Our guest blogger today is our very own Dane Jackson who writes our Sci Fi blog Babel Clash. We love the blog so much and since Comic-Con is taking place right now in San Diego, we thought it fitting to feature Babel Clash.

Hi!  My name is Dane Jackson, and aside from being the Horror and Role Playing Buyer at Borders, I’m also the moderator for our “geek culture” blog, Babel Clash.  The name is partially derived from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the different “clashes” we expected from all the sharing of ideas everyone did on the site, so if you check out the blog and see what all the authors (past and present) have said (and I highly suggest you do), I think you’ll find Babel Clash is the perfect name for our little blog. 

 

Babel Clash started in May of 2009 with Kim Harrison as our first guest.  We really hit the road running!  Through the years, Babel Clash has evolved from a moderator and an author blogging back and forth to having several authors blogging together.  With a tagline of “the geekiest debates in the galaxy,” Babel Clash really is a great place to get some very inspired blog posts from some of the biggest names in the sci-fi, fantasy, horror, urban fantasy, steampunk, YA…(I think you get the picture).

 We had big plans for the next incarnation of Babel Clash, and if all goes well, some of those plans may come to fruition in some way or another (either on Babel Clash or my personal blog).

 Since I’m winding down my seven-year journey through Borders, I thought it would be slightly fun to reminisce on some of my fondest geek memories as a member of the Borders family (I have plenty of memories, but these are the geekiest).

 In no particular order -

1. 1) Being able to speak with all the authors, editors, publicists, and readers of Babel Clash as I worked to book the best guests possible and provide the best content possible. I feel like I’ve made friendships that will last a lifetime.
2. 2) Geeking out at lunches with people like Chuck Palahniuk, Kim Harrison, David Lynch, and Dan Wells.
3. 3) Getting to read so many books before release date to make sure I could sing their praises as soon as possible (speaking of that - two new horror novels coming out this Fall that I absolutely love and consider must-reads - Zone One by Colson Whitehead and The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman).

I’ll have a lot of fond memories of Borders, both as a customer and as an employee.  The greatest memory I’ll have is that everyone I’ve met feels like a member of my family (don’t be surprised if I show up for dinner).  From the first book I bought with my own money from my paper route in a Waldenbooks store to the first “adult” novel I read as a kid (Pet Semetery - which probably explains a lot about me actually…) that I picked up at the Downtown Ann Arbor store, Borders has been in my life for as long as I’ve loved books.  When I left college, the only company I wanted to work for was Borders, and I kept a part-time retail job and lived with my parents because I wouldn’t give up until I got into the corporate headquarters.  I finally got in and even though the ending of my journey isn’t how I wanted it to be, I’m a better person for having taken it.  Now that I’ve made myself properly misty-eyed, I think I’ll go eat my lunch and read a book. 

 Stay in touch folks.  And, since I’m such a King junkie, my closing words are from The Dark Tower (surprise surprise). 

 For allowing me in your lives and chatting books with me all these years, I say Thankee-sai.

 -Dane Jackson, Borders Bookseller 2004-2011

Today’s blog covers the ever expanding world of Social Media.  Social Media can really be traced back to 1983 when Aol launched Instant Messaging.  Since then, we’ve changed how we interact with one another in many ways: texting instead of calling, email over a letter. When we chat now, we don’t talk to someone in the hall, but instead on Google or Skype. We’ve added Facebook and Twitter to our daily routines. More people meet their spouses on the internet than in a bar.

John Wiley & Sons have published many books about social media, and they are sharing some of their experts with us today.

Check out the cool video below from Eric Qualman, author of Socialnomics for a brief overview of Social Media.

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New releases this week include Happy Birthday by Danielle Steel, Split Second by Catherine Coulter, and Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva.

Famous as the queen of style and gracious living, Valerie Wyatt put in 35 years of hard work to reach the top. And at the top she is, ensconced in a magnificent Fifth Avenue penthouse where trainers, hairdressers and, yes, cosmetic surgeons, come and go at her will. But despite her arresting beauty and youthful appearance, Valerie can’t evade the glaring truth that she’s turning 60.

Meanwhile, Valerie’s equally ambitious daughter, April, has also achieved great success. At the tender age of 30, she is the proud chef and owner of a popular Manhattan restaurant. Yet, like her mother, April finds her age daunting and still single, she wishes her menu included a husband and kids.

Twelve years after retiring from the NFL Jack Adams is the most charismatic sports analyst in the business with no end of twenty-somethings clinging to his 50-year-old arm. But all the accompanying aches and pains of a rough career-and age-have changed Jack’s perspective.

A stunning act of violence and an unforeseen blessing makes Danielle Steel’s Happy Birthday a novel brimming with insight and warmth as these three people, approaching their memorable milestones, discover life’s greatest gifts.

#1 New York Times-bestselling author, Catherine Coulter, returns with another pulse-pounding thriller—Split Second.

A serial killer is on the loose, and it’s up to FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock to bring him down. They soon discover that the killer has blood ties to the infamous and now long-dead monster Ted Bundy. Savich and Sherlock are joined by agents Lucy Carlyle and Cooper McKnight, and the chase is on.

At the same time, Agent Carlyle learns from her dying father that her grandfather didn’t simply walk away from his family twenty-two years ago: he was, in fact, murdered by his wife, Lucy’s grandmother. Determined to find the truth, Lucy moves into her grandmother’s Chevy Chase mansion. What she finds, however, is a nightmare. Not only does she discover the truth of what happened all those years ago, but she faces a new mystery as well, a strange ring that holds powers beyond her ken.

As the hunt for the serial killer escalates, Savich realizes he’s become the killer’s focus, and perhaps the next victim. It’s up to Lucy to stop this madness before it’s too late.

Gabriel Allon, master art restorer and spy, returns in a spellbinding new novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author Daniel Silva.

For Gabriel and his beautiful Venetian-born wife, Chiara, a pleasant weekend in London turns deadly when the newly retired operative spots a man exhibiting traits common to suicide bombers. But before Gabriel can prevent the attack, he is knocked to the pavement and can only watch as a scene from his nightmares unfolds.

Set against the disparate worlds of art and intelligence, Portrait of a Spy moves swiftly from the corridors of power in Washington, to the glamorous auction houses of New York and London, to the unforgiving landscape of the Saudi desert. Featuring a climax that will leave readers haunted long after they turn the final page, this deeply entertaining story is also a breathtaking portrait of courage in the face of unspeakable evil-and Daniel Silva’s most extraordinary novel to date.

Hello, fellow readers!

The reason I begged for an advance copy of this book is simple: someone told me that it involved H.G. Wells and Jack the Ripper.  Back when HBO first started, I watched a movie they broadcast that came out in 1977, and fell in love.  It had Malcolm McDowell as H.G. Wells, and one of his best friends turns out to be Jack the Ripper.  John (aka Jack) steals the Time Machine and goes into the future.

I loved the innovative plot, and thought the concept was clever. After all, Jack the Ripper was one of the greatest unsolved cases ever; having him travel to the future explains a lot! Sincethen, I have seen this film at least 10 times: it is one of my most worn DVDs. If you get a chance, you’d enjoy Time After Time despite its dated effects, especially after you’ve read this book. At its core, this is a story about principles, love, and imagination: it certainly left my 12 year old self inspired, and I started devouring H.G. Wells and Jules Verne.

Really: I wanted to see if this book could hold up to one of my favorite films. Of course, it blew the movie away. I recently told my friends Jennifer and Brian that I haven’t loved a book like this since I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone as an advanced read. (I loaned that out so many times that I lost track of the copy; too bad! It would’ve ensured my retirement.)
I don’t know if Felix Palma ever saw Time After Time: I doubt it. However, his use of classic characters really inspires you to find out more, doesn’t it? I’d like to talk about two characters in particular: Jack the Ripper and Joseph Merrick, aka The Elephant Man.

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Writing is About the Reader

By

John Gilstrap

As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one absolute rule to this writing game, and that is that writing is always about the reader, never about the writer.  Together, reader and writer form a team that operates with trust and respect.  My job is to create stories about interesting characters doing interesting things in exciting ways.  Sometimes I want to make readers laugh, sometimes I want to make them cry, but I never ever-not even for the space of a heartbeat-want to make them yawn.

If I do my job well, the letters and words on the page will stop being letters and words at all, and will in fact become a movie in your head that is more intimate than anything you’ll see on a screen.  It’s more intimate because writers and readers form a team in which we all live vicariously through fictional characters.  It’s almost as if, for that brief slice of time when we’re sharing a story, we’re also sharing a heartbeat.

If that last sentence sounds a bit overwrought, I apologize; but I really don’t know how else to put it.  What’s more, our intimate writer-relationship is a fragile one.  If a character does something that is out of his or her nature, or if they start using language that they otherwise would not own, you’ll be ejected from that moment in the story.  The spell will be broken.  I will have let you down.

Because I believe that writing is about the reader, I listen carefully to what readers tell me.  More often than not, the input I get is really positive.  Every now and then, though, I get not-so-positive missives in my mailbox, both real and virtual.  On some rare occasions I get a crackpot, but those are few and far between.  Most of the time, the negative input comes from a very honest place in the reader’s heart, and I’m touched by the fact that they felt compelled to share their thoughts with me.  Sometimes, they tell me stuff that changes the way I approach a story.

A perfect example is the use of profanity.  I take no particular pride in confessing that my language can get rather blue when I’m angry, and for the first four or five books, that tendency toward profanity invaded my work.  I found out the hard way that it turned off a lot of readers who otherwise loved my stories, but found the language to be too much.  I was being self-indulgent in my writing and letting those readers down.

So, I’ve stopped using profanity in my writing.  Well, almost stopped.  (There are times when “darn it” just doesn’t convey the proper emotion.)  Wherever it does appear, it appears as a conscious choice on my part, there to serve a specific need.

And you know what?  No one has ever sent me an email complaining that my characters don’t cuss enough.  Go figure.

So how’s this for a deal, just between us: If you keep reading, I’ll keep listening. I will also continue to write.  In 2006, Six Minutes to Freedom was published to considerable acclaim.  My first (and probably last) foray into book-length non-fiction, SixMin tells the story of Kurt Muse, the only civilian of record ever rescued by the super-secret Delta Force.  Thanks to Kurt’s cooperation (he is co-author), I gained access to people and places that lifelong civilians like me should never see.  The heroic warriors I met during that research turned out to be nothing like their movie stereotypes.  These were not only gentlemen, but gentle men, who remained free of the kind of boasting and self-aggrandizement that I was expecting.  They were supreme professionals, and very nice guys.And through them I got the idea for my new series character, Jonathan Grave.  He’s former Delta, released from the Army under circumstances that will be revealed over time, and now he’s a freelance hostage rescue specialist.  He’s the finest friend you could ever have, and the worst enemy.  No Mercy, the first entry in the series, hit the shelves in June of 2009, with Hostage Zero following in 2010 and Threat Warning in 2011.  If fans like him, and if they enjoy his adventures, there’ll be many more to come. So that’s it.  Now it’s your turn.  Please have a look at my work.  Enjoy! Tell me what you think.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy reading!

JG

Dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine, George R. R. Martin has earned international acclaim for his monumental cycle of epic fantasy. Now the #1 New York Times bestselling author delivers the fifth book in his landmark series—as both familiar faces and surprising new forces vie for a foothold in a fragmented empire.

For all the George R R Martin Fan, who have been waiting anxiously for 6 years for his 5th book. Here a short video about the new book and also a review by our Borders Buyer Chris. Y. Enjoy the book and let us what you think.

Here is the Review for the Book

It’s been almost six years since George R.R. Martin released A Feast for Crows, the fourth volume in his epic A Song of Ice and Fire series—but the long wait is finally over. Book five, A Dance with Dragons, is finally upon us, and I was lucky enough to get an early copy to read and review. Because I personally dislike spoilers and know how frustrating it can be to have one thing ruined for you before you open a book, this is going to be a spoiler-free review. I was one of the many unlucky souls who had HP6 spoiled and I’m not going to inflict that on anyone else, if I can help it.

So, a quick first impression: It’s excellent. I think everyone who’s read Martin at some point knows that Feast was controversial within the fandom. Some hated it, some loved it—and some just wanted the next book to come out so they could read more about Tyrion (or Jon, or Daenerys, or Davos…). I was always of the opinion that both Dance and Feast need to be taken as a whole. I’m sure someone will soon tackle the project of figuring out where the breaks of each book fall, so that the two volumes can be read concurrently. In the end, that may be the best way to experience the two titles. You can’t talk about one without mentioning the other. They’re companions in every sense of the term.

Dance is all about the movement of the players. Tyrion has fled King’s Landing after the events of A Storm of Swords. Jon Snow is manning the Wall and trying to balance his duty to the Night’s Watch with his obligation to Stannis Baratheon. Daenerys is confronted with enemies all around her, as her people are penned within the city of Meereen. These three storylines form the heart of Dance and are probably the most anticipated. Much of the book is focused on these three and the players dancing around them. Martin moves pieces like pawns on a chessboard, setting up a fast and furious finish. He also touches on some storylines from Feast, answering a few lingering questions and setting up more speculation.

I loved the pacing of this book. There is a slow buildup to an explosive finish. The last 100 pages are absolutely intense, and there are some game-changing events near the end of the book. HBO is going to have a very tough time putting some of these scenes on screen, but I can’t wait to see how things play out. A couple of contenders for the throne are potentially removed from play, and at least one new surprising name pops up—one many fans had suspected may appear. However, I feel confident in saying that this new arrival shows up in a most unexpected way.

For longtime fans of George R.R. Martin, book five will answer many questions and confirm or disprove many theories. More wild speculation will come out of this book, of course, but it definitely feels like we’re pointed toward the finish line. My two small complaints: I would have liked to learn more about Bran’s quest above the Wall, and I hoped for more progression toward the end of the book, especially in regard to Daenerys. Overall, I firmly believe that Dragons was well worth the wait. The book is rife with intrigue and maneuvering. And the epilogue? I had to read it twice, because I didn’t believe it the first time. This is, without a doubt, a great read!

— Chris Y.

Borders Sci-Fi & Fantasy Buyer

New releases this week include Dance With Dragons by George R R Martin, Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner, and Forever by Maggie Stiefvater.

Dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine, George R. R. Martin has earned international acclaim for his monumental cycle of epic fantasy. Now the #1 New York Times bestselling author delivers the long-awaited fifth book in his landmark series—A Dance With Dragons—as both familiar faces and surprising new forces vie for a foothold in a fragmented empire.

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance—beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

Jules Strauss is a Princeton senior with a full scholarship, acquaintances instead of friends, and a family she’s ashamed to invite to Parents’ Weekend. With the income she’ll receive from donating her “pedigree” eggs, she believes she can save her father from addiction.

Annie Barrow married her high school sweetheart and became the mother to two boys. After years of staying at home and struggling to support four people on her husband’s salary, she thinks she’s found a way to recover a sense of purpose and bring in some extra cash.

India Bishop, thirty-eight (really forty-three), has changed everything about herself: her name, her face, her past. In New York City, she falls for a wealthy older man, Marcus Croft, and decides a baby will ensure a happy ending. When her attempts at pregnancy fail, she turns to technology, and Annie and Jules, to help make her dreams come true.

But each of their plans is thrown into disarray when Marcus’ daughter Bettina, intent on protecting her father, becomes convinced that his new wife is not what she seems…

With startling tenderness and laugh-out-loud humor, Jennifer Weiner once again takes readers into the heart of women’s lives in Then Came You— an unforgettable, timely tale that interweaves themes of class and entitlement, surrogacy and donorship, the rights of a parent and the measure of motherhood.

The third book in the Shiver trilogy, Forever, is out this summer!

In Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

For our last chance deal we have some good fiction books.

I always think of series romance as the proving grounds for some amazing talent. Soap operas are to acting what series romance is to writing; a way to hone the craft, learn some mad skills, and gather the discipline it takes to get published over and over again. Just as soap operas have given us Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Leonard Nimoy and more, series romance has given us Iris Johansen, Nora Roberts, Suzanne Brockmann, Barbara Delinsky, Jennifer Crusie, Jayne Ann Krentz and Lori Foster. I first read Lori’s books in Harlequin Temptation, and knew right away she would be a star. Her books never fail to delight, and she’s written a great post for us about what makes her branch out from one book to a series.

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So You Want to be a Hero?

I never start writing a series. I start writing a book, just one book.
One plot.
One set of characters.
One romance.
And sometimes… it turns into a series. I’ll have a hero in my mind, and the muse conjures up a heroine for him, and conflicts, both internal and external develop… and then BAM, midway through the writing of that one, single book, a secondary guy will show up and demand his own story. Literally, that’s how it happens for me. They just pop up on the page, and much as I try, they won’t go away.

But when I started When You Dare, featuring Dare Macintosh, I already knew he was in business with Trace Rivers, the hero in Trace of Fever. So I was pretty sure that he’d get his own story. And of course he did.

But Jackson Savor, from Savor the Danger? Nope. Knew nuthin’ about him. One minute he didn’t exist, and in the next, he was mentioned as someone working with Dare and Trace, and right after that he was on the phone with one of them, and soon after that… he was in hot pursuit of Trace’s younger sister, Alani.

Not all of my secondary characters get a book of their own. Some are forever relegated to “secondary character,” instead of “the lead.” I leave that up to my muse, and to the hero. If he wants a book bad enough, he’ll get it. But he has to talk to me. He has to get me interested. I am not a cheap or easy date. I must be wooed.

Jackson wooed me. With laughter.

Every time he showed up in a scene, I cracked up. Literally. I’d be writing and laughing. Laughing and writing. Some characters are more effortless than others.

Jackson was effortless.

He got on the page, insisted on sticking around, then insisted on his own story. He showed me his personality, how he’d mesh up against mega Alphas like Dare and Trace, how he’d deal with women in need, how he’d overcome every situation.

He also told me that, if I gave him a book, he’d go after Alani with single-minded determination. And sometimes, with Jackson, it’s the way he says things that can be so amusing. Yeah, he’s not one for tact. Or modesty. But he is capable, daring, endearing and an awful lot of fun!

I hope you enjoy him! Please do let me know.

Lori

P. S. There will be a fourth book in the series! A Perfect Storm is tentatively scheduled for May 2012. I promise, if/when you read Savor the Danger, you’ll know who the next book is about. (He’s another character that just managed to show up at the right place, at the right time.)
I hope you approve!

Visit me online at:

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or download my FREE app from the iTunes library!

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Lori is not only a terrific author, she’s an amazing humanitarian. She’s participated in several books which donate proceeds to charity: Tails of Love, benefiting the Animal Adoption Foundation; The Promise of Love, benefiting the One Way Farm; The Gift of Love, benefiting the Conductive Learning Center of Greater Cincinnati; The Power of Love, helping the YWCA’s Battered Women Shelter, and the Write Ingredients , which benefits our troops. For infomation about Lori’s books and more, check out her website. - Kelly

Today, we offered up our blog to one of my favorite authors: Gail Carriger. If you haven’t read her fantastic Parasol Protectorate novels, you might as well buy them all; you’re going to want to read these straight through! Her writing is a brilliant mix of wittiness, suspense, and innovation that reminds me of Jane Austen crossed with Charlaine Harris and sprinkled with a tad of Brad Meltzer. Oh, and add the the coolest elements of steampunk Victoriana, and you get the general idea! Let your imagination take a ride with Gail: you will love every minute of your reading time. These are books I devour . -Kelly

Upon occasion one of my favorite characters in the Parasol Protectorate universe hijacks my blog and turns it into a spontaneous advice column. When he heard of the possibility of me appearing in the Borders Blog, I’m afraid he rather insisted on hijacking this one too. Characters will do that, especially flamboyant vampires.

So today I present Lord Akeldama, answering reader’s questions about what it’s like to be undead and fabulous.

~ Gail Carriger

Any special advice for a vampire dandy in training, Lord Akeldama?

Oh, my little morning glory, nothing is more important than good posture, clean shoes, and a perfect manicure. And of course, surrounding one’s self with pleasant and attractive company can only improve one’s own personage and engender a favorable impression.

What attire would you never be caught dead in (um, no pun intended)?

Darling poppy blossom, I will never understand the propensity for all black, it’s terribly terribly depressing. When one has to swan about after dark one ought to reach for the stars, stylistically speaking of course.

How do you look at this new wave of “I want to be human” vampires?

I find it disturbingly regressive, muffin nut, disturbing I say. It is, I feel, somewhat akin a human suddenly wanting to be a monkey. At some point we must all admit to our toothy selves that such desires are childish. In addition, one shouldn’t play with one’s food. One shouldn’t even play as one’s food. Oh, I’m so diverting!

Ok, so “Who’s your dandy?” (You can just say your favorite dandy you ever met.)

Oscar Wilde of course, as if you need ask! Of course, that Pimpernel fellow was terribly witty and amusing.

What’s really like to be a vampire? Are all of those myths true?

It is a whirl of endless parties, long nights, and sweet compliments. All the myths are true, pinky my precious, and a few others I haven’t invented yet! Except for the one about the mirror. Can you imagine, me, unable to see my own reflection? Heaven forefend!

Hi Lord Akeldama, what is your main hobby besides dressing up as a stylish gentleman?

I do adore a little spate of flower arrangement now and then, and I am a great theater and opera aficionado. I wouldn’t say no to a good symphony or two when the mood strikes. Now don’t let it get out, but I may have also involved myself in a business concern over the invention of a new ablution potion that I am rather whimsically calling bubble bath. Sounds delicious fun, now doesn’t it?

What was your favorite neck of all time?

Now now, my dearest child, a gentleman never bites and tells.

I think I would just ask “Do you want to be my vampire?”.

Why how flattering! My little squash blossom, there are some who have said that I would be anyone’s vampire . . . for an evening or two.

What is your considered opinion on the nature of *sparkling* vampires?

Everyone should sparkle darling, not just vampires! I suggest diamonds are a good beginning or possibly sapphires. Then you can move into the arena of more strident colors such as emeralds and rubies. Really, my darling popinjay, the more sparkle the better!

What is your favorite toothpaste or powder? The origitor of TOOTHLESS needs t’know.

A very important, although somewhat indiscreet, question, my little fizzy swizzle. I use pure bicarbonate of soda, I see no reason to dally with the latest product where one’s fangs are concerned.

Of all the books and trinkets you have appeared on, which is your favorite and why?

I would refrain from pointing this out, under most ordinary circumstances, but you did ask, pumpkin flower. My creator has been most remiss in not insisting that I be on the cover of any of her books. Until that time, I refuse to have a favorite.

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Gail Carriger’s latest steampunk urbane fantasy comedy of manners, Heartless, is in stores now. Lord Akeldama may have, on more than one occasion, entered the novel and stolen a scene or two.

Since Gail didn’t really get to tell you about herself, let me hit the highlights. As she says on her blog’s FAQ, she’s “on a one woman quest to improve the fashion sense of genre readers,” and loves shopping, tea and travel. Her author influences & reads are vast, and include Tamora Pierce, PG Wodehouse, Tanya Huff, Jasper Fforde, and many, many more. She has a BA in Archeology, an MA in Anthropology, and an MS in Archaeological Materials. She credits that background for her ” good research skills, a serious respect for deadlines, a fascination of historical cultures, and most importantly, the ability to subsist entirely on instant soup.” I think her website is like a dig: you be lost for hours, digging up the coolest information about Gail, her characters, and the craft of writing. Check it out!

Also, check us out this weekend for a surprise post from Guest Author LORI FOSTER!- Kelly (again)