Author Insight: Dream Co-author

If you had the opportunity to co-author a book who would you want to write it with? Why?

"Interesting... If I could have anyone, it'd be Jan Potocki. He wrote this amazing novel called Manuscript Found in Saragossa. It was first published in the 1840s. While the book is exceedingly brilliant (and brilliantly bizarre), Potocki's life (and death) are even stranger." - K. Ryer Breese, author of Future Imperfect. 

"Jilly Cooper. I know, a weird choice, but I’d love to do a book about a mother and daughter, with Jilly writing the mom piece. She would be brilliant to work with and we would write an AMAZINGLY funny book together, I just know it." - Leigh Fallon, author of The Carrier of the Mark. 

"Lisa and Laura Roecker. They can clean up all my crap, and they already know how to write with someone else. Win/win." - Elana Johnson, author of Possession. 

"Jeri Smith-Ready because she loves music like I do and she has helped me brainstorm on my book ideas so I know we work well together in that way and I just think it would be so much fun. Plus she does great Urban Fantasy and it would be a blast to do that." - Stephanie Kuehnert, author of Ballads of Suburbia. 

Creature Feature Friday: Elves

My lovely critique partner Suzanne Johnson, who blogs at Preternatura and whose debut novel Royal Street is coming out in April, is here today to share her insights on the unpredictable creatures we call elves...

What is an elf?

An elf is a short, drawfish species that work as cheerful indentured servants for Santa Claus.

No, wait. An elf is a tall, ethereal being with pointed ears, who excels at bowmanship, has some psychic abilities, and is quite arrogant.

No, wait, an elf is sneaky and alien and neither good nor bad, because to be good or bad would be to imply human traits elves do not possess.

Kreature from Harry Potter

No, wait. Elves are tiny misshapen creatures who wear dishtowels and do menial housework for wizards.

No, wait, there are light elves (good) and dark elves (evil), and iron elves and wood elves and Keebler elves and...

In other words, there is no firmly established mythos to which elves must adhere, which is what I love about elves.



What do you love about elves?
Their sheer unpredictability.

Think about it. When you read a vampire book, unless they’re sparkling in the sun and sucking on deer marrow, you pretty much know up to a point what you’re dealing with. A vampire usually is going to drink blood. A vampire usually won’t be able to walk in sunlight. A vampire is sexy and alluring, which helps him attract his prey. Vampires have fangs.

Shapeshifters and lycanthropes. Again, there is a mythos. They shift into animal form. They might need a full moon. They might be more apt to shift when emotionally upset or unstable. They usually have fur or feathers.

The fae are susceptible to cold iron. They are playfully deceptive. They have queens and courts.

But an elf? An elf can be anything the writer wants him to be.

Sure, there are some who argue that the elves of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy set the bar for all elves that came afterward, and that is true for much classic and epic fantasy. But even before Peter Jackson made Orlando Bloom don a blond wig and wear tights and pointy ears, elves were part of folklore—and they were nothing like what Tolkien envisioned.



In the past two decades, a variety of elven mythos have developed in popular RPGs and computer games, from D&D to Warhammer to Runescape.

Now, finally, elves are making their way into contemporary fantasy, and the door is wide open for interpretation.

When I run across an elf in a book, I do not know what kind of creature I’ll be dealing with. The elf might be good or bad, evil or saint. He might be short, or tall, or handsome, or homely. He might have pointed ears, or not. He might have green skin, or look human. He might make toys, or bake Keebler cookies, or ride atop an elephantine creature through the forest with his bow drawn. He might love humans, or be disdainful of them. He might come from Norse mythology; he might be American. He might be a creature of Faerie; he might be another species altogether.

Favorite elf in fiction:
**SPOILER ALERT** Trent Kalamack, from the Hollows series by Kim Harrison. Nine books into the series, I still can’t decide if I love him or love to hate him. But he has never, ever bored me.


Favorite elf in pop-culture:
So genre fiction doesn’t count as pop culture? Okay then. I’ll say Orlando Bloom’s portrayal of Legolas in the LOTR film trilogy. Yum.


If you like elves then you should read…
In contemporary fantasy, read Kim Harrison’s Hollows series, beginning with Dead Witch Walking. In classic fantasy, read JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. For a sort of contemporary classic fantasy, read Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, particularly Lords and Ladies and The Wee Free Men.

More Author Insight: The Business of Publishing

Has there ever been a time when you were ready to quit or thought you weren’t cut out for this business? What brought you back?

"Every rejection, every finished manuscript that just wasn't good enough, every bad review, I've wondered if I wasn't cut out for this. I still do. But I've never seriously considered stopping. I'm not good at anything else, and I would be absolutely miserable if I wasn't writing and creating stories for other people. I don't think I could give this up for anything. And doubts are normal - they're a good thing, even. For me, personally, those doubts are what drive me to be a better writer, to come up with a better story, to put my all into every single thing I write. And without them, I would be stagnant." - Aimee Carter, author of The Goddess Test. 

"Oh, plenty of times. First, when I'm at that point in writing a book where I hate everything about it. Secondly, if I accidentally come across a review that trashes a book of mine - I'm privately devastated. I NEVER respond to negative reviews, it's totally unprofessional to do so, but I don't have a very thick skin so I do take things to heart. You need a thick skin in this business, I just haven't figured out how to get one, and I've been in the arts all my life. I get over it, though. I ask myself if I'd rather stop and the answer is always to keep writing." - Leanna Renee Hieber, author of Darker Still and  The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess.

"I never completely gave up, but there was a sticky month or two when I thought it was about time to check the teacher openings in my community. (I had taken a two year leave from my job as a high school English teacher to seriously pursue publication.) Fortunately, my first sale came through just in time. Not that I dreaded the idea of returning to teaching -- I just knew I'd never be able to manage writing and teaching at the same time. Others do it, but I'm not that skilled." - Sonia Gensler, author of The Revenant. 

 

"I quit all the time.  I am certainly NOT cut out for this business.  The business aspect of being an author is deadening.  It would make Richard Simmons disconsolate.  The actual writing brings me back.  When I’m writing, I’m a working artist.  I am writing to learn and to surprise myself.  When I’m not writing, I am doing other things I find fascinating and surprising.  I come back to writing when I start missing it.  And I start missing it when I realize there is something I haven’t tried yet and I really want to see what that might be like.  It’s like being in love with someone and coming up with something, or having something occur, that makes it all fresh again." - Randy Russell, author of Dead Rules.

Giveaway: Retribution

The latest book in Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series, Retribution,  was released yesterday and Macmillan has offered me a copy to giveaway to one of my readers. The description of this book is what really hooked me. It sounds like an intense and potentially steamy read!  Hopefully it will pique your interest as well.

 ...Harm no human…



A hired gunslinger, William Jessup Brady lived his life with one foot in the grave. He believed that every life had a price. Until the day when he finally found a reason to live. In one single act of brutal betrayal, he lost everything, including his life. Brought back by a Greek goddess to be one of her Dark-Hunters, he gave his immortal soul for vengeance and swore he’d spend eternity protecting the humans he’d once considered prey.


Orphaned as a toddler, Abigail Yager was taken in by a family of vampires and raised on one belief- Dark-Hunters are the evil who prey on both their people and mankind, and they must all be destroyed. While protecting her adoptive race, she has spent her life eliminating the Dark-Hunters... 

Still want to know more about it? Check out the book trailer...

Stop by the Retribution website to learn more about the book and read an excerpt. Fill out the form below to enter.

Author Insight: The Business of Publishing

Has there ever been a time when you were ready to quit or thought you weren’t cut out for this business? What brought you back?

"All the time. Nearly monthly these days. I don't know what brings me back. I'm just compelled to write and equally compelled to send what I write to my agent and try and get it published. It's simply biologic with me." - K. Ryer Breese, author of Future Imperfect. 

"I get bouts where I’m riddled with self-doubt. I get all worked up and stressed out thinking my editor will one day call me and say ‘it was all a bit of a joke, a social experiment to see how a normal minion would react to getting a publishing deal.’ When I get those moments I think it would be easier to go back to the carefree life of no pressure, no worrying about reviews, or people judging you. But then something awesome happens, I get some great news from my agent, or I read a brilliant review and my faith is restored." - Leigh Fallon, author of The Carrier of the Mark. 

"Holy cow, yes! During the query game, I wanted to quit daily. Sometimes, even now, I think I’m not cut out for publishing. It’s so stressful at times. I often wonder why I chose something so intense as writing as my hobby, and how hard it is to learn to knit." - Elana Johnson, author of Possession. 

"I spent most of 2010 wanting to quit. I felt like a failure because my first two books hadn't sold as well as I hoped and my publisher turned down my option book. My work-in-progress was a constant battle, beginning, middle and end, nothing was working. I can't pinpoint a specific thing that brought me back, my love of story just would not let go. Writing feels like the only thing I know how to do." - Stephanie Kuehnert, author of Ballads of Suburbia. 

"A Little Something Supernatural" Winner

With the help of Random.org I've found what I'm sure will be a fabulous new home for my extra ARCs of  Supernaturally by Kiersten White, Misfit by Jon Skovron, and The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab. Of course by accepting these ARCs the winner solemnly promises to love them, hug them, and call them George. (Horrible name for a book, I know.) So who is the lucky reader?

Nikki G.

Congratulations! I'll put your winnings in the mail to you this week. Thanks to everyone who entered and stay tuned for more giveays.