• Location: cherry bomb
• Mood: cheerful
• Music: hinder - without you

Friday Links!

It is time for one of those posts that are full of links, to show what I have been doing in my dangerous forays around the internet!

As part of the Smart Chicks tour, we're doing a blog, and here is my first post there: How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love the Undead.

I have also been kindly hosted for a guest post on the Goblin Market.

I have a story in a new anthology, Kiss Me Deadly, coming out in late July/early August, and we just saw our first blog review for it.

We also have a Kiss Me Deadly blog and upcoming chat on July 26th. It's all very fancy.

I am nervous about this one, as it is a very weird story in a super-romantic anthology, but hey, so far so good, and I was thrilled to be mentioned in the Kirkus review.

Can true love die if you’re already dead? This tantalizing collection of 13 short stories by some of the best writers of paranormal fiction in the United States and Great Britain explores “the other side of love.” Whether it’s an old-fashioned ghost story, as in Caitlin Kittredge’s “Behind the Red Door,” in which Jo wonders about the dashing resident of an abandoned house and a string of mysterious murders; a story with a twist, as in Michelle Rowen’s “Familiar,” in which a reluctant witch discovers that her chosen pet is a shapeshifter in disguise; or a story with dark humor, as in Sarah Rees Brennan’s “The Spy Who Never Grew Up,” in which a slightly older Peter Pan connects with Wendy’s granddaughter to fight evil in Her Majesty’s Secret Service, each story features a paranormal kiss. Fans who can’t get enough of their favorite authors will also be thrilled to find a back story to Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth, a Generation Dead companion by Daniel Waters and more killer unicorns from Diana Peterfreund.

I have read Carrie's and Diana's stories, and they are awesome. *mumble* Stupid awesome author friends showin' me up *mumble*

I also have other links to share, which I did not write but am filled with admiration for.

Everyone loves a book club, and I was asked to link to this online book club: bookdeyada - and now, I have! Online book club with like-minded folks, looks like fun!

The lovely and wise Saundra Mitchell has two posts here about author self-marketing.

Author self-marketing is a terrifying part of the whole business, and one I am scared stiff by and not great at. I wanted to write a post about it for my 'stumbling through publication' posts, but Saundra's advice is so much better than mine, and gives you an idea of how much work marketing yourself as an author is, but also how to do it without accidentally setting yourself on fire. I cannot guarantee any post of mine would do the same...

The likewise lovely and wise Malinda Lo also gave a five-part blog talk on how to NOT write LGBTQ stereotypes in YA fiction.

I was very complimented to be name-checked by Malinda as a writer who was doing it right! And though Malinda Lo, like Saundra with marketing, knows better than me and is saying it better, I do have plans for a blog post about people not noticing that Jamie of the Demon's Lexicon series is gay, and what it means that we always assume people are white/straight/the Stereotyped 'Average Person' we see in too much fiction. (Plus I figure I owe Jamie a post, since I have done three 'what it means that people think Mae is a ho' posts!)

But it'd also be a post of celebration, because I think that slowly but surely we are getting places. With Malinda Lo's Ash. With fans going crazy for Alec and Magnus's relationship in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. And also with Jamie: Jamie is pretty clearly the most popular character in my series. People like Jamie a lot! Whenever I see hate for the other characters, I go into tiny fits of 'They don't understaaaaand!' before I snap out of it: at this point the couple of times I've seen Jamie hate, I don't have fits, I'm just so surprised. 'Huh. Okay! That never happens!'

Being a writer whose characters are not the Proscribed 'Average Person' is risky, as everyone knows, in terms of whether publishers will take you on/whether you'll sell/the stuff you'll get challenged on - trying and failing is a lot more noticeable than not trying at all. But you know, worth it, to have fiction where every person is a person, and has a story. It should be that simple.

As for instance, my sister Genevieve, who is in no way prejudiced, but who just wouldn't be exposed to many narratives outside the mainstream narrative. She has read my books though - unlike my ingrate brothers, brothers, nothing but trouble! And she was very disappointed that book three was not going to be told from Jamie's point of view. She just likes him.

Of course, she has many demands, one of which was that I write a book about Alan and Nick's childhood for her delectation, because she liked the letters in Covenant...

So there you have it. Two blog posts by me, anthology and chat stuff, and Saundra Mitchell and Malinda Lo Saying It Better Than I Can. Hope they entertained/made you think this Friday!