greygirlbeast | "Quell the rage that deeply seethes, the extremes of these devotions."

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: Enipeus Vallis
Current Music: VNV Nation, "Defiant"

Entry tags:

"Quell the rage that deeply seethes, the extremes of these devotions."

1. No idea why I'm using the cute Bjork icon the morning. I just couldn't seem to help myself.

2. Still happy about The Red Tree, A is for Alien, and "Galápagos" having all three landed on Locus Magazine's 2009 Recommended Reading List. It's always nice to know someone has noticed.

3. This morning, I awoke to a dusting of snow here in Providence. Maybe half an inch. We've had much less snow this winter than last.

4. Last night, Spooky and I celebrated her release from jury prison by binging on movies. First we watched Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock, which I found completely delightful. It's the sort of film that leaves me with nothing at all to complain about. And then we watched Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys again. It's a favorite, but both of us had only seen it twice ("Fuck the bozos!"). And speaking of movies, Geoffrey read me the Oscar nominations yesterday and I was...baffled. It's a baffling, and, at times, ridiculous list. But I am glad see Tarantino and Inglorious Basterds getting the attention it deserves, and I'm also rooting for Avatar, Up in the Air, A Simple Man, and a few others. And yeah, I did like District 9. I liked it a lot. But it's presence on the Oscar list still leaves me a bit perplexed.

5. Today, I finish pulling Sirenia Digest #50 together, and tonight, barring any unforeseen cataclysms, it will go out to subscribers.

6. There are few surer signs that's I'm not firing on all cylinders than discovering I've failed to get a set of revisions to an editor on time. Last night, I got an email from S.T. Joshi, wondering about my line edits to "Pickman's Other Model" (which will be appearing in Black Wings: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror from PS Publishing). And I thought, "I sent those." But no, I'd not. I made the edits, back on December 16th, but I never actually typed them up and emailed them to Joshi. It is likely now too late. Fortunately, it was all very minor stuff. But it is a warning from me to me, to get back on the ball.

7. Back on Sunday, Spooky bought a new coffee maker (I've not had a coffee maker since 2005). It has a single glowing blue eye, and I call it Hal (yes, even though the eye is blue). She also got a pillow, two pairs of pajama pants for me, and a new bath mat. Combine this with the gifts from her mom, and it's been an odd (but needed) shower of domesticity around here.

8. Remember how much I loathe the cover of The Red Tree? I first saw this video devoted to the evolution of the "tramp stamp" urban-fantasy cover a year or so ago, but Spooky came across it again last night, and I thought I'd share. It would be funny, if not for the damage this sort of drek has done my own books (or at least done my nerves and aesthetic sensibilities):

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

On the bright side, weremonkey and I love the cover and interiors of Alabaster (we have copy # L). Naifeh is a personal favorite.

On the bright side, weremonkey and I love the cover and interiors of Alabaster (we have copy # L). Naifeh is a personal favorite.

Thank you. Yes. I am so very happy with the all the art Ted did for Alabaster.

I didn't realize Alabaster came in a lettered edition. Was this not advertised or was I not paying attention?

I didn't realize Alabaster came in a lettered edition. Was this not advertised or was I not paying attention?

You know...now I am very fucking confused. The copy on my shelf is from the numbered edition, and Spooky can't recall, either. But if someone says they have "L"....

I'm going to look into this.

Yeah, it's stated right there on the signature page, 26 lettered copies. I never noticed. I definitely would have purchased the lettered edition had I known of it!

I think we have some in storage. We auctioned one, with a doll, back in Dec. 2006.

Hmmm, I may have to ask you very very nicely to some day take one out of storage for auction again ;)

What about A is for Alien or To Charles Fort, with Love? May I ask why those did not get the lettered edition treatment? I'm just curious, now that I think about it.

I am so very happy with the all the art Ted did for Alabaster.

Ted did a great job. His visual treatment is one of the reasons that I think the book could actually help sell a screenplay—that and the fact that it’s such a short book. I admit it’s only a slight edge, but it’s, you know, an edge. (Okay. I’ll shut up about it now.)

I’m reading The Red Tree (finally), and I keep wondering, “Where is Sarah’s witchy tramp stamp?”

I’m reading The Red Tree (finally), and I keep wondering, “Where is Sarah’s witchy tramp stamp?”

The woman on the cover was actually meant to be Constance, though it really looks like neither of them.

The woman on the cover was actually meant to be Constance, though it really looks like neither of them.

Is Constance the one with the tattoo then? I haven’t gotten to that part yet...

Joking aside, I am liking the book. The narrative is making me rethink my approach to the book I’m working on. When you started writing The Red Tree, did you begin with the fictional editor’s preface, or did you write that later? I guess what I’m asking is, did you have an agenda when you wrote the preface, and did you always know you were going to write it? Did the book fit the preface or the other way around?

Is Constance the one with the tattoo then?

Yes...and you would have thought they'd taken presence of a book with an actual tattoo to go with that sort of thing.

When you started writing The Red Tree, did you begin with the fictional editor’s preface, or did you write that later? I guess what I’m asking is, did you have an agenda when you wrote the preface, and did you always know you were going to write it? Did the book fit the preface or the other way around?

I wrote the preface first. Then Chapter One, and so on. It's pretty much the way I always write.

Edited 2010-02-03 22:13 (UTC)

I wrote the preface first. Then Chapter One, and so on. It's pretty much the way I always write.

Not I, said the fox. I always save stuff for later. Otherwise, I get hung up. But I figured you were going to say that.

Witchy tramp stamps are money. There is always the mass market paperback...

Not I, said the fox. I always save stuff for later. Otherwise, I get hung up. But I figured you were going to say that.

I know many, many good writers write books out of order. I just can't even imagine doing it that way.

There is always the mass market paperback...

It gets the very same cover. The layout has already been done.

I know many, many good writers write books out of order.

I’m choosing to take that as encouragement.

I've got several novel drafts lying around that I pick at occasionally, and sadly, the urban fantasy one gets the least attention, because as much as I love the book, I don't want to be a Tramp Stamp writer. (And because I don't want to be like Jim Butcher, begging people to go read my high fantasy at the end of the better selling-urban books.)

I don't want to be a Tramp Stamp writer.

It's hard to imagine that anyone does. But I suppose there must be authors who don't mind being perceived that way. Mostly I look at this as marketing pandering to readers who respond positively to the visual cues presented (i.e., readers with very poor taste).

In fairness, I will admit that I'm dependent on cover cues to find my guilty literary pleasure--old gothic romances. Without scantily clad women fleeing from houses with a single light in the window, I don't know where I'd be.

Without scantily clad women fleeing from houses with a single light in the window, I don't know where I'd be.

You could always scan a few pages of text....

I do that after I find the cover, to make sure the prose is purple enough.

You know, I was attracted to the Patricia Briggs' covers because the main character was an auto mechanic, not because of the tats, lol. But that was early on in this trend. Now my eyes just skim right over this type of cover and I move on. I KNOW a book can't always be judged by its cover but when one is browsing for a new read without the benefit of recommendations or other good info one has to cull the herd somehow.

That being said, I don't hate the tramp stamp covers as much as those awful photo covers of "hunky" guys with terrible fake tattoos and a woman draped all over him. Where do they find models that bland? They are like human velveeta.

They are like human velveeta.

Sorry. The phrase "human velveeta" seems perfectly suited to the tramp-stamp covers, as well. So far as I'm concerned.

Somehow the tramp stamp covers remind me more of that cheap processed American cheese food . . .the kind that they are too cheap to individually wrap, so it comes in a presliced, globby block. Each slice is supposed to be individual but it sure ain't easy to peel one away from another.

I seem to be into cheese today.

It may well be that I hate the photo-hunk covers more just because I'd rather look at generic female tramp-stamped behinds than photo-shopped male chests.

Sometimes I long for the old days when books were just covered in blue,, brown, or green cloth over cardboard and all you got was a title, author's name, and maybe a sketchy imprint of something in one corner of the front cover.

Sometimes I long for the old days when books were just covered in blue,, brown, or green cloth over cardboard and all you got was a title, author's name, and maybe a sketchy imprint of something in one corner of the front cover.

Yes, please.

I am swiping the phrase "human velvetta" if you don't mind. That is too good not to spread around. Especially in the SE.

Agreed.

Feel free. :-)

And I thought, "I sent those." But no, I'd not. I made the edits, back on December 16th, but I never actually typed them up and emailed them to Joshi. It is likely now too late. Fortunately, it was all very minor stuff. But it is a warning from me to me, to get back on the ball.

Oh gods, that just reminded me that I never did submit the piece I wrote for Veronica Cummer's To Fly By Night, the Craft of the Hedgewitch, which if I remember right, just closed its deadline around Candlemas -and I had it done a month ago, it just needed cleaning some typos! Damn damn damn. I need to get back on the ball too. Or a platypus to remind me of this stuff. Or something.

Or a platypus to remind me of this stuff.

My platypus is a useful monotreme.

I saw that video just this morning and practically held my breath hoping not to see the inappropriate covers of your books. Although I'll admit to the guilty pleasure of a trashy read now and then, I hadn't even heard of a lot of the books featured in the video. In defense of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series though, the back tattoo is a significant element of the story. But yes, the trend in covers is really disheartening, -especially- when used to push stories that don't really belong in that market! They're a major turn-off.

I saw that video just this morning and practically held my breath hoping not to see the inappropriate covers of your books.

I had the same reaction the first time I saw it.

In your trope-warping paranormal romance, you could have the character with a tramp stamp who then has to have it skinned from her body due to it corroding her soul: and by corroding her soul, I mean turning her into human velveeta. By their standards, actual character development probably counts as soul-corrosion.

If you could pull it off, you could draw the average consumer of such in for the first few chapters and then slowly, subtly force them to question everything they've ever known about their like for the genre, as well as a few new things they inexplicably find themselves drawn to after reading the book.

In your trope-warping paranormal romance, you could have the character with a tramp stamp who then has to have it skinned from her body due to it corroding her soul

Hmmmm....

If you could pull it off, you could draw the average consumer of such in for the first few chapters and then slowly, subtly force them to question everything they've ever known about their like for the genre, as well as a few new things they inexplicably find themselves drawn to after reading the book.

I think you're far more optimistic than am I.

Thinking back on it, the process would be something like "Derma Sutra" except the reader might not catch on until it's too late.

They'll go on reading vampire/werewolf slash-lite, but sometimes at night, they'll wake up in confusion, brains and bodies echoing with fading images of desires they'd not heretofore considered. They'd go through the day a little unsatisfied, not quite knowing why, until they think back to that book they read...

They'll go on reading vampire/werewolf slash-lite, but sometimes at night, they'll wake up in confusion, brains and bodies echoing with fading images of desires they'd not heretofore considered. They'd go through the day a little unsatisfied, not quite knowing why, until they think back to that book they read...

Again...more optimistic than me.

Still happy about The Red Tree, A is for Alien, and "Galápagos" having all three landed on Locus Magazine's 2009 Recommended Reading List.

I think that's reasonable!

I'm not used to having something to smile about in the morning.

So -- did you break your record for not leaving the house??

So -- did you break your record for not leaving the house??

I set it today (11). If I can make it one more day, I'll break it.

Well, all the best and congratulations, for whatever you decide to do with it tomorrow! :)

yes, even though the eye is blue

its a contact, wait until Hal gets the slitty animal eye one.

...and I need to see 12 Monkeys again.

I personally don't get the idea of a tramp stamp tattoo in the first place. For me, tattoos are highly spiritual. I got mine to mark something and to (symbolically) write the memory into my skin. To me, having them where I can't see them without being a contortionist or involving mirrors reduces the impact.

(I only have 2 tattoos and am probably not going to get another one. I can't see a need that strong popping up again.)

I've heard that rib tattoos are becoming the new tramp stamp, though.

I personally don't get the idea of a tramp stamp tattoo in the first place.

I honestly don't believe this is the sort of thing anyone put a great deal of thought into. Tattoo = edgy, if you're the sort of person who would never do anything more edgy than read a crappy paranormal romance with a tramp-stamp cover. Marketing finds one image they believe to effective in selling books (that it actually is effective can never be proven), and then they grind out multitudinous permutations of it.

As to why the ink usually appears on the woman's back, my theory would be that marketing understands most of its customers are female, and hopes female books buyers interpret the covers as a weird sort of faux-empowerment message. If you show the front, on the other hand, there's the danger of frightening off women who might feel that buying a book with frontal female semi-nudity could cause them to be perceived as lesbians...

Edited 2010-02-03 22:21 (UTC)

Oh noes! Lesbians! Better put a big shirtless man with ripply abs on the cover, too! Oi :)

I just read "Galapagos" last night in Eclipse Three. Really, really well done! The whole anthology has been great.

Really, really well done!

Thank you!

See, tattoos aren't edgy to me at all. I have a family full of Navy and Army people. We spent a good part of the day during the week or so we were up in Maine for my grandmother's funeral chatting and telling stories about our individual tattoos. It was pretty hilarious. (Even my mom has more tattoos than I have. She has like.. 6 or so, last I remember.)

I think it's probably more that the marketing company is hoping that the female buyers will put themselves into the book too. The tramp stamp indicates a life that's a helluva lot more interesting than the crappy lives that people who read those books are escaping.

(I can't really hold myself up as holier than thou when comparing myself to them, though. I don't exactly engage in the heaviest of reading all the time. I end up reading a lot of YA fantasy, since that's about all my brain can process on a regular basis. Yay, fibro.)

We spent a good part of the day

Er.. A good part of a day.

I'll learn to make sense some day, I swear.

You may not see them as edgy (I don't either), but the average B&N/Wal-Mart shopper does, especially in a given context and combined with crossbows and whatnot.

And yes, the marketers are certainly hoping that the readers will want to live vicariously through literary figures perceived to be far more interesting than themselves.

Edited 2010-02-03 23:03 (UTC)

Out of curiosity, because you've written so freaking much: I'm seeing your stuff with anthologies that are invitation-only for submissions...like Eclipse is now. I'm trying to build a cosmology here, so I know where to build my ladder. Is it normal practice to get to a point in your career where people are approaching you as a successful writer more than you need to approach them for publishing short stories? Does that wheel ever start turning the other way? Congrats on your latest success!

~Jacob

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Quell the rage that deeply seethes, the extremes of these devotions."

Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

Re: Cover art

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

LOL

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject