I just feel exposed, that’s all.  Putting pen to paper feels personal. 

I twittered last week or so about a notebook store that I found in Beijing. It’s literally a hole in the wall—or more like a glass closet—a space that might be ten or fifteen feet long, and about four feet deep.  Just big enough to turn around in.  The journals it sells are, in some ways, very simple—you won’t see covers that are decorated with bead work or fine art—but that’s not really my thing, anyway.  I like journals that don’t have much personality to begin with.  I feel as though that should come with time, and what you write inside.

I also have a thing for different kinds and textures of paper.  I love superfine, almost tissue-like paper—alternately, I love writing on brown paper bags.  Both my needs were met at this place.  I saw it from the road, and sort of freaked out.  Trust me, it only got worse when I stepped inside.  I love places like this.  I love stores that sells paper and pens.  Those are my favorite, favorite places to buy things—and once I get in there, I have no control.  I’m a notebook addict!

There’s a shelf in my library full of empty notebooks—of various sizes, shapes, and colors.  I also have stacks of paper pads, and post-it notes. I keep them close to where I write, along with jars full of ink pens. I don’t compose my books in longhand.  I physically can’t.  But ideas are another matter entirely, and there’s something comforting to me, knowing that a blank sheet of paper is always close at hand.***

I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.  For one thing, there’s a cool blog called Notebook Stories, which is about...notebooks!  And the people who love them.  Also, here’s a blog called Moleskinerie, which is “dedicated to the proposition that not all notebooks are created equal.” Something I agree with entirely, though I’m not a fan of all Moleskine notebooks, either.  Choosing what you write in is rather personal.  There’s not a right fit for everyone. 

What about you?  Journals, yay or nay?  And what do you like to write on, or in? 

*** You know that scene in AS GOOD AS IT GETS when you see Jack Nicholson’s office, and it’s filled with unending and precisely placed stacks of differenty colored paper?  Yeeeeah.  Looked good and normal to me. 

Thank you for your support and know that it would be wonderful to receive anything you send. The Marines and I hit our 8th month mark a couple days ago and you can see in their faces that it’s starting to take a toll on them especially with the holidays coming soon. We arrived in Feb of 2010 and are scheduled to depart March 2011. Anything you send will be greatly appreciated and know that it’s the support of the American people that keep our Marines focused and alert at all times because they know that friends and family are counting on them to make it back safe and sound. Thanks again for your support.

Miguel Perez
RCT -2 Unit 73910
APO,AE 09510

Personally, I like sending novels and comic books, but here’s a list of what’s acceptable, and what’s not:

THINGS TO SEND:

Baby wipes, personal hygiene items such as 3-blade razors (Mach 3 are most requested), toothpaste, toothbrushes, liquid body wash (not soap bars), single pack drink mixes to add to water (electrolyte types are the best for hydration in the intense heat), stationary and cards they can use to write home, coffee (ground) with filters, and condiments; commercially produced JERKY (extremely popular); Magazines (sports, Maxim, news, cars, NASCAR); air fresheners (the kind you can attach to a wall or set on a table are best, or potpourri - just be sure to send a container).

Other examples from Kelley: pop tarts, breakfast bars, protein bars, twinkies, muffins, rice crispy treats, hard candy, gummi treats, gum, candy bars, slim jims, beef jerky, pudding cups, fruit cups, applesauce, easy mac, microwave popcorn, microwaved lunchables, coffee (generic) kool-aid, gatorade, tea, cookies, crackers, chips; if holiday time, holiday themed treats.

THINGS NOT TO SEND:

No pork products, alcohol, pornographic materials (Muslim countries and customs regulations prohibit these items); NO CHOCOLATE until October when the temperatures are lower; NO AEROSOL OR COMPRESSED GAS PRODUCTS; no home cured meat products like homemade jerky (illegal to ship outside the US, and dangerous for troops to eat home cured meats).

If you have questions, please email them to: Columbussos@gmail.com

Writers are in the business of collecting readers into the palms of their hands (those hands, which are stories) and then squeezing hard.

The book I just finished writing is a mystery novel.  Well, more or less. I don’t know how it’s going to read.  I’m too close to it.  I love my editor, so I’m glad it’s in her hands now.  I’ll say one thing, though—as I was writing, I felt myself falling into a rhythm of highs and lows in the story, within each chapter, a natural energy that flowed from the characters and the situations they found themselves in. I felt squeezed as I wrote—which doesn’t mean anyone else will, when they read the book—but it did give me the sense that I was on the right track.  And that’s some powerful motivation.

Anyway, here are pictures from the other day.  I’ll post more tomorrow, but these two are from a village in Shunyi that happens to have a great little museum dedicated to the underground tunnels that were used during World War Two to fight the Japanese. 

What do cats have to do with any of that?  They’re cats!  That’s good enough for now.  Mostly because I’m super-tired at the moment.  My brain is definitely functioning on a “numb” level.  Call it book drain.  A good night’s sleep will help.

Kalman Andrasofszky was the first artist I collaborated with at Marvel when we worked together on NYX.  When I asked him if he’d be willing to put together a little something for A WILD LIGHT, he graciously said yes—and this is the result.  A gorgeous illustrated excerpt from the beginning of the novel, one that perfectly captures the story—and that’s big enough for folks to use as a desktop wallpaper (or, whatever). 

Click on it to be taken to the ’exclusives’ section of this site, where you can download the high resolution version.

And I replied, “I could have been an economist!  You did great!”

She agreed, of course. 

But it did get me thinking again about jobs and why we do the things we do, and the power of choice and passion, and sheer drive.  I’m always talking about this, partly because it fascinates me, but also because I will never forget what it felt like to want something so insane as being a writer—and to want it so badly, it was all I could think about, every day, every evening when I would come home from my law classes, and work—and work some more—always on the craft of telling stories. 

Again, I’ve discussed this at length. You all know my story, and how I feel about following bliss, and visualizing happiness.

I’ll be finishing up my latest novel this week (fingers crossed), and (fingers crossed) beginning a new one next week, and on top of that, I think I want to start working on more short fiction.  It’s been a while, and I miss it.  Then again, I also miss taking tango lessons, but I don’t know if that’s something I’ll be able to start up again.  The freedom of all those possibilities, though, is a wonderful thing. 

On a side note, Dan Way and I will be answering your questions next week at CBR. Email them to george@comicbookresources.com w/ X-Position in the subject line, and hopefully we’ll get to all of them. 

Another cool article, found via Twitter:  “To anyone who thinks a woman 30 or older needs to consider settling, I have a middle finger I’d like you to meet.” - http://bit.ly/bmnMr6

And, finally, over the weekend I went to see the Red Poppy Ladies Percussion group.  They were remarkable.  The tickets were free, because there was some snafu with Piao.com (we paid for Wong Faye tickets, but as happens so often in China, someone—probably many rich someones, or the government—snatched them all up, leaving us and others high, dry, and bitterly disappointed). 

I’m ashamed to say that I hadn’t heard of the Red Poppy Ladies, but now?  I’ll never forget those performances.  I was bad, too, and recorded a couple of them.  Oops!  Hey, it’s China.  I think I’m allowed. 

Here’s one, called Bull versus Tiger—followed by another performance that uses nunchucks—!!!—to beat the drums.  The last is based on the legend of Mulan. 

***

Working hard on the novel, which means there’s not much to report.  I’ve been getting out a little, though (apparently, there’s an international book festival going on this week in Beijing, and I’ve been attending some related parties), snapping pictures when I can.  Here’s a few of them:

***

Today we have a wonderful guest at the blog: Eve Silver, who is here to answer some fan questions and discuss her latest trilogy of paranormal romantic thrillers, which are out of this world good. I’m not exaggerating—these are phenomenal books, and you are missing out if you don’t grab them now.

Eve has been kind enough to offer a signed copy of Sins of the Soul (Book 2) to a random commenter, so leave your name below and cross your fingers!

Marjorie, thanks so much for inviting me to guest blog.

I’m super excited about my new trilogy, and I want to share a bit about the world of the soul reapers. The Underworld is divided up in much the same way criminal elements of a city are divided by turf. All the Underworld gods, a slew of demons and demi-gods—everyone wants their piece of the pie. And to a degree, they band together to balance the vast power of the lord of chaos and evil, Sutekh.

In an effort to further his power and extend it more fully to the human realm, Sutekh sired four sons on three different human women. He raised those sons in different worlds until they were grown and could take their rightful places as princes among his army of soul reapers. Dagan the eldest, and the hero of book 1, SINS OF THE HEART, was trapped in the Underworld, raised by demi-demons, never learning of his human heritage until he was grown. That left him with a few problems with emotion.

Alastor—the hero of book 2, SINS OF THE SOUL—was raised by a wealthy, titled human family. Then one day, dear old dad blew in like a storm and ripped Alastor’s sheltered, privileged world to shit. Which left Alastor with a fetish for order. Let’s just say he likes to be in control.

In contrast, Malthus— the hero of book 3, SINS OF THE FLESH— lived in abject poverty, raised by his mother’s sister who had five kids of her own and blamed Mal for his mother’s death. Mal learned to fend for himself early on. He took to petty thievery, then pirating. Literally. Mal hasn’t changed much. Some habits are hard to kick. Mal has a fondness for the adrenaline high and for walking way too close to the razor’s edge.

Some of you entered the contest I ran on my blog a couple of weeks back, where I asked you to submit questions for me to answer on Marjorie’s blog today. I received over forty questions; I can’t answer them all, but I randomly picked a couple from the bunch. So without further ado, here are my answers to the questions that readers submitted.

Q: JoAnne Kenrick asks: I gotta ask, since this is something that is driving me insane at the moment—how on earth do you come up with such great titles? Do you have a brainstorming type method that you care to share? Or do the titles just ‘come’ to you?

A: The answer depends on a few different factors. I’ve worked with a number of editors over the years. Some came up with titles that they felt were most representative of the story. Some brainstormed with me, and we’d send emails back and forth playing with words until they were just right. My critique partners give me feedback and suggestions. My author pals help me out.

But the titles for my current trilogy came to me in a shining blaze. I’d been emailing back and forth with friends playing with the themes of hearts and souls because they play an important role in the stories. But I really didn’t have a solid idea, and time was running out.

At the RWA National Conference in 2009, I sat down to have lunch with my awesome editor, and about half way through, she asked me about titles. I remember feeling like I had nothing.

Suddenly, there they were. Right on the tip of my tongue. I said, “Sins of the Flesh, Sins of the Soul, Sins of the Heart.” I could see by the look on her face that we were on the same page. She liked them, and I felt a little thrill because as soon as I said them out loud, I loved them. But something was missing, something…

Awesome editor pointed out that Sins of the Heart would actually be perfect for the first book rather than the third. And the last bit of the puzzle clicked. Of course, she was right, so we did the switch and that’s how the titles were born.

Q: Angi asks: Do you consider your writing paranormal romance or urban fantasy and do you think it is important to distinguish between the two?

A: I’ve attended workshops and read a ton of articles dedicated to this exact topic. I’ve been on panels that addressed the question of urban fantasy versus paranormal romance. I could go on forever about my opinion of the differences and similarities between the two, but I’ll try and keep it short and sweet.

What makes a book paranormal romance? A story often told in third person from both the hero and heroine’s point of view. There are definite supernatural elements, but the main thrust is the romance, the growing and evolving emotions of the protagonists, the path toward the happily-ever-after. There are varying degrees of paranormal elements in a paranormal romance; some books are lighter, some darker. But even if all other elements were removed, the romance would stand as a strong skeleton holding up the entire novel.

What makes a book urban fantasy? A story often told in first person from the heroine’s point of view (and sometimes exclusively from the hero’s). There are definite romantic elements, but the main thrust is the paranormal/supernatural world. There is not always a happily-ever-after for the main couple, and if the romance was removed, the book would stand on its own as a paranormal story without romantic elements.

My explanation is oversimplified, and there are nuances and details that I’ve glossed over, but I think this offers the gist of the most basic differences. I think my work blurs the lines a little. Each book in my trilogy has a resolution (a happily-ever-after, if you will) for the main couple. But the resolutions are a bit unusual, and the overarching story continues from book to book and couple to couple. My stories include strong worldbuilding elements. The plot is driven by the romance, and the romance cannot be removed from the story without great cost. However, there is a strong urban fantasy tale woven through that drives itself and has little to do with the romance. So I’d say I have a foot in both camps, and I’ll leave it to readers to decide.

Also, there’s a fantastic new review of A WILD LIGHT at the Miami Herald:

“In her 2008 fantasy debut, The Iron Hunt, Liu accomplished the rare feat of creating an urban fantasy heroine who hit all the requisite notes for the genre yet was fresh, imaginative and instantly fascinating. The Iron Hunt was an artfully crafted and catchy pop song; in A Wild Light, Liu has taken the same melody and created a symphony. Written in flowing, at times poetic, prose, A Wild Light reads like a languid, surreal dream, punctuated by fierce, sudden and often unexpected action. If you haven’t made room for Liu on your bookshelf, do so now. Just don’t start here. A Wild Light is a masterstroke of urban fantasy, but if you skip the first two books you’ll be missing out on the genesis of what is already a superlative series.”