The Siren

Just for Happy Twilighter (and anybody else interested): The poem I wrote to the inspiration while viewing The Siren, by JW Waterhouse. A sonnet, it's my interpretation of what the images bring to mind. (photo public domain from wikicommons)

The Siren

Mortal aspirations, concentric ripples ring our lives,
dark waters of the secret heart drag down our dreams.
Overcast days surrounded by children, husbands, wives
while longing for the Muse, captured in quintessential beams
of light and form. How far above our world she waits,
and yet so near—a fingertip’s breadth from our touch.
Her song drives to distraction, some call this madness fate
or destiny. Others hear a gift, or curse of such
proportions they would rather drown. For knowing the pain
of her sweet-whispering taunts, our heartbeats quicken.
Our pulse rushes in our ears, can we survive the driving rain
and gale-force winds that attend this sloe-eyed vixen?
She fancies our frantic pleas, shows no symbol of remorse,
compassion a mere flutter, stranger to her quicksilver heart.
Reason quits us, from logic and stability we make divorce,
cast overboard, lured by siren song, we agonize our art.
Will these rocks hold our weight, as we struggle from this womb
of daily life, not bred content? Or will they crumble under our grasp,
sending us tumbling back into that cold and watery tomb?
If only she would reach out with love, our hand to clasp,
to pull us out of these murky depths from which we aspire,
through terror and passion, drag us from these limpid strands,
clinging dreck which weights us down. Fighting for higher
purchase on the rocks, we ache for the warmth of distant sands
where one might dally, paint visions in solitude and peace,
or pen to paper, whisper poems without throes of despair.
Oh will this age-old battle, this inner war, never cease
to interfere with vision? How long can we continue to care?
Cresting on waves, against rock and jetsam we are battered,
‘til upon this angelic sight our gaze befalls. We rage, bruised
by all the slights of the world. One note from her, shatters
our allusions. Call us, you Siren, whose name is Muse.

Yasmine Galenorn

copyright 1998, all rights reserved

MORE NEWS!

Well not only have I gone back to three books a year, but another bit of exciting news for you: no actual details to release, but yes—a deal has been made and there will be an Otherworld novella about Iris coming out in an anthology! Will let you know all the dirt as soon as it’s figured out, but for now, the most I can tell you is that I’ve got a ‘working’ title of Ice Shadows for it, and that, in Bone Magic, you’ll see some of the beginnings for it.

Meanwhile, way too hot here, somebody send us your unwanted rain, we will happily take if you can deliver!

Yasmine

A Mixed Bag of Reader Questions

A Mixed Bag of Reader Questions

Hoping you’re having a good Sunday afternoon. (Well, it’s not quite noon here but chances are it might be later where you’re at). I have a mixed bag of reader questions to answer today so the blog may be a long one.

Question: Just curious if you ever plan to explain your different tattoos one day. Would love to hear their stories.
Answer: Okay, here’s the deal: all my tattoos, at this point, are spiritually based. My three major totems are: the black panther (primary), the green boa and the peacock (secondary, tertiary). So I have them on my body in various places.

Left arm: I have a stag skull in front of the moon with a rose in the center of it’s forehead—this represents my connection to the Dark Huntress aspect of Mielikki—the darker side of the huntress goddess. Below that are my panther’s eyes, then a row of panthers coming through a magenta-colored mist (one of my fave colors). This is a reminder that my left side—the darker, receptive side, walks under the dark aspect of the goddess. (Remember, dark is not a synonym for evil here, but the shadow-self).

On my left forearm, I have Great Mother Bear and her two cubs—the archetypical totem for the Finno-Ugric Great Bear Cult that spread across northern Europe. The Finns revered the bear—and since my shamanic path is based on (not a recreation, but just based on) the Finnish spiritual shamanism, I also revere Mother Bear. She was a heavy tattoo to get and it took me two years to summon up the courage to have her added to me—her energy was looming over me and I knew that she’d take me down into the caverns and underworld on my journeys once I accepted her as part of me. This tattoo also connects me to Rauni or Akka—the mother of the Finnish deities.

On my left calf, from knee to ankle, is the peacock—not only my totem, but I found out that the peacock is a symbol of Svarasvati, the Hindu goddess of letters/poetry/etc. Which makes perfect sense. In my peacock are a series of runes—magical runes. I believe runes and runestones need fed regularly to both keep them in working order and encourage them to work with us, so I feed the ones tattooed on my body with fine oils and lotions. The runes in my peacock feathers run a wide gamut from healing to passion to blessings to magical protection and so forth.

On my left breast: My three primary totems—black panther, green boa, peacock (in the fan behind the panther). A pentacle is tattooed into the fan to represent my connection with magic, and the foxglove and fly agaric represent my connection to the Fae. This was my first tattoo.

On my right arm: The wolves in front of the moon, the primitive stag heads, the spruce branch—all represent my connection to Tapio and Ukko-Jumala, Tapio being Mielikki’s consort and Ukko being Akka’s consort.

On my right forearm, I have my green boa, with tropical flowers beneath it. The flowers are a nod to Madame Pele, with whom I have a long history.

On the tops of my shoulders are two bindrunes—one I created for Mielikki and one for Tapio—so I literally wear the ‘yoke of my gods’ on my shoulders, always, to remind me of my duties and honor.

So there we go—my tattoos as of present, and yes, I plan on many more. LOL

Question: You’ve said you’re like Camille—but are you like the other two sisters at all?

Answer: I do believe authors put a little of themselves in every character. That being said, yes—very much so. The sisters are not totally me—not by a long shot, but each one does have a few of my aspects.

Camille: her sensual/passionate nature, her dark hair, the wardrobe choices and love for makeup, the connection to a moon/huntress goddess and magic—yeah, there’s all that in me. I’ve often been the ‘rock’ for my friends and I sure was for my mother and one of my sisters. Delilah: the black panther connection, yes—that’s obviously part of me, and of course, my love for all things cat extends to her catlike nature. And yeah, I watch bad TV and if I could, I’d be chowing down the Cheetos and donuts. LOVE them. I *wish* I had her athleticism, though I’d rather have Camille’s curvy nature. I love curves. Menolly: her anger, her desire to rip apart the fiends of this world, her fuck-you nature, that’s pretty much me, too.

Question: Where, how do you get ideas for outfits, individual character style, shoes?

Answer: The D’Artigo girls showed up in my mind fully dressed. I’m very visual, I ‘see’ things clearly in my mind and have a knack for being able to pinpoint detail just by closing my eyes and looking. I absolutely love Camille’s wardrobe—and I have a number of sites I frequent that keep me well inspired. Delilah’s a tomboy—I’ve never been a tomboy, despite the tattoos—so I have to go off what I see my tomboy friends wear. LOL…and Menolly—she’s a mix, much more fashionable than Delilah, a lot less flamboyant than Camille, and very uptight about her scars still, so she wears very little revealing clothing unless she’s in the bedroom.

Question: Is there something you regret doing re: writing and would you do it differently?

Answer: Yes. I threw away two book manuscripts and a stack of short stories trying to make my ex happy. He kept saying he’d have to leave me if I succeeded and so I tried to stop writing. I also never fully let myself open up and do my best because I was trying to tone down my talent so as not to threaten him. I think it would have also meant taking a long look inside myself and seeing what was really there, and at that time, my inner self kind of scared me.

I also regret—or rather, wish I’d been able to have—not having a critique partner far earlier in my process. I didn’t find a critique group till the late 90’s, and by then I’d sold my first nonfiction book and written seven novels that didn’t go anywhere. There’s not much to regret in terms of did or didn’t there…it is what it is.

I also would question whether or not to write the sex magic book—while I’m proud of the book and I did a good job…it put more of myself out there on the line for people to see than I think I’m comfortable with now. But hey, can’t change the past and it is out there, and I hope people who do buy it find it helpful. Can’t put the genie back in the bottle once you let him out!

Okay peeps, that’s all for today, more later!
Yasmine

The D'Artigo Sisters Step Into Blogging

Yep, their first blog is up today!

http://indigocrescent.blogspot.com/

Yasmine

The D'Argito Sisters Answer Questions

The time: early morning, before dawn.

The place: 33933 Victoria Road, Belles-Faire, Washington, on the outskirts of Seattle

Three women meander into the parlor, waving at everybody reading the blog. Delilah, dressed in a bright pink Hello Kitty nightshirt, sits down at the laptop, ready to write up their notes. Her hair is caught up in a butterfly barrette on top of her head. Camille stretches out on a divan, wearing a plum colored silk kimono (and it’s obvious she has nothing underneath). The material mirrors every move of her body. Menolly is wearing a pair of PJs decorated with pumas, and she curls up in the rocking chair, holding a heart-shaped green pillow to her chest. A coiling “N” is embroidered on the pillow.

Camille: (flips on the stereo and the song Social Enemies by Orgy comes blaring out). Okay, let’s get this show on the road. Welcome everybody. Today we’re going to answer some of your questions. We’re not about to give away secrets, or huge spoilers that aren’t already out there teasing you, but we’re feeling chatty. Please feel free to ask more questions in the comment trail and we’ll use them for the next blog.

Menolly: Who’s first?

Delilah: (squinting at screen) We have a question from HeofHIshirts for Camille.

Camille: Check. What is it?

Delilah: He wants to know what it’s like having many lovers? Many Earthside FBH can't imagine having more than one, much less acting on it.

Camille: (with a wicked grin) It’s wonderful, if they’re people you want to be with. Some FBH think I’m promiscuous, but in our culture at home, this is not an issue. In fact, it seems like most FBH people have multiple lovers, they just practice serial monogamy instead of polyamory. But seriously, I love it—I’m a sexual woman, I like to make my men happy and I like them to make me happy. For me, sex is tied to magic and energy and I can’t have one without the other—not necessarily together, but within a few days. Before, when I was trying to get away from Trillian, I just took care of my own needs when I couldn’t find someone I really wanted to sleep with.

But now…now I’m more than happy. I can’t choose one over the others—they all share my heart, and I love them all dearly, with all my breath and life. You might as well ask me to choose whether I prefer my sight, touch, or hearing. Smoky is my dragon lover and protector, he is my hero. Trillian’s my alpha—he calls me on my bullshit and keeps me honest. And Morio’s my chaotic and passionate magical partner, my demon-in-disguise—he matches the freak side of myself. They all enhance my life and I can only hope I enhance theirs.

Delilah: Okay (typing furiously). That’s a good answer. Okay, the next one is for all of us, from Delilahforever. He actually asked you first, Camille, then broadened it. He asks, “So which is your favorite type of clothing and which is your least?”

Menolly: I’ll bite. Well, not too hard, anyway. (grins at delilahforever, her fangs showing) Seriously, I’m not comfortable wearing revealing clothing yet, and yes, it’s because of my scars. I managed to lose some of my baggage when I killed Dredge, but some things…are still too hard to handle. I prefer skin tight jeans that hug my ass, turtlenecks, denim and leather jackets, stiletto granny boots, and my shit-kicking Doc Martens.

Camille: My very favorite outfit—well, this is not quite a spoiler because you’ll have to wait, but the outfit I receive at the end of Bone Magic is my favorite, because of what it signifies in my life--a major shift. I love fetish gear, but never tacky—you’ll never catch me wearing hooker gear. My bustiers need to be quality made, my skirts are rayon, chiffon, spidersilk, my boots and stilettos are designer. I don’t feel comfortable in pants or anything remotely…mother-ish, although I own leggings. I’m such a gurly gurl, even when I’m fighting demons.

Delilah: Okay for me—I like jeans, good solid boots with a heel with which I can kick in a door. Tank tops, tee-shirts, denim jackets…hmmm…I’m really a tomboy, though I do have nice clothes for special occasions and even a few dresses.

(The Sisters pause to let her finish typing)

Delilah: Next question, also from Delilahforever. For me. “Honestly, what do you all think of the username? *blush and hides*” (Delilah pauses, biting her lip) Well, it isn’t a bad name and it’s not offensive, so I suppose I’d say I’m flattered. I appreciate the support, and yes, I certainly hope to have a long and happy life—which is what I’m reading out of it. Now if you went by something like Delilahsaslob I’d be a little irked! (laughs gently) But I’ll just say: thank you for your vote of confidence, and I’m glad you enjoy our adventures enough to credit me in your username.

Menolly: If somebody called themselves Delilahsaslob I’d rip out their jugular for you, Kitten. You know I won’t let anybody hurt your feelings. Except Camille and me. (snickers)

Delilah: (laughing) Let’s hope it never comes to that because I know you’d do it. Okay, we have a question from ladyhawk2711. “Will we ever see how Maggie turns out in adulthood? She is the sweetest, and very unlikely I met one not petrified!”

Camille: Well, considering gargoyles live for thousands of years and babyhood lasts for hundreds, I kind of doubt it unless Yasmine suddenly finds a time machine. (grins) Knowing her, she might just do that. (laughs but then glares at the ceiling) She certainly manages to find enough havoc to rain down on our heads!

Delilah: Yeah, ain’t that the truth. Okay, we have another Maggie question from DBsilverdragon. “This is for each of you - what type of trouble has Maggie ever gotten into?”

Menolly: (snickers) Oh boy. Maggie once got in the refrigerator and poured out all the bottled blood I had in there, then tried to paint the kitchen floor. Iris was soooooo pissed. Took days to get the scent of blood out of the kitchen and I was about ready to get down and lick the floor, it drove me so crazy. It was hot and the place reeked.

Camille: You think that’s bad? She found my makeup case. Have you ever tried to get nail polish off a squalling baby gargoyle who has a tummy ache because she ate three tubes of lipstick?

Delilah: Well, there’s also the time she got into my cat box and decided that…oh (groans) this is too embarrassing. Let’s just say that Maggie made sure the shit hit the fan, in a very literal way.

(Camille and Menolly break into peals of laughter)

Camille: Oh, my gut hurts from laughing so hard! (She moves just the wrong way and her robe slides open)

Delilah: Man, Camille, you have the most spectacular—

Camille: HEY, don’t write that down or I’ll take away all your catnip toys!

Delilah: (shrugging with a guilty look on her face) Okay, okay… (when Camille isn’t looking, she types ‘boobs’ at the end of the sentence and then quickly scrolls down so Camille doesn’t notice). Next! Let’s see, here we have a question from Hockyvampiress. “Hey girls. As a Mom of 4 boys I know there is not always harmony. Do you ever fight each other and if you do over what?”

Menolly: Crap, what family doesn’t fight? We fought more when we were back in Otherworld, before I was turned, but now I don’t dare let loose on them, I’d kill them for sure. But I did catch Delilah and Camille having a real knock-down, drag-out—

Camille: Enough!

Delilah: Shuddup!

Menolly: (nonchalantly) As I was saying, a knock-down, drag-out wrestling match over whose fault it was that a vase broke. We had a lovely vase that belonged to our mother and—(holds up hand as the others glare at her)—quiet, I’m telling this. Now type. (Camille and Delilah quiet down)

Anyway, somehow the vase got shattered. I wasn’t there, I’m not sure who did it. I’m not taking sides. All I know is that I came in one evening to find them on the floor really going at it. Delilah had managed to land a couple good blows on Camille—bloodied her nose—and Camille had scratched up Delilah’s face. Smoky, Morio, Trillian, even Roz and Vanzir, were standing around watching, grinning like idiots. They claimed not to want to get involved but I think they were all a little turned on—typical men. Iris was out that night or the argument would have been nipped in the bud. I had to wade in and break it up. We finally agreed that nobody broke the vase, that a mild earthquake had done it.

Delilah: Yeah, right…

Camille: Uh huh…that was the vase Mother promised I could have—

Delilah: You already have most of Mother’s things!

Camille: I do not—Father does.

(A silence echoes through the room, then both women take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Delilah returns to the laptop).

Camille: Yeah, we have fights. But we never can stay mad at each other long. We’re all we have over here. Oh, we have our lovers and friends, but we’re blood, you know?

Delilah: Okay, we have three more questions. SamhainMoon asks, “So who is the tech savvy of all of you? I LOVE Camille’s clothes. Love to raid her wardrobe but, you've probably warded it.” (laughs) Well, I’m the most tech savvy, by far, though I’m trying to teach my knucklehead sisters to use the computer. They’re coming along. As for Camille’s clothes…I wouldn’t recommend trying to swipe anything. Nothing. Nope. Not a good idea.

Camille: (grins)

Delilah: Next question. alwzaDrmwrtr asks, “For Delilah, Scoopable or traditional clay litter?” Um…scoopable. Definitely. And lastly, Mewiet asks, “I only just finished "Witchling" but I'm wondering if there will be any books in the POV of the guys - Morio, Smoky, etc...?”

Camille: That’s hard to say—I think that most of the full-length novels will be our adventures, but there are definitely other shorter stories in the works, so you may see something from their point of view in the future. Not promising, but ya never know.

Menolly: Thanks everybody, for your questions. Feel free to ask more and in a couple weeks, we’ll answer those!

Copyright 2009, July
Yasmine Galenorn
Do not reproduce

The Dragon Lady On Writing

I’ve been getting a LOT of questions on writing lately so am going to write a general blog on the subject today. First: I’m not here to be your writing teacher. Maybe that sounds harsh, but trust me, the industry is much harsher than that. Get used to it. It is what it is. The world of publishing is not a genteel place where you linger over tea in the morning and jot down a few lines. If you want to journal or write poetry or if you don’t mind being a part-time writer and making a living in a different way, no problem—you can swing that. But if you want to be a career writer and ever hope to make a living off your work, get used to brusque, get used to fast-paced, get used to rejection, get used to people saying, “Do the work.” Develop a thick skin and learn to enjoy the intensity, because it’s all about doing the work.

I can’t answer every question about how to build your setting or develop your characters—if I wanted to teach writing, I’d be a teacher. However, I will give you a place to start here. It’s up to you to do the legwork after that. Writing’s not an easy profession, as I said, and I put in 55-70 hours a week now, including research and promotion and writing. I don’t have time to coddle anyone, which is why the few close friends I *do* critique or mentor know that they’re facing the Dragon Lady when they face me. (And no, don't ask me if I can read your work: I can't, due to potential legal problems, not to mention the lack of time).

But they want that honesty because they know my goal is to help them strengthen their work. I’m happy to point out what I love too, but I’m not here to stroke egos or hold hands. That won’t get you a contract. I have warned people that when I critique I tend to use the Cuisinart method: I’ll tear it apart to help make it better.

So what are some of my tips to the aspiring writer? I have a number.

The first is: when you are starting out, just write. Don’t edit it, don’t worry about it, don’t show it to anybody at the beginning. Just get used to the feel of writing. Develop discipline and start small because you’ll burn yourself out if you bite off more than you can chew at the beginning. Write fifteen minutes a day, but write every day and that fifteen minutes is sacrosanct—nobody else can have it. Only your work. If you don’t know what to write, just set pen to paper and start scribbling, “I don’t know what to write”…trust me, your brain will get tired of this and find something else to write about.

Second should be obvious but it’s not: Read. Read the genres you want to write. Read the genres you don’t necessarily want to write. Read nonfiction. Read cereal boxes. Read anything and everything. Absorb language. And also read books about writing. I have a recommended list for aspiring authors (and no, I do NOT use the term pre-published. It’s like pre-owned cars, sorry—that’s just a fancy way of saying: used. Pre-published? Sorry, there’s no guarantee anybody will ever get published. Yes, you are a writer as long as you write, but if you’re unpublished, you’re an aspiring author--and I am not including self-published work in the 'author category').

Haunt the library shelves. Haunt the bookstores. Haunt the late night hours with books tucked under your arm, stacked on the table, stacked on your nightstand. If you want to become an author, you have to love the language and you have to love the concept of story.

Third: Take that recommended reading list and READ the books on there. Don’t ask authors for simple advice that you can research yourself. Get used to doing research, it’s part of the job.

Fourth: Once you begin writing and finishing short stories (I do not recommend starting out with novels because you need to get the feel for finishing projects you start, and it’s a whole lot easier to start with short stories), revise them and submit them. The worst anybody can do is say “No.” And you have to get used to hearing ‘no’ because you’re going to hear ‘no’ a lot. Occupational hazard: get used to it. Among those books are some good references for how to submit a manuscript. Don’t ask me—don’t ask other authors how to format a manuscript. Go look it up—there are plenty of reference guides in the library and on-line (don’t rely on someone who hasn’t published to tell you, either—hell, check out the agent blogs. They usually have some post about submission guidelines and formatting in their archives). There’s so much that goes into this business, if you rely only on questions you ask others, you’ll miss out on some very valuable information.

Fifth: Read author, agent, and editor blogs. Look through their archives—most authors tend to write about writing at some point in their blog. I have a LOT of posts on writing, esp. in my MySpace blog archives. Does it take time to look through them? Yes. It does. But consider it part of your workload. I write the blogs, I don’t have time to go back and hunt them down for you.

Sixth: Realize that there is NO MAGIC KEY for getting published. Sorry, any rumors to the contrary are myth. I don’t care who you know, if you don’t have a manuscript that’s ready to go and tightly written, your friends can’t help you get published. Unless you’re the next Paris Hilton and for some reason, people want to read what the ghostwriter writes for you. The key to getting published: have basic talent to begin with, have the drive and perseverance to write your story, to learn how to accept criticism, to revise, revise, revise, to submit, submit, submit, and to handle it when the first dozen publishers/magazines/agents say “Nope.”

As I’ve said before, I collected around SIX HUNDRED (yes, 600) rejections before I received my first book contract. I have seven novels in the closet that will never, ever see the light of print because they aren’t good enough, and no—even with major rewriting, they just wouldn’t be good enough. And you have to be okay if that’s what it takes, because those books in the closet were rehearsal. A symphony violinist spends hundreds, thousands of hours rehearsing on pieces that the public will never hear. You can’t expect to put in any less time on your work.

Are there exceptions to the above? Yeah, but don’t count on being one of them or you’re banking on disappointment. And btw: it took me 11 years to where I was making enough to live off my writing after that first contract. Don’t expect to hit it rich quick.

Is it worth it? Well, I am working on my 24th published book now. I’m now a New York Times bestselling author. I can afford to do what I love at this point, even if something happened to my husband’s job. Is it worth the years of hard work and disappointment and rejection? Oh yeah, babes…because I’ve got the best job in the world (for me), and there’s nothing I want to do more than this. So I put in the hours and I deal with the frustrations and I grit my teeth over the trash-talk about my books (and there *is* that), and I revel in the writing itself, as well as the hard won success.

If the above has disappointed you, well, then maybe you aren’t cut out to be a career author, because it’s ten times harder than I’m portraying it here. I can’t tell you how many times this career has brought me to tears—and not fun ones. But I love it, I love it enough to cope with the downsides because I love the upsides.

So go forth and write. Or don’t. But if you want to go into it as a career, go in knowing the realities of it instead of the myths and pipe-dreams, or you may end up bitter and you may end up quitting. And who knows if that next story might have been the one that sold? There’s no guarantee of success in life—only the challenge to create the life you want. And nobody's going to hand it to you on a silver platter, so if you have a goal, you'd better get busy.

The Dragon Lady (aka Yasmine)

Recommended Reading List
Other Writing Advice

Taking Control of Your Life

My post is up over at the Witchy Chicks today!

Winners of the Dancing in the Streets Contest

Congratulations to the winners below! My assistant Justine will be in touch with you shortly. WAIT for her email--do not contact me until she's emailed you, please. I have to say, sorting through all the entries that didn’t follow the rules was kind of sad—automatic disqualification, guys, if you don’t follow rules. But it was fun reading everybody’s party entry and thank you all for playing!

Yasmine

The Faerie Basket: Autumn Shelly

$50 online gift certificate to Amazon.com: Xamnagol

The Tote o’ Books: Breia B

Three $25 Gift Certificates to Amazon.com:
Kitten
Jo
Jan

Inked Cover

Ain't it purty? *grins* I'm still spoiled--I love Tony's covers better, but this is lovely.

Release date: January 5, 2010 Pre-order here (remember, my contribution is Etched in Silver: the Camille/Trillian story).

Yasmine

Announcement & More Reader Questions

So I had the root canal. My mouth is too small inside and now my jaw hurts like hell. They had to inject some of the Novocain into connective tissue (yeah, that feels JUST as good as it sounds like it does), and man, my cheek hurts. The root canal itself went smoothly and I’m praying no problems other than the usual aches my jaw/gums go through after major work. Hold good thoughts for me!

The 9th was hard for me, and tomorrow will be too, because a year ago during this time period we lost our Luna and Keeter kitties. I am mourning their loss, even though we firmly believe both are with us today in new bodies. The trauma of the loss, the loss of 33 combined years of feline love, was horrendous and my heart is still sad from it.

More reader questions today! But first, an announcement:

I had dropped back to one Otherworld book and one Indigo Court book a year. But with my new assistant, Justine (who is wonderful), and with streamlining a few other things, I asked my publisher if I could go back to 2 OW books and 1 IC book per year—and they were happy to say yes. I don’t have the new release dates, but in 2010 you should also get Harvest Hunting later in the year, along with Bone Magic, Night Myst, and the Inked anthology. ~smiles~

BUT—it means I won’t be on Twitter and FB and MS, not even as much as I’ve dropped back to now. I’ll be blogging, but mainly dropping into Twitter to say hi a couple times a day if that, and of course, Samwise is doing my MySpace for me and Justine, my FB. Keep track on MySpace and my website for updates! And I’ll still be hanging out in my forums.

Reader Questions now:

Question: Will you ever publish the 7 fiction novels in your closet?

Answer: First, a note—novels ARE fiction, so fictional novels is a redundant term. If you are an aspiring writer submitting a novel to an agent or publisher, don’t use both words. Just use ‘novel.’ That’s just a minor tip for the writers reading my blogs. Now, to the question: no. The thing is this: most first books, most 2nd books, a lot of books thereafter simply are not good enough to publish. None of them were. Period. They weren’t up to anywhere near the quality of what I write now—and I have no desire to have lower quality work out there. I plunder them for an occasional character or turn of the phrase, but nope. And I have instructions that they’re never to reach a publisher’s hands after my death. I want them cremated. Like I’ll be when the time comes (knock wood not for many, many years).

Question: Have you ever tried iced cappuccino with a shot of mint and whipped topping?

Answer: No—I can’t have whipped topping, and I now prefer my drinks less sweet so I make my triple shot rice-milk iced lattes at home, and when I go out, I have the same, only soy milk (most places don’t serve rice milk, sadly).

Question: How does or doesn't being a witch affect your writing career? and: How do you dance/deal with that mutable line between real and fantasy magic?

Answer: Hmm…in off-track ways. One, my world view is colored by my spirituality, of course (and no, I’m not Wiccan—I’m a shamanic witch and Pagan; there is a difference). Therefore, most of what I write will be colored by my beliefs. But I don’t write ‘pagan’ fiction, I write urban fantasy. And yes, some ‘real’ magic is mixed up with the fantasy magic, but for the most part, I try to avoid anything that’s too closely aligned to my personal spirituality. I wrote metaphysical nonfiction, if I wanted to write more about that, I wouldn’t cloak it with fiction. (Just my personal choice).

Okay, I’m off to work because three books a year do NOT write themselves! Cheers and keep the questions coming. J

Yasmine

Answering Reader Questions

Time to answer reader questions!

Question: What's the most moving scene you've ever written? Read?

Answer: I think the most moving scene I’ve ever written—the one that affected me most—has to be a tie. First, in A HARVEST OF BONES, where Emerald looks over and sees Samantha run out from under the bushes, safe and home again, is one of the two because that book was partially based on the disappearance of two of our cats and I know exactly how Emerald felt. In fact, you can read the ‘story behind the story’ of A Harvest of Bones on MJ Rose’s blog.

The second scene tying for most moving is the one in DARKLING where Menolly thinks she’s escaped, and suddenly Dredge appears to take her back down into the cavern. She thinks about the life she’ll never lead, she thinks about what’s waiting for her at his hands, and she looks for the last time at the sky ‘through untainted eyes.’

The most moving scene I’ve read—the one that has reduced me to tears time and again, is the end scene in WATERSHIP DOWN where Hazel dies, and finds himself standing there, watching the community he’s helped to build, and he sees the Black Rabbit come for him, and the Black Rabbit tells him he’s come to offer Hazel a chance to join his Owsla, and not to worry, his children, his rabbits, will be fine and grow strong and continue for generations after him. I cry every time Hazel slips out of his body and runs off, young again.

Question: How did you find your way into the genre you like to write? Did you write what you wanted to read?

Answer: It took me awhile. My first loves in reading were always science fiction and fantasy. I started out wanting to be a science fiction and fantasy author. That was my dream for many, many years, so that aspect has always been there. When I was a kid, I devoured Asimov and Clark. I cut my teeth on Bradbury and Pohl. Luckily, our library didn't divide the books into adult and children’s sections, at least in terms of what you were allowed to check out. So I plundered the science fiction shelves in the adult section of the library. I wrote seven novels that never got published, eight nonfiction books, then eight mysteries before maneuvering into the genre I love. One night, I was just sitting there watching TV when the sisters just flew in. All of a sudden, they were there in my mind, introducing themselves, and I was thinking, “Hello! This sounds like fun!” I wrote up a proposal, sent it to my agent and editor, and before I knew it, I was establishing myself in the urban fantasy genre, which is right where I wanted to be.

Question: Do you allow fanfiction of your work?

Answer: No. Period. I don’t like it and I won’t condone it. If you want to write, write something original that you can eventually publish if you reach that point. I especially dislike slash fanfiction. And I do not care what other authors feel about the subject, that's their business. For me and my worlds: do not try to second guess me with the plots, worlds and characters that I’ve created in my mind, that live within my imagination, that I’ve put months and years of work into. I don’t consider it a compliment, and I’m territorial. The bottom line is: if you respect me and my work, you’ll respect my wishes on this subject.

More answers later! Cheers and have a good day.
Yasmine

A Few Notes & Playlist For Harvest Hunting

Okay, several things today, quick-like.

First: on Twitter, my assistant Justine is now using this account: http://www.twitter.com/GeekGyrlFriGEV to carry out her official work for me. I’m not following many people, due to time constraints, but will be answering questions sent to me on the blog.

Second: I keep getting questions on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter about who my publisher is, what my books are about, etc.. Peeps, please check my website for information before asking . Every book I’ve written is listed, along with the publisher of said book, you’ll find info about me, about my forums, about the fan club, everything there. That’s what the website is for—and it saves both my assistant Justine and my husband time if they don’t have to answer these same questions over and over. A little legwork is not going to hurt you. Writers have to do research all the time. It’s not difficult. ~grins~

Third: When you enter my contests, please READ the directions/instructions. And please do NOT enter after the contest closes. You won’t be eligible and it just makes more work for us. I also get annoyed because that means you didn’t bother reading the rules and probably didn’t enter correctly. And if I’m giving away what are –at times- expensive gifts, then I expect people to at least abide by the contest rules. The winners of the Dancing in the Streets contest will be announced later this week.

Fourth: I got a question about playlists today. Yes, I use a different playlist for each book, and each playlist shakes out over the writing of the book. Some songs get added, some get deleted. You can see the final lists for each book on my website, on the page for that particular book. The most recent two are: Bone Magic and Night Myst. How do I create them? I have to have it done before I write the first page of the book. I go through and think about the book to come and what I know will happen and what I think will happen. And certain songs will ‘stand out’ to me as I look through my WinMedia Player. I’ve got all my music burned on my computer. As I write the book, some songs never get played so I remove them. Others get played over and over. Still others get added.

As far as a suggestion on Facebook to use classical music—while I enjoy a lot of classical music, it doesn’t play into my writing much at all. The music has to fit the feel of the book to me.

So, here’s the first draft picks for the Harvest Hunting playlist (Delilah’s third book). Enjoy!

Yasmine

3 Doors Down: Kryptonite
Aerosmith: Sweet Emotion
Al Stewart: Life in Dark Water

Beck:
Farewell Ride
Nausea

Bob Seager: Turn the Page
B.O.C.: (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Bravery, The: Believe
Cher: The Beat Goes On
Cobra Verde: Don't Play With Fire
Cream: I Feel Free
Crosby, Stills & Nash: Woodstock

David Bowie: Golden Years

Doors:
Not To Touch The Earth
Strange Days

Everlast:
What It's like
Mercy on My Soul

Fleetwood Mac: The Chain

Gabrielle Roth:
Black Mesa
Zone Unknown

Gary Numan:
Innocence Bleeding
Dominion Day
Down in the Park
Dream Killer
Hybrid
My Shadow in Vain
Prophecy
She's Got Claws
Stormtrooper in Drag
The Angel Wars
Tread Careful

Heather Alexander:
Blood Brothers
Fallen Angel
March of Cambreadth
Wolfen One

Jace Everett: Bad Things

Jethro Tull:
Mountain Men
No Lullaby
Rocks on the Road

Lee Dorsey: Give it Up
Little Big Town: Bones
Low: Half Light
Neil Young: Ohio

Nirvana:
Lake of Fire
Plataeu

Ringo Starr: It Don't Come Easy
Simple Minds: Don't You (Forget About Me)
Stealers Wheel: Stuck in the Middle With You

Tangerine Dream:
Beaver Town
Dr. Destructo
Grind
Hyde Park

Thompson Twins: Sister of Mercy
Tina Turner: I Can't stand the Rain

Tori Amos:
Blood Roses
Muhammad My Friend

Zero Seven: In the Waiting Line

Back, & Sweet Potato Apple Puree

It’s been awhile since I updated this blog. A lot’s happened in my world: I hit the NYT bestseller list with Demon Mistress (BIG YAY), my gluten intolerance has gotten worse (SIGH), my dairy allergy has gotten worse (SIGH), my experimenting in GF baking has been slow (SIGH). I did make a major deadline though (BIG YAY).

I talked to my naturopath today—we’ve now upped my adrenal meds since I’ve been under a lot of stress—both good and bad—and my afternoon slump is hitting me harder. We go for bloodwork next month to see how everything looks.

Meanwhile, because the gluten’s hitting me harder, she’s asking me to try to gluten-free the kitchen as much as possible, which means bagging all Sam’s gluten products again, and keeping counters spotless and the like. It also means only going to restaurants I know I can find gluten free meals in. And it means watching the other allergens carefully because they can make the gluten problem worse, and my stress has been impacting the allergy problems. So I’m back to reading labels with a passion now. And it means the gluten free root beer I’ve been liking is out because it has nutmeg in it.

And this means, paying more attention to what I eat, eating more consciously, and eating out less often. I’m lucky—so far, no anaphylactic responses to food, but a few allergies feel like they’re nearing that point—the tingling lips can be a real warning sign. But that luck could run out, and so again, a reminder to take my health in hand and take control before it controls me.

I was experimenting the other day. I’m not fond of sweet potatoes but I know they’re good for me and I know they’re another option in my limited diet. So I’ve been searching for a way to cook them that I like. And I found it:

Sweet-Potato Apple Puree

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large apple, peeled and cubed
1 cup apple-berry juice (blackberry or cranberry is good)
Water
1 tbsp agave nectar or honey
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
Optional: 3 tbsp raisins, plumped in ¼ cup hot water (drain before using)

Mix potatoes and apples into a saucepan. Pour in juice, then add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low boil and cook until both potatoes and apples are fork-tender. Remove from heat, drain. Mash lightly with masher, then whip with sturdy mixer, adding agave, butter, and cinnamon. When most lumps are gone (you can whip smooth or leave a little lumpy—both are good), stir in raisins and serve.

Serves 4 as side dish

Bone Magic & Inked Pre-Order

Bone Magic now available for pre-order!
And Inked now available for pre-order!


I'll have more of a blog up later this week. :)

Yasmine