review

I Think Nate Won (+ Writing Update)

Bumping the poll off the top of the blog/book pages as the masses have spoken--I think we're getting a Nate story with Lineage. In fact, Krista tells me Nate should just be in every short story, even if it has nothing to do with that series. Well, I can get on board with that.

Thank you all who have voted! If you didn't get a chance, it's in the blog side bar--scroll down to the bottom.

Okay, public declaration of goal (which means I'll likely fail): if I write about 2K - 2.5K/day of Lineage, I'll be done by the end of the month...which means I COULD start Exhumed for NaNo in November. Will I do this? We shall see. I'm letting myself suck at Lineage a bit more now, remembering I can fix it later--you'd think I would know this by now, but sometimes I need reminding.

In other news, The Romance Studio dug Hunter. It's always a relief to hear people like the nun book. I know there was disappointment I didn't directly continue Zara's story, I know most don't love Ryann like they do Zara, and I know it's a different kind of book--which is why it thrills me so much when readers "get" it.

Soon we'll see if anyone digs Lineage.

Amends is late which you're probably tired of hearing at this point, but if I have writing time I tend to spend it on paying stuff when I'm real busy. I'm about halfway through the chapter, which is a non-fun flashback...dark, violent, and a bit depressing. I'll have it up shortly.

I am making headway in Lineage, though. Wrote a scene last night I adore. Peri, Zara, and Nic are pinned in Zara's parking garage behind some cars with about two dozen guns trained on them. Brief excerpt under the cut:Read more

Bloodlines Review

There's a lovely Bloodlines review up at My World...in words and pages from Melissa. Here, go look: http://melissa-melsworld.blogspot.com/2011/05/book-review-bloodlines.html

I particularly wanted to draw attention to this to say I am THRILLED Melissa enjoyed the book. She is, in part, one of the people responsible for kicking my butt to work on my revisions a few months ago.

I met Melissa through Jaime Saare; since she was a reviewer, I put her in touch with our review coordinator and let her know she could have any book for review. She expressed interest in Bloodlines and I was all "ZOMG NOT YET--I'm revising it and you can't read the old version 'cause just NO." Of course, I hadn't worked on it in months but SHHHH. Anyway, awhile later, she dropped me another email asking about the revisions because she was still thinking about the book. And then I thought on it and said, "Fuck it--I'm setting a deadline. I'll get 'em done this month." I was a little late (I believe that was Feb when boss's wife was in the hospital very sick), but I got them done.

That's the thing about me: I'm often driven to get shit done but due, in part, to my mood disorder, I get progressively bad about keeping up with things if I'm having an episode and need a kick in the ass. If the only person relying on me is me, well, I'll screw around 'cause I tend towards being self destructive. If OTHER people are relying on me for something, I pull through things easier. (This is, incidentally, why I torture my beta reader with newly written, typo-ridden stuff--without her, I'd get nothing done.)

I guess that kind of makes me high maintenance. Oh well. It's also a good time to remind everyone: GO email your fave author and tell them you think they're fab. You will so brighten their day, I promise.

Anyway. Back to my point. Had she hated the book, I would've been disappointed but accepted it. She'd never read my work before and I knew it might not be her cup of tea. This is why I was thrilled to hear she DID enjoy it, and she has my deepest thanks for taking the time to ask about my work.

So go have a gander at the review and feel free to chime in with your thoughts (which I won't be doing as reviews are for readers and I'm not sticking my big author head where it doesn't belong).

AND I'm over at J.A. Saare's blog today talking about Bloodlines, revising, advice, and how Zara saved me. I'd love it if you dropped by--and I AM sticking my nose in there, so if you have a question, I'll answer it. http://jasaare.blogspot.com/2011/05/talking-bloodlines-with-skyla-dawn.html

Also, since my book has a vampire...look! Vampire LOL kitteh!

Linkage

I've been a bad blogger lately. I have no excuses except that May sucks and I'm trying to finish the current WIP on top of day job stuff. Having a nearly finished manuscript feels a little like having a ghost on your shoulder, pressing on you, never leaving. The only solution is to exorcise the motherfucking thing and kill it DED.

Pass a knife.

In the meantime, some links to Stuff Going on with Me:

* Two weeks ago at the ELEW, The Myth of the Likable Heroine
* Last night at the ELEW, Bipolar Bear (my own tips for writers dealing with mental health problems)
* My interview at Book Blather wherein I talk about writing, reading, and publishing. And also LOST in the comments.
* A lovely 5 Heart review at The Romance Studio of Bloodlines, saying, "Over all the book is great, with wonderful characters, a plot that keeps moving and some real surprises. If you are looking for something that not straightforward and expected this is a great book for you. It is one you'll want to go back to and read over again."

Generally I subscribe to the "don't comment on reviews" policy but I also like to show my appreciation for the people who read and review my work...so thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who took the time to read the book and especially those who have reviewed it. It means a lot to me. (Also, I worked damn hard on revising the book, so it's nice to hear people are enjoying it.)

That's it for today. I have a long post of thank yous to supportive peeps that I have drafted and I'll post it just as soon I can find a way to keep my tough chick cred along with it.

Bloodlines - Quiet Release Day (+ a new review)

Well, today's the day--old copies are being pulled down and the new one is live. Bloodlines is now available for your reading pleasure at Mundania's site in a variety of formats. It'll be up at other retailers shortly, however buying through Mundania will get you a bonus short story called Thrall. AND if you use the coupon BLOODLINES10 at checkout, you'll get 10% off your entire order. Whatever reader you have, you can get a compatible file through Mundania, which is awesome (we all know of my dislike of Amazon). (Also note that it's just been sent to the printer, so print orders will ship in a few weeks.)

As always, book description is here and excerpt is here.

A reviewer I know on Twitter had purchased and read the original book some months ago--I was all, "Oh no! There's a new version soon!" I sent her the PDF of the new one last week and she has posted a lovely review for it. Here's a snippet--perhaps my favourite compliment ever: If I ever got turned I want to be Zara when I wake up. I'm immensely proud of the revisions on this book and am glad to hear someone enjoyed it.Read more

Sunday Post

Here's this week's wrap up, kids...wherein I go through my Twitter and Facebook feeds to see what the hell I linked to that was nifty.

* A letter to those writers who, upon rejection, say "You will regret this!" And this is totally true. Even if a book goes on to be a best seller, that doesn't mean the agent (or editor) who rejected it will regret their decision. If you're going to be spending hundreds of hours of your time to represent a book (or thousands of dollars, if you're a publisher), you must love it. Rejecting a book doesn't necessarily mean the book is bad or won't sell elsewhere--it often means that the people just didn't love it enough. But your goal as a writer is to find people who will love your work, and if you put the time and effort into honing your craft--and do your research--eventually you'll find someone who loves it.

* A positive review of River posted at Blogcritics.

* Ten Things Read in Jennifer Love Hewitt's Book That Are Not Hallucinations. Quite possibly the greatest book review ever.

* Alien vs Pooh. (And for the record, there's some Predator in there too.)

* Maternal death and c-sections are on the rise in the US. Which is very scary. And related, an older article I only recently read: a Canadian study suggests home births with midwives are as safe as hospital births.

* No link, but we hired my minion to be official company minion at Mundania Press. Well, okay, so she's the "Executive Assistant." But I still call her the minion. She'll be taking care of all correspondence. I trained her for a few hours Friday, got her email set up, boss made the announcement...and everyone promptly welcomed her by sending a few dozen questions within hours. Poor, poor minion.

* I have a confession to make: I have a weakness for hidden object games. I can't help myself--every so often, I must play them. But I don't like a plain HOG, I like ones with mini-games and logic. Which is why I really enjoyed Natalie Brooks: Mystery at Hillcrest High. Now, this isn't high art. It's a silly game. But it was fun, so I'm rec'ing it.

* A wonderful song: "In Which Buffy Slays Edward".

We've all been having a vampire issue
This one can cause some damage even if he doesn't bite you
But it appears that Bella, once again, needs to be rescued
'Cause Edward Cullen
Gives me the wiggins
So Buffy, can you please just slay him?

Made of WIN.

Sunday Post

So I'm keeping this as a "Sunday Post" even though it's going up on Monday...I wrote most of it yesterday, so it still counts. Yeah.

Skyla News:

* Inbox got up to like 340 again. Cue nervous breakdown. Then the minion came (what--you don't have a minion?) and she took on some of my inbox while I took on the longer, more complicated answers.

Now look!

This makes me ever so happy.

* Also, I put up the shelf (that fell and could have killed me in my sleep) again all by myself. I'm still sleeping on the other side of the bed AWAY from it, though.

* Saturday, I saw New Moon. I'm trying to think of a worse movie, but I can't. Even Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter was better (because it had a) bad kung fu, b) a Mexican wrestler, and c) vampires that killed people rather than sparkled, which all makes it better). The LOLCat version was totally apt and if you read it, you don't need to see that dreadful film ever.

* I got a lovely review for Wolfe from Bitten by Books - Five Tombstones. "Well written with very defined characters, the series is very compelling and captivating, so much so that I find myself somewhat curious about Ms. Cameron’s background and if she’s hiding any secrets about herself." read more

Yes, I'm secretly a werewolf. ;-)

No, you know what it is? Why I could get in River's head so easily? Because even if I'm not secretly a wolf-turned-human, I've always felt like an outsider looking at humanity. River is just that to the extreme.

Some other linkage:

* Michelle on getting good at eating.

* Lili on having a room of one's own, and the will to write. I was an only child, so I did become accustomed to writing in a space by myself, but throughout school as a teen, I did learn to write anywhere. I wrote on my old laptop while I was babysitting, I wrote in class during lessons (probably why I failed nearly everything). The room of my own had to be in my head--it was the only place others couldn't tread. So I would stick on headphones, go into that little room, and write regardless of the distractions around me.

* Kate Harding on Women's Fiction.

* A Happy Meal hasn't decomposed...in a year. Ewwww. This is why I don't eat that kind of crap.

* "Nowhere in the bible did Jesus have a sword fight." (Some more fun from David Thorne.)

* xkcd on "Porn for Women".

* Oh yeah (going through my Twitter feed): I made Jill Kismet fan art last week.

* The Future of Publishing

Finally...I was at a friend's place working on Wednesday and I found (and scanned) an old photo of me 'cause, like, that's just the thing to do--post embarrassing old photos. So here's thirteen year old Skyla...clearly it's the mid-90's. I mean, THE HAT.

Romance vs Love Stories

You know, I have some real problems with romance sometimes.

First, don't slap me. I don't look down on the genre (and romance writers make a killing, so I envy that), and I like some mushy stuff as much as the next person. But I'm coming at this as an acquiring editor who sees a LOT of romance novels.

What bothers be about romance is that a) too often I see shortcuts taken instead of development of a real love story, and b) there's a predictability immediately (when I say "romance" we all think "boy meets girl, they have obstacles, they live happily ever after).

Well, okay, and c) it almost always consists of white, heteronormative pairings that reinforce rigid gender stereotypes and that makes Skyla's head go BOOM! But that's another talk for another day.

There are fantastic romances out there, but doing acquisitions for our romance imprint, I see the same things over and over. They are Soul Mates so they will automatically fall in love and have their HEA, regardless of what their personalities are like. The have no lives, no desires, outside of their own relationship. Everyone's goal is a diamond ring at the end. I never doubt, even once, that the boy will get the girl and they'll live on and on with no struggles forever and ever. And they're all white straight people.

You know what? No.

Love is messy. Love is hard. Love happens between people unexpectedly. Love doesn't always lead to a happily ever after. At it's best, love can help you rise above things; at it's worse, it'll suck out your soul and make you a crazy person.

As a reader, and an acquiring editor, I don't want to read about flowers and candles and That Perfect Someone. I *want* that unpredictability as two strong personalities struggle to make room for one another. I don't want that security of knowing it'll all be okay, because, you know, I'm a grown-up and I *know* there's no HEA for people who don't work for it. I don't want to read lazy writing.

And as a writer...I can't write romance to save my life. If I could, I would, then add some hawt sex and make a bundle. But I always have a love story in my work because I'm a Libra and I have love on the brain. Romance, though? Nope.

And here's the review of one of my books that got me thinking about this:

"One thing is certain beyond any doubt: Wolfe is a stunningly good book. ...[snip]... What I was less certain of as I read, was whether Wolfe can be described as a romance. The story focuses primarily on River. She is not by any stretch of the imagination your average heroine, and though the plot revolves around her struggle to rejoin the were she had chosen as lifelong mate, her animal-like personality and pragmatic approach to life precludes the standard sex-obsessed main characters that tend to populate the hotter romances. Daryl, her chosen mate, is removed from River for the biggest part of the book.

However, I would implore all fans of romance to buy this book and read it, because while it is not your average romance novel, it is a story about love. Not just the happily-ever-after fairy tale kind, the real kind, the sort of love that takes two people and cements them together in relationships that are like lighthouses on rocky shores.

In a world where too often ‘romance’ is synonymous with ‘superficial’, Wolfe is a tale that runs deeper. It was only once I’d put the book down that I realised through the absorbing entertainment, frequent laughs, and thought-provoking emotional pieces, Skyla Dawn Cameron had gently led me as reader through a thorough study of a raw, real, committed love.

To have a reviewer that Gets It is a wonderful thing--to have a reviewer put it so eloquently and quotable is one in a million.

I write about werewolves and vampires and zombie romantic comedies and all kinds of silly things. But all that stuff is window dressing. Beneath it all, I'm trying to write about people and those Real Things we all go through. Like love. And I'd love more writers to get it through their heads that their job isn't to repeat genre tropes, it's to tell a meaningful story that feels real to the reader.

So I don't write romance. I write loves stories (amidst all the killing and violence and Damaged Main Characters [TM]). And some days, at least for some readers, I get it right. This is a Good Thing.

(Also, that picture is--obviously--not the Wolfe book cover...it's the promo poster I made featuring the two MC's.)

This Makes Me Happy

I was just over at GoodReads and a I read a really fab review of NBR from reader Tish:

Beautifully crafted, NOTHING BUT RED brings home, with stunning clarity, the fact that anybody who believes that violence against women is something that only happens in certain countries, amongst people of certain religions, or is a thing of the past, is sadly mistaken. This could be YOUR mother, YOUR sister, YOUR daughter, friend or niece. This could be YOU. The words and images captured in these pages will not fail to stir you to your very soul. The writing is raw, poignant and heartfelt. The images are haunting. Reading this book left me feeling frightened, horrified, saddened, disgusted, bewildered and enraged. It also left me with a burning desire to be a part of the solution, to help assure that "honor killings" and other atrocities become a thing of the past. Most importantly, it left me with a feeling of hope. Hope that because of the passion and conviction of the talented women and men who contributed to NOTHING BUT RED, things can change.

That totally made me tear up.

Be sure to get your copy, kids.