True Blood vs Southern Vampire Mysteries Throwdown #3

(I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the fabulous Laird at Memphis McKay has totally overhauled my website (www.livrancourt.com) and it's new and amazing and I love it. The part I have mixed feelings about is that we've built a new blog on the website, and I'll be leaving Blogger behind. Please check out my new site, and if you're one of the lovely Rancourtesans who has been following through Google, you can easily hook up the RSS feed or email to the new site. I'll be posting here for the next couple weeks to allow time for the transition. Thanks so very much!)

Good morning, my lovely Rancourtesans. I'm sitting at a Starbucks on the shores of the lovely Lake Chelan, trying to get a quick blog post done before the husband comes to full consciousness and decides it's time to pack the motor home and go home.
:(
Today is the third post in the True Blood vs Southern Vampire Mysteries throw-down. If you've been playing along, you'll remember that Kristin McFarland and I have been sharing posts for the last couple weeks - she provides excellent and thought-provoking insights on True Blood, and I cover the written series. In the first post we talked in broad strokes about our likes and dislikes (check it on on her blog HERE) and last week we sliced and diced Sookie (on my blog HERE).

This week's post is back on Kristin's blog. I'm going to share the first bit to whet your appetite and give you a link so you can jump over to see the rest of the post. And if you're here from the AvD blog hop, welcome. I couldn't figure out the sticky thing, but my demon-loving post is HERE.
Y'all have a great day!
Peace,
Liv

LR: Which brings up the subject of Pam. Of all the casting choices Alan Ball made, she’s my least favorite, because the book Pam was more like Alice In Wonderland with fangs. She’s also Sookie’s only vampire friend. What do you think of Pam? Is she a friend to Sookie?

KM: NO. She is not Sookie’s friend. I think I can say that pretty emphatically. I like Pam a lot (I think she’s hilarious, and a friend once told me I look like her, so that gives me a soft spot for her), but she’s definitely Eric’s henchwoman. She repeatedly gets pissed at Eric for putting the pair of them in danger on Sookie’s behalf. She’s definitely an ‘us-versus-the-world’ kind of gal....

Now go HERE to check out the rest of the post. We get Eric into blue and pink lycra...just sayin'...

...and the demons who loved them.

Welcome to my stop on the ANGELS Vs DEMONS Blog Hop...

















Why demons?

Why not vampires or zombies or other form or paranormal baddie?

Got two words for that one: Pure Evil.

See, a vampire might accidentally drain a human, which is a bad thing, but they're essentially predators, so killing humans is kind of what they do. Nothing personal, right? And zombies need brains to survive. The fact that those brains are stuck on human shoulders is just our bad luck.

But what is a demon, exactly? Wikipedia says, "In Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, calling for an exorcism."

These are NOT the good guys, and they really don't have any excuse for their behavior. They exist solely to make trouble, and they're pretty good at it. Anyone who has seen The Exorcist knows what I'm talking about.

Now some paranormal authors have deliberately diluted the absolute evil possessed by the traditional demon, making them closer to naughty-bad-boy characters. Aliagarept, the demon Rachel Morgan works with in The Hollows series, is way more complicated and interesting than any one-note bad guy I can think of. He does what it takes to get what he wants - although not always successfully, which is a good thing for Rachel.

So if you're casting around for a character who needs to be bad, but without the baggage of a vampire, the fur of a shifter, and the, well, yuck factor of a zombie, consider creating a demon. They're intelligent and cruel and absolutely selfish. Hmm, sounds like some of the men I dated...

And while you're at it, leave a comment describing your favorite demon character. I'll be giving away a $5 Amazon gift card to one commenter, and there will be a couple of grand-prizes for the blog hop as a whole - one Kindle Touch and one $60 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Leave a comment here and then peruse the list of participating blogs below. The more you visit, the more chances you have to win!

And if you're ambitious, click the link to see my brand new webpage www.livrancourt.com. I'll do a second drawing for a $5 Amazon gift card for those who use the 'contact me' feature on the webpage and tell me they came from the Angels & Demons blog hop.

She’s a quiet, unassuming bookstore owner by day, but by

night...

Kristen has a deadly secret—when she smells a vampire, she

turns into Jai, a beauti-licious babe who makes vamps

permanently dead. To a vamp, Jai is like ambrosia. They can’t

resist her. She uses this attraction, plus her super strength and

her trusty blade, Mr. Sticky, to end their undead lives. The thrill

of wearing miniskirts without worrying about cellulite stifles

any qualms Kristen might have about killing the undead. Being

Jai is the most fun she has ever had—until they come up

against the one vampire Jai can’t kill. If he and Jai have a history,

as he claims, Jai can’t remember it...or him.

But when her work catches the attention of some old

enemies—who won’t hesitate to destroy Kristen if it also

means the end of Jai—this vampire may be their only hope.

Can Kristen and Jai learn to tell the difference between good

and evil in time to defeat Jai’s ancient nemesis? Or will being

Jai’s hostess cost Kristen more than just her beauty sleep?

Available from Black Opal Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Bonded By Crimson ... with Zrinka Jelic

(To start off with today, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the lovely Laird at Memphis McKay has totally overhauled my website (www.livrancourt.com) and it's new and fabulous and I love it. The part I have mixed feelings about is that we've built a new blog on the website, and I'll be leaving Blogger behind. Please check out my new site, and if you're one of the lovely Rancourtesans who has been following through Google, you can easily hook up the RSS feed or email to the new site. I'll be posting here for the next couple weeks to allow time for the transition. Thanks so very much!)

And now I'm excited to welcome today's guest, Black Opal Books author Zrinka Jelic. Her book, Bonded By Crimson, is a lovely paranormal romance, and though I'm only half finished with it, I can tell you that the exotic locations and European charm  make it a really fun read. Check out my interview with Zrinka, and below that, a blurb for Bonded By Crimson.

 

LR: What’s the most compelling thing about your most recent project, the thing that’s kept your butt in the chair through hours of writing and revising?

ZJ: The heroine in my work in progress (wip) is a single, self-sufficient, career oriented woman. So when she returns from a business trip and finds a husband and a couple of kids at home, needless to say she’s in state of shock. Though she is instantly attracted to him and starts to get feelings for the kids, at first she thinks he’s an intruder and tries to kick him out, but everything and everyone proves they are a married couple. In her single life she is promiscuous and when she comes on too strong, her husband will refuse her, and consequently punish her by denying her what he wants (he’s a bit of a Dom and loves to play teasing games). But when her reward time comes, it will be earth shattering.  (LR: COOL!)

LR: If you had to recommend one writing resource, either a class or a book or a workshop, what would that be? What’s had the most impact on your work?

ZJ:  I read a few books on how to write a book and I can compare them to those parenting books. Both made me feel guilty. The parenting books, because I used disposable diapers over cloth, because I used store bought wipes, when a moistened cloth would do, for sticking a pacifier in my baby’s mouth. The book writing books for not plotting and laying the hero’s journey and character’s arc down. For not drafting every scene in detail. I tried all of that, and felt silly to say the least and not to mention that I never referred back to it. But the books did point other things that I used in my writing, just doing the exercises made me feel like I’m wasting my time.

As far as workshops and classes, I can honestly say not every workshop is created the same, even if they have same name. As a FFnP class moderator, I see any editing class fill up quickly. And it comes down to the instructor. Are they going to assign homework and give feedback on it? Are the lessons clear and easy to understand? Instructors who don’t ask for works to be submitted, usually have low enrollment in their classes. People want feedback, something they can learn from. I’ve taken a moth long, highly acclaimed editing workshop and got nothing out of it. 

LR: Fantasy or reality? Most people lean one way or the other in their work. Do you have a preference, or do you swing both ways?

ZJ: I tend to swing towards reality and mix fantasy elements with it. I like to throw ordinary character in an extraordinary situation. When mischievous faeries, playful angels, mysterious vamps and other immortals pull the life strings, it is interesting to see how my characters will cope.(LR: LOVE IT!)

LR: Clutter or quiet? Which one makes it possible for you to be creative? Describe your perfect writing situation.

ZJ: Definitely, quiet.  And tidy. Though it’s hard with kids at home. Once I went to work at Starbucks, but couldn’t. Every time barista called someone’s order of extra grande-vendi-something something … I’d lose my train of thought.  Frothing from the machine didn’t help either.

LR: How to you juggle all your hats (spouse, parent, worker-bee, housekeeper, writer)?

ZJ: Well, for now I’m staying-at-home-mom so at least I don’t have to rush off to work in the morning and put in 8 plus hours. But that will change once my little one starts school next fall. Still, it is a balancing act, and especially if you have three people make mess and only one who cleans. Some days, writing is the last thing I do before the bed. But I have to put down at least a few words. I envy those who write thousands of words per day, but I just read a blog where the author says the real craft takes slow simmer and lots of stirring, or it will come out lumpy and mushy. There is truth in those words. I cannot rush a good thing. 

LR: What’s your favorite non-writing activity? Like, are you a closet marathon runner? Could you crochet a house-cozy if you had to?

ZJ: My favorite non-writing activity is working out in the gym, or jogging outside. I try to squeeze a workout per day, but I consider myself lucky if I get to work out three times in a week. I don’t crochet, but I can knit, though I haven’t done that in a long time. 

LR: Football, basketball, baseball or soccer? Which one gets your blood moving the fastest – or is there another sport you prefer?

ZJ: At the moment it’s soccer with UEFA 2012 even if Croatia lost against Spain in the last game. I’m not a big sports fan and thanks god neither is my hubby. If I watch any sports it’s because either Croatian team is playing, or it’s artistic like figure skating. 

LR: What’s next on your horizon? Describe your current WIP(s) or other upcoming project.

ZJ: I mentioned one of my current WIP(s) above. I have another one on the back burner. It’s a prequel to Bonded by Crimson that’s about half done, but other ideas keep coming to me so that one kind of ends up pushed aside. I’m determined to finish it, no matter what. It’s the question of when not if. And I also have a finished story, my very first one, that I call “my training wheels” where I made every beginners mistake. It is my intention to go back to it and redo. It needs lots of editing like new main characters since I recycled them, but I’m ready for it. 

Thanks for playing along today, Zrinka. I'm lovin' your book, and look forward to whatever you come up with next!

Peace,

Liv

 

Bonded By Crimson is available from Black Opal Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

 

Love isn’t in the cards for her…

After her short failed marriage, Kate tries to rebuild her life and takes a position as a nanny to three small boys. She quickly grows to love them, but their father, terrifies her, while igniting a passion she didn’t know she possessed. Disturbed by his distant manner with his sons, Kate struggles to make him more involved in the boys’ daily lives. Her efforts are mysteriously supported by an entity that cannot really exist. Or can she? And if she does exist, is she really trying to help Kate, or just take over her body?

But when he deals the hand, all bets are off…

Six years after his beloved wife passed away, Matthias is still trying to become the father she wanted him to be. Not an easy task for a three-centuries-old immortal. His search for the ultimate nanny ends when Kate Rokov stumbles to his home and into his arms. The immediate attraction he feels for her seems like a betrayal of his dead wife, a love he’s harboured for over three hundred years. But when Kate is stalked by a deadly stranger, life he clung to in the past begins to crumble and break down. Can Matthias learn to trust and to love again in time to save his family from disaster, or will his stubborn pride destroy everything worth living for?

Guest Posts

I've written a number of blog posts lately. What, you ask? Where are they? You haven't seen them here?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're right. I've been guest blogging all over the place, and since I couldn't get my act together to write an additional post for my own blog, I'm doing a mash-up of my recent guest posts in hopes that you'll check them out if you haven't already...

Last Friday I had a post on Kristin McFarland's blog, writing about Steampunk & Corsets, in which I pose the question, "Is the corset a symbol of oppression, or a sign of liberated self-expression?"
Sounds serious, don't it?

Then on Sunday, I was at Dawn's Reading Nook, complaining about sex scenes. Actually, I was complaining about badly written...oh, never mind. Check it out for yourself.

 (And no, I don't have a picture to illustrate my sex scenes rant. Sorry...)

And finally, yesterday I had a guest post on Denise Moncrief's blog, Suspense, She Writes. This one describes my cunning plan for getting work done during the summer months when computer-competition heats up to Olympian levels.

So that's what I've been up to.  What have you been doing? Please share in the comments...
Peace,
Liv

Photo credits:
Olympic Logo http://www.logostage.com/logo/olympic/#.T-nKv_W_Ovw
Steampunk Ladies  (from Etsy)

Southern Vampire Mysteries vs. True Blood #2

So as you may remember from last week, the very cool Kristin McFarland and I have cooperated on a series of blog posts comparing and contrasting True Blood with the books the show is based on, The Southern Vampire Mysteries. We're alternating blogs - last week's post was on her blog, with just a teaser on mine. You can find the whole post here. 

Now this week, we take on Sookie. I'm going to get out of the way and pick the conversation up where last week's post left it...

LR: I noticed in your comments that you cite Alan Ball’s vision and Eric…I mean, and “the sexy men”, as reasons for watching the show. You managed to NOT mention the main character. What’s up with you and Sookie? Is she too Mary Sue for you?

KM:
That’s interesting! You may convince me to read the books through yet. Part of what turns me off about the show is the continual darkness. It’s just so… grim. Anyway, that’s probably a topic for another question. Sookie does bother me a bit. Wikipedia says a Mary Sue is “a character whose positive aspects overwhelm their other traits until they become one-dimensional,” and that describes Sookie. She’s kind, she’s sassy, she’s hot, she’s loving… She’s everything. The trouble is, she’s just so trusting and naïve, at least at the beginning of the show, that she drives me up the wall. She wouldn’t end up in half the dangerous situations she does if she would just question the motives of the people around her. She’s so busy trying to save everyone, though, that she never really holds them accountable for their actions.

On the other hand, maybe that’s part of her charm, like Rose on Doctor Who. Just when you think she’s the blandest person ever, she’ll go and hug some supernatural creature most of us would run away from. It’s both her greatest strength and her weakness, but maybe I’m not sentimental enough to identify with or love that trait.

Her relationships with the men in the show trouble me, too, and I could probably write a whole blog post about that… Oh, wait, I have, haven’t I? Three of them! It seems to me, though, that she’s part of an insidious fantasy trope that places trusting, innocent, sweet women in juxtaposition with a secretive, violent man. Sookie’s almost the archetype for that: she has power, but she’s afraid to use it, and I hate to see that in a female protagonist.

What about book-Sookie makes her a strong enough character to carry a first-person, twelve-book series? There has to be something there.

LR: Ah, Sookie…she’s every girl with a twist. For a look at the essential Sookie, you have to read Club Dead. She starts out getting dumped by Bill, which is one of the saddest break-up scenes I’ve ever read. Then she finds out Bill has apparently been kidnapped (vampire-napped?) and Eric proposes that she travel to Mississippi to rescue him.  She agrees because it’s the right thing to do, and because part of her wants a chance to tell Bill off.  Eric arranges for Alcide to travel with her – a situation Eric later comes to regret because of the chemistry between them, but that’s for another essay.

There are two scenes in Club Dead that really illustrate her personality (spoiler alert!). First, she gets badly injured in a bar fight and taken to the home of the vampire King of Mississippi. There’s a guy there who can heal her, but it’s gonna hurt. Eric has turned up and says he’ll take the pain away but she has to give up control. See, one of the things that vampires find so intriguing about Sookie is that they can’t control her mind the way they do with other humans. She lets him help her, and then, after the healing’s done, almost gives in to his other, more romantic, demand. In the nick of time they get interrupted by Bubba, the Elvis Vampire, who points out that Mr. Bill would likely be unhappy to find Mr. Eric laying on top of Miss Sookie.  Sookie gets a handle on herself and pushes Eric away.

This is perfect Charlaine Harris, pushing you to the brink with her characters, then pulling away with a dose of humor. I still giggle every time I read it. The later scene doesn’t have the humor but is no less satisfying. It’s the last scene in the book, when after a hugely traumatic stretch of werewolf attacks and evil Debbie Pelt experiences, they get back to Bon Temps. Both Bill and Eric are in Sookie’s house, and she’s mad at both of them, so she rescinds their invitations, forcing them both to leave. There’s some fire under that bouncy ponytail, and she lets them have it.

In re-reading your analysis of the TV Sookie, I’d say that I don’t think the book Sookie is naïve and trusting as much as she is lonely. She lived a lot of years with everyone around her thinking she was crazy, and now she’s found a community of people who look at her differences and see strength instead of weirdness. She couldn’t date a human, because she’d always know what he REALLY thought of her outfit. Then she meets Bill, and not only can she relax around him because she can’t read his thoughts, he teaches her how to shield which gives her peace of mind around the rest of the world. She’s not a complete pushover, but she does enjoy being around men who think she’s got something to offer. And supernatural women like her, too….

Which brings up the subject of Pam. Of all the casting choices Alan Ball made, she’s my least favorite, because the book Pam was more like Alice In Wonderland with fangs. She’s also Sookie’s only vampire friend. What do you think of Pam? Is she a friend to Sookie?

'Kay gang, you'll have to check back next week to see what Kristin & I think of Pam. Thanks for playing along.

Peace,

Liv

Photo credit:  http://www.tvfanatic.com/gallery/anna-paquin-as-sookie-stackhouse/

Friday Fun: Double 7's

 

So today I'm back with a Lucky 7 post. I've been tagged twice recently (therefore the double 7s in the title) and I'm going to work it to my advantage. You'll see.

Now, about the people who tagged me... First was Loni Flowers, a writer I met through Triberr, who blogs at Loni Flowers - Author and whose book Taking Chances is available on Smashwords and Amazon. I haven't read Loni's book yet, but I'll tell ya, I had to take the adult content filter off at Smashwords to get to the link. Just sayin'  ;)

And just this week, I was tagged in a Lucky 7 Facebook post by Clover Autrey.  Clover's a Texan, and I met her through the WANATribe network. She blogs here and her new book, Highland Sorcerer, is currently on sale for $0.99 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It looks like an awesome read...

There are rules to this Lucky 7 thing. I'm not going to follow them, exactly, but if I was, here's what I would do:

Post seven lines from an unpublished work of fiction:

Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript (fiction or non-fiction)
Go to line 7
Post the next 7 lines or sentences on your blog as they are (no cheating, please!)
Tag 7 other authors to do the same

 

I mean, those are fine rules, and I'll be really close to what they say. Anywhoodle, because I'm playing Double 7's, I'm going to share snippets of two different works. The first is from a short story I wrote late last year, The Santa Drag that was in the anthology Christmas Treats: Santa's Nice List. Then (and this is the exciting part) I'm going to share a snippet from the SEQUEL, a short story that'll be coming out in the next week or so called The Ring Toss. So see, I've got Something Old and Something New, which is terrifically appropriate, because the name of the new anthology is Something Borrowed, Something Blue.

Clever, huh?

 

So here's the first Lucky 7 snippet, from The Santa Drag. Mack's an unemployed 30-something actress in Seattle who takes a gig playing Santa in the mall because it's the only thing she can find that'll pay the rent. Things are okay until the day HE walks in, Joe McBride, the only guy she ever really loved. He moved to LA and now he's semi-famous with a regular role on that TV show that shouldn't have been cancelled and a speaking part in Scream - 2. Mack's in trouble now...

 

“Ho-ho-ho,” I said, suddenly much louder than before.

After that, time separated itself into layers. The bottom layer rolled past like lava, slow and thick, while the top layer slid by with irregular spurts of speed. The line-up of kids waiting to see Santa didn’t seem to be moving, and then Joe and his kids would be eight or ten feet closer to the gate that separated the Christmas Village from the rest of the mall. I tried not to look at him, because I didn’t want him to think I was some kind of Creepy-Kringle. As time went on, I realized he wasn’t really seeing me at all. He was occupied keeping his kids entertained, and I was just some old dude in a costume.

 

The Santa Drag 

 This shopping mall Santa has secrets only her true love can reveal.

 

And now for the sneak peek at The Ring Toss. Fast forward three years and Mack's in LA, living with Joe and doing the struggling actress thing. She still has commitment issues which get brought front and center when a last-minute switch has her playing The Bride on stage. Can she get over her own fears in time to be a hit?

(Did I mention that the maid-of-honor in this production is played by Joe's ex-fiance? Awkward. This snippet happens as Mack & Geneva get ready to rehearse...)

 

“And he’s forty.”

“She’ll have her SAG card in about another minute. It’s kind of surprising he didn’t give her the part.”

Geneva sighed. Getting older in this town sucked. “Okay, what scene do you want to run?”

We smiled at each other without any particular warmth. Truce declared. In all honesty, I knew most of the lines in the play just from having heard them so often. There was only one scene where she and I were the only characters onstage. If things were going to get weird, it would likely happen then.

  

Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Available SOON!

I guess I'm also supposed to tag 7 other bloggers, but a couple weeks ago I tagged just about everyone I knew in the Be Inspired post, and don't want to make a pest of myself. So if you want, consider yourself tagged, grab the Lucky 7 icon and go for it. Just let me know when your post is up so I can come by and say 'hi'. Have a great weekend!

Peace,

Liv