Alas, my website has languished while I write. I’m quite happy, of course, that I’m nearly finished with my draft of Unseen and making good progress with my revisions of Other, but still, the temptation to fiddle with HTML and Photoshop remains strong. I’ve added a new contact form that you can check out and test, and I’d like to beef up my FAQ pages for writers and for readers, both of which remain sadly scanty. So! I’d like to ask you, my faithful blog-readers, if you have any questions about my novels (Other, Bloodborn, Unseen), me, or writing in general. If you do, please leave a comment on this post (or my Livejournal, where it will be crossposted) or test out that contact form. Your questions shall be answered, unless, of course, they’re shockingly scandalous or woefully off-topic. If you have any suggestions for this site, please make a note of them, too.
You love getting books for the holidays? I do, too. I believe you simply must check out these contests:
Laura’s Review Bookshelf (Ends Dec. 23. Win ARCs, signed books, and more)
Lisa Schroeder’s Livejournal (Ends Dec. 24. Many prizes, including ARCs)
Jeri Smith-Ready’s Blog (Ends Dec. 28. Win a copy of Carrie Jones’s Need)
Amberkatze’s Book Blog (Ends Dec. 28. Win a copy of Jeaniene Frost’s At Grave’s End)
In the world of young adult fantasy novels right now, I’d say vampires reign supreme, particularly with Twilight, followed closely by werewolves. Then we have the newcomers, faeries, which I first encountered Holly Black’s books Tithe, Ironside, and Valiant. We find this same mix of sensuous prose and edgy modern heroines in Melissa Marr’s popular Wicked Lovely and its follow-ups. I just finished Marr’s Ink Exchange today, and now I’m starting on Maggie Stiefvater’s Lament, also rich with faerie lore. Now I’m seeing more and more faerie books coming out: Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livington, Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner, Wings by Aprilynne Pike, Fairy Lust by Cyn Balog, Faery Hunters: Spell Hunter by R. J. Anderson, and so on. I want to read as many of these as I can get my hands on, since faeries have been quite underrepresented in urban fantasy up until now. Also, my work in progress Unseen falls under the faerie genre, and I’m curious what has and hasn’t been done so far, with faeries and with other fantasy peoples: mermaids and zombies seem to be sneaking up on popularity now.
