picnic, then he somewhat awkwardly pulls out a guitar to sing her a song. Just before he starts, we get this little moment of self-effacement:

He takes a deep breath and blows it out slowly. "I apologize ahead of time for fucking it up."

But then it's actually a very lovely song that he plays well. I never see this type in UFs, and certainly never as the hero. But he's excellent as a hero. He's neither alpha nor beta, just your smart, easygoing buddy who underplays his strengths, but he'll whip them out when he needs to.

The way in which the hugely satisfying familiarity of Shane MacAllister makes his monsterness really intense.

So all the DJs here are a real-life type, they're all a guy (or girl, in the case of the goth girl) that you might work with or be neighbors with. Except the older era vamps, though they seem like somebody's grandfather (in behavior, anyway).

Take Rio, Rhage, Wrath, Eric Northman or Butch for comparison--those guys are already other, at least in my mind. Even Sookie's Bill is other-ish--a Civil War era vet, slightly stiff and clueless. I mean, none of these guys seem like real life guys, so it's not that huge a stretch they might kill and suck blood.It's not like you really know them.

These guys you might know. I mean, the WVMP DJs seem so familiar and friendly, especially Shane, that it is startling to know they have this violent animal nature, and some killed for food, or have it in them to do so. Ciara is constantly having to be reminded--and reminding herself--that they are not human. Shane is not human. He seems so cuddly, and acts so cuddly--it's a just a wonderful effect, wonderful tension. I know other books play this card, but JSR's excellent characterization makes it fresh and powerful.

Is there a saying about this? Like, when something dangerous is embedded in the familiar, that makes it all the more intense?

The also-hugely-satisfying way in which this book relates to the human condition.

It's been said that part of the reason Buffy became so popular is how it sort of pulled some of its truth from real life. Truths like: Nobody ever goes to the high school library. The nerdy kids always turn out more interesting. As soon as you have sex with your high school boyfriend his personality completely changes, and he turns into a monster freak.

The thing about the vampires here is that they are stuck in their eras, and they stop growing, become more empty husk, empty patterns of the past--less and less human and more monster, until eventually, they really are dangerous to society. To me, this is a sad thing that happens to real life people: they grow old, stop taking in new things and get fossilized, somehow less human. But then I also know older people who are interested in the changing world around them, and they continually take in new ideas and learn new things, and they beat the fossilization. Really, we are all on that journey to some extent.

So beyond the external battle with the baddies, there's a poignant internal battle and a character journey for all these vampires - can they stop the dehumanization process? Specifically Shane - can he fight the fossilization of being stuck in his era? Can he learn new things? Play new songs on his radio show? Learn computers? Can Ciara help him?

It's a character journey that doesn't end with this book - I'm looking richly forward to continuing it in Bad to the Bone.

Jeri Smith-Ready interviews at Patricia's Vampire Notes and Bitten by Books.

Proper reviews: Tempting Persephone, Alert Nerd, Musings of a Bibliophile, Leslie's Psyche ...(anybody else? Let me know!)

Miss Doreen interrogates: Partners in Crime

The interrogation transcripts
Dear readers, I have some troubling news. I was alerted to the possible presence of cowboy menages in Partners in Crime, the new double novella by authors Josh Lanyon and Jordan Castillo Price. What alerted me? I give you exhibit A, below, the Josh Lanyon image. As they say, a picture tells a 1000 words.

Needless to say, I dropped everything to look into the situation. I questioned these two devious authors in separate interrogation rooms.

Transcript from Room #1: Author Josh Lanyon
Topic: Lovers and Other Strangers, Lanyon's novella in the Partners in Crime anthology

Suspect profile: This cool customer pens the highly acclaimed, award-winning Adrien English mystery novels. He has also written numerous highly regarded crime novellas and novels, as well as Man, Oh Man!: Writing M/M Fiction for Kinks & Cash.

Miss Doreen: Josh Lanyon, thanks for agreeing to come down to answer these questions. Now, I want to read you something, and you tell me if it sounds familiar:

Recovering from a near fatal accident, artist Finn Barret returns to Seal Island in Maine to rest and recuperate. But Seal Island is haunted with memories, some sweet, some sad; three years ago Finn found his lover in the arms of Fitch, Finn's twin brother. Since that day, Finn has seen neither Conlan nor Fitch. In fact, no one has seen Fitch.

What happened to him? Did Fitch run away, as everyone believes? Or did he meet a more sinister fate?

Miss Doreen: Does that sound familiar?
Josh: It does, yes. It’s from Lovers and Other Strangers, my novella in the Partners in Crime anthology I’m doing with Jordan Castillo Price. It just came out la --

Miss Doreen: Could you please tell us what happened to Fitch?

Josh: Well…no. I mean, it’s a mystery. You have to read the book to find out.

Miss Doreen: Ah, yes, we have to read the book. That’s a little convenient, don’t you think?Josh: * guilty silence *

Miss Doreen: Moving on: Josh, as you know, Carolyn is an embarrassingly avid fan of yours. You’ve done some fine work, and by that I mean in pulling the wool over her eyes. Are you happy now? Do you think you can do the same to me?

Josh: Is she? I mean --

Miss Doreen: Shhh! I’ll do the talking here. When Carolyn heard I’d be interviewing you and Jordan, she got quite excited, wanting to help me choose excerpts to highlight. She liked the one below as a demonstration of the “keen human observation” you bring to your work, and noted that, though it’s not humorous as in your Adrien English mysteries, it’s every bit as satisfying yada yada.

Hiram pulled up in front of the long front porch. Lights shone welcomingly from several downstairs windows.

“Ain't no place like home,” he said, and Finn made a sound in his throat that was supposed to be humor but wasn't.

Or, this, when they are figuring out that nobody has seen this young fellow for THREE years. Oh, let me tell you how she fell all over herself on this dove bit and so forth.

Finn eyed her curiously from the perspective of his years away. She was in her late sixties now, a small, very plump woman with silky white hair - it had been white since her early thirties - and soft dark eyes. Something about her had always reminded him of a dove, though doves were fairly stupid birds and Martha was a far from stupid woman.

Martha said, “Didn't Fitch come to you in New York?”

“Come to me?” That made him blink. What a funny idea - but maybe not so funny because Fitch wouldn't see what he had done wrong, would he? He would expect to be forgiven as he always was by - his words - better half.

“Didn't Fitch follow you to New York?” asked Martha again and she was staring at him hard now, as though only realizing that something was very wrong. But Fitch had always been her favorite. Fitch was everyone's favorite for all he shocked and appalled people with his outrageous - but God, yes, funny - antics. The things he did and said. It was impossible not to love Fitch.

Even when you hated him.

Miss Doreen: Carolyn Jean calls this “a moody, intriguing and beautifully wrought mystery. But we both know different, don’t we? In terms of how it’s wrought?

Josh: How it’s wrought? *g *

Miss Doreen: And here the realization scene. Oh, I suppose it’s intriguing in it’s way. I suppose that is part of your plan, to intrigue us into the mystery, so that we cannot turn back:

But now he sat in the kitchen of the house he had grown up in, the home he had shared for twenty-three years with his twin. Slowly, he worked it out, tried to absorb what it meant. He said, “Fitch isn't here?”

And Martha shook her head slowly, her bright, birdlike eyes wide.

Reading her expression, Finn smiled reassurance, because it seemed ridiculous - like they were talking at cross purposes and they would soon realize what the other actually meant. In a moment they would laugh as the misunderstanding was straightened out. “You mean no one's seen him since…?”

“No.”

“No?” He took it in slowly, absorbing it much like the heat soaking into his chilled body or the alcohol wending its way through his bloodstream - a gradual realization that he was warm and tipsy and…alone in the world.

He said carefully, “No one has seen or spoken to Fitch in three years?”

Miss Doreen: I just have one question: what is the significance of three years? Is your idea of a double entendre?

Josh: You mean like…like a ménage or something? I just thought three years was a long time not to notice your brother was missing. Even he was --

Miss Doreen: Let’s stop horsing around here. I will give you one chance to tell me what this novella is really about.

Josh: It’s about loving and forgiving, coming to terms with the past and learning to live within the present. It’s about the nature of art and the art of living and loving. And of course it’s a murder mystery.

Miss Doreen: That’s a fascinating answer considering that, if you look closely at the cover, it looks like there is another person standing behind the two men. Did you think nobody would notice?

Josh: I -- there is?

Miss Doreen: Let me give you another chance, Mr. Lanyon, to answer the question. We can even make it a hypothetical. Hypothetically, what if these twins were cowboys, and met a third cowboy or cowgirl. Is this starting to sound familiar? What do you think would happen? And what if they were bathing in the sea, so all they had on was their spurs…

Josh: Miss Doreen, it’s an island off the coast of Maine. There aren’t a lot of cowboys. Or even cowgirls. And even if there were…I honestly think their spurs would rust.
Miss Doreen: You want to play it that way? Well, I’m sorry, Mr. Lanyon, but your gig is up. Your partner sold you out. Did you know that? Jordan Castillo Price herself all but confessed that your story is not only about a menage, but a cowboy menage. What do you say now?
Josh: Jordan said my story was about cowboys and ménage? When? I mean, when did she say that? Because there weren’t any. Cowboys. And they didn’t. The cowboys, I mean.

Miss Doreen: Let me stop you right there—I want to give you a chance to help yourself out here. Since she squealed on you, why not just tell my readers how her story is about a cowboy menage, and for proof, please describe the sex scene in detail.

Josh: But Miss Doreen, Jordan’s story takes place on an island in Michigan during an ice storm. There aren’t any cowboys. And if there were…their…er…popsicles would stick together.

Lanyon was all denial from here on in. He insists there is no cowboy menage, yet the Mr Lanyon image wears a cowboy hat. He seems to be at the height of his writerly powers, and he focuses them on enticing and intruguing the reader with all these interesting questions in the first chapter of this novella. He writes it so that a reader feels compelled to read more, to keep turning the pages, drawing her deeper and deeper. Why?

You can be sure I will be examining every inch of his dubious masterpiece and reporting back. More about Mr. Lanyon here.

***

Transcript from Room #2: Author Jordan Castillo Price
Topic: Body Art, Jordan Castillo Price's contribution to the Partners in Crime anthology

Suspect Profile: Jordan Castillo Price is best known as the author of the acclaimed PsyCop series, an unfolding tale of paranormal mystery and suspense starring Victor Bayne, a gay medium who's plagued by ghostly visitations.

Miss Doreen: Welcome, Jordan. Thanks for agreeing to come down voluntarily. Did you know Carolyn has recently purchased several of your Psycop books? And that people are just crazy about that whole series? She can’t wait to read them. Are you aware of all the hubub around you?

Don’t answer that. Of course you are. You are a clever person and a clever writer. This small excerpt from the larger one on your site really impressed poor, sweet, gullible Carolyn. She went on and on about how great it was how we learned all this stuff about your character Ray from what he wanted to hide from the employers:

I’d been so excited to know the answer to that one that I’d leaned forward and allowed my tie to slide out of place. The missing button midway down the shirt gaped. I hadn’t noticed it at the thrift store. I’d just been glad to find a dress shirt for less than three bucks that didn’t need to be ironed. I covered the buttonhole with the tie. And then I realized the gesture had caused my sleeve to ride up and show a glimpse of my ink. Damn it. Maybe they hadn’t noticed.

Full excerpt here.

Miss Doreen: Very clever indeed. Do you see yourself as a clever person, Jordan Castillo Price?

Jordan Castillo Price: I suppose I’d like to. But there’s a fine line between clever and stupid.

Miss Doreen: Is there? Hmmm. * adjusts hairdo, thinking * Never mind! Let me draw your attention to the book description:

His lover has betrayed and swindled Ray Carlucci out of everything he valued, including a tattoo business. Hounded by creditors, weary of heart, he accepts the job of chauffeur and body man for the dying owner of a remote estate. The island, minus its wealthy summer colony, is colorless in winter and Ray thinks he understands why staff on the estate periodically desert.

But, he's baffled by, then drawn to, Anton, the eccentric artist who haunts the forest, bringing strange life to bizarre and disquieting sculptures amidst the ice and trees. When the body of a man who once held Ray's job rises from the frosty earth, Ray wonders what part Anton's wildness has in the escalating violence.

Miss Doreen: So, do you think that fools people into thinking this isn’t a cowboy menage story?
Jordan Castillo Price: Cowboys? On an island in Lake Huron?

Miss Doreen: Right, who can imagine such a thing? What clever fiction writer? Fine, then. Do tell, what is the book about?

Jordan Castillo Price: Body Art is the story about a tattoo artist named Ray who’s lost everything. He takes a job as a chauffer for an elderly couple who live year-round on an island that’s mostly summer homes. Ray thinks he aced the interview because he successfully crammed himself into the mold of a trustworthy, working class guy. But his sexy new neighbor, Anton, tells Ray he looks like a thug playing dress-up.

When it seems like someone who’s not supposed to be there is lurking around the island, Ray starts to wonder if he was hired because if his thuggishness, not in spite of it.

Miss Doreen: Did you know Carolyn Jean Crane loves stories about characters who have lost everything? She will be a sucker for this tattoo artist, this down-and-out fellow drawn into a mystery.

Your cleverness really is admirable. And this poor Ray thinks he was hired for one reason, but perhaps it turns out to be he was hired for an entirely different reason. What could that be?

No! Don’t speak! Allow me to draw your attention to another passage. Here, our hero Ray is woken up by noises in the middle of the night on this deserted island and goes out to the woods to investigate and sees:

A man.

More accurately, the guy in black from the side of the road. Or if you wanted to split hairs, his silhouette. He hung from the lowest branch of a tree, maybe seven feet off the ground, arms and legs locked around the tree limb. His long coat, long hair — and now a long scarf that he'd added to his ensemble — dangled beneath him. He inched forward and caught a smaller branch with one hand. Moonlight glinted off metal as he pulled a blade from the grip of his teeth. He clenched hard with his legs and started to saw at the smaller branch. When he'd sawed about halfway through, he bent the branch back upon itself.

Craack.

"What are you doing?" I called.

His silhouette shifted as he faced me. He tucked the knife away, let go with his legs, hung for a second by his hands, and then dropped. The leaves below him gave off a rumpled sigh.

He trailed the branch he'd cut behind him as he crossed the clearing. It dragged through the fallen leaves with a shish-shish-shish. He walked like a runway model, all attitude and hips. And when he stopped in front of me and tossed his dark hair over his shoulder so he could get a look at me, I forgot how to breathe. He was breathtaking, in a wasted sort of way. All soulful eyes and long sideburns and five o'clock shadow.

"What are you doing?" I said a second time. Because what else could I say? Don't tell me you're an overbooked gardener? Or, it's late? Or, what's it gonna take to get you out of all those clothes?

"I'd tell you," he said. "But then you'd think I'm crazy."

Miss Doreen: What exactly is he doing with that knife? Please correct me if I am mistaken, but is it not the case that cowboys frequently gather wood for their fires after a long day driving the herd?Jordan Castillo Price: There are no fires in Body Art.

Miss Doreen: Please answer the question: is it not the case that cowboys frequently gather wood for their fires after a long day driving the herd?

Jordan Castillo Price: I really can’t say. I’m a city kid. I’ve never met a cowboy.

Miss Doreen: So you won't admit cowboys enjoy campfires. Fine. Now, your character Ray has a number of tattoos. Care to comment on that?
Jordan Castillo Price: The side opposite Ray’s dominant hand is covered with his own work, and the rest of his body features work from his friends and apprentices, and even a tacky piece of flash he got with a fake I.D. when he was 17. It never occurred to Ray that his tattoos would be a liability, and keeping his ink covered is really stressing him out.

Miss Doreen: Have you noticed anything interesting about the cover? And here, I’m talking about the hidden third man. Is it possible that man has tattoos? And that’s why he’s hidden?

Jordan Castillo Price: Huh? You couldn’t wedge a third guy into that cover with a prybar.

Miss Doreen: Let me cut to the chase and save us all some time. There is a third man, behind the other two. What’s more, you need to choose your partners in crime a bit more carefully, Jordan. Because Josh all but said that the man behind the other two men was your character Ray. He also all but said that the men are wearing cowboy hats, and that’s why the photo is cut off there, and he also implied spurs, because they just came in from a swim.

Jordan Castillo Price: Wait -- what? The guys were swimming? With spurs?
Miss Doreen: Yes. Your so called partner was very colorful on that point. I wonder if Josh was projecting. Do you think that’s possible? Considering the cowboy menage content of his story?

Jordan Castillo Price: Are you sure you’re looking at The Art of Dying? Josh’s story was about a painter.

Miss Doreen: Please, you can stop protecting him now. I’m thinking particularly of a specific scene. Oh, dear me, now it’s slipping my mind. Can you remind me of that horribly smutty cowboy menage scene Josh wrote, in full detail?
Jordan Castillo Price: Well, come to think of it…there was that part where Paul threw open the Seal Island Saloon doors and dared anyone to challenge his sexuality. He ended up slung over the bar, greased and naked, with these two Mexican banditos who’d ranged a little farther north than usual…but that was in the first draft. I think Josh might have cut that scene and put in something with a lighthouse instead. Or maybe Paul got killed off. I’m not sure which.

Miss Doreen: * Gasp! * * moment of reflection * Ah, I get it. A comedian. But here is what I think is funny: you say you never met a cowboy, yet who wears a cowboy hat? I refer you to exhibit A.

Here is what else is funny: You make the reader curious about what that hot and mysterious fellow is doing in the woods and why they hired poor Ray, enticing them to read further. You are like a Venus Flytrap, luring the reader in, and then you close your writerly talons around her. You can be sure this reader will not fall into your trap.

Astute readers, you have been warned. Further information on Body Art, Price's novella in the Partners in Crime anthology, can be found here, and more on the works of Jordan Castillo Price here. More excerpts from Lanyon's Lovers and Other Strangers here, and more on Lanyon and his body of work here.

Partners In Crime 4: The Art of Dying, two novellas by Josh Lanyon and Jordan Castillo Price, came out in Trade Paperback just last month from MLR Press; available at most booksellers.

Writerly question of the day: when do you capitalize god/God?

When the word God/god is in the middle of a sentence, do you capitalize it?  I see it both ways, and I never know. Is it correct to say  Oh my God! or Oh my god!  ?   Which is more respectful? Which is considered state-of-the-art in current English? What is the linguistic trend - toward or away? Which is more squiriferous?

Or, what about well, goddamn! or, Goddamnit!  or Goddammit!  If you look at in in dictionary.com, the initial capital is sometimes used, sometimes not. Both are correct. In a word like that, is more or less respectful to capitalize it?  What is the thinking on either side? I swear, I see it both ways in published books!

 

I mean, I know the rule of thumb is if it is a proper name, you capitalize. But when you're saying Oh my God! or Oh my god!, is it even a proper name at that point? 

Then you also have the confusion of God being a proper name, as in, for example, the Christian god, but also, a regular noun, such as in the sentence: Carolyn Crane's husband is such a god!  Or even in the phrase Oh my God! or Oh my god!  are you really talking about a specific god with the proper name of God, e.g. the Christian god, or gods in general, as a concept?

Hey writerly & readerly friends: Do you capitalize or not, and what is your thinking behind it? Please advise!

Image: Creation of the Sun and Moon by Michelangelo, face detail of God, from wiki commons

A TOTALLY non-spoilery discussion of the end of A HINT OF WICKED

I have read and hugely enjoyed a number of historicals at this point, especially Regencies. But I rarely feel the need to ponder them afterward, and I almost never find myself unable to make up my mind about certain moves the author made.

Because of this, a Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore was a huge success with me. I like being challenged. This book made new neural pathways in my brain!!

Do people know that plot by now? Okay, okay.
Nutshell: husband Garrett got amnesia during the war and everyone thought he was dead. He comes back 8 years later to discover his wife Sophie has married his beloved cousin Tristan. Sophie must choose, but she loves them both!!

The book did buck a few conventions. I suppose in part, that’s something that automatically disposed me to like it. But the thing I want to talk about is the ending.

They say that a good ending to a book must be 'unexpected, yet inevitable.'
Was this? I could go in two ways here; I suppose that was my quandary. I was one of the people who didn’t guess which choice Sophie would make. Part of me says, well, maybe Haymore didn’t quite make the case. I mean, we had access to Sophie’s thought process, so you’d think I shouldn’t be surprised.

But then I say, if the case had been made too overtly, I wouldn’t have been surprised, and I love being surprised. I was like, reading inside the last 20 or so pages from the end and I was thinking, OMG, this is great! I still don’t know how this will end! I mean, when does that happen? Usually the suspense is about the how, rarely the who or what!

My possibly half-assed and definitely half-baked thoughts on why this is a unique love triangle...
I'm not exactly the veteran romance reader, but in most love triangles I can think of, (and I totally enjoy triangles) a contender slowly pulls ahead and proves himself, or else one ruins it for himself or reveals himself to be less than, or the heroine and hero have a deepening connection that becomes undeniable.

Here, the woman is sorting out her own feelings and the men aren’t changing—or proving or un-proving themselves. Relationships aren’t evolving on a deep level. It’s so interesting.

My point? The heroine, Sophie, has an unusual amount of agency here. Her waffling can (and has) made people see her as weak, but this is also really how a person decides, esp. here in the Carolyn Jean Crane household. They want two things. They can't have them. They have to dither a while.

Oddly, when I compare Sophie here to say, kickass Anita Blake, Sophie actually had more say-so over her love triangle, because in the Anita Blake triangle, one of the guys would act like a freak in some way and she’d go to the other. Or, in Sugar Daddy, one was clearly not right and the heroine had to get that, even though she didn’t have evidence.

What I'm saying (and as you see, this is the blog version of thinking aloud), in most books, the solution to the triangle comes from outside a heroine as much, if not more, than inside. In this book, the solution comes from almost entirely inside. Both men are right for her. At least, that’s what I thought, and I feel strongly I could make a case for that. So she goes through this period of agonizing indecision, and then comes out of it.

It was all very odd and challenging. I really liked that about this book, and I excitedly looked forward to reading it at the end of the day.

Proper review: The Booksmugglers, Stacy's, Alpha Heroes, Find the Time to Read; Don't Talk just read; Author Interview at Love Romance Passion.

Totally SPOILERY discussion of HOW here!  (Anyone else? Let me know!) 

A shameless hussy, a freak & ominous acts of crafting

Nicola: Shameless! 

Our Miss Nicola over at Alpha Heroes has five copies of Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey to give away, plus a review!  I can't wait for this book. Anyway, head over for a variety of ways to win it--leaving comments, links, etc. Today, you must peruse her archives, find a post you like, and gush to her about how very BRILLIANT she is and why!!  Oh, Nicola, Nicola!! 

**Little CJ scribbles down the idea in case she ever has books to give away.**

UPDATE! Another chance to win!!!!: You can read another review and get another chance to WIN a copy of this fabulous sounding book over at Book Smugglers! 

Me: A Freak!

Okay, so I went to the dentist today to get my teeth cleaned, which I am the world's biggest baby about, due to an evil childhood dentist. 

Anyway, I always freak out during the part when they scrape my teeth (don't even ask about what happens when I get drilled), but today I had this technique where I thought about this one scene in A Hint of Wicked, which I'd been reading in the waiting room. Actually, this one kiss--a reassuring kiss, where the character Sophie is kind of lending strength to another with the power of her love, and I sort of ran that scene like a movie. 

I almost didn't even write this in this post because, is that not SO pathetic? But it was such a nice emblematic, turning point sort of scene, a kind of all-will-soon-be-right-with- the-world scene, I just found it hugely comforting to think about. (pp. 267-268) And I had no cavities! Whew. Thanks, Jennifer Haymore.  Your Sophie gave me such strength during my ordeal!

PS: You can win a copy of Hint of Wicked over at Stacy's place!!

Little CJ: Busy crafting!

Oddly, little CJ really has been making lots of crafts these days, muttering about sidebars and people ignoring her award. She tells me that she is making dolls for the poor, but I have a bad feeling about what exactly she means by the poor. . .the poor who?

Little CJ's blogger award

Carolyn Crane: Hey Crazy Little CJ! We haven't seen you in a while. Where've you been?

Crazy Little CJ: Cut the small talk Carolyn Jean. Oh, excuse me, I forgot - Carolyn Crane. So, you know what I hate?

Carolyn: My goodness, somebody is in a surly mood.

Little CJ: Well I've only been stuck hanging on your wall for four decades.

Carolyn: Okay, what do you hate?

Little CJ: Blogger awards.

Carolyn: What?!?! How can you say that? It's really sweet when people give out Blogger awards. It's like a recognition of something that can so often go unrecognized.

Little CJ: Take your head out of your ass, Carolyn. If it was a real award, it would have a little something called a PRIZE that goes with it. Instead, it has a chore. Like, hey here's a digital picture made by some freak I don't know who probably lives in their parent's basement and has nothing better to do than make awards. Woo-hoo! Now go ahead and copy it off my blog do a post about it and bug some people with it. And if they don't happen to read your blog every day - there's a shocker - then you have to email them.

Carolyn: Little CJ, I am so disappointed in you. Yes, it carries an obligation, but it's more in the spirit of paying it forward.

Little CJ: Uh, actually, Carolyn Crane, I believe that's known as spirit of a chain letter. You'll have bad luck if you don't pass it on, or like, the person who gave you this will think you are a jackass who thinks they're too good for awards.

Carolyn: Not at all! Blog awards create an occasion to formally admire other people's blogs. Blogs are an unpaid labor of love and it feels good to get blog awards. They say, Hey, I like your blog, now you go and share the love.

When I do those awards, I like to look at the blogs I'm visiting a lot lately and really think about why I enjoy them, and then I say so.

Little CJ: What about the two Dardos conspiracy posts? What? Was that a fugue state?

Carolyn: That was just silly fun. I have nothing against awards.

Little CJ: Good, because I have a blog award for you.

Carolyn: You do?
Little CJ: Yeah, I put it on your sidebar. What do you think? Who are you going to award it to? You have to award it to one person.

Carolyn: Oh! Little CJ! That's an awful award! I don't think I like that award at all! And I'm not going to give it away.

Little CJ: Okay, well, I have to go.

Carolyn: Where are you going?
Little CJ: I have some crafting to do.

Carolyn: Hold on! Okay, what are the rules?

Little CJ: Are you dense? You have to award it to two people or I will make a voodoo doll of you and stick pins in it. Was that not clear? And if those two people do not award it to two other people, I will make voodoo dolls of them, and stick pins in them.

Carolyn: Okay, I award it to Lisabea of Nose In a Book and Ana at Book Smugglers.

Little CJ: Now, was that so hard? Lisabea of Nose in a Book and Ana at Book Smugglers. They sound like a nice people. I will have to visit their blogs soon.

Carolyn: *silently contemplates redecorating her office*

Carolyn Jewel: do you think I'm a sucker?

Great Moments from Last Night's Reading
Book: Scandal by Carolyn Jewel
The view from halfway through

Yes, you read that right, do you think I'm a sucker? Do you think I will fall for your little trick of making your heroine Sophie a writer and lover of trashy books? The poor girl, nearly ruined by her no good husband, scribbling away at night, publishing under a secret name, having to hide her unladylike pursuit from from society? Yes, apparently you think I will be easily enchanted by all of this.

And you are right! I'm totally enjoying it. I'm eating it up. I love reading about lady authors.

And Banallt, what a great hero. It's not enough that you give him such a cool name, or make him the reformed rake--no, you make him a fan of Sophie's trashy novels. How can I resist?

Scandal toggles between two time periods: 1812, when Banallt was still a rake and first met Sophie, and 1815, when they meet again and Banallt's reformed but Sophie doesn't believe it.

The fun writer scene
There's this great scene that takes place in 1812 when Banallt is staying in Sophie's home as a guest of her drunkard, soon-to-die husband and Banallt discovers this manuscript Sophie's been working on and she discovers him reading it, and she's horrified he'll realize she's this authoress. They have this wonderful exchange where all she wants is for him to put down her manuscript and leave her, but he won't let go of it.

When she finally confesses her pen name, it turns out he has read and loved nearly all her books.

Lord Banallt sat up. He was still holding her pages, drat the man. "Not The Murder of Gilling Fell?"

"You've read it?" Her heart leaped.

He brought in his legs and leaned toward her. "Can this be so? The authoress of The Desert Corsair and The Orphan of Hopewell Moor sits beside me?

"I'm astonished," she said. Despite herself, she was immensely flattered. "You've read my books?

They go back and forth a bit until slowly, she realizes what a dreadful mistake she'd made putting her secret in the hands of a man like Banallt. She begs him not to tell her husband or anybody. There's this little power dance, and a kind of insinuation creeps in that perhaps he'll be silent in exchange for certain sexual favors, but then he assures her, "Your secret is safe with me, Mrs. Evans."

She stepped back and hit the chair. He caught her upper arm, steadying her. He leaned closer. "Lovely, sad little Sophie Mercer Evans," he said in the voice of Satan himself. "When I take you to bed, I assure you, it won't be because I've coerced you. It will be because you want to be there."

Oh, what a proper thing for a rake to say!

How to tell if your other suitor is WORTHLESS
Then, as if this isn't enough, in the 1815 timeline when Sophie is a widow, there's this quite suitable Duke by the name of Vedaelin vying for her affections. Here is all you need to know about him--when he and Sophie discuss the fate of a young heiress being duped by a gold digging cad, Vedaelin says:

This, Ma'am, is what comes of a girl whose reading is not strictly regulated."

She [Sophie] turned to a path less crowded. Vedaelin followed. "How so?" she asked.

"Horrid novels, Mrs. Evans." His expression of revulsion told her everything she needed to know about his opinion of such works.

Yeah. Say no more, Vedaelin. It's not like the novel thing takes central stage here, but I love how it's used. Half through, Scandal is completely and totally delivering on a lot of the reasons I love Regencies - the world of clothes and carriages and rules, and the nobility of the heroes. All so very delicious.

Proper reviews: Isn't It Romance, Renee's Book Addiction, Book Binge, Dear Author; Paintings from Wikipedia commons: portrait of Queen Caroline of Naples by Giuseppe Cammarano; portrait of Adam Mickiewicz by Walenty Wańkowicz.

Ohde on a certain vampire brotherhood

Every once in a while somebody lands here off a weird search term. My top term is still sex with wolf (more on that here) but today somebody came off the search term Black Dagger Brotherhood poems.

I couldn't resist following the trail of crumbs, and I landed on a site called Pussdragon's Poems and Pictures. Her real name is Ilona Fenton, and indeed she does have a BDB poem! She says please don't use without acknowledgement, so I'm acknowledging the heck out of her. Hopefully this is sufficient - I don't want to be a rip off. Anyway, the following poems were inspired by dark alpha males, and there are more of them on this page of her site. Maybe she has written one of your favorite book.

Black Dagger Brotherhood

Tohrment, Vishous, Rhage
Zsadist, Phury and Wrath
Together we stand tall
Keeping to the path

For we are the brotherhood
The warriors of our nation
We fight the evil Lessers
For our peoples salvation
ilona fenton
18/02/2007
based on J R Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood

Even though I haven't read Dark Hunters, my fave of the bunch is this--I think it's totally humorous:

AKRI
Can I eat him Akri?
I've got my barbeque sauce!
He'll taste all hot and crunchy -
No? Then can I eat his horse?
Where's my plastic Akri?
There's pretties on QVC!
Can I buy them Akri?
And eat them for my tea?

Why go to Artemis Akri?
When I am by your side?
I really hate her Akri,
I really loathe that bitch's hide!
Am I still your favourite Akri?
Though what I did was bad?
Nick was good to me Akri -
We didn't mean to make you sad!

I really love you akri
More than all the rest
I really love you Akri
You're absolutely the best!

ilona fenton
13/05 /2006
Based on Sherrilyn Kenyon's
Dark Hunters

Thanks, Ilona!

The top secret Casa Dracula emails!

Recently, my pal Renee from Renee's Book Addiction and I discovered we'd both been reading Marta Acosta's Casa Dracula series, and started chatting about it in emails. 

So, are you insanely curious now? Are you dying to know what was said in those emails? To learn of our every minute observation on Milagro and her modern Dracula world?  

Well, friend, you're in luck! In our top secret blog lab we morphed our email conversation into a kind of conversational post--I'm not sure what to call it, but it was great fun and quite interesting (to me at least), and it's up at her place. 

I Can Has Outlander

Okay, I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend!!

I'm going out of town, assuming I can pull myself away from this LOL cat builder thingy.

Thanks to Kati for the heads up on it!

Palace of Sexy Reversed

Great Moments from Last Night's Reading

Book: Happy Ending by LB Gregg

Spoiler Level: LOW

So are people reading this book and digging it like I am? Is there a buzz? I've been so AWOL I don't even know what's up in blogland, but I know I'm loving this even more than Gobsmacked - the details, the smart humor, the magical way these two characters mesh. But really what I want to talk about from last night’s reading is the first person alpha perspective.

First person alpha: Whoa!

Has anybody else noticed this? I know it's not unusual to get an alpha male point of view per se. I mean, you get it in almost any romance or paranormal told in third person: at some point, it switches to the alpha male mind. But what’s so fun and fascinating to me** in Happy Endings is that it's first person so it stays in first-person narrator Seth's alpha male mind. You get the alpha mind in scenes you normally wouldn’t.

Like, I’ll be reading along and think, wow, if this was BDB, this scene would TOTALLY be told out of the woman’s mind. I’m specifically talking about scenes of sexual domination/bossiness.

Below is the scene where it first really struck me. Seth and David have been standoffishly dancing around each other, but suddenly they’ve arranged this tryst, which is to happen in the back of the restaurant where David works. Seth goes out and waits in the dark and watches David.

He [David] yanked that tie from his neck with one hand, jerking it loose, and then stuffing it into his back pocket. He unbuttoned the top couple buttons of his shirt, and ran a hand through his hair. He waited there at the top of the stairs, spotlit, enjoying the freedom from work, I guessed. Taking in the night air. Or trying to figure out if I was out there, lying in wait in the shadows.

This was such a kick, because I’m so used to being in the head of the character wondering if the alpha is out there, not the alpha laying in wait. Then David spots Seth and goes to him. Here, again, from alpha Seth's mind:

He stopped in front of me. “So we doing this thing or what?”

Relieved that we were on the same page, I wrapped a hand around his wrist and pulled him into my chest, dragging him back into the shadows around the side of the building. I felt Neanderthal.

“My place is right up the stairs—”

I thrust his lithe body into the brick; his breath escaping in a whoosh. Startled, he looked up at me, his mouth hanging open, those blue eyes huge in the moonlight. Before he could protest or finish his sentence, I licked his lower lip to shush him. […] His eyes closing was all the permission I needed before I brought my mouth to his again.

Not only is it unusual, but it's really well done; there's an ocean of thoughtful understanding behind how Seth's perception is created. Like with this later:

He made a noise deep in his throat that spurred me on, because—truthfully? I wanted my cock in there. In about a minute I was going to put it there. I wanted to press him down to his knees. I wanted to bind him with that tie. I wanted to fuck him while I stood in the parking lot over him and he was helpless, at my mercy, as the cars drove up West Street and I took him in the darkness.

What was wrong with me?

And then David is giving Seth a blow job and this whirls through his head:

I latched on to him and with no finesse, no concern for the welfare or the comfort of this new partner, I fucked his mouth hard.

And he took it willingly. Sweetly.

“You like that? You like it rough?” My God what had come over me? I didn’t even know this guy. I didn’t know myself. I was out of control, but Christ did he seem to enjoy it.

So unusual! Why?

Why is this sort of moment almost always told from the David point of view in books I read? I think maybe it's more dramatic if you're on the David end, and I think women are more likely to be on the David end, and so there's a deep identification factor that adds to the drama.

My writing mentor used to say, Don't give the reader what they want, give them something better. I think this is a case of that, because it's so cool to be in Seth's mind here. Seth acts a bit like a jerk here, but he is so self aware, it makes it interesting. He feels Neanderthal but does the stuff anyway. And remains a lovable character. Little by little, he learns and grows and shapes up. Most satisfying.

So, after the scene above, Seth comes on his face and jerks David off later. Then there’s this awkward bit where Seth sort of snaps to his senses and hopes he hadn't pushed David down into poison ivy or glass. And as David is walking away, up to his apartment: “That’s when I remembered that he’d tried to invite me into his place. He lived right there. The light flipped on, the door closed and I was standing there with my pants down."

I found that just so poignant, that realization of Seth's that it didn't have to be that way. And poor David probably hadn't wanted it quite like that, either. He wanted to invite Seth up! The drama of this is absolutely juicy. I can't wait to see how it plays out in the rest of the book.

Happy Ending Ebook (only $4.50!!) available here. Excerpt here.

**Please note: I’m not as widely read in M/M as some people, so this is more the ramblings of a reader who dabbles in all romance/fantasy/erotica subgenres, which by my lights includes M/M. I’m not trying to say there aren’t other alpha male first person POVs out there - likely there are. I just haven’t read them.

I have been such a bad blogger! + photos.

I have two giant work deadlines I've been working toward, both not done and both hitting today, so no novel writing and no blogging. 

Wait! Ooops! What am I doing here? Just posting photos. *coughbloggingcough*. Here's husband Mark and me and the puppy Ben who lives downstairs.  He's our landlords' puppy, a labradoodle. Isn't he the cutest boy ever? Here I am experiencing his sharp little shark-teeth.

We have this setup where I walk, or actually sprint around the neighborhood with Ben twice a day for a break on rent, because the landlords are older and can't run.  It's totally fun and gets me away from the computer.

I think it ends up being a mile of high speed sprinting every day--I should probably be paying the puppy as a personal trainer. Even though I'm a jogger, I have no occasions in life where I actually run as fast as I can. That seems weird. 

When Mark comes, he runs ahead and Ben and I chase him. It's quite fun. 

Reading update

 I'm currently reading Happy Endings by LB Gregg and Scandal by Carolyn Jewel and just loving them. I have tons to say about both of them.  Have had many great moments of last night's reading I am dying to talk about.  

I started Happy Endings first, so I'll talk about it first, hopefully tomorrow! This interesting thing on the alpha first person POV, which I am digging. OMG what am I doing here? I have to get back to work.  

Reading vampire and zombie novels: a waste of time? NOT!

You have been picking up valuable, useful self defense skills!

Favorite lines: "I only need 3-5 seconds to tear enough flesh from the face so that, emotionally, he is out of the fight." (2:40) the mechanics of biting as exemplified by fierce dogs (near the middle), and the end when he practices on a raw steak tied to his opponent and then, the raw steak itself.



According to my martial arts aficionado husband, there's also a whole move where guys just jump onto a person and literally go for the jugular. OMG! I also rather like the tires in the background for the extra streety effect. 

Actually, the discussion of avoiding the pesky hydroplaning effect when attempting to tear at a guy's flesh could actually be useful to anyone writing books featuring zombies or miscellaneous non-pointy-tooth biting paranormals. 

The Racy Files!

How narcissistic am I? How many times do I really check my stats every day? What dark truth of my pathetic reality has driven Jessica, one of the most discerning and meteoric minds in the blogosphere, to retreat into a bottle of Glenburgie? [re: image - any similarity to Jessica's current reality is purely accidental and not intentional.]

 JESSSICCCAAAA! I'm sorry! 

The answers these questions and more at the always fabulous Racy Romance Reviews!  In an interview I am actually so honored to do!  Thanks so much for including me in your fun investigative project, Jessica. 

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.