christine_reads

My apologies for missing Dishy Guy Monday. I've been massively busy with several projects, and it just slipped away from me. And I almost missed GNT, but hey, I can't go without hearing everyone's good news, can I? Fling it out there for me!

1. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names)
Ivanovna Nikolaevich.  Ekh.

2. NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
Ivan Nikolaev.  Not so good.

3. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 2 letters of your last name, first 4 letters of your first name)
Goilon.  This is going well for me, I see.

4.DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Green Red Panda.  Super.

5. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you live)
Alexandrovna Savannah.

6. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite alcoholic drink, optionally add "THE" to the beginning)
The Red Sangria.  Redundant R Us!

7. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Ilon.  This meme sucks.

8. GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie):
Vanilla Chocolate Chip.

9. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pet's name, current street name)
Lilly Longleaf.

10. PORN NAME: (1st pet, street you grew up on)
Kia Kirovski

I just saw this and thought it was really cool (and funny, considering the title of my post yesterday and the title of this post):

 Dear Author had a poll going on romance tropes.  I personally find Enemies to Lovers trope to be the easiest to work with, probably because I married the embodiment of capitalist oppression and all things forbidden.  But I digress.  I think Friends to Lovers was the most popular category, which made me remember a story I read many years ago.  It involved an orbital station or a moon base of some sort.  There was a girl who was really good at math and a guy who was her friend.  The base had an area of low G where one could almost fly.  There was an older woman who I think might have been a ballet dancer and the friend-guy was showing her around, making the girl terribly jealous.  I think the girl broke her leg at the end.

I don't know who wrote it.  I know it was YA and it was good (because I recall it now almost 20 years later.)  Funny what things we remember.  I think I'll try friends to lovers in a short story or novella to see if I can do it.

This book is like a cotton candy.  I started with a stick and then I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped pink cotton fuzz all over it in wonderful layers.  

Unfortunately, I'm beginning to suspect that instead of a globe of spun sugar, I now have a lopsided pink elephant. 

Okay, guys. Again, sorry for not being around! In addition to being in busy in real life, Shadow Kiss's release is turning completely overwhelming. I can't complain about that, but man, it makes things hectic! On the bright side, I hope I have a happy compensation for my scarcity online. It looks as though the as-of-yet-untitled fourth VA book will be out next summer, instead of September. The exact date is still TBA, but that should make some of you happy--though it'll make me super busy!

And for the patient Philadelphia people, here's my schedule. I'll be in the area on November 22, doing stock signings--which aren't formal readings/signing type events. It's basically me stopping by, and I've listed my times so you can swing by if you want while I'm there. Here's the info, direct from my calendar page:

Saturday - November 22
PHILADELPHIA & NJ AREA STOCK SIGNINGS - **Please read carefully**
These are not formal readings/signings. Basically, I'm stopping by these stores around these times to just sign the books they have on-hand. If you'd like to come by while I'm there to say hello and get a personalized signature, please feel free to do so! The Information Desk should know where I'm at in the store. I'll be at the NJ stores for about 30 minutes and will hang out at the Philly store a little longer, so plan accordingly if you want to ask me questions! These times are approximate, so if I run a little late, rest easy--I'll be there!

10:30am
Barnes and Noble
East Gate Square
1311 Nixon Drive
Moorestown, NJ 08057
856-608-1622

11:30am
Barnes and Noble
911 Haddonfield Road
Cherry Hill, NJ 08002
856-486-1492

1:00pm
Barnes and Noble
Rittenhouse
1805 Walnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-665-0716

And of course, New York City people: don't forget that I'll be in the Big Apple signing and doing a panel at Books of Wonder (18 W. 18th Street) from 5-7pm on November 25.

Okay, that's all I've got for you today. So much to do before I head east!

NYC was . . . amazing. Where to even start? I think we'll go chonologically and make ample use of the cut tag, because this might get long. As soon as you get bored or start to see flickering lights, feel free turn away from the computer and have a lie-down until things seem more normal.



( NYC, baby! )
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Justine Larbalestier and I are excited to announce that we will be continuing the ancient battle between unicorns and zombies...in anthology form. Simon & Schuster will be putting out Zombies vs. Unicorns, edited by us. Through the power of storytelling, it will soon be obvious which makes for better fiction. Unicorns will finally have their day of victory.

Or zombies. I guess.

Yes, despite my recent watching of a zombie classic, I am still firmly on the side of the unicorn. So much so that I will be editing all and only unicorn stories. The other side will be edited entirely by Justine. We have a great line-up and I am so looking forward to this battle being rightly decided in favor of UNICORNS.

Since there have been some recent discussions about zombies and how they rule or don't (thank you, Diana and Lauren). I would like to make a few points:

1. Justine says that zombies are so chilling because they represent inescapable death and that unicorns have no resonance. This is massively untrue. Unicorns symbolize eternal life, hence their healing powers and their association with both religious figures and kings. Eternal life can be pretty chilling.

2. For example, but also as a separate point, the photoshopping and painting of Obama with unicorns and McCain with (or into) zombies as a means to make a political argument. Unfair? Maybe, but resonant. (I did find a single McCain unicorn picture, for anyone who's interested in that kind of thing.)

3. Unicorns are interesting because there is something to subvert, something to transgress. No one wants to see the zombie transgressed. Well, only crazy people.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

lion_lamb
Can a movie based on a novel ever be as good as the book? That's the big question for Twilight fans this week, and a sure topic of discussion on this community devoted to all things Bella and Edward.

geocaching
Have a hankering for a high-tech treasure hunt? After you take your GPS for a walk in the woods in search of the latest geocache (i.e. hidden container), you can share your find, get tech tips, and discuss the sport at this geocaching community.

topmodel
Have we really reached the end of another ANTM cycle? The finalist of Cycle 11 is announced on Wednesday, so expect some fierce discussion and model partisanship at this top Top Model community.

When I was in San Fransisco for RWA National a few months ago, I did an interview with Romantic Times Booklovers Magazine. It was recorded . . . which always makes me nervous. (Morning? Camera? Good Goddess, did you notice I look way too corpse-like at this hour??? Ack.) BUT the interviewer was sweet, and the topics were fun.

Clips from that interview are now on YouTube.

There are 5 more short clips over there if you want to hear them all, but this one let me talk abt faeries & Faulkner, both of which made me happy. I think the topics they excerpted from are all under the loose heading of influences & becoming a writer.


PW on Love is Hell

As a footnote, there was a review of Love is Hell in Publishers Weekly today. They didn't review indiv stories, but told what the texts were abt and then added that "There’s enough variety to round out the central theme, and consistently supple storytelling will lure readers through all five entries."

I know I seem obsessed but WHAT is up with the leaf blowing? When I was growing up, my parents left the leaves alone. They called them 'mulch'. I never knew people raked leaves til I married.

Sure. I saw kids in commercials jumping into a pile of leaves but I thought that they raked up the pile so kids could jump in. I even tried it once. Not fun. Not fun at all.

When I bought my first house, the tree (yes there was just one) didn't really have any leaves. I spent several more years in ignorant bliss. Til the trees we'd planted and that one tree that came with the house started dropping leaves.

Oh. My. Goodness.

At that point my DH became OBSESSED with removing every fallen leaf. I was forced to help. When I pointed out the 'mulch' theory, I was informed that the theory is a lie to cover up laziness. Ohhhkay. I like the 'mulch' theory. I like it a lot.

Recently, my DH inherited a leaf blower. Yay! I no longer have to rake. Boo! It blows every morning. My DH blows the leaves as they drift down from the sky.

He's driving me insane.

Would someone tell me WHY some men are obsessed with blowing leaves? Is it a penile thing? Is it an OCD that only men get? Is it related to the penis? (I know. I already asked that but wouldn't it be COOL if it were a penis related disorder?)

I am typing this entry as my DH blows. The leaves. From the front yard. For the 800th time.

"... i am slightly confused by the snippets...can you tell give a kind of back jacket explanation?... "

This isn't an official blurb/synopsis for Rose.  Just something I threw together and it concentrates mostly on world building, where the novel itself is actually 50/50 uf/romance.  I'm unable to write a romance blurb it seems.

Rose Drayton lives between worlds.  On one side lies the Broken, a place without magic, where people drive cars, shop at at Wal-Mart, and think magic exists in the minds of children and kooky idiots.  On the other side stretches the Weird, where magic runs deeply, blueblood aristocrats govern the countries, and one's worth is determined by how well one can channel their magic into a flash.  The brighter the color, the hotter the flash, the better are one's prospects. 

Between the two dimensions sits the Edge, a narrow strip of no man's land, where the clannish locals eek out their living.   The Edge wouldn't be such a terrible place, but Rose shot herself in the foot in the typical Drayton fashion - she flashed white and for a while the whole Edge was out gunning out for her.   Some wanted to include her into their family and some sought to auction her off to the highest bidder.  Rose managed to fight off the attackers, but not before she learned a few lessons about life: your friends can abandon you, your boyfriend can betray you, and no one but family can be trusted.

Now, four years later, all of her dreams have died a quiet death.  She works her job in the Broken, for a minimum wage and paid under the table, and she tries her best to raise her brothers, because her mother had died and her father had ran off.  Sometimes family can't be trusted either.  She could almost be content.  Poor, tired, a bit dead inside, but almost content.  Certainly, she has her share of problems - her youngest brother is a changeling, who has trouble controlling himself, her other brother keeps raising every little thing from the dead, because he hates to see creatures die, and her Grandma can't stop cursing people, but what family doesn't have its small problems? 

But now a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic.  They can't be reasoned with.  They can't be killed with a gun.  They exist to devour.  Her only hope is her flash.  As if it wasn't enough, a blueblood from the Weird barges into her life, determined to have her.  She'd received a few "visitors" with the same mindset before and sent them all packing, sometimes with extra bullet holes as souvenirs.  But she'd never quite met anyone like Declan Camarine.  In fact, she's sure that no dimension could stand more than one of him.  He's impervious to bullets, fists, and sarcastic comebacks.  He's handsome as sin, monstrously powerful, and has enough arrogance to keep a squad of bluebloods happy.  And, if only the two of them manage not to murder each other, they might be able to save the Edge...    

Welcome to a Very Special Edition of LJ News.

Moving Day and What It Means for You

Moving What Where?

The long-awaited server move takes place this Tuesday, November 18, at 8:00 a.m. PST. We're moving the site from servers based in San Francisco to the servers in our new data center in Montana. A massive data move like this takes a lot of heavy lifting, and to haul all that data from San Francisco to Montana, we have to take the site down, starting at 8:00 a.m. PST on Tuesday morning. We don't think the move will take more than four hours, but there's always the possibility that it could take longer (the best laid plans and all).

What Does This Mean for You?

During the downtime, nothing on LJ will be available—no posting, no Friends page, no LJ mail, nada. When we bring the site back up, we're going to ease into it rather than open up a floodgate of traffic. Posting might not be immediately available or the site could be slow to load for a while.

New servers mean new IP addresses, so it's possible that LJ mail might not reach your email inbox because your email provider or client doesn't recognize the new IP addresses. We're working with email providers to whitelist the new IPs. There are a few things you can do on your end:

• Add these two IP addresses to your "allowed senders" list (or whitelist) and address book in your email client: 208.93.0.18 and 208.93.0.50. These are the new IPs for sending comments notifications and LJ mail to your email inbox.


• Add lj_notify@livejournal.com and webmaster@livejournal.com to your email address book.

If you can't edit the spam or junk filters in your email client, you may need to disable them entirely. Make these changes just before 8:00 a.m. PST on Tuesday morning or shortly after the site comes back up to ensure that your LJ mail makes it to your inbox.

Those of you who use domain aliasing to forward your domain to your LiveJournal will need to create a CNAME record that maps to livejournal.com. Please note that we're no longer supporting the A record. For more information, check the domain forwarding FAQ.

Before the move, you can check lj_maintenance for complete details about the planned downtime. During the move, you can check status.livejournal.org for updates about the site's status.

Permanent Account Sale Delayed

We regret to inform you that due to the server move, the Permanent Account sale has been pushed back to December 4, rather than November 20 as announced in the last news post. After the virtual dust has settled from the move, we'll be able to turn our attention to the Permanent Account sale. Except for the start date, the details remain the same: You have a limited opportunity to purchase LJ for life for only $175. It's a bummer to delay the sale, but on the bright side, you have more time to save up.

But What About A La Carte Userpics?

We know we promised more information about a la carte userpics, and we're sorry that details have not been forthcoming (blame it on the move). We're still planning on having a la carte userpics, but we don’t have any details yet. When the move is over, we'll have more information. We're sorry for the delay.

Fear no more the heat o' the sun; Nor the furious winter's rages, Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages; Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney sweepers come to dust. Fear no more the frown of the great, Thou art past the tyrant's stroke: Care no more to clothe and eat; To thee the reed is as the oak: The sceptre, learning, physic, must All follow this, and come to dust. Fear no more the lightning-flash, Nor the all-dread thunder-stone; Fear not slander, censure rash; Thou hast finished joy and moan; All lovers young, all lovers must Consign to thee, and come to dust. No exorciser harm thee! Nor no witchcraft charm thee! Ghost unlaid forbear thee! Nothing ill come near thee! Quiet consummation have; And renowned be thy grave! William Shakespeare

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Kat, making up a Christmas list and browsing Amazon suggestions: And I want some anime figures... 

Me: .Sounds good...

Kat:  Let see what they have under anime figures...  O_o!!!  BIG BIRD?