Babel Clash

I just wanted to thank Morgan for letting me guest blog this past week or so here at Babel Clash.  I’ve enjoyed harassing my fellow book brother, Anton Strout, and weighing in on the sexual proclivities of the Urban Fantasy creatures I read about.  I hope none of our babel-clashing as offended and, instead, as inspired you to take a peek at our books, Cat’s Claw, and Dead Matter!  -amber

A Calliope/Simon throw down, huh?  Somehow I think it would be a draw.  Simon is too chivalrous to hit a girl and Callie, well, she wouldn’t want to break a nail…just kidding.  She’d probably want to hook up with Simon rather than give him a right hook to the face.

I like what Morgan is implying, though.  I think we gotta get these characters chilling in a book together.  My sex-addled heroine and Anton’s hero who can’t touch anything without having a psychic orgasm, oops, I meant to say psychic ‘flash’ - sorry about that.  Yeah, these two could get in a mess of trouble.  Although, I really think Callie would drive Simon crazy.  She’d question his every move and harass him about his choice in women - and I think that would drive any guy nuts.

One thing that’s nice about both Anton’s books and my own are that neither of them are your ‘traditional’ Urban Fantasy offerings.  I get worn out from all the rough werewolf sex and, please, someone needs to give the poor vampires a break from all the sexy, scantily clad human (or half-human) ladies with ambiguous (and possibly deadly) motives who won’t stop chasing them around.  I like a good blood-letting as well as the next guy, but it does get same-y, same-y after a while, ya know?

You’ll find aspects of that world in our books, but you’ll also find a lot of humor, too.  Simon is a super funny guy and the fact that he’s a guy, period, makes him rather unique in the Urban Fantasy cannon.  Callie is unique in her own way, too.  She doesn’t deal with vamps or werewolves in season, but instead hangs out with mythological characters and goes on crazy quests - with lots of chick-lit absurdity thrown-in for good measure.

(My God, I love it when I do spell check and the little message pops on saying ‘no misspellings’!!)

Anton and I are offering a welcome segue way from the norm - check out our strange worlds for a little fun and relaxation - then you can go back, happy and itching, for a little werewolf on vampire on fey on witch action.

Go Supernatural Sex, ho!

About Chik-Fil-A and about how there can be this disconnect between mass market writing and “literary” writing.  As far as I’m concerned, if the story entertains then it’s done it’s job.  Sometimes, I read this so-called contemporary literature and am bored out of my mind.  Just because your novel is 8 million pages doesn’t make it good – superfluous paragraphs of literary drivel are superfluous paragraphs of literary drivel even if they come with a Booker Prize.

With that said, I love well-written literature.  Give me Dostoevsky, Austen, Hesse and I am a happy camper.  You can also give me Neal Stephenson or Neil Gaimen and I am in heaven, too.  If I am transported out of my humdrum life for a little while, if I am utterly engaged by what I’m reading, if I laugh and/or maybe cry then it’s a good book.

And I’ll be the first person in line for the sequel.

I like to think that reading, in general, makes me a reluctant adult–and thank God for that.  The connotation that ‘being an adult’ carries is so unappealing to me: it implies a lack of imagination that is frightening.  Look, I don’t mind being responsible for my actions and all that jazz we associate with growing up and becoming a functioning member of society, but I don’t ever want to lose the use of my imagination.  It’s the thing that has kept me sane and reasonably content as I’ve navigated my way through life.  Really, it’s one of the most important tools I possess.

Do I believe reading Science Fiction and Fantasy makes me even more of a reluctant adult…the answer is no.  I think some of the most thoughtful and literate writing today is being done within these genres.  Because the use of metaphor is rife in these works, an author can speak about very prescient and important political/social issues without getting on a soap box and preaching to their audience.  I’ve given more hours of thought to Stranger In A Strange Land than if I ‘d just gotten out the Bible and read (the very dry) Jesus mythology first hand.

Reading Science Fiction and Fantasy forces me to stretch my imagination–and sometimes it encourages me to think about the world I live in and my place within it.  Does it make me an adult? Probably not.  Does it make me a more thoughtful person?  Damn straight it does.