Geeky Blogger's Book Blog: Tea, Chocolate, and Authors OH MY!

Geeky Blogger's Book Blog: Tea, Chocolate, and Authors OH MY!

DIANA ROWLAND | Genre Ennui

I read a blog post recently, written by a woman who was announcing that she was "quitting" Urban Fantasy. She stated that the genre was so glutted, and there were so many substandard books--all apparently filled with the same tropes--that there was nothing in urban fantasy worth reading anymore. Moreover, the comments section was filled with people expressing similar "I’m done!" sentiments.

This made me sad for a number of reasons, the first of which is--of course--because I write urban fantasy. But the biggest reason this announcement saddened me was the pure illogic of it, coupled with the self-denial on the part of the blogger. She was obviously once a fan of urban fantasy, and now in her desire to steer well clear of it, she was going to be denying herself all of the potential that urban fantasy (and paranormal romance) has to offer.

That being said, I could see why she’d grown weary and jaded. It seems impossible to turn around without seeing something related to Twilight or True Blood or any of the other vampire-inspired media. When it’s this "in your face" the impulse to draw back and get some space is practically reflexive. On the one hand, the "geeks" have scored a huge victory--science fiction and fantasy are firmly entrenched in the mainstream. And so, naturally, everyone who stands to profit from this, from publishers to movie executives, has taken the urban fantasy/paranormal romance ball and run with it. Perhaps too far.

So, yes, I can understand being jaded. But to completely give up on the genre? Nope. That I can’t wrap my head around.

The thing is, that same ennui and the :"it’s all vampires all the time”" sensation, is now driving the genre into new and exciting directions. Trust me, those publishers and movie executives aren’t quite as blind and clueless as they might seem, and they’re looking ahead to what the genre has to offer next. And the authors are delivering! In fact (other than existing series with solid fan bases) I think you’d be hard pressed to find a debut novel featuring those tired old tropes. Instead the genre is breaking out into exciting and fascinating new ground, and the readers (those who haven’t given up on the genre) are being rewarded with some truly excellent and groundbreaking fiction. Just in the last year I’ve seen debut novels featuring: selkies, greek mythology colliding with present-day Atlanta, demons (like mine!), angels, hypochondriacs with incredible gifts... I could go on and on! And all of these books have three-dimensional main characters, rich plots, and--quite often--probing social commentary skillfully wrapped in a compelling story.

But, the ennui-plagued reader might ask, how can one find any of this amid the heaping piles of what some might call "drek"? It’s really not that hard. Read reviews, listen to the buzz (not as far as what’s being buzzed, but why it’s being buzzed) and dare to try something that looks a bit different. If you’re truly sick of vampires, then try something without vampires. Because there’s more of it out there than you realize (and I say this because I can’t imagine growing weary of the genre if you’re truly aware of the diversity of what’s out there.)

So, please, push aside the ennui for a few minutes, and don’t give up on a genre that’s delivered so well for you in the past. Far from being over, it’s just hitting its stride.


Diana



Diana Rowland, a former police officer and morgue assistant, is the author of Mark of the Demon and Blood of the Demon. Her third novel, Secrets of the Demon, will be out on January 4, 2011 from DAW books.

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MARK TERRY | Doppelganger

These days I’m the author of a series of thriller novels featuring Dr. Derek Stillwater, a troubleshooter for Homeland Security. Derek’s particular area of expertise is biological and chemical terrorism. He’s been favorably compared by reviewers and readers to Jason Bourne, Jack Bauer and Jack Reacher. (Yes, I’m flattered). The most recent Stillwater novel is THE FALLEN.

In March I had a book launch party at Aunt Agatha’s Mystery Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and I wisely stocked the store with family members. While I was giving my spiel, apparently Robin Agnew, Aunt Agatha’s owner, leaned over to my brother and asked him if I looked like Derek Stillwater. To which he responded, "When he was younger."

I can’t tell you how bizarre an exchange that is to me.

In addition to the Derek Stillwaternovels I’ve had a couple standalones. One is an e-book for Kindle, DANCING IN THE DARK, which features Joanna Dancing, a high-level bodyguard and security expert. She ain’t me.

My first novel, DIRTY DEEDS, features Meg Malloy, a computer troubleshooter who made a fortune before the dot-com bubble burst and now spends her time doing short-term computer projects. She ain’t me, either.

What brought this home in an amusing way was friends of mine recently read DIRTY DEEDS and they said to my wife, "Meg Malloy is you." To which my wife responded, "I guess I should read it, then."

She ain’t Meg, either.

Except ...well, Meg has a take-no-prisoners attitude that does resemble my wife’s. (Alas, my wife is not a millionaire, dammit!)

So am I Derek Stillwater? Well, he has advanced degrees in microbiology and biochemistry. I have a BSc in microbiology and public health. He was in Army Special Forces. I never served in the military. He was raised in various third-world countries by parents who were missionary physicians. I was raised in Davison, Michigan by parents who were a bank supervisor and elementary school secretary (although they were fairly religious). Derek’s into kayaking and martial arts. I’m into kayaking and martial arts. Derek lives on a boat. I live in a ranch-style house in a suburb (although the idea of living on a boat has a lot of appeal).

I’m not Derek. Yet ... we have the same attitudes about bureaucracies and chain-of-command; in other words, no patience for them. He’s a bit of a hypochondriac; so am I. He has panic attacks; I don’t (really). There is an attitude we share and a worldview that is similar.

It does remind me a bit of the final scene in the movie IRON MAN, when Robert Downey, Jr., stands up and says, "I’m Iron Man."

But I’m not Derek Stillwater. (At least not all the time).

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SUSAN MALLERY | Turns Out Size Matters After All!

I grew up in Los Angeles, one of the largest, loudest cities in the world. There’s a lot to love about living in a city. The sights, the sounds, the colors are exciting and energizing. No matter what your interests, you can always find classes and groups where you can meet like-minded people.


Then there are the events. Every day, a hundred ways to answer the question, "What should we do today?" Art shows and museums. Live music and theater. Baseball and basketball. (I’ll confess. My answer to the aforementioned question would only be "Let’s go to the game" if there was a high-end luxury spa around the corner named The Game.)


I’m big on luxury, and I enjoy instant gratification. I like that cities are on the cutting edge of technology. I like thorough cell phone coverage. When smart phones move to 5G, city people will be the first to be wowed by everything they can do.


I love living in a cultural melting pot. I love walking down the street and not understanding all the languages I hear. I love the cosmopolitan feeling that comes from mingling with people from all over the world. Immigrants bring the colors and fashions and attitudes and flavors from their home countries, and we city dwellers get to benefit from the influx.


Speaking of flavors... great restaurants are right up there at the top of my list of the joys of living in a city. What a great excuse to slip on a fabulous pair of heels and my best jewelry. As a girl, I loved playing dress-up, and that hasn’t changed.


But...


You knew a "but" was coming, didn’t you?


But there’s a lot to love about small towns, too, which is why I chose to set my new series in Fool’s Gold, California, population 43,412. A small town, but not tiny. The Fool’s Gold series is something new for me, a series with no end in sight. The first book, Chasing Perfect, was released yesterday. There will be two more Fool’s Gold books later this year, three next year, and I hope to continue after that.


The thing I love best about small towns, especially those towns that are not a suburb of a large city, is the strong sense of community. When you see the same people at the grocery store and the soccer field and the dentist’s office, you get to know them a lot better.


Readers will enjoy the same feeling with the people of Fool’s Gold, I hope, as they get to visit with some of the same characters from book to book. You can meet some of the people of Fool’s Gold at www.foolsgoldca.com. Lots of fun freebies on the website, too! I’d love to hear what you think of it.


In small towns, people introduce themselves to their new neighbors. Cities are more transitory. People come, people go. It’s all part of the ebb and flow, the pulse of the city. In small towns, people are more likely to settle in for a good, long while. Often even for life.


I couldn’t make Fool’s Gold tiny, though. It needed to be large enough to support at least a few great restaurants. That’s the one thing this city girl can’t imagine living without.


Are you a city mouse or a country mouse? What’s the largest city you’ve lived in? What’s the smallest town you’ve lived in? How many times in your life have you moved? (I’m not sure I can count as high as the number of times I’ve moved!) What do you think is the ideal sized town, and why?


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Fresh Pick | THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs #7

May 2010
On Sale: April 22, 2010
Featuring: Maisie Dobbs
352 pages
ISBN: 0061727660
EAN: 9780061727665
Hardcover
$25.99

Mystery Historical
Buy at Amazon.com

The Mapping Of Love And Death
by Jacqueline Winspear

In 1932 London, Maisie Dobbs must unravel a case of wartime love and death--an investigation that leads her to a doomed affair between a young cartographer and a mysterious nurse.

In the latest mystery in the New York Times bestselling series, Maisie Dobbs must unravel a case of wartime love and death—an investigation that leads her to a long-hidden affair between a young cartographer and a mysterious nurse.

August 1914. Michael Clifton is mapping the land he has just purchased in California's beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, certain that oil lies beneath its surface. But as the young cartographer prepares to return home to Boston, war is declared in Europe. Michael—the youngest son of an expatriate Englishman—puts duty first and sails for his father's native country to serve in the British army. Three years later, he is listed among those missing in action.

April 1932. London psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs is retained by Michael's parents, who have recently learned that their son's remains have been unearthed in France. They want Maisie to find the unnamed nurse whose love letters were among Michael's belongings—a quest that takes Maisie back to her own bittersweet wartime love. Her inquiries, and the stunning discovery that Michael Clifton was murdered in his trench, unleash a web of intrigue and violence that threatens to engulf the soldier's family and even Maisie herself. Over the course of her investigation, Maisie must cope with the approaching loss of her mentor, Maurice Blanche, and her growing awareness that she is once again falling in love.

Following the critically acclaimed bestseller Among the Mad, The Mapping of Love and Death delivers the most gripping and satisfying chapter yet in the life of Maisie Dobbs.

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CAROL SNOW | FUTURE AUTHORS OF AMERICA

I don’t know whether accountants hear about children who dream of doing taxes or if parents brag to plumbers about kids gifted with a plunger and wrench. But I’ll tell you this much: parents (mothers especially) frequently confide that their son or daughter (daughter, usually) loves to write and hopes to be an author someday.


They say that like it’s a good thing. And I kind of don’t get it. That is, I understand the kids’ ambition - if that’s the right word. When I grow up, I want to stay at home in my pajamas and make stuff up about people who don’t exist.


But why do parents want that for their children? Is it because they think that if your name is on a book, you must be making a lot of money? Or do they not realize that most authors - at least the ones I know - consider themselves to be just a little bit . . . off?


It’s not just that some (most) of us have certain slacker tendencies. I recently asked twelve author friends, "What three adjectives best describe yourself or most writers you know?" Four of the twelve authors responded (there’s that slacker thing). With thanks to Amy Goldman Koss, Andrew Smith, Alexa Young and Jill Smolinksi (listed them in order of response speed), this is what writers are like: arrogant, insecure, hopeful, disciplined, obsessive, tense, hypersensitive, narcissistic, bizarre, alcoholic.


That’s only ten words, you may notice. That’s because "insecure" and "hopeful" both appeared twice. A full fifty percent of respondents in my carefully controlled study described authors in those terms! (Full disclosure: I received a C- is college statistics.) Is insecurity really what we want for the next generation?


Maybe that "hopeful" thing is what it’s all about. Alexa Young, who was part of the 50% of respondents who didn’t use that word to describe writers, says of her early career goals, "I thought being an author would result in fame and riches beyond measure. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Yes, I really thought my ideas and talent would capture the public's imagination like no author before me. Ooops."


Amy Goldman Koss was somewhat more pragmatic: "There were no real options. I lack all other skills and need lots and lots of alone time."


Andrew Smith, who kind of went out of his way to undercut everything I just said, reports that his parents disapproved of his writing ambitions but that his son considers him a role model. And he’s okay with that: "If my kids (I have a 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy) want to be writers, I would definitely encourage them to do it, as long as they promised to never use exclamation points in their prose."


I encourage everyone to write to Andrew and tell him, "I really like what you said about role models!!!!!!"


Recently, my highly imaginative (if somewhat punctuation-impaired) ten-year-old son remarked, "For some reason, I think I’m going to write books when I grow up." Not "I hope," not "I want," but "I think."


Did I encourage him to become something else instead? An accountant or plumber? Maybe a doctor? (Truth: I’d be pretty psyched if he became a doctor.) Of course not.


"If you work hard, you can be anything you want to be."


I believe it, too. I’m nothing if not hopeful.



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Marie Bostwick | Choices Choices Everywhere a Choice

Paper or plastic? Decaf or regular? Debit or credit?

Every day, every one of us makes hundreds of decisions. As a matter of fact, a study by Cornell University found that we make more than 200 daily decisions just about food! (Personally, I suspect I’m above the curve on that score. For me, chocolate choices alone "tip the scales" in that direction.)

I have no statistical information on this, but instinct tells me that the average woman has to make more decisions in a day than the average man. And one thing I am absolutely certain: today’s women face more decisions, and weightier ones, than our grandmothers ever did.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not pining for the old "Father Knows Best" days when men made all the choices for their wives and the only career paths open to women were nursing, teaching, or marriage. But, no matter your age or level of life experience, the smorgasbord of choices we face today - marital, relational, educational, vocational, reproductive, domestic, professional, and financial - can be daunting, even paralyzing.

Liza Burgess, one of the main characters in A Thread So Thin, the third of my Cobbled Court novels, understands exactly what I mean. In her last year of college and teetering on the cusp of independent womanhood, Liza is stunned at the number and magnitude of choices she is now expected to make. When Garret, her long-time boyfriend and the son of her unofficial second mom, Evelyn Dixon, owner of the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop, surprises her with an incredibly romantic and wholly unexpected proposal of marriage, Liza doesn’t know how to respond. And when she is offered the job of a lifetime in far-off Chicago, things get even more complicated - and confusing. As Liza says, "The way I see it, the older you get, the more chance there is that the choices you make now will screw up the whole rest of your life."

She may have a point.

Things aren’t any easier for the more senior members of the Cobbled Court Quilt Circle. With her mastectomies behind her, and her business finally on more stable footing, Evelyn Dixon is looking forward to a quiet and restful winter in the charming village of New Bern, Connecticut. But her boyfriend, Charlie Donnelly, owner of the Grill on the Green restaurant, has other things on his mind - mainly marriage to Evelyn.

Evelyn loves everything about Charlie - his good looks, Irish brogue, dry sense of humor, and generous heart. And he cooks, too! If she’d met Charlie thirty years earlier, Evelyn would have jumped at his proposal. But what a woman wants from life and love at fifty is different than what she wants at twenty. And Evelyn has been scorched by love’s flame before. For the first time in her life, she is enjoying her independence. Why did Charlie choose this moment to press his suit, just when she’s worried about Garret and Liza’s future and trying to figure out what to do about her mother? Eighty-year-old Virginia is twice the quilter Evelyn is - and twice as stubborn, too, especially when it comes to considering Evelyn’s suggestion that Virginia leave Wisconsin and move to New Bern. Virginia is adamant; she doesn’t want or need her daughter’s help. Evelyn isn’t so sure.

So much for enjoying a quiet and restful winter in sleepy New England.

Whether you’ve been following my Cobbled Court series from the start or you’re making your first armchair visit to the village of New Bern, you’re sure to relate to this tale of friendship, family, love, and the choices we must make in their name. Some of the choices that Liza, Evelyn, and the other characters who people the pages of A Thread So Thin make will surprise you, some may make you clap your hands and cheer, or brush back a tear, but one thing you can be sure of is that each of these characters will make a good decision, the right decision, for herself.

Isn’t that what we all hope to do? And (the paper versus plastic conundrum notwithstanding) don’t you feel lucky to live in a time when people, and women especially, can make their own choices? I know I do.

But, what about you? How have the choices you’ve made impacted your life? Is there a decision you faced in the past, an opportunity you seized or let slide that if you had that chance, you’d make differently today?

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Fresh Pick | IN A GILDED CAGE by Rhys Bowen

Molly Murphy

March 2009
On Sale: March 17, 2009
Featuring: Molly Murphy
288 pages
ISBN: 031238534X
EAN: 9780312385347
Hardcover
$24.95

Mystery Historical, Mystery Woman Sleuth
Buy at Amazon.com

In A Gilded Cage
by Rhys Bowen

Irish immigrant Molly Murphy and her New York City P.I. business are in the midst of a sweeping influenza epidemic and a fight for women’s suffrage that lands her in jail. Her betrothed, Police Captain Daniel Sullivan, finds her, but he hardly has time to bail her out, what with Chinese gangs battling for control of a thriving opium trade. The only consolation Molly can take from her vexing afternoon in the clink is that it made her some new friends among the Vassar suffragists---and brought her a pair of new cases.

For the first, Emily Boswell is convinced her miserly uncle stole her inheritance and wants Molly to uncover the truth behind her parents’ lives and deaths. Second, Emily’s college roommate Fanny Poindexter wants Molly to find proof of her husband’s philandering so that she can leave him without one red cent. But when Fanny dies and her husband claims she’s a victim of the epidemic, it’s more than Molly’s conscience can take.

Rhys Bowen’s Agatha and Anthony Award--winning historical series continues to breathe life into the past with its wit and charm and its complete sense of early-twentieth-century New York, which makes In a Gilded Cage her most accomplished mystery yet.

Not Just the Luck of the Irish at work...

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Fresh Pick | A DUTY TO THE DEAD by Charles Todd

A Bess Crawford Mystery #1

September 2009
On Sale: September 1, 2009
Featuring: Bess Crawford; Jonathan Graham
336 pages
ISBN: 0061791768
EAN: 9780061791765
Hardcover
$24.99

Mystery, Mystery Historical
Buy at Amazon.com

A Duty To The Dead
by Charles Todd

From the brilliantly imaginative New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd comes an unforgettable new character in an exceptional new series

England, 1916.
Independent-minded Bess Crawford's upbringing is far different from that of the usual upper-middle-class British gentlewoman. Growing up in India, she learned the importance of responsibility, honor, and duty from her offi­cer father. At the outbreak of World War I, she followed in his footsteps and volunteered for the nursing corps, serving from the battlefields of France to the doomed hospital ship Britannic.

On one voyage, Bess grows fond of the young, gravely wounded Lieutenant Arthur Graham. Something rests heavily on his conscience, and to give him a little peace as he dies, she promises to deliver a message to his brother. It is some months before she can carry out this duty, and when she's next in England, she herself is recovering from a wound.

When Bess arrives at the Graham house in Kent, Jonathan Graham listens to his brother's last wishes with surprising indifference. Neither his mother nor his brother Timothy seems to think it has any significance. Unsettled by this, Bess is about to take her leave when sudden tragedy envelops her. She quickly discovers that fulfilling this duty to the dead has thrust her into a maelstrom of intrigue and murder that will endanger her own life and test her courage as not even war has.

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SAND SHILHANEK| HOW TO SPEND THE PRECIOUS BOOK BUDGET DOLLARS

This last week I read Death by Darjeeling by
Laura Childs. I picked this book because the
DFW
TeaReaders is having Ms. Childs as a call
in guest in May, and I decided that a different genre would be
fun to read, and what if I discovered a new fun author in the process.

I really enjoyed Death by Darjeeling, and look
forward to continuing with this series, and perhaps
exploring the other series that Laura
Childs writes. Had it not been for my desire to more fully
participate in the conversation I would have missed a delightful series.

I got lucky and Laura Childs was an author
that worked for me. However not every new author I try
does that. A friend in book club read and loved Talk Me Down by Victoria
Dahl…. I mean to the point
where she wasn’t participating in pre dinner conversation because she was so engrossed in the book
(and no Ms. Dahl wasn’t the phone in
guest that night).

Her enthusiasm for Talk Me Down and
the newly published author had me thinking I needed to read it
for myself. I did, and have read at least one other book by
Ms. Dahl since. While the books weren’t
awful they also didn’t affect me the same way they did my friend, and I could see myself continuing to
by Victoria Dahl’s books in an effort to
keep up with characters, but to rush them to the top of my TBR
probably not.

So…what motivates you to spend the precious book budget on a new to you author? If you read a book
from a series and find it so so do you stop or continue with the author to find out what happened to a
character? If you loved the author do you have to do a glomming and put them to the top of the TBR?
Curious minds just need to know!

Until next week happy page turning.

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