ReaderCon--Day 1

The first events started last night -- two hour-long sessions of our choosing. I attended one on the cross-over influence of music and other art forms with writing, which made me feel like a dork because I didn't recognize half of the band names people threw around.

"What do you mean you're not familiar with French-Canadian indie fusion bands of the 1980's?"

The second session was on creating characters based on people you know (which is 80% of the people in the Ganzfield books). The discussion was diverted into the use of historical figures (Da Vinci, Abraham Lincoln, etc.) in speculative fiction, but it led to the quote of the day:

"There are terrible people--and then there's Wagner." - Barry Malzberg

Interestingly, in the soundtrack of my mind, this is accompanied by Wagner's music.

I love conventions, because I have no problem approaching interesting-looking green-haired people and striking up a conversation on the merits of Connie Willis' body of work as an exemplar of the logical handling of time travel in fiction.

Wish You Were Here...and, if you are, say "Hi!"

Ah, Publishing

The good news: Amazon UK and Amazon Canada are now listing Minder.

The bad news: It's wicked expensive in the UK, and Canada is out of stock.

*sigh*

I'll work on fixes for both problems.

If you're in the Boston area this weekend, I'll be at ReaderCon. Come find me (I'll be with the Broad Universe people) and introduce yourself! I'll tell you all about it next week. If you attend a convention that you think I might like, please comment below and tell me about it.

Separated at Birth?

I can only hope I get a movie deal like he did, too.

BTW, I'm getting some new reviews in places like Amazon and Goodreads. I wanted to say "Thank you!" to everyone who bought, read, and posted so far. Yay! Last year, I felt an intense push to get this book published--"If I don't publish Minder, Maddie and Trevor will DIE!"

Yes, I know. I have issues.

The point is, with every person reading the book, I get the inverse reaction--Maddie and Trevor are no longer just in my head. They're out there, touching other people's thoughts.

And that's just...cool.

On a side note, we now have several retailers selling Minder in Canada and the UK. There are links at Spencer Hill Press for some of them. And one company offers free shipping worldwide.

Watch Your Language!

What's with all the potty mouth, people? I keep finding or being told about these GREAT blogs, but I hesitate to sign up as a follower because they have names like "F*** You Penguin," but without the decorative asterisks.

How can I, a respectable-ish author of YA paranormal romantic thriller(s), have "F*** You Penguin" listed in the "Blogs I Follow" section of my profile? I like penguins. I mean, not that way, but--well, you know what I mean.

So, today I give you... some wicked funny stuff you probably shouldn't read if you're under 18. Seriously, don't click on this sh- um, stuff if you're easily offended (see how I did that? You don't need to spell it out to get your point across).

F*** You Penguin

Sleep Talkin' Man

...and this one is clean, but still LOL funny.

Catalog Living.

Got any more to add to the list?

"You Gotta Read This..."

How do you discover new books? Do friends recommend them? Do you read about them online? Do you wander the bookstore until something catches your eye? Does Amazon understand your buying habits and recommend just the right things? Do you pick them up at BJ's from the table next to the bags of socks?

All of the above? None?

Romantic Love in YA

"Their eyes met, and the heat scorched their souls. They drew together in a tender kiss that soon became more urgent. He pulled the fabric of her shirt, and she gasped as his hands slid across the bare flesh of her back. And then they... "

How far can writers take romantic and/or sexual scenes in YA novels? Should physically consummated relationships simply be implied (e.g., waking up in someone's room in Uglies and the whole feathers thing in Breaking Dawn), like the old movies in which the two lovers lowered out of the frame and the scene faded to black? Or should the scenes be clearer, like in the first House of Night, in which the act itself is arguably the worst mistake in a long string of bad judgments? On a side note, don't even get me started on the bad judgment of Ever, the MC in the Evermore series. I love the suspense and the tension in this series, but I can't help but think that most of Ever's problems are her own making, and that annoys me.

But I digress.

Back to today's topic. In the immortal words of Salt and Pepa, "Let's talk about sex, baby!"

Interview

I've got to say, I really like the way that author interviews have evolved over the past decade. No longer are we "um"ing our way through the wilderness of public radio. Actually, maybe some authors still do radio interviews, but I can't remember the last time I heard one. I have, however, read a ton of them online. Many of them convinced me to buy the author's book, too--although getting me to buy books isn't much of a challenge. :)

Anyway, I woke up to find that the interview I did a few days ago with Lua Fowles at Bowl of Oranges had been posted.

Check it out:
http://likeabowloforanges.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/an-interview-with-author-kate-kaynak/

Lua's an aspiring writer with great potential! I had a chance to read some of her work, and I'm still mentally marinating a particularly delicious paragraph that illuminated her MC's relationship with her father. I think she'll be published within the next few years, so you should go become followers of her blog now, so you can say that you "knew her when."

BTW, any interest in reading interviews here at The Disgruntled Bear?