Last year, I did something that I found fun--and I want to do it again. I donate regularly to Northwest Harvest and Seattle Humane Society. During the holidays, it always makes me feel good to sort of include others in this. I will donate $1 for every comment I get on this blog post between now and December 5th, up to $250 each. Help me reach five hundred comments!
Just leave me a little note on this blog post about something someone did for you that you really remember and appreciate, or a note about your pets and the holidays. On midnight, 12/5/2010, I'll count the comments and divide by two, and send Northwest Harvest and Seattle Humane Society each a check.
And, if you have extra during this time, I encourage you--reach out and help someone in need. Help is needed all year long, but the colder times of the year can be especially harsh. And if you need help--there is no shame in asking. I've been there. I remember. Which is why I donate now.
And while this isn't really a contest--I don't want people just to comment to win a book--I will also give away one copy of Songs of Love and Death. I'm proud of being included in that book. :)
Yasmine
11.27.2010
11.19.2010
Thanksgiving At Our Place
We don't have family nearby, so we always host Thanksgiving for friends in the same boat. We've had as few as 5 at the table, as many as 12. This year, we anticipate 8-11. I love Thanksgiving--to me it's a day that transcends religion and politics--it is what it is, a day to formally stop and acknowledge the good things in life. Yes, we should do so everyday, but I do like that there's a formal 'stop, breathe, think' day for it.
I'll make the cranberry sauce the day before, and I often make gravy the day before and then we just reheat it. Tif and her sweety are bringing the pies, though I'll buy a gluten free one for me, and Brad and his partner are bringing a fruit tray. Jenn and her fiance will be bearing the gluten free bread, and anybody else that shows up can bring beverages and chocolate/nuts. We always provide the turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and potatoes.
Like Anya, I get up and turn on the parade. But since we eat around 3:00, I get started on the turkey by 10 AM and try to have it into the oven by 10:30. This year, I'm working on a gluten free stuffing and it's going pretty good. Going to make one last batch this weekend with some tweaks, but so far, what I'm making tastes pretty damned good. I'll put the recipe on my personal Gluten Free blog when I am happy with it.
Anyway, since I don't stuff my turkeys, the dressing will go into the upper oven--I'll make this the day before and it can be ready to go in the oven.
This year, we have a small upper oven, and a bigger lower oven, thanks to being in our new home. And a kitchen that I can put a LOT more people to work in. With our house the past eleven years that we rented, it was hard to have one other person in there working. Now I can have plenty of minions.
We'll sit around, talk, watch the parades, munch, and then sit down to a lovely formal dinner at the table. We always have the tradition of holding hands before dinner and going around, talking about what we're grateful for.
And after dinner, after people have digested, our friends help us put up the Yule tree--we don't decorate Thanksgiving night, but we get the tree up and ready. (Two trees this year, the large on in the living room, a smaller one for the family room). And sometime on Thanksgiving, I watch the Winona Ryder version of Little Women, which for me is just the perfect Thanksgiving movie.
And this year, Samwise and I have much to be grateful for. Our kitties are healthy and happy. We have a new home. Samwise just got a new contract. My books are selling well. We're together--and still madly in love. Life, while never perfect, is good.
So what are your thanksgiving traditions? What do you do that's special for your family? For us, it's bringing together our family of choice. It's spending a day with people we love and choose to have in our lives, and re-affirming that friends are family too.
Yasmine
I'll make the cranberry sauce the day before, and I often make gravy the day before and then we just reheat it. Tif and her sweety are bringing the pies, though I'll buy a gluten free one for me, and Brad and his partner are bringing a fruit tray. Jenn and her fiance will be bearing the gluten free bread, and anybody else that shows up can bring beverages and chocolate/nuts. We always provide the turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and potatoes.
Like Anya, I get up and turn on the parade. But since we eat around 3:00, I get started on the turkey by 10 AM and try to have it into the oven by 10:30. This year, I'm working on a gluten free stuffing and it's going pretty good. Going to make one last batch this weekend with some tweaks, but so far, what I'm making tastes pretty damned good. I'll put the recipe on my personal Gluten Free blog when I am happy with it.
Anyway, since I don't stuff my turkeys, the dressing will go into the upper oven--I'll make this the day before and it can be ready to go in the oven.
This year, we have a small upper oven, and a bigger lower oven, thanks to being in our new home. And a kitchen that I can put a LOT more people to work in. With our house the past eleven years that we rented, it was hard to have one other person in there working. Now I can have plenty of minions.
We'll sit around, talk, watch the parades, munch, and then sit down to a lovely formal dinner at the table. We always have the tradition of holding hands before dinner and going around, talking about what we're grateful for.
And after dinner, after people have digested, our friends help us put up the Yule tree--we don't decorate Thanksgiving night, but we get the tree up and ready. (Two trees this year, the large on in the living room, a smaller one for the family room). And sometime on Thanksgiving, I watch the Winona Ryder version of Little Women, which for me is just the perfect Thanksgiving movie.
And this year, Samwise and I have much to be grateful for. Our kitties are healthy and happy. We have a new home. Samwise just got a new contract. My books are selling well. We're together--and still madly in love. Life, while never perfect, is good.
So what are your thanksgiving traditions? What do you do that's special for your family? For us, it's bringing together our family of choice. It's spending a day with people we love and choose to have in our lives, and re-affirming that friends are family too.
Yasmine
11.17.2010
Thoughts on Writing Winter, Misc., and Reader Questions
Song of the Day: Blood of the Moon by Woodland
Note: yesterday SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH was released. I’m so honored to be in that anthology with some of the greats I respect and stand in awe of—Peter S. Beagle, Neil Gaiman, Diana Gabaldon, Mary Jo Putney—and so many more. Truly an amazing array of talent.
So good morning. It’s a rainy, gray, windy day. Forecasts call for snow this weekend. The winter is moving in early this year, wearing her mantle and cloak. I’ve been writing about her all year—in Night Veil, with Myst’s unending winter, and Blood Wyne, and Ice Shards (which will be out in the Hexed anthology next June), and now—Courting Darkness. It’s been winter for me all year in my mind. My desktop wallpaper is an icy winter tree scene. Summer felt odd and out of place considering where my mindset’s been. I won’t come out of winter until I’m working on Shadow Rising—Menolly's fourth book--and there are three books to write before I reach that point. So I’m walking in in snow, walking under the eternally frozen night, walking in Hel’s shadow. No wonder I’m looking forward to Yule.
I think I love the symbolism of winter, the icy purity of the snow, but yet that same snow muffles and hides secrets beneath its icy mantle. I love the sense of gloom and chill that comes with it, the way the light shines through like a beacon, beckoning you to struggle just a little further toward safety.
I’ve been asked if we’re in our house now—yes, we’re settled in. Unpacked. Our new furniture came and I’ll be taking pictures soon and posting them. It’s so nice to be in our own space, to know this is my house—not someone else’s. To know that this is Home, not dependent on anyone else’s whims.
The cats have adjusted fine. There’s so much more room for playing and running, and they have claimed the guest room as their private sanctuary—it has our old bed in it, the kitty box, a kitty condo, a kitty slumber ball…everything a kitty could want when they need a retreat from the rigors of playtime.
I torqued my knee the other day—chiropractor has put certain movements on the bellydancing DVD we use for part of our workout as ‘off limits’ to me. I’m to adapt them—and after the pain of the past few days, I’m willing to obey. I’m better, but it will be a few more days before it’s fully loosened up again. I’m just glad it wasn’t worse.
A few answers to reader questions:
Question: Will the Myst arc be resolved within the three books you mentioned the Indigo Court series as being?
Answer: I don’t know. Some of it, definitely, but I have the feeling she’s not going to go that easy. I honestly can’t give you a yes or no on this. I’ll know when I get there. ~grins~
Question: Right now, there's Otherworld and Indigo Court - have you ideas for any more series beyond that?
Answer: A few floating around in the back of my head, but for now I’m happy writing these two series. I can foresee writing the Otherworld Series for quite a while yet—there are so many directions to go with it. I can also see writing offshoots from it. The Indigo Court Series will most likely have an ending sooner than the OW series, but again—it’s hard for me to see. I know the over reaching story arc but getting there takes time.
Question: Do you ever start a story on one sister and feel like it needs to have two consecutive books? I love the pattern of the sisters, but was just wondering how you decide to switch points of view in the scheme of things.
Answer: Actually, at times yes, but I don’t have that option at this point, so I have to find logical breaks to cut off a certain story line and pick it up during that particular sister’s next book. Like the storyline with Hyto—Smoky’s father. It started in Dragon Wytch, is mentioned briefly in Menolly’s book Blood Wyne and the novella Ice Shards (Iris’s story—Camille and Smoky and Rozurial are involved in that one), and I’m now revisiting it in Courting Darkness.
Question: How do you select the songs in your play list?
Answer: I know the general theme of the book when I go to start it. So I go through, before writing a word, and put together the initial playlist. I let my subconscious guide me—and I’ll see the book’s mood unfold as I watch the songs I add in. As I write, some songs fall off the list, and others are added on. By the time I finish, I’ve got the final playlist that I worked with through the book.
Okay, time to be off and working. Have a great day, peeps. Winners of the BLOOD WYNE ARC contest will be announced on the Sisters blog later today or tomorrow. The second ARC contest will begin on Thursday or Friday over there, so if you don’t win in this one, you’ll have more chances!
Random picture of the day: what I see when I glance left at the wall in my office:
Yasmine
Note: yesterday SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH was released. I’m so honored to be in that anthology with some of the greats I respect and stand in awe of—Peter S. Beagle, Neil Gaiman, Diana Gabaldon, Mary Jo Putney—and so many more. Truly an amazing array of talent.
So good morning. It’s a rainy, gray, windy day. Forecasts call for snow this weekend. The winter is moving in early this year, wearing her mantle and cloak. I’ve been writing about her all year—in Night Veil, with Myst’s unending winter, and Blood Wyne, and Ice Shards (which will be out in the Hexed anthology next June), and now—Courting Darkness. It’s been winter for me all year in my mind. My desktop wallpaper is an icy winter tree scene. Summer felt odd and out of place considering where my mindset’s been. I won’t come out of winter until I’m working on Shadow Rising—Menolly's fourth book--and there are three books to write before I reach that point. So I’m walking in in snow, walking under the eternally frozen night, walking in Hel’s shadow. No wonder I’m looking forward to Yule.
I think I love the symbolism of winter, the icy purity of the snow, but yet that same snow muffles and hides secrets beneath its icy mantle. I love the sense of gloom and chill that comes with it, the way the light shines through like a beacon, beckoning you to struggle just a little further toward safety.
I’ve been asked if we’re in our house now—yes, we’re settled in. Unpacked. Our new furniture came and I’ll be taking pictures soon and posting them. It’s so nice to be in our own space, to know this is my house—not someone else’s. To know that this is Home, not dependent on anyone else’s whims.
The cats have adjusted fine. There’s so much more room for playing and running, and they have claimed the guest room as their private sanctuary—it has our old bed in it, the kitty box, a kitty condo, a kitty slumber ball…everything a kitty could want when they need a retreat from the rigors of playtime.
I torqued my knee the other day—chiropractor has put certain movements on the bellydancing DVD we use for part of our workout as ‘off limits’ to me. I’m to adapt them—and after the pain of the past few days, I’m willing to obey. I’m better, but it will be a few more days before it’s fully loosened up again. I’m just glad it wasn’t worse.
A few answers to reader questions:
Question: Will the Myst arc be resolved within the three books you mentioned the Indigo Court series as being?
Answer: I don’t know. Some of it, definitely, but I have the feeling she’s not going to go that easy. I honestly can’t give you a yes or no on this. I’ll know when I get there. ~grins~
Question: Right now, there's Otherworld and Indigo Court - have you ideas for any more series beyond that?
Answer: A few floating around in the back of my head, but for now I’m happy writing these two series. I can foresee writing the Otherworld Series for quite a while yet—there are so many directions to go with it. I can also see writing offshoots from it. The Indigo Court Series will most likely have an ending sooner than the OW series, but again—it’s hard for me to see. I know the over reaching story arc but getting there takes time.
Question: Do you ever start a story on one sister and feel like it needs to have two consecutive books? I love the pattern of the sisters, but was just wondering how you decide to switch points of view in the scheme of things.
Answer: Actually, at times yes, but I don’t have that option at this point, so I have to find logical breaks to cut off a certain story line and pick it up during that particular sister’s next book. Like the storyline with Hyto—Smoky’s father. It started in Dragon Wytch, is mentioned briefly in Menolly’s book Blood Wyne and the novella Ice Shards (Iris’s story—Camille and Smoky and Rozurial are involved in that one), and I’m now revisiting it in Courting Darkness.
Question: How do you select the songs in your play list?
Answer: I know the general theme of the book when I go to start it. So I go through, before writing a word, and put together the initial playlist. I let my subconscious guide me—and I’ll see the book’s mood unfold as I watch the songs I add in. As I write, some songs fall off the list, and others are added on. By the time I finish, I’ve got the final playlist that I worked with through the book.
Okay, time to be off and working. Have a great day, peeps. Winners of the BLOOD WYNE ARC contest will be announced on the Sisters blog later today or tomorrow. The second ARC contest will begin on Thursday or Friday over there, so if you don’t win in this one, you’ll have more chances!
Random picture of the day: what I see when I glance left at the wall in my office:
Yasmine
11.12.2010
LET'S DANCE!
I was talking about my Let's Dance playlist that I created for parties, on Twitter and decided to post it here since people seem to like my playlists I do for the books. Just for fun--you can see what I'd play at a general party at my house. ~grins~ Or for just putting on and dancing around the house. I love SO MUCH music, but these are some of the most lively songs that make me want to move.Yasmine
AC/DC:
Back in Black
Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
Aerosmith: Walk This Way
Asteroids Galaxy Tour:
The Golden Age
Around the Bend
Sunshine coolin'
B52s:
Is That You, Mo-Dean?
Love Shack
Beck:
Que Onda Guero
Broken Train
Where It's At
Blondie: Rapture
Bow Wow Wow: I Want Candy
Cher: The Beat Goes On
Chumbawamba: Tubthumping
Commadores: Brick House
David Bowie:
Let's Dance
Fame
Golden Years
China Girl
Dead or Alive: You Spin Me Round
Devo:
Whip It
Freedom of Choice
Dire Straits: Money For Nothing
Eagles: Life in the Fast Lane
Eddy Grant: Electric Avenue
Elton John: Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
Eric Clapton: Cocaine
Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams
Finger Eleven: Paralyzer
Gary Numan:
Outland
Bridge? What Bridge?
Stormtrooper in Drag
My Breathing
Soul Protection
Tread Careful
She's Got Claws
My Shadow in Vain
Gorillaz:
Hongkongaton
Rockit
Dare
Jace Everett: Bad Things
Kinks: Superman
Kool and the Gang: Celebration
Lady Gaga:
Telephone
Poker Face
Paparazzi
Lenny Kravitz: American Woman
Little Big Town: Bones
Madonna: Vogue
Mamas & the Papas: Dancing in the Street
Men Without Hats: The Safety Dance
Nilsson: Coconut
No Doubt: Hella Good
Oingo Boingo:
Elevator Man
Weird Science
Dead Man's Party
Pink, et al: Lady Marmalade
Rick James: Super Freak
Ricky Martin: She Bangs
Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter
Shriekback: Go Bang
Stealers Wheel: Stuck in the Middle
Thomas Dolby: She Blinded Me With Science
Thompson Twins:
Love on Your Side
The Gap
Three Dog Night: Mama Told Me
U2:
Elevation
Vertigo
War: Spill The Wine
Warrant: Cherry Pie
White Stripes: Fell in Love With a Girl
Wild Cherry: Play That Funky Music
11.11.2010
First Blood Wyne Contest Open
First Blood Wyne Contest Open over on the Sisters' Blog! DO NOT ENTER HERE--ENTER OVER THERE.
Yasmine
11.09.2010
Playlist for Courting Darkness
The preliminary playlist for COURTING DARKNESS is done. While it always winnows out, you can get a definite glimpse of the mood the book's going to take with it.
Aerosmith: Sweet Emotion
Air: Napalm Love, Clouds Up
Alan Parsons Project: Breakdown
Alice Cooper: Some Folks
Alice in Chains: Man in the Box
Bon Jovi: Wanted Dead or Alive
Bravery: Believe
Buffalo Springfield: For What It's Worth
CCR: Born on the Bayou
Chester Bennington: System
Chris Isaak: Wicked Game
Clannad: Newgrange, Banba Oir, I See Red
Cobra Verde: Play With Fire
David Bowie: Fame, Sister Midnight
Death Cab For Cutie: I Will Possess Your Heart
Deftones: Change (In the House of Flies)
Depeche Mode: Dream On, Personal Jesus
Disturbed: Down with the Sickness
Everlast: What It's Like
Faun: Ne Aludj El, Deva, Punagra, Konigin, Iyansa, Rad, Sieben
Gabrielle Roth: Mother Night, Rest Your Tears Here
Gary Numan: Hybrid, Cars (Hybrid Remix), Down in the Park, Melt, Halo, Soul Protection, Walking With Shadows, Survival, Sleep By Windows, My Breathing
Godhead: Penetrate
Godsmack: Voodoo
Gorillaz: Stylo
Jay Gordon: Slept So Long
Ladytron: Mu-Tron, Black Cat, Ghosts, Burning Up,
Lenny Kravitz: American Woman
Lindstrom and Christabelle: Lovesick
Little Big Town: Bones
Loreena McKennitt: The Mummer's Dance, All Soul's Night
Low: Half Light
Marilyn Manson: Godeatgod, Arma-Goddamn-Motherfucking-Geddon, Tainted Love, Sweet Dreams
NIN: Closer, Sin, Get Down Make Love, I Do Not Want This, Down in It, Deep
Nirvana: Heart Shaped Box, You Know You're Right, Come As You Are
Notwist: Hands on Us
Orgy: Blue Monday, Social Enemies
PCD: Don't Cha, Buttons
Radiohead: Creep, Climbing Up the Walls
Rob Zombie: Never Gonna Stop
Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter
Saliva: Ladies and Gentlemen, Broken Sunday
Seether: Remedy
Simple Minds: Don't You (Forget About Me)
Sully Erna: Avalon, My Light, The Rise
Tears for Fears: Mad World
Thompson Twins: The Gap
Tool: Sober, Schism
Tori Amos: Professional Widow, Caught a Lite Sneeze, Muhammad My Friend
Transplants: Diamonds and Guns
Tina Turner: One of the Living
Vartinna: Riena (Anathema), Maaria, Miero (Outcast), Mierontie (Path of the Outcast)
Warchild: Ash
Woodland: Morgana's Moon, Rose Red, Lady & the Unicorn, Blood of the Moon, Gates of Twilight, I Remember, The Dragon, Midnight Ring, The Grove
Wumpscut: The March of the Dead
Zero 7: In the Waiting Line
Yasmine
Aerosmith: Sweet Emotion
Air: Napalm Love, Clouds Up
Alan Parsons Project: Breakdown
Alice Cooper: Some Folks
Alice in Chains: Man in the Box
Bon Jovi: Wanted Dead or Alive
Bravery: Believe
Buffalo Springfield: For What It's Worth
CCR: Born on the Bayou
Chester Bennington: System
Chris Isaak: Wicked Game
Clannad: Newgrange, Banba Oir, I See Red
Cobra Verde: Play With Fire
David Bowie: Fame, Sister Midnight
Death Cab For Cutie: I Will Possess Your Heart
Deftones: Change (In the House of Flies)
Depeche Mode: Dream On, Personal Jesus
Disturbed: Down with the Sickness
Everlast: What It's Like
Faun: Ne Aludj El, Deva, Punagra, Konigin, Iyansa, Rad, Sieben
Gabrielle Roth: Mother Night, Rest Your Tears Here
Gary Numan: Hybrid, Cars (Hybrid Remix), Down in the Park, Melt, Halo, Soul Protection, Walking With Shadows, Survival, Sleep By Windows, My Breathing
Godhead: Penetrate
Godsmack: Voodoo
Gorillaz: Stylo
Jay Gordon: Slept So Long
Ladytron: Mu-Tron, Black Cat, Ghosts, Burning Up,
Lenny Kravitz: American Woman
Lindstrom and Christabelle: Lovesick
Little Big Town: Bones
Loreena McKennitt: The Mummer's Dance, All Soul's Night
Low: Half Light
Marilyn Manson: Godeatgod, Arma-Goddamn-Motherfucking-Geddon, Tainted Love, Sweet Dreams
NIN: Closer, Sin, Get Down Make Love, I Do Not Want This, Down in It, Deep
Nirvana: Heart Shaped Box, You Know You're Right, Come As You Are
Notwist: Hands on Us
Orgy: Blue Monday, Social Enemies
PCD: Don't Cha, Buttons
Radiohead: Creep, Climbing Up the Walls
Rob Zombie: Never Gonna Stop
Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter
Saliva: Ladies and Gentlemen, Broken Sunday
Seether: Remedy
Simple Minds: Don't You (Forget About Me)
Sully Erna: Avalon, My Light, The Rise
Tears for Fears: Mad World
Thompson Twins: The Gap
Tool: Sober, Schism
Tori Amos: Professional Widow, Caught a Lite Sneeze, Muhammad My Friend
Transplants: Diamonds and Guns
Tina Turner: One of the Living
Vartinna: Riena (Anathema), Maaria, Miero (Outcast), Mierontie (Path of the Outcast)
Warchild: Ash
Woodland: Morgana's Moon, Rose Red, Lady & the Unicorn, Blood of the Moon, Gates of Twilight, I Remember, The Dragon, Midnight Ring, The Grove
Wumpscut: The March of the Dead
Zero 7: In the Waiting Line
Yasmine
11.08.2010
In Darkness There is Beauty, In Joy--Sorrow.
Warning: my post today contains a few spoilers from Bone Magic and Harvest Hunting:
So today I start COURTING DARKNESS. Camille’s fourth book. The tenth book in the series. I’ve been asked if I get tired writing about the sisters but the truth is no—I love them. I’m enjoying the Indigo Court Series too—it gives me a break from Otherworld and allows me to explore the depths of my darker author’s side, but the Sisters…we’re old friends now. And yet…and yet…they keep growing. The world is evolving and I am watching it expand out and seeing how I could lose myself in stories—maybe not all about the sisters, but also about different characters—for years to come. At this point, I’m hoping my readers stay interested, so I can follow the trails of breadcrumbs the sisters are leaving. There are stand alone books I’d like to write, too, but they will have to wait. I’m having too much fun in Otherworld, and in the Indigo Court world, and I can only write so many books a year.
COURTING DARKNESS…and Camille. Camille’s moving into a new phase in her life—with having to pledge to Aeval’s court as a Priestess of the Moon Mother, working death magic with Morio, and her father disowning her, and being married to three men. And in Blood Wyne, (I’ve already alluded to this), you find out that Smoky’s father’s on the rampage and gunning for the pair. So yes, she is walking in shadow, walking under the dark moon, and so do I, in my own life. I think I will both enjoy and be heartbroken in this book—heartbroken because when you walk into the Underworld, dark things happen, but as with all mythos, I know she’ll walk out again, stronger, much like Ishtar walking into her sister Ereshkigal’s realm.
I’ve found my quotes for the book: “Revenge does not go long unavenged” and “The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.” And so the theme/mood of the book is set. Now to make the playlist, and then let Camille lead me under the moon, into the dance, into the mists.
I’ve often said her books are easiest to write for me—and it’s true. I am a priestess of a goddess of the Hunt, a goddess of the Fae, a goddess of the wild. I work under the moon, especially under the dark moon. I know the pull that the Moon Mother can exert. And like Camille, I understand the passion for magic—though my magic and hers are quite different, for she’s a character in a fantasy setting, and I live in the world here. My views and hers are close, though my temper can be found in Menolly, and I’ve drawn on personal experience for a few things my lovely vampire has been through. And Delilah—well, I love cats and the black panther is my totem. So if people want to call my books Mary Sue, I guess in one way they’d be correct. You can find me in all three sisters…though my heart is more in Camille’s path.
I’ve been asked if it’s hard for me to switch voices when I move between the sisters—not really. Each is so distinctive. I just have to adjust my perspective of the world, look at it through new eyes. Somehow, this doesn’t present a problem, probably because each sister is so different. But there have been times I’ve caught myself thinking, “If this was Menolly, she’d rip their throat out…” or “If this was Camille, she’d laugh them into shame…” But no, I know the sisters so well now, living with all of them in my head now for years, that I can just let them take over my fingers as I type.
I’m also in a contemplative mood today because I lost a net friend this weekend. I would not know he had died if it weren’t for chance and a mutual net friend. And now I mourn the fact that I’ll never be able to say hello to him again, even a quick wave on Twitter. And I worry about his cat—she’s a lovely thing and who will take her in? Did he leave provisions for her? Please think of these things—one wrong move and any of us can be obliterated. Make plans, make provisions, for the ones you love. Mostly, I’m sad, and mostly, I’m worried about kitty.
I made gluten free biscuits today—needed comfort food, and my food allergies were horrid this weekend (to the point of spontaneous vomiting less than a minute after eating foods that are apparently not safe to eat). I have to be rigorous now, cut down to what I KNOW is safe, and clear out my body, and then slowly introduce the foods that are now questionable. Which means, a week or two of very basic foods: rice & rice flour products, meat, peaches, pears, a few green veggies, DF margarine, meat broth, apples. The reactions this time were scary—moving toward danger zone and makes me leery. The body can be so fickle.
I’ve discovered a few new groups I love, lately. Finnish/German/Scandinavian pagan/folk/metal groups: Faun, Värtinnä, Hedningarna, Korpiklaani, and Qntal. Really getting into their music and will be using some for Camille’s playlist for Courting Darkness.
Other than that, not much to say today. Leaving you with a picture of a nasturtium I took the other day. A reminder that even in modest little flowers, lies brightness and beauty.
Yasmine
So today I start COURTING DARKNESS. Camille’s fourth book. The tenth book in the series. I’ve been asked if I get tired writing about the sisters but the truth is no—I love them. I’m enjoying the Indigo Court Series too—it gives me a break from Otherworld and allows me to explore the depths of my darker author’s side, but the Sisters…we’re old friends now. And yet…and yet…they keep growing. The world is evolving and I am watching it expand out and seeing how I could lose myself in stories—maybe not all about the sisters, but also about different characters—for years to come. At this point, I’m hoping my readers stay interested, so I can follow the trails of breadcrumbs the sisters are leaving. There are stand alone books I’d like to write, too, but they will have to wait. I’m having too much fun in Otherworld, and in the Indigo Court world, and I can only write so many books a year.
COURTING DARKNESS…and Camille. Camille’s moving into a new phase in her life—with having to pledge to Aeval’s court as a Priestess of the Moon Mother, working death magic with Morio, and her father disowning her, and being married to three men. And in Blood Wyne, (I’ve already alluded to this), you find out that Smoky’s father’s on the rampage and gunning for the pair. So yes, she is walking in shadow, walking under the dark moon, and so do I, in my own life. I think I will both enjoy and be heartbroken in this book—heartbroken because when you walk into the Underworld, dark things happen, but as with all mythos, I know she’ll walk out again, stronger, much like Ishtar walking into her sister Ereshkigal’s realm.
I’ve found my quotes for the book: “Revenge does not go long unavenged” and “The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.” And so the theme/mood of the book is set. Now to make the playlist, and then let Camille lead me under the moon, into the dance, into the mists.
I’ve often said her books are easiest to write for me—and it’s true. I am a priestess of a goddess of the Hunt, a goddess of the Fae, a goddess of the wild. I work under the moon, especially under the dark moon. I know the pull that the Moon Mother can exert. And like Camille, I understand the passion for magic—though my magic and hers are quite different, for she’s a character in a fantasy setting, and I live in the world here. My views and hers are close, though my temper can be found in Menolly, and I’ve drawn on personal experience for a few things my lovely vampire has been through. And Delilah—well, I love cats and the black panther is my totem. So if people want to call my books Mary Sue, I guess in one way they’d be correct. You can find me in all three sisters…though my heart is more in Camille’s path.
I’ve been asked if it’s hard for me to switch voices when I move between the sisters—not really. Each is so distinctive. I just have to adjust my perspective of the world, look at it through new eyes. Somehow, this doesn’t present a problem, probably because each sister is so different. But there have been times I’ve caught myself thinking, “If this was Menolly, she’d rip their throat out…” or “If this was Camille, she’d laugh them into shame…” But no, I know the sisters so well now, living with all of them in my head now for years, that I can just let them take over my fingers as I type.
I’m also in a contemplative mood today because I lost a net friend this weekend. I would not know he had died if it weren’t for chance and a mutual net friend. And now I mourn the fact that I’ll never be able to say hello to him again, even a quick wave on Twitter. And I worry about his cat—she’s a lovely thing and who will take her in? Did he leave provisions for her? Please think of these things—one wrong move and any of us can be obliterated. Make plans, make provisions, for the ones you love. Mostly, I’m sad, and mostly, I’m worried about kitty.
I made gluten free biscuits today—needed comfort food, and my food allergies were horrid this weekend (to the point of spontaneous vomiting less than a minute after eating foods that are apparently not safe to eat). I have to be rigorous now, cut down to what I KNOW is safe, and clear out my body, and then slowly introduce the foods that are now questionable. Which means, a week or two of very basic foods: rice & rice flour products, meat, peaches, pears, a few green veggies, DF margarine, meat broth, apples. The reactions this time were scary—moving toward danger zone and makes me leery. The body can be so fickle.
I’ve discovered a few new groups I love, lately. Finnish/German/Scandinavian pagan/folk/metal groups: Faun, Värtinnä, Hedningarna, Korpiklaani, and Qntal. Really getting into their music and will be using some for Camille’s playlist for Courting Darkness.
Other than that, not much to say today. Leaving you with a picture of a nasturtium I took the other day. A reminder that even in modest little flowers, lies brightness and beauty.
Yasmine
11.07.2010
Harvest Hunting Basket Winners
Thank you to everybody who entered the contest! The basket winners are Elizabeth W. (Dreamerin2003) and Amanda (The Purple Witch) and our international winner is Ileea O.
Please check back often for more chances to win prizes! There will be weekly contests leading up to the release of Blood Wyne on February 1, 2011.
~J.L. Anderson
Personal Assistant and Comic Artist
Please check back often for more chances to win prizes! There will be weekly contests leading up to the release of Blood Wyne on February 1, 2011.
~J.L. Anderson
Personal Assistant and Comic Artist
11.06.2010
Settling In and Other News
So, yesterday we drove around Kirkland--as many of you know, we recently bought a house and moved from Bellevue WA to Kirkland WA. We're no more than fifteen minutes away from our old place--the cities run one into another here--but it's a world of difference. Bellevue is monied, conservative, and very cocktail-party. Kirkland is monied, also, but it's more trendy and has a bit younger vibe to it. I like Bellevue better for some things but I did not realize just how beautiful Kirkland was until we've started driving around the neighborhoods and seeing what's up here.
It feels odd to change my city on my address, though. I became so thoroughly settled as 'living in Bellevue' that it felt a little like a defection. However, that will pass. And while I think I'll always prefer the shopping in Bellevue, Kirkland feels a little more spacious, with a little more breathing room at least if you're away from the downtown area which is condo-central. Maybe it's just that we have our own house now, or that we're on a quarter acre, but I'm starting to feel a bit more settled. Today it hit me that--as long as we make our mortgage payments--if we never ever want to move again, we won't have to. We can stay here for good, if we want to. That's what it means to own a home. Roots--I finally am starting to feel like we're actually putting down roots.
At first the feeling, as much as I craved it, scared me a little--it seemed more permanent than getting married. After all, with a person you can just walk away if they break their vows or the love disappears. With a house, it's not so easy. But now the panic has subsided and I'm starting to enjoy the feeling of 'this is mine'...
Two pictures for you today. One of our gargoyle Wendell, and a dragon skull that both sit outside along the sidewalk to the front door. They're protectors, so don't ever make them mad! The second is of one of the streets in Kirkland that I wanted a picture of--because the autumn leaves are so gorgeous. Click on the actual pictures to see full size.
Oh, and other news:
First: we'll post the winners of the Harvest Hunting Contest tomorrow, but they have been notified.
Two: All three sisters have Facebook Pages now, and Iris and Maggie are sharing a page. Camille, Delilah, and Menolly welcome your comments. These are the ONLY officially approved pages for the Sisters--anybody else using their names on Facebook is doing so without my permission.
Three: Menolly's having a contest on the SOTM blog. Run over and take a peek.
Four: You can now pre-order both Night Veil and Hexed! I don't know when the e-book or Kindle versions or other bookstores will have them linked, though.
Bright Blessings
Yasmine
It feels odd to change my city on my address, though. I became so thoroughly settled as 'living in Bellevue' that it felt a little like a defection. However, that will pass. And while I think I'll always prefer the shopping in Bellevue, Kirkland feels a little more spacious, with a little more breathing room at least if you're away from the downtown area which is condo-central. Maybe it's just that we have our own house now, or that we're on a quarter acre, but I'm starting to feel a bit more settled. Today it hit me that--as long as we make our mortgage payments--if we never ever want to move again, we won't have to. We can stay here for good, if we want to. That's what it means to own a home. Roots--I finally am starting to feel like we're actually putting down roots.
At first the feeling, as much as I craved it, scared me a little--it seemed more permanent than getting married. After all, with a person you can just walk away if they break their vows or the love disappears. With a house, it's not so easy. But now the panic has subsided and I'm starting to enjoy the feeling of 'this is mine'...
Two pictures for you today. One of our gargoyle Wendell, and a dragon skull that both sit outside along the sidewalk to the front door. They're protectors, so don't ever make them mad! The second is of one of the streets in Kirkland that I wanted a picture of--because the autumn leaves are so gorgeous. Click on the actual pictures to see full size.
Oh, and other news:
First: we'll post the winners of the Harvest Hunting Contest tomorrow, but they have been notified.
Two: All three sisters have Facebook Pages now, and Iris and Maggie are sharing a page. Camille, Delilah, and Menolly welcome your comments. These are the ONLY officially approved pages for the Sisters--anybody else using their names on Facebook is doing so without my permission.
Three: Menolly's having a contest on the SOTM blog. Run over and take a peek.
Four: You can now pre-order both Night Veil and Hexed! I don't know when the e-book or Kindle versions or other bookstores will have them linked, though.
Bright Blessings
Yasmine
11.05.2010
This and That
I have a post up over at the Witchy Chicks today. And the new Moon Daughters comic is up, though the visual text won't be up until later--sometimes it's all we can do to get the comic itself up on time! I finished page proofs so will be meandering through the day (well, have promo stuff to do, and admin, but will take some time to play) for a day or two.
Another cute Brighid picture--she's been exceptionally photogenic lately!
Talk to y'all later!
Yasmine
Another cute Brighid picture--she's been exceptionally photogenic lately!
Talk to y'all later!
Yasmine
11.04.2010
Brighid Contemplates Life
For your viewing enjoyment, I present one of our goober gurls: Brighid, contemplating life. And winners for the Harvest Hunting contest will be posted soon--they have been notified already. :)
OH, and Menolly has her own Facebook page now (and yes, the other Sisters will have theirs eventually).
Yasmine
11.03.2010
Harvest Hunting: #23 on the New York Times List!
Thank you, everyone who bought the book--while it didn't quite hit the short list, #23 is VERY good and I have all my readers to thank!
Bright Blessings, and I'm so glad you're enjoying the book!
Yasmine
Bright Blessings, and I'm so glad you're enjoying the book!
Yasmine
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