Howdy all!

This is part two in a series about super-humans (by super-power or super-brain power). In case you missed it, last week, we examined the rise of the ComicBookHero, and I professed my love of the darker side of that particular breed: The Dark Knight, Suicide Squad (which will cross over to today, too), Ironman, Black Widow, Hawkeye. Give me flawed, don’t give me Superman.

Yes, I know. My imagination is a dark place. And I like it that way. Which is why I kind of frown at most Bond villains (really? They’re going to walk away and let him escape? Elaborate plans never work, dude) unless they are like Javier Bardem in Skyfall. Now that was a Bond villain. No mercy. No sanity. All id, and go, go, go.

Other super-villains are better. I can’t wait to see what Jesse Eisenberg does with Lex Luthor (with hair!), and Aldrich Killian from Ironman 3 was a pleasant surprise. Of course, Guy Pierce can play bad guys so dang well. But most of them kind of fall flat for me. It’s too much black and white, good versus evil, predictable stuff. I want nuance. I want rationale/sympathetic or I want crazy. There has to be a reason. And in the absence of reason, you better be off the freaking hook for me to believe it. I want I-can’t-believe-that-just-happened. I want the gut punch and the utter chaotic anarchy.

Which leads me to…The Joker.

All he had in his pockets were knives and lint. (Courtesy WB Pictures).

I’m not gonna kill ya. I’m just gonna hurt ya. Really, REALLY BAD. (Courtesy WB Pictures)

Ask anyone who they think of when you say “Batman Villain” and more than half will likely answer with the Joker. He’s lived in several incarnations (Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero for two), but the new Joker, from Mark Hamil’s creeptastic animated version (yeah, Luke Skywalker can go dark), to Jarred Leto’s high-gloss, Red Bull bad guy, has a panache and a bullet holed brain that can’t be matched. But let’s talk about this guy: Heath Ledger. Not only did he create the ultimate-guide-to-being-Joker, he won an Academy Award (posthumously) for it. He said it himself, “I’m like a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it.” Now that’s what I’m talking about. He wanted nothing more than gasoline, bullets, and chaos. He was despicable–and you couldn’t look away. Not even a little bit. There’s charisma there, a darkness so misunderstood it was almost understandable. If I said, “Wanna see a magic trick?” would you shiver and giggle? Yeah, probably–because you know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m eager to see what Leto does in Suicide Squad. And I’m even more eager to see how he matches up to Harley Quinn. Will she try to stay on the right side of the law (so much that there is one)? Or will she succumb to his hypnotic charm like she did so many times before? That could be pretty damn combustible.

“I am the monster parents tell their children about at night.” (Courtesy Marvel)

Now, let’s move on to my other favorite super-villain, and give Marvel some love: Loki. I would pay serious coin to see Tom Hiddleston in a Loki-centered spin off. I would. I love Thor, but sometimes, I really want Loki to win. Why? Because he’s nuanced. Given his back story, it’s easy to forgive (or at least understand) his rage and pain. He was brought up as a prince without a country. An heir without a throne. And the dark little brother to the golden son. Plus he’s a magician, and eloquent. Where Thor can sometimes be a blunt instrument, Loki plots. He has a long the plan, and the intelligence to follow it.  And he’s so droll.  I don’t know if it’s the character, Hiddleston, or both, but the man steals every scene he’s in. Doesn’t matter how many superheroes you cram into a heli-carrier in Avengers–we’re watching him.

What about you? Who’s your favorite bad guy, and why? Do you like the crazy ones? The smart ones? Or do you want someone who is simply evil and leave it at that?

Greetings Friends,

Suicide Squad 2016, courtesy of IMDB

I’ve spent the last few days watching and re-watching the SDCC leaked (OFFICIAL!!!) trailer for Suicide Squad. I haven’t been this obsessed over a trailer since SW7: The Force Awakens came out a few months ago (which still makes me giggle like a little girl at the end…but we’ll get to that later). Now, I typically gravitate more toward Marvel than DC (the rest of my family is 100% Marvel)–but there are things about DC I love as much, if not more, than Marvel:

1) DC has The Dark Knight

2) DC has The Joker

Next week, when we talk about villains, I’ll go more in depth to back that up. Today, though, let’s talk about “heroes.” I use the term loosely because Suicide Squad. It’s also the reason I loved Chris Nolan’s take on The Dark Knight, why I can’t wait to see what Marvel does with Deadpool (the hubby’s fave) and why I enjoy Black Widow (badass), Thor (cocky), and IronMan (totally messed up) more than I like Captain America (Chris Evans is great, but the character is too “clean”) or Superman. I especially don’t like any attempt at making Superman dark–it feels like a cheat, trying to get us Dark Knight fans to love the Caped Crusader. It just doesn’t work for me.  And I’m waiting skeptically to see what they do with Wonder Woman, but that’ll be a post for after the movie comes out.

Now, let’s move on to the point. : )  If you’ve read any of my urban fantasy/dystopian, you know I have a bit of a superhuman complex. Make ’em strong, make ’em fast…

…make ’em flawed.

Part of the reason I love The Dark Knight (BatmanGrim v. BatmanComic) is because there’s so much messed-up psychology there. His parents were killed in front of him, and he becomes a total revenge machine after that. Luckily for us–it’s on the right side. If a hero is too good, he becomes predictable. If a villain is too bad without depth, he becomes a mustache twirler. Even Hannibal Lector was charming, right? And he was the most gruesome thing at the cinema not so long ago.

Think about the books you’ve read in the last two years or so, and pick at one of your favorites.  Does the hero have some baggage? Or is he too good to be true? Does she begrudge her lot sometimes? Or does she cheerfully and boldly march out to save the day? This might be why a lot of people liked Han Solo more than Luke Skywalker. I didn’t–at first–but I was five the first time I saw Star Wars. A well rounded hero has to be roughened or unlikable, have doubts or be dark in some way. A well rounded villain has to be redeemable, or at least have a few redeeming qualities (the Joker can defy that at times, but we’ll talk about that next week).

The reason I think Comic Book Movies(tm) are doing so well is because they’ve bypassed the cliche “Here I am to save the day!” attitude and let the heroes have either a personal stake in the outcome, or made them irritable interesting creatures (The Avengers did that very well), or let them be broken people who had a burning need to do good (The Dark Knight).  Not that I didn’t love Superman: The Movie with Christopher Reeve….because they made him an outsider, who was vulnerable and terrible at relationships when he wasn’t wearing his cape.  Still, if a superhero movie wants my attention–give me The Matrix. Or Suicide Squad.

What about you? Do you like your heroes lawful-good and your villains unlawful-bad? Or do you like to see the light and dark balanced out in some way?

Hi everyone!

Before we dive into the post, I’d like to congratulate Kelly M. for winning the UNSTRUNG giveaway that ended yesterday. I appreciate all the tweets and Facebook posts–it really worked! More than 2500 copies of UNSTRUNG were downloaded in just 5 days, with more than 1000 going on Friday. This success is due to y’all–thank you!!

Now, on with the show! I realized I hadn’t given everyone an update for a while, so this post is all about….

The remainder of 2015 and all of 2016 look to be fairly busy. Now that my health is back up to snuff (woot!) the writing bug is wide-awake in my brain, which is a good thing, considering my plate. So, what I’m working on? Well–

• The UNSTRUNG sequel, UPRISING, is about 15k words away from being a completed first draft. It needs a LOT of editing, but it’ll be a relief to have that beast down on the page. Where UNSTRUNG focused on a local problem (Triarch/Precipice), UPRISING widens the lens considerably. There’s a new cast of characters, on both sides, and bigger problems for Lexa and Quinn. Doc’s still a grumpy old man, though. Can’t go changing that, now can I? : )  UPRISING is set for release in mid-ish November, and I’m planning to have a Quinn/Jole novella out in the late spring, with the final novel out fall of next year. That timing all depends on…
• Entangled. My publisher has me very  busy right now. FINDING PERFECT is slated for a fall release, and an untitled sequel is likely for spring 2016.  And there might be more, but it’s much too early for details on that score.  I really love FP, y’all. One of my editor’s interns said it reminder her of a John Hughes movie, and I just about died, because it’s true. I didn’t have that in mind when I wrote it, but it does have that kind of vibe. Paige and Ben are one of the more fun couples I’ve written.
• Finally, the MATT ARCHER short story collection is still definitely a go. It’s release date is completely dependent on all the other titles above, but I plan to write a story here and there between projects.  I’m still taking ideas for stories, so if have one–or really want to hear an alternate POV from inside the book–give me a holler.  I also have an idea for a long novella, but that one is a little frightening to me right now, so I might need to give it more time.
• Then there’s the sekrit project.  I mentioned this one on Facebook last week. I think once I get through all the stuff on this list, it’s time to go back to it for a while. It might take me five years to finish it, but after a three year break, it’s beguiling me again. Now, some of you asked if I’d ever share a sample. I originally said now, wanting to protect a very tender, unfinished draft. However, I’ve thought about it, and decided I would–but this is a very short bit, and it’s FAR from done, so this piece might stay, and it might not.  Either way, here’s a little peek at the prologue from The Onyx Citadel:

* * *

The boy with the golden hair saw her. Marianna hadn’t been cautious enough during her approach, perhaps. Or maybe this one had some talent of sight or perception, like the Elders of his clan. Still, if she moved swiftly, she could capture him and his people wouldn’t realize he was missing until after sundown. She’d be far afield by then, away from Sivekian lands, closer to home.

The boy’s eyes were wide, his sturdy little feet planted as if held there by magic. If they were, its wasn’t her magic. Maybe something more mundane paralyzed him…maybe it was fear.

Such a small child. No more than eight or nine. His face, with its unblemished skin and round cheeks, resembled the angel carvings in the great halls of the Queen. Those faces were stone; this face was living flesh, flushed with blood and terror.

An old pain twisted in Marianna’s heart, a memory of another child, not much older. Her brother, Zendel, dead before his tenth winter. This boy was innocent, just as her brother had been. A fledgling, too young to have his wings yet, this Sivekas child could be Zendel, standing afraid at the edge of the market as the slavers made their rounds, seeking out new wares.

Life at the Onyx Citadel would steal the little boy’s beauty, as surely as his beauty stole her resolve. She could not follow her orders, not now, which left her only one honorable path.

Marianna had to die.

* * *

Well, that’s all the news fit to print! I hope you’re having a great summer, and enjoying some time outside. I’ll be locked away, typing madly. Now wonder I never get a tan…  : )

Hi everyone!

I hope your summers are treating you fantastically well!  I wanted to let you know about a special (and one-time only) promotion I’m running the next few days. UNSTRUNG will be FREE through June 21 on Amazon (eBook only). After that, it returns to its regular price of $3.99. I don’t plan to make it free again, although I might put it on sale the week UPRISING comes out. So, if you have friends who like feisty heroines, YA dystopians, or cyberpunk, could you give them a holler?

To show my undying gratitude for spreading the news, I’m offering a little giveaway.  See the Rafflecopter below for details, but essentially, you can earn entries by tweeting or posting about the promotion. The winner will have a choice between two prizes: signed copies of SIDELINED and UNSTRUNG (US only), or 3 Audible audio book credits to use for whatever audio books you’d like! The winner will be announced Monday, June 22.

Again, I really appreciate y’all’s help in getting the word out! I’ll have some updates on the writing front next week–things are really cooking on the sequel. : )

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Greetings, Friends!

Since the UNSTRUNG audio book is finally out in the world (on Audible ,with Amazon and iTunes coming in the next few days), it’s time for a giveaway! First, though, I thought I’d give you a little play-by-play on how the audio book creation process works. It’s pretty interesting,!

The first step is setting up your project via ACX, which is the biggest name going for audio books. Think of it as the KDP (Kindle Direct Publisher) site for audio. This includes needing a new version of the cover, as audio books require a different size/format.

Step two is really fun: sending out a call for auditions for voice talent. You decide how much you’re willing to pay per completed hour, list the voice-type requirements you need: female/male; different “voices” or straight reading; accent; style (Lexa=sarcastic and vulnerable), etc., and pick part of the book for them to read. I chose  a selection from chapter one.

When the auditions come in, you listen to each and decide which one most matches your character. In my case, it was the lovely Caitlin Marshall, actress and fellow Okie. She “got” Lexa in a way the other readers didn’t quite manage.

Then the hard work starts. For me: waiting. For Caitlin: hours and hours of reading and editing. This is the piece that takes the longest. Usually a few months at least.

Finally, the author “proofs” the finished files (i.e. listens to make sure everything sounds right), and last minute edits are made.

Once that’s done, then ACX puts the files through their meat grinder and a completed audio book comes out to be distributed to Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. This part usually takes a week or so.

Voila, completed audio book! It’s a long process, but the end result is pretty awesome.

Now, the giveaway!! Tell me your favorite audio book and why in the comments, you’ll be entered to win both the UNSTRUNG audio book, plus an Audible credit to pick up the book of your choice! Contest ends 12:01 am central time on May 26th, and winners will be announced later that day.

To start things off, I think my favorite audio book so far is To Kill a Mockingbird, read by Sissy Spacek. She gets so much right in that read with subtle voice changes between the characters, that it’s simply amazing. Plus the book is one of my faves, so that doesn’t hurt either. : )

How about you?