Hats, Horse-Slobbers, and Happily-Ever-Afters

You know, my good buddy Ally Bishop has a wonderful rule: "90% of everything you do should be about somebody else."

This week, I am breaking that rule into tiny well-intentioned pieces.

Because when somebody else gives you a platform to talk about yourself, you can't exactly neglect to showcase their kindness afterwards, even though their efforts are technically all about you.  It's an ourobouros of socially-acceptable narcissism - and I am devouring myself like Pizza the Hutt.

If this obscure pop-culture reference means nothing to you...
well, that's probably for the best.

Anyway, here for you (and let's be real, me) are three guest blogs I wrote for three wonderful sites:

Civilian Reader - Don't Hold the Horses!  And don't let them be featureless expendable inventory items, either.  Here's an introduction to all the fun and plot-twisting adventures you can have with your story's four-legged fantasy Ferraris.

RisingShadow.net - Fine Dining in Fantasyland  Come for the story, sure – but stay for the butterbeer, the lembas, and a big, fresh, still-squirming plate of gagh.  Let's talk fictional gastronomy – and while we're at it, let's make the case for moving the menu beyond hardtack and stew.

Interview with Jan Edwards  Step right up, folks!  SEE the secrets of cowboy lingo revealed!  MARVEL at the insufficiency of allegorical representation!  SHUDDER as I wax distraught about the carnival of tedium that is modern living!

And here, hot off the presses, is the most fun I think I've ever had on Twitter - being interviewed by the inexpressibly wonderful Michelle Cornwell-Jordan! (If you don't follow her, please amend that with a quickness - she is a firehose of generosity and enthusiasm!)

And if you've read this far - well, feel free to call in a favor, because I owe you 90% of my everything!

And there's no limit to what we can do - me and you
But mostly me...!

Interview: Laura Maisano and SCHISM

Did you feel that?  That sort of shaky, shifty tremor in the ground?  No, it's not the fracking this time: it's debut author Laura Maisano, getting ready to rock your world!  If you like New Adult, portal fantasy, and things that are awesome, pull up a chair and smell what she's cooking!

TT: So there's like a million things I want to ask you, but first let's get everybody up to speed: how would you describe SCHISM to somebody who hasn't already heard about it?

LM: Oh boy, the hard questions first! For easy comparisons, if people watch anime, I say it's like Fushigi Yuugi meets Fringe because there's a portal story, but it's also based in quasi-science. The whole concept is that Gabe lost his memory in a car wreck, so he doesn't know he's from a parallel dimension. He meets a girl named Lea who's desperately trying to prove that world exists so she can get proof of the people who live there and free her parents from a mental institution. You can see where this is going.

TT: Man, if I had a dollar for every cute guy who fell out of an interdimensional portal...!  And actually, I'm glad you mentioned the boy-meets-girl part, because I'm legit curious, here: how would you say the romantic element is affected by having these fantasy elements in the story?  Like, how did that change or complicate your writing of Gabe and Lea's relationship?

LM: The fantasy elements give me much more ammunition to fire at their relationship. Wait, did I say that out loud? Seriously, that's why I love fantasy. In the real world, there's only so much that can go sideways to mess up a courtship, but throw in a fantasy culture, taboos, obligations, kidnapping, megalomaniac jerkwads, and you've got a much harder time hooking up then the two kids on campus trying to figure out who wrote those awful notes about them on the quad.

TT: Haha, aMEN!  Characters, meet author.  Ants, meet magnifying glass.  Well, and speaking of the campus quad (and speaking AS someone who's never attempted anything of the sort), I was wondering: what inspired you to do the NA college setting, rather than straight YA?  Is there a major difference in the characters and writing, or was it more about story-logistics?

LM: It was a mix of things. One, the first place I came up with the idea, I was attending college at the time. I also realized I rarely read books starring college students. This was in 2002 before the big NA boom. There's also some major story logistics that made me have to age them that old. Lea needed enough knowledge of physics to realistically do her research, and Gabe ends up in a position of authority, so he had to be over 18 in my mind.

TT: 2002?! Holy mackerel, Laura - your book is almost old enough to *read* YA! Let's talk about that for a second: what was the journey from then 'til now?  Did you repeatedly rewrite and reboot it, or was this more about blowing the dust off and giving it a recent, radical revision?  (... that's a lot of Rs...)

LM: Oh, please don't think I've been writing and re-writing this book that long! No, I started it as an idea for a graphic novel and did all my world building and stuff, then forgot about it. Then years later, I wrote the first few chapters in a NANOWRIMO attempt, and floundered out again. In 2012, a good friend and I were talking about books we liked, and I somehow got onto the idea of my story. She was really excited, like REALLY excited. I thought "hey...someone would want to read my story. Maybe other people would too." And then I legitimately wrote a full draft, attended a writer's confrence, did my research, rewrote a bunch, got it edited, and NOW we're at today.

TT: Hey, I am ALL ABOUT today!!  So let's stick on the graphic novel part: one of the things I'm really looking forward to is reading about Gabe's art, because I know that you yourself studied it, and it's so cool when an author uses their own real-world expertise in a story like this.  How did your drawing background help the story take shape?  Or what other pieces of real-world you will we find in there?

LM: I was a drawing minor at UNT, so it was easy to weave that into the story. I know he'd have his box of art supplies, or be hauling around a gigantic portfolio to and from the building, so there's a few touches like that. As for the real world, much of the story is set at UNT in Denton, TX. Gabe lives in Bruce Hall, and they mention the weird thing about the art building's non-existent fourth floor, but totally real staircase to it. Scenes take place in the Auditorium building, they meet at Cool Beans once. There's lots of Easter eggs for Dentonites.

 TT: Ahh, NEAT! My sister went to UNT back when the original albino squirrel was still around - that is so cool that you worked all that local flavor in there! 

Seriously, he was a local legend.

TT: And actually, while we're thinking about those kinds of unique features, here's a question I always like to ask: what do you think people will find special and unique about SCHISM?

LM: They say there's "no new stories" and that all the plots have been done, so it's hard to claim unique there. And truly, everyone likes to think their worldbuilding is unique, but I won't kid myself. If you look hard enough, I'm sure you can find lots of stories with bizarre skin colors and strange features. What I think SCHISM has is a neat touch to dialogue, or at least I think that's my strength. Whether it's the humorous sections or the dramatic ones, there's lines in there that'll stick out.

TT: Ahh, that's what I like to hear - and from the excerpts on MuseItUp's website, I daresay you're right! And y'know, I think you're in a better position to judge than most authors - I mean, as an editor, you must go through tons of manuscripts every month!  What's that like, anyway?  How has wearing the senior-editor hat for Anaiah Press affected your writing?

LM: Well you know when all your critique partners tell you to put the action up closer to the front of the story? They're right. It's made me realize how important a strong beginning really is. No one is going to just "give it time" for the story to develop. And if they're confused at all, they'll put it down. I think I instinctively know to better place my openings now that I've read so many.

TT: Hang it up! Preach! So many of the writers at our workshop struggle with that too (and I include myself in that!) Well, last question, then: you've worked so hard to give us a kickass beginning with SCHISM, but I know the story's not over there.  What's the forecast for UNITY, and how are the two connected?  (Are you gonna make me hurl the book at the wall with a final-page cliffhanger? :) )

This is Fushigi Yuugi. It is basically Avatar, as written by the
Breaking Bad people. It will wreck you.

LM: *hides in the corner* It's not so much a cliffhanger as a "oh crap, what now?" kind of ending. It comes to an end, but the main conflict is certainly not resolved. It's not so different from One Night in Sixes in that way I suppose, if I'm allowed to compare myself to greatness. UNITY picks up three months later, and keeps picking up pace until the end. There's a great deal of drama, so it lacks some of the humor SCHISM has in it. Like my inspiration show Fushigi Yuugi, the first season is happiness and butterflies, and the second...not so much.

TT: Dammit, Laura, if you kill my favorite celestial warriors, I WILL call your house at 2 AM and make you console me! 


So there you have it, people: don't be deceived by Laura's sweetness and light as she plots to mutilate your emotions, but do set your alarm, stockpile your reading-minutes, and put your name in the gift-card giveaway hat, cuz SCHISM is going on sale tomorrow!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview: Carrie Patel and THE BURIED LIFE

Okay, so you know how we have all those cute expressions about how "books take you places" or about how you can "get lost" in them? 

Well, I'm kind of especially excited about this one, because The Buried Life doesn't so much 'take you somewhere' as gas you, drag you a couple miles underground, slap you awake, spin you around, and maybe arrest you if you start asking too many questions.  There's a strange setting here, and lurking in its shadows is a story that will unhinge its jaw and eat your face.  Metaphorically speaking.  Anyway, here to share in my enthusiasm is the author, Carrie Patel!

TT: Well, so let's start by catching up all these poor deprived souls who don't know you as well as I do.  How would you describe THE BURIED LIFE to the uninitiated?

CP: It's a murder mystery about lies, politics, and dead historians set in an underground city. It's part science fantasy, part mystery, and all intrigue and fancy manners.

TT: Haha, and you know what they say - the only good historian...!

CP: ...is one with fancy manners?

TT: Well, I was going to say "is a dead historian", but that's a bit morbid - let's go with your version :) Actually, though, I'm glad you mentioned the fancy manners, because I'm given to understand that that's actually Your Favorite Bit of the story!  Here's a question, then: what are the challenges of establishing those social conventions in a fantasy world like this one?  How do you clue your readers in without bogging down the story?

CP: The challenge is to make those social conventions relatable to the reader, to the point that when she sees them played out on the page, she understands the implications, knows what they mean for the relationship between two characters, and feels any tension that they're supposed to generate. In the case of The Buried Life, it helps that Recoletta has something of an analogue in Victorian society, so many of the conventions of a class-based society will make sense very quickly. In other situations, a character's reaction can go a long way toward establishing the context for particular social conventions. When one of your characters (particularly a perspective character) reacts to something with surprise, discomfort, or embarrassment, you get the sense very quickly that some sort of line has been crossed. And because all of us have experienced similar emotions over different circumstances, those reactions help personalize those social conventions.

(with a big tip o' the hat to The Pandora Society)

TT: Absolutely!  And that's such an effective way to make use of those little pattern-hungry parts of our brain - you know, the bits that light up whenever we think "ooh, it's like Egypt, but in space" or "cool, they're Pokemon-collecting fantasy-Romans!"  But you mentioned how hard it was to nail down a genre for THE BURIED LIFE, which got me thinking about the other side of the coin.  For example, as soon as you say "Victorian-flavored fantasy", some people will immediately think "steampunk", and maybe be disappointed when there is neither steam nor punks.  What kind of work did you and Angry Robot do to help calibrate reader expectations?

CP: It helps that Angry Robot's mantra is "SF, F, and WTF," because The Buried Life really skews toward the WTF end of the spectrum. We tried to avoid leaning too heavily on "steampunk" as a label, and the back-of-the-book summary doesn't contain any steampunky buzzwords (except maybe "gaslight"). But between the Victorian manners and the regressed technology, I don't think anyone who ventures in expecting steampunk will really find themselves in hostile territory.

TT: Hey, way to reclaim WTF!  Seriously: I'm sorta biased here, but I think it's so awesome/important to have cool genre-bending books like this one - having a little mystery, a little history, a little fantasy and a huge, glorious brain-dazzling setting can make it so enticing for us to leave our comfort-zones and try something new.  Have you been surprised by reader response so far?

CP: Coming from the author of a kick-ass Weird Western, I will take that as quite the high-five, indeed! I'd say I've been surprised by quite a bit of the response. I probably avoid reading a whole lot of it, because it would be too easy for me to fixate on the praise or the criticism, both of which would likely leave me curled up and unproductive for entirely different reasons. That said, I have read a lot of really positive feedback, and I think what's surprised me is how much readers have loved the book and its characters for the same reasons I did when I started writing. When you spend so much time on a book, you fall in love with various parts of it for your own reasons, and it's easy to stop at the end and wonder if anyone's going to feel the same way about it you did. So it's been a wonderful surprise to see that many people do!

TT: Isn't that just the best?!  It's so hard to believe that there could be so many other people out there whose brains operate on your same frequency - and such a wonderful thing to realize that there are, and they do!  So since you mentioned characters, let's talk about that for a bit - because I want to shout from the rooftops about Jane and Malone, but it's not like they're Thelma and Louise.  In fact, I think you mentioned something about how your original proto-protagonist actually needed to be two different people.  Was that primarily a logistical, plot-forwarding decision (different characters with access to different social spaces, as we said), or were you more interested in establishing a sharp contrast between their personalities?

CP: It was definitely a bit of both. I wanted to set up and solve some murders, but I didn't want to be a pure murder mystery, and I wanted to explore the social setting without turning this into Downton Abbey Underground. Jane and Malone provide a lot of nice contrasts to each other, and their perspectives give readers some rather different views of Recoletta. I don't think I could have explored the city with the same nuance without writing both of them, and to the extent that The Buried Life is really about the transformation of a city, I think we needed both of their viewpoints.

TT: ABSOLUTELY, madam, and let's get serious about the city for a second here, because to me that is just the best, neatest, coolest thing about this whole enterprise.  Some stories are born from a character, or a big high-concept premise, but yours seemed to bloom out of this one strange, beautiful, slightly-twisted place.  And I love how it's neither a timeless, static backdrop, nor the dystopian result of that One Thing that happened that One Time.  So since Recoletta is such a layered place - history piled on top of history - let me ask:  what was it like designing all those layers?  Did you start with the end result and work your way backwards?

The Wieliczska salt mine - one of several real-world inspirations for Recoletta

CP: It was more like starting with a quick impression and sharpening the focus from there. At the outset, I got excited about The Buried Life the same way a lot of people get excited about movie trailers--you hear the music, you see the fast cuts, and you think you know what you're going to like about it before you even know what it's about. You get a particular feeling, and you just hope that the actual movie is going to leave you with the same feeling once you see it. It was the same way with Recoletta and The Buried Life. There was this feeling of mystery, spoiled glamor, and secrets, and building Recoletta (and sketching the characters and filling out the plot) was about creating something that would ultimately deliver that weird melange of feelings. Once the basics were defined--an underground city with a strong class system--then figuring out the details was largely about supporting this crazy world so that the whole thing felt cohesive and didn't come crashing down. That's where particulars about the history of the whitenails, the relative independence between the Council and the Municipal Police, and the specifics of farming communes came into play.

TT: Ahh, I love it, and I know exactly what you mean - start with the feeling, and then build backwards so that you can support it!  Oh, but speaking of building backwards, let me finish here by asking you about building upwards.  Since I am one of the lucky few to have gotten to read a bit of the next book, help me get these other folks as pumped as I am.  (People, there is a qadi!  An honest-to-god qadi!!)  What should we look forward to in the sequel?  What's new and exciting and awesome in CITIES AND THRONES?

CP: More characters, more intrigue, and more underground cities! Without giving away anything, I'll say that CITIES AND THRONES brings a lot of big developments and changes for the characters of THE BURIED LIFE and the city of Recoletta, and many of them are things even I didn't expect when I first sat down to write it! You'll see another city that has developed very differently from Recoletta, and many of the characters will face the consequences for the decisions that they made--rightly or wrongly--in the first book.

TT: See, THAT's what I like to hear - I'd call it the Mass Effect effect, except that authors were bringing the narrative chickens home to roost WAY before it was cool.  


So there you have it, people: if you're a little tired of mainstream same-old same-old, take a page from Carrie and the Jam and go underground!  (And do it quick, too, cuz THE BURIED LIFE is already out, and CITIES AND THRONES is dropping this summer!)

Interview: Beth Cato and The Clockwork Dagger

All right!  So today y'all are in for a treat - because today, I have the pleasure of interviewing the unrelentingly fabulous Beth Cato, author of... well, here, she can tell it better than I can.  Make sure you're sitting down for this, because it's gonna get real.  Real awesome.

Beth Cato
author of The Clockwork Dagger
High Priestess of Churromancy
and fearless corseteer

TT: So I'm obviously at an advantage cuz I already know a little bit about the book, but just to help get the rest of the world up to speed: how would you describe The Clockwork Dagger to a brand-new listener?

BC: I originally pitched it to my agent as MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS on a airship, with a healer as the lead character, and I think that's still accurate. Just add in espionage, a dash of romance, and a temperamental world tree.

TT: Haha, amen to that - if I had a dollar for every time Yggdrasil got on my case...!  But I'm really interested in this idea of having a healer as the main protagonist - it's definitely not something we see very often.  What inspired you to make Octavia a medician?

BC: Healers/white wizards/clerics have been my Mary Sue since I was 11 years old. I fell in love with Final Fantasy II (now best known as the Japanese FFIV) for Super Nintendo and bonded with Rosa, the white wizard. My grandpa had died of a terminal illness a few months before, and the idea of healing magic hit me in a very profound way. Whatever I wrote--or tried to write--from then on tended to explore that kind of magic. I wanted novels with that kind of lead character and never found them. I wrote the kind of book I wanted for a very long time.

(This is Rosa, but also my love letter to Yoshitaka Amano.)

TT: Oh, man, let's hear it for those of us who had our minds permanently altered by 16-bit epic sagas.  But one thing that really impressed me in reading your chapter 1 is that Octavia would not be mistaken for any kind of "quiet gentle hero's girlfriend" archetype.  It's clear that she cares about people and is dedicated to her profession, but she can also be brusque, fearless and direct - definitely nobody's squishy back-row wallflower.  What was your biggest influence in shaping her personality?

BC: I wanted to defy the healer stereotype that you see in so many games and books: the supportive character. The one you keep in the back row, because if the boss monster hits them, they die in one hit. Octavia needed to be passionate. This is a woman who is 22-years-old, but she's spent the past decade in training as a healer, and most of that as a medician and doctor at the front lines of a war. I was inspired by tales of battlefield nurses and doctors from World War I and II. If you're not strong at the start of that job, by golly, you better find your gumption at some point.

TT: Boy, ain't that the truth!  But the other thing that occurs to me is that in fantasyland, you usually just wave your magic wand and everything's all better - no need to dirty your nice white robes.  I see that's definitely not the case in The Clockwork Dagger: the healing process seems to be as ugly and visceral and real as the wounds themselves.  Was that a big factor for you in crafting your magic system?

BC: Yes. I'm big on realism. My agent and editor can attest to that, as they asked me to tone things down a bit and reduce the details!

TT: Holy mackerel.  If the "puppy misunderstanding" in chapter one is the toned-town version, I'm not sure I could handle the rawness of the original!  And speaking of the editorial process, I was reading about how you nearly followed your beta reader's advice cut out the gremlins - and yet they were ultimately what ended up selling the book!   What do you reckon people love so much about cuss-ugly little flying cat-monsters?

BC: *laughs* People love rex cats and pug dogs and all kinds of critters that are called ugly. I just rolled them all into one, made them green, and added some wings. I think it's how gremlins act, too. Leaf the gremlin chirps, purrs, and says a lot without actual English. He's based in part on my belated cat, Palom, who managed to be obnoxious and endearing all at once.

Ah, memories.

TT: Ahh, so he's got some of that "Toothless" magic in him, then - not a cat, and yet totally cat-like in all the best ways!  (Virtual fist-bump for naming your cats after the FFIV Wonder Twins, BTW.)  Actually, speaking of endearing, I also wanted to ask you about your school visit - I know you were super nervous about it, but ended up having a really great time with the junior high students.   How did the kids' interest in you and your book differ from what you usually get from adults?  Was there anything that especially surprised you?

BC: There was a lot of common ground in the questions asked by these kids, grades 6-8, and adults. They often ask what the book is about and where my ideas come from, and everyone asks if my novel will become a movie. I was very surprised and pleased that the kids connected so strongly with my book cover and my character of Alonzo. No one asked about Octavia. Alonzo is described as having nutmeg skin, and bless the folks at Harper Voyager, but they fully supported having him on the cover exactly as he should be. My son's school has varied demographics and strong Hispanic representation. You could see these kids' eyes light up when they saw Alonzo--he looks strong and positive! They need to see more people of color like that on covers.

LOOK AT THIS COVER.  LOOK AT IT.

TT: Beth, there's not a "Like" button here, but even if there were, I couldn't hammer it hard or fast enough.  That definitely stood out to me too, and I'm so glad to hear that you didn't have any trouble getting a cover that's as forward-looking as the book itself.  One more bookish question, while I'm thinking of it: with both Alonzo and the gremlins, we've touched on this idea that you-the-author can't always know what will resonate with your audience.  But if you were going to make a conjecture, what do you think people will really remember about your book?

BC: If I go by the blurbs thus far, the two stand-out elements are the magical system and the gremlins. The cover gets a lot of reactions, too. At Phoenix Comicon, I had lots of high fives because of it!

Beth's Churro Shortbread Cookies. 
Carbohydrometry at its finest!

TT: AS WELL YOU SHOULD!!  (And I would add that I am definitely looking forward to this new post-World-War-I steampunk world you've devised!)  Last question, cuz it's not every day that I get an audience with the High Priestess of Churromancy herself: did any of your legendary baking passions translate into your book?  Any dirigible donuts or clockwork croissants?

BC: *laughs* Food certainly plays a role. Gremlins love cheese, and that's definitely a projection of one of my great loves. There's also a country named Frengia to the north that's inspired by Canada, and in my kingdom of Caskentia, the Frengian immigrants often manage bakeries that feature maple.

TT:  Oh my gravy.  Well, folks, you heard it here: if you want to see cheese-eating cat-monsters, butt-kicking (and butt-healing!) medicians, airship whodunits and the steampunk answer to Tim Horton's, haste ye forth and pre-order THE CLOCKWORK DAGGER - coming September 16th to a war-torn kingdom near you!