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.

(continue reading…)

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

We have a special guest author today that has written a blog entry just for you.  Our guest is Deneane Clark.  We’re so excited to have her as a guest that we just had to do an additional post today.  Check out the piece below and be sure to visit Deneane at her site.  - David

When I encounter people from my past, something that occurs more and more frequently given my fondness for Facebook and Twitter, they are seldom surprised to learn that I have become a writer.  When they learn that I write historical romance, though, the reactions are mixed.  They range from stunned disbelief to perplexed confusion, and sometimes outright, unabashed laughter.  It isn’t the genre itself that causes these reactions; it is the fact that I have chosen it.

I have never been, you see, a shrinking violet.  I was (and am) outspoken, somewhat outrageous, and definitely unconventional.  My manner of dress could best be described as a cross between an upscale bag lady and an optimistic Wednesday Addams, and I am fond of all things creepy, gloomy, and dark.  I have strong opinions, an acerbic sense of humor, and I seldom shy away from speaking my mind.

So why did I choose a genre known for its dashing heroes and sweetly simpering heroines against a backdrop of glittering ballroom flirtations and coquettish looks over afternoon tea?  Because, underneath my gray, somewhat sardonic exterior, I’m a lover of English history and an unapologetic sucker for a happy ending.

As you can imagine, when I began to research the Regency period, I was presented with a dilemma.  The women of the period were expected to comport themselves in a manner that was the antithesis of everything I believe in.  They had no rights of their own, for the most part, and often went from belonging to their fathers to belonging to their husbands with no time for themselves in between.  They weren’t, as a general rule, terribly well-educated, though most women in the upper classes were taught important things, like how to gracefully sit a horse and to shake hands with acquaintances without tumbling from the saddle, to play a tune or two on the pianoforte with tolerable skill, and learn a few French phrases that could be strategically, if not always accurately, inserted into polite conversation.  How in the world was I going to create a believable heroine that I could actually respect in such a setting?

Enter the Ackerly sisters: Patience, Grace, Faith, Amity, Charity, and Mercy.  Six motherless girls with a loving, distracted father, and a rather alarming tendency to get caught up in romantic and dangerous intrigues.

I’d fallen in love with the Regency period years before, and was quite unwilling to give up that setting.  Never one to back down from a challenge, I plunked myself across my bed with a spiral notebook and began brainstorming the plot summaries of a four book series.  Not only would my heroines be spunky and intelligent, they would also be individuals who were true to themselves in a time when doing so almost certainly led to a life of spinsterhood.  And, as if taking a stand for my thus far uncreated characters, I decided to title each book in the series with nothing but the heroine’s name.

Often, when I read a historical romance with a strong female lead, she comes off as strident, or overbearing, or bratty, so I was mindful of that as I moved along with character development.  The aptly named Patience, bless her soul, was left with the difficult task of raising her younger sisters after their mother died.  And it wasn’t easy.  Grace was impulsive and independent and determined to live her life her way.  Faith, two years younger, was more pragmatic and logical …or so she thought before she encountered her hero.  Next were the twins, Amity and Charity, who looked exactly alike, but were utterly different in temperament. Charity was confrontational and colorful, while Amity was sweetness and calm personified.  And finally there was Mercy, the baby, perpetually petted and spoiled by all, good-natured and charming with an unfortunate tendency to be a tad clumsy and in constant need of rescue.

Once the girls were all in place, I tossed in a few handsome men with enough strength of character to keep this brood of sisters from running all over them, created a despicable villain or four, seasoned it all with some sweet kisses and a dash of Tragic Misunderstanding, gave it a good stir and the Virtue Series was born.

The publishing industry, rather like my female leads, is in a bit of an odd place, historically.  The way we have always enjoyed books is evolving, and not everyone is comfortable with the changes.  The movement toward e-books hit me at an awkward time, right in the middle of a series.  Grace was published in a time before electronic publishing was mainstream, Faith kind of straddled the bridge, and Charity was born right on the cusp of the change.  What this meant for my readers-and for me- was that the series was sort of a hodgepodge of physical books and e-books for a while there.  You couldn’t get Grace as an e-book, Faith existed in both formats, and Charity was only available electronically.

That, of course, is changing now.  I’m excited that Grace is going to be joining her sisters in electronic form, and I’m looking forward to Mercy finally getting her chance to emerge from the shadows and dance at her own balls in the coming year.  And I’m grateful to my beautiful, strong, independent leading ladies who weren’t afraid to be themselves in a time when most women were relegated to the background.  I’m happy to take a page from each of their books, so to speak, and to embrace these steps into the future of writing and publishing.

Check out Deneane’s website Ribbons & Romance here:

Our guest blog today is from the ladies at The Book Reading Gals. Heather and Melanie are the talents behind The Book Reading Gals.  Here’s a snippet about them…“We are two gals who not only share a love of books but have the privilege of being sister-in-laws.  We bonded over books.  After several years of sharing this love between just us we decided to branch out and include everyone else.  This will be our place to discuss what we have been reading and maybe a few other things that are going on in our lives”. The Book Reading Gals focus primarily on Romance and offer lots of great reviews and an occasional contest.  Check them out, we think you’ll like them.  - David

Mesmerized

Series: Phantom Corps bk 2

Lauren Dane

When You Least Expect It…

They call him the Shadow. Andrei Solace delivers death on silent feet as an assassin for the Phantom Corps. The perfect weapon in the fight against the Imperium, he’s sent to the same ‘Verse he left behind as a youth.

Piper Roundtree is a mercenary prepared for anything-except for being rescued from Imperial lackeys by the man she hasn’t laid eyes on in eleven years. While she remembers every mesmerizing sensation he gave her, she thought they were through. And against the backdrop of an impending war, their passion is reignited.

The girl Andrei once loved is now a fierce woman who can pilot a ship through canyons at high speeds, and drive him wild with equal abandon. As much as Andrei tries to protect her from the darkness inside him, Piper admires his skills and the code he lives by. Now the lovers must join forces-in more ways than one-to save the Known Universe before the enemy hurls it into irreversible chaos…

This is the second book by Lauren Dane that I have read and I have to say that I am officially hooked on her writing.

Andrei has got to be one of the sexiest heros I have read in awhile. When Andrei returns home after more than ten years away working in the Phantom Corps he knew it was going to rough. What he didn’t expect was the easy acceptance of the people that he had been closest to and left without a word. He also wasn’t expecting Piper to want to have anything to do with him, or to want to resume the relationship that they had had as kids.

Piper never expected to see Andrei again. She knew he was alive by the package that he sends every year. So when he walks out of the dust after having just helped to kill the people that had just ambushed her, all she feels is relief.

This is one of those books where you know what is going to happen, at least it was for me it was. Andrei and Piper were teenage sweethearts, one of those couples that would have made it last to a lifetime if they had been given that opportunity, but who were not ready for that. They needed to be apart to discover who they were on their own and to become who they were meant to be.

Having never read a book in this series I was a little lost on the relationship dynamics of those in Andrei’s group but not enough that I couldn’t enjoy the book. In fact it made me want to find the other books in this series and read them.

The book did end with  a relationship cliff hanger that Lauren has already confirmed will be the next book in the series. It is one that I will be wanting to get in my hands as soon as I can.

This book is the second in the Phantom Corps series but also a part of the Federation Chronicles. Also I have to say that the covers of these books are AMAZING!!

Grade B+

Other books in this series
Undercover (Federation Chronicles)
Relentless (Federation Chronicles)
Insatiable (Phantom Corps)

Todays featured author is Fern Michaels.  Author biographies are usually pretty dull: name, where born, how many books sold, blah blah blah.  Id’ like to start this post off with Fern Michael’s biography in her own words…this is how a biography should read. - David

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines a biography this way: A biography is the written history of a person’s life. Fern Michaels isn’t a person. Fern Michaels is what I DO. Me, Mary Ruth Kuczkir. Growing up in Hastings, Pennsylvania, I was called Ruth. I became Mary when I entered the business world where first names were the order of the day. To this day, family and friends call me Dink, a name my father gave me when I was born because according to him I was ‘a dinky little thing’ weighing in at four and a half pounds. However, I answer to Fern since people are more comfortable with a name they can pronounce.

I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for twenty-five years. I hope I can continue for another twenty-five years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels Foundation. The foundation allows me to grant four year scholarships to needy, deserving students. I then went a step further and opened pre-school and day care centers with affordable rates for single moms who are having a hard time of it. Doing Fern Michaels allows me to do this and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t thank God for being so good to me. I don’t know what I’m the most proud of, the books I write, the scholarships, the pre-schools or the fact that I put my kids through college on my own with no help from anyone. Probably the latter because when all else is said and done, the only thing that matters is family.

Is Fern Michaels a great writer. No. She is however, one hell of a story teller. When people ask me what I do, I say, “I scribble and tell stories.” It’s a great way to make a living. The Dutch have a saying, ‘If you can’t whistle on your way to work, you don’t belong in that job.’ I whistle all day long.

and now just for you, a piece written by Fern Michaels herself…

When I turn the last page on a book I’m reading I always have three questions.  Could this story be true?  How much of the book is the writer’s imagination, and how much is real? And the last question is always: how would I have written this book?  The reason I say this is because when you finish reading Betrayal, I want you to have the answer to all three questions.  Betrayal is based on a true story of a friend of a friend.  I personally never met Kate and Alex Rocket, but when I finished the book, I knew both of them as well as I know myself.  It goes without saying that certain things were changed out of pure necessity, so as not to wound Kate and Alex even more.

Betrayal was not a labor of love to write.  Actually, it was a horrific experience.  I cried a lot, couldn’t sleep, and there were days when I couldn’t write on it at all - but somehow I managed to finish it. I’m sure you’re asking yourselves why I did it if I felt that way.  I did it because of the injustice of it all.  Kate and Alex were victims.  No one else other than friends could do anything.  I didn’t alter the outcome: all I did was put it down in words, in black and white.  When all was said and done, I made sure a copy of the book found its way to Kate Rocket.  A while later I got a letter that simply said, Well done, Miss Michaels.  Thank you.

I would like to leave you with this question.  I would also like to hear your response if you choose to voice it.

Here is the question . . .   It’s Monday morning. Your life on that day is as good as it gets; you’re in good health; you earn a very good living; your spouse loves you as much as you love him or her; you’re looking forward to an island getaway; the first vacation in years; and the sun is shining.  You’re sharing breakfast with the person you love more than life itself when the phone rings - and what you hear rips that world apart.  The words are all lies and you don’t know how to defend them. You don’t even know IF you can defend them.  All you know right then, at that moment, is your life as you know it is over - all because the person on the other end of the phone woke up that morning and decided to ruin your life. What would you do next?

Our guest blogger today is the ladies from Fiction Vixen Book Reviews. Fiction Vixen is all about Romance.  Sophia founded Fiction Vixen Book Reviews in 2009 as a way to connect with other romance readers and discuss the books that move, entertain and inspire her.  She is aided by Samantha, Amy and Catherine.  Today’s review is from Catherine.  Check out their site, we’re sure you’ll be impressed. - David

It has been a long time since I have read a new Mary Jo Putney book. There are certain things I know I can expect in a book by her. The predictability gives me a certain comfort and nostalgia, even while I roll my eyes a bit. A hero somehow involved with spying? Check. A set of identical twins? Check. A heroine more progressive than the times? Check. The list goes on, but I’m sure you get my point.

I approached this book eagerly. I have very fond memories of many of her books, especially my favorite, Angel Rogue. But I was really surprised by how abrupt the attraction developed in the beginning of the book. They were rolling around on the ground together by page 50! I had to stop and flip back to make sure I hadn’t missed anything because Putney usually does a much better job of building the attraction instead of just trying to shove it down your throat. I mean, where was the build up? They kissed once and were already on the floor. Kiri-sister of a duke-was willing to skate the line of propriety in no time at all.

The hero and heroine were cast in a role reversal, and while it made the heroine a little hard to take, it really made me like the hero. He was the one who didn’t want to let things get out of hand. He knew that there was no future for a bastard and the sister of a duke. Plus, he was friendly with her brother and that made things downright awkward. Despite owning a club and dealing with smugglers, he was a completely nice guy-so much so that it made the constant refrain of him being no good for Kiri tiring.

Kiri, on the other hand, was harder to swallow. I really loved some things about her. She was adventurous and outgoing, she loved her mother and was not ashamed of her Indian heritage, and she did not spend half the book dithering over her feelings. Unfortunately, the very things I liked about her were the things that I disliked as well. Instead of those traits being presented in a normal light, they were all cranked up to an unnatural degree. Instead of feeling like a unique woman of her time she seemed unrealistically modern. Especially in regards to sex! At one point the hero has to point out her pushy behavior point blank because she was so aggressive.

“No!” He jerked away, his breathing ragged. “Imagine that our genders were reversed. If you were male and I was female and you were pressuring me to lie with you even though it was against my conscience and honor-what would you call that?”

In addition to finding Kiri completely out of place in a historical, I thought certain events crossed the line of believability a little too often. It was like worrying about an unmarried girl’s reputation-even a duke’s sister-became a non issue.

I liked the way Princess Charlotte (daughter of the eventual King George IV) was woven into the story. I don’t usually enjoy actual historical figures being featured in the HR I read, but I liked it this time. Her role wasn’t huge and she wasn’t written as over the top or irritating. I also liked that Damian’s reaction to seeing his blood. I like when little quirks and weaknesses like that are shown in a character. It makes them more approachable.

I felt the author’s hand in the book too frequently for my personal taste. All too often I was aware of the characters’ dialogue being used as a way of telling me things I already knew about them. They would speak and think in ways that were not at all natural, just so the author could make sure we, the reader, picked up on what she was trying to get across. I also really didn’t like Kiri’s special talent. The fact that a good chunk of the plot hinged on her smelling ability did not please me. I found it too convenient and random to be real.

Even though there were good and bad things about the book, I enjoyed the read over all. I honestly don’t think this book comes anywhere near the author’s old charm, but it had a muted echo of her old style. It was enough to put me into a nostalgic mood and stir my interest in rereading some of my old favorites.

Favorite Quote:

“The Garden of Eden contained Adam, Eve, and a serpent. You, Lady Kiri, are most surely descended from the serpent who is offering temptation in return for Adam’s and Eve’s souls.”

Nowhere Near Respectable by Mary Jo Putney

Historical Romance

Today’s guest blogger is crime novelist Alafair Burke.  Alafair is the author of two series, one featuring NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher, the other featuring Portland prosecutor Samantha Kincaid.  Alafair also hosts The Duffer Awards (you’ll have to see it to believe it).  She has a fantastic site that we think you’ll enjoy.

Alafair was kind enough to write an essay just for you…

A few years ago, my publisher asked me to start blogging, Facebooking, “Twitter-ing” (as I naively called it then), and My Spacing (remember them?).  I didn’t really understand it, but, like a good team player, I followed the advice.  To my surprise, I enjoyed it tremendously.  Previously, I only got to know a small percentage of readers, and always during the rushed pace of a book tour, breezing into a book store for an hour before disappearing until the following year.  Once I went online, I learned that I could maintain contact with readers year-round, and I found a form of daily socializing that fit within a writer’s otherwise solitary work life.

I’ve been known to talk about some pretty silly stuff online.  Food and shoes are common topics.  Yesterday I posted a photograph of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” rendered in bacon.  But mostly I like to talk about books.  And because I’m a fan of the genre in which I write (crime fiction), we usually wind up talking about other crime writers and the characters we’ve come to love.

This year, I knew that writing deadlines would force me to cut back on travel to promote my new thriller, LONG GONE.  I decided to devote my website to a forum for crime fiction readers to discuss their favorite fictional characters in a fun, hopefully original way.

From that nugget of an idea sprang The First Annual Duffer Awards.  Not your typical awards, these are named for my funny little dog, Duffer.  They’re like those Yearbook Awards from high school, but for crime fiction characters.  They’re also even more ridiculous, with categories like Most Likely to Bring Down the House at a Karaoke Party or to Drive a 15 Mile Detour for Good Junk Food.  And the best part is that readers do the voting!

I have been so pleased with the reading community’s response to the Duffers.  By the third day, over a thousand people had voted, posting hundreds of comments abut the “battling” characters.  I hope Borders readers will join in on the fun.

Here are the logistics: Each day in June, two characters will be up “against” each other.  Readers can vote at www.alafairburke.com for their favorite characters and also make their case in the comments.  If you post a comment, you’ll be automatically entered to win weekly prizes including signed copies of my books and $50 gift certificates to your favorite bookseller (such as Borders).

The more times you comment throughout the month, the higher your chances at scoring some book loot.  Readers can also download a specially-priced edition of my novel, ANGEL’s TIP, for only $1.99 for their e-readers.  And readers who pre-order LONG GONE will receive a mystery surprise.

Hope to see you online!  Vote at www.alafairburke.com

Todays’ featured author is the bestselling author of Paranormal and erotic romance Tina Folsom.  Tina is the author of three great series we’re sure you will enjoy, Venice Vampyr, Scanguards Vampires and the new Out Of Olympus.  Tina has been kind enough to write an article for us and we’re pleased to present it to you.

Kissing Vampires

By Tina Folsom

Now, I’m the first to admit that vampires don’t exist, at least not in real life. But fiction is larger than real life, more encompassing and tolerant of those things we can’t or won’t deal with in reality. In fiction, everything is possible. In fiction, I’m allowed to love a creature that doesn’t exist.

Vampire lore is wide ranging. Today, not even the usual rules of a vampire having to remain out of sunlight apply (see Twilight’s sparkling vampires!). However, I’m more of a traditionalist when it comes to vampires. Why call them creatures of the night when they can walk around by daylight? No, no, I definitely like my vampires to adhere to some of the established rules:

Stay out of sunlight

Keep away from wooden stakes

Drink plenty of blood (and please, drink human blood, not animal blood)

Sleep all day

Flash your fangs to scare people

Bite your lover

And then of course there’s the biggie: Immortality. Barring any unfortunate incidents with pesky wooden stakes and a few other mortal dangers, vampires are pretty indestructible. Who can even grasp the concept of immortality? As much as I try to wrap my brain around it, it is still impossible for me to imagine the notion that a creature won’t die.

What would it be like to move from decade to decade and century to century, witnessing the passing of time and watching history progress, seeing mistakes repeated time after time? Would we understand this world and the people around us better because our life was longer? Or would experiences simply fade away with the sands of time? What feelings would we be capable of?

I try to answer some of these questions in my books.

In my Scanguards Vampires series I introduce vampires and their very human problems. When Samson in Samson’s Lovely Mortal suffers from ED, it seems at first that this is an unusual ailment to afflict a vampire, but the more we get to know Samson, the more we understand him. Even though he is a vampire, a powerful one, he has preserved his humanity and with it his vulnerability. It’s that very vulnerability that allows him to love and be loved.

In Amaury’s Hellion, the hero is plagued by guilt so deep it causes excruciating physical pain in his body. He can’t forgive himself for what he did 400 years ago and has to find a person who can help him see that even his heinous crime deserves forgiveness. Like all my vampires, Amaury has a soul, and it’s that soul that directs his sense of right and wrong. Without it, there would be no redemption.

Gabriel, the scarred hero of Gabriel’s Mate, can’t allow himself to be loved because of the shame he feels. He doesn’t believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so he denies himself the love of a woman until he meets a woman who stirs things in him he thought he’d long buried. With her help, he learns to accept himself and celebrate who he is.

Yvette is the only female vampire bodyguard in my Scanguards series. In Yvette’s Haven we understand why she’s so hard on the outside: she remembers the failure she endured as a human and now tries everything to make up for it. Her self-worth has suffered, and she has to learn that even failure is not a universal concept but a very subjective one.

When Zane’s book will be released in December 2011, my readers will find out how Zane’s life is turned around when he lets go of revenge and accepts his past.

All these issues are part of the human condition. And what would vampires be without being able to experience those emotions and work through these problems? Simple shells, no more than soulless Zombies. And frankly, Zombies, in my opinion, are just not that appealing to me.

I’d rather be kissed by a vampire.

So, my dear reader, who would you like to be kissed by?

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Our guest bloggers today are Ana and Thea from The Book Smugglers.  The Book Smugglers specialize in reviewing Romance and Speculative Fiction and they have got it down to an art.  Just take a look at their site and you’ll see what I mean.  Ana and Thea are both very candid and bring a fun and entertaining point of view to the books they read.   We’re very excited to share this site with you. - David

The Goblin Market has always been the centre of Sin’s world. She’s a dancer and a performer, secure in her place. But now the Market is at war with the magicians, and Sin’s place is in danger. Keeping secrets from the market she loves, struggling with a friend who has become a rival, Sin is thrown together with the Ryves brothers, Nick and Alan - whom she’s always despised. But Alan has been marked by a magician, to be tortured as the magician pleases, and as Sin watches Alan struggle to protect the demon brother he loves, she begins to see both brothers in a new light. But how far will brother go to save brother - and what will it cost them all?

Stand alone or series: The final book (WOE!!!) in the Demon’s Lexicon trilogy

How did I get this book: Review copy from Simon Pulse - when it landed on my doorstep, unannounced, I started to dance. Yes, I did.

Why did I read this book: Because the two previous books, were MADE OF AWESOME. Review of The Demon’s Lexicon HERE; Review of The Demon’s Covenant HERE

Title: The Demon’s Surrender

Author: Sarah Rees Brennan

Genre: UF/YAPublisher: Simon Pulse UK / Margaret K. McElderry US
Publication date: June 9 2011 (UK) / June 14 2011 (US)
Paperback/Hardcover: 400 pages

Review:

WARNING! This review contains necessary spoilers for books 1 and 2 in this series, although I will try my best NOT to spoil this one. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Oh, where do I even start? With another warning: I shall be breaking out the Caps Lock of Love. I am sorry but I am afraid that it is beyond my control, when I love something so much, the compulsion to use caps lock OVERTAKES me. Anyways, onwards!

If you have been reading this blog for the past few years, you probably saw me as I fell completely in love with The Demon’s Lexicon then with The Demon’s Covenant, the first two books in the Demon’s Lexicon series. If you are new to this blog, hello my name is Ana and I LOVE this series.

Now, having loved the first two books so much, I was in tenterhooks to read the final instalment, excited and terrified at the same time. Because I mean, could this book live up to my expectations? Could the series end well but without cop outs? Above all, could these characters that I love so freaking much, have the send-out that they deserved?

I know that I asked basically the same questions last time and the answer back then was something like a “million times yes”. This time around, the answer is still an enthusiastic yes, but perhaps not asunreservedly as before.

The story picks up after the events at the end The Demon’s Covenant when shit hit the fan, big time. Jamie went off to be a Magician (never a good thing) and the Magicians want to conquer the world via Demon (which is a terrible thing), Alan was marked by a demon (also, totally not a good thing), Mae and Nick were not quite together but Mae was marked by Nick (oh my, yes, you guessed, SO not a good thing) and then there was the tension between Mae and Sin, a dancer from the Goblin Market, set to be their new leader until Mae came along being so smart and amazing and capable.

One of the things that I love about this series is how each book has a different narrator - the first book was from Nick’s point of view, the second from Mae’s. Now it is from Sin’s point of view that we follow the story. I was a little bit preoccupied about that because we knew so little about Sin but I should know better by now: because once again, Sarah Rees Brennan knocked my socks off with her incredible talent for writing awesome characters. Because OH MY GOD, words can not describe how much I loved Sin: Sin who loves the Market, Sin who loves her family, Sin who loves to dance, Sin who is a warrior, so independent and confident.

Also, Sin who sees through masks better than anyone else, because she too wears them. And if you have been reading this series, you know who wears more masks than anybody else, which means that Sin sees right through this person which makes it for awesome reading and my heart, folks, my heart was beating at the connection between the two.

Going back to the narrative a bit, even though there are different narrators throughout the series, there are two things that connect them so well: one is how each has a degree of detachment, always looking from outside in. Nick, as a demon trying to figure out humans; Mae as a non-magic, non-warrior person trying to fit in; Sin, though has the worst time of them all, because even though Mae was removed from the inner circle of the Alan-Nick bond, she was closer, far closer than Sin was to start with. At times, I was heartbroken, nearly desperate for them to let her in and be a part of the AWESOME club. There was so much tension between Sin and Nick; and Sin and Mae and Sin and Alan. The other thing that connects them all (and this is true about the non-narrator characters as well) is how they would do anything for their siblings. And I do mean anything.

I have said this before but it bears repeating: this is a series about sibling love and I just LOVE this so much. But do you know what I love even more? That this urge to love and protect siblings is not only the connecting point of all the characters but also what places them firmly in anti-heroes (and anti-heroines) territory. Exactly because they would kill, main, con, unleash demons and what-nots into the world so that their siblings can live and live well. It is amazing how can something so unselfish can beget the most selfish actions. This series lives in a grey arena and the ending only proves it. There is a heavy price to pay to live in peace and with each other - and they are willing to pay whatever it costs.

Not everything is ponies and rainbows though. I mentioned that I had some reservations about the book. Although I loved the characters and their arcs completely, I did have some problems with some aspects of the worldbuilding and the final resolution of the main conflict. I thought that some of the scenes that involved all of them against the magicians were convoluted and I absolutely did not buy the role that Jamie played in the end. I was willing to suspend disbelief about many things (and even believe in redemption of certain persons) but not about that (I am trying so hard not to spoil).

Overall,The Demon’s Surrender may not be a perfect ending but it is a worthy ending of this fantastic series. I have loved these characters and will continue to love them with all my heart for years to come, I have no doubt and I was SO happy when  they got the ending that I was hoping for (although not easily, nothing ever comes easily in this world). I am OVERCOME with sadness to say goodbye to them. The one thing that keeps me going (I am the drama queen today) is to know that Sarah Rees Brennan has a new series coming out and I can not wait to be introduced to what will be, I have no doubt, another set of awesome characters.

Notable Quotes/ Parts:: I can’t begin to express how some things in this novel are so swoon-worthy. This is only one of them (also, double entendre for the win):

I don’ lie to you. I lie with you.

Rating: 8 - Excellent