tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73538907249506886012024-03-05T23:00:54.093-08:00males and other animalsA group blog for romance authors who love animals and incorporate them as characters in their own right or use them as inspiration for male protagonists (or antagonists) in their booksRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-33127964469636609292013-04-04T11:23:00.003-07:002013-04-04T12:20:30.024-07:00Banner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Deborah Macgillivrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871266987559473741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-72433457655418846442012-04-29T03:43:00.001-07:002012-04-29T03:43:46.702-07:00Hoping to keep this blog going.Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-90447240388313504842010-06-27T06:55:00.000-07:002010-06-27T06:55:20.510-07:00Off Topic: Open letter calling for Go To place for copyright complaints<div style="color: #6fa8dc;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #6fa8dc;">An open letter to the Presidents of RWA, SFWA, and Authors' Guild concerning copyright infringement.</div><br />
Dear Scott Turow, Allison Kelley, John Scalzi,<br />
<br />
Thank you very much for everything you do to defend authors' copyrights against copyright infringement. We very much appreciate having an address to which to send our complaints, and the comfort of knowing that you compile a database of the most egregious "pirates" and pirate sites.<br />
<br />
Despite small triumphs, ignorance persists among honest readers; lies about the legality of "sharing" go unchallenged, and the problem is getting much worse.<br />
<br />
Please Scott Turow, Allison Kelley, John Scalzi will you talk to one another, set up one powerhouse task force, meet regularly, share resources, engage your members, give authors one central "Go To" address where we can submit complaints, report piracy sites, blogs and yahoogroups, cc our individual take-down notices.<br />
<br />
One forceful industry voice could shut down an entire account and insist on a hosting site complying with their own TOS where their TOS has been repeatedly violated, instead of individual authors taking down one file at a time.<br />
<br />
Thank you.<br />
<br />
<br />
Rowena Cherry <br />
EPIC Award 2010 "Friend of ePublishing"<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #9fc5e8;">Permission granted to forward, share, repost, or use as a template for other open letters.</div>Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-69041603812920567092010-02-18T13:01:00.001-08:002010-02-18T13:01:55.068-08:00How multitasking is not a good thing sometimesEveryone thinks that they can multitask. Everytime you see someone on the phone as they drive, texting as they drive, texting as they cross the street (and sometimes blithely STOP in the middle of the street as they do so), work on the computer as they chat with someone either on the phone or over the cubicle wall or outside the office — anyway, you get my point. Multitasking is part of our lives.<br /><br />But it’s not necessarily something we should be doing. Note the rising number of accidents because drivers are chatting or texting and not paying attention to the traffic. Or, in my case, trying to podcast as I’m trying to make dinner. This morning I have a lovely wound at the tip of my thumb because I was chopping carrots and managed to scrape off the epidermis into my curry mixture. To my credit, I didn’t scream; I did keep talking and wadded a paper towel onto my thumb, chatting away as I lost blood.<br /><br />That’s not so bad, you think. It was fun times, I tell you. I sliced off a bit of my thumb, but then the coffee I was trying to make kept not getting made and I didn’t notice, only to discover that my cup had a hairline fracture, so the water went all over — and I kept pouring water in, not realizing I had already prepared it, only noticing after the podcast that water was everywhere. I just kept thinking I hadn’t done it because I was chatting and bleeding all over the place.<br /><br />And there’s more: my cellphone battery kept beeping, telling me it was almost dead, so when it did die (during a Q&A), I had to grab another phone and log in again.<br /><br />And that was all during one podcast. So multitasking is a lovely theory, but I’ve known for some time that it’s not for me, or at least not most of the time. Think about this the next time you think you can do more than one thing, or even two things, at a time. Maybe you can … and maybe you can’t.<br /><br />Eilis Flynn<br />INTRODUCING SONIKA and ECHOES OF PASSION (both are available at CerridwenPress.com and on Kindle, incidentally)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-70207458549095864122010-01-28T08:14:00.001-08:002010-01-28T08:14:26.613-08:00The current uproarSteve Jobs has long been one of my heroes — I never thought I’d admit that in public, but there it is. The hero of my first book was based on him (now an online graphic novella, many decades after it was first written), and everytime Apple came up with something new, I’d have to find out more about it. And yesterday’s big reveal of the iPad (oy, such a name!) was no exception. Is it the greatest thing that’s ever been invented? Probably not — the wheel’s position on the list is still safe — but it’s a jump forward in the hopscotch of technology.<br /><br />Notable among the complaints is what it can’t do. It’s not set up for multitasking. It’s slow. It’s not a laptop. It’s an overgrown iPod touch (incidentally, am I the only one stumbling over that “touch” not being capitalized?). But it’s also been pointed out that it’s not supposed to be those things — it’s a jump forward, it’s not man-on-the-moon leap forward. And it’s the reveal, the beginning. I have no doubt that it’s going to be fine-tuned in coming months and years.<br /><br />I’m so embarrassed. I sound like an evangelist for Apple, and I don’t even have that much stock.<br /><br />Anyway, it’s still an infant. Give it time. Five years from now, like an iPod or an iPhone, it’s going to be different, and it may even be in your hand. (Truth in commentary: I have neither an iPod nor an iPhone. We have a touch, but we got it as a premium for buying a car. We are VERY slow in adapting. So by the time the iPad overcomes its original problems, we may consider one.)<br />I’m not sure I should mention we still have an Apple Newton. Remember those? It’s around here somewhere. But it has its own place in that hopscotch board.<br /><br />Eilis Flynn<br />INTRODUCING SONIKA, ECHOES OF PASSION<br />Now available on KindleUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-20890328806358250302009-12-31T08:53:00.000-08:002009-12-31T08:54:12.220-08:00The obligatory year-end noteOkay, it’s obligatory for somebody. But the year is over, and for some, it was a year to be forgotten, while for others, it was one to be revered. Whichever is the case for you, it’s time to celebrate the change of the years. Do you have resolutions to make (again, for some) for the coming year? My usual resolution has been to make no resolutions, but this ending year I made some and only managed to keep a few (I resolved to write two novels and ended up writing one, thanks to a flare-up of carpal tunnel). And this coming year, instead of going back to my tried-and-true, I’m going to try again, but instead of two novels, I’m going for one novel, two novellas, and a partridge … uh, never mind.<br />Happy new year, one and all! If you have resolutions, good luck in keeping them. In any case, enjoy life.<br />Eilis Flynn<br />ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale nowUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-43972860095271000032009-12-16T17:25:00.000-08:002009-12-16T17:26:00.290-08:00Christmas WrappingI don't know what it is, but I have long had this habit of buying Christmas gifts that have to be sent and ... letting them sit. We're awful at wrapping in our family. For the past few years I've been buying and having signed by the authors all sorts of books for the Hub's cousins, but there they sit in a very big box, patiently waiting to be sent ... someday. And it's not just a dozen or so. No, by now it's approaching a dozen's dozen, and I may take the plunge at last. We have boxes ... tape ... and even the addresses. The only excuse I have now is laziness and the fear of going to the post office and an inability of properly packing a box.<br /><br />And of course, that fear of the post office (and being a lousy packer) at this time of year is why we tend to do a lot of online shopping. The only time we've forced ourselves to go through with this torture is when we're sending things to my relatives in Japan, and that's iffy.<br /><br />But all that has to change. With a deep breath, I'm going to approach that very big box of books and ... start to pack. If nothing else, it'll be one fewer thing in my living room. Wish me well!<br /><br />Eilis Flynn<br />ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale nowUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-64694427935720263842009-11-06T19:35:00.000-08:002009-11-06T20:12:27.837-08:00Wildlife Vet joiningGreetings to members. <br /><br />Rowena Cherry invited me to join as I too am an animal guy.<br /><br />I have been blogging for just over a year and write about 90% of my blogs on conservation, many of them about issues in Africa. I was born in Kenya, moved to Canada and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 1975 and have been back to Africa many times. I have written two books about things, mainly wildlife things, on that continent and you can pick up info on them from my <a href="http://www.jerryhaigh.com/">web page here</a> where there are extracts, whole chapters, photos and interviews. If you want to dip into the <span style="font-style:italic;">Glasgow Vet in Africa</span> blog you <a href="http://jerryhaigh.blogspot.com/">can do so here</a> or through the actual site.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEItHAQNnG9UAiJ8yD_3gp0AkOZn-6Q8B9PBwahtugYtPTf1qdUa2h3J_f_x-maNX8SRHdB8fOqH-RtO6hrZCtlGzGVT-9L75TGSH9scD-MpaWFeVfACKIZLs7vQwL7t4bH9Bja8ubUdM/s1600-h/rhino+catch+nanyuki+100.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 136px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEItHAQNnG9UAiJ8yD_3gp0AkOZn-6Q8B9PBwahtugYtPTf1qdUa2h3J_f_x-maNX8SRHdB8fOqH-RtO6hrZCtlGzGVT-9L75TGSH9scD-MpaWFeVfACKIZLs7vQwL7t4bH9Bja8ubUdM/s200/rhino+catch+nanyuki+100.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401209473141944018" /></a><br />Here are a couple of pics from those works.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2T-IhX6Jgf3BsRfVHMC3Qp7On7tndSqwkrBjCm1WpPvRDFPhWwv6emaO6slDOEe7_DySCmJuDyBG5kzVrqFEpXs9SY-hZutbs3UgZuTRfqcducXFlpbsjJogUO80FxeKI7DwBQhclZE/s1600-h/Lion+Check+up-Caprivi72.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2T-IhX6Jgf3BsRfVHMC3Qp7On7tndSqwkrBjCm1WpPvRDFPhWwv6emaO6slDOEe7_DySCmJuDyBG5kzVrqFEpXs9SY-hZutbs3UgZuTRfqcducXFlpbsjJogUO80FxeKI7DwBQhclZE/s200/Lion+Check+up-Caprivi72.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401209466176091042" /></a><br />I am starting on a new book about work in Canada. The title is <span style="font-style:italic;">Of Moose and Men</span> and here is a short extract from one of the chapters. The scene takes place in <span style="font-weight:bold;">Alberta</span> when I had been asked to examine a pet moose that had recently delivered a calf and was not well. The moose (<span style="font-weight:bold;">Petruska</span>) had complete trust in her owner but when I approached to about 50 metres in my attempt to examine her...<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight:bold;">Petruska</span> let out a loud snort as she set off at a full charge and then I could hear her breath as she crashed through the underbrush, her hooves pounding on the hard ground. It became a sort of Mexican stand-off. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Petruska</span> looked at me between the fortunately thick branches of the spruce and tried to get at me, first by stamping her feet, much as she would in killing a predator, and second by trying to move around the tree to get a clearer run. Of course there was nothing I could do about the stamping except be glad that it was occurring twenty-odd feet from me, but I could and did move around the tree to make sure that we remained at exactly opposite sides. Not that she came round all the way. That would have put me between her and her calf, which would been quite unnatural as she presumably viewed me as some sort of predator that was going to get the most precious thing in her world.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Ring-around-the-roses</span> is now a children’s game derived from the grim days of the black death. Ring-around-the-spruce-tree played by me and an irate mother moose intent on reducing me to a thin layer of pulverized flesh on the ground is quite another. While she was determined to protect her new calf, I was keen to protect myself. </blockquote>Jerry Haighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14276901551047524363noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-3129251836979759162009-11-04T20:10:00.001-08:002009-11-04T20:11:21.388-08:00Baseball and Claude Levi-StraussFor the most part, these two things wouldn't be mentioned in the same breath, but today, it is inevitable. Because it's the World Series (game 6, Yankees vs. Phillies, or as the kid of one of my coworkers refers to the team, the Philistines!) tonight, and famed anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss died only a few weeks shy of his 101st birthday. <br /><br />Social science majors, and anthropology majors in particular, will tell you that few classes pass by without a mention of Levi-Strauss' works. Cultural anthro wasn't my focus, but I read his work nonetheless (because honestly, you can't take an anthro class without reading Levi-Strauss), and it's only in retrospect that you can truly understand how broad the man's scope was in looking at human society and culture. (I could swear I remember some comment he made about baseball, but could I find it? Of course not.)<br /><br />From the piece from The New York Times:<br />"His legacy is imposing. Mythologiques, his four-volume work about the structure of native mythology in the Americas, attempts nothing less than an interpretation of the world of culture and custom, shaped by analysis of several hundred myths of little-known tribes and traditions. The volumes — The Raw and the Cooked, From Honey to Ashes, The Origin of Table Manners and The Naked Man, published from 1964 to 1971 — challenge the reader with their complex interweaving of theme and detail. <br /><br />"In his analysis of myth and culture, Levi-Strauss might contrast imagery of monkeys and jaguars; consider the differences in meaning of roasted and boiled food (cannibals, he suggested, tended to boil their friends and roast their enemies); and establish connections between weird mythological tales and ornate laws of marriage and kinship."<br /><br />I always found the differentiation between why one cannibal boils and why one roasts to be illuminating and inspiring. It makes you see the world differently, doesn't it?<br /><br />That's why it's good to be an anthro major, kids, especially if you want to be a writer: You get to explore the world in a whole new way.<br /><br />Eilis Flynn<br />ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale nowUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-91026709493196535042009-10-21T12:13:00.001-07:002009-10-21T12:13:26.976-07:00Promoting oneselfIt's something that most writers, introverts that we are (for the most part), don't like to do, but we've got to do it. Sometimes it's in the form of an interview, sometimes it's in the form of marketing material like bookmarks or postcards or magnets, sometimes it's in the form of modern technology, like a podcast. Promoting yourself -- or at least your work -- is inevitable and necessary and sometimes can be downright frightening. <br /><br />Which is why when Jacquie Rogers, one of the cofounders of the 1st Turning Point website on doing your own marketing and promotion, originally asked me whether I'd be interested in contributing a piece on occasion about marketing and promoting, I said no. I didn't know much about it, because that was the bailiwick of the Hub, who is a professional Marketing Guy. Well, it turned out that what she really wanted was to pick the brain of the Hub, but through me! No problem, I said. I could parrot someone else, if he had a chance. (If there's baseball on, all bets are off. And guess what's on right now? Yes, baseball.)<br /><br />Of course, that said, I only found out the topic today ... and the podcast she assigned me to is this evening. Do I have time to do any research? Of course not. So I have to use what knowledge I have. The topic is tag lines: the good, the bad, and the indifferent.<br /><br />Thank goodness I have others around me with more experience and knowledge. If you're interested in what real professionals have to say on the topic (and me), check it out at http://www.pivtr.com or http://www.internetvoicesradio,com at 6pm Pacific Time, 9pm Eastern Time. It's only an hour, so if you've got questions, there will be answers. Drop on by! And if I'm lucky, the Hub will come home in time for me to give a professional's answer!<br /><br />Eilis Flynn<br />ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale nowUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-79633585563399954192009-09-09T19:05:00.000-07:002009-09-11T06:30:58.768-07:00Excitement can be good and bad, you knowIt's been one of those days that you scratch your head and wonder to yourself if it's actually the magical date (it's 09-09-09, and when my dentist's receptionist booked my appointment for 9am, I laughed; and I was late and actually walked in at 09:09!), or the fates had been saving stuff up to announce all at once. An epress that was just announced a couple of months ago, with publishing professionals the driving force and everything, just as abruptly closed its doors before they got going with simply a letter. Just like that. And Warner Communications, parent of DC Comics, announced that DC would henceforth be known as DC Entertainment, reflecting its reach beyond simple comics. (There was also a presentation by Apple Inc. about its updated iTunes store and updated iPods, but that's not particularly relevant. Although a video camera in the new Nano is certainly a fun idea, Steve.)<br /><br />Now, the epress going under was a surprise, but the renaming of DC Comics (which, you may know, has always been redundant, since the "DC" stands for "Detective Comics") was more so, especially since the president and publisher, Paul Levitz, stepped down to be replaced by a Warner executive with no comics experience. (Levitz is going back to writing comics, in case you were curious.) This isn't the first time the comics publisher has changed names; it was known as National Periodical Publications as recently as 1970s. And it's not the first time that someone with no comics experience has been at the helm. On the one hand, it's a reaction to the Marvel Comics (sorry, Marvel Entertainment) acquisition by Disney, and on the other hand, it's also a nod from Warner that DC, always a cash cow but sort of overlooked, is being recognized as a more important property than it was when it was first acquired by Kinney (a parking-lot company) back in the 1970s. And there are lists you can look up showing that comics-related movies are among the top earners of all time.<br /><br />So what does all this mean? Maybe nothing, maybe everything. This company's been around since the late 1930s (home of Superman! Batman! Wonder Woman! Green Lantern!), under changing names through changing times and cultures. It's endured, through good times and less than good, through changing technology, offering the stories of demi-gods reinterpreted for the modern age. <br /><br />Now let's see how it changes for the 21st century.<br /><br />Eilis Flynn<br />ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale nowUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-84830180562317328982009-08-31T10:52:00.000-07:002009-08-31T10:53:19.392-07:00Disney acquires Marvelfor you geeks, wherever you are:<br /><br />Howard the Duck vs. Donald Duck: Death Match!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-90535955598367837992009-08-13T20:07:00.001-07:002009-08-13T20:07:42.700-07:00My Adventures in Romance-landLike a couple of thousand other writers, I attended Romance Writers of America's National Conference in mid-July, this year in beautiful Washington, DC. It was warm, but since it turned out to be even warmer when I got back to Seattle, the weather in DC in comparison (in hindsight) was lovely.<br /><br />The conference itself was a mixed bag. I hadn't attended in a few years; the last time I went was in 2006, when it was in Atlanta. This was the first year I got to attend as a member of PAN (Published Author Network), which allowed me to check out a whole different series of workshops, which was both interesting (we had Amazon evangelists espousing the goodness of Amazon and, of course, the Kindle) and mystifying (there was a motivational speaker who didn't do much for me motivation-wise). I got to see old friends again, see Washington again (the Hub's alma mater is there), and endure the discomfort that has become travel by air. <br /><br />But no matter what else the conference brought, it was all wiped out by an incident when I stopped to speak to someone whose blog I read fairly regularly. As I turned to leave, someone from my home chapter called me by a wrong name. I was momentarily confused, because she knew me and I knew her; but she repeated it. She called me by the name of another chapter member, and when I corrected her, she shrugged and said that she couldn't tell us apart, and that it didn't matter.<br /><br />That would have been funny, but see, I'm tall and Asian. The chapter member she was confusing me with is short and of Indian extraction. We're pretty different. She couldn't tell us apart? Why, because we didn't fit into her mold? <br /><br />There are so many things I wanted to say, most of which wasn't politically correct ("All blondes look alike," I was tempted to say to this person, who is a blonde, but I know that's not correct). But I bit my tongue, because, you know, I was trying not to be impolite. <br /><br />This short exchange has bothered me since. I live in an area that's predominantly Caucasian; my writers' group is predominantly Caucasian. It's times like these that I am reminded, in an abrupt fashion, that I am not Caucasian.<br /><br />Sadly, that's what I'm going to remember the most from this year's RWA conference.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-15281214502294478252009-07-31T20:52:00.001-07:002009-07-31T20:53:57.347-07:00Romantic Times Spotlgiht<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFkx3IUydwg0OUUpOsAOdcSpSQpi_4f8alMUUkZe1JA_4bErVSDZtSMngElN-AWEJOrUt43yv1C6gIXNO3YRFH3I-kZXBt6ZOcYFthoJmoiMTWAgKn62_iHFMYcOkZHLFCIIEzph6q6M9H/s1600-h/duo.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 249px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFkx3IUydwg0OUUpOsAOdcSpSQpi_4f8alMUUkZe1JA_4bErVSDZtSMngElN-AWEJOrUt43yv1C6gIXNO3YRFH3I-kZXBt6ZOcYFthoJmoiMTWAgKn62_iHFMYcOkZHLFCIIEzph6q6M9H/s400/duo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364837652872414178" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">The Romatic Times Magazine website has a spotlight profile for me for the release of the September issue.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">You can see the page here: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><a href="http://bit.ly/iv2LZ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: underline; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">http://bit.ly/iv2LZ</span></span></b></a></span></div>Deborah Macgillivrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871266987559473741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-58656626251313891442009-07-30T17:27:00.001-07:002009-07-30T17:27:31.900-07:00When reality reflects fictionIn my recent ECHOES OF PASSION, I described a scorching hot arid environment that my hero, Daegon Bosaru, comes to. It wasn't a pleasant place, but then it wasn't just the weather that was dreadful, but the circumstances too. Little did I realize that I would be experiencing that hot, icky, scorching climate just a while after the book came out. <br /><br />And it is horribly, ickily, dreadfully hot. Here in the Puget Sound, in the state of Washington, we are used to mild weather: mild winters, mild summers. But with the blast of ice and snow that we were subjected to this past winter (in the two decades we've lived here, it was the first time that we had police advisories not to leave the house if we didn't have to), it was inevitable that we have this horrific heat in the summer. We are not used to 100-degree-plus days, multiple ones. We are not used to glaring heat. Mild heat, yes. Mild sunshine, yes. But not THIS. When Seattle temperatures hit 103 around the city, it is truly unnatural. This is a city without a real history of air-conditioning, mind you. I think we are getting there. Right now, I have one coworker who has air-conditioning. I think by next year this time, I will have more. It doesn't help that I drive a car without air conditioning (bought in 1986, back when a/c wasn't standard issue).<br /><br />Why am I whining about this? Well, as we were all whining about the heat (and around here we were), I realized that I didn't add enough details about the heat and the glaring sun in ECHOES. Every time I was out and about the past couple of days, I thought about a detail I should have added. The sweat around the hairline. The belabored breathing. You get the idea. <br /><br />The moral of this story? THINK about those details. THINK about those senses. I was used to a mild climate. I should have been thinking about a much harsher one. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go find some air-conditioning. The grocery store, the library, the bookstore. I think we're going out for dinner.<br /><br />Eilis Flynn<br />ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale nowUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-51498417709584840252009-07-04T11:41:00.000-07:002009-07-04T11:42:23.779-07:00Happy Interdependence Day! It's been 25 yearsFor those of us in the US, today is Independence Day, celebrating the day we <br />as a nation decided not to be ruled by England. In other parts of the world, <br />though, it's just July 4. But wherever we are, no matter what culture we're <br />currently in, today is Interdependence Day for my husband and me, because it's <br />our anniversary.<br /><br />We got married on July 4 in Brooklyn, NY, 25 years ago, in the restaurant in <br />the tallest building in Bay Ridge. We chose that spot because that's where we <br />lived; we loved the area (the southernmost tip of Brooklyn, right before the <br />Verrazano Bridge, which leads you to Staten Island), and by having our <br />reception in that building, we could see the fireworks over in Manhattan. It was one day<br /> that we knew most everyone we wanted to invite would have off, and <br />surprisingly, neither the church nor the restaurant were booked. It was a lovely, sunny <br />day (okay, it was summer in New York: It was scorching, the church wasn't air-conditioned, <br />but the sky was a beautiful blue), and we remember it fondly still. <br /><br />Eventually, we moved away -- across the country, even, to Washington state -- <br />but we had the opportunity to go back to New York a few years ago, just in <br />time for our anniversary. We had dinner at the restaurant at the top of that <br />same building, and watched the fireworks over in Manhattan again. We remember <br />that fondly, too.<br /><br />How is any of this relevant? Well, I write romances. And our wedding was <br />romantic. And it's Interdependence Day. So Happy Interdependence Day, one and all!<br /><br />Eilis Flynn<br />ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale nowUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-24780148221189127672009-07-02T08:44:00.000-07:002009-07-02T08:45:57.692-07:00It's about a guy, see, and he's dreaming about a girl<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSUhXItpmVoPWXDfTHBfODl9XyteT6qz8PFVlwe2ZnMiTgMPq0hUg98dtQ9id9UhPzeqsr8Hmx-f_Kxav-IeTZRb9GKdEKEqm8UCSdI_AMZj9n3CxxIeTUw6R12qkjjZIOXvuSZUjJeWTb/s1600-h/echoesofpassion_msr.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 122px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSUhXItpmVoPWXDfTHBfODl9XyteT6qz8PFVlwe2ZnMiTgMPq0hUg98dtQ9id9UhPzeqsr8Hmx-f_Kxav-IeTZRb9GKdEKEqm8UCSdI_AMZj9n3CxxIeTUw6R12qkjjZIOXvuSZUjJeWTb/s200/echoesofpassion_msr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353889557349783602" /></a><br />ECHOES OF PASSION releases today! It's part of the sci-fi Hunters for Hire series available from Ellora's Cave and Cerridwen Press! Here's a bit about it:<br /><br />Neotia Prime… The home world of the Neoti and the Vozuans was destroyed by a doomsday device twenty years ago, but the troubles and unrest that led to the event still plague those who resettled on the twin planet.<br /><br />When Daegon Bosaru arrives on the unnamed world, determined to uncover who is out to smear his dying father’s good name, he discovers that the tragedies of that civil war still haunt those who remain. Not only that, the mysterious, beautiful woman he’s been seeing in his dreams over the past twenty years may have information he needs. But when he finally meets Imreen Dal in the flesh, she seems not to know him—and furthermore, she runs from him every time she encounters him. Why?<br /><br />Rumors persist that the crazed dictator who set off the doomsday device may still be alive…with fresh plans for conquest. Bosaru needs to find out how his father, the mysterious Imreen and the madman are related…and stop another world from being destroyed.<br /><br />Buy it now (since I have no shame left) at: http://www.jasminejade.com/p-7007-echoe..s-of-passion.aspx<br /><br />Eilis Flynn<br />ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale now!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-30253684818424503112009-06-17T17:55:00.000-07:002009-06-17T17:56:40.099-07:00The countdown begins ... well, it continues<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'book antiqua'; ">I got my author copies of ECHOES OF PASSION yesterday, and I was pleased. For one reason or another, I didn't see the book after I turned in the manuscript, and so I was in the dark as to whether it had weathered the editing stages. As a rule, after I finish writing a book I don't revisit it (I mean, if it's done, it's done, and I don't see any reason to go back unless it's to look something up), but it had been so long since I had seen it I felt I had to do something. So I did: I sat down and read my book. <div><br /></div><div>As I did, a few memories of the writing process came trickling back, little by little. I remember writing descriptions, piecing together the descriptions of a war that was waged twenty cycles (approximately two and a quarter years) ago, the battles and the outcome. I remember writing the descriptions of a settlement that had seen more than its share of sorrow and mystery, the descriptions of a lover who never was. Sometimes the descriptions came on like a waterfall, while other times ... well, they didn't. (I'm sure you know that feeling.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Most of all, as I was reading, I remember shaping the people. The green skin of the Neoti and the golden skin of the Vozuan, so close in so many things cultural and physiological but so far in others. And I remembered why I write; shaping those people, the places, the stories can be an amazing experience.</div><div><br /></div><div>Only 15 more days until launch! I can't wait!</div><div><br /></div><div>Eilis Flynn</div><div>ECHOES OF PASSION, 7.2.09</div><div><br /></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-59976532912574442882009-06-10T19:05:00.000-07:002009-06-10T19:05:29.937-07:00Friday Night Reflections: Great summer read - Insufficient Mating Material by Rowena Cherry<a href="http://joynash.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-summer-read-insufficient-mating.html">Friday Night Reflections: Great summer read - Insufficient Mating Material by Rowena Cherry</a>Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-30319201714813052402009-06-03T09:05:00.001-07:002009-06-03T09:05:40.286-07:00Voice is picky<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; "><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">So many other people do articles on craft, so I tend to shy away from them. But something happened a few days ago and I felt compelled to comment. (If I didn't feel compelled I don't know what I'd be doing writing about it. But anyway.)<div><br /></div><div>I work with someone at the Day Job who's not much of a reader. In fact, she jokes (but not really) that she reads one book a year, and she chooses it just before she goes on vacation for a week to the family vacation place beside a lake. The place has no Internet, barely electricity, so reading is the way to go. She's got a dozen books that she's started to read at the lake but never finished. She'll finish them someday, she says.</div><div><br /></div><div>This year, though, she may finish the book she chooses. Recently, she saw the movie Twilight, and got so curious about the story that she picked up the source novel ... and LOVED IT. She devoured it and had to read the next ... and the next. She can't imagine what those people who disparage these books are thinking, she says. She's never read anything like them!</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, I have to admit I've never read anything by Stephenie Meyer. Like my coworker, I figure I'll read 'em someday, but they're not really in my bailiwick (I've read enough vampire novels in my day, and I can't imagine that these YA versions are much different from the adult romance version). But my coworker was raving about them, and that makes me curious. I know it's got to be the voice -- and voice is, as we're told, over and over, what makes all the difference.</div><div><br /></div><div>Two examples. Stephen King. Brilliant writer of short fiction and nonfiction, but his horror novels leave me cold. But I know it's the voice that brings 'em in. I've read two of his novels, and I remember admiring his technique, but while I recognize his craft, it's not something that hits my heart or gut. Will I have nightmares? Eh. I applaud him for everything he's done, but it's not to my taste for the most part. Next.</div><div><br /></div><div>Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Mertz. My personal favorite. Her voice spoke to me the first time I read Ammie, Come Home, and it has greeted me like an old friend every time since. I've always loved her work, but I know others have only nodded and said, "She's okay." </div><div><br /></div><div>And that's mostly voice. Does it suck you in? Does it transport you to a land not of your choosing, and do the characters appear in your dreams? If so, damn but the author's done his or her job. And won a convert to boot. </div><div><br /></div><div>My coworker is afraid that she'll finish the fourth book in Meyer's series before her vacation, but I pointed out that even if she does, there ARE other books out there that she'd probably like just as well. I could suggest a few (more than a few, in fact), but of course, it's her own personal journey to find that voice that speaks to her in quite the same way. </div><div><br /></div><div>And it's every writer's wish that a reader makes that discovery of his or her own books!</div><div><br /></div><div>Eilis Flynn</div><div>ECHOES OF PASSION: 7.2.09</div><div>Only 29 more days to launch!</div></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-58817885097193869262009-05-20T19:32:00.001-07:002009-05-20T19:32:23.647-07:00Technology stares me in the face<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'book antiqua'; ">Technology is an underlying theme in much of what I write, mainly because it both fascinates me and alarms me. And the fact that I managed to destroy three computers at work in three months has a little something to do with it too. <div><br /></div><div>So knowing that, what does The Hub get me for my birthday? That's right, technology. He got me a Sony eReader because, as he explained, an epublished author needs to have a Reader. Or a Kindle, but the Reader was closer, and he could examine it (and I have certain reservations about the Kindle). I spent the entire day (because I took a vacation day) on line trying to find out how to make it compatible with my Mac, because of course it's Windows only. And I found the software to do it, and so I rubbed my hands together with glee!</div><div><br /></div><div>And could not get it to work. Not unusual; my learning curve for tech has always been fairly long, and this was no exception. And managed to run down the battery completely, so the next day I had to go out and get an AC adapter. And then I charged it, and sat down to work with it again. </div><div><br /></div><div>And managed to wipe out the data that already came with it. Sigh. Still couldn't upload any books. The next day either. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's been a week and it stays there, mocking me. I may have to break down and see if I have any better luck on the Windows machine downstairs. Sigh.</div><div><br /></div><div>But at least I have high hopes that I'll be able to read my next book on it -- ECHOES OF PASSION is coming out on July 2, so one way or another, I will! I will!</div><div><br /></div><div>ECHOES OF PASSION, 7.2.09</div><div>Only 43 more days! I will conquer the Sony beast. I will! I will!</div><div><br /></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-75864419459406717112009-05-08T16:50:00.000-07:002009-05-08T16:51:20.707-07:00I'm starting to wonder<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 85, 51); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; ">I managed to kill computer no. 3 at work today. The third in three months. I'm starting to wonder about the jokes I've made through the years, about how technology doesn't like me. I DON'T THINK IT'S A JOKE!<div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, in decidedly nontechnical matters, I'm down to my last three teas in the house. Well, there are six, but I've decided that the liver tea etc. will stay where they are. Until I feel like drinking icky-tasting tea. The other three teas I have left are a motley bunch -- one of them is Market Spice tea, from Pike Place Market; one is unnamed, but I prudently put it into what used to be a Superman peanut butter jar (which gives you a clue when I got both the jar and the tea, which is to say, a long, long time ago); and a tea from a foreign country not Japan or China, but somewhere in Africa, if I can make out the postmark. The end is in sight. I cannot wait. Fresh teas, somewhere ahead!</div><div><br /></div><div>Eilis Flynn</div><div>ECHOES OF PASSION, 7.2.09</div><div>Only 55 more days to launch!</div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-2996102229577617842009-05-06T14:22:00.003-07:002009-05-06T14:23:43.564-07:00Does it ever change?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVEkgRXY1SpU7LvxkU4Yd25l7Flj2v-kRxBNHG79hlLhBZeFL6QYsEhzAa9ihGmvt8wg1tV80tiojOR8JhB9XzmaErfcIkbJlw3m97jBtSnwLoHK-knQL3zP98u06nEnnr6UQXF0N8e4c/s1600-h/echoes_msr.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 122px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVEkgRXY1SpU7LvxkU4Yd25l7Flj2v-kRxBNHG79hlLhBZeFL6QYsEhzAa9ihGmvt8wg1tV80tiojOR8JhB9XzmaErfcIkbJlw3m97jBtSnwLoHK-knQL3zP98u06nEnnr6UQXF0N8e4c/s200/echoes_msr.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332824735941952818" /></a><br />I have a book coming out from Cerridwen Press on July 2, and I find myself looking forward to it. And I'm amused by that, because I thought I was over that kind of thing. ECHOES OF PASSION is my fourth book with CP, and I figured I was pretty much in the groove, downright blase, for the routine -- you know, you write the book, you submit the book, you get the book accepted, and then your editor takes over. (Oversimplified? You betcha!) <div><br /></div><div>But the deal is, everytime is a little different. The first one is different from the second one (the first one is WAY different from anything else!) is different from the third. The first you're terrified of doing something wrong; the second you're wondering if you're going to do something wrong; the third you're fairly sure if you keep doing the same thing you'll be okay, but the fourth ... can you make any new mistakes? </div><div><br /></div><div>And the answer is, of course you can. You just don't know what it is yet. So I'm keeping that in mind. And because I've changed editors, the way things get done is a little different too; it's something else to remember.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the big thing I have to remember is that it's only 57 days until ECHOES OF PASSION comes out. It's still a thrill!</div><div><br /></div><div>Eilis Flynn</div><div>ECHOES OF PASSION, 7.2.09</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-65352553779340391952009-04-22T11:36:00.000-07:002009-04-22T11:38:18.300-07:00earth day, and the I-5 mountains<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'book antiqua'; ">This past weekend The Hub and I went down to Portland, OR, where he had lunch with his cousin Jonathan and I went to the Readers' Luncheon, sponsored by the Rose City Romance Writers. The speaker was Lucy Monroe, and she was fabulous, as alway. After lunch (and Luncheon), we headed back north to Seattle. The trip going down (at an unspeakably early time of morning) we couldn't see much, thanks to the thick fog that blanketed the route, but on the way back home? Wonderful. Scenic. Mountains!<div><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Add Image" border="0" class="gl_photo" /><br /></div><div><div><div>At this time of year, most mountains are covered with snow, and yes, there is a certain sameness to them because of it -- but the snow is gorgeous, particularly when the sunlight hits it just right, and the entire mountain glows. That was the case with Mt. Hood, seen here without that glow, but quite handsome, nonetheless:</div><div><br /></div><div>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hood<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>What we found remarkable is that with all the times we could have seen Mt. Hood in all its glory, we'd never seen it like that, whether because of pollution or weather or stress (if traffic's bad, do you notice anything else? I thought not). </div><div><br /></div><div>Farther north, we saw a mountain with an amazingly rounded top. Never seen anything that before. Until we realized it was Mt. St. Helens, and we'd just never seen it from that particular angle. The image of St. Helens here is clearly not rounded, but it sure looks as if the top's blown: </div><div><br /></div><div>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._St._Helens<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I was in Seattle in 1980 when St. Helens blew. A fine layer of ash fell on my mother's yard, but it quickly disappeared. Not so in Yakima, in the middle part of the state; the wind must have been just right, because the town got something like six inches or more of ash, and it was not nearly as easy to get rid of, but it had to be done, and fast, because it could suffocate local vegetation and animals. And people, who were advised to stay inside for a while. The mountain's still around, after all these years, and still reminding us that we've got to keep an eye on her.</div><div><br /></div><div>An hour or so later, we saw the first signs of home. Mt. Rainier is just known as "the mountain" in Seattle thereabouts, because it is omnipresent. It's there when the weather's clear, and it's there when the pollution's high (just murky). The first Japanese who came to this area saw the graceful lines of the mountain and were reminded of their own distinctive mountain, and referred to Mt. Rainier as "the American Mt. Fuji." The angle of this picture makes it look far less like Fuji than it does from other angles, but on a clear day, from the right perspective, it's understandable. </div><div><br /></div><div>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rainier<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Where we live, the mountain's not quite visible; we need to go five minutes one way or another to be able to see it. But we still regard ourselves as fortunate that it's close enough to see. </div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Earth Day. And that includes our mountains.</div><div><br /></div><div>Eilis Flynn</div><div>ECHOES OF PASSION, 7.2.09</div></div></div>Coming soon from Cerridwen Press</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353890724950688601.post-60130611453584860852009-04-08T11:44:00.000-07:002009-04-08T11:53:11.866-07:00The shape of things to comeTerry Odell's post on green tech (cerridwenpressauthors.blogspot.com) had me thinking about the technology of tomorrow, specifically tech like "electronic paper," tech as thin as paper and reads like it but something that changes -- imagine a newspaper that holds the information of the Sunday New York Times but is one sheet thick. You turn to the page to whatever you want to read, to the size you want it to be. It's an amazing concept, but when you consider there's a light source just as thin and easy to manipulate, right now (but not marketable due to cost), you know it can't be too far away. The Star Trek (original series) inspired us to expect something the size of a paperback book to read from and write on, and we have something a lot like those now. If that's the future realized, what's the real future going to hold? I'm not sure we can fathom it.<div><br /></div><div>It's not just the far-flung future, either, that this is the case. I remember reading recently that the spy gadgets we were amused by on the TV series GET SMART were the source of inspiration for the real-life CIA. The CIA scientists would see something on the show and try to figure out how they could make a variation for their own uses. (But no cone of silence, as far as I know. After all, on GET SMART, they never could get the cone to work!)</div><div><br /></div><div>The book I have coming out in July, ECHOES OF PASSION, has a control device that's smaller than a paperback but a little thicker than a sheet of paper, easy to pocket and easy to overlook. It's a coin, basically; distinctively shaped and integral to the plot. Because The Hub works at a mint (where they design coins), I got a chance to see how intricate coins could be, and that was my inspiration. </div><div><br /></div><div>But once I thought about it, it's not new at all. I have something about that size, something distinctive, a control device. You probably do too. Got a garage-door opener?</div><div><br /></div><div>Eilis Flynn, www.eilisflynn.com</div><div>83 days to ECHOES OF PASSION! On sale at Cerridwen Press at 7.02.09</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0