It's my week, and I'm supposed to be blogging on craft here at the Tri Mu blog...but its been a hectic week. If you're desperate for craft post, I have a somewhat crafty guest post over at my publisher's blog.
Okay, now that I've officially declared my neglect for the rules, let's talk about me. I'm kidding, but I am going to pass some information about what's happening with my first novel. I've already posted this information on my personal blog, so if you read both, here is your permission slip to skip the rest of this blog. ^_^
Reviews are starting to pop up on blogs, and because I like to live dangerously, I’ve been reading them when the alerts come in. Here are some highlights:
Jackie at Literary Escapism said:
“I found out about Once Bitten by Kalayna Price a few months ago and I just recently got my hands on a copy. I have to say, the intrigue I felt for this novel back then was definitely warranted. Price’s world is a lot different than a lot of societies I’ve been reading about lately. She gives a whole new twist to the shapeshifter culture and their reaction to the full moon.”
Read more here.
Hope at Hope's Bookshelf said:
“I'm anxiously awaiting the second book in this series. I can't wait to see what kind of trouble Kita will end up in next....”
(4 Hearts) Read more here.
Harriet Klausner at Alternative Worlds said:
“Urban fantasy readers who enjoy the works of Kelly Armstrong and V.K. Forrest will have a great time reading this exhilarating story. Kita is a fascinating lead character as she believes she cannot lead her clan because she shifts into a kitten and loathes the politics that go with being the Torin. Thus she remains in exile staying in kitten form so humans can adopt her until she feels she must move on to her next household. This is one fantasist who is worth the price of admission.”
Read more here. (And yes, being grouped with Kelly Armstrong did make my day, completely)
Also, Once Bitten is now available on Fictionwise. You can view it here. Or, you can head over to ereader.com where it is currently listed as a featured book!
For those of you who haven't watched it yet, below is the promo trailer my publisher made for Once Bitten. It's a little surreal to watch, as it is talking about my book, but the mood is great. Enjoy!
Okay, I think that is all my news. I promise to be more crafty in the future. Happy Friday Readers!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Open Season on Muses
He says to hunt down the muse with a club. But the muse is often an intangible thing. Or if tangible, the muse isn't something that you could beat down and drag home. So what then?
The alternative is to ignore the muse. But isn't that kind of ridiculous? After all, isn't the muse merely a construct of your own mind, a touchstone to focus on?
Perhaps.
And perhaps what he means was that sometimes what you have been using to focus your mind isn't applicable anymore so you should chose something else. Get up, and go do something totally different; give yourself the strong illusion that inspiration is close at hand, beckoning; do what you need to do to get excited about writing again.
I wonder what he used, what he did.
What about you? What do you think he meant?
The alternative is to ignore the muse. But isn't that kind of ridiculous? After all, isn't the muse merely a construct of your own mind, a touchstone to focus on?
Perhaps.
And perhaps what he means was that sometimes what you have been using to focus your mind isn't applicable anymore so you should chose something else. Get up, and go do something totally different; give yourself the strong illusion that inspiration is close at hand, beckoning; do what you need to do to get excited about writing again.
I wonder what he used, what he did.
What about you? What do you think he meant?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Friend Zone
Attention riders on the monorail of love. The next stop on our excursion is The Friend Zone.
Yes, gentle blog readers, I have entered the dreaded Friend Zone. This is not to be confused with the end zone where people go when they score (so to speak). The Friend Zone is where people go when they don’t score. The Friend Zone is a place that you do not want to be. The Friend Zone is where unrequited affection meets friendship.
You see, I’m intimately familiar with the Friend Zone. I have spent interminable years there, but that is another story for another day. Suffice it to say that I gave up the Friend Zone a few years ago when I gave up dating.
I was content with my no-man’s land of a life and I thought everything was going swimmingly. Then, I met my “distraction.” That’s right. I’m talking about the same “distraction” from last week. At the time I wrote the last blog, I thought that things were going well…that I was moving the ball slowly to the end zone.
I thought that at the very least, I’d crossed the 50 yard line and was in the opponent’s territory . I was expecting a cursory defense, but apparently I was wrong.
First and 10.
There were signs. You know the ones I mean. I suggest seeing him again and he sort of shies away from committing himself. “I’m going to watch the football game next Saturday” he says. He knows that I like football. He says hello on his own later in the week, but it’s the friendly, non-personal type of hello. I was about to listen to the Clemson basketball game and told him as much so I was ok with the conversation ending a little early, but still a little confused.
The running back is hit behind the line of scrimmage.
Second and 13
Next night, I see him online and I say hello. We talk a little while about more generic stuff. He’s online paying his taxes. I give broad hints about the weekend, but nothing. Then, he says he’s going to bed. It is barely 10pm.
Incomplete pass.
Third down and 13 yards to go.
The alarm bells are going off in full force at this point. I don’t hear from him for two days and then, I’m watching the football game on Saturday and I see that he’s on myspace so I send him some nonsensical comment about the game. (Yes, I know, I’m escorting myself to the friend zone with that one, but I had to do something. Let’s call it a trick play.) We talk back and forth and eventually, I ask him if he wants to come over tomorrow. “I’m cooking.” I say. He says “No, he has to work.” We talk a little while longer, but there is no mention of seeing each other again. I go hang out with a friend and then send him a teasing message later about something he’d talked about earlier. He responds with what I hope was a good sense of humor.
Screen pass for a gain of 10 yards.
Fourth and 3 yards to go.
So, I guess I’m punting to him at this point. If he’d given me any hint that he was interested, I’d try a trick play and go for it, but his defense has been stout so I’m not even going to try. It seems that putting the ball in his hands is the only option. He can decide if he wants to go to the end zone or the Friend Zone.
But, unfortunately for me…..the signs are pointing to the Friend Zone.
Yes, gentle blog readers, I have entered the dreaded Friend Zone. This is not to be confused with the end zone where people go when they score (so to speak). The Friend Zone is where people go when they don’t score. The Friend Zone is a place that you do not want to be. The Friend Zone is where unrequited affection meets friendship.
You see, I’m intimately familiar with the Friend Zone. I have spent interminable years there, but that is another story for another day. Suffice it to say that I gave up the Friend Zone a few years ago when I gave up dating.
I was content with my no-man’s land of a life and I thought everything was going swimmingly. Then, I met my “distraction.” That’s right. I’m talking about the same “distraction” from last week. At the time I wrote the last blog, I thought that things were going well…that I was moving the ball slowly to the end zone.
I thought that at the very least, I’d crossed the 50 yard line and was in the opponent’s territory . I was expecting a cursory defense, but apparently I was wrong.
First and 10.
There were signs. You know the ones I mean. I suggest seeing him again and he sort of shies away from committing himself. “I’m going to watch the football game next Saturday” he says. He knows that I like football. He says hello on his own later in the week, but it’s the friendly, non-personal type of hello. I was about to listen to the Clemson basketball game and told him as much so I was ok with the conversation ending a little early, but still a little confused.
The running back is hit behind the line of scrimmage.
Second and 13
Next night, I see him online and I say hello. We talk a little while about more generic stuff. He’s online paying his taxes. I give broad hints about the weekend, but nothing. Then, he says he’s going to bed. It is barely 10pm.
Incomplete pass.
Third down and 13 yards to go.
The alarm bells are going off in full force at this point. I don’t hear from him for two days and then, I’m watching the football game on Saturday and I see that he’s on myspace so I send him some nonsensical comment about the game. (Yes, I know, I’m escorting myself to the friend zone with that one, but I had to do something. Let’s call it a trick play.) We talk back and forth and eventually, I ask him if he wants to come over tomorrow. “I’m cooking.” I say. He says “No, he has to work.” We talk a little while longer, but there is no mention of seeing each other again. I go hang out with a friend and then send him a teasing message later about something he’d talked about earlier. He responds with what I hope was a good sense of humor.
Screen pass for a gain of 10 yards.
Fourth and 3 yards to go.
So, I guess I’m punting to him at this point. If he’d given me any hint that he was interested, I’d try a trick play and go for it, but his defense has been stout so I’m not even going to try. It seems that putting the ball in his hands is the only option. He can decide if he wants to go to the end zone or the Friend Zone.
But, unfortunately for me…..the signs are pointing to the Friend Zone.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Written v. Spoken English
I just started taking a graduate course in linguistics and I wanted to pose one of the discussion questions that came up in class for blog readers and mythmakers alike to ponder.
One of the students commented on the text's examples of how language changes over time. He said, "rather than seeing these examples as 'language change,' I see them as examples of the distance that printed English always needs (for one reason or another) to put between itself and spoken English." I so wanted to ask him what his reasons were, but since I didn't I'll ask you. Why would spoken English need to be different than written English? To go even further than that, since we are writing fiction, especially dialogue, does there still need to be a disctinction between the grammar of written and spoken English? This includes pauses..... ah, and maybe how we, er, stumble over our words when we speak. Should these be part of written dialogue? If so, how much?
One of the students commented on the text's examples of how language changes over time. He said, "rather than seeing these examples as 'language change,' I see them as examples of the distance that printed English always needs (for one reason or another) to put between itself and spoken English." I so wanted to ask him what his reasons were, but since I didn't I'll ask you. Why would spoken English need to be different than written English? To go even further than that, since we are writing fiction, especially dialogue, does there still need to be a disctinction between the grammar of written and spoken English? This includes pauses..... ah, and maybe how we, er, stumble over our words when we speak. Should these be part of written dialogue? If so, how much?
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Distractions
I’m going to blog about distractions today. Specifically, a 5’11, brown-haired, brown-eyed, extremely cute, makes-me-feel-petite, boy-shaped distraction. This particular distraction is draining all my creative juices into the pool of rampant speculation about what he thinks about me.
This is EXTREMELY different to a girl that has successfully avoided “distractions” for four years.
I’m a romance writer….you would think that a romance writer would believe in romance and happily ever after. You would be wrong. See, I believe in love and lust and affection and compassion and all those other things that come with relationships. I just don’t believe that it happens the way that it happens in a romance novel and well, that is healthy. Romance novels sell fantasy. They sell a world that doesn’t exist. They sell hope that Prince Charming is going to sweep you off your feet and save you. Listen to me right now, you have to save yourself. Years of living and observation have proved this to be true. Hard times happen. Marriages and relationships break up. People die. That is reality and that reality makes the fantasy just that much more valuable to us as writers and as readers.
Happily ever after is relative. I’ve always figured that my happily ever after involved me and my gay best friend and an RV travelling across the country in our old age.
Travelling in an RV still might be my future, but the waters begin to be muddied when you date and dating was something that I’d all but stopped doing. After a series of bad first dates, I stepped off the dating train four years ago with no regrets.
Then, it happened as it always happens. A friend says “I have someone that you should meet.” You reluctantly agree. At least, I did and I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had more going for him than his personality if you know what I mean. It took a little while, but eventually he asked me out and I agreed.
That was my first mistake.
You see, for me, dating is like a roller coaster. You get on the ride and it starts moving, climbing the hill, slowly. You start looking over the side, anywhere but in front of you, where you can see the summit of the hill looming. You start having regrets and thinking if you could get off of this roller coaster, you would. You get to the top of the hill and then WHOOSH and a thrill runs through you, but each time you crest a hill or get ready to turn upside down, you have moments of doubt and insecurity.
That is what dating is to me and it is very, very distracting. The time that I would normally spend on my characters and plot have been spent in moments of doubt and insecurity. Does he like me back? He said I was interesting. What does that mean? He’s not talking to me as much as he was last week. Then, I hang out with him, we talk, cuddle, and kiss and the thrill starts again.
I know, I know. I am crazy, but I like roller coasters in the same way that I like romance novels. The roller coaster is the romance novel. It is the fantasy. It is the chance that something good could happen. It is the chance that you could fall off the coaster and die. The major difference between the roller coaster and the romance novel is that in a romance novel, you know that the main characters are going to get a happily ever after. But even with a roller coaster, you know that the ride will end happily, with the riders getting off safely and going to buy their commemorative photos.
With this particular roller coaster, I don’t know when or if this ride is going to end, but for now, I’m having a good time. I don’t know if this will change my vision of happily ever after or if this is just a bump in the road. I do know that this time with my “distraction” has reminded how much I like riding the roller coaster and made me think that even if I don’t stay on this particular ride, I might try another one later.
Now, if only I could figure out how to balance my “distraction” and my writing.
This is EXTREMELY different to a girl that has successfully avoided “distractions” for four years.
I’m a romance writer….you would think that a romance writer would believe in romance and happily ever after. You would be wrong. See, I believe in love and lust and affection and compassion and all those other things that come with relationships. I just don’t believe that it happens the way that it happens in a romance novel and well, that is healthy. Romance novels sell fantasy. They sell a world that doesn’t exist. They sell hope that Prince Charming is going to sweep you off your feet and save you. Listen to me right now, you have to save yourself. Years of living and observation have proved this to be true. Hard times happen. Marriages and relationships break up. People die. That is reality and that reality makes the fantasy just that much more valuable to us as writers and as readers.
Happily ever after is relative. I’ve always figured that my happily ever after involved me and my gay best friend and an RV travelling across the country in our old age.
Travelling in an RV still might be my future, but the waters begin to be muddied when you date and dating was something that I’d all but stopped doing. After a series of bad first dates, I stepped off the dating train four years ago with no regrets.
Then, it happened as it always happens. A friend says “I have someone that you should meet.” You reluctantly agree. At least, I did and I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had more going for him than his personality if you know what I mean. It took a little while, but eventually he asked me out and I agreed.
That was my first mistake.
You see, for me, dating is like a roller coaster. You get on the ride and it starts moving, climbing the hill, slowly. You start looking over the side, anywhere but in front of you, where you can see the summit of the hill looming. You start having regrets and thinking if you could get off of this roller coaster, you would. You get to the top of the hill and then WHOOSH and a thrill runs through you, but each time you crest a hill or get ready to turn upside down, you have moments of doubt and insecurity.
That is what dating is to me and it is very, very distracting. The time that I would normally spend on my characters and plot have been spent in moments of doubt and insecurity. Does he like me back? He said I was interesting. What does that mean? He’s not talking to me as much as he was last week. Then, I hang out with him, we talk, cuddle, and kiss and the thrill starts again.
I know, I know. I am crazy, but I like roller coasters in the same way that I like romance novels. The roller coaster is the romance novel. It is the fantasy. It is the chance that something good could happen. It is the chance that you could fall off the coaster and die. The major difference between the roller coaster and the romance novel is that in a romance novel, you know that the main characters are going to get a happily ever after. But even with a roller coaster, you know that the ride will end happily, with the riders getting off safely and going to buy their commemorative photos.
With this particular roller coaster, I don’t know when or if this ride is going to end, but for now, I’m having a good time. I don’t know if this will change my vision of happily ever after or if this is just a bump in the road. I do know that this time with my “distraction” has reminded how much I like riding the roller coaster and made me think that even if I don’t stay on this particular ride, I might try another one later.
Now, if only I could figure out how to balance my “distraction” and my writing.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Cover Copy
Well, I'm back after an extended break over the holidays, and I just had to share some exciting news. During the break, my publisher sent me a full cover copy of my book. Doesn't it look good? I also received and returned my Author Alterations over the holidays, so my input on Once Bitten is officially over. The book is now off to the printers, and I guess I'll see the first copy of it soon. I'm excited.I hope everyone had a great holiday. Anyone have exciting resolutions for the New Year?
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Dictionary
* sesquipedalian: 1. Given to or characterized by the use of long words. 2. Long and ponderous; having many syllables.
* Defenestrate: to throw out of a window. Or what we want to do to our computers when our stories aren't coming together like we want.
* Raconteur: one who excels in telling stories and anecdotes
* Crozzled: Lightly toasted around the edges
* Groaking: To look intently at someone else's food in the hope that they will offer you some of it
* Plot Soup: Pot of story or character ideas simmering in the back of a writer's head
* Defenestrate: to throw out of a window. Or what we want to do to our computers when our stories aren't coming together like we want.
* Raconteur: one who excels in telling stories and anecdotes
* Crozzled: Lightly toasted around the edges
* Groaking: To look intently at someone else's food in the hope that they will offer you some of it
* Plot Soup: Pot of story or character ideas simmering in the back of a writer's head
Books
Twice Dead by Kalayna Price
Kita is adjusting to her new liquid diet--an adjustment she rather resents. Not that everything was chocolate and sunshine before (though both were possible before the sexy but infuriating Nathanial sank his fangs in her business). Kita's ability to shape shift into a kitten when her peers shifted into lions and tigers complicated her life, to say the least, but getting stuck in one form--that of a human shaped tick, a.k.a. a vampire--sucks, literally. Her adjustment period is violently interrupted when she discovers a headless corpse during a party for a visiting vampire council. But, the headless dancer won't be the only corpse she encounters.Kita's involvement draws the attention of the Collector, an ancient vampire with an inclination to acquire two things: power and oddities. As a pureblood shifter turned vampire, Kita ranks high on the collectability list--not a safe place for anyone who values her freedom, and Kita is not the only one on the list. But with the body count rising, there is more at stake than freedom. A killer is slithering through the underbelly of Haven's vampire community, and with the supernaturals dealing in unnamed favors, it's a bad time to be a kitten who can't slip her skin.
Click Here to read an excerpt.
ONCE BITTEN by Kalayna Price
For the past five years, Kita Nekai has faded into the background of the human world, but when a rogue shifter begins littering the city of Haven with bodies, Kita's illegal status lands her on the suspect list. During a confrontation with hunters that she can't win, rescue arrives in the form of the mysterious Nathanial Deaton. Kita soon wishes it hadn't when his method of saving her leaves her undead. With only three nights to prove her innocence and a new liquid diet to worry about, Kita doesn't want to deal with her infuriating rescuer or the ghost from her past who is determined to drag her back home. But, she needs help if she's going to stand any chance of survival.Click Here to read an excerpt.
Once Bitten
Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 9780980245394
Bell Bridge Books
Now available at:
Barnes & Noble , Amazon, and Fictionwise
Tri Mu Members
Darlene C. GoodmanDarlene has several obsessions that make her a natural born writer of children's and young adult novels.
Obsession 1) Words. She loves words, all types of tasty words and their delicious combinations (known to most people as sentences).
Obsession 2) Story. Darlene is addicted to the high she gets from a good story. A well-woven tale gives a better buzz than any chemical.
Obsession 3) Super-dark Chocolate. She's not so sure how this relates to writing, but it must in some way.
Obsession 4) Angst. She's still knows and lives the angst of being a teen -- i.e., she wants, but doesn't have the boyfriend, she has no clue what she wants to be when she grows up, and she goes back and forth between mocking the cool kids and begging to be one of them.
Obsession 5) Reading. Nine times out of ten, Darlene would rather read a book for kids or teens than one for adults. Most books for adults are just too boring.
Sarah TempletonSarah Templeton is a writer waiting in the wings for her cue to bounce into the spotlight. An author-hopeful. She spends a great deal of time with her head in the clouds--on another planet--where she world-builds constantly and weaves unique races, languages, naming conventions, governments, sciences, arts, and magicks into her galaxies. Dabbling in a mix of genres, Sarah prefers clockwork dragons in her fantasy tales and magical swords in her science fiction stories. When not writing, she fights the pull of the knitting frenzy to which the other Myth Makers have already fallen prey and instead strives to break crafting rules with beads and wire.
Kalayna PriceKalayna Price is the urban fantasy author of the Novels of Haven series and of the upcoming Alex Craft novels. She draws ideas from the world around her, her studies into ancient mythologies, and her readings of classic folklore. Her stories contain not only the mystical elements of fantasy, but also a dash of romance, a bit of gritty horror, some humor, and a large serving of mystery. To find out more, please visit her at www.kalayna.com.
Tori PryerTori Pryer was seven the first time she was bitten by the fiction bug. It was a short story – a mystery with a surprise ending involving red Kool-Aid instead of blood. She still remembers the joy she felt when she put that twist in at the end, and she knew she wanted to write more. From that moment on, characters, plots, and scenes have lived in her head and the only way for her to exorcise them is to put them on paper. She is currently working on a paranormal romance that includes an enchanted dagger, at least two serial killers, and a Greek god.
About the Tri Mu
Since the beginning of time, writers have been called many things. Troubadours. Storytellers. Raconteurs. Novelists. Liars. Wrimos. The last name describes the group of insane writers that decide to write a complete novel during the National Novel Writing Month.
Nanowrimo is an intense journey that works best when you have a community of writers or wrimos working towards a common goal. In November 2007, four writers –Kalayna Price, Tori Pryer, Darlene Goodman, and Haricot Vert - decided that they didn’t want the writing journey to end with Nanowrimo. They wanted to continue down the path towards publication. From this decision was born the Modern Myth Makers or the Tri Mus.
Since deciding to form a writing group, the Tri Mus have been busy working on improving their craft and writing new books. In January 2009, two new members were added, Sarah Templeton and NL Berger. The future is bright for the Modern Myth Makers. Visit the blog on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to find out what is going on with the group.
Nanowrimo is an intense journey that works best when you have a community of writers or wrimos working towards a common goal. In November 2007, four writers –Kalayna Price, Tori Pryer, Darlene Goodman, and Haricot Vert - decided that they didn’t want the writing journey to end with Nanowrimo. They wanted to continue down the path towards publication. From this decision was born the Modern Myth Makers or the Tri Mus.
Since deciding to form a writing group, the Tri Mus have been busy working on improving their craft and writing new books. In January 2009, two new members were added, Sarah Templeton and NL Berger. The future is bright for the Modern Myth Makers. Visit the blog on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to find out what is going on with the group.
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