"How sinister and how correct."
Jul. 31st, 2009 12:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greygirlbeastToday is mostly going to be a day off, though there are a few work things to which I must attend. We shoot most of the book trailer (for The Red Tree) in Boston on Sunday, and I have to be clear headed for that. So, a brief rest will hopefully help out.
Congratulations to the winner of the Very Special eBay auction. And thanks.
When I opened my Twitter account on June 18th, I set a personal goal of gaining 1,000 followers by July 31st. As of this moment, I have 1,762. And it does seem to have proven itself a useful marketing tool, as well as quite a bit of fun, so I suppose this means that Rachel has now moved beyond the experimental phase.
For those of you following the gradual presentation of evidence at the website, a new piece was added last night. Plate XIX. Might want to check it out.
Sirenia Digest #44 went out to subscribers late last night, after our third trip to the Geek Squad in Warwick (Spooky's laptop now has a shiny new hd). I hope it's meeting with approval, this issue. "January 28, 1926" pretty much counts as another bit of evidence, by the way. Comments always welcome.
I thought a lot yesterday about the proposition of doing a vampire novel. I even have a possible title. The trick would be to manage to write a vampire novel that is at least as good and at least as mature as The Red Tree. Likely, I would draw upon New England vampire lore as a starting point, Mercy Brown and the rest. It would have to stray nowhere near the whole PR template. It would also have to be somewhat original, thus justifying the writing of yet another vampire novel, without relying too heavily on some gimmicky plot device or another. The idea is not merely to offer an alternative to the horde of cheesy PR vampire stories, but to create a novel that has a reason for being that is all its own. So, I'm thinking. I'm going to speak to my agent about this next week.
Last night, Spooky and I finished watching Season One of Dexter. We started when it was new, but stopped for one reason or another. Anyway, we're hooked. I think Michael C. Hall pushes my buttons the same way that Zachary Quinto does. We've not read any of Jeff Lindsay's novels, so my impressions of the show are based entirely on the show itself. Mostly, it brought back a rather lame comment from a ReaderCon panel. The "Is Fiction Inherently Evil" thing. Some guy wanted to know if there wasn't something wrong with portraying a serial killer as a "good guy," and wasn't it an utterly ludicrous and I almost said, "What about Batman?" and "You know we're talking sf and fantasy, right? We're talking about orcs and demons, and you think a serial killer who only kills murderers is too fantastic a premise?" But I was quite and didn't say any of that. Now, having watched Season One, I'm struck by the parallels between Dexter and certain superheros, especially Batman, especially in his original Detective Comics incarnation, and then later on, with Frank Miller's work. Which I find very interesting. Anyway, we'll start watching Season Two tonight, I expect.
But this is a day off, so I should wrap this entry up. Please do order a copy of The Red Tree, if you've not already, or check your local bookshop to see if they've already shelved copies of the novel. Thanks.
Congratulations to the winner of the Very Special eBay auction. And thanks.
When I opened my Twitter account on June 18th, I set a personal goal of gaining 1,000 followers by July 31st. As of this moment, I have 1,762. And it does seem to have proven itself a useful marketing tool, as well as quite a bit of fun, so I suppose this means that Rachel has now moved beyond the experimental phase.
For those of you following the gradual presentation of evidence at the website, a new piece was added last night. Plate XIX. Might want to check it out.
Sirenia Digest #44 went out to subscribers late last night, after our third trip to the Geek Squad in Warwick (Spooky's laptop now has a shiny new hd). I hope it's meeting with approval, this issue. "January 28, 1926" pretty much counts as another bit of evidence, by the way. Comments always welcome.
I thought a lot yesterday about the proposition of doing a vampire novel. I even have a possible title. The trick would be to manage to write a vampire novel that is at least as good and at least as mature as The Red Tree. Likely, I would draw upon New England vampire lore as a starting point, Mercy Brown and the rest. It would have to stray nowhere near the whole PR template. It would also have to be somewhat original, thus justifying the writing of yet another vampire novel, without relying too heavily on some gimmicky plot device or another. The idea is not merely to offer an alternative to the horde of cheesy PR vampire stories, but to create a novel that has a reason for being that is all its own. So, I'm thinking. I'm going to speak to my agent about this next week.
Last night, Spooky and I finished watching Season One of Dexter. We started when it was new, but stopped for one reason or another. Anyway, we're hooked. I think Michael C. Hall pushes my buttons the same way that Zachary Quinto does. We've not read any of Jeff Lindsay's novels, so my impressions of the show are based entirely on the show itself. Mostly, it brought back a rather lame comment from a ReaderCon panel. The "Is Fiction Inherently Evil" thing. Some guy wanted to know if there wasn't something wrong with portraying a serial killer as a "good guy," and wasn't it an utterly ludicrous and I almost said, "What about Batman?" and "You know we're talking sf and fantasy, right? We're talking about orcs and demons, and you think a serial killer who only kills murderers is too fantastic a premise?" But I was quite and didn't say any of that. Now, having watched Season One, I'm struck by the parallels between Dexter and certain superheros, especially Batman, especially in his original Detective Comics incarnation, and then later on, with Frank Miller's work. Which I find very interesting. Anyway, we'll start watching Season Two tonight, I expect.
But this is a day off, so I should wrap this entry up. Please do order a copy of The Red Tree, if you've not already, or check your local bookshop to see if they've already shelved copies of the novel. Thanks.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 05:53 pm (UTC)(By the way, I'm getting another package ready to send your way, and one of my strange acquisitions is the book Dinosaurs of Italy by Cristiano Dal Sasso (Indiana University Press, 2004). Do you have any interest, or should I hang onto it?)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:09 pm (UTC)Thanks!
(By the way, I'm getting another package ready to send your way, and one of my strange acquisitions is the book Dinosaurs of Italy by Cristiano Dal Sasso (Indiana University Press, 2004). Do you have any interest, or should I hang onto it?)
Actually, it's been on my Amazon wishlist for a year or two, if you really want to part with it.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:24 pm (UTC)Do you want any more goodies when I send it off, and would Spooky want anything in particular from west of the Mississippi?
Nothing we can think of....
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 05:53 pm (UTC)The mere possibility that you are considering this floods me with tsunamis of psychotic joy.
Should you proceed, the result would no doubt be magisterial.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:09 pm (UTC)The mere possibility that you are considering this floods me with tsunamis of psychotic joy.
Wow. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:00 pm (UTC)Earlier this month you were talking of evolutionary fiction. I think this is your opportuntiy.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:12 pm (UTC)Earlier this month you were talking of evolutionary fiction. I think this is your opportunity.
Nope. This would be a thoroughly supernatural vampire novel. No sf trappings.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:11 pm (UTC)One thought I had yesterday when first reading the vampire novel idea is that virtually no one handles dying and death in a realistic manner. How quick is death from a severed jugular? Does that form of death have its own death spasm?
Well, if I do this, it will be filled with "real death."
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:22 pm (UTC)And real sex. Please?
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:23 pm (UTC)And real sex. Please?
Well, there would be sex. Though, I continue to maintain that for a vampire the act of sex and the act of feeding have become one.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:35 pm (UTC)In your travels, you have no doubt bumped into folks who run around pretending to be actual vampires. They are exorcising (in my opinion) their own fears about blood, sex and death by "taking the cape" (as it were).
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:40 pm (UTC)I have. No problem w/blood play or vampirism as a fetish. It's the I'm a psychic vampire" people who make me roll my eyes.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 05:54 pm (UTC)http://alicia-stardust.livejournal.com/493795.html
You can see some of her very lovely work here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=10009
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:14 pm (UTC)I love when lurkers delurk.
That first link won't work for me. I get a "Forbidden access" page. Pretty stuff on the Etsy page, though.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:19 pm (UTC)Basically, she's making necklaces, the focal pieces of which will be little metal tags that say "Real Vampires Don't Sparkle". I'm sure her design will be both pretty and clever.
I feel a fool for sending you to locked entry though...
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:22 pm (UTC)Basically, she's making necklaces, the focal pieces of which will be little metal tags that say "Real Vampires Don't Sparkle". I'm sure her design will be both pretty and clever.
Nice.
I feel a fool for sending you to locked entry though...
No problem.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 05:56 pm (UTC)and, i'm sorry, "PR template"?
good luck on the shoot!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:15 pm (UTC)and, i'm sorry, "PR template"?
"Paranormal template."
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 07:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 08:12 pm (UTC)Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:01 pm (UTC)I think it's one of the best. "January 28, 1926" is a wonderful curiosity.
The trick would be to manage to write a vampire novel that is at least as good and at least as mature as The Red Tree.
Would it be a yellow-house story or entirely separate (or Panthalassa knows as it goes along)?
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:16 pm (UTC)I think it's one of the best. "January 28, 1926" is a wonderful curiosity.
Thank you!
Would it be a yellow-house story or entirely separate (or Panthalassa knows as it goes along)?
Completely separate. I might let the vampire/s have silver eyes, as a nod, but that would be all.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 11:23 pm (UTC)I look forward to finding out what they are like, then.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:42 pm (UTC)The Dexter books aren't bad, imo. They start off a little weak, but the writing improves.
I'm just not very interested in mysteries and crime/thrillers.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 07:06 pm (UTC)he probably has watched too much wrasslin' on teevee.
.. looking forwards to a non-sparkly vamp (that would be NSV then) story..
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 07:16 pm (UTC)he probably has watched too much wrasslin' on teevee.
No, I thing it was a snag thing.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 07:49 pm (UTC)I am well and truly hooked. Low Read Moon might still be my favorite, but Daughter of Hounds was excellent and so was Alabaster. I am about to start A is for Alien.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 08:11 pm (UTC)I am well and truly hooked. Low Read Moon might still be my favorite, but Daughter of Hounds was excellent and so was Alabaster. I am about to start A is for Alien.
Excellent.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 09:41 pm (UTC)Low Red Moon is my favorite, so far, for some reason I have a feeling The Red Tree might steal my heart away. Not that I have a lot of specific ideas about it, it's just somewhere between the little plot synopsis and the evidence section of the website something has me seriously interested in this character I've never met before. Unusual for me. ^_^ (is it Aug. 4th yet?)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 10:07 pm (UTC)Apparently, that depends upon your geographic location (more than in the usual way).
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 09:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 10:08 pm (UTC)crk_books(at)yahoo(com)
Vampire novel
Date: 2009-07-31 09:31 pm (UTC)Re: Vampire novel
Date: 2009-07-31 10:08 pm (UTC)Have you considered doing your vampire novel using the ones from the ghoul/deacon/cuckoo series?
That whole world is something I want to move away from for a while.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 09:40 pm (UTC)Motherfuck That Sparkly Vampire Shit, This Is the Real Shit, Motherfuckers, by Caitlín R. Kiernan. Pre-order now from Subterranean Press.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 10:09 pm (UTC)Nope. Too long.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-01 01:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-01 01:04 am (UTC)I suppose this means that Rachel has now moved beyond the experimental phase.
And it has been fun. Here's to it keeping fun! I've been having fun with mine, too.
Did Neil tell you he was going to do that "You should follow CRK" message?
no subject
Date: 2009-08-02 09:22 pm (UTC)