Cat Country

Signal Interrupt Part Deaux

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:32:41 GMT

I have an ungodly amount of editing to do before the week is over, and an ungodly amount of angst over it.

So I won't be blogging until then.

Until then, here are some other places I hang out on the wild wild interwebs:

Twitter, Facebook, Flickr.

Later!

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Cover To Cover

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:29:26 GMT

Bopping around the interwebs as I am wont to do, I came to a post wherein Someone Who Should Know Better was railing about cover art. Not their own--another author's. I'm not going to link it here because frankly I don't want to give this person the attention. Suffice to say it was rude and smug and indicative of a vast lack of knowledge about how the publishing industry works as a whole.

As someone who's complained about cover art in my genre in general terms many times, and would die happy if she never saw another tramp stamp on a book jacket, I'm still bothered. Attacking specific authors over their cover art, even if you don't name names, is not on.

Here's why:

WE DON'T PICK THE COVER ART.

That sounds ludicrously simple, and I can't believe so many people in the industry don't get it. But there it is.

In slightly more detail, it usually goes like this:

I (Jane Midlist) get a call from Edna Editor. She asks me for my thoughts on cover design and what elements I might like to incorporate. I tell her. She then passes the suggestions on to Adam Artdirector who does one of two things:

A) incorporates some but not all of Jane Midlist's suggestions depending on his own vision, the artist/photographer he hires or the stock photos available, and what Marketing has to say.

B) ignores Jane Midlist as if she were a crazy street preacher asking him to contribute his bodily fluids to the Church of Cardboard Frigidaire Box.

If you're Betty Bestseller, than yeah, you get a say over your cover and you probably even get a photoshoot or original art just for you.

But that's not how it works in the vast majority of the industry.

Why? Because Marketing has the final say. And Marketing is a vast and immovable force that cannot be understood, reasoned with or bribed. It simply Is.

And sometimes, Marketing decrees you will have a shitty cover that has nothing to do with your book.

This isn't the author's fault.

Mocking her on your blog for a cover she likely didn't even see until ARCs were already printed is a shitty, low-class thing to do and reveals a startling amount of rudeness inherent in your character.

Anyone encouraging any group of readers to gang up on an author and tell her how much you hate her cover is really not an awesome thing to do.

But readers! you say. Readers can judge anyone! Sure, readers judge on covers. But think about it--you're in a bookstore, intending to buy a book for the purposes of reading it. You're going to at least pick it up and read the back matter. Probably skim the pages. (If you don't, I call bullshit. I have never bought a book without skimming the back cover copy. At the very least. People who read, as a whole, do the same thing.)

Marketing's job is to figure out what cover design is eye-catching, what designs have sold well in the genre before and what variations on a theme might sell well again. A cover's job is to get you to pick up the book and read the back and skim page 123.

If you are Jane Midlist, and you got a cover that resembled your vision, you are lucky. Lucky. (I am lucky. I have beautiful covers. I shout my gratitude at every opportunity. I don't so much point and laugh at those less fortunate.)

The other reason Adam Artdirector and Marketing exist is a slightly less happy-fuzzy reason: A lot of the time, authors have no taste. We're not graphic designers. We make our living with word-pictures for a reason. Marketing exists to make sure the author doesn't bully her way into a cover full of sparkling turquoise unicorns on a book about Jack the Ripper.

Covers are largely a crapshoot. The next time you feel the urge to snark on a specific cover versus some of the (oh so tired) tropes of the genre, bite your tongue.

I'm serious.

It's not our fault. We're just as upset as you are.

We could all stand to be a little kinder and gentler to each other on this issue. Lately, it's getting out of hand.

We are all in this crazy business together.

Let's try to act that way.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Wouldn't it be nice?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:51:11 GMT

Bereft of actual content, I'm answering some reader questions and general inquiries.

How long did it take you to write this particular novel and how long between novels does it usually take to write a new one? How many pages/hours do you write a day?

They were referring to Street Magic. I'd say it took me about five months to write, if you crunched all of the intermittent work on it together. Three months for an initial (crappy) draft, a month to flesh it out, a month of revisions...it added up.

I used to write crazy amounts a day. I kept up 3-5,000 words a day for a good three years, before I burnt my brain out like a piece of bacon in a bug zapper. Now I write 1,o00 words a day or a little more on a couple of projects per day, which is much better for my sanity and also the quality of my books. Everybody wins!

1. Do you have a particular routine when it comes to writing novels? (I know this is a boring question, but it fascinates me how different writers work).

2. You said you liked tea. What is your favorite sort of tea?

3. Do you have a particular favorite band? I got the impression you were a Led (Zeppelin) head by reading parts of your website, but I still have to ask.

1. I sit down, open a document, figure out what happens next, and write it.

2. I like green tea most, black tea next and white tea not much at all. Give me some green tea with jasmine and I will be content for as long as it takes me to drink. Then I'll demand more, so you better have it.

3. My love of Zeppelin comes largely from my mom, who alternated between playing Led Zeppelin II and Rubber Soul on our huge record/tape combo player quite a bit when I was a kid (and Dylan, and Hendrix, and CCR...). Funnily enough, I'm not much of a Beatles fan.

(Paraphrased from a bunch of reader mail) Is Demon Bound the next Nocturne City novel? There's an excerpt of it in the back of Witch Craft. This is confusing.

I know it is, and I apologize. Demon Bound is the second Black London novel. The final Nocturne City novel, Daemon's Mark, will be released in June of 2010. Demon Bound drops December 1!

(Paraphrased from a bunch of Twitter and Facebook questions) Do you have a YA novel coming out? I desire specifics!

Yes, The Witch's Alphabet is my first YA novel. It's a Lovecraftian steampunk tale and the first of three, which comprise the Iron Codex. It's published by Delacorte/Random House and it'll be out sometime in 2010. It's tied for favorite thing I've ever written, so I suggest if you like airships, Cthulhu, spunky heroines or awesomeness you check it out.

(Paraphrased from a question I get roughly once a day with varying degrees of hostility) WHY ISN'T [X NOVEL] ON KINDLE? GOSH!

Here's the deal: I have absolutely no control over when and how my publishers decide to distribute an e-book version of any of my novels. The Kindle conversion system is crazily backed up and slow, and I do not have a magical stick I can whomp anyone with to change that fact. Yelling at me about it and telling me I should get with the times before I cost myself ALL OF MY SALES is rude, and more to the point, won't get you your e-book edition any faster.

Patience is a friggin' virtue, people.

That being said, you are welcome to politely write to St. Martin's Press, Bantam-Spectra or Delacorte and express the unending joy you would feel should they release [X Novel] in an e-book edition.

---

Oh, I did do something else yesterday! Cherie and I went out to Snoqualmie to poke around the train yard and get her some new author photos.

Comparing these to the shots I took of her earlier this year, I'm pleased to see that I kind of sort of look like I know what I'm doing.

This is my favorite:

You can see the full set on Cherie's Flickr stream here.

---

I've been crazed the past couple of weeks trying to get my home loan arranged and deal with Life, but I did read something:

26. Justine Larbalestier, Liar

I would call this a brilliantly written book that was about 20,000 words too long. I really enjoyed spending time with Micah and the twisted, tail-eating narrative was a thing of beauty, but I ended each section vaguely unsatisfied at how little had actually happened. Which may just be my own writer showing through versus my compassionate Reader. I still highly recommend this for YA fans. It's really a stellar example of what the format can do, pacing issues aside.

And that's the news.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Hold me closer, Steampunk Lenin

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:18:14 GMT

Over on Whitechapel's Halloween Open Mic I wrote:

Lately has not been awesome. I'm having trouble remembering the last time anything I did work wise (ie, writing the stuff I get paid for) was enjoyable, never mind fun or an actual creative experience. I have decided I will not write anything else unless it is fun. Because if it's not fun, I might as well go back to pounding out soulless video game chatter in a cubicle box over there in MMORPG Land. Suffering for your art is all well and good, but I don't think the act of sitting down to work is supposed to suck quiet this much, unless your job involves entrails, the IRS or knocking on doors to tell people The Good News.

[cut for emo rambling...]

Of course, this will mean blowing two deadlines since I have to start over.

Fuck it, etc.

Yesterday and today I spent writing up some detailed notes for The Nightmare Clock and the novella. I am determined to find a better way to do this, one that doesn't break my brain on every manuscript.

And who better to help me than Steampunk Lenin?

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Steampunk Lenin mocks you with his mighty dirigibles"][/caption]

Found via Warren Ellis and sovietposter, Steampunk Lenin is a fine muse for an alternate-history steampunk Lovecraftian adventure set at the beginning of the cold war.

No really:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Steampunk Lenin sez: In Steampunk Soviet Russia, spoilers alert you!"][/caption]

I'm gonna start writing again tomorrow.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Signal Interrupt

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:47:08 GMT

I got a packet of edits for Shades of Gray that I'd really like to have off my desk by Monday, so blogius interruptus will commence (re-commence, really) until then. As always, I am on Twitter far more frequently than I pull together an actual post.

Also, I finally pulled all my photos from the Imperial War Museum in London off the camera, and several lent themselves well to steampunking:

Til Monday.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

From Hell's heart I stab at thee! And stuff.

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:22:52 GMT

That title is Wil's fault.

The Nightmare Clock (Iron Codex, Vol. II)

Now that looks like progress. Wrung out over the course of several days, but at least we've gotten out of friggin' triple digits.

I figured out my problem was that I was bored, and my characters were bored. So I threw in a zeppelin chase and a broken leg, and lo, wordcount was achieved, and it was good.

---

I'm going to be at Steamcon tomorrow and Saturday, so if you see me there please say hello.

Otherwise, the week has been extraordinarily uninteresting to everyone who isn't me.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Bookish things

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:05:00 GMT

I've been working. Shocking, I know. I'm way behind, as usual, but I don't think the panic is quite at Defcon Freakout like it was back in the beginning of the year.

The Nightmare Clock (Iron Codex, Vol. II)

The Curse of Four

If you guessed the YA is where the problem is, you are correct. Without going into a big emofest, I basically had a breakdown after finishing the first volume. Or maybe "breakdown" isn't the right word--I experienced a shorting out of my ability to sit down and produce words. My brain threw up its hands and say "You know what? Eff this." I spent most of the summer in writing catatonia. I'm still recovering, and part of that was realizing that while my quality has improved by leaps and bounds over the course of writing The Witch's Alphabet, my quantity has substantially decreased. Gone are the 5k days, gone forever. But the fact remains, I'm late and I need to get my ass in gear.

So here's to moving right along.

Oh, and I've been reading some.

---

23. Mike Carey, Dead Men's Boots

My favorite so far of the Castor books, with a deeper and more realized plot than the previous volumes (and hints of an arc at last for all of the books.) Castor continues to grow and surprise rather than stalling out at Cliche like so much of UF, and his personal story continually complicates without seeming overdone (nobody must have sex or die, except maybe Juliet the succubus.) I totally bought the two books that aren't out yet in the US while I was in the UK, so I can just KEEP READING HAHAHA.

24. Joe Schreiber, Eat the Dark

Picked this up at the Schreiber reading I attended on Saturday, where he described it as a John Carpenter-esque romp through a blacked-out hospital on its last night of operation, featuring a serial killer who is something more than human. Exactly as advertised.

25. Ed Brubaker/Sean Philips, Criminal: Bad Night

Initially a little slower than the previous volume I'd read (Coward) but with a mindfuck of an ending. I'm a sucker for insomnia stories and unreliable narrators, and both are used to their desired effect in Bad Night. This is a fantastic graphic novel series, and if you like noir, you should be reading it.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

All the news.

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:09:58 GMT

I told you last time I had some news. And here it is:

I'm moving.

Not soon--not until March. But much further than I had originally planned when I came to Seattle to look for a housing upgrade buy. I found a house, a perfect house.

In Massachusetts.

For those of you not acquainted with my backstory, the great state of MA is where I hail from, it's where my parents live, and it's about three hours from where my One True BFF Sara hangs her hat, down in New York.

I'm actually posting this with some hesitation, because Internet Experts tend to come out of the woodwork in situations like this and tell you why your well-thought plan is All Wrong. And that'd make me pissy. So let's not, okay?

ANYway, here's the thing: I love Seattle. I love the landscape and I love the people I know here (and especially Team Seattle). I love it so much I gave up my home in Olympia to be in the heart of things, and promptly discovered that unless I want to be buried in debt for roughly the rest of my natural life, I cannot afford to live permanently in anything bigger than a shack or nicer than a crackhouse.

Was I disappointed? Sure. I had a couple of really bad weeks after the financing debacle with the place I wanted to put an offer on here. Cupcakes may have been emotionally eaten. But I picked up and while idly surfing the web for other (cheaper) places I could stand to live, I found the perfect house for me in North Adams, MA.

I viewed it before I headed to Europe, and I put down an offer while I was on vacation.

And here it is:

It's about an hour away from where my parents live. It was built 12 years after the end of the Civil War. It has a turret. It has a library. It has a massive, labyrinthine attic and three fireplaces. It's literally the most Me sort of place I could imagine.

I'm not moving until March, which gives me a few months to say goodbye to Seattle. And there's a good chance I'll return at some point in my life--I still own the Olympia house and the deal I've made with myself and everyone else who matters is that after a year, if I believe I've made a mistake of EpicFail proportions and hate the very thought of living in North Adams, I can come back. No harm, no foul.

So yeah. Big life change. Big news. Big, grown-up decision.

But, I think, the right one.

---

In bog-standard writing news, I managed to finish and turn in my Fae locked-room mystery, "Under the Hill and Far Away", and now my writing to-do's look like this:

Write "Under the Hill and Far Away" for the "occult detective" anthology

Finish "Rusty Cage" for The Wild Side anthology (on hold for now pending delivery date)

Write "The Curse of Four" and adjacent chapbook for SubPress and:

Write The Nightmare Clock (Iron Codex Vol. II) and:

Write The Crimson King (In spare time) and:

Finish my paranormal TV pilot, Raising Kane

Write Bone Gods (Black London #3)

Write Black London #4

Write The Mirrored Shard (Iron Codex Vol. III)

Write Houses of the Holy (sequel/companion to Crimson King)(formerly Mystery Adult UF Novel)

Order now and we'll include...

Finish my non-specfic project (which for purposes of me not being confused has the code name of "Spy Noir") (On hold until I find that little thing called a plot)

Write The Bride, non-steampunk YA project (Option book for my YA publisher)

Brainstorm a fourth book to fill out my new contract (Done and done.)

Outline/start non-specfic collab project

Brainstorm new proposals for non-novel Seekrit Project Round 2 (after a pass on Round 1 from Seekrit Publisher.)

It's been a big couple of weeks, so if you all don't mind, I'm going to go delicately fall over now.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

This lane is my lane, this lane is your lane.

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:18:06 GMT

After a nice time at Baltimore ComicCon (where I hung out with Stacia and some lovely folks from the Marvel offices, said hey to my Twitter bud Matt Fraction, bought a print from lovely fellow Venture Bros. fangirl Annie Wu and got a sketch of Wolverine for donating money to the Humane Society)(which is the best way to obtain a sketch of Wolverine, really), I drove from Baltimore to Massachusetts last night. Or rather, I drove as far as New Jersey, where I promptly became mired in the permanent traffic sprawl that stretches from Manhattan to points south.

Way, way south.

All told, it took me two hours to get up the turnpike and across the George Washington Bridge, a span of distance that normally takes about thirty minutes. Good music on the radio saved me, and there was a long span of time on the bridge itself where I totally gave up on driving and played air guitar along with Boston.

Then I hauled some ass through Connecticut and Rhode Island, and manage to make up all but about twenty minutes of drive time.

And, er, no offense to Toyota or Toyota owners, but I've driven two of their models as rentals now and they've both been sort of crap. I think perhaps I will switch my affiliation to an alternate giant faceless car manufacturer for future rentals. And this will have a RELEVANT SOCIAL IMPACT. Yes.

Today was a good day--I hung out with my mom and my stepdad, my perennially awesome parental units, who still feed me and let me do my laundry even though I am an old woman of 25.

And I got some exceedingly good news about a non-writing but still earth-shaking development that's been in the works of late. More on that tomorrow, but now, I, er, sort of started a new novel.

It's one of the untitled books riding my new contract. It's paranormal horror. The "untitled" part is actually a lie, because I came up with one after I wrote the intro (at least as a placeholder.)

So yeah, in addition to The Nightmare Clock and my novella project, I'll be intermittently poking at The Crimson King.

Yes, it is name after a King Crimson song.

Yes, that is metal.

Yes.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Friday Five, Get Off My Lawn edition

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:47:10 GMT

If you invite me to become a fan of yourself on Facebook, step back and ask yourself "Am I really comfortable with this level of meta/rampant narcissim?" If the answer is "Yes", then perhaps you and I should reconsider our fake FB friendship.

When I post something on Twitter and your first impulse is to contradict me for no reason or point out how I got something "wrong", ask yourself, "Is this really the best way to spend my time?" and then please kick yourself in the head regardless of the answer.

Posting self-aggrandizing blogs about how yours is the One True Way to write a novel/promote a novel/bake a pie will result in me kicking you in the head.

All of this internet bullcrappery actually happened to me this week, which is why I'm feeling a mite cranky, but I DID finish "Under the Hill and Far Away" today.

Screw y'all, I'm going to Baltimore ComicCon.

---

Now that I got that out of my system...

21. Mike Carey, Vicious Circle

The second Felix Castor book expands on the problems introduced in the first, The Devil You Know. I didn't enjoy the "big picture" plot as much as Fix's interpersonal problems with his friend, Rafi, his landlady, Pen and his succubus apprentice, Juliet, but I did find the worldbuilding in this one to be a lot more interesting, and the possession scene in the shopping centre was killer.

22. Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied

A beautifully written but utterly predictable YA historical about a girl in 1947 who's recently returned GI stepfather is hiding a terrible secret, and who's beautiful but unstable mother is hiding a worse one. Entirely too much boyfriend, not enough murder plot for my liking. Or to put it another way...needs moar Nazi vampires.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Good morning, Baltimore

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:06:11 GMT

I was going to title this post "The One Where I'm Fucking Goth", but then I thought of The Children.

I attended the Poe vigil last night with Stacia. It was cold and eerie, with a strong wind blowing, and some local Poe folks read aloud "The Raven" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" before we decided we were so frozen we had to leave. I'm trying to remember if I've ever been to Baltimore, and I don't think so...so this was a first, and I spent most of it being Gawth. Good times.

Earlier in the day, we went to the Poe house museum dealie, which is in the same neighborhood where they filmed The Wire. You can guess how excited our cabbie was to leave us there. The Poe museum was iffy in terms of exhibits, but we did strike up a conversation with an incredibly friendly cop hanging around outside to make sure the tourist didn't get shanked. He was a Civil War buff and loved trains. We were amused.

Starting tomorrow/Saturday, I'll be attending Baltimore ComicCon as a mere spectator, but if you see me, come and say hi.

When I get home, I have some news for y'all, as well as two more lengthy posts. One is me bringing a big old smackdown about something that has run amok of late, and one is actually fairly happy good-times kind of deal.

And I should poke at the short again, but I'm really hungry, so that comes first.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

The end and the beginning

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:34:18 GMT

I sent back final edits to Daemon's Mark last night, which is the last book in the Nocturne City series.

How do I feel? Right now, relieved. Later, I'm sure I'll have other feelings toward the series, which was frequently in contention with my own creative mind but also responsible for breaking me into publishing. It's complicated, I guess. That's a cop-out answer but there you are.

After Daemon's Mark I have only one last desperate, frantic, crushing deadline in 2009, and then the rest of my work due has been allotted reasonable time.

I'm also thinking circles around what to write next. I have two books riding on my new contract that are "untitled urban fantasies", ie whatever I want under the loosely held and ambiguously colored UF umbrella. Right now I haven't the faintest idea, except I think I want to write about the Apocalypse. I've never written anything with a Judeo-Christian myth base (and to me, JC is indeed another myth base, in there with Norse and Celt and Japanese and Hindu etc etc etc.) I've also never written anything purely based on 19th/20th century folklore and urban legends, so there's that.

I have novel projects to last me for the next two years, and in that time there will inevitably be shorts, a proposal or two, and more scripts of various kinds. This is good. This is busy-but-not-too. God willing and the creek don't rise, I won't have any more mental breaks like I did back in March, trying to finish Demon Bound concurrent with 57 other code-red deadline projects.

Right now I feel like all of my ideas would be better as films. Which is probably a sign to go and finish "Raising Kane" so I can join the proud legions of sweaty-palmed and overeager screenwriters shopping their pilots.

And this moment, I should be fighting off that last crushing deadline, but my brain is tired so I think I'll read and then stab at it again.

What's your favorite urban legend? Mine is, predictably perhaps, the Hook Man, because it always gave me the chance to recite "And there...on the handle...was a HOOK." to screaming and glee. My least favorite was Bloody Mary, who traumatized me at the tender age of nine. To this day, I'm still spooked by Things in Mirrors.

So thanks for that, folklore.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Keeps on rainin', levee's gonna break...

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:39:17 GMT

I've started two projects to the tune of very little wordcount, but I've been sick with a cold straight from the bowels of Hell. Seriously, the only way it could have been worse is if an H1N1 carrier sneezed on me and then ran away, laughing.

So without further ruminating...

The Nightmare Clock (Iron Codex, Vol. II)

The Curse of Four

The Nightmare Clock, obviously, is my second YA steampunk novel. That one, I'm really excited about. And I'm also totally excited to be able to start The Curse of Four, which is my novella for SubPress.

Today, I'm meeting some folks for belated birthday lunch and Whip It, and then I'm going to come home and tie up a few loose ends work-wise, namely finishing a short story and chunking away at some quick edits to Daemon's Mark, the last Nocturne City book.

So that's about it.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

The Author Returns

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:10:23 GMT

I'm back from Europe. I'm also bloody sick, so don't expect a ton of coherency until my sinuses stop recieving signals from Planet Snot. In the meantime, while I'm longing for the sweet release of death, have some news:

---

First and foremost, my good friend/neighbor/kitteh-watcher/author extraordinaire Cherie Priest has a new book out:

Now, you know that I'm always happy to post release info, but I don't gush over books unless they genuinely impress me. Cherie's impressed me so much that not only did I give it a quote (along with such fine folks as Wil Wheaton, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, and English reprobate Warren Ellis) but I've actually marked it down on my calendar and have been waiting for the release day.

Here's what I said about Boneshaker:

A rip-snorting adventure in the best tradition of a penny dreadful. Priest has crafted a novel of exquisite prose and thrilling twists, populated by folk heroes and dastardly villains, zombies and air pirates, incredible machines and a heroine wholl have you cheering. BONESHAKER is the definitive steampunk story, absolutely unique and one hell of a fun read.

And you know what, internets? I meant every damn word. The book's available now from fine retailers everywhere, and I am using all of my admittedly diminished sickly mind powers to compel you to pick up a copy.

---

I had a bit of a realization while I was in Europe, largely cut off except from email and Twitter (those are on my phone. My bill this month could prop up some kind of small third-world dictatorship.) I didn't miss the internet all that much.

Oh sure, I missed reading my blogroll and I missed talking about writing and having the daily pause in work and craziness to sit down at say Hey readers, how are you today? I am fine (or not). But the constant frantic scrambling of "promotion"? The endless memes? The great swath of stuff I just skim over even though I'm "supposed" to care about it as a professional writer? (No, I won't tell you what sites, exactly. That's a seekrit.)

Didn't miss it.

So here's the deal--from now on, I'm going to tell you when my books come out. I'm going to keep doing what I consider "fun" promo (and more importantly, promo I've been able to quantify as actually raising awareness of my novels.) I'll still do signings, cons, and the occasional blog interview. I will still post my wordcounts and my general brain ramblings on Batman, hipsters, the likelihood of me killing you if you tell me you "don't read that paranormal STUFF" in a tone of voice normally used to say things like you "don't use that heroin STUFF."

I'll do all of that. But I'm done with the stuff I'm "supposed" to do, because frankly, it just makes me irritable.

---

Another thing that started while I was gone was fall TV here in the US. As is tradition, here is what I am watching this year. (I made a real effort to scale back. I don't think it worked.)

Supernatural
Criminal Minds
The Office
30 Rock
Lie to Me
Numb3rs
Cold Case
Southland
Human Target (midseason)
Burn Notice (midseason)

I dropped a ton of stuff from last year, believe it or not (most notably The Mentalist, which utterly failed to deliver on its early potential) and more stuff got cancelled (bye, Pushing Daisies. bye, Reaper. bye, Life. /sniff) And if Supernatural doesn't please me, it's waiting for DVD, too. I haven't really enjoyed the show for about a year.

This is the first year I remember when there isn't at least one new cop show. Lots of doctor shows. Lots of paranormal-lite crap like Vampire Diaries (sorry, but I saw the pilot and WHAT. The books were camp but they didn't SUCK. No pun intended.) But no cops. I am spoiled, I guess, because Lie to Me and Southland were both quite good last year.

Now that's the last I'll probably say about television until NEXT fall.

Signing off to go try and work a bit. And get rid of my 1700 vacation emails.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

"I don't wanna nitpick, Tom..."

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:23:59 GMT

I'm working on a short story called "Under the Hill and Far Away" (my Led Zeppelin is pasted on yay) which is set in the Black London 'verse but focuses primarily on Pete, a body, a castle full of suspects and DRAMATIC LIGHTNING.

So yeah, I'm basically writing Agatha Christie does Faerie. Because I can. And because Bob Kanigher. (Look, if he were around I'm sure he'd take time out of his busy Batman-writing schedule to approve.)

Oh, and we've made it to Bruges. Have a picture.

Just picture a teeny little Brendan Gleeson flying off the tower...

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Birthday Funtime Happy Posting

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:30:31 GMT

A year ago today I didn't properly post, because I was too involved with getting ready to eat pizza and watch the season opener of Supernatural.

Yeah, that didn't work out so well considering. Anyway, this year I'm in Amsterdam and the closest thing I've got is MTV Germany, which shouts at me in a vaguely threatening manner while showing me flashy promo spots for shows involving naked bratwurst wrestling.*

*I may have made that part up.

But look! I took some pictures and stuff!

The basilica of St. Nicholas

A biiiiiiicycle!

The Blues Brothers. Obviously.

In writing news, I am at last finished with the ENDLESS revision PART TWO of The Witch's Alphabet and getting ready to turn it in to my editor. I also wrote up a short outline of Vol. II, The Nightmare Clock, which I can say unreservedly is awesome.

So now my year looks like this:

Finish second revision of The Witch's Alphabet

Write "Under the Hills and Far Away" for the "occult detective" anthology

Finish "Rusty Cage" for The Wild Side anthology

Write "The Curse of Four" and adjacent chapbook for SubPress

Finish my paranormal TV pilot concurrent with:

Write The Nightmare Clock (Iron Codex Vol. II)

Write Bone Gods (Black London #3)

Write Black London #4

Write The Mirrored Shard (Iron Codex Vol. III)

Write Black London #5 (Yes, we're now in 2011 for those of you playing at home.)

Write Mysterious Adult UF Novel #???

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE:

Finish my non-specfic project (which for purposes of me not being confused has the code name of "Spy Noir")

Plot/fiddle with second non-specfic project ("Cracktastic Crime Novel")

Write The Bride, non-steampunk YA project

Brainstorm a fourth book to fill out my new contract

Outline/start seekrit collab project with my seekrit co-writer

---

And finally, I read some books on the trip.

19. Tana French, In the Woods

Near-perfect detective novel with a maddening ambiguous ending. Still, despite that and some first-novel rambly-ness (and picking out the killer about 30% of the way in), I loved it and the dark atmosphere that pervades French's take on Ireland and the life of Rob Ryan in general. I bought The Likeness at the same time so I'll pick that up when I'm back home.

20. Michael Connelly, The Poet

A great start and a great premise that falls apart about 100 pages in. For a brief shining moment, it seems that Connelly learned to write and plot outside of the box, and then he realizes where he is, has a panic attack and shuts himself back inside, unspooling to an ending that made my eyes roll out of my head. Also, got the hated UNSUB-cam breaking up the narrative. And the laughable sex scenes being, well, laughable. But I did like the Poe-loving serial killer and was sort of rooting for him by the end. Also? The FBI does not assign nicknames to their serial killer cases, Mr. Connelly. Thank you kindly.

Now, it's my birthday and I'm off to shop!

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Eastward!

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:37:54 GMT

I've been gone for a while...Dragon*Con was great and I've been in MA since then visiting my parents.

Today, we're leaving on a two-week trip to Holland, Belgium and London, which will be a much-needed respite for me and a fun trip for my family. I'm going to try and blog, and of course I'll be on Twitter. Expect a lot of picture posts and "YOU GUYS, I am eating CHOCOLATE" posts.

Writing-wise, I proofed Demon Bound and sent back the final version to Editor Rose. The revision to the YA had to go on hold for the con and proofs, but I have an eight-hour plane ride in my immediate future and I sense WORK happening en route to the land of wood shoes and legal weed. Perhaps even FINISHING. That would be so nice.

Coming up, I need to write "Under the Hill and Far Away" for the EDGE SF anthology, and turn in an outline for The Nightmare Clock, Iron Codex Vol. II to Editor Krista. Then while in Holland, I need to finish "Rusty Cage" and at least make a decent start on The Curse of Four for SubPress.

I am having visions of sitting beside a canal, a medieval castle, or POSSIBLY BOTH while I am WRITING and it will be full of GLAMO(U)R just like those girls who go to Europe to find themselves and end up eating wonderful things and having affairs with disaffected, floppy-haired Belgians who in turn sell them to Albanian gangsters.

Okay, that last part was the plot of Taken, which everyone who loves Who's More Grizzled? ex-spies should watch.

But I am totally serious about the castles and canals.

And the chocolate.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

DragonName, DragonCon, DragonStuff

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:05:03 GMT

Let's get the name thing out of the way first--after virtually TONS of entries, I've chosen the new name of (male best friend.)

The name is: Calvin (or Cal)

and the winner is:

tybalt_quinn

Drop me an email or a comment and we will discuss putting you into the book as redshirt who meets a horrible end! It'll be a party!

---

Dragon*Con was a lot of fun, but far less excitement! than last year. I mostly met up with various writer pals and made some new ones. There were no mystery messages from Nathan Fillion or random encounters with Batman.

I did some panels, about three of which were excellent and the rest of which ranged from mildly helpful to truly appalling (such as when a fellow panelist ANSWERED HER CELL PHONE in the middle of our discussion.) I didn't catch her name at the beginning of the program, or it'd be all over this post, because that sort of behavior is just Not Okay. So if you were in the Collaboration: Making it Work panel on Saturday morning, I apologize on her behalf. Some writers actually known how to maintain decorum when they're in a working/teaching situation. Just not all of us.

I did have a nice two-minute conversation with Felicia Day, who I really wanted to give a copy of Street Magic to because not only is she gorgeous and nice as all get out but she loves books. It wasn't quite as epic as Richelle Mead's encounter with Joe Flanigan (nobody spoke French), but it was great to finally chat with her and I got a Guild DVD, too!

---

Yesterday, I didn't have anything professional to do (some could argue that I didn't do anything professional the entire length of the con, but what can you do?) so I went to artist's alley and the dealer's hall. The artist's alley wasn't huge, but there were some amazing exhibitors, and I bought a bunch of adorable steampunk figures and a goth bunny statue, as well as a Teresa McPherson print of the Dragon*Con program cover.

Also, I got (okay, filched) a CW swag bag (used for con laundry)(condry?):

And I bought a poster of what is possibly the best film ever: Creature with the Atom Brain.

So yeah, that was pretty epic.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Name of the Protag

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:09:35 GMT

Dragon*Con rolls on, and while I haven't had time to document much of it, I do have a contest for you.

WHAT: Re-name (male best friend) in WITCH'S ALPHABET

HOW: Submit your choice in comments. Character is male, 15, a bit earnest and nerdy, circa 1955. So stuff like "Chase" or "Usher" is right out.

PRIZE: Have a redshirt or an eeevil henchperson named for you in the final draft.

RULES: Submit as many names as you like in ONE comment, please. Contest closes on Monday.

Get to naming!

This post has nothing to do with Dragon*Con

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:38:08 GMT

...Because I am still on the airplane.

That's right, AirTran wifi is gifting you with this blog. FROM THE FUTURE.

Please do not gaze directly upon this FUTUREBLOG, lest you be struck blind by its sheer brilliance.

Actually no, you have to look. Because this blog is all about peekchures.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that photography and a little bit of modeling is sort of my side thing, when I can't tak staring at the screen wrestling with deadlines for one more second.

A few days back, Cherie and I went out to Georgetown and shot a great set with me, my car and some retro clothes. I'm the first to admit I'm still learning when it comes to in-front-of-lens work. (I had, to put it mildly, some body image issues through my teens and early twenties.)

BUT I LOVE THESE DAMN PICTURES.

So.

I'm taking time out from the writing stuff and trying to present a little portfolio...so for those who don't care, don't worry. Tradecraft will be back tomorrow.

(And yes, before you ask...that is my 1967 Impala being used as a prop. If anyone feels like passing these along to Eric Kripke...I'm just sayin'.)

This one is my favorite. The graffiti wall is at an old brewery on Airport Way.

Dress: Lucky Vintage on University Ave in Seattle.

As Cherie says, everyone looks good upside down. (Pants: RockSteady. Tank: Mine. Belt: Express. Bandanna/earrings: Hot Topic and DON'T YOU JUDGE ME.)

Shirt: Lucky Vintage. (It says FRAN on the front. I am totally gonna wear it in real life and pretend that's my name. Short for Frances, dontchaknow.)

The full set on Flickr. Shot by Cherie Priest. Post-production by me.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Little boxes, in a building...

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:31:58 GMT

I'm running to get ready for Dragon*Con, so here's my schedule of panels and events:

A Writer's Guide to Goth & Punk
Time: Fri 01:00 pm Location: Montreal / Vancouver - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: Explores ways that writers can create believable and accurate goth and punk characters.

Frightening Folklore
Time: Fri 05:30 pm Location: Cairo - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: An exploration into the darker side of mythology and folklore.

City of Dreadful Night
Time: Fri 08:30 pm Location: Montreal / Vancouver - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: World-building in dark fantasy.

Collaborating: Making It Work for You
Time: Sat 10:00 am Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: Collaborating can be a blessing or a disaster. What strategies will make collaborating work for you. Pitfalls to avoid vs partnerships that soar.

Scary Fairy Tales
Time: Sat 01:00 pm Location: Montreal / Vancouver - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: A look in to the darker side of fairytale magic.

Science Fiction in YA
Time: Sat 05:30 pm Location: A707 - Marriott (Length: 1)
Description: Much of the YA universe is fantasy. Explore the science fiction side of YA as we visit future worlds, strange inventions, and distant planets.

Working the Graveyard Shift
Time: Sun 08:30 pm Location: Montreal / Vancouver - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: A look at the various jobs available to supernatural investigators and creatures of the night.

---

Today, I must go to the bank, stock up the cats on supplies, and (please, please, please) finish the revision on The Witch's Alphabet for Editor Krista.

On the bright side, I'm told my Seattle>>>Atlanta flight has wifi, so I may soon be blogging to you from THE FUTURE.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Release day is upon us!

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:27:08 GMT

Someone, or something, is setting fire to the homes of the citys most infamous non-humans, racking up a body count thats growing by the day. And strange, otherworldly creatures no one has seen beforeselkies trolls and harpiesare causing chaos throughout the city. Racing to stop the carnage, Luna turns to sexy federal agent Will Fagin for help. As they work to uncover the source of the bloodshed, Lunas attraction for Will deepens. But just as she learns Wills darkest secret, Nocturne City is thrust into total chaosleaving Luna and Will in a path of destruction they may not be able to stopor survive.

This is Book 4 of the Nocturne City cycle, and I'm quite proud of it. Go forth, buy, enjoy.

Happy release day to everyone who shares 9/1, as well!

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Earning Out

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:10:20 GMT

Today, I owe all of my readers a huge, huge thanks.

I rec'd a royalty statement from my old agency for Night Life, and wrapped inside it was a royalty check.

Night Life has officially earned out, eighteen months after publication.

No more reserve against returns. I have never felt so much like a Real Author.

(FYI, "earning out" means a book has sold enough copies to earn back its entire advance, including the mysterious "reserve against returns" that your publisher calculates. Any sales from here on out mean royalties. And this is a very good thing indeed.)

So thank you. Not only am I earning royalties but I have endeared myself to St. Martin's by earning them back their investment. I couldn't have done it without you.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

I got 99 problems but a vamp ain't one

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:05:08 GMT

Brace yourselves. I'm gonna say something about vampires.

I have no vampires in any of my books. The closest thing is a kind of vamp-zombie hybrid (zompire?) in The Witch's Alphabet.

I've been critical of vampire fiction in the past--I find a lot of the modern stuff formulaic and, for lack of a better term, de-fanged. I can't remember the last time I read a genuinely tense or scary vampire story, and barely remember the last time I saw a tense or scary vampire film. (And yes, I have Let the Right One In waiting patiently in my Netflix queue.)

But I love vampires. Vampires are terrifying. The idea of the intelligent, walking dead who feed on the living for sustenance and possess seductive powers? That's a fucking amazing dynamic for a story.

The reason I've never written a vampire story (aside from "Perdition", which is more about Doc Holliday killing a bunch of them than the vampires themselves...) is because I haven't thought of something that satisfies me yet. I haven't thought of a way to work with all of the things I like or even adore about the vampire mythos and folklore. I haven't found a way to get back to basics, to bring real dramatic tension to a story featuring a vampire protagonist or antagonist.

But when I find that idea, I would, in a heartbeat.

Just because there are a ton of "vampire" novels out there (mostly featuring the "safe" vampire who merely exists for the motives of the female protagonist, representing nothing more than a safe space to explore kink that is taboo with a regular guy/girl) doesn't mean you can't write one. It just means you (and I) have to try harder to make it good.

I'm still waiting for my perfect vampire story to come to me. But rest assured when it does, I'll write it.

---

I did some test wardrobe for an upcoming photoshoot yesterday and ended up taking one of the best self-portraits I've done (at least I think so.)

And you can see the green tint in my hair.

---

18. Grant Morrison/Dave McKean, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth

What can I say about the graphic novel that gave me my favorite Joker quote ever? ("Laugh and the world laughs with you.") I bought the annotated version, which casts a lot of extra light on the symbolism used throughout and on the scripting process behind a comic, if you're into that. I'm on to The Killing Joke next.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Cut, Rinse, Repeat

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:16:44 GMT

Firstly, here's the podcast! (With bonus! art of me as the Baroness, which is possibly the raddest thing that's happened to me this year.)

War Rocket Ajax #2

Secondly, I'm about halfway through my revision of The Witch's Alphabet, and I wanted to talk a little bit about how I revise.

It's all about minimalism for me. I write rambly, disconnected first drafts, and then I go back and connect all of the tissue of the book.

And then I pare it down. And I pare it down more. Revision to me is about sharpening prose, not necessarily changing it. In my perfect world, it's certainly not about adding words, even though they inevitably creep in.

But revision shouldn't be about puffing wordcount, I don't think. For me, it's about sharpening the text until it does exactly what I want to do. A sentence should show character, plot, setting, theme and mobility (the forward motion of the story) in a perfect world. In the real world, I'd say I manage to hit about three out of those five most of the time.

The places where I hit all five are the sentences I remember, when I feel for a moment that I'm Doin' It Rite.

Revision is the place where I'm allowed to be fiddly, to play with word choice and structure, to plant all of the small threads that may get overlooked when I'm trying to lay out the broad over-story in the first draft.

I do enjoy revision, but it also makes me a little crazy

I'm so glad I'm half done.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.