Blogflog - Happy Yule and Merry Christmas to all!

[blogfloggery.livejournal.com]

Link: Happy Yule and Merry Christmas to all!
Dislcaimer: This blog entry is verbatim, as originally posted on LKH's blog. Copyright belongs to Ma Petite Enterprises.

MOD NOTE: It appears that after many, many years, you can now leave comments on LKH's blog again. Please do not go there for the sole purpose of picking fights or being an asshole.

Since most of this entry is what LKH and her family did for Christmas, we've only copied over the book/writing part as the mods feel this is the only part relevant to the comm's interests. You can still read the blog in its entirety by following the above link.

On a happier note, mods hope everyone in the comm has survived the holidays in the best way and had delicious food comas.

I worked on Affliction which is the next Anita Blake novel, but first I worked on a brand new story idea. I’d written down a few sentences of it days ago when the idea first waved it’s hands at me, so to speak. To my surprise it was the first thing that came to me this morning. I guess, it shouldn’t surprise me too much since it is a Christmas story. I believe it’s my first ever Christmas/Yule story, and if things continue a pace the story is shaping up to be safe for all ages. So many of you have asked for more stories of mine that can be safely shared with younger readers that apparently my subconscious has been working on it. We’ll see if I can actual behave myself for pages, though honestly the beginnings of stories are fragile things and just because you start a story is no guarantee that you will finish it. I think every writer has more beginnings than complete works, it’s the nature of ideas to come on strong, but not necessarily have staying power. This one feels promising, because the idea is fresh and exciting having just come to life this morning. (I don’t count a few lines of an idea, they can wait a decade to become a story, or never be more than an idea.)

After I’d written as far I could see in the new story I wrote on Affliction. I had to drop back and add a bridge chapter which is exactly what it sounds like it is, a chapter that bridges from the action at the end of one chapter and the action at the beginning of another. Sometimes in my eagerness to get to a scene I get ahead of explanation needed, or even character introductions so that you get people talking that are brand new with no background at all, or characters that new readers wouldn’t know just dropped in, so you have to back up and explain a little. The two brand new characters that I’d introduced have been in my mind so long that I just forgot that they’ve never actually made it on stage before. I’ve had that happen a time, or two, usually with minor characters, or minor major characters, that I keep putting in the series and they keep getting cut before the book goes to publication. We’ll see if the characters make it to the final round this book.

Comments

[shadwing.livejournal.com]

...and no word on WHY the drop date for Affliciton has changed? Bad LKH...no Biscut!

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

She seems excited about this new story, and that's good. Her enthusiasm for Anita just seems gone, understandably so, and a shiny new project may be just what she needs to get some of the ol' magic back in her stuff. That said, I'm sort of eyerolling at how apparently it is soooo hard for her to write something isn't R-rated because I guess she's just soooo edgy and dark she can't HELP it!

[shadwing.livejournal.com]

Agreed...and even if she gets this new thing completed. Where is she gonna sell it? Penguin isn't gonna do ANYTHING for her till the new Anita Book is completed.

[christwriter.livejournal.com]

In her defense--and you have NO idea how dirty that makes me feel--family safe stuff is HARD to do well. You can't use sex, bloody violence or taboo subjects to hide the weak points in your writing. With kid's stuff it is ALL about skill. My list of best written movies has some darkety-dark stuff on it (District 9, Black Swan) but is mostly kid's stuff.

But that doesn't make her look any better. Family friendly=quality writing, and if that's too hard for her to pull off, what does that say about her as a writer?

[ex-naomi-ja.livejournal.com]

OH GOOD, more new characters! I was worried the herd was getting a bit thin. Any bets on names or hair colour from anyone?

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

Since Haven got offed, we need somebody with some wild dye color! I'm betting purple!

If they are golden tigers, we will probably see more names with the weird sort-of-a-theme type that the canon ones have going: Pride, Envy, Mephistopheles ("Devil") and Good Angel.

Since our black/white tiger is named Domino, maybe she'll get a black/white/red one named Backgammon? A red/black one named Checkers?

[dwg.livejournal.com]

IDK if it's a good thing or not that she's staying away from the Lovecraftian names. Can you imagine? "Nyarlathotep, or Art for short, was resplendent with his golden skin -- gold like the metal, not a really good tan or fields of wheat, but a rich, warm gold that melted like honey and had been made flesh -- and was as tall as me: short. But he didn't let that be a handicap, he still held himself with the same confidence as the bigger bodyguards. His long dark hair was pulled back in a way that made it look like he had short hair, but it was really in intricate braids that went down his back."

...okay now I'm creeping myself out.

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

....that sounds SCARILY like her style of description, holy moses.

[collectively.livejournal.com]

Ohgod, the "long hair pulled back in a way that makes it look short" thing. For the longest time I thought that was a ridiculous thing that LKH made up. Then, I did finally see it. But the amount of men in Anita's life who have the hair and skills to pull off that trick is RIDICULOUS. I have seen it maybe two or three times (tops!) in 27 years. IT'S NOT COMMON.

P.S. That imitation was brilliant. And terrifying.

[lady-fellshot.livejournal.com]

Ohgod, the "long hair pulled back in a way that makes it look short" thing. For the longest time I thought that was a ridiculous thing that LKH made up.

One word: mullets.

All of Anita's men have mullets.

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

Anitaverse: permanently 1987-89.

[collectively.livejournal.com]

Ehehehehe. "From the front, his hair, which looked like honey in the sunlight, appeared to be all business. But when he turned his head, I could see that in the back, he was most definitely ready for a party."

[cheeky-duckie.livejournal.com]

This is all I can think:

[collectively.livejournal.com]

ASH! EEEE! Okay, now I want to create a headcanon where Anita is dating Ash. That would be pretty much the funniest thing ever.

[cheeky-duckie.livejournal.com]

Also: I LOL'd. <3

[dwg.livejournal.com]

She has enough trouble spelling Mephistopheles, which is probably why his nickname is "Devil" or "Dev" *twitch* And the only reason why he's named this is because she thought it sounded cool.

(On a side note, my spellcheck tried to correct "Nyarlathotep" to "interplanetary" YOU ARE NOT WRONG, BUT ALSO NOT RIGHT SPELLCHECK.)

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

Whenever I see "Dev" I imagine him being a character in Coronation St, which makes me laugh and laugh.

[dwg.livejournal.com]

I start singing Cats when I see Mephistopheles. I know it's not the same name, but it helps to avoid confusion with that other dude named Faust.

[plastraa.livejournal.com]

The only part you forgot was...

"And when he removed his trousers, I could see that he might be a match for even the mighty Micah!"

:P

[dwg.livejournal.com]

I also skipped out on five paragraphs about the colour of his eyes and the look a man gets when he sees a woman he'd like to fuck. Possibly with a side of Anita being like PRESUMPTUOUS MUCH? but also plotting what it would be like to have sex with him. Because it'd be inevitable. *shudder*

[plastraa.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, there is that too. Just so much to add in a description (soooo hard to be a writer), must make sure it's as creepy as possible. I suppose.

[othellia.livejournal.com]

and was as tall as me: short

OMG I am dying. This whole description is so spot on it is terrifying and yet hilarious.

[collectively.livejournal.com]

A chapter that delays action in favor of exposition? YIPPEE!!

(I mean, if her fundamentals of writing weren't so off, I wouldn't necessarily think this was a bad thing. Sometimes you need a breather, especially if some new characters/elements are coming in that need to be set up. But it's LKH, so I'm thinking everything's going to come to a screeching halt while we have to hear unnecessary physical details and dialogue that goes in circles for a minimum of two pages.)

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's exactly what I thought when I read that part. It's not a bad technique in itself, but she just CANNOT pull it off.

[ladyniko.livejournal.com]

Also, action? What action?

Most of the action in recent books has been lacking. She'll act like there's going to be some big conflict but will just not write it in, or solve it in a few paragraphs that has most of the action happening off screen.

But, she'll spend pages upon pages for exposition. Sorry, LKH, Tolkein you are NOT! He could get away with it, because his exposition meant something. He would hide details that would be important later on in his exposition.

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

Most of the action in recent books has been lacking. She'll act like there's going to be some big conflict but will just not write it in, or solve it in a few paragraphs that has most of the action happening off screen.

Ugggh, yes. I just finished sporking Skin Trade and that was EXACTLY the case. Ticked me off so much.

[lady-fellshot.livejournal.com]

It'll be interesting to see what her version of appropriate-for-younger-readers is. This could be very bad, or possibly even good. Being unable to rely on the crutch of sex might force her to think creatively for once.

I don't know whether to be terrified or happy about it. There's a lot of really terrible YA stuff around.

[door.livejournal.com]

I can't believe AB is still going.

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

Sometimes in my eagerness to get to a scene I get ahead of explanation needed,

You really don't.

[plastraa.livejournal.com]

^That just made me laugh out loud! Kind of a scary bark actually. heh

[christwriter.livejournal.com]

Affliction is the next Anita Blake novel, ya'll. It's called Affliction. And it's a novel. About Anita Blake. Because if you're visiting my blog you MIGHT not be up on this whole novel title thing, which is what I've been harping on for the last SIXTEEN BLOG POSTS, so I'm going to say it six zillion more times so you don't get it confuzzled with another title.

I do...not actually have that thing with beginnings, but that explains a LOT about LKH as a writer. I usually get middles, climaxes and endings, and I have to figure out how to get characters A B and D (C, sadly, shall die halfway through) to the parts i do have without boring the hell out of people. With her, the beginnings are good, the middles are OH GOD DID YOU JUST GET LOVE-JUICE ON ME and the endings are "Well, shit, we have to tie this all together now".

Bridge chapter. You know, human beings are REALLY good at connecting dots without having the lines drawn in first. The ONLY reason to have a bridge chapter is if there is a big, ugly ass troll sitting on the bridge with its hand out wanting quarters. And if for some reason you need a bridge chapter and you cannot possibly work without it, you need a troll there, too. (letting characters talk so you can develop that relationship a bit is not a bridge chapter. It's a required development chapter, and those are worse than bridges because you can't throw a troll in to keep things lively. You have to let it actually be about *the relationship*,)

But I'll bet ya fifty bucks the "bridge" is gonna be "two characters talking for no damn reason, because maybe you forgot the thing we talked about TWO PAGES AGO. (and the book is named Affliction, just in case you forgot)"

LKH either sucks at writing, or she thinks her audience is twelve.