Happy Thanksgiving

May you steer clear of stealth duck attacks



And if you're wondering about why Thanksgiving is a 'ritual sacrifice...with pie,' just click here.

Wishing you all a day full of delights and good eating.

Remedy

I'm having a bad day. When that happens, I go to music for help. Here is my new favorite song:

Twiddle (Thumbs)

My life usually feels like the tea cups ride at Disney World, spinning out of control, with the threat of other flying objects nearby almost crashing into me ever present.

Though it leaves me in a perpetual state of exhaustion, I like life this way. When I asked how I manage to do all the things I currently do, the answer is simple. I am a crazy person.I am the most productive when I have too much to do and deadlines that are rushing up at me like the ground after a parachute jump.

So when at last I finish big projects the world comes to a screeching halt. The stillness is eerie, making me wonder what I'm forgetting, what I might have overlooked.

But for now it's done. Of course, there's always more creeping over the horizon. That next book to write, the grant proposal to outline, the emails to answer, the papers to grade. But the big projects, those swinging pendulums rocking their vicious blades down towards me, those are done.

So this current sense of accomplishment should be a relief, right? Instead I feel like I've been set adrift. The world has stopped spinning, but I'm still dizzy. I'd like to shake this sense of bewilderment and find a way to appreciate this calm before the next storm.

Das Book

More exciting news - NIGHTSHADE and WOLFSBANE have now sold in Germany! Squeee!

I'm thrilled that I'll be published by Egmont-Lyx, a wonderful imprint that is home to the German translations of Richelle Mead, Lilith Saintcrow, and R.A. Salvatore.

While I hope that the NIGHTSHADE series will be translated into as many languages as possible, this sale is particularly meaningful because my husband went to high school in Berlin and my father-in-law lives in Bavaria.(No, this is not my father-in-law's house, but this nice castle is in Bavaria)

In other happiness, my web site's opening splash page is now up and running and it is SO COOL. Thanks so much to my amazing web designer, Lindsey!

Here's wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving week. May you have much turkey goodness. Remember it's not just dinner, it's "a ritual sacrifice...with pie." (More on that later.)

Is There Such a Thing as Too Evil?

When I moved to Minneapolis, my soon-to-be-former colleagues gave me a lovely going away party. My favorite gift was a book (big surprise); its title: How To Be a Villain.

This book is hilarious. Replete with quizzes, name-building exercises, suggestions of what type of lair would best suit you as a villain, it keep you laughing from start to finish.

It's also a great commentary on the type of villains who work well in a Bond film, but won't hook your readers in a meaningful way. These villain are caricatures - they may have nasty-looking minions and terrifyingly giant electro-ray guns, but at the end of the day we know they won't win. We can't take them seriously.

Villains have to be seductive - and I don't mean in a romantic way. Evil focuses on the accumulation and retention of power for its own gains. It promises dreams fulfilled, goals achieved but with a price.

In order for a villain to be compelling, the reader has to understand what kind of allure the 'dark side' holds, even for our most pure-hearted MCs. The thought that our hero/heroine might indeed cross over at any point should be a constant, nagging worry.

A good example: Voldemort. Now you might be thinking - how could you get more evil than Voldemort? I agree. Voldemort is a super-duper big bad. But if you remember a key moment in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Voldemort is able to tempt even Harry - offering him power, the promise of parents restored. Harry resists, but the temptation of dark powers is clear. The reason Death Eaters exist stems from their desire to share in the power that Voldemort wields, to rule over others even if by wielding terror and pain.

What I think may be the best example of evil's true nature to this day is Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray. This story illuminates the double-edged sword of villainy. It has to allure, compel, always beckon. The risk of the hero or heroine falling into temptation must be ever-present, and his or her ability to overcome said temptation is as much of a triumph as the longest chase/explosive fight scene in any book.

And once that temptation is overcome, when evil has lost its chance at winning by seduction - that's when the facade of beauty crumbles away to reveal the villain for what he or she really is: EVIL.

Dorian Gray offers close to a literal exposition of such a moment. And hey, what do you know, they're remaking the movie.



Cannot wait (sidenote: if I could pick, Ben Barnes would play my character, Ren, in a film adaptation of Nightshade. Sigh.)

A Sidekick is Not Enough

Supporting characters (SCs) have a range of roles to fill in a novel. They can be the loyal best friend, the comic relief, the wise mentor. I'm sure we all have a favorite SC 'type' that we hope to find in the books we read, and recreate in the books we write.

Like MCs supporting characters must display that essential quality trademarked by the Transformers: they must be 'more than meets the eye.'

A pet peeve of mine in books are those narrative that offer intriguing, dynamic MCs (and possibly villains - they'll have their day tomorrow), but SCs who only serve as foils, fillers, and mechanisms by which to move the plot or just serve as another mirror through which to better understand aforementioned MCs.

The best books have SCs in whose lives, hopes, and dreams you're just as invested as what's happening on the main stage. They should be the opening act of show that leaves you breathless, wondering if they actually might upstage the main act. (Note: I had this experience when I saw Calexico open for The Shins a couple years ago.)

Harry Potter demonstrates the essential roles of well-developed SCs. As much as I love Harry, Ron, and Hermione (and yes I think all three are MCs not, SCs), my favorite characters from the series have supporting roles:

Hagrid. What would Harry Potter be without Hagrid. He's an interesting character who combines characteristics of bumbling comic relief with strong warrior protector, making him lovable and reliable at once.

Remus Lupin. Okay, who didn't see this one coming? Everyone knows I have a soft spot for wolves, and Remus is well, just wonderful. His character is compelling because like, Hagrid's, he has a mixture of traits. On the one hand he is a benevolent, witty mentor, but on the other his dark secret makes him edgy and dangerous.

Arthur and Molly Weasley. The parents that Harry never had; quirky, lovable and demonstrative of class conflict in the wizarding world. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have their own problems to deal with (and we care about those problems) as much as they help with shepherding Harry through his perilous world.

While I've mentioned just a few of my favorites above, J.K. Rowling created an astounding number of SCs who populate Harry's world in substantial ways (I purposely didn't write about Fred and George above because I wouldn't have been able to stop they do so much for the books!) and I firmly believe it's the power of this amazing cast of characters that kept the series lively and enormously successful for its run (and beyond).

As you weave your tale don't forget the fine details of SC creation. Your SCs won't help you or your readers if they're cardboard cutouts. Give them breath and being, give them their due - and believe me, they'll give back.

A Real Character

Main characters (MC) he or she is the one we're supposed to love, loathe, relate to. How can writers construct an MC that readers become invested in?

The Screaming Guppy is doing all of us a wonderful favor by sharing experiences from Donald Maass' 'The Fire in Fiction' workshop, and has a great post up about MCs.

In my own writing, the key to a great MC is identification. In some way the MC has to develop an intimate relationship with the reader. This connection can only be maintained if the MC is accessible. Translation = he or she cannot be perfect or larger than life.

Let's revisit Buffy once more, because Buffy teaches such lessons so well.

Buffy is the Chosen One. If you're the Chosen One it might seem like blessings from the Power That Be rain down without ceasing, making life full of perfect rainbows and never-ending bliss...right?
Nope. Buffy may be the Chosen One but, to steal a line from another great MC, Spiderman, 'with great power comes great responsibility.'

Buffy makes some very poor choices. She runs away from home. She lies to her friends. She sleeps with an abusive vampire (okay, Spike fans, I'm with you, I know he reforms later...but still initially, not a good choice for our Buffy). To quote Clem (one of my favorite supporting characters from BVS...more coming tomorrow on SCs) on Buffy's flaws: 'She's a nice girl. But hey...issues.'

Heroes and heroines that draw readers in are inherently flawed. Even wielding their exceptional super powers, they're burdened to desire and doubt, struggling between self-interest and the greater good.

The journey through a book is about secrecy and revelation; readers need to be compelled forward, struggling with the MC to make progress, to discover. If the MC is perfect from page one, what challenges could possibly lay ahead. Without flaws dogging our MCs steps, the plot lies limp on the page, failing to convey the tenuous condition that is life, unable to capture that essence of human experience that makes us turn the page...the breathless hope that things will get better, against all odds, despite the lack of perfection we humans embody every day.