It's the End of the World As We Know It...and I Feel Fine?

The apocalypse has been on my mind lately, and not just because I watch Buffy every day and she's always busy stopping them.
Mostly it's because I've been reading Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I cannot stop thinking about them. These books are amazing and deserve their own posts (which will soon be coming).

But it's also because last night I went to see 2012. My husband and I are rabid fans of disaster movies, particularly apocalyptic, nuclear, zombie, there will be few humans will be left variety. The over-the-top, lacking good acting and feasible plots content of these films always makes me giddy. But last night as I was watching human race scramble to save itself, I began to wonder - why is the apocalypse so popular (I mean, how many disaster movies do we get in an average year? Plenty. And that number only goes up when we're nearing some possible date of "real" apocalypse danger - i.e. 2000, 2012). What is it about watching cities leveled and nature becoming predatory that draws viewers to the big screen?

Because, hey, "morbid much"?

I have two knee-jerk responses to this query:

1) Disaster movies make us feel safe. In the context of real disasters that happen each year - tornadoes, hurricanes, fires - this security is obviously misplaced, but still I think seeing mass destruction somehow reassures us that this crazy scenario surely is so far-fetched that we must be safe, that could never really happen.
2) Disaster movies make us treasure the world that we do have. The one moment in 2012 where I choked up a little (um...yes, I'm serious) was the brief shot of animals being air lifted onto the arks. In that single clip the film made survival not just about the silly, stupid-decision-making actors on the screen, but about the the world as we know it. Suddenly disaster wasn't just about 'us' it was about this little blue planet and how precious and fragile it is.

So what do you think about disaster movies? Do they have anything of value to offer other than spectacle?

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.