So Long, Farewell...

by Wendy Corsi Staub

I've frequently mentioned here that it isn't always easy to juggle being an author with being a mom. Okay, that's an understatement: it's NEVER easy. That's actually an understatement, too. Some days, it's all but impossible.

Today is one of those days. As I just confessed to my fellow blogsters, I'm overwhelmed--in the very best way, of course. I'm blessed to have two teenaged sons who are happy and healthy and thriving, and I'm thrilled to announce that I just (literally, about an hour ago) signed a new three-book contract with Harpercollins to write another adult suspense trilogy. All three books have to be written within the next 18 months--during which I'll be launching and promoting my current trilogy with Harper, as well as seeing my younger son through the remainder of middle school and into high school, and seeing my older son through high school graduation and off to college. So in the immediate future, I'm going to shift my focus to concentrate on writing, touring, and not missing a single moment with my boys. That means saying goodbye--at least for now--to blogging here at Adr3nalin3.

It's been a pleasure to get to know many of you, as well as my fellow bloggers. I'll continue to visit and read their posts, as well as maintain an active presence on Facebook and my own community website. Please come visit me there! Thank you for all the support!

Seven ways my antagonist is way tastier than a cookie…

By A.G. Howard

Just like the best heroes and heroines, every antagonist needs layers so they won't be cliché, aka: a cookie cutter bad guy who’s like all of the other desserts at the buffet.

Here are seven ingredients that I'm hoping will set the mystical Morpheus, my naughty hotty in Splintered, apart from the other cookies:


1. He has wings.

Granted, there are lots of faerie stories where the bad boy has wings. But the way Morpheus “got” his wings is a bit different. Not to mention he uses them for more than flying. At any given point in the story they might become: a shield, a cape, a weapon, shade from the sun, and lastly and most fun, a means of seduction.


2. He thinks he’s a rock star. Could be because he bears a stunning resemblance to a smokin’ cult phenom: Brandon Lee’s The Crow.

Whatever the case, he has no self-esteem issues. In fact, he’s downright arrogant and narcissistic at times. But it only makes him more loveable; just ask him. ;)


3. He has unique quirks. For one, he collects moths by the thousands. Not only living ones, but moth corpses to embellish his hats. Which leads to his fashion obsessions. Morpheus, despite his obvious masculinity, is partial to retro-renaissance fashion. He’ll take a crushed velvet suit with lacy cuffs over a pair of jeans and t-shirt any day. Here’s an example of something he might wear on a casual afternoon strolling around Wonderland:

4. He dabbles in dreams.

This characteristic actually inspired his name … well, there’s one other contributing factor, but you’ll have to read the book to discover it. Heh. The Morpheus in Greek mythology is the god of dreams and has the ability to take any human form and appear in someone’s sleep. His true semblance is that of a winged daemon. All the more reason for my bad boy to have wings.


5. He has a  hidden soft spot for the heroine, Alyssa. It makes an appearance from time to time, but he tries to cover it up with self-adulation and snarky remarks aimed at Alyssa or her best friend/secret crush, leading back to point #2:

6. He’s the master of weaseling deals through word manipulation. Like most fae-related creatures, Morpheus has a penchant for word wizardry: he takes everything said as literal, and twists it this way and that, making it mean what HE wants it to mean.


7. He has phobias. The most important thing in the world to Morpheus is his freedom. Nothing terrifies him more than being bound and powerless. This is something he has in common with Alyssa, which makes their relationship all the more complex, especially when her freedom threatens his own.

~~~

I've found that the layered villains/antagonists -- the ones with a variation of ingredients -- are the most affecting to me personally. Maybe because when they’re humanized and given relatable motivations and fears, I’m taken to that place of personal introspection where I question if I were in a similar situation, would I take on the same characteristics and make the same choices?

Often, I even start rooting for those antagonists in spite of my disdain for their actions, hoping that they’ll somehow redeem themselves in the end. The best books not only have fully developed heroes/heroines, but antagonists too. Because nobody wants a dessert buffet loaded with nothing but stale sugar cookies.

So, who are some of your favorite antagonists from recent or past reads, and what ingredients set them apart from other antagonists you've seen?

All photos supplied by Photobucket.com and VampireFreaks.com

Robin Williams, Jonah Lehrer, Neuroscience--and Creativity.

Carol Tanzman here.

A few days ago, I read an interview in the LA Times with Jonah Lehrer, a bestselling author who writes about creativity.

Usually, I run like the devil from articles like that. I worry that if I actually analyze how the process works, the rarefied air will be let out of the bottle—and the magic (such as it is) will be gone. Not that I have any illusions that writing a book is magic. It is hard, hard work––but then, I do have to admit there are those moments of magic (creativity?) that come out of nowhere, which makes it all worthwhile.

I scanned down the article to read the bolded questions. You are an LAUSD kid, right?  Lehrer answered yes, which got my attention. In addition to writing, I teach drama in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country. That meant that I could not pass up an article about someone who attended LAUSD from K-12. He not only lived to tell about it, he obviously thrived.

What Lehrer said about creativity in the interview is that there are simply two phases of the creative process and everyone requires both: focus and relaxation. You work and work and work – and you make progress – and then you hit the wall. That’s when you need to relax: do something else, take a walk, hit the showers.

Not an earth-shattering concept but here (perhaps) is the more unusual part of the interview.

Lehrer noted that when scientists put jazz pianists in a brain scanner and asked them to improvise (now, that’s got to be one BIG scanner), the musicians literally turn off a part of the brain that normally keeps people from saying and doing things—in essence, they create without worrying about what they’re creating.

I’m assuming that’s what’s also known as flow. Those moments when everything extraneous disappears and you’re in the moment. You don’t even realize you are in the moment—and then you look up—and hours have gone by.

How do you get to flow? Focus and relaxation, perhaps. The constant yin-yang of what Lehrer initially spoke of as the elements of the creative process loosens the binds of our internal censors. It’s not a conscious turning off of that part of the brain; after awhile, it’s automatic.

But you can’t get to that flow until you’ve spent time doing whatever it is you do, getting better and better. Writing, playing jazz, telling jokes. All of those need time, and effort, to develop craft. All those hours of rehearsal, or practicing jokes in front of a mirror, sitting at your computer writing and writing, even if it doesn’t initially seem that you are getting somewhere, will ultimately pay-off.

There is no better (or more fun) example than Robin Williams. It’s not only in his stand-up act, which one can assume he’s worked on, but in TV interviews that you literally see his brain firing on all pistons.  No censor. I love the bit about socks that comes up in this segment with Dave Letterman.

Clearly, one of the reasons he’s so successful are the years Robin spent practicing voices, becoming characters and then, as in the interview, focusing on Letterman. He finds the moment, and bam, he’s off, automatically turning off the part of the brain that censors people so he can get to those crazy, and hysterically funny places.

Hard to do… but so worth the effort. Focus and relaxation, focus and relaxation….no censor. Hmmmm, now that I’ve finally written this, maybe I can go relax….

ASHES Gets a New Look!

As I mentioned last week, yesterday Mundie Moms hosted an exclusive cover reveal for both the new ASHES paperback (coming in August) and SHADOWS (due out 9/25/12). The lead-up was great fun--lots of tweeting, FBing, excited fans--and now I get to share these covers with the whole wide world.

Be interested in what you think, too.

You remember the post I did about a month ago comparing the various treatments ASHES has gotten overseas? Well, take a peek at the old ASHES look



and now compare it to the new look ASHES will assume in paperback



and, finally, SHADOWS.


I'll be honest. My first response was a Scooby-Doo uh-wuh? I'd grown very attached to my creepy-weird, gender neutral original cover. The new look felt . . . whoa, wait a second. I LIKED being creepy-weird, you know? But I DO remember that when I first that original cover, I'd been a little concerned about the lack of color. As it turned out, that was a legitimate concern. With the all-black/gray tones, the book got lost and easily overlooked. *I* missed it once because it was the last one on the shelf and, literally, in shadows/overshadowed by books on either side. So the addition of a little bit of color for that eye-pop is important from a purely grab-your-attention sense.

Most fans like the new direction. They really respond to the colors, like the air of mystery. Many, however, prefer the older, starker look. Both camps feel that each cover tells a different kind or piece of the story.

So what do you think? Does the new look speak to you? What kind of story does it promise? Are you intrigued? Indifferent? Turned off? What qualities in a cover appeal to you?

By the way, you still have plenty of time--until April 23, 21012--to enter the very nifty giveaway hosted by Mundie Moms. As JD said so well, don't be caught at the end of the world unprepared and without a decent read.