Reviews: Caitlin Kittredge

Hi all. I know I've put this off for a while now, but it's Spring Break, so even with a bit of homework, I don't want to put it off again. Purely a time and energy issue, unrelated to the books themselves.

I'm going to start with a few books I've mentioned before, but since then, more have come out in the same series. Without further ado, Kittredge's Nocturne City series:

Caitlin Kittredge currently has three novels out in bookstores, Night Life, Pure Blood, and the most recent with a February release, Second Skin. She also has a few stories out in anthologies.

The Nocturne City series follows Luna Wilder, a cop, werewolf, outcast, and a woman with relationship trouble. After receiving the bite, she ran from the pack, thus becoming an outcast, an Insoli, and considered 'less' in the eyes of most other weres. The first book opens with trying to solves a murder and having to deal with the (sexy) alpha of one of the packs, Dmitri. As the back of the book blurb says, "[Luna's] just been assigned to find the ruthless killer behind a string of ritualistic murders--a killer with ties to an escaped demon found ony in legend...until now." Dmitiri is both a suspect in the murders, and as ally as she investigates and encounters a black magician.

I sped through this. One of Kittredge's strengths seems to be her pacing. I was quickly wrapped up in Luna's character, her relationship with her cousin Sunny, and the anger and control issues that come with being a were who didn't have a pack to teach her control. As someone who accepts a romantic plot thread, but can do without them, I liked how Kittredge focused as much, or more, on the case. Luna doesn't fall into bed with Dmitri after the first time they met, and tries to resist his "wolfish charms."

After being in a slump in terms of reading novels, Night Life was one of the books that picked me out of that slump.

Pure Blood is the sequel, taking place a few months later. She returns to work, but Dmitri has returned to the Ukraine, and she has to suffer through a new captain (Captain Morgan, and no, the hilarity is not lost on Kittredge or Luna), as well as a partner, Shelby O'Halloran. This time, Luna's investigating deaths related to a feud between the blood witches and caster witches, with a powerful artifact in the middle.

I love that, unlike some urban fantasies I've, Luna's position is never static. she doesn't gain more power, but more trouble, with every book. People still hate her (some seem to hate her even more, as if with each book, there's another were pack that tries to kill her), she has more and more trouble with coworkers and bosses (Bryson, another detective in book 1, the Captain in book 2). As soon as Shelby showed up, sitting at Luna's desk, I was hooked to see how Luna would deal with her as a person, and as a partner.

(I take part of that back. She does gain an ability, Pathing, a gift acquired through her bite, but only manifesting in Pure Blood. I don't see this as part of the 'she gains a new power every book until she's unstoppable,' because she has no control over it, and it seems really painful when it happens. And while it helps her against foes, she solves the crimes with her intelligence, and a little brute strength.)

Second Skin is the third book, out at the end of February of this year. After the insanity at the O'Halloran building, and an encounter with the man who gave her the bite, Luna has transferred to SWAT, but detecting in still in her heart. Despite Bryson still being a prick, she agrees to help him solve four murders, all of them weres.

That leads her to Lucas, a Wendigo and a handsome man who knows his chilli.

With Lucas telling her one thing, Dmitri (returned as of Pure Blood) telling her he doesn't know anything, and Bryson being threatened by the packs/relatives of the dead weres, Luna has to figure out who is telling her the truth and solve the murders before she's the next victim.

So here I reach (anthology short stories aside) the current released books, and I want more. At the end, Luna's position on the police force (or lack of position) changes again. It was interesting to see how she'd interact with a team of men while with SWAT, and I wish we could have seen more of that. But it's also not a big point, because again, the story flowed so well I was more focused on reading the next scene, finding out what else was going to be thrown in Luna's way.

Perhaps the only aspect of the novels that irked me, and this was only when I read the first novel--by the second and third, I was used to it and it didn't really jump out at me--was the use of "Hex" as a swear word, instead of the "f" word or something similar.

Also, my professor, who'd never read any urban fantasy before, preferred Night Life over Neil Gaiman's American Gods. The pace was one of the reasons she gave me for that preference.

All in all, the Nocturne City series is a fast-pace durban fantasy, with a little bit of romance and sex, a lot of police work, and interesting characters that I never got tired of reading about.

Caitlin's website is http://www.caitlinkittredge.com/

Trying to get my thoughts in order about Racefail '09

I typed up one post, then thought it needed another look or two. Now, after reading one more person's posts on it, I feel like I can say a few words, that my thoughts have cemented at least a little more.

How I found out about it:

I saw one post in January, not aware just how big an issue it referred back to. Then a few weeks back, someone on my friends list on LJ posted that they weren't going to read anything by a few specific authors and editors, linking back to another post that led me through the tangled livejournal web of Racefail '09. Since then, I've been trying to keep up-to-date about it and figure out what my thoughts were on the subject before jumping in.

It felt a little bit like double-dutch jumprope--the cords are swinging and I'm rocking back and forth, waiting for the right moment to jump in, but hesitating, because of my own uncertainty, until it's too late.

How did Racefail '09 begin:

As short a description as I can make it--an author wrote a post regarding people of color (POC) in fiction, specifically sci fi/fantasy characters of color. It seems to me, her post basically said 'do your research,' but some of what she said, or how she said it, was problematic and the comment thread was very long, and there were a lot of angry people. It spread to other blogs, and some people in positions of authority (published authors and editors) apparently said some things that created more friction (I didn't see these posts and they are now locked, or the journals themselves deleted). There were issues of race, class, outing people online, and more. Every time I wanted to say something, the comment threads were already very long and I felt overwhelmed by the other opinions already stated, and in some cases, things just dissolved and some of the good, helpful, insightful points people were making fell under the weight of anger and defensiveness.

Where I want to point readers:

Some people seemed angry (I know, I'm using that word a lot, but it is the closest to how the text sounded to me, although I admit a lot of what was going on carried multiple, complex emotions mixed in) about other industry professionals who weren't speaking out. Someone brought up the topic in John Scalzi's blog, and after a few posts, he asked Mary Ann Mohanraj to guest blog. I really like what she said, and how she said it.

I think the basic issue itself of the whole situation, is that writers who aren't POC should write COC, and should do their homework. At the same time, they need to know they will get some things wrong. Mohanraj makes a similar point and breaks down Racefail '09. I encourage people to go here and read what she has to say. And if you comment, please be respectful.

My thoughts on the matter:

I love what Mohanraj says here (in one of her posts which she links to on Scalzi's blog) in relation to white authors writing POCs, "But even a slightly cloudy mirror reflecting reality is better than no mirror at all." 

In my most recently completed novel, this is an issue I'm trying to be consciously aware of. I don't like to think I'm racist, that my parents' prejudices have in any way rubbed off on me, but I worry (perhaps rightly so) that they have in ways that I haven't noticed or felt the effects of. I've grown up in Hawai'i, on an island with a plethora of different ethnicities from across the world. I've known people from Italy, Germany, South Africa, Senegal, Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Japan, Korea and probably more that aren't coming to mind, and more that are of those ethnicities but born and raised in the U.S. Although my dad was in the military, at this point, I've spent more years out of the military setting than in. It's easy for me to think, 'I'm not racist, I have nothing against anyone from a particular background.' But that sounds like "I'm not racist, I have a friends who are (insert ethnic background here)." I do not want to be that person.

I'm pretty sure I don't say racist things, and I don't believe that I think anything overtly racist, so lately I've been trying to examine thoughts or behaviors that might not be so overt.

Back to the writing, this current work, my two main characters are white guys, and the protagonist's female friend is also white (tanned, but that's white skin tanning well because of some mediterranean relatives ). At the same time, I have gods based on mesopotamian-region mythologies, a couple of African-American characters, and another dark-skinned character (kind of a gypsy-like character, whose whole background I don't know yet, but I have ideas for developing her in book 2). I know it's not a numbers game, and I know I've probably not given as much attention to some of these characters versus the main two, but they are interesting to me, and I want to hear their stories, and I'm hoping that with more research and more attention to detail, I will find those stories and be able to share them with others.

I still have a lot to learn, I'm sure. But I feel like at least through the opinions and hundreds of comments on dozens of blogs, I've seen new perspectives and am looking at my own writing and behavior with even more forethought. I hope others find similar lessons.

2/5/14 ETA: Fixed some minor typos and grammar mistakes, but the message and ideas are the same.

Drive-by posting

I should be editing. I am editing, in fact. Really. Just not at this particular moment. Things are loud at home and I am easily distracted by teh internet. But I hadn't posted here for a while, so an update:

I finished the first of HS on February 10, a day after my brother's birthday. It was a little over 90,000.

The final copy goes to my MA thesis committee on Monday and I've been reading through it editing since the 10th/11th.

There are a lot of subplots, some of which don't need to be developed so much, while at least one needs a major tweaking.

The first chapter has also come into question, because one of my readers thinks nothing happens until the escape, so why not start with the escape scene. But I want a little bit of set-up, showing the reader what the character's life is like before the appearance of werewolves and gods throws it around helter-skelter. Also, dropping the whole chapter might be too big a change for right now, so I'm editing it, making the few things that do happen a little bigger, more memorable, more noticeable, and hoping that that will improve it for the sake of the committee.

It is slow-going work, and mind-consuming. Expect more after Monday, well, let's make it Thursday, because after turning the thesis in, I have a couple hundred lines of translation to worry about.

See you on the other side.
Happy Writing,
Sabrina

Almost Superbowl Sunday

Tomorrow (well, today for those of you on the east coast of the US) will mark the second Superbowl I will have ever watched. Which is the third ever football game I've ever sat through.

I want to write. But although I will probably have a novel and a notebook near at hand, I will resist the temptation to bring my laptop along. I call it research (you never when a character might need to know what a down marker is), in addition to some quality time with my family. There aren't many things we do as a group, but last year my mother convinved us kids to watch the game with her (we'd already ended up watching the Sugarbowl that year, almost by chance, when the UH Warrioirs lost absymally), and lately we've taken to watching Psych all on Friday nights. Well, I watch Monk with her, and we make her suffer through Psych--she claims she doesn't get it. I think the pop culture and the style of humor of Psych are lost on her, but she likes Monk's quirky obsessive-compulsiveness.

Anyway, I suppose this post is about taking a break. I've been steeped in this story for weeks, if not months, and deadlines are fast approaching so I've been feeling the pressure to complete the fiorst draft so I can jump into revisions. But that's how we can get burned out. And by 'we' I think this refers to both writers and students. For me, I was starting to get tired of loking at my computer, and the busy-ness of a new semester made it easy to step away from it. But I couldn't drop it for long because, despite the hundreds of lines of translation I've already done, there is a lot I need to accomplish before March 13.

I am getting obsessed with March 13. So in a weekend surrounded by this novel, which I am luckily starting to like again after a few days of being sick of it completely, tomorrow I am taking a break and I will not begrudge myself the time away from it. Ideas may come to me, and I'll be there, accepting of them, but I will try not to fill my thoughts with working out niggling little problems with the plot.

Tomorrow I rest. And watch the Superbowl. And eat far more junkfood than is really necessary. But I will have fun, and maybe tomorrow evening I will turn on my laptop, chck my email, and slip into the writing as if all of it was fresh and new and exciting. because it's still exciting, just a little quieter than those first few paragraphs.

Cardinals versus Steelers, tomorrow will be interesting.

(On an unrelated note: I didn't find out until it was far too late to do anything about it, but Duff and the crew from Ace of Cakes was here, on Schofield Barracks--Thursday, I believe--and I didn't get to go see them. Alas. I enjoy that show.)

Word Counts Unrelated to the Inauguration

I only saw bits and pieces of it anyway. I've doing reading for my classes and getting over some strange 24-hour bug I had yesterday. (I tend to get the 3-day cold, but I took some NyQuil last night and woke up able to breathe through both nostrils--it's the little things we appreciate when they're gone.)

So the final bout of word counts for the end of my winter vacation between semesters:

Day 22, Jan 8: end at 56,211

Day 23, Jan 9: end at 60,046

Day 24, Jan 10: end at 60,304 (slow day, it's how it goes sometimes)

Day 25, Jan 11: end at 63,114

Day 26, Jan 12: 66,007

Day 27, Jan 13: 66,700

No, that isn't a typo. I did about 700 words on the novel that last day before my first day of classes. But on the other hand, I wrote around 6,500 words on a complete short story retelling Rapunzel in that one night (from about 9:30-2). And I stayed up later than I meant to, because the next day, I had to finish the translation I'd put off, rush to school, spend the day there, come home at 10 pm, then run out of the house the next morning for my weekly meeting with my thesis advisor.

I am proud of that short story--it needs work, mostly editing out extraneous details--but no, I have not finished the first draft of the novel. I am close to the end, and may be be able to push through it before classes next week, but I have to be stubborn about it. I think I lost some of my momentum as soon as classes started up. I haven't typed a word yet since the 14th.

I'd like to say that I'll do a few pages tonight, but I really don't want to have to worry about any lingering assignments for tomorrow and I'm already tired. I may only have enough alertness to finish the homework before going to bed, hoping to knock out any last tiny lingering cold monsters.

I'm off.
Happy writing.

Not a Morning Person Doesn't Even Begin to Describe It

So says one of my favorite key chains. And it's true. Spending the past 4 weeks writing has changed that fact from joke back to truth. I am not a morning person. I an a night owl, or some other nocturnal creature. My sleep has gone screwy the past week or two. I go to bed 12, 1, 2, then wake up around 10 or 11 in the morning. Ususally I wake up a bit earlier, but I still drowse until that time, the past few days I've actually greeting consciousness at those times. Also, I reguarly go to bed or fall asleep around midnight and haven't had this problem before.

Perhaps it's partly from not needing to wake up early, since I didn't have classes, and then partly the staying up a bit later than usual--the curse of being a nocturnal person living with other people and having my own diurnal schedule. I also like to think it's partly a reaction to a general lack of rest that built up over the semester and summer, though I seem to recall learning doesn't actually happen (it was in a psych class, if people were regualrly deprived of a few extra hours of sleep, only getting 4 or 5 a night, they -didn't- then sleep for a whole day to make up for it).

Anyway, so then I have nights like last night when I went to bed at 2, didn't fall asleep until after 3 and woke up about 10:30 or so this morning. I would've gone to bed earlier, but I got on a roll, some time after 9/9:30. Between about 10 and 2 I wrote almost 3,000, most if not all of the writing I did yesterday in fact. I had a few chores that mornig, but not much, so I could've written much longer earlier in the day, but couldn't find the motivation. Day winding down, others are asleep, and my fingers are tapping like crazy.

Today I didn't even try to write much. I checked my email, LJ, some blogs I like to frequent, then shut down. I ran some errands, came home and booted up the computer intending to write, but my stomach was giving me trouble (I still feel the slightest bit of nauseous, but it's nwhere near as bad as it was this afternoon), so I eventually shut down without typing a single word. so here I am now, having already wasted about an hour online. I'm going to see if I can get another 3,000 words done or so.

I have 98 lines of translation to do tomorrow, but other than that and an hour or so of reorganizing my room for greatest effectiveness when classes start this Wednesday, I will be spending the day writing. I don't think I'll finish the whole plot, but endings take a lot of time for me, so I'll get as far as I can and finish the first draft while editing the beginning. Hopefully there won't be too much overlap. Maybe just a week or two, depending on how big the workload is the first two weeks.

Okay, books don't write themselves, so I'm off. Happy writing everyone.

Updates and What I Dread Naming Writer's Block

Day 18, Jan 4: ended at 48,176 word count for the day--2298

Day 19, Jan 5: end at 51,191, word count for the day--3015 (My goal for this day was to pass 50,000, which I did, and then to reach 51,000, which I also did. It was a good day.)

Day 20, Jan 6: end at 52,677, word count for the day--1486 (Less good, but over 1,000 is generally okay.)

Day 21, Jan 7: end at 52,934, word count for the day--257 (Abysmal, I'm trying to reverse this now, but I'm not doing too well so far.)

Yesterday was a scattered day, and I couldn't concentrate. Changing where I typed didn't seem to help.

Today was a run-around day for the first half. I could go out again in half an hour, but that would just be for the drive, the air, and I might do better to really sit down and focus on the writing.

I have this feeling that being able to talk to someone about the story would help (went to writer's group yesterday and I can say that critique does not help or motivate when I'm knee-deep in writing a first draft)--just throw ideas at them, toss 'em around. But I'm always hesitant to bug people, on AIM and the like. I feel like since I don't know what they're doing, it's an intrusion, and I don't like asking if they're there repeatedly and being rebuffed or ignored (not deliberately, just because the person on the other end is busy or not at their computer). Mnn, anyway, so I'm here, in an almost full house, but feling a little lonely. Go figure.

I'm just wandering the internet trying to find some bit of inspiration that will catch me and propel me into pages of writing. Until then, I work sentence by sentence.

Word Count Updates and a thought on how I organize my novels

First post of the new year.

Maybe it's a good sign that it's about making progress on the current novel.

Day 13, December 30, 2008: end of day--42,699, total word count for the day--2,567.

Day 14, December 31 and Day 15, January 1: 0 words both days. My second chunk of allowed lack of writing. It was a good rest.

Day 16, January 2, 2009: (I'll have to get used to writing 2009 now) ended the day at 45,878, for a total word count for the day of 3,1979.

Day 17, January 3, 2009: o words. Saturdays are my bane.

Today is Day 18. I'm working on it now, though I am finding that it's hard to start in the morning. as in, I get little to no writing done until after noon. I do, however, make pretty good progress in the evening and night, sometimes getting 2,000 words or more done between 9/10 pm and midnight/1 am.

The past few days I've hit a bit of a rut, good word counts aside. I tend to have a very (very) general idea of where a story needs to go. Herein lies the problem with that style of organization--reaching the point of specific scenes that don't fall exactly along the line of that main arc. This one has developed a number of twists and subplots. I just introduced a new character, Detective Sam Emerson. Briefly: my protagonist was arrested for something he didn't do, but he can't really explain what really happened without looking like a loon. He's being framed by two people with otherworldly powers and thus are influencing some of the cops. Samuel Emerson already has a bit of a compulsive personality--he might not even need magic to make him obsess over a case.

The question is whether to develop his character and the police case, or keep it vague. It isn't the main conflict of the story, but it throws a wrench in the protag's plans. He's tried very hard to completely stay out of the cops' radar. Sam's interesting and already creating a voice in my head, which I'd like to explore, but then it becomes a trick of when to us a scene which furthers this arc or another.

More generally, when do I bring in one of these twist characters. Not enough and the few scenes they show up in and one wonders why they're there. Too much and there's no tension, the reader might get bored, or here isn't enough time to focus on someone else. Im a bit worried I have too much going on. Now that i think about it, though, I felt that way with another novel, too. So maybe it's just 'part of the process,' well, my process at least. I just need to keep writing and see where it goes. Afterwards, I can look at it as a whole and see if anything is off-balance.

Just keep writing. Okay, I'm off.

Yearly Resolutions, It’s Starting to be a Tradition for Me By Now

2006 I finished my first novel, a fantasy set in a medieval styled world. I’d started it in high school with a friend. I completed it as my undergraduate honors thesis.

After graduating with my BA, I got real impatient real fast and began another novel, an urban fantasy centering around humans and the fae. By December I finished the first of that. The months following I edited it and brought, five pages a week for the most part, to my writer’s group. Some time over the summer of 2007 I brought them the last of it. I still feel like it needs more editing, but I did get through one big round.

Now I’ve finished my third semester of the Master’s program. MA in English with a concentration in creative writing. My thesis is another novel, urban fantasy, with werewolves and gods/goddesses. I’m about halfway through it, and I want to finish the first draft before January 14, 2009, the first day I go back to class for my last semester. By Mid-May (technically by March or April), I will have a full draft, revised a couple of times.

Between January 2007 and November 2008 I also worked at a part-time job that just began demanding too much time for me to focus on school and writing. I’m not working right now, but I may get a part-time job on campus. We’ll see.

Which leads me to resolutions. I don’t (read: I usually don’t) achieve all my resolutions, but I like having something there, in print, something to move towards. I may not have accomplished what I set out to this year, but I’ve made progressed. That’s good.

So for 2009:

January through May—focus on school and finishing the werewolf UF. Graduate.

May through August—I will wait on getting a job, at least until after the summer (if I can help it) an focus on polishing the two urban fantasy novels. Start querying them with agents. Maybe I’ll start with the faerie one, since I already have ideas for a second and third book.

August/September—if I haven’t yet, start looking for a full-time job. Write Book 2 of the Fae UF if I haven’t started that yet.

October through December—writing Books 2 and 3, querying, hopefully by this time I will have an agent and we’ll be working on getting something out to publishers. (Is it too much to hope by this time next year, I may have an agent and a publisher?)

The resolutions are very detailed, but I think that’s just more evidence that this is the time to get off my keister and start querying. There’s some editing that needs to happen first, but I can’t get bogged down in that and avoid the next step.

So on that note, I will try to take those next steps.

And to you writers out there, good luck in 2009. May you have inspiration and luck in your writing and publication.

Happy writing.

See you on the other side,
Sabrina

Reflection about Villains

I find myself playing with the idea of villains a lot in my stories.

In the books I read I love finding an antagonist that has a reason for being the villain. That they aren't just acting as a foil for the hero for the sake of the hero having someone to fight against. The better the reason, and the more complex the background (even if it's only hinted at in the story), the more I tend to enjoy that character. Simple example: Severus Snape as an antagonist. He isn't a villain, ultimately, but there are numerous times throughout the series where he's in opposition to Harry Potter. What I find compelling is that he basically loathes Harry throughout the series, but they're both "good" guys. The question of whether he's an ally or not is turned on its head quite a few times, and especialy at the end of the sixth book (being in fact, a huge part of the promotion for the seventh book).

Anyway, I was thinking about my own writing (-not- I assure in comparison to HP, just generally thinking about the two novels I've been working on), and I find it’s never enough to just have a person to label the bad guy, even if they have perfectly reasonable reasons to be the villain.

Instead, I have one novel where the “villain” is essentially a child that wants a mother, along with the servant who guards and cares for him. In the novel I’m currently working on (and providing the daily word counts), there are multiple villains, and some surprises thrown in. The two main characters are chasing one ‘bad guy,’ but it’s pretty clear that two other characters aren’t so nice, and can be considered villains although some of their goals overlap with the heroes’. Then there is Guy 1’s friends, neither of whom are what they seem and one of whom's motivation is in direct opposition to the heroes, but isn't a villain. And Guy 2’s friends, who seem friendly at first, and again, have the same goals at the heroes, but one has darker motives, i.e. villainous, than the other, though they work together.

Perhaps this tendency of mine has risen to the surface because of this latter bok--I have the added challenge at taking that complex interweaving of action, relationship and motivation (explained in a rather mangled "concise but vague" manner above) and making it seem natural. That the revelations of the two main characters occur at times that make sense and that the people who seemed to be allies but aren't have their motivations well explained--trying to avoid the sense of "what, why is he really a bad guy, I thought they were friends" or worse "that explanation makes no damn sense, what is this writer thinking?"

I like a complex antagonist. Can you tell? More than complex, I love throwing in that uncertainty. Is the villain as villainous as they seem, or are those friends really acting in the protagonist’s best intentions?

Thus were my thoughts earlier today and last night.

I took a break from the writing for the holidays, so here's the word counts:

To refresh your memories Day 5 was Monday, the 22nd of December and I finished that day at 31,342.


Day 6, Tuesday Dec 23: end of day--32, 232 words, so 890 words, least amount so far for a day when I did write.

Day 7, Wednesday Dec 24: 0 words, but allowed for the holliday

day 8, Thursday Dec 25: 0 words, but also allowed for the holiday, and I was in the kitchen for most of teh day helping with the dinner.

Day 9, Friday Dec 26: end of day--32,896, so 664 words for the day, new low (I didn't realize it was only that much, but it's better than nothing, this whole period was off because of the holiday)

Day 10, Saturday Dec 27: 0 words, it was a run-around day that wore me out.

Day 11, Sunday Dec 28: end of day--37,062, so 4,166 words for the day. Getting back in the groove.

Day 12, Monday Dec 29: I'm still writing and am currently at 38,483, which is 1,421 for the day. I am still working on it, though. It's been a slow day because I let myself get distracted by the TV and the internet. Hence my doing this now. I'm so close to 40,000 I'd love to get there before I go to bed, but if I keep the internet window open I won't reach that goal, so this is my update and I'll edit it tomorrow with today's final word count.

Until then, happy continued holidays and happy writing to all.

EDIT: Last word for yesterday, Day 12--40,132 words, for a total word count of 3,070. Not too shabby. Today is starting off a bit slower.