Writer's Grove

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, but I finally scored a beer I’ve been looking for and I had to write it up. My writing/blogging friend Hillary Jacques told me about it and claimed it was to die for; I have taken her at her word because she’s from Alaska, and people have died for stranger things than beer in the land of salmon and short summers.

The beer is Alaskan Smoked Porter, and it comes in big ol’ dated bottles. For such an august brew I broke out the seminal autumn cuisine and a very serious dwarf to guard it.

That’s a grilled brat with sauerkraut and mustard, accompanied by some kettle chips. The Alaskan Smoked Porter stands majestically to one side. And on duty today from the dwarf kingdom is Einar Ericksson, high atop the seeded bun, shining a light in the dark cave of tasteless beers and leading us to liquid gold.

Einar’s motto (“I seek treasure and beer and often don’t know the difference”) is an example for us all. And in truth, he’s something of an archetypal character, guiding us through menus of tasteless swill to find a brew with gustatory substance. Do you doubt his archetypal muscle? Behold:

Don’t know if you’ve ever checked out Goodreads.com or not, but I dig it and I’m “there” now as an author if you’d like to click over there and say howdy. You can friend me there or follow me as a fan (I think?) and my blog posts will update there too. I’m not going to attempt to rate all the books I’ve read because that would take a looong time, but I do enjoy putting some things up and comparing my ratings with others, especially my friend Alan, who tends not to like things as much as I do. He’s a bit more critical than I am, and that’s a good thing, believe me, because he’s my alpha reader and I don’t know what I’d do without his insights. Usually I’ll give four or five stars to things or I won’t rate it at all, proceeding on the maxim if you don’t have anything nice to say…you know. The exception to this rule is Charles Dickens. I delight in giving his books one star. I might be the only person in the world who despises Charles Dickens, but I’m grateful to Goodreads for giving me a forum to express my wintry discontent with so little effort.

The other thing that’s really cool about Goodreads is the ability to get some ideas on what to read next…and I’m almost to the point where I’ll need something soon. I’ve been making progress through my pile o’ books and I’m just about caught up. I think I have found a candidate for the next one…it’s called Hunger by Jackie Kessler. It’s about one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Know why I’m going to read it? Because of this picture right here:

That’s Neil Gaiman holding Hunger. That’s all I needed to know. Put that on my TBR pile.

Also, my cover is getting “out there” and I’m very happy to see that people tend to like it. A lot. Here’s a blog where it appeared recently—she got the photos from my Twitter feed, so thanks to Persephone for following my tweets!

And today I will leave you with a gratuitous photo of my Boston Terrier, Sophie:

They didn’t tell me they would be shiny! I just got what they call sales proofs in the mail—these are what the sales folks take around to bookstores and say, “See, if you’re going to judge a book by its cover, then THIS ONE WINS!”—and the title that was previously white text is now foil stamped and embossed! I had no idea they were going to do that until my editor told me they’d gone ahead and done it. My scan doesn’t do it justice, but you’ll get the idea:

Well, my peeps at Del Rey outdid themselves with these covers. I love ’em! They are going to gleam on the shelves! Ginormous thanks to authors Ari Marmell, Kelly Meding, and Nicole Peeler for reading the book before the awesome cover existed and saying something nice about it. That truly means the most, because they didn’t have to read it or say anything nice, yet they did.

I really dig this one because you can see Atticus’s tattoo much better; it wraps five times around his biceps and then falls down the top of his forearm, but you can’t see that in the pose for Hounded. This cover has a couple more touch-ups to go before it’s finalized, but it’s 90% there and they needed to get a proof out for the sales team. I think it looks spectacular as is! Hope you dig ’em too.

There’s a pretty cool post over at SFWA by Victoria Strauss about gettin’ published: It’s not a crap shoot. She addresses three assumptions made by grumbling, rejected writers, and while I urge you to click over and read her original post, I’d like to piggyback on those assumptions based on my own recent experience.

1) First assumption: All manuscripts are on equal footing in the marketplace. As she says, that’s completely untrue, and I’m not talking about anyone’s writing but my own. The two books I wrote, submitted, and had rejected before I wrote Hounded were not all that great, though I thought they were okay at the time. Only with experience and hindsight did I see that they deserved to be rejected. Yet I don’t regret writing them; I learned a lot in the process and they got me to a much better place in my craft. If you’re on submission right now, write the next book while you’re waiting; it’ll probably be better than the one you’re shopping around. (It worked for me.)
2) Second assumption: The industry doesn’t want new writers. Not sure how anyone can believe this one. I just read a great debut by Mark Hodder called The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack. And my fellow inductees into The League of Reluctant Adults, Sonya Bateman and K.A. Stewart, came out with their debuts this year. I’m obviously a new writer, and there are plenty more on deck…so I think that one’s wishful thinking, whoever thinks it.
3) Last one: No one wants a writer without a platform. Strauss says this assumption is more true for nonfiction writers than fiction…and she’s right. I’m still trying to build my platform; I wrote and sold my book without knowing what a platform was. In fact, I’m still not sure about the whole platform-building thing, since I’m such a newb to this aspect of the business. What I probably need is some help from my pug, Manley (named after the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins). Come on: How can you not follow a guy who has the devotion of a pug like this?

Though I suppose I could be accused of bias when I say “I LOVE IT!” it’s true nonetheless. The cover for Hounded is awesome; Del Rey has captured Atticus perfectly!

When Tricia & Mike (my spiffy editors) told me that Advanced Reader’s Editions were on their way, they made one request: have someone take pictures of me opening the box. They know I’ve been waiting to be published a long time, and to see my book bound and printed for the first time would be, in the words of our vice president,  “a big f#%!ing deal.” I agreed readily, not knowing what torture it would be…

The box arrived on Friday; I arrived soon after. BUT NO ONE WAS AROUND TO TAKE PICTURES. I couldn’t open it! I could have gone to a convenience store and made the clerk take pictures—I was thinking such things—but not seriously, because I wanted my family to be around when I opened it; they’ve been waiting a long time to see the book too. I had to wait three hours for my wife to get home, gnawing on my fingers the whole time, staring at the Box of Joy that I could not open.

It taunted me with its Random House return address and its priority overnightness:

Do not be alarmed by my strange expression in the next picture. I’m petting the box and purring, see. Well, okay, be alarmed if you’d like.

….Words fail. All I can say is that there’s nothing like a dream coming true, and I couldn’t be happier.
   Below is my photo of the ARE cover. I apologize for the wee bit of glare. Also, the icons on the charms aren’t really coming through on this picture—all you see are black squares—but you’ll see them “for reals” with your naked eye, and they’re sublime. I’ll have the cover art file later, but for now enjoy the ARE:

The shocking news first: I have discovered that there are some human beings—sharing the planet with us right now, I might add—who don’t like pie. Until today, I was not aware that this was an option. I’m actually thinking that this is an elaborate hoax perpetrated by my students, and those who protested to me that they seriously don’t like pie are being contrary. I am tempted to dismiss it all as teenage rebellion. I mean, how can you look at this…

No…really! I’ve joined the League of Reluctant Adults at their invitation, and I’m thrilled! What is the League?


Well, it’s a group of 23 authors (including yours truly) who write Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. We get together during conventions and whatnot to hold group signings, do unspeakable things to action figures, etc. I haven’t met any of my fellow Leaguers in person yet, but I’ve read quite a few of their books and I know from that experience that they’re brilliant. For example, there’s Nicole Peeler, Kelly Meding, Stacia Kane, Cherie Priest, Anton Strout…and more!


Go visit the League here and follow us! Nicole Peeler is introducing/hazing me sometime today on the site, so you’re sure get a laugh or two. You might have to scroll down to find me (depending on when you click over there because two other authors will be introduced), but it’ll be worth it—Nicole is pretty funny.

Right now I’m on October break—a week off in between quarters. It’s an excellent time o’ year to be off work in Arizona. The weather is freakin’ perfect.

Today was an especially cool day. I all but finished copy editing Hammered, I got invited into a SUPER! SECRET! club (which won’t be a secret on Monday because I’ll blog about it then), I hung out by the pool at an awesome resort with some friends of mine, hit the comic book store to pick up Chew #14 and Northlanders #33, then walked into a used bookstore out here called Bookman’s.

Here is what happened when I walked into Bookman’s with my daughter:

UNKNOWN FEMALE VOICE: (shock, excitement) Mr. Hearne!

Hearne turns his head to the right. Two students stand agape at the vision of their English teacher existing outside of school.