glitter_n_gore

This post is somewhat spoilery--consider yourselves warned.

First and for the record: yes, I'm a Battle Royale enthusiast and dedicated Asia Extreme fangirl, but we aren't here to talk about which futuristic dystopia about a totalitarian government annually pitting its children against each other in a last-man-standing duel to the death came first or did it better. I do have a preference, but they are very different stories, and I happen to believe Suzanne Collins' claim that she hadn't read or even heard of Koushoun Takami's novel before writing hers.

So, what are we here to talk about? Well, first let me direct you to this excellent post by seanan_mcguire: Some thoughts about gender and literature. The Internet is no stranger to gender wars, especially the really nasty ones, and somehow they seem to be getting worse. In the literary quadrant of said wars we have YA paranormal romance in one corner, with their pretty dresses and broody Type A alpha love interests; in the other, we have so-called "boy books" about action and adventure and coming-of-age. The biggest point of contention being, not the actual content of the sub-genres, but the gender of the main characters and, by extension, their assumed target audiences.

Let me put it another way: certain readers who prefer not to read books with female protagonists say they avoid them on the off-chance that a romance will happen. As someone who isn't fond of romance on the whole, I get this . . . kind of. It has a twisted logic to it. Twisted, because, well, not all books with female protagonists are about romance. Just as not all books with male protagonists are without it. Using gender as an excuse to make assumptions about a book's content is perfectly ridiculous.

( Now, about The Hunger Games... )

I've recently added a few more things to my links list on the left.

The reason for this is a project started by some of the good people at AW, the purpose of which is to help promote one another in our various stages of publication.

We've also talked about guest blogging on each others' sites, so you might see something from one of them here soon, or I might link to a guest post of mine elsewhere. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are some recent tidbits on the blogging front:

Exploring Horror with Luke Walker--guest post on Fiona Dodwell's blog

Opening Chapter of 'SET--a novel excerpt from Luke Walker

Rock and Roll is Dead Again--announcement from Jenna Pitman (rejectedrefuse) about the new anthology from Blood Bound Books, including her story, "The Language of Bones"


And what am I up to? Well, let's see...

"Lucid" is creeping up on the 50k mark, which is exciting, but it's also starting to bog down which is not. I keep telling myself it's okay, it's just the first draft, I can fix it later, but EURGH!

"Sinless" seems to be occupying the most space in my brain lately. I'm focusing more on plot than word count with this one, at least so far, but I like the way the language is unfolding. I think I have a good monster here.

"The Time Ghost" is at a dead stop. Again. I'm about ready to trunk it and move on. But not quite.

"The Carrion Girl" has been put away "temporarily" owing to my need to remove a character and still somehow work it up to a decent word count.


Last book read: Roses and Bones, a collection of three previously published works by Francesca Lia Block. This puts my Books Read This Year count up to 25.

My reading list grows exponentially every time I look at it. The only thing stopping me from buying new books right now is my shiny new bookshelf and the fact that absolutely nothing else can fit on it at present--even if I keep two books on my nightstand at all times (the one I'm reading, and the one I'm going to read next).

However, I still keep an eye out for new releases of some of my fellow writers and do what I can to get the word out. Here's what's on my calendar this year (so far):

April 19, 2011: Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz
I read Hannah's first book, Break, last year and really enjoyed her dry voice and unique characterizations. It was short, punchy and mean, and although the new one promises to be very different, I've definitely got my eye on it.

May 31, 2011: Deadline by Mira Grant
This the sequel to last year's Feed and the second in the Newsflesh trilogy, a story of intrepid bloggers in a high-tech, zombie-infested environment where infection is a weapon of mass destruction and the internet just might save the world--or at least tell it who the real bad guys are. I loved the first book to bits, and I can't wait to see where it goes next.

July 5, 2011: A Shot in the Dark by K. A. Stewart
The second of the Jesse James Dawson novels, and the sequel to A Devil in the Details, which I read this year although I'm not sure when it first came out. A unique additional to the traditional urban fantasy genre--our hero is a guy who fights demons with a samurai sword and has a healthy, stable homelife for a change, both of which make me happy.

July 26, 2011: Another Kind of Dead by Kelly Meding
The third book in Meding's Dreg City urban fantasy series, this one about vampires. I like this series because it's dark and gritty and, in addition to the usual beasties like fae and trolls and vamps and shapeshifters, this one has gargoyles and gremlins.

September, 2011: One Salt Sea by Seanan McGuire (no specified date yet)
The fifth in McGuire's October Daye urban fantasy series about fae fiefdoms set in San Francisco. I just finished the fourth, Late Eclipses, last week, and it was the best so far--and I'm not the only one who feels that way, because--also as of last week--it officially hit the New York Times bestseller list.