In case you didn’t know, I run the Tor.com Urban Fantasy Facebook and Twitter accounts and will be blogging once a week on Tor.com.
I posted my Top 10 Best Werewolves in Movies & TV list earlier this week, and today my Top 10 Worst Werewolves in Movies & TV list went up.
Did I include your best & worst?
Thank you all for entering this giveaway and to Pocket Books for providing two copies of MASTER AND APPRENTICE by Sonya Bateman
There were entrants. The winners (chosen by Random.org) are…
I haven't read this series yet but I love the description of this book. Please count me in. Thanks so much!
Sorry to say I have never heard of Sonya Bateman before, but it looks and sounds great. I love finding more authors to read from, so great. Thank you guys so much for the giveaway.
Congratulations! I’ll be emailing you soon. Please respond with your address within 48 hours or a new winner will be drawn.
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RT Booklovers Convention start on April 6th and if you’re going to be in Los Angeles, you won’t want to miss it. We paranormal fans are getting some series RT love with several dedicated panels including URBAN FANTASY: Keeping Romance Hot in an Urban Fantasy Series which features Nicole Peeler, author of the Jane True series (right now you can take advantage of the crazy low price of $2.99 for TEMPEST RISING, the first book in the series). Nicole is now going to tell us how she keeps her UF romance hot. Click HERE to see where else Nicole will be at this years convention.
ATUF: How do you keep the romance hot in your Jane True series?
NP: I've tried to keep things hot by remembering to have fun with the sex and the romance. They're fun scenes to write, and I know I love reading these types of scenes. So I try to keep that sense of joy and exploration that I think makes for great romance.
ATUF: What scene in your series best epitomizes how you keep your series hot?
NP: I think that, for right now, it's a scene in my third book where two of the characters are still very much feeling each other out, rather than up. Nothing's really happened between them, yet. But the male in question pulls the female in question's hair in this really sexy way, that's sort of random and hot. It's a lot sexier in context, I swear. Out of context it sounds a bit like a wrestling match, admittedly. ;-)
ATUF: How important is romance in the Urban Fantasy genre?
NP: I think it totally depends on the author and their vision of their world and their character. My main character is half-selkie, which is a myth of seal-shapeshifters. Seals aren't the most action-packed of animals, and the myths themselves show selkies as quite hedonistic. So I wanted my character to have that element to her--she's very sexual and very into things that give her pleasure. Therefore, in my series, romance was very important. But there are awesome UFs out there, in which there's no romance or sex. I think that's the great thing about UF--there's something for everyone.
ATUF: Do you see romance growing in the genre overall or diminishing?
NP: I think some people do admit to feeling pressure to write sex, because it is rather prevalent. But like with all pressures, there's always a backlash. My personal take is we should all write what interests us, and what we're good at. I like writing sex and romance, and I'm interested in issues of power and sexuality in our culture. While these are my interests, however, they're not everyone's, and I'd rather see other authors writing what intrigues them.
ATUF: How do you distinguish between urban fantasy and paranormal romance? How important is that distinction?
NP: I think the distinction is best defined by how much emphasis is given the romance, in terms of the plot. For example, in my fourth book, the romance has to take a backseat to the action of the plot. If I were writing para rom, however, I'd be sure to keep that romance simmering despite the action of the plot. A great example of people who do this really well are Nalini Singh and Jeaniene Frost. Both writers have really complicated, really intense plots, but we always see the importance of the romance to that plot. Realistically, you could strip out the romance from my UF books, and they'd still stand. Although I'd never want to do that, personally. ;-)
ATUF: What do you think about the love triangle? It seems to be more and more common in urban fantasy.
NP: I have a love triangle of sorts, although I have, of course, played with the idea. Basically, there's a hint of love triangle, but I wanted to write a female character who knows what she wants and doesn't play about, once she does know.
As for love triangles, in general, I think they're like any trope in fiction that's considered "overdone." To be honest, everything is overdone. There's nothing new under the sun, in fiction--we leave that to nonfiction. It all depends on how well things are written, and whether they're really integral to the plot. So viva la love triangle!
ATUF: In Urban Fantasy, readers often wait for several books before the couple finally gets together. How do you pull off this type of delayed gratification without frustrating your readers?
NP: Luckily, our characters live in really, really complicated worlds where everything is conspiring against them. So we can have all sorts of shenanigans occur: kidnappings, near murders, being brought back from the dead, bringing other people back from the dead, etc. We're lucky, as a genre, in that we have a lot of tools in our belts both to get our characters together, and to pry them apart again.
ATUF: Romantic tension is an art. How do you create that tension with your characters?
NP: Again, I think it's about being playful and really having fun with the series. In my books, too, I try to write very "human" and vulnerable characters. So yes, they're magical, but they're also sometimes afraid they're not good enough, or the other person doesn't like them back. I think showing that vulnerability and then seeing doubts either erased or overcome is very, very sexy and can be very rewarding both to read and to write.
ATUF: Is it important to have HEAs in Urban Fantasy?
NP: I think it really depends on your readership. Depending on what type of UF you write, you might have a lot of Romance readers who really want to see an HEA. Or you can have a bunch of really hard-core SF/F writers, who'd love to see a tragedy, with everyone dead on stage. So I do think we have to be sensitive to our audience, while also being true to the stories that we want to tell.
ATUF: What are you most looking forward to at the RT Conference this year?
NP: I love meeting fans, book bloggers, and librarians, so these kinds of cons are all about the interacting, for me. I'm also excited to see my agent, as she's coming for her very first RT! I think she's going to love it.
ATUF: Which panel other than your own are you most excited about?
NP: I'm totally excited for the Purple Prose Taboo panel. I love me some skanky euphemisms. His quivering womanmaker beaded with dew! Bring it on!
ATUF: Thanks so much for stopping by Nicole. Come back anytime!
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| About the Author |
|
Nicole D. Peeler received an undergraduate degree in English Literature from Boston University, and a PhD in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. She’s lived abroad in both Spain and the UK, and lived all over the USA. Currently, she resides outside Pittsburgh, to teach inSeton Hill’s MFA in Popular Fiction. When she’s not in the classroom infecting young minds with her madness, she’s writing Urban Fantasy for Orbit Books and taking pleasure in what means most to her: family, friends, food, and travel. |
| Visit Nicole online: |
Interested in being interviewed on All Things Urban Fantasy? CONTACT ME
Thank you all for entering this giveaway and to Pocket Books for providing copies of SURRENDER THE DARK by L.A. Banks
There were 50 entrants. The winners (chosen by Random.org) are…
I luuuvvvvv L A Banks!!!! I can't wait for her new series. Enter me in the contest please.
Great giveaway, thanks for hosting!
Congratulations! I’ll be emailing you soon. Please respond with your address within 48 hours or a new winner will be drawn.
Didn’t win? Buy your own copy of SURRENDER THE DARK with free shipping from The Book Depository:
Thank you all for entering this giveaway and to Scholastic (via Big Honcho Media) for providing the copies of NUM8ERS & NUM8ERS: THE CHAOS!
There were 75 entrants. The winner (chosen by Random.org) is…
Sounds awesome! I've been seeing a lot of buzz about these books around the blogosphere and I am definitely excited to try them out!
Congratulations! I’ll be emailing you soon. Please respond with your address within 48 hours or a new winner will be drawn.
Didn’t win? Buy your own copies of NUMBERS and THE CHAOS with free shipping from The Book Depository:
RT Booklovers Convention start on April 6th and if you’re going to be in Los Angeles, you won’t want to miss it. We paranormal fans are getting some series RT love with several dedicated panels including PARANORMAL: The Plot Thickens: How to Keep Paranormal Fans Hooked which features Shannon K. Butcher talking about the importance of worldbuilding, plotting, and pacing. Click HERE to see where else Shannon will be at this years convention.
ATUF: How far in advance do you plot? Chapter by chapter? Book by book? Or do you plan out the who series before starting?
SB: I plot the high-level stuff for the whole series. I never start a series without knowing how it ends, and several important milestones along the way. When I get to each book, I plan it out thoroughly, including both the main plot, as well as any subplots I’ve included to develop the overarching storyline. Things in between those milestones can change as I go along, but in general, I stick to my roadmap, since that’s what’s going to get me to the end of the series with no plot threads left hanging.
ATUF: Do you find plotting in Paranormal Romance to be different from other genres?
SB: There’s more world building to do in paranormals, so that means that there are fewer words left for everything else. For me, that translates into text that is heavy on multitasking. I have to move the romance forward as well as deepening the world and keeping on track with the plot of this book as well as the plot of the series. Any scene that doesn’t do at least a couple of these things has to go, or my books would end up being doorstops.
I’ve taken a lot of what I learned in plotting suspenses and used that to help make my paranormals faster paced. My books usually span only a few days, which I think helps add to the sense of urgency of the characters. And the skills I developed in creating villains has also been useful in my paranormals.
ATUF: There are currently four books in your Sentinel Wars series (with book 5, BLOOD HUNT, coming out in August). How do you maintain a story arc through the course of a series while still delivering a conflict and resolution in each book?
SB: I focus on one couple at a time. Within each book, you can be guaranteed that the main couple will find their happily ever after. While that’s going on, I also have a large cast of other characters that I’m developing into heroes or villains as we go along. This is where a lot of the overarching story happens. So, while there’s one complete story in each book, there are also other, longer stories going on that span several books.
ATUF: When and how does foreshadowing important events come into play?
SB: I like to play with foreshadowing, but I don’t spend a lot of time forcing it into the books. It has to be natural, or I don’t bother. For instance, in book one of the series, I mention things that will not come to fruition until the last book of the series, but it just kind of fell in place easily. I really try to create stories that are fun to read, but when you reread them (after having read subsequent books in the series and knowing characters’ secrets), you get a completely new take on the story.
ATUF: How important is it to ‘play by the rules’ you've established for your series when the world is paranormal?
SB: It’s vital to stick to your own rules. If you don’t, the reader is going to feel cheated. That being said, sometimes the characters THINK they understand the way things are, but they’re wrong. That’s fun to play with, too, but it has to be set up from the very beginning, or it doesn’t work.
ATUF: Does plotting become easier or more challenging the further along into a series you get?
SB: Plotting doesn’t become harder, but it is more intricate and complex. The more characters I have, the more storylines I’ve started, the more work it is to keep all those things alive and in the reader’s mind. I work hard to hit on several subplots in each book, to progress them, and to make sure the reader knows I haven’t forgotten. And I promise that I haven’t. I keep charts of plot threads (and what I plan to happen in which books) and copious notes so that I won’t forget.
SB: I try to use anthologies to tell those stories of behind-the-scenes action that would otherwise not have ended up in a story. For instance, in ON THE HUNT, the characters go in search of a magical healing artifact. That artifact is crucial to the overall story of the Sentinel Wars, but how it’s found is just a fun, exciting excursion. The reader doesn’t need to know how it’s found, just that it is. So, when I use that kind of story in an anthology, a new reader seeing only the novella will not be spoiled or confused, and someone who isn’t a fan of shorter fiction doesn’t need to read that work to understand what’s going on within the longer books. It’s a bit of a balancing act, but I think writing those shorter stories does enrich the world, and lets me play with characters I wouldn’t have otherwise had time to focus on.
ATUF: What’s the best way to bring new readers up to date on a series without subjecting long time fans to lengthy recap passages?
SB: There’s no getting around some repetition, but I do try to keep that to a minimum. I tend to write for the long time audience, but I do go back and add in text to clarify things that might be confusing to new readers. Using old characters to tell new characters what’s going on is one method. Simply stating the facts briefly within a character’s point of view is another easy way. This is one of those times where telling rather than showing a reader is a great tool. It’s not as much fun as reading it as it’s introduced originally, but it serves a necessary purpose.
ATUF: How do you find the balance between plot, prose, and character?
SB: I start with the characters. I love character-driven stories, so that’s what I tend to write. So, first I create the characters with goals, agendas, flaws, strengths, history, etc., and the stories come from there. I find this works only if the villains get the same thorough treatment as the heroes. With this method, the plot flows easily. I honestly don’t worry about the prose. That takes care of itself as I focus on the other things.
SB: I’m on the Faery Court this year, so I’m really looking forward to the masquerade on Thursday night. I’ve spent a lot of time getting my costume together (which requires several batteries) and I’m excited to see all the other fabulous costumes, and spend the evening dancing and having a good time.
ATUF: Which panel other than your own are you most excited about?
SB: I don’t know if you’d count it as a panel, but I’m really looking forward to the big book signing on Saturday. I’m always amazed at the energy in that room, and being surrounded by thousands of people who love books as much as I do. It’s truly one of those things that you have to see to believe.
ATUF: Thanks so much for stopping by Shannon. Come back anytime!
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 When Shannon was little, she wanted to be a daddy. When she learned the anatomical improbability of that happening, she decided instead to become what her dad was: an Industrial Engineer.After she graduated, she went to work for a big telecom company earning a steady paycheck while her husband pursued his dream to become a published author. Her husband is Jim Butcher, fantasy and sci-fi author extraordinaire. She learned to write in an effort to help him improve his own work and as soon as she discovered that writing was more a learned skill than a natural talent she knew she had to give it a try. She lives in Missouri with her husband and their teenage son and a dog. |
| Visit Shannon online: |
Interested in being interviewed on All Things Urban Fantasy? CONTACT ME
RT Booklovers Convention start on April 6th and if you’re going to be in Los Angeles, you won’t want to miss it. We paranormal fans are getting some series RT love with several dedicated panels including PARANORMAL: The Plot Thickens: How to Keep Paranormal Fans Hooked which features Pamela Palmer talking about her Feral Warriors paranormal romance series and how she keeps readers coming back for more with her stories. Click HERE to see where else Pamela will be at this years convention.
ATUF: How far in advance do you plot? Chapter by chapter? Book by book? Or do you plan out the whole series before starting?
My book plotting is similar to my series planning. I figure out the big picture as well as I can before I start the book, but new things always come up in the writing, things I hadn't anticipated. The story reveals itself as I go along.
ATUF: Do you find plotting in Paranormal Romance to be different from other genres?
PP: Yes and no. The process is basically the same for me--figuring out the characters, the conflict, the major turning points. But in a paranormal, I tend to have a lot more to play with. As long as I'm true to the constraints of the world I've created, the sky's the limit.
ATUF: There are currently five books in your Feral Warriors series (with book 6, ECSTASY UNTAMED, coming out in November). How do you maintain a story arc through the course of a series while still delivering a conflict and resolution in each book?
ATUF: How do you handle novellas or short stories that are part of a series, for example Hearts Untamed from the anthology BITTEN BY CUPID anthology? How much can you advance the main series without divulging too much since not all readers will read anthologies?
PP: Novellas are tricky for the very reasons you state. They have to stand on their own since readers may not have read the rest of the series. But at the same time, they can't be critical to the movement of the main series. When I wrote Hearts Untamed, I considered both of these points. I had the additional difficulty of timing since this had to be a Valentine's Day story (February) and all the Feral books have taken place within a short time span in April and May. I realized that, technically, Hearts Untamed had to have taken place before the series began. Which meant that the situation in the novella could have nothing to do with the events in the series. The conflict had to be something entirely different. It was looking for that different situation that I came up with the Ilinas. Eventually, they played a key role in the larger series. And when I introduced them in the books, I made sure restate any pertinent points that I'd revealed in the novella.
PP: Meeting readers! I love it when people stop me to tell me they're enjoying my books. I'm also looking forward Avon Books' wonderful Dusk to Dawn Mixer on Friday. Free food, free drinks, free books! It's a mad house and I love every minute of it.
ATUF: Which panel other than your own are you most excited about?
PP: Michael Hauge's Uniting Story Structure, Character Arc and Love Stories on Wednesday afternoon. I've heard him speak a couple of times and already own several of his workshop DVDs, but if I can make it, I'll be there to hear him again. If you're a writer, I urge you not to miss him.
I'm also doing a second workshop with Kerrelyn Sparks and L.A. Banks Wednesday afternoon on The Care and Feeding of a Paranormal Series. I hope you guys will join us!
ATUF: Thanks so much for stopping by Pamela. Come back anytime!
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 When Pamela Palmer's initial career goal of captaining starships didn't pan out, she turned to engineering, satisfying her desire for adventure with books and daydreams until finally succumbing to the need to create worlds of her own. Pamela lives and writes in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. with her husband and two kids.
Visit Pamela online: |
Interested in being interviewed on All Things Urban Fantasy? CONTACT ME
RT Booklovers Convention starts on April 6th and if you’re going to be in Los Angeles, you won’t want to miss it. We paranormal fans are getting some series RT love with several dedicated panels including URBAN FANTASY: Worldbuilding in Urban Fantasy which features Jaye Wells, author of the Sabina Kane series from Orbit which that revolves around a fantastic twist on vampire mythology.
ATUF: How did you approach worldbuilding in your Sabina Kane series? What initially sparked the main idea for your world?
JW: World building is a complex process that's hard to distill into a formula, but I'll try to explain how I do it. First, I started with the idea that before I could write about a new world I needed to know why this alternate version of our reality existed. That meant, going back to the beginning and figuring out where these other cultures came from.
You asked what sparked the main idea for the world, and that would have to be Lilith. I already had a flash fiction piece where Sabina fist appeared but it gave me very little info for the world. I knew she was a vampire and an assassin, but not much else. But I'd always been fascinated with the stories about Lilith, so I decided she would be the lynchpin for my world building.
I began by reading everything I could find on vampire folklore, Lilith, Cain, etc. As I read, I took notes as new spins on these old stories occurred to me. The final document was something like 12 pages long and had tons of snippets from web sites and books as well as my brainstorming notes. From this master document, I started piecing together the big picture of the world: What races I'd include, how their cultures worked, the physical characteristics, etc.
Once I had a handle of the broad strokes, I began writing. Many of the finer points of each culture were fleshed out through various drafts, but I always tried to stay true to the existing structure and rules I set forth from the beginning.
ATUF: What comes first in your writing? The world, the characters or the plot?
JW: In the case of the Sabina Kane series, I had a character but didn't know much about her, as I stated above. I had to do the world building first to understand her and the world she lived in. When it comes to urban fantasy, I am firm believer that world building has to be in place before you write the book because the plot and the world should be so intertwined as to be inseparable. I have friends who have tried to back load a world into an existing story with dire consequences. Of course, there are writers out there who will argue it worked for them, so your mileage may vary. It's just what works for me.
ATUF: One of the topics being discussed at this panel is new directions in UF. Where do you see the genre a year from now? Ten years from now?
JW: Wow, that's a tough one to answer. I do see the genre moving away from vampire-centric stories. We're seeing lots of other mythological creatures taking center stage and I assume this will continue. That's not to say vampires will go away, just that we'll see more variety.
In a decade? Who knows? I think the success of urban fantasy signals a change in fiction in general, in that the meshing of genres will be more common as we move forward. We're seeing it already that the strictly defines "rules" of genre are becoming more malleable. Here too, I should say that the term "Urban Fantasy" is mainly a function of marketing rather than a set of guidelines for authors to follow. Will what we write today still be called UF in the future? Who knows? We've certainly seen other hot genre monikers fade away. Chick Lit is a perfect example. It was a very hot genre for a while but these days most of those types of books are simply called "Women's Fiction."
ATUF: What urban fantasy series world do you most wish was yours?
JW: Mine. Honestly. I wrote the series I wanted to write. I admire many of my colleagues' stories, as well as their successes, but if I wanted to write something else I would have.
ATUF: How do you go about researching a world that isn't real?
JW: I covered a lot of this in the first question, but I'd add that Urban Fantasy exists in a world very much like our own-only different. It's a meshing of the real world with elements of the fantastical in a way that makes the fantastical seem possible in our real lives. The way I approach it is to take mythology we're all familiar with and tweaking it just enough so it doesn't seem like myth anymore.
ATUF: What are the differences between creating human and non human characters?
JW: Well, the important thing to remember is that whether you're writing about a vampire, an alien or a alcoholic detective, all good fiction is really about being human. Therefore, any non-human characters you create have to have just enough recognizable characteristics of being human that the reader can relate to them in some way. This could either be their personality flaws or the conflicts they face.
Obviously since my series has very few human characters, I prefer to write non-humans for the time-being. That doesn't mean I don't still write about humans, though. It's just that writing about mages or vampires allows me to explore human conflicts and issues in a way that relies more on metaphor and theme than straightforwardly addressing those very human issues. But writing non-humans also gives me more flexibility and imagination than writing about a plumber or a teacher or a housewife.
ATUF: What are the top three elements that are vital to establishing a vivid and detailed world?
JW: You must be innovative, your choices must be deliberate and you must know more about the world than you can fit in your story.
ATUF: How do you keep all the details of your world organized?
JW: I keep a notebook. Each race has its own section with rules, notes, cultural overviews, etc. Of course the world has expanded and deepened since I'm now four books into the series, but I try to keep track of all my new elements in the book, so I don't forget them and have to waste hours flipping back through books to remember them.
ATUF: What is the best way to establish worldbuilding in urban fantasy without subjecting readers to info dumps?
JW: If you’ve done your job correctly, you shouldn't need many info dumps. Sure some finer points might need a paragraph or so to explain, but any more than that and you're not letting your characters and plot do the heavy lifting. Another possibility is that your world is unnecessarily complex or doesn't have its own internal logic. Some of learning how to avoid them also takes practice and the heavy hand of a good critique partner.
ATUF: What are you most looking forward to at the RT Conference this year?
JW: Seeing old friends and making new ones. It's so great to catch up with everyone after spending so much time communicating virtually.
ATUF: Which panel other than your own are you most excited about?
JW: Seeing old friends and making new ones. It's so great to catch up with everyone after spending so much time communicating virtually.
ATUF: Thanks so much for stopping by Jaye. Come back anytime!
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 Jaye Wells began her writing career as a magazine editor and freelance writer. Eventually she realized she found facts boring, so she left them behind to tell lies for a living. Her lifelong fascination with the arcane and freakish blended well with her choice to write urban fantasy. Her hobbies include eavesdropping, collecting pet peeves, and sarcasm. She lives in Texas, where she does not have big hair but does occasionally say "y'all." |
| Visit Jaye online: |
Interested in being interviewed on All Things Urban Fantasy? CONTACT ME
If you are a blogger, the BBPOC is a must. I ‘attended’ my first conference in 2009 as a brand new baby blogger and I can not tell you how invaluable it was. Not only did I make great contacts with publishers and other bloggers in my genre, end up with some of my very first ARCs, but I avoided so many of the pitfalls we bloggers are susceptible to because of the information shared.
The panels this year are fantastic (see below for a current list, but more are being added), and no, I’m not just saying that because I’ll be on a few with some of my favorite fellow bloggers. There will be thirty audio panels, numerous forums, and chat rooms. The best part is you can attend from the comfort of your home!
I really hope that many of you will consider ‘attending’ this year. It would be great to have some familiar names call in and comment on my panels (I’ll let you know specifically which ones I’ll be on soon). But beyond that, I just can’t think of a better resource for bloggers, both new and seasoned.
We will be giving away books to all bloggers and reviewers attending and all the panels are recorded so that if you miss any live you have a month to catch up. Learn how to work with publishers and get review copies, where you can attend live events, what other bloggers are doing to promote their blogs, and gain a better understanding of how the industry works.
Simon & Schuster, Penguin USA, Bloomsbury, Sourcebooks, Bell Bridge Books, Egmont, The Wild Rose Press, MLR, Lyrical Press, Breathless Press, Ravenous Romance, Dreamspinner Press, Dark Castle Lords, and 15 more.
Registration is $45 for 5 days - Depending on Genre You will receive more than the price of admittance in free books - Shipping of $7 or under may be added for the shipping on the large print giveaways. If money is an issue please email us and see about helping with the conference in exchange for attending.
What Publishers Look For in a Blog
- Hear from the houses themselves what they look for when selecting the blogs they plan to work with.
Legal Issues and Book Blogging
Discussing:
The Financial Side of Book Blogging (aka Tax Responsibilities, Monetizing, etc)
Audio Books - How to get them and how to review them.
Publisher Blogs
Publisher vs. Author run blogs?
What Publicity Departments Do
Self Publishing is Changing - What do we think?
Ideas:
PopUp Publishers - Where are they all coming from?!?
Discussing:
Reviewing: Print vs. Ebooks
Discussing:
Single vs Multiple Reviewer Sites - Pros and Cons
Discussing :
A Mission Statement for Your Blog
Attending Live Events as a Blogger
Promoting Your Site
Discussing :
Negative and Positive Reviews and Why both are Needed
Ideas:
Authors, Bloggers, Publishers Behaving Badly
Ideas:
If you are interested in learning more visit the BBP Blog - http://bbpcon.blogspot.com
RT Booklovers Convention starts on April 6th and if you’re going to be in Los Angeles, you won’t want to miss it. We paranormal fans are getting some series RT love with several dedicated panels including URBAN FANTASY: Worldbuilding in Urban Fantasy which features P.N. Elrod. If you’ve read her urban fantasy series featuring undead PI Jack Fleming, The Vampire Files, than you know that P.N. is an ideal panelist for this topic.
ATUF: How did you approach worldbuilding in your Vampire Files series?
PE: It was time and setting, not a "world" to me. The books are set in 1930s Chicago and I did my research at the library, going through newspapers and magazines of the period, watching a lot of gangster movies, and reading pulp mysteries. I didn't have to build a world, it was readymade. I changed one thing -- I put a vampire into it. A vampire with a smart lip and a sense of humor.
ATUF: What initially sparked the main idea for your world?
PE: I wanted to write a book set in that period. The idea of a vampire detective grew out of a gaming session for a role-playing game designed by Mike Stackpole--who got mentioned in the dedication. The main character, Jack Fleming--dealing with post-death amnesia--turns PI so he can solve his own murder. It's still a good read, the books are selling, so I must be doing something right.
ATUF: What comes first in your writing? The world, the characters or the plot?
PE: The characters, first and always. Good characters thrive in any plot and in any world.
ATUF: One of the topics being discussed at this panel is new directions in UF. Where do you see the genre a year from now? Ten years from now?
PE: I haven't the least idea. I know where *I* will be, and that's all that matters to me. I learned from Fred Saberhagen to not pay attention to trends. Write what you love, write the kind of story you want to read. Enjoy what other writers do, but do your own thing and stay true to it.
ATUF: What urban fantasy series world do you most wish was yours?
PE: The Vampire Files--oh, wait! That IS mine!
ATUF: How do you go about researching a world that isn't real?
PE: What I've already done, simply take an existing world/ time-place and extrapolate from there. One of this world's great resources is the fact that planet Earth has thousands of cultures to research and draw from. Many are quite alien to us in this century and in this country. You don't need to make up anything, just file off the serial numbers and have fun.
ATUF: What are the differences between creating human and non human characters?
PE: I consider all my characters to be human since it is my own best point of reference. My vampire heroes operate with a different set of rules, but that's what we all do in life. The rules I follow for my happiness in life are going to be impossible for say, a corporate banker to understand. To me, his lifestyle is as alien as that of any ocean-dwelling crustacean. That's more research than I want to tackle.
ATUF: What are the top three elements that are vital to establishing a vivid and detailed world?
PE: Geography/weather, tech level of the people, and understanding that it HAS to be logical and consistent. In other words--follow your own rules. If they become inconvenient to your plot, then rethink the plot to figure out the impact to your world should you break a rule. There should be an impact! But change is a good thing and keeps stuff fresh.
ATUF: How do you keep all the details of your world organized?
PE: Since my work is based on an existing world/historical period, I've no need. A trip to the library refreshes my memory and I put in enough touches in the book to give everyone a taste of the time. I'm not a fan of data dumps in my reading or writing. I put in just enough to get the job done.
ATUF: What is the best way to establish worldbuilding in urban fantasy without subjecting readers to info dumps?
PE: Find impatient beta readers who don't like the genre. Tell them to note when their eyes glaze over and they start skipping pages. That's where you tighten things up or trim out.
ATUF: What are you most looking forward to at the RT Conference this year?
PE: Hanging out with other writers and meeting readers.
ATUF: Which panel other than your own are you most excited about?
PE: I've not seen the schedule, so I don't know. I find all shop talk concerning the craft to be interesting, so this will be great fun. I'll learn a lot.
ATUF: Thanks so much for stopping by P.N. Come back anytime!
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 | Title: Shady Lady
 Kissing. A brief, mildly graphic sex scene. References to rape. Attempted rape. My Rating:
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I'd spent my whole life settling, trying not to attract attention, and generally doing whatever it took to keep other people happy. I didn't want to do that again. Not when I was finally comfortable in my own skin. Sure, there were certain challenges, like a drug lord who wanted me dead, and the fact that I owed a demon a debt that he could call due at any moment. But everybody's got problems, right?
Whenever Corine Solomon touches an object, she immediately knows its history. But her own future concerns her more and more. Now back in Mexico, she's running her pawnshop and trying to get a handle on her strange new powers, for she might need them. And soon.
Then former ally Kel Ferguson walks through her door. Heavily muscled and tattooed, Kel looks like a convict but calls himself a holy warrior. This time, he carries a warning for Corine: the Montoya cartel is coming for her--but they don't just pack automatic weapons. The Montoyas use warlocks, shamans, voodoo priests--anything to terminate trouble. And Corine has become enemy number one…
I’ve come to expect great things from Ann Aguirre. I don’t just read her books, I step into the skin of her characters, breath the same air, taste the same food, feel the same rush of adrenaline and chill of fear. The Corine Solomon books in particular, have all been superb supernatural rides, and SHADY LADY is the best yet.
What a surprise Kel was in this book. When we first met him in BLUE DIABLO, he was this crazy, zealous warrior. Barely human. An enemy. A tenuous alliance was formed between him and Corine, but he was still terrifying at best, and homicidal most times. And yet, Ann changed him in a very gradual, subtle way throughout SHADY LADY. Or maybe she just changed my perception, because by the end of the book, I’d basically called the race for Corine’s heart and the two other guys from the previous book weren’t even close. I loved how my expectations were completely turned upside down and yet I never once felt cheated.
But even though I may have declared a winner, that doesn’t mean that Corine (or Ann has). I had some issues with Corine’s indecisiveness in the previous books, and she’s no more resolute this time when it comes to the men in her life. In SHADY LADY, she mentally commits to each one before waffling on to the next in the space of only a few chapters. Talk about whiplash. Yes there are circumstances that prompt each decision, but I would have expected her to maybe take a little time to think things through before moving on to the next guy. But that’s my only complaint in this otherwise excellent urban fantasy.
There is so much good stuff packed into this book. Surprising character transformations, rich worldbuilding, gorgeous writing, killer action scenes and hot romance (the chapters in the jungle reminded me of a classic Linda Howard romance). Everything adds up here. Urban Fantasy fans will want to get drunk on this series, and the good news is that we have at least two more Corine Solomon books to look forward to. DEVIL’S PUNCH will be out in April 2012, followed by BLOODY MARIA in April 2013. So belly up to the bar if you haven’t already. This is a series that just keeps getting better.
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