Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

Now that that is out of the way, welcome to 2010!

Writers on this blog and elsewhere have shared some profound thoughts on the “Naughties” over the past week. Much as I like the name

Seventeen Reasons Why DragonCon is a Regency Country House Party

“You’re gonna need Sherpas,” Greg taunted.

The spouse person always says that when I’m compiling my lists of what to pack for a trip. I wanted to flip him off, but this time he was… um, right. When he caught me I was tallying the costumes I need for this year’s DragonCon.

There’s the Pirate Ball, but everything about that costume packs flat. Except the boots, which can’t use for the Steampunk Ball, but I might be able to match up with the costume for the DragonCon attempt on the world’s largest “Thriller” dance. Then there’s the growing contingent of waitresses from Merlotte’s, the bar in Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels and HBO’s True Blood series, assembling for the parade. Alas, my days of playing not so sweet juveniles like vampire Jessica are long past. Still, I’d make a killer Arlene. Maybe I could re-use the top for one of my panels.

But what am I going to do about the high tea?

Oh for the days of capacious trunks and well-sprung coaches. Of footmen to carry your luggage to your room and maids to tend to your every need. Of dancing all night and sleeping ‘til the afternoon…

And if you don’t count the panels, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing at DragonCon. I stared at my list, while my mind cycled through the amusements contained in every Regency novel I ever read. “Well, day-um,” I said, “I’m summering at a Regency house party.”

Greg stared at me.

“No. Really. I’ve got seventeen reasons to prove it…”

(Click the link for the reasons—all seventeen of them.)

Friday Five: Five+ Favorite Anime Heroes

Cartoon heroes might seem, um, two-dimensional, but that’s only until you really get to know them. Anime and manga boast some of the most intriguing heroes around. No single media has a monopoly on good characterization—or sexy guys. These are just a few of my favorites.

Alucard (Hellsing)
Yes, the name is Dracula spelled backwards—no spoilers there. But this isn’t your grand-anything’s Drac. Alucard takes the stuff Bram Stoker was afraid to talk about and takes it…

Pre-Thursday Thirteen: Thirteen Reasons Why Squirrels Make Good Romance Heroes

Squirrels and me. Me and squirrels. I won’t claim to be squirrelly, but when I told friends my next Samhain blog fell on National Squirrel Appreciation Day (yes, there really is one, and today’s the date—check out the link), nobody was terribly surprised.

After all, our neighborhood squirrels are the fattest in three states. They’ve also acquired a certain reputation among the local raptor community. I think it was the Cooper’s Hawk they punched out.

Well, it was bird-brained of the hawk to try to…

True Vampire Romance

We knew we were doomed the minute we met.

Friends Don't Let Friends Publish America

“I’m going to be a published author too,” my friend Gary (not his real name) announced. “A book of my poems is coming out soon. They’re giving me a hundred copies, and I need to talk to you about promotion.”

Some of my confusion must’ve shown on my face. This wasn’t what I expected to have slapped on my plate in the middle of a Sunday afternoon cook-out. “That’s great, Gary. You’re getting a hundred ARCs? Wow! That’s amazing. How soon are you getting published?”

“October. What’s an ARC?”

Fantasy & the City

I’m not here.
With any luck, by the time you read this I’ll be in Richmond, VA, warping young minds—er, participating in pre-RavenCon programming at a local Richmond high school. Or maybe you’ll read this a little later, after my roommates and I head out to the local cold spots—the kinds of places where the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe never sleeps.
I love finding the weird in a new locale. No two places have the same feel.
It’s more than a matter of kind.

What to do when you’re NOT writing

I’m going to go hide now. Another well-meaning writing friend just tried to pummel me in to word-count servitude. You know, those schemes designed to guilt you into writing a book in a month by ignoring all outside distractions like eating, sleeping, bathing and national elections.

I have to hide. It’s either that or commit writing heresy by disagreeing with (Nora) Roberts’ Law. Some days, some weeks, some months, you really

Thirteen Things Final Line Edits (FLEs) Taught Me About Writing

Samhain writers, get out your rotten tomatoes and let them fly. I am the person at Samhain you most love to hate. I am the fussy, picky, pedantic, acid-tongued Final Line Editor Angie James inflicted on you in a moment of unadulterated sadism. (She’s proud of it too. Look at her buffing her nails as I type that.) I will question your spelling, your punctuation and word choices. I will point out the plot thread you dropped in chapter six and never picked up again. I will tell you when your hero crawled into bed wearing the heroine’s Jimmy Choos and the dog’s socks. I know what the weather was like in London in February 1815, and I’ll be delighted to show you the contemporary sources to prove it. I am all your editorial nightmares rolled into one.