Responses to RFT, articles

[easol.livejournal.com]

Gotta say, I love the "Mistress of Parody" discription.

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2008-12-03/news/fangs-are-bared-among-rft-readers-over-laurell-k-hamilton-s-vampire-novels/
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2008-11-26/news/rft-readers-love-laurell-k-hamilton-s-vampire-stories-albert-pujols-and-a-good-egg-sandwich/

Also some headscratching recommendations for post-Twilight reading material... I gotta say, the responses down in "postacommentland" are more interesting than the recommendations themselves. Especially since it's kinda obvious that the person writing the article is at a loss for YA vampire fiction and is just grabbing at whatever works.
http://io9.com/5095400/vampire-novels-for-your-post+twilight-fix

And here is the cover picture of LKH from that RFT article:
http://media.riverfronttimes.com/2758396.0.jpg

Comments

Yayness I got quoted~

[booster-blue.livejournal.com]

I'm terribly curious to see if anyone brings it up over at her Page of Worship. The troos are usually quick to point out any, and all, mentions of her in the media - even if its not glowing adulation (Penny Arcade, for example).

Re: Yayness I got quoted~

[easol.livejournal.com]

"Yayness I got quoted~"

Congratso!

Re: Yayness I got quoted~

[beloved828.livejournal.com]

Sweet! Congrats, Kiskalla!

I have the feeling that in the minds of camp Laurell, any publicity is good publicity. That, or they are delusional enough to believe that there is no criticism, only love and adoration.

[naeko.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's the late hour (well, early for me; I just woke up) but I could not figure out what this post was supposed to be about for awhile.

Once I realized what you were going for, I went to check out the Twilight recommendations (I suggest anyone who thought they were genuinely good books get serious therapy) and I'm CRINGING that someone called The Historian, "one of the best vampire books" they'd read. UUGH. NO! That book was boring and horribly written.

I retreat to my cranky cave, now.

[naeko.livejournal.com]

I'm going to give your location at the time all the credit for liking that book. ;)

It was so boring and unmemorable. I really, really wanted to love that book, but I ended up having to force myself to read when I picked it up because it felt like nothing happened except some douchebag professor being pompous and some little girl seeing shadows out of the corner of her eye. I may not have even finished it; it's been awhile since I even looked at it.

[slayra.livejournal.com]

LOL, I agree with you about Twilight (I just can't read it... I tried. Shiny vampires = disco balls in my head and I can't take the rest of the book seriously) and The Historian. The Historian was a good book, if you looked at the meticulous historical research and the locations. But the narrative and some of the characters (Dracula, for example) were a disappointment. Big one too.

[naeko.livejournal.com]

Every character had THE SAME 'VOICE' in The Historian! To me, a good writer can differentiate the characters' scenes by not only the words that the characters themselves say, but also the language used when narrating for them. The frickn Historian was the same thing over and over and it felt like it NEVER went anywhere. I seriously do not remember a single thing happening in that book; my brain has vague snapshots of someone looking for letters and of some pompous professor spouting on about something-or-other.

I wanted (SO HARD) to love the book. I read a fabulous review of it a month or so before it came out and went out and bought it the day it came out. Then I read it and was like, "...THIS? This is what people are praising as being amazing and well-written?" It was so effing boring, my god.

[slayra.livejournal.com]

True, all the characters involved in the search 'looked' the same. That's why it was so boring and unmemorable. :p But they weren't bad characters... just... not very original and likable. Dracula, his motivations and his personality were more of a disappointment to me. The ending of the book was awful.

I also don't remember the particulars of the story, only that it was difficult to read sometimes because of the narrative within the narrative within the narrative. Too confusing. I thought it would be easier to follow if the author didn't switch POVs. She doesn't do that well. Still, it was only her debut novel, maybe she'll perfect it.

And almost anything is better than LKH's drivel. :p

[gothgoddessrhia.livejournal.com]

This is the first time I've heard of someone actually finishing The Historian. Everyone I know who tried to read it couldn't finish.

[slayra.livejournal.com]

Lol, sometimes I thought of just giving up, but the story kept me going. You see, the story isn't that bad, but the characters and type of narrative are a bit weird. O___O

[easol.livejournal.com]

I read it too. I enjoyed it moderately, although I wished it weren't so slow.

[slayra.livejournal.com]

It was well researched! I actually learnt quite a bit (I went fact-checking afterwards). That was what kept me reading. ^__^

[pastygothchick.livejournal.com]

I got into some historical fiction because of the research that the authors put into their work. After watching a Sharpe marathon on BBC America (I like Sean Bean), I picked up the books. I was impressed by Bernard Cornwell's research and his ability to craft an interesting story. His detail on the firearms of the era, battle tactics, and the British military of the Napoleonic Wars were fascinating even when the story began to drag a little. The descriptions of the battlefield medical procedures were accurate enough to be a tad frightening.

I picked up Matthew Pearl's "The Poe Shadow" because I'm a Poe fan. I was extremely impressed by the author's ability to look at historical evidence and extrapolate a theory.

Both authors put Historical Notes at the end of their books. They noted where they took liberties with the truth and why. They also noted some other interesting facts about their particular time periods. They managed to make the stories interesting while staying within certain boundaries.

[pastygothchick.livejournal.com]

I listened to "The Historian" on audiobook. There were two different narrators which helped me differentiate between the characters. On a 5 point scale it would be a 3 for me. Not wonderful, but not awful. I've read worse and I've read better.

Bernard Cornwell has a few other books at at least one other series. The other series of his is set during the Danish Invasion of England during the reign of Alfred the Great. I listened to the series entirely on audiobook with an awesome narrator. Mr. Cornwell uses Saxon and Danish names. I don't know if he offers a pronunciation guide in the book.

Matthew Pearl's only other book is called "The Dante Club" it's about the translation of "The Divine Comedy" into English with fictional murders resembling the torments in "Inferno". It has a cast of famous post-Civil War poets.

[denelian.livejournal.com]

i offer Patrcia Briggs, in toto, she rocks. read em in order though...

[sap-girl.livejournal.com]

Unrelated to these article, but still a wtf moment, I just realized that I know the author of the Mistress of Horror article about her from November (where the bizarro picture of LKH posted above came from.) I am ashamed to admit this and might need to go shower again.

[gothgoddessrhia.livejournal.com]

You need to gril her and find out why she didn't do any of her own research and allowed herself to be spoonfed by LKH and her minions. Seriously, it was like a paid advertisement.

Ugh!

[easol.livejournal.com]

Well, it might not be ehr fault -- for all we know, the editor is a megafan of LKH's and wanted it that way.

[gothgoddessrhia.livejournal.com]

Megafans confuse me...but I see your point.

[beloved828.livejournal.com]

I went and looked for the article these comments were based on, and it only served to re-affirm all of the things about Laurell K. Hamilton that I dislike as a person as well as a writer.

"Now I realize she didn't try to crush me because she thought I wouldn't succeed, but because she thought I would." She grins. "I've corrupted millions."

Yes, because her teacher was part of the Great Christian Conspiracy to keep her down. I'm suprised that she didn't put a hit out on Laurell. She's just that dangerous.

"If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, I'm as flattered as I want to be."

I get really tired of LKH insisting that she alone created an entire genre, and acting as if she owns it completely. She wasn't really the first. Anne Rice, Michael Romkey, Poppy Z. Brite, and Joss Wheden all wrote similar stories before LKH did. Michael Romkey's "I Vampire" came out in 1990, and is a blend of horror, mystery, and romance. Poppy Z. Brite's "Lost Souls" came out in early 1993 and is a blend of horror and twisted sex in an urban setting. Anne Rice, who was called "The Queen of Horror", wrote "Interview with the Vampire" in 1973 and was published in 1976. It featured beautiful, wealthy, bisexual vampires riddled with angst. She wrote her "Sleeping Beauty" series in 1983, which were sexually explicit, BDSM stories in a fantasy/fairytale setting told from a woman's perspective. Most of LKH's creatures and powers were ripped from "Dungeons & Dragons" and "Ravenloft". She had one semi-original idea, which was "what if vampires were real and everyone knew about them?". However, Hideyuki Kikuchi's "Vampire Hunter D" novels were written beginning in 1983, with the anime coming out in 1985. In the series, the world is over-run with aristocratic vampire families who prey on innocents. Vampire Hunter D is, obviously, a vampire hunter and the only one who can stop them. He is the result of a human/vampire pairing and has all kinds of crazy powers. I'm not saying that she necessarily stole these authors' ideas, but my point is that she certainly wasn't the only one to come up with them. I apologize for the wall o' text here. This aspect of LKH's personality just gets to me. Alot, obviously. ^_~

[alondra-del-sol.livejournal.com]

Ditto!

[sfph.livejournal.com]

And imitation isn't the greatest form of flattery, it's the sincerest. There's a difference.

Then again, we're talking about the woman who managed to mess up 'Do, or do not; there is no try'.

[beloved828.livejournal.com]

She could mess up a wet dream. Heck, she does mess them up. On a regular basis.

[drisoscele.livejournal.com]

Hamilton's a "legend" in her own mind. Though it never ceases to amaze that these so-called journalists who "interview" Hamilton are so clueless about occurrences of supernatural creatures in an modern urban setting that predate the publication of Hamilton's first novel - "Guilty Pleasures"

Chelsa Quinn Yarro's - Count Saint-Germain vampire novels that she's been publishing for the last 30 plus years.

Count Saint-Germain novels that pre-date Hamilton's Guilty Pleasures:
"Hotel Transylvania" (1978)
"The Palace" (1978
"Blood Games" (1980)
"Path of the Eclipse" (1981)
"Tempting Fate" (1982)
"The Saint-Germain Chronicles" (a short story collection) (1983)
"Out of the House of Life" (1990)
"Darker Jewels" (1993)

"The Vampire Tapestry" (Puiblished - 1980) by Suzy McKee Charnas(Rebecca Brand)

“The Hunger” by Whitley Strieber - Novel 1981 Movie based on novel - 1983

"Some of Your Blood" (1961) by Theodore Sturgeon
"Fevre Dream" (1982) by George R.R. Martin,
"Vampire Junction" (1984) by S. P. Somtow,
"Those Who Hunt the Night" (1988) by Barbara Hambly,
"Children of the Night" (1992) by Dan Simmons,
"The Golden" (1992) by Lucius Shepard.

“Nick Knight” – A 1989 CBS television movie with Rick Springfield playing the title character, a vampire police detective. In 1992, CBS began broadcasting the series as part of its Crimetime After Primetime lineup, with a new name – “Forever Knight” with Geraint Wyn Davies now playing Nick Knight.

John Constantine of "Hellblazer" fame first appeared in the DC comic "Swamp Thing" and then got his own comic in 1988.

"Vampire Hunter D" manga first published in 1983

“Mr. E” - DC Comic 1980 - Mr E was a supernatural detective that hunted vampires.

Supernatural creatures in an modern urban setting....one only needs to look back to the year 1964 when Universal put werewolves, vampires and Frankenstein's monster on TV and the all lived openly in suburbia. Sure, “The Munsters” were done in a comedy vein, but the concept was there.

Then in 1967 Ira Levin's novel “Rosemary's Baby” brought the devil into a modern day urban setting of New York City. The film version came out in 1968.

Also, considering that Hamilton and her first husband Gary were avid gamers, I wouldn't be surprised if she got a lot of her ideas from “Bureau 13:Stalking the Night Fantastic” which investigates and combats supernatural events; their motto is "Protecting America from Everything". Stalking the Night Fantastic is a horror role-playing game released by Tri Tac Games and first published in 1983.

The ever egotistical Hamilton "never" gives a nod of acknowledgment to those that blazed the trail before her.

[pandaemonaeum.livejournal.com]

There are loads more too, including a hard-boiled (male) detective who hunts down the supernatural. There are a whole series of them, by a guy called Robert Morgan.

P N Elrod's two series of vampires pre-date LKH, as does Tanya Huff's. There are numerous other (Nancy A. Collins, Elizabeth Bergstrom, Freda Warrington, Tanith Lee, etc) who all have re-interpretations of the vampire myth, some in a more overtly feminist context than others.

There is a huge body of work, much of it written by women (overtly feminist or not) without which LKH would have had nothing like the success she now enjoys. An acknowledgement of their contribution would indeed be nice, but I won't be holding my breath :/

[beloved828.livejournal.com]

Oh! I loved "The Hunger". Can't believe I forgot about that one. The movie was awesome as well, but less so than the book, of course. Saint-Germain is great as well. I loved "Forever Night" right up until the finale, which was awful."Children of the Night" was actually the first contemporary vampire story that I read. It was the one that got me into vampire novels. I read "Dracula" first, and Dr. Polidori's "The Vampyre". Those got me asking for vampire novels for my birthday and Christmas. Mom got me "Children of the Night", and "Interview with the Vampire". I love my mom. ^_^

"Dracula" was published in 1897, and "The Vampyre" was published in 1819 as part of a bet by Lord Byron. This bet, "Who could write the best horror story?" also spawned Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". I also remember my super-RPG-obsessed friend mentioning the Bureau 13 games. "Vampire:The Masquerade" came out in 1991, 2 years before "Guilty Pleasures".

Let's not forget "Ravenloft", which LKG wrote a novel about ("Death of a Darklord" June 1995), and professed to love in several of her blogs. "Ravenloft" came out in 1990. "Ravenloft" itself wasn't very orginal, being an almagamation of several famous horror novels and films. It was, however, an obvious inspiration for LKH.

"Shadowrun" came out in 1989, and had an urban setting with fantasy/horror elements. It was also vastly popular, and I'm sure contributed to at least some of LKH's setting.

"in the Shadowrun world, magic returns in 2011. Among other things, this causes humankind to split into subtypes, and some people take the form of elves, dwarves, orks or trolls. Likewise, some animals turn into the familiar monsters of fantasy, and both monsters and human magicians gain supernatural powers. By the second half of the 21st century, when the game is set, these events are accepted as commonplace." (wikipedia)

Sounds rather familiar to me. I agree with you, Drisoscele. LKH never acknowledges her inspirations. It all came from her "place of deep emotional pain, which is limitless"(direct quote). The only time she ever mentioned anything at all was when she said that seeing "Vampire Circus" made her interested in vampires and that looking back at the film, she "realized" that the lead vampire looked like Jean-Claude. Say what one will about Anne Rice, she did break serious ground with "Interview" and she list numerous inspirations for her books. She also thanked horror writers that came before her for paving the way. Anne Rice's "Letter to the Readers" may have been a bit out of line, but she was going through some very serious personal problems around the time that she wrote it. She had always been kind and decent to her fans before that. LKH, on the other had, has no real excuse for the way she behaves, nor for the tone of her "Letter to the Readers".

[orthent.livejournal.com]

Supernatural creatures in an modern urban setting....one only needs to look back to the year 1964 when Universal put werewolves, vampires and Frankenstein's monster on TV and the all lived openly in suburbia. Sure, “The Munsters” were done in a comedy vein, but the concept was there.

Oh, and don't forget Emma Bull's War for the Oaks (1987), which had a modern-day musician drafted into the war between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. People who aren't LKH recognize it as one of the pioneering works of urban fantasy.

[beloved828.livejournal.com]

"I need it to be solid. Since I live here, the Anita books are set here. I love St. Louis. It's home. I get to drive around and bury bodies."

"Give me angels weeping to heaven," she says. "And weeds. Weeds are pretty."

"My writing comes from a place of deep emotional pain, which is limitless"

Oh, Laurell is so goth. She's even more goth for insisting that she's not while making statements like the ones above.


"Laurell always wanted to be a commercial success," observes Sharon Shinn, a friend and member of Hamilton's writing group. "She'd rather be successful than win a major award."

That's good, since the only award LKH's writing deserves to win is the The Bulwer-Lytton. It confirms my suspicions, though. I always thought that LKH wrote only to make money (and maybe for wish-fulfillment). I always believed that once LKH realized that she could write utter garbage and make millions as long as that garbage was chock full of graphic sex, she never bothered to write a real story again. I'm even more convinced after reading that the Anita Blake novels barely sold until Narcissus in Chains came out. That was the first book that featured BDSM and tons of pointless sex in place of a real plot. Or, as former fans like to call it, "the beginning of the end".


"Sometimes it gets tiresome being Laurell! K! Hamilton!" Hamilton admits. "Once I went out to do some research without any makeup. I didn't look very special, and people got on the 'Net and trashed me. I'm a writer. It never occurred to me to have accountability for my appearance. People want you to look special as a way of explaining why you're like this and they're not. They want you to look like the magic is there."

But she still disappoints some readers. Because Hamilton looks and talks like Anita, fans expect her to be Anita. "If I could do it all over," Hamilton jokes, "I would make Anita a blonde."

Poor, famous Laurell! I loved the "why you're like this and they're not" part. Now I know where everyone gets the "Speshul" thing. Her ego must be visible from space. If she didn't want attention, she shouldn't blog every day about her personal life and do as many signings and events. As the article stated, most authors don't. They don't so that they can maintain some semblance of privacy. LKH clearly wants as much attention and fame as possible. With fame, comes criticism. I don't dislike her because she is famous and successful. I dislike her for being a poor writer, spawning so many other horrible rape-porn "horror" authors, and being an annoying and vain person. But I suppose, in a roundabout way, I do dislike her due to her success. If not for that, I would never have to know what she writes or how awful she is. Oh, no! LKH is right! (>;o;)>

[pandaemonaeum.livejournal.com]

Oh, Laurell is so goth. She's even more goth for insisting that she's not while making statements like the ones above.

She's not, and we don't want to take responsibility for her! I have never met a single goth over the age of 17 who expounds the level of drivel that those statements portray. I really, really wish people would stop calling LKH a goth, because she isn't one!

[beloved828.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know, Marie. I was being facetious. I wish Laurell herself and others would stop using that word to describe her in earnest altogether. We all know that she isn't Goth, but she sure tries hard to convince us otherwise. Then, she goes to great lengths to prove that she isn't, and that we only wish that she was. I personally wish that she would either shut up (first choice) or stop trying to be something that she isn't to get some sort of "street cred"(second choice). It just makes her look like an old fool emulating the younger generation but not really getting it down. Like a 40 year old man wearing a shirt open to his navel and an earring.

[pandaemonaeum.livejournal.com]

LOL I keep forgetting that all tone is lost on the Internet :)

We still don't want her though :D

Maybe she subscribes to the Andrew Eldritch School of Thought, which goes "you're not a proper goth unless you deny being a goth"... (and yes, I do think that's a bloody stupid standpoint!)

[beloved828.livejournal.com]

Hehe. I always forget that sarcasm is easily lost on the Net as well. No, we certainly don't want LKH in our ranks! I agree with you on the "Goth by denial" thing being quite stupid, too. It's especially stupid when a person is dressed in full Goth regalia, loves all things Goth, is standing in a Goth club, and insists up and down that they're not Goth. That seemed to be the norm for the Goths in the North East, where I grew up. One must deny being Goth to be considered Goth. One may only say that one "just likes the clothes" when asked if one is Goth. One must call everyone else posers(even one's Goth friends). And one may NEVER admit to shopping at Hot Topic(even though everyone did). My best friend called it the "Gothier than Thou Game". It always made me laugh.

[beloved828.livejournal.com]

"I've never been able to kill the rumor that this book is about my real life."

"My husband and I actually talked about having a third adult in the house. Economically, why not have a household with three incomes? It's very practical, except for the whole human thing. The thought of finding another person who doesn't bug the crap out of me boggles me. And with every person, you add another heart to tap-dance around."

That's because she kept telling her readers that the characters and plots were pulled from her own experiences. She wrote an afterword saying just that. She has said that Nathaniel and Micah were based in part on Jon, her current husband, and that Richard was based on Gary, her first husband. She tallies her injuries and compares them to Anita's. She has to own the same weapon Anita does. Her marriage and break-up with her first husband. Her relationship and marriage to her current husband. These are all in her books. Anita's looks, past, and personality are almost exactly the same as LKH's. She makes statements like the one about having a third person in their home, gets Charles (her "bodyguard"), and then wonders why so many people that there may be something going on between her and two men. I believe that she secretly loves those rumors and encourages them. LKH herself seems to be the one who can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

"I've lost track of the number of people who've told me they got out of an abusive relationship because Anita wouldn't takeit," Hamilton says. "Women don't understand they don't have to be victims. It shocked me. I was raised to be strong to survive. I didn't realize people were so hungry for someone to tell them how to be strong."

So now, they rape and abuse the men instead! Go Laurell! Seriously though, how does Anita being a public toilet for the supernatural male populace show women how to be strong? The men treat her like a blow-up doll and worse. I hear so many young women say that they want to try BDSM (the wrong, Anita Blake way, of course)because of LKH's stupid books. How is showing women how to have dangerous, degrading sex showing them how to be strong? The men wear condoms. So what? Pregnancy and STDS aren't the only dangers of having sex, especially in BDSM. How does depicting people in abusive relationships help others get out of them? Perhaps they recognize the signs in their own relationships? Not one of Anita's relationships has been healthy in any way, at least not since she and Richard broke up the first time. And what exactly doesn't Anita take? Being told to be reasonable? Being asked to compromise? Being asked to do anything at all? Being a bitch is not being strong. If a woman needed Anita Blake to show her how to be strong, I pity her.


PHEW!!! That was long. It took me awhile to write it, so I figured I'd post it. I get so long-winded when talking about LKH. It's kinda sad. lol.

[darkese.livejournal.com]

io9.com made me giggle a while back with another reference to AB:

'If you have ever semi-guiltily read Laurel Hamilton's trashy elf sex novels, or managed the feat of reading John Norman's Gor books while simultaneously rolling your eyes, then today's lunchtime reading, "Under the Moons of Riadorf," will be the perfect diversion for you.'

http://io9.com/393686/a-perfect-parody-of-space-opera-romance-in-moons-of-riadorf-++-free-online

AB and Gor, the right fit.

[othellia.livejournal.com]

Ah... Gor. Does watching the MST3K of the Gor movie count as a feat too, or do you actually have to touch one of the books? *cringes*

[easol.livejournal.com]

THERE WAS A MOVIE?!?!?!?!?!?!

*brain explodes*

[othellia.livejournal.com]

Behold Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCkc-U2fH1s)... of the MST3K. I would not wish the original on anyone.

[pandaemonaeum.livejournal.com]

It's worse than that. There are lifestyle Goreans.

I know some :O

[booster-blue.livejournal.com]

Man, those guys are really something else...