...That is all.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Monday, April 6, 2015
Guest Post: Linda M. Crate | Blood & Magic
RAVENSWOOD PUBLISHING PRESENTS
BLOOD & MAGIC BY LINDA M. CRATE
Title: Blood & Magic
Author: Linda M. Crate
Genre: Fantasy/Supernatural/Paranormal
Length: 500 pages
Release Date: March 20, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1508572961
Synopsis: A monster slayer is in for the adventure of her life. Does she decide to follow her heart of does she kill the monster she loves to stay in favor with the counsel she serves? Not to mention all these broken memories are confusing–are they things that really happened or is it all in her head? Lucille Roddingale is in pursuit of the truth and she's not going to like everything that she finds in her journey.
How did I come up with the characters? Well, that's an interesting question. I developed the characters from a roleplay I was having with my friend Rory. We were on a Marauder's Era HP based rp and had two characters a part vampire named Lorcan d'Eath and his human lover Petula Rosier.
These characters were crazy and had a really twisted, complicated history which I pretty much came up with but Rory helped me develop into something more substantial and helped iron out the details.
I wanted to find a way to immortalize the characters.
So I decided that I'd take them from their HP universe and throw them into a completely new world—one that had magic but was completely different from Rowling's world. I wanted not only to develop them and flesh them out more than our roleplays did but to turn them int slightly different alter egos altogether so they could thrive and survive in their own world which I later named Atriel.
I have always loved vampire and monster slayer novels and so it was only natural for me to turn my "Petty" into Lucille the monster slayer whose heart would soon belong to the part-vampire Florian. I've also had a fascination with part-vampires and vampires ever since I was a little girl. I once wrote a short story about a part-vampire named Charlotte who Florian closely resembles in some mannerisms but he's completely different in others.
Florian and Lucille will forever be my favorites because they were based off my two favorite characters. Although there are several differences—for instance Florian is a lot braver than Lorcan and Lucille is a lot more outspoken and fiery than Petula. Not to mention there was no Solomon in our story, but I threw him into the tale because I figured Lucille could use a father figure.
After all, Florian had Clorian, which I so named to amuse myself. Florry and Clorry I call them much to their annoyance.
I had actually intended Solomon to be a minor character, but he soon took on a mind of his own (as my characters often do), and decided he needed a larger role in the story along with his wife Deborah.
Evan just came to me. He's a combination of several people in my life that rubbed me the wrong way and people who were rude to my character Petula in the roleplay. He took shape on his own and quickly became quite a troubling, vexing character in his own right.
Veronique is one of my favorites, too. I figured that Evan needed a reason to be against half-breeds and having a half-sister who was a part-elf seemed the perfect idea. I have always loved the idea of half-breeds because I believe you cannot choose whom you fall in love with and why couldn't humans and other species breed? I also liked the conflict within her between darkness and light, wanting to do the right thing and not knowing how. She's not quite an anti-hero but she's not a villain, either. Just somewhere juxtaposed between the two.
Petula and Petro were two characters that really intrigued me when they popped into my mind because I always knew they were vampires. I wanted to know why Evan was a hypocrite and would employ people like that in his counsel and soon became apparent to me that he would use any means possible to carry out his aims. What his aims are, however, I will not say. I can't give away the entire story, after all.
All the other characters just sprang up as I needed them or as they needed me to introduce them as they always remind me (my characters are quite forceful, I've noticed, some more so than others).
I always wanted to experiment with the idea of an ensemble piece which is quite frankly what Blood & Magic is. A myriad of personalities and situations meshed together to describe what happened in Atriel. I really enjoyed the way it turned out and I'm quite glad that it got a chance to breathe life on its own.
I think it will always be one of my favorite stories and I really do hope that everyone enjoys not only the first novel but all the subsequent novels because these characters get into a lot of misadventures—but what could one expect from a part-vampire and part-fae? Especially ones as mischievous as Florian and his love?
Well, I was going to leave her human, at first. Because I thought it would be cool to have a non-magical person that was actually powerful in a magical realm. However, I also realized that it put Lucille at a great disadvantage. She was fighting all these magical creatures that could easily overpower her with their magic and she needed an ability of some sort.
That's how the idea of making her a part-fae came into being. I thought that a love affair between her mother and a faerie noble would satisfy the why of how she was a faerie.
I didn't want her to be a part vampire like Florian because I figured one blood sucker in the relationship was more than enough and she definitely wasn't a dwarf and she vetoed being an elf. I did ask her. She wrinkled her nose. Clearly Lucille has a thing against elves. She hasn't told me why. I'm sure we'll find out as the Magic series progresses.
However, I didn't want it to be contrived. Like, oh look, she has a magical ability and now she can take on everyone all at once! So I put limitations on the magic. You can't use more magic than you have the energy for or it will kill you, and disguising your looks to become "human" seriously stunts the amount of years you have in your life.
Veronique is also a victim of losing years of her life because Evan made her appear as a human so his hypocrisy would not be revealed.
The only reason Lucille can live as long as her part-vampire lover is because her father sacrificed his own life so that she might live. It's not a gift she asks for, but one he freely gives her because he feels guilty for abandoning her as a child. Her parents and younger half-brother were killed and still he let the counsel raise her.
The very same counsel that made her feel trapped and the very counsel that betrayed her and killed her friend Mary.
People have asked me all my life how I write. I always find that an interesting question because I don't really have a process. I just turn on my music and have at it. Sometimes sad songs conjure up the most beautiful love scenes and angry music gives life to tragedy and the happy songs lead to battles. I'm not quite sure how it works, but I know music has always moved me and I love having an intimate relationship with words.
To me it's natural as breathing. It's just something I have to do, need to do.
I didn't choose writing, it chose me. I'm glad it did. I always find it fascinating where my imagination takes me and all these characters that jump into my mind are always worth the journey I embark on when I start writing their stories. Sometimes I discover more about them but I always discover more about myself and I always strive to make sure there's truth because to me there has always been more honesty in fiction than nonfiction.
Characterization has always been important for me. Plot is important, but you can't have weak characters. To me that just collapses everything and it will be the one reason I walk away from a book. I usually struggle through even if I don't particularly like a book just to see what happens to the characters, but if I can't relate or don't like any of your characters there's just no reason for me to read it. So I try to to flesh out my characters and make them like people. Because if they're like your best friend or your mother or your uncle then maybe your interest will remain piqued through the entire novel.
Linda M. Crate On Her Characters
These characters were crazy and had a really twisted, complicated history which I pretty much came up with but Rory helped me develop into something more substantial and helped iron out the details.
I wanted to find a way to immortalize the characters.
So I decided that I'd take them from their HP universe and throw them into a completely new world—one that had magic but was completely different from Rowling's world. I wanted not only to develop them and flesh them out more than our roleplays did but to turn them int slightly different alter egos altogether so they could thrive and survive in their own world which I later named Atriel.
I have always loved vampire and monster slayer novels and so it was only natural for me to turn my "Petty" into Lucille the monster slayer whose heart would soon belong to the part-vampire Florian. I've also had a fascination with part-vampires and vampires ever since I was a little girl. I once wrote a short story about a part-vampire named Charlotte who Florian closely resembles in some mannerisms but he's completely different in others.
Florian and Lucille will forever be my favorites because they were based off my two favorite characters. Although there are several differences—for instance Florian is a lot braver than Lorcan and Lucille is a lot more outspoken and fiery than Petula. Not to mention there was no Solomon in our story, but I threw him into the tale because I figured Lucille could use a father figure.
After all, Florian had Clorian, which I so named to amuse myself. Florry and Clorry I call them much to their annoyance.
I had actually intended Solomon to be a minor character, but he soon took on a mind of his own (as my characters often do), and decided he needed a larger role in the story along with his wife Deborah.
Evan just came to me. He's a combination of several people in my life that rubbed me the wrong way and people who were rude to my character Petula in the roleplay. He took shape on his own and quickly became quite a troubling, vexing character in his own right.
Veronique is one of my favorites, too. I figured that Evan needed a reason to be against half-breeds and having a half-sister who was a part-elf seemed the perfect idea. I have always loved the idea of half-breeds because I believe you cannot choose whom you fall in love with and why couldn't humans and other species breed? I also liked the conflict within her between darkness and light, wanting to do the right thing and not knowing how. She's not quite an anti-hero but she's not a villain, either. Just somewhere juxtaposed between the two.
Petula and Petro were two characters that really intrigued me when they popped into my mind because I always knew they were vampires. I wanted to know why Evan was a hypocrite and would employ people like that in his counsel and soon became apparent to me that he would use any means possible to carry out his aims. What his aims are, however, I will not say. I can't give away the entire story, after all.
All the other characters just sprang up as I needed them or as they needed me to introduce them as they always remind me (my characters are quite forceful, I've noticed, some more so than others).
I always wanted to experiment with the idea of an ensemble piece which is quite frankly what Blood & Magic is. A myriad of personalities and situations meshed together to describe what happened in Atriel. I really enjoyed the way it turned out and I'm quite glad that it got a chance to breathe life on its own.
I think it will always be one of my favorite stories and I really do hope that everyone enjoys not only the first novel but all the subsequent novels because these characters get into a lot of misadventures—but what could one expect from a part-vampire and part-fae? Especially ones as mischievous as Florian and his love?
On Her Protagonist, Lucille
That's how the idea of making her a part-fae came into being. I thought that a love affair between her mother and a faerie noble would satisfy the why of how she was a faerie.
I didn't want her to be a part vampire like Florian because I figured one blood sucker in the relationship was more than enough and she definitely wasn't a dwarf and she vetoed being an elf. I did ask her. She wrinkled her nose. Clearly Lucille has a thing against elves. She hasn't told me why. I'm sure we'll find out as the Magic series progresses.
However, I didn't want it to be contrived. Like, oh look, she has a magical ability and now she can take on everyone all at once! So I put limitations on the magic. You can't use more magic than you have the energy for or it will kill you, and disguising your looks to become "human" seriously stunts the amount of years you have in your life.
Veronique is also a victim of losing years of her life because Evan made her appear as a human so his hypocrisy would not be revealed.
The only reason Lucille can live as long as her part-vampire lover is because her father sacrificed his own life so that she might live. It's not a gift she asks for, but one he freely gives her because he feels guilty for abandoning her as a child. Her parents and younger half-brother were killed and still he let the counsel raise her.
The very same counsel that made her feel trapped and the very counsel that betrayed her and killed her friend Mary.
The Writing Process
People have asked me all my life how I write. I always find that an interesting question because I don't really have a process. I just turn on my music and have at it. Sometimes sad songs conjure up the most beautiful love scenes and angry music gives life to tragedy and the happy songs lead to battles. I'm not quite sure how it works, but I know music has always moved me and I love having an intimate relationship with words.
To me it's natural as breathing. It's just something I have to do, need to do.
I didn't choose writing, it chose me. I'm glad it did. I always find it fascinating where my imagination takes me and all these characters that jump into my mind are always worth the journey I embark on when I start writing their stories. Sometimes I discover more about them but I always discover more about myself and I always strive to make sure there's truth because to me there has always been more honesty in fiction than nonfiction.
Characterization has always been important for me. Plot is important, but you can't have weak characters. To me that just collapses everything and it will be the one reason I walk away from a book. I usually struggle through even if I don't particularly like a book just to see what happens to the characters, but if I can't relate or don't like any of your characters there's just no reason for me to read it. So I try to to flesh out my characters and make them like people. Because if they're like your best friend or your mother or your uncle then maybe your interest will remain piqued through the entire novel.
Author Information & Links
Linda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian native born in Pittsburgh yet raised in the rural town of Conneautville. She currently resides in Meadville. Her poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print.
Recently, her two chapbooks, A Mermaid Crashing into Dawn (Fowlpox Press - June 2013) and Less Than a Man (The Camel Saloon - January 2014) were published.
Blood & Magic Currently Available at:
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Spring Cleaning ~ Unhaul Some Books!
It’s April, and you know what that means? SPRING CLEANING. That’s right! Time to get some of these dusty books off my damn shelves, especially considering it’s income tax season and I have just enough left over to go ham ‘n’ cheese at Barnes and Nobles (speaking of which, I have an extra 20% off coupon I need to redeem soon). I've come up with several books I need to unhaul and send packing to my local public library’s used bookstore. Some are books I bought as recently as last summer, and some I bought earlier this year. Some I've read and just kind of held on to just in case. And some I've barely cracked the spine, but for whatever reason decided to pass. So let me share them with you before I send them packing, along with just a little tidbit concerning why I'm passing on these books. If you've read any, let me know whether or not it's a mistake for me to pass them up.
I started reading this series long ago–back in my Atlanta days. It came during a period where I was starting to get into urban fantasy. Unfortunately, this series didn't make the grade, and I decided to pass on it until recently. A fellow Booktube friend suggested I give the series another go. Sadly, the book has been sitting on my shelf for almost a year now. Yikes!
(2) On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee. Those who keep up with me know that I was in a Chang-Rae Lee phase earlier this year. After reading The Surrendered my interest in Lee revived, years after I was initially introduced to him via his novel Native Speaker. And while I was drawn deep into the bleakness of The Surrendered, I was sucked completely out of On Such a Full Sea. And when I say out–I mean out.
On Such a Full Sea had two running problems that conflicted me. One, it’s told through the first-person plural; two, the main protagonist was about as boring, emotionless and stale as… well… you think of something creative to add there. Nonetheless, it’s just not that necessary for me to try to trudge my way through it. The concept alone would’ve probably saved it, as it’s a dystopian novel with an interesting set up concerning Chinese labor in the far future. Still, that just wasn't enough without a strong protagonist present to carry me through.
(3) Control by Kang. I'll link my review from last year HERE. Nonetheless, in essences, I’m really not that good with YA novels. While I kinda-sorta wanted to see what happens in Kang's second book, had it came out closer to my completing Control, I probably would've stuck around. However, this is one of those cases where it’s just not that deep to keep up with. Then again, a small part of me wants to give the second book a go just to see what happens.
(4) Object of Desire by William J. Mann. Now this is a good one. I could make an entire blog post about it, but I won’t. To keep it simple, William J. Mann is a gay contemporary fiction writer. I read one of his books years ago called Where the Boys Are. And to keep my reading fresh and interesting, I picked up Object of Desire at that used library bookstore I keep talking about. I was a little wishy-washy after reading the synopsis, but decided I needed to mix things up. Nonetheless, after a year of it sitting on my shelf, I kind of came to the conclusion that I didn't necessarily want to read about a male go-go dancer drinking and carrying on in West Hollywood. I'll have to pass. No judgment. I just don't think that’s my cup of tea and, like I stated, I'll need an entire blog post to tell you why. Oh yeah. It’s pretty deep.
(5) The China Lover by Ian Buruma. Now y'all know I love my Eastern stories. Well, except for this one. China Lover has been on my shelf for over four years and haven’t been cracked pass page 19. However, it seems like an interesting read, should I force myself to actually read it. It takes place in Shanghai before and during World War II. It follows a Japanese girl born in the Manchuria region of China. She has to keep her identity a secret, considering she dreams of becoming a singer and movie star.
Now my problem is that if I haven’t got into it by now, it’s probably the writing style. And, well, I just don't feel like being patient with it any longer. Unfortunately. The thing is that there are many more books out there that have grabbed me in the past four years. So either I'm in or I’m not at this point. And, evidently, I'm not.
(6) Deadline by Sandra Brown. I really don't want to talk about this book again, but this is the book that made me skip Brown’s latest release, Mean Streak. Now, while I do want to go back and read Mean Streak, I have to be honest about how Deadline exhausted me of Brown’s formulaic romance thrillers. I spoke more about the book HERE.
Now as for books that just barely escaped the chopping block:
(7) The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
(8) The Passage by Justin Cronin
So that’s it, guys! Say goodbye to these books as I usher in new titles for the spring. Speaking of which, I need to get my reading back into gear. March only saw me through two books. How pitiful!
What are you cleaning out this spring? And should I give some of these books a proper chance before I get rid of them?
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Flavia, Weed and Puppets
It took me way too long to read The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag. Just way, way too long. A big chunk of March stood lazily strolling through its pages. I've thought about why over a thousand times and came up with the conclusion that I was distracted, without fuss, by outside influences pulling my attention. Now I don't want to call the second book in Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce mystery series boring. No, I won't proclaim that. I wouldn't even dare, as I adore Flavia enough as it is. However, I suppose I just wasn't as invested in the mystery's unfolding–or the mystery itself. Toward the end I found it mostly unbelievable, or rather a stretch to believe. (Of course I can't give any details without spoiling it.) However, I also though The Weed was more heart wrenching than its predecessor, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
Nevertheless, The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag wasn't exactly thrilling, and yet these are not thrillers. Like the previous books, it's told with a near lethargic, old English style of mystery telling; reminisce something Agatha Christie if you will. The juice, however, is the first-person narrative provided by Flavia (let‘s pun this and say the “flavor“). She’s the juice and the disparity; the life, heart and spirit of the book. So should Bradley throw out the mystery elements, I would probably find satisfaction in Flavia spinning around her English village snooping in residents' business. Or sprinting up to her deceased great-uncle’s chemistry lab to concoct an astringent used to lace her older sisters’ chocolates. Incidentally, this is what took place as the book revved up. You see, the actual murder and investigation elements switch into gear 150 pages deep. That’s right, 150 pages. Therefore, between the first and 150th page, Flavia was more or less moving about without motive. Yet at the end, she had everything nailed down to share with the Inspector. Everything just seemed to come about... right on time for her.
So to speak. I'm trying to be vague and throw shade at the same time.
Nonetheless, I definitely look forward to the third book.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
~4. Back to High School - Towel Style~
The next clutch. The next batch of five pages from this comic I put together my junior year of high school! Or was it my senior year? Upon recollection, I think it was senior year. Okay. Anyway...
Last time we left off, Towel's classmates ran out of school under the influence of the new girl, who took it upon herself to attack their teacher. Considering Towel is somehow immune to the new girl's influence, she somehow convinces herself that it's her mission to make matters right.
Naturally, Towel's investigation leads her to the local bookstore where her best friend, Cornbread, works. She needs help finding the students. Unfortunately, Cornbread's sister works at the bookstore also. And she annoys Towel to no end. She's one of those kids that talks and talks and talks and talks.
Now the story switch gears. I have a problem separating ideas sometimes.
For just one introduction page, we meet up with Minno, the strange new girl Towel is chasing. She's roaming the streets, hypnotizing more and more people (boys mostly). Meanwhile, two new characters are introduced who are going to expand everything.
Back to Towel's story. We meet her mother and brother. She doesn't look like either. I really love drawing busy pages, and it's obvious I couldn't contain myself back then. Just about every blank space needed something.
Anyway, continuing forward...!
Thursday, March 26, 2015
A Little March Housekeeping
It’s an interesting sort. Two books feature black women writing paranormal and fantasy through the lenses of characters of the same likeness (though I think there’s some variation in both). Those would be Daughter of Gods and Shadows by Jayden Brooks and The Moon Tells Secrets by Savanna Welles (told y’all I was gunning hard for these two books). Then I finally decided to move forward in Sara Paretsky’s V. I. Warshawski series with book five, Blood Shot. I was craving some detective fiction. It’s a craving that remains right below the surface–as many know. So that’s nothing new. And last, an interesting book called Icy Sparks about a ten-year-old with Tourette’s syndrome. I found this one at the public library’s used bookstore and just thought "what the hell."
Lovely. All of it.
Here’s to escaping reality and praying some of these new authors deliver. Either way, I can’t wait to share what I thought of them.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Resident Evil Revelations 2 Episode 2 Gameplay
A friend told me I should be promoting my newly gaming channel a little bit more. So here goes.So far, so good. The teams and partnerships are set between Claire and Moria; Barry and Natalia. After escaping the prison, Claire and Moria find themselves in the midst of other survivors on the island, survivors who were also victims during the raid on the Terra Save function. Therefore, these are familiar faces to Claire.
Nonetheless, the survivors are now trapped in a fishing village, one that houses an incapacitated helicopter in need of both fuel and a sound battery. It’s up to Claire, Moria and a drill saw carrying Pedro to spread out through the village and find these missing parts so they can all escape the hell that makes up Resident Evil Revelations 2. Now, it’s never as easy as it sounds. More iron-clad monsters and other Afflicted howl their way throughout the village. And let's not forget the later encounter with a fire-barreling, fat Inca baby. (No really, that's what it looks like.) Nevertheless, all monsters stunt the survivor’s progress, so much so that some of them don't make it out alive…
Watch me curse my way through this travesty–in totally enjoyment of course. Personally, despite a slew of flawed gameplay mechanics, I do think Resident Evil Revelations 2 is superior to even Resident Evil 6. I also find it loads–and I mean loads–less tedious than the original Revelations. I could be bias, though. You know, considering Claire is my absolute favorite Resident Evil character. But who's counting?
Enjoy RE fans!
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