Please Stand By

Have you ever looked at your blog and been like, OMG! Has it been THAT long since I've posted?

Needless to say, things have gotten a bit crazy around here: day job deadlines, novels that won't write themselves and where the heck is that author website I'm lovingly creating? And is that a laundry basket hidden under the pile of clothes? Plants: don't droop. I swear I will water you today.

Just to let you know...I'm still here. In spirit. And blogging will start back up this coming week. Because I have high hopes that I catch up with everything this weekend. I have a grand dream that everything urgent will be crossed off my list.

Happy Saturday, everyone! Do you have special weekend dreams that you hope will come true?

The conclusion of the sleeper series discussion: the Grave edition

Hey! Happy Saturday and welcome to the thrilling conclusion of Renee (Renee's Book Addiction!) and my fawning discussion of An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris, and the Harper Connelly/Grave series in general, with cameo contrasts with other faves: Kat Richardson’s Greywalker/Harper Blaine books and Harris's Southern Vampire (SV) series.

First off, I’ve taken the liberty of blending the synopsis from Barnes and Noble with the PW synopsis to give you a general synopsis of the Harper Connelly/Grave series:

Ever since Harper Connelly survived a zap from a lightning bolt, she's been able to find dead people, a skill that makes the protagonist in the first installment of Harris's new series a tad more bizarre than the mind-reading heroine of the author's Sookie Stackhouse books. She can sense the final location of a person who's passed, and share their very last moment.

The way Harper sees it, she's providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living-but she's used to most people treating her like a blood-sucking leech. She travels with her step-brother Tolliver, who acts as her manager and bodyguard and with whom she shares a thinly disguised physical attraction that they manage to keep at bay by engaging in casual sex with various partners. She's become an expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out fast. Because for the living it's always urgent-even if the dead can wait forever.

Find part ONE of this discussion is at Renee's Book Addiction.

Part TWO now begins.

Carolyn: You mentioned Kat Richardson’s Greywalker/Harper Blaine books a while back, as a series comparison. I read the first in that series and really loved it and plan to get onto book #2, but you read, I think, all of them! Can you talk about that a little? Compare and contrast?

Renee: I love how the setting of An Ice Cold Grave (AICG) (a harsh winter in a small rural town) was as much an element of threat as was the serial killer.

Kat Richardson’s Harper Blaine series is similar in that she, too, is learning how to negotiate the “otherworld” that she’s aware of, while trying to solve crimes. Like Harris’ Harper Connelly, she’s gained her abilities through a life threatening experience. Both of them are no-nonsense types and loners. And neither of them are kick-ass heroines.

However, what is a really big difference between the 2 series is that Richardson’s Harper is set in a Seattle that is as much a character as any other in the series. Often, the story incorporates details of historic Seattle events or location. And, Richardson does a great job of really bringing Seattle to life. While in Harris’ Grave series, Harper and Tolliver are itinerants, moving from town to town in each book in the series. Setting is also important to each individual story in the Grave series, but that setting is constantly shifting.

Carolyn: That is so true about the settings in both books. I remember that about Richardson’s series so well. The old time Seattle was pervasive, and even claustrophobic. And that’s my experience of the settings in the Grave series. It’s a wonderful effect. I think part of it is that Harper and Tolliver are outsiders wherever they are, and Harper in Richardson’s Harper Blaine series is an outsider to old time Seattle. But I think it’s also a case of great place writing with both of these authors.

Renee: Now, while the Grave series isn’t filled with sexy shifters and vamps like the Southern Vampire series, there is definitely some sexual chemistry floating around. Yet, it’s much more angsty chemistry, imo. What do you think?

Carolyn: How did it take us this long to come around to the sex? LOL. Angsty is a really good way of putting it. Harper and Tolliver are angsty, and I think readers can get angsty about their relationship.

To recap for readers not in the know, Harper and Tolliver were thrown together into a blended family as teens, so there’s a sexual chemistry between them, but also a taboo at work, since they are technically siblings, even though they’re not related by blood, and met as teens. So they are attracted to one another, but one of the questions of the series is if they’ll act on it.

Renee: Yes, I had read somewhere that there was a bit of a squick factor when it came to the potential of their being siblings and possibly being together, but I don’t feel that way. In a lot of ways, they really don’t have anyone else that they could be with. This is partly because they are always moving around, but also I think it’s due the their shared history.

Carolyn: So true! It’s those two against the whole world.

Renee: However, when it came to their relationship, there was such a awkwardness to their emotional and personal dynamics, and IDK if that’s was a deliberate decision on the part of the author or not.

Carolyn: I had zero problem with the potential of them getting together, since they aren’t siblings in any real way. As for physical romance, Charlaine Harris is definitely a “less is more” writer here. Even in the SV series, it’s sexually charged, but there is little sex. I remember feeling like there was a really powerful sex scene in the Sookie/SV books (her and Eric in the shower, then bed) but it was super short. Yet it seemed long because it was so dizzily built up to.

There’s a “less is more” thing in operation here, too. I’m always focused on what will happen between these two, but it’s different from the Sookie-Eric thing because Harper and Tolliver are both more beta than alpha. So, that creates something of a different dynamic. They work so well as characters being oppressed by townspeople, and you root for them, but….ooh, we’ll stop there!

This was so fun, Renee! Another great sleeper series. I’m excited to get the next book, but so sad that it will be the last—we are both mourning that. But, oh well. It’s a quartet, then. A lovely quartet.

INFO:

• First part of this discussion is at Renee's Book Addiction, here.
• If you so totally enjoyed this discussion and are despairing that it is over, check out our rambling discussion about Marta Acosta's Casa Dracula series here.
• Renee reviews Kat Richardson's Underground here.
• Grave Sight, pictured above, is book #1 of the Grave series.

Another sleeper series Renee and I love: Harris' Harper Connelly!

Did you ever wonder about that other Charlaine Harris series, the Harper Connelly series? Do you wonder what it's all about? If people like it? If you should try it?

Or if you have read it, do you wonder why other people aren't crazy about it, too? (Or do you not like it? *gasp*)

Head on over to Renee's book addiction, where Renee and I carry on a fun, rambling, and completely spoiler-free discussion of the Harper Connelly series in general, and specifically the last book, An Ice Cold Grave. Plus we manage to bring a few other series into it for comparison.

Of course, as you may or may not know, the final book in this fine quartet, Grave Secret, was released last month. Yay! Neither of us have read it yet, but we're both quite excited.

It's another installment in our Sleeper Series Discussions, where we talk about series that don't quite get enough of the spotlight as far as we're concerned. (Other sleeper series we've embraced: Kelley Armstrong's Nadia Stafford series, and Marta Acosta's Casa Dracula series!)

Come join the fun! The first part is at Renee's today. Tomorrow, the exciting conclusion here.

Trailer Tuesday - Incarceron!

Wow, this trailer!

It's so simple. Beautiful. I really want to read this book! Of course, I want to read the book from a combo of the trailer and blurb. Which is huge, considering it's YA.

It's interesting, in a way, how this trailer doesn't try to tell all about the book. I think it has to have supporting explanation. But then, no advertising really lives in a vacuum. but this trailer takes that more seriously than others.

The extremely intriguing blurb:

Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible.

And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside- she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison, and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know.

Misc Updates:

If you get a chance, wish my trailer partner, Anastasia, a happy Blogaversary. I don't know if she's putting up a trailer today, but that the prerogative of the blogaversary girl.

Lea: sproutwrangler extraordinaire

Lea of closetwriter has fixed the clock sprout she made, which went haywire over the weekend through some techie mystery. Here it is! Now I have two sprouts again: the clock here, and the other one and at left, what I call the 'sleek sprout.'

Dude poll results:

The results are in! I am officially going to allow myself to say dude and feel okay about it. "People may laugh at you, but who cares?" was the winner, closely followed by the stonewashed jeans-wearing lovers of the word. I love you, dudes!

Hostage Crisis update:

I still haven't found Instant Attraction, and it wasn't in the car, but Jill Shalvis is generously sending me a new one. I can't wait! If and when I find the old, it's contest time! Dust bunnies not included.

Is there no limit to the vanity of Carolyn Crane?

So, one of the exciting yet strange things you do as an author is get a picture of yourself taken.

As luck would have it, my sister Deb is a fabulous professional photographer. So we had this whole photo session the last time I went down to the Milwaukee area that involved no less than three costume changes and many lighting options. And I was supposed to bring other author pictures I admire and we tried all these things. It was really fun.

Debbie's warning
One of the things she told me was that, a lot of her clients really want to go the whole Glamourshots route, wanting all sorts of photoshopping beyond sort of normal retouching and color correction, and trying to get themselves to look like models.

She warned me it was important to strike a balance, retouching and color correction and photoshopping is fine, but you want to look like yourself.

Carolyn Crane: Oh, you know me! I would never try to make you do all that stuff!!

Allow me to draw your attention to the top photo: a raw and untouched picture that those in the know felt was right mood for my book. It needed only color correction and maybe tiny retouching.

Carolyn: Deb, I don't have lines bracketing my mouth in real life! Do I? Okay, maybe in some lighting I do, but these seem more profound than normal. Can't I have this moody picture AND no lines?

Deb: Sure, Carolyn. Click click click. Photoshops out the lines.

Carolyn: Wait - what are those lines on my neck and chest? Yes, some of it may be from ill-advised sunbathing and just how a human neck is, and stray hairs, but OMG, can't you get rid of them?

Deb: Click click click. Photoshops out the lines.

And so on, and so forth. LOL. Hmm, will I regret this post?

I really love my photo I ended up with above! Debbie is amazing and brilliant. Her older sister the author, apparently, is TOTALLY vain!

Maybe this post is only funny to me.

I just think it's funny I made Debbie do all that--if you knew me in real life, you would be shocked , because I'm a slobby, sporty kind of person. Like, out of nowhere I suddenly got all fussy and focused on things like side-of-mouth lines. It's a book! Who cares!

Carolyn Crane does, that's who! *g* We took like 90 photos. The bossy older sister author and younger photographer sister is a pretty potent combo.

At left for comparison was the one I sort of most wanted, and I think it more looks like me, (yet better, through the magical lighting of Deb) but nobody liked it for a UF book. However, oh, look, I DO naturally have lines next to my mouth in that one, too. And neck lines. Whatever!

The 9 phases of my Jill Shalvis hostage crisis

Has this ever happened to you: You buy a book. You KNOW you bought it. But you can't find it!

This has been the ongoing situation with me and Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis. Everybody raved about it when it came out and I felt I had to have it. I don't read many contemporaries, AND it was trade, so it was a big thing for me to buy it.

After I buy books, I have this little thing I do where I bring them to bed, which is where I do 90% of my reading, and set them out in front of me and look at the covers and read the back copy and stuff and admire them. So, I remember doing this. I remember the guy's jacket on the front, and that it was a trade edition. And then I put it in my little TBR area under my bedside table, super excited to read it after I finished whatever I was reading at the time. And that's the last I saw of it.

I still really really want to read it, and I think I may want to read other Jill Shalvis books, but I won't know until I read this one, and I can't find this one. And I'm not going to check it out of the library or borrow it from somebody when I own a copy, and I'm not going to buy another copy. It's like the Jill Shalvis portion of my reading life is totally held hostage in an ongoing crisis characterized by distinct and often painful phases:

Denial: That's funny, I thought it was here in my TBR area. Oh, well, it'll turn up. Read sexy vampires instead.

Vague effort: I finish sexy vampires and I'm ready for Instant Attraction. That's funny, I totally thought it was here. Slightly deeper search in TBR area next to bed. Ooh, interplantery travel with smutty interludes! Read sci fi instead.

Annoyance: Finish several books and really crave to read Instant Attraction. WTF? I know it was here. Seach full TBR area, then settle for a book I want to read way less.

Full Dust Bunny Safari: Weeks later, think fondly of plot of IA. Mousey accountant. Hunky snowboarder. Conduct anexhaustive search in sattelite TBR areas, all bookcases, and fully under bed, which has lots of dust. Emerge sneezy and crabby and in the mood for a historical.

Self doubt: How does a book disappear? Where could it be? Am I sure I bought it? Did I look at pictures of it online and it burned into my mind? But, I know I bought it.

Dashed hopes: Months later, while cleaning, spy a book BEHIND a book shelf. I become excited. Instant Attraction? Could it be? No, a C.E. Murphy I already read! Weeks later, light bulb goes off in head. Maybe it is in the suitcase from my trip to Mexico! In an inside pocket! Rush to suitcase. Empty. $#%&.

Bargaining: Maybe if I stop looking for it, it will turn up, or I will suddenly remember where I put it. Drown myself in the charms of all other books except Instant Attraction.

Forgetting: Start forgetting about it, thanks to the charms of the many other fabulous books I read. More new books come out, easing the pain of knowing that book has to be here somewhere.

Anger: I see a great review of Instant Attraction. Where the #&*$ is my copy? I know it's here somewhere! Renewed search of TBR area. Portions of cycle repeat.

Instant Attraction, where are you??????? Mousey accountant. Hunky snowboarder. Both wrestling with demons. The cabin. Sigh. Has this ever happened to you? What book? Where did the book turn up?

**UPDATE**: Jill Shalvis has kindly offered to send me another copy of IA!! (See comments). After some hesitation, I decided to take her up on her generous offer, and do Renee's suggestion and hold a contest for the lost copy when and if it turns up...in hopefully readable condition. Yay!

Book Trailer Tuesday - zombies! And an unrelated poll

Here's the deal: most genre trailers have photos, often of attractive people, with words floating across, set to dramatic music. And on trailer Tuesday, I always ignore that kind of trailer, even though that's 95% of them. Am I wrong to ignore them? Maybe those are the kinds of trailers that people like. Let me know if you have an opinion on that!

Maybe those are the kind that work. Isn't it funny how everybody always says, well, nobody knows if book trailers really work. Nobody knows what to think of book trailers. With this Trailer Tuesday meme, which it seems only two people on the planet are doing - Anastasia of Bird Brained Blog and I - it's as if we are exploring uncharted territory! Dudes, we are like Star Trek.

This trailer, and bear with me, I know it's a zombie thing and not everybody likes zombies, but it's really cool. It has words and music and photos, but the photos move to the beat of the music in a way I really like. And the words are minimal. I found this trailer enjoyable to watch because of the way these three elements work together.

NOTE: See Anastasia's trailer pick for today, and some of her views on book trailers here!)

Poll

Did you notice how I said the word 'dudes' up there in the sentence, "Dudes, we are like Star Trek!" You don't know how many times lately I have written dude, and then deleted because, who says dude anymore? It's a 1990's thing. I wasn't saying dude back in the 1990's, but suddenly it's almost 2010, and I want to say it. All the time!

It's kind of weird. What has gotten into me? I have never been a dude person! Ooh, maybe this post will break me of it. Anyway, poll at left. Please advise.

A totally non-spoilery discussion of the end of Demon Forged and the start of Rosemary and Rue.

I love when authors have big, surprisingly major, even earth-shattering things happen in their books, and when they do daring things to their characters.

I guess this post is partly about a feeling - that sort of "oooh" you get with big unexpected drama like that. As a reader, I just really so appreciate it. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Like, you're alone with this book, in this private world the book has created, and something big happens in that world, and it's just a kick. Even if you're with somebody at the time you get that oooh moment, it doesn't work to try and discuss it with them, unless they've read the book - pretty unlikely around here. So it's just this fun oooh between you and the book.

I just finished Demon Forged by Meljean Brook, and there's a lot of swashbuckling bigness I loved there, and I had that feeling a lot. I won't spoil the ending, but wow, there is a great deal at stake for us hapless humans what with the xxxxxx being xxxxxxxxx by xxxxx and then Irena has to xxxxx xx and stick xxx xxxx right xxxx xxx xxxxx!!!

What's more, ever since Meljean invented that wonderful xxx xxxxx in xxxxx, back in Demon Moon, I think it was, I wondered if she'd ever xxx a character xx xxxxx, but I never expected her to xxx xxxxxxxx xx xxxxx!!! I was shocked, but I loved it, and it provided such a strong xxxxxx xxxxx, too: xxxxxxx xx xxx xxxxxx! Outrageous!

I thought, nooooo! Meljean! Yet, oh, yes. That was so very dramatic. Whew! Where are my cigarettes? Oh, wait, I don't smoke.

Then I went on to crack Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire and a big thing happened in the front that was fun and startling and terrible all at once.

As it was happening, I was thinking, No way! This bad guy knows xxx xx xxxxx, and he just casually xxxxx her xxxx a xxxx! I mean, a xxxx?

And I read on, and yes, Wow, the heroine xxx a xxxx for xx xxxxx? I mean, for xx XXXXX? I loved it. I was so impressed. As you can see, I've only just started this book, but I'm richly enjoying it.

Is this helpful or coherent? I guess my point is, with both these books, some fine oooh moments.

More on Rosemary and Rue here; Read about Demon Forged and all the Guardian books here.

Book Trailer Tuesday 3! The hippest one yet.

Hey! Okay, this is a trailer, or more a trailer tie-in that I stumbled across at Sci Fi Guy.

What I think is really neat is that it makes a kind of hip event out of the cover. And I think it adds a certain cache to the book, like it's cool and inventive by association. I love also, that an outside artist got involved and cross-promoted.

It's also very "now" in a way. Or at least to me, it is. Especially in that it reminds me of this other cool video that a friend recently sent me. Has everybody seen this thing? If not:

Okay, my trailer Tuesday buddy Anastasia at Bird Brain(ed) blog has a trailer with Jon Stewart in it! Go see! Anybody else participating in Trailer Tuesday yet???

Sprout update:

Okay, since I have an older Mac, the numbers countdown sprout was slowing things down, so Lea, in all her kindness, made a more static sprout. So, now there are two!!! Here is the other:



Thanks Lea! I'm glad you're not TOTALLY sick of me and my clunky mac now.

My new Sprout!!! & a winner

Okay, check this out!!! My own sprout! Lea of Closetwriter made it, and I'm so psyched. I like the space-age numbers, and the simplicity of it. Yummy. I just like looking at it.

Check it out: 148 days! That doesn't sound like a lot at all. Right now the info button leads only to a placeholder for my website that I am making and that hopefully will be amazing. But at this point I'll settle for live.

I'm going to stick this on my sidebar tomorrow, but today I wanted to show it in its own post and thank Lea!! You rock the sprouts, Lea!

Demon Forged WINNER!!

Random.org picked #4 as the winner, which means KATI won! Kati, do you have this book yet? If not, you do now!!

Reading personality quiz: Are you a Cinderella or a Little Red Riding Hood?

What is your reading personality? For each question, choose A or B.

You come upon a wolf in a bed. Your typical reaction:

A. Well well well...what have we here?

B. Get out of here, you freak!!!!

Long road through town . . . or shortcut through the scary forest?

A. Oh, please. The forest. It'll be fine. And if I get into trouble I'll smash somebody over the head with my basket. The road through town is for sissies.

B. Let me think: walking through a dark, scary, lonely forest or a riding in a fine carriage through town. Hold on, let me get back to you on that.*g*

What sounds more romantic?

A. Hero risks his life to save you and a beloved family member in a bloody and violent scene.

B. Hero recognizes your true fabulousness and must have you and only you, and this dictates his actions forevermore.

Fashion for an evening out:

A. You go for practicality over style. That said, you want to stand out in a crowd.

B. Evening out? Style all the way. There's nothing magical about practicality.

Evening out shoe choices:

A. Boots or flats. You prefer shoes you can walk and run in.

B. High heels. Because, hello, why do you think fairy godmothers make coaches with handsome coachmen?

Your problems:

A. They usually come from your not following directions or sticking to a schedule...but sometimes you need to stop and talk to interesting people and pick flowers!

B. You can usually trace them back to those around you letting you down or being mean or just dense. People, can we try and be decent human beings and all just love each other and get along here?

Most important traits in a hero:

A. Hot, brave and kicks ass. Fun to have adventures with. Good at getting me out of trouble when necessary.

B. Handsome, wise, strong and rich. Super devoted. Will worship me to the end of time.

Your idea of an excellent romantic gift is:

A. The blood-soaked decapitated head of your mortal enemy. Score!

B. The most beautiful ring in the world and, oh yeah, a kingdom to help rule over!

***

If you picked more A's: You're a Little Red Riding Hood. You like your HEAs, sure, but it's okay if it's a blood-soaked ending, or if you have to wait for it. Good reading choices: Anne Stuart, Ann Aguirre, ilona Andrews, Laurel K. Hamilton, Kelley Armstrong, Linnea Sinclair,

If you picked more B's: Surprise! You have a Cinderella reading personality. You love traditonal HEAs, magic and moonlight and crazy-in-love heroes, even epilogues with kids. Authors for you: Lisa Kleypas, Lisa Hendrix, J.R. Ward, Julia Quinn

If you went more half and half: You want it all! Drama, conflict, crazy devotion, HEA, heroines who can take care of themselves...extra points for a cool outfit. Authors: Kresley Cole, Meljean Brook, Richelle Mead, Joanne Bourne, some Loretta Chase,

Suggestions welcome! Okay, this post got away from me, and it was harder than I thought it would be to put books in these categories. What books would you put where? I might still shuffle them around.

Special bulletin to Little Red Riding Hoods: Jessica at Racy Romance Reviews is holding an open thread discussion tomorrow night, Sunday, on Anne Stuart's Black Ice! It starts at 7 pm EST.

Demon Forged: three aspects I'm loving + contest

Let me just say first: thanks to everybody who is not spoiling Demon Forged for me! I'm midway through right now, so thrilled with it, and so glad I don't know what will happen.

Thanks Dear Author:

"Summarizing the plot of Demon Forged beyond this point would require the revelation of spoilers essential to the story, spoilers that reveal the revolutionary nature of this book and its role in the Guardian series..."

Thanks KatieBabs:

"This is the only book I read this year where my mouth dropped in shock and my hands were shaking over the ending. Demon Forged is my number one book for 2009."

And thanks to all others. I am so psyched to not know! This will not be a post on that, since I'm only midway through, but rather three aspects of the book that I am really loving.

Aspect #1 that I'm loving: Intricately drawn characters - so damn satisfying!

There's the bit on page 13 where I first felt like I really grocked the characters. It's right after Irena and Alejandro have an argument. Irena accuses him of splitting hairs. He accuses her of clumping them all together too much. And Irena muses that this is "the difference between them: details. She refused to focus on them."

This is so satisfying to me as a reader. Detail orientation is such a small, mundane thing. It's the sort of thing HR people write on job descriptions in the classifieds, but I it's one of the many aspects of these characters that shine through everywhere and make you feel like you know them.

This nuance affects the way these characters interact with people, the way they approach their jobs. It affects clothes, and the way Irena doesn't make distinctions between good and bad demons. (They're all demons.) It's a kind of inflexibility, but also a kind of integrity.

Then, later on this page:

Irena preferred rough edges, even though they scraped and tore. But Alejandro, he was all sleek speed and elegance, from his words to his body. The leopard to her bear, the fox to her wolverine. Solitary predators who avoided one another, respecting too well the teeth and claws of the other--and when they couldn't keep apart, they ripped pieces from one another in passing.

There are places in the book where Alejandro is likened to a knife, Irena is a blunt weapon. Even her name for him: Olek, is a blunt version of the smooth Alejandro. All this stuff just holds throughout the book, but it also intensifies. Like this midbook passage below:

Dear God, how she amazed him. Irena could be so stubborn and so unwilling to see any view but her own narrow and unyielding one. And yet she was also this. Able to see the nuances of a person's soul--to know how someone thought, how they would react. Able to anticipate conflicts, and maneuver around them.

Always as blunt as a sledgehammer, but never as dull. Little wonder that she fascinated him.

Is anybody else noticing this? I can't get enough of this character stuff.

Aspect #2 Varying music of the language

Another aspect I'm vastly enjoying here is how, when the passages switch between character points of view, the language differs in a way that also deepens the characters, makes them more vivid.

For example, the passage above that begins with "Irena preferred rough edges" is in Irena's head, and the cadence of it is totally different than the passage that begins with "Dear God, how she amazed him," which is in Alejandro's head.

Irena's "voice" has smaller, blunter words, with less abstract and more concrete concepts--she talks about bears and foxes, he talks about nuances and maneuvers. There is also a difference in the arrangement of the words; Irena has speech tics like that bit: "But Alejandro, he was..." whereas Alejandro would say "But Alejandro was..." And Brook is so consistent with that! You don't have to specifically notice it as a reader for it to enrich your overall experience. But it sure is enriching.

Aspect #3: Hugeness of passion and panorama

The thing about these two is that they have known each other for centuries, and have a complicated history where their potentially great love was all but destroyed by a demon. And they've stayed away from each other, but now they're thrown together. Irena comes to Alejandro's home for the first time ever and:

He wanted to show his home to her, to watch her face as she looked at each room. He would tear it down and start over if he sensed even a hint of displeasure.

I just like the dramatic nature of that. It's a small thing, but it goes to all the drama here. He's been building and perfecting the place forever but he would tear it down for her! Their failed yet fiery and blood-soaked love spans centuries! Prophecies and the fate of the world swirl around them!

And, I am SO SO curious what happens next.

CONTEST: Okay, I happen to have an extra copy of this fine book. How do you win it? Tell me in the comments what kind of animal you might be likened to if you were in a novel. You have until Monday morning, 10 a.m. CST. And I will also throw in a See's chocolate sucker!!

Trail of two trailers for Book Trailer Tuesday!

It's really been interesting casting around and paying attention to trailers. And it sort of makes me think about what makes a good book trailer. And the answer there isn't so simple, because it depends on what you think a trailer should do. Should a trailer:

A. Raise awareness of the title and the book's existence.

B. Spark people's curiosity enough for them to pay attention to reviews and other info.
C. Show viewers fun stuff about the plot or characters.

D. Give viewers a cool experiential hit of the book.
E. Get viewers to want to read/buy the book.

F. Build positive awareness/the brand of the author, and the books on a secondary level.

Obviously any one trailer may be doing several of these things. I doubt a trailer can singlehandedly do (E), though a (C) or (D) trailer plus a good review is a powerful combo for me.

This PsyCop trailer is a perfect example of (D), a cool experiential hit. Like, a lot of trailers are just the blurbs set to music and visuals, but this one utilizes visuals to try and express what it's like to be a pscyhic. Or at least I think that's what it's doing.

I like the simplicity. I come away without any idea of the plot or characters, but it gives me the heart of the book, or what I hope would be.

Yesterday, Smart Bitches did a great post about Maggie Steifvater's book trailer, below. I'm not going to discuss this at length, because they did an excellent job of it.

A few notes, though: It's interesting how the Steifvater trailer barely talks about specific books; it's more her relating to her audience in a fun, playful way. It's a perfect example of (F) author brand building. If you look at the comments on that Smart Bitches post, it seems quite effective. There's a lot I enjoy about this trailer. The guitar music, the personality of the notecards, the illustrations.

Questions I'm pondering: I haven't read any of her books. Are her books humorous? What if they're not, does this trailer set somebody up to expect a humorous book? Or is it more like meeting Maggie at a party and liking her because she's playful and funny, but you don't automatically expect the books she writes to be that way?

Other book trailer Tuesday participants: BirdBrained! (anybody else??)

Kathleen Winsor Tribute - My top 16!

Inspired by Maili, Jessica has started an initiative to pay tribute to the pioneering, visionary author, Kathleen Winsor, who wrote Forever Amber, a 1944 trailblazer for some of the best books ever!!

From the obit:

Combing the text [Forever Amber], the Massachusetts attorney-general found 70 references to sexual intercourse, 39 illegitimate pregnancies, seven abortions, 10 scenes in which women undressed in front of men who were not their husbands, and nearly 50 "miscellaneous objectionable passages" - and announced that the book would be banned (an action overturned on appeal). Other states joined in the condemnation, and the critics, joyless and hostile, were led by Orville Prescott, who denounced the novel as "a crude and superficial glorification of a courtesan"

Sounds like a keeper! So, in honor of Winsor, people are doing top 16 lists. Here's mine, more of an of-the-moment list. I'm sure as soon as I post, I'll remember nine others that should be on here.

1. The Spymaster's Lady by Joanne Bourne - Just enrapturing. If that's a word.
2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - Took over my MIND. In a good way.
3. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong - It's such a perfect UF/Paranormal/romance blend with a krazy hot scene or two.
4. Dark Desires after Dusk by Kresley Cole - Yummy fabulous perfection!
5. Deeper by Megan Hart - This is such a strong, lovely, bittersweet romance. The more I think about it in retrospect, the more I love it.
6. Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase - So many scenes from this will never leave me.
7. Demon Night by Meljean Brook - So into these characters, this relationship, this hotness! Demon Moon, too - oh, oh!
8. Kushiel's Dart - Epic amazingness that took my breath away.
9. Bound by Your Touch by Meredith Duran - Gorgeous, complex, fabulous.
10. Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James - Fun, romance, and an exuberantly satisfying end.
11. Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn - so wonderfully gothic and entrancing!
12. Emma by Jane Austen - I know, everybody else is P&P, but I'm an Emma gal
13. Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole - Okay, can we just say the whole Immortals series?
14. Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair - Loving the part-cyborg hero!!
15. Dark Lover by JR Ward - I had to put this on. Some very key scenes that I SO loved.
16. Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas - So fabu.

Other lists: Romance Rookie, Phyl, Lusty Reader, Avid Book Reader, Kati of Katidom, Nicola at Alpha Heroes, Leontine's (a list that was commented on by JR Ward!!), What Kate's Reading, Kristie J at Ramblings, Kiera's Cogitations and Meditations, Wendy the Super Librarian,

And here are even more lists - collected at Jessica's!

chachbag time and scary song days

Sorry, this has been the week of random posts that have little to do with books! next week I promise to be way more booky.

In the meantime, two items:

1. Apparently, Chachi (Scott Baio) is not the nice feller he pretended to be on Happy Days--he threatened to sue a romance novelist for unfollowing him on Twitter due to crass remarks he made about President Obama.

Hey, I don't care how you lean politically--you should be able to unfollow somebody on Twitter for whatever reason you please without being threatened by a meanybuttons ex-child star. And don't romance authors already get enough flak?

So, our pals at Dear Author have made a new word:

Chachbag:

1. an individual who has little-to-no sense of humor and perceives threats to his reputation at every social media corner.

See the rest of the definition for Chachbag here. The more people who link to it and click on it, just as I have here, helps to push it upwards on Google, and help make it the real term that it should be. Because, there isn't a word like that for a social media bully. Why not Chachbag? Read about the campaign here.

And also, you don't have to make a whole post on it here like I have. You can use the word in any other post, and link to their definition, and that works too.

Scary song days at Desert Island Keepers.

More scary songs will be appearing from all corners for the next couple days at the island. That is, unless nobody else wants to play the game I started. Go see!

TMI Halloween post

Blogging offsite on Desert Island Keepers!

In a post that is possibly more pathetic than funny, I reveal something that haunted me horribly as a child.

Book Trailer Tuesday!

Hey, did you think I forgot Book Trailer Tuesday? Of course not.

Here it is, my trailer pick of the week, for Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.

I love this deceptively simple trailer. The narration is light and friendly, but ever so slightly foreboding. The art is lovely and unusual, but most of all, I love the depth of it.

Note how the camera seems to move deeper. In a way, it feels like it invites the viewer into the experience of the book itself. It makes the book sound interesting, like there are things to discover and explore. Of course, I already thought that--I do really really want to read this book!!

Go to Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog for more links to Book Trailer Tuesday.