greygirlbeast: (white)
Caitlín R. Kiernan ([personal profile] greygirlbeast) wrote2009-07-31 12:19 pm

"How sinister and how correct."

Today 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.

[identity profile] txtriffidranch.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
No copies at my local B&N yet, but I'm taking a look right after work tonight. In any case, I'll be ordering it from a friend's store (http://stjohnsbooks.com/), just to make sure that everybody wins.

(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?)
Edited 2009-07-31 17:54 (UTC)

[identity profile] timesygn.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I thought a lot yesterday about the proposition of doing a vampire novel. I even have a possible title ... 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.

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.

[identity profile] ardiril.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
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?

[identity profile] fortytricks.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Good afternoon, ma'am! I have pre-ordered The Red Tree and look forward to it. I'm generally not a commenter being pathologically shy, but I thought you might appreciate this idea from Alicia Dabney:
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

[identity profile] nykolus.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
i'm about to head out on my lunch break and pick up my copy of TRT. apparently, some barnes & nobles have them in stock already here in san antone...
and, i'm sorry, "PR template"?
good luck on the shoot!

[identity profile] ardiril.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Also, what is a vampire's biology? How does blood move from stomach to brain? Does a vampire freeze solid in winter?

Earlier this month you were talking of evolutionary fiction. I think this is your opportuntiy.
sovay: (PJ Harvey: crow)

[personal profile] sovay 2009-07-31 06:01 pm (UTC)(link)
I hope it's meeting with approval, this issue.

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)?

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
No copies at my local B&N yet, but I'm taking a look right after work tonight. In any case, I'll be ordering it from a friend's store, just to make sure that everybody wins.

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.

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)

The mere possibility that you are considering this floods me with tsunamis of psychotic joy.

Wow. ;-)

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)

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."

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)


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.

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:14 pm (UTC)(link)

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.

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:15 pm (UTC)(link)

and, i'm sorry, "PR template"?

"Paranormal template."

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)

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.

[identity profile] txtriffidranch.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Absolutely. It's a great book, but I'm afraid I'd just be hoarding it if I kept it. Do you want any more goodies when I send it off, and would Spooky want anything in particular from west of the Mississippi?

[identity profile] fortytricks.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh dear, that'll teach me to speak-I didn't notice it was friends locked.

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...

[identity profile] timesygn.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)
... if I do this, it will be filled with "real death."

And real sex. Please?

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)

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.

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)

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.

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow. Thanks.

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....
Edited 2009-07-31 18:24 (UTC)

[identity profile] timesygn.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Absolutely correct. The act of predation and the act of sex have been equated in both vampire "ecology" and the symbolism of vampire stories dating back to the beginning ...

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).

[identity profile] fornikate.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
The Dexter books aren't bad, imo. They start off a little weak, but the writing improves.

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
In your travels, you have no doubt bumped into folks who run around pretending to be actual vampires.

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.
Edited 2009-07-31 18:41 (UTC)

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)

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.

[identity profile] martianmooncrab.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
wasn't something wrong with portraying a serial killer as a "good guy,"

he probably has watched too much wrasslin' on teevee.

.. looking forwards to a non-sparkly vamp (that would be NSV then) story..

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)

he probably has watched too much wrasslin' on teevee.

No, I thing it was a snag thing.

[identity profile] nykolus.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 07:23 pm (UTC)(link)
i just picked up my copy from the B&N across the street and it smells loverly and looks great!!! i cannot wait to dive in!!!

[identity profile] fornikate.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 07:33 pm (UTC)(link)
I like a lot of blood, so I was sold.

[identity profile] gargirl.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Vampire story: If you write it, I'll buy it.

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.

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)


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.

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)


Thank you!

[identity profile] alvyarin.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Can you remind me Spooky's email? I'm behind in reading the digests, and didn't see number 44 OR number 43 in my inbox (I haven't had trouble receiving them until now). It is probably user error (on my end), but I want to make sure I don't miss anything!

Vampire novel

[identity profile] moto-chagatai.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Have you considered doing your vampire novel using the ones from the ghoul/deacon/cuckoo series?

[identity profile] robyn-ma.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
'I thought a lot yesterday about the proposition of doing a vampire novel. I even have a possible title.'

Motherfuck That Sparkly Vampire Shit, This Is the Real Shit, Motherfuckers, by Caitlín R. Kiernan. Pre-order now from Subterranean Press.

[identity profile] gargirl.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
LOL, oops Low "Read" Moon? I can't believe I did that...

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?)

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
(is it Aug. 4th yet?)

Apparently, that depends upon your geographic location (more than in the usual way).
Edited 2009-07-31 22:07 (UTC)

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)

crk_books(at)yahoo(com)

Re: Vampire novel

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)

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.

[identity profile] greygirlbeast.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)

Nope. Too long.
sovay: (PJ Harvey: crow)

[personal profile] sovay 2009-07-31 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Completely separate. I might let the vampire/s have silver eyes, as a nod, but that would be all.

I look forward to finding out what they are like, then.
ext_4772: (Scorpio)

[identity profile] chris-walsh.livejournal.com 2009-08-01 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
Fuck No To Sparklepires, Ya Fucks by Caitlin R. Kiernan. (The editing skills still work!)
ext_4772: (Good Omens)

[identity profile] chris-walsh.livejournal.com 2009-08-01 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
P.S.

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?

[identity profile] tinkbell.livejournal.com 2009-08-02 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I would read that motherfucking vampire book.