Going Back to to an Author's Roots

Roots make a great metaphor and can mean many things for a author. In Laurell K. Hamilton's case: Her new mass paperback, Hit List, mines the beginnings of her Anita Blake series when she takes on Mommie Darkest, whose minions are killing were-tigers in Seattle. The biggest- baddie-of-all wants to possess Blake's body. There's more arse-kicking than rolling-between-the-sheets.

Perhaps Hamilton's greatest achievement here is how she weaves elements from her previous Blake books ... even the erotica ... to give Blake the tools she needs to come up with a satisfying ending. This book is leaner than the previous few in the series, and I liked how the action moved as many of the characters from previous adventures were woven into the plot. Of course, those who can't be named -- the Harl***in -- make almost invincible opponents until Blake brings her talents to bear ... and no, I don't mean her prowess in bed. 

Personally, I like Blake's sense that "god" is a non-judgemental being, who doesn't deny her/his help just because Blake doesn't follow a prescribed religion.

Hamilton also indicates the series will continue. One, an except of the hard back book , Kiss the Dead, is included. [I was pleased to see that Zerbrowski was featured in the first chapter, though he seemed more serious than before.] Two, Olaf, the serial killer with a fixation on Blake, escaped and disappeared with another victim.

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Have been struggling to produce more than 500 words a day, much of that rewrites. It's enough to make you wonder if you're doing the "right" thing. Like why am I doing all social networking stuff????

A blog by Yasmine Galenorn over at Life on the Fringe addresses much of that territory. Why not take a look at "Writing Tips: Just Do It". No hand holding here, just sound advice. You should be writing for yourself.

Then, there's L. M. Preston's blog on why she loves writing.

Writing and Social Networking

Do you wonder why you continue writing or social networking in spite of all the frustration and rejection? Is you answer among Pat Stoltey's reasons? Over at the Chiseled Rock, she listed Ten Things About Writing Most Writers Don't Love all of which is true. On the other hand, I'm feeling positive. All the projects I'm working on progress. Why do you persist in writing when so much can go haywire?

Why do I write?

My brain itches when I don't.

While you're thinking about why you're writing, a better question might be: Why are you blogging ... or fiddling with all the other forms of social networking. L. M. Preston did a blog on the benefits she finds in blogging. Can you say the same ... or is it a waste of time?  For a wider picture of how social networking scene can help a writer, check out Allison Pang's blog on the Buzzing of Bees.

Social networking and reading other writers' blogs can yield an unexpected chortle. Background, I've submitted my There Be Demons manuscript to a publisher, within which there is much swearing, mostly in Spanish. [Yeah, I swear as much in Spanish as I do in English, only I don't remember much Spanish, normally.]

Anyhow, while scanning through the opening hooks of my blog list, I discovered Amanda Bonilla's blog at Magic & Mayhem: The Nuances of Swearing. Seems to me that how a character swears would be a great way to delineate them from others in the story. Think what kind of girl would throw f-bombs right and left.

[My favorite expletive is sh*t, and has been since I changed my first child's first diaper at home.

Yeah, motherhood converted from the f-bomb.]

I wrote the above before I ended up in the hospital for 
exploratory surgery on a bleeding kidney.

End result. Best possible result from the kidney [no cancer cells found in biopsy], but I'm on a year watch to see if everything stays find. As usual, the hospital stay was worse than the surgery. Slowly, getting back to speed. Did get edits back to the publisher for Pat, the Pet -- a color-a-comic pre-primer.