Author Archives: Dana

Live In the Moment

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This past weekend I had an object (or should that be ‘abject’) lesson in the folly of too much ‘saving for a special occasion.’   Specially, in this case, lingerie.  Back in my slender youth I did some modeling, which included quite a bit of lingerie.  I loved the stuff, bought the most romantic, frivolous items I could find (I loved the Gothic heroine look, for instance) and then squirreled them away in my dresser drawer(s) for the right occasion with the right man.  I wore some of it, but generally fell in the habit of sleeping in old comfy things. I wore several cotton chemises until they practically disintegrated from wear, tear and washing.

My lingerie collection moved with me from San Diego to Los Angeles, and then back down to San Diego again only to turn around and travel back up to L.A…and then eventually I ended up, along with my lingerie, in San Francisco.  I did get rid of some of it along the way.  I gave some of the uber-Goth/vampire/red lace bustier type things to the daughter of a friend.  Meghan was into the role-playing game Kindred at the time and I love nothing better than passing along my belongings to someone who will appreciate them.  It’s like sending them to a new home.  Yes, I anthropomorphize things quite a bit.

Other items I’ve held onto even though I’ve only seen them while pulling out of moving boxes to put back into my dresser. I’d think about wearing them every now and again, but after a long day at work/writing/caring for the cats/cooking, it just seemed like too much trouble.  Besides, in SF it’s almost always flannel pajama weather…  Sexy pj’s would be a tank top and nice underwear.  Something I could wear underneath the flannel pajamas, y’know? 

The last few months I noticed my antique dresser and its contents smelled kind of funky.  Musty, mildewy, as if they’d been stored in someone’s damp attic for a few years.   Everything out, into the wash, lots of white vinegar and sunshine.  All the drawers pulled out, put into the sun, white vinegar and bleach, hoping for the best.   Put everything back in and it seemed fine, until a few weeks ago the smell was back. 

So one more time, even more heavy duty mildew killers used in the dresser interior and the drawers, although not as much sunshine because we’ve had approximately five sunny days all summer long.   This weekend I put everything back in the dresser… except I decided to try on my lingerie just for the hell of it. 

Bad idea. 

Well, at least as far as my ego was concerned.  

Yeah, some of it still fits.  But not a lot.  Some of it looks like it could only be worn by a ten year old, yet I did indeed fit in it at one time.  This was, of course, after losing 15 pounds in two weeks after a particularly nasty breakup in which my heart was thoroughly broken – I was the thinnest I’d ever been during this period of my life.  At any rate, these gorgeous, frivolous things, some of them vintage (all of them vintage these days, heh) that I hardly ever wore… I would now never wear them again.  Saved for a special occasion that never arrived and now that I’m smart enough to create my own special occasions, I’m defeated by my changed body and expanded waistline. 

Was my waist ever 24 inches without a corset?  Yup, it sure was. 

Will it ever be again?   HAH!  Not unless I’m hit with a wasting disease, in which case I doubt I’d be in the mood to prance around in sexy lingerie. 

So I’ve put it aside in a bag for eBay, along with other items from my past that either no longer fit my body or no longer suit my personality.  The things I’ve kept that still fit and suit are going to be worn.  Otherwise in ten years I’ll just have to do this all over again.  And that would be a waste of some damned sexy lingerie.  

Not Posting Problem

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Whenever I don’t post for a while, I start noticing things to write about.  By the time I get back to posting, I’m so overwhelmed by all the things I think I could write about that I achieve nothing but vapor lock and can’t think of a damn thing when I sit down to write.

For a while I got away with it by taking advantage of all the Comment Spam I get, those wonderfully convoluted comments that seem to have been translated from English to Chinese and then back to English again … by way of Romania. But one cannot blog on Comment Spam alone.

There are, of course, always cute cat pictures, but I haven’t taken any new ones recently and it feels like cheating to recycle old pictures.  Of course, given our feline horde, how would anyone know?  Hah!  I’ll consider this as a viable option.

I could gripe about the stress of waiting for responses on various projects out with editors, TV networks and production companies, but that gets old fast.  We all know I’m playing the waiting game on about three different projects. I’ll wait until they get back to me and that’s all there is to it (insert one heartfelt whimper here).

Then there are the inevitable Muni stories, like the man who sat next to me the other night on the N-Judah and kept making these gross sucking noises with his mouth, like he was sucking in noodles and air at the same time.   And me without my earplugs… ’cause I SO would have used them.  Better to have little pink puffs sticking out of one’s ears than to listen to that.  

And the list goes on.

But, like writing anything when I’ve taken a break for a while, the best thing to do is just jump in and muddle through, even if the end result is iffy.  I offer you a cute cat picture as compensation!

Why is it…

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…A writer can get a bunch of rave reviews and yet the one that sticks out is the one really bad one? Is it because we have a deep inner need for everyone to love our work?

Well… yeah.

Okay, I do know that’s not gonna happen. My writing style, particularly my sense of humor, is not for everyone. It SHOULD be, but since I don’t have the power (yet) to bend minds to my will, I have to live with differing opinions and tastes.

But still… you’d think reading nine glowing reviews in a row would dull the sting of one downright ‘I hate this book! It’s a BASTARD book and I hate its ass face!’ review just a little bit more.

Dave and I had a discussion during one of our beach walks about how we tend to remember the really annoying people in our lives more than the nice ones, spending more time dissecting the annoying behavior than talking about how wonderful and lovely most of our friends are. Not that we don’t talk about our amazing friends and family too. But the negative stuff just seems to demand a front row seat in our minds even when told it’s not welcome inside. Guess it sneaks in the back door.

Note to self: Lock the back door and hire a bouncer.

Time to Wake Up!

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“Dana… Dana, the alarm went off a year ago…  time to wake up!”

Actually this picture would be more accurate if the prone woman was draped with felines. But close enough to how I feel in terms of putting a lot of my life on hold during the last however many months while working on what was my WiP, but is now finished so I can’t call it that any more.  Now it’s my novel off to the editors waiting for whatever decisions are to be made.

I hate waiting.

But during this time of All Work and No Play Make Dana a Boring Person, I didn’t get a lot of other things done.  One of the tasks I totally neglected was updating the events page on my website.  To look at it, I’ve been one lazy writer/promoter during 2010.  Well, not so!  I’ve just been a lousy web-page updater.   So to prompt myself to get it updated in retrospect (gaze upon my past glories, all who visit!) and add events still to come, I figured I’d get it down in front of me in a post, thus accomplishing another task I’ve been really bad about doing regularly.  That being posting.

 So, over the last eight months I have:

A SinC panel for an AAUW fundraiser at the San Jose Historical Park. The event took place in an old firehouse and was an absolute blast.  With me on the panel were Kelli Stanley and Penny Warner.

A panel at A Great Good Place for Books in Montclair with Janet La Pierre, Diana Orgain, and PennyWarner.

A presidential face-off at the Concord Library for their Mystery Sunday between me (current president of SinC NorCal) and Simon Wood (current president of MWA).

A Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues panel at the West Hollywood Book Fair with editor Loren Rhoads, Del Howison (owner of the fabulous Dark Delicacies Bookstore), and JD. (Here’s the link to the wonderful MC book trailer!)

Another MCCtB panel at Pegasus Books with A.M. Muffaz, Allegra Lundyworf, and Darren Mckeeman.

A fantabulous evening of entertainment at the Hypnodrome with the Thrill Peddlers and a slew of MC authors: Jill Tracy, William Selby, Gravity Goldberg, Dana Fredsti, Russell Blackwood reading M. Parfitt, and Will Freitas reading Frank Burch.  (Note: If I don’t have a link to an author, it’s because I don’t currently have their website info!) 

An interview for Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues here

A reading with co-author Cynthia Gentry at the Center for Sex and Culture from our book Secret Seductions (I wrote under the name Roxanne Colville for this one).

A WOMBA book event at West Portal Books for Secret Seductions.

And a couple of other events I can’t find the info for.  Sigh.  See what happens when I put things off?!  Looking at my website, I haven’t even managed to get the two books I co-wrote with Cynthia up there yet.  That would be Secret Seductions and What Women Really Want in Bed, btw.

Finally, coming up in October I’ll be at Bouchercon by the Bay, Oct. 14th-17th.

And that, my friends, is all I’ve got at the moment.  But looking back at the last 12 months, I’d say I’ve kept busy.  I just sort of kinda forgot to mention it.

And now to very nicely ask my lovely Web Mistress Leslie to transfer this to the Word on the Street page of my website…

Fang Bangers Released Today!

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Hot off the presses from Ravenous Romance!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

FANG BANGERS collects 14 hot stories of fanged and clawed love and lust – Vampires loving shape shifters, werewolves lusting for fairies and every creature imaginable with the girl next door!It’s a collection of the ultimate taboos.

Erotic super star Cecilia Tan gives us some Vampire BDSM, New York Times best-selling author Lois Gresh gives us a clawed creature of unique proportions and propensities, and Gina McQueen (New York Times best-selling author John Skipp in drag) shows us some new werewolf tricks.

And more importantly from my perspective, my alter ego Inara LaVey and her boyfriend Kilt Kilpatrick both have stories in Fang Bangers as well, along with our friend Rebecca Leigh!  Click on the book cover for more information! 

Special Guest Isabel Roman!

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I am delighted to open the Den back up with special guest Isabel Roman as part of her blog tour for her latest book in her Dark Desire of the Druids series: Sex and Subterfuge. You may already be familiar with Isabel and her work from Ravenous Romance or her frequent appearances on Un:Bound. If not, you’re in for a treat!

First, a little about Sex and Subterfuge:

A master magicker, Morgana Blackthorne has a tenuous hold on her following. When a strange Englishman arrives on her doorstep with news of other druidic magickers, and magicker problems, she’s intrigued but suspicious. There hasn’t been contact between the American and European druids in over a hundred years. Plus she has her own worries and doesn’t need the handsome earl adding to them.

Lucien, Earl of Granville, left England to seek out the Blackthorne Druid line and discover what they’ve been up to since contact was lost. Once he and Morgana meet, their mutual attraction distracts him from his purpose.

Embroiled in her problems, he finds himself more concerned with her welfare than is practical for a passing affair.

When I invited you into my bed, it never occurred to me I wouldn’t want you to leave.

There are darker forces at work and the hunger of a weak magicker desperate for power. Will Lucien convince Morgana of his true feelings before things spiral out of control? Or will the surrounding subterfuge tear them apart?

 And now, please welcome Isabel as she talks about why she writes historicals! 

Why do I write historicals? You bring up a good question. I could go with the easier and infinitely more boring: “I love history” answer, but it has more to it than that.You can do a lot with an historical you can’t with a contemporary. Morals and norms were different than today, stricter, harsher, what we might call more narrow minded but they considered enlightened. Plus there were the things that make us who we are today.

History is filled with fascinating things, and often it’s a war, a conflict, a decision that sparks an idea for a story. I say it all the time, but the History Channel really is filled with wonderful little tidbits. By taking the society and putting in something as modern-sounding as ‘romantic suspense’ or ‘paranormal’ or ‘mystery’ and making it historical adds a layer to the story.

Can’t pick up the phone and find out if your dear friend is really departed or not! Can’t check those bank cameras to see who accessed your ATM and cleaned out your account. Can’t call 911 but have to scream for help and hope someone who actually is going to help appears.

Instant access for them was days of travel or Morse Code over the telegraph. The telephone didn’t connect everywhere and even then those pesky operators could overhear everything.

Fastest mode of travel? Steam power-trains and ships went so much faster than they did even a decade before, but it still took days or even weeks to reach your destination. News? Again, think telegraph; but finding out what happened as it was unfolding only really worked if you were in the center of the action.

Mentality: there’s a reason the US spans the continent and it’s called Manifest Destiny. Sure, you can disagree with it all you want now, but when Americans were pushing west, they believed they had a right to do so. Same for any power: any European nation, Russia, China, Japan, India, Ottoman Empire. Might really did make right and whether or not you agree with the politics behind it, that thought process shaped the world we live in today. Spawned more than a few wars, too.

Rights and freedoms: Each right and freedom we enjoy now was won only through long hard fighting. Women didn’t get the right to vote until the 1920s, so writing about a strong and in-charge heroine in the 1820s requires tweaking. And limiting. She couldn’t really be in charge of the company-but the woman behind the power is always a great story!

Thank you, Isabel!  And everyone, please join the discussion!  One random commenter on Isabel’s tour will receive a Vice Versa beaded fashion purse, a summer shawl, and a box of Godiva chocolates!  

Read Dark Desires of the Druids: Sex & Subterfuge available now in bookstores! And be sure to check out Isabel’s free story!

4.5 Cherries from Whipped Cream Reviews: Isabel Roman has stepped up the action in this second book of her series. The characters are all well defined and multi-faceted. Morgana is a strong woman, but one who is willing to give all to those she cares deeply for….I also appreciated the research that must have gone into this book to make everything so true to the time period. I respect the author’s time taken to get it right.

4 Stars from Love Romance Passion: Do you like jealous heroes and love triangles? How about sizzling sexual encounters atop of dining room furniture? If you answered yes to either question, you’re going to love this novella. I’m also recommending it, if you enjoy reading paranormal romance, historical, or erotica.

Just to get back in the habit…

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As my friends and family know, I’ve been buried in work the last few months. Work work and writing work.  I’ve been plowing through the WiP That Wouldn’t Die and have watched two self-imposed deadlines pass by at a speed that’s frightening.  My only social life has been Thursday night wine tastings at Vin Debut and the occasional quick hello to friends, the social equivalent of hit and runs.  And I’m STILL not done with the WiP.  Oh, I can see the light at the end of the zombie-infested tunnel … but there is still work to be completed. 

In August, however, I plan on being back in the blogging habit. Not only here at the Den, but the bi-weekly Ravenous Wednesdays on UnBound, my Monday posts at Fatal Foodies and my bi-weekly Sunday posts on Make Mine Mystery (if the latter two haven’t replaced me in disgust by now). 

I’m hoping to have good news to share in a few weeks, but in the meantime… I write.  I walk on the beach. I play with kitties… and I write some more.  

I miss you, world!!!  See ya soon!

 

Please Welcome Lynne Murray!

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When I first heard about Lynne Murray‘s new book Bride of the Living Dead and the fact she was looking for blogs to host her on her upcoming blog tour for BotLD’s release, I admit I jumped up and down and shouted “Me! Me!  MY blog!” partly because I fully expected zombies. I anxiously awaited my preview copy (I ripped open the envelope with all the eagerness and ferocity of a ghoul really wanting to get to the best gooey parts inside…) and settled in to read it right away once it arrived.

I kept expecting zombies to show up even after the first few zombie free chapters.  After all, the heroine Daria  loves horror movies (I love her T-shirt collection depicting old movie posters) so it stood to reason there would be monsters coming along at some point.  

As I reached the mid-point, however, I finally realized this book was zombie free.  And I found I didn’t care.  Daria’s tale of true love, wedding planning trauma, crazy exes, and her relationship with her anorexic control-freak sister didn’t need flesh-eating ghouls to entertain me.  Funny, touching and unique, Bride of the Living Dead was a joy to read and I am delighted to welcome Lynne here to the Den as she talks about:

What’s in a Title?

A book title, like a book cover, has a job to do. Its primary assignment is to get the reader to physically pick up the book, or if it’s viewed online to click on the link to find out more. At that point the words in the short description of what the book take center stage. At any point the reader can move to away from the book, so these are very important words.

The title, Bride of the Living Dead, has changed since I wrote the book. For a long time it was called A Guide for the Dysfunctional Bride.  When the book found a home at Pearlsong Press both the publisher and I felt that it sounded too much like a nonfiction how-to book. We had fun brainstorming possible titles and one candidate became a chapter heading–Attack of the 50-Foot Wedding Planner.  However Bride of the Living Dead won out over the rest.

The main worry I had was that fans of books like Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies might think that there be disappointed to find no zombies or similar undead creatures in the book. The heroine, Daria, loves old movies that feature such critters, which is why she views the effort to turn her into the Stepford Bride as a horror movie in action, aiming to transforming her into a rose-petal pink, mindless bridal creature.  People have asked if Daria is a Bridezilla, super-demanding bride, but the truth is that she needs to find a way to access her inner giant reptile. We all need that monster sometimes to help us fight for what we want.

Fortunately those who demand zombies and other undead creatures in their fiction have not (so far) been roused to form a mob, light torches and hunt me down for impersonating a zombie in a romantic comedy.  It might help that I live on an extremely steep hill in a windy part of town-very hard on torches.

I am an avid reader of urban paranormal books and I moved deeper into the real realms of the fictional undead in the book that followed Bride of the Living Dead.  Vampires and other paranormal creatures inhabit my next book, The Falstaff Vampire Files, which will be published by Pearlsong Press (though the publication date isn’t yet set).  The book has humor, ghosts, vampires and life-sucking entities from another dimension, creatures that humankind was never meant to encounter, that seize upon the slightest invitation to prey upon the living and the undead.

The charming creator of this blog was kind enough to say that she “came for the zombies and stayed for the humor.” Thanks for that, Dana, it was my fondest hope for the title.

Lynne Murray, author of the romantic comedy, Bride of the Living Dead, has had six mysteries published. Larger Than Death, the first book featuring Josephine Fuller, sleuth of size who doesn’t apologize won the Distinguished Achievement Award from NAAFA (the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance).  She has written three ebooks of encouragement for writers as well as essays, interviews and reviews on subjects that rouse her passions, many of those can be found under “Rants and Raves” on her web site at http://www.lmurray.com. Lynne lives in San Francisco and when not writing she enjoys reading, watching DVD film directors’ commentaries and spoiling her cats, all of whom are rescued or formerly feral felines.Want to know how to reach Lynne and/or find out more about what she’s doing?   See below for links a plenty!  Web page: http://www.lmurray.com

http://www.pearlsong.com/brideofthelivingdead.htm

Blogs: brideofthedead.blogspot.com

http://lynnemurray.livejournal.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lynnemurray

http://booktour.com/author/lynne_murray