Photoshopping Experiment

Posted on July 26, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

I got interview questions back from John Quinlan today, and the collection of photos is growing ever larger!

One request was to have a pic of John in a kilt, but alas, there is none.

John however, being the sweet guy he is, said “Go ahead and photoshop one onto me!”

Well, since John models underwear, I have an almost endless supply of scantily-clad hunkiness over which to photoshop a kilt.

I uploaded to facebook, google+, and twitter, asking if anyone would like to take up the challenge. (I’m not that great at photo editing, see the header with the skytower and spaceship? Yes, that blob of pixels is a spaceship, dammit, can’t you tell?) and we might soon see some results… I hope. I wanted people to be able to post the pics as comments on this post, but alas, I can’t figure out how to make that work. So, if you feel like showing off your photoshopping skills, have at it! And somehow let me know and we’ll figure out the best means to share it.

John has sent me over 50 photos to use, and encouraged me to use them on stories and stuff too. If you ask him, I’m sure he’ll be happy to grant permission for you to use a pic on a story or blog too!  Here’s a sneak preview of some of the shots he’s shared.

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The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-g6

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Male Model John Quinlan in Ed Hardy 2

Diego Barberi Model John Quinlan

John is second from the left, in red.

2001 Promo

Musclemania Model Universe Competitor John Quinlan on Stageby Photographer Luis Rafael

 

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Pseudonyms

Posted on July 25, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

AmyBeth Inverness is not my real name. I don’t even know if Inverness is a surname at all; it’s a city in Scotland. I’ve never been there. I’ve had the nickname Nessie since I was a little girl who collected Loch Ness Monsters (I still do!) But it is not an uncommon moniker, so I have not been able to use Nessie on its own as either e-mail or other user-name. (Other people got to it first.) Shortly after moving to Vermont, I began to use VT Nessie (Vermont Nessie) and then later I started to use US Nessie. I’m known by these names in many circles.

When I began this blog, I decided to choose a pseudonym to use for my Science Fiction /Romance writing. Although I understand that some writers choose pseudonyms to keep their real identities secret and private, that was not my reasoning. My real surname is Fredricksen. It’s my married name, and it’s not secret. I chose to use a pseudonym because I wanted to create a brand that was readily identifiable as Writer of Science Fiction Romance. I’m forty years old, and I have a lot of connections out in the world. I started collecting Loch Ness Monsters when I was a little girl because I was a Scottish Highland Dancer. I also teach Highland Dance, and I have a lot of connections in that world.

I don’t want a ten-year-old dancer to google my name and find adult-only material. Also, I have a set of Highland Dance stories for Middle Grade that I’d still like to see published someday, though they are on the shelf for now. When and if that happens, I will probably choose another pseudonym to attach to those. It would make sense to use my maiden name, Lillie, since that name is more recognized in the Highland Dance world due to my mother’s involvement as a teacher.

Even my first name, AmyBeth, feels like a pseudonym sometimes even though it is my legal name. My maiden name was Amy Elizabeth Lillie; I was named after two of my mother’s favorite characters in Little Women. But Amy is a very common name, and there were always two or three of us in every class. I became known as AmyBeth during my school years, and when I got married, I made it legal.

Among the writers I’ve interviewed, quite a few of them use pseudonyms. Tiffany Reisz proudly writes erotica under her own name, to the shock of many who say she really should use a pen name since she writes smut. Some writers are open about their pseudonyms and why they chose them. Others write under several pen names, and I have no idea what their legal name is. Even John Quinlan, the model whose interview is going up this Friday, used a stage name when he was a pro wrestler.

There are many very good reasons to use a pseudonym. It’s a personal choice. But problems arise when there are rules that confuse the matter. I’ve heard of authors who were unable to be paid because the check was made out to their pseudonym instead of their real name. Social media sites have rules against using a false name, and that subject is a whole blog post in itself. Authors using a pseudonym might be called cowards, or dishonest.

Likewise, not using a pseudonym can be a problem. Recently, I read a post by a blogger (who shall remain nameless) who needed to use a pseudonym for the blog, twitter, and other social media because her dayjob included a rule about not expressing political opinions in public. Others have a legitimate fear of persecution if they write about controversial subjects such as homosexuality, or explicit erotica. Some writers use a pseudonym out of consideration for their family, who may not wish to be connected with the subject the author writes.

I occasionally hear or read criticism of writers both for using, or for not using a pseudonym. The only time I agree with an argument is when a person hides behind a false name in order to anonymously hurt someone else. Otherwise, I love to hear about why an author chose a particular name, and I respect a writer who wishes to only communicate using their chosen name instead of their legal name. So far, I’ve been fortunate that everyone I communicate with seems to respect and accept my choice.

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-gm

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Interview With Dave Galanter

Posted on July 22, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

Dave was born on a cold, snowy day, in a log cabin hospital somewhere in the deep woods of Royal Oak, Michigan. Ok … well, maybe not. No one cares about that anyway.

By day Dave is a computer “geek” who gets paid to build servers, administrate networks, yada yada yada. But in the evenings and on the weekends, he devotes his time to his writing and spending time with his lovely wife and their cats.

Dave used to collaborate with Greg Brodeur, the husband and collaborator of author Diane Carey, and some of his past books were written with Greg doing major plot and characterization. Now, however, Dave is a solo act, with recent works being short stories in the Tales of the Dominion War anthology, and the Star Trek: Constellations anthology. He also wrote his first Classic Trek novel in 2009, called Troublesome Minds and an episode of the Web series “Star Trek Phase II.” His books can be found in bookstores and on-line.

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1.       How much Star Trek canon do you have to absorb in order to write about characters that were not only created by someone else, but are well known and well loved by millions of fans?

It depends on how one defines canon. If we’re talking about the
minutia of the medals Kirk received or what age he was when he graduated the Academy, or the exact circumstance in which Picard was stabbed through the heart, probably casual viewing is enough.  I think where one has to be an avid fan is when dealing with characters and their manner. Spock has to sound like Spock and Worf like Worf and if one hasn’t seen enough Trek to know how each would speak, and act, and move, then the experience isn’t going to play right in a reader’s head. Assuming that reader is a fan. So one has to be a fan, and
that’s enough. How much canon does the average Trek fan know? On average, a lot, but not everything, I think, so one need not be Memory Alpha (the Trek online Wiki).

2.       Is there a particular authority who has to approve any story lines set in the Star Trek universe?

Yes, CBS has a licensing department and they approve stories to make sure that their licensed property is protected.  You’re unlikely to see Picard phaser Riker in the head. CBS pays attention to such things.

3.       Have you ever been told you had to change something because it was not in line with what someone else thought did or would happen in the Trekverse?

In the Maximum Warp books we had developed a political back story for some of the Romulans that was in line with the end of the Dominion War. Licensing asked us to change some of that because the next movie had Romulans (Nemesis) and was going to take a different political tack.  We changed it, leaving the characters in place, but being vague about the Federation/Romulan politics of the time. Other than that, only little things, basically to minimize something they found too gory or too dark, but such instances were very rare. Usually they
asked questions which were bright and helpful and in answering their concerns we wrote better stories.

4.       You’ve written stories set in TOS (The Original Series) Voyager,
The Corps of Engineers and more. What guided the decisions regarding which
setting and characters you used?

Generally, I would ask the editors what they needed. Or they might come to me and ask for something for this series or that. With the exception of “Troublesome Minds” which was very much my desire to write a Classic Trek novel.  As for the setting of the individual books, we were left to pitch the story we wanted to tell. The concept of “Troublesome Minds” was actually turned down at first in the form of a TNG novel, and I reworked it when I realized how it could–and should–work as a TOS book.  It was much better, I thought, that way, and the editor at the time agreed.

5.       Would you consider writing a story set in the J.J. Abrams version of
Star Trek?

Most certainly. I enjoyed the movie and felt the characters were mostly the same, if a bit changed, and it would be fun to write. People who think they didn’t get the characters right haven’t paid enough attention to early TOS.

6.       Several of your stories were co-authored by Greg Brodeur. How did
that collaboration work?

Greg and I would plot, and he really taught me HOW to plot and do characterization, and then I would write a chapter and he’d read it and may suggestions about what to keep, what to add, and help chip away what wasn’t part of the story.  It was always fun working with him, and I miss it, but he became busy and he taught me enough that he schooled himself out of a gig. (Though, I’m always better after running ideas by him and I still do that. He’s amazing at seeing just where a story can go.)

7.       What kind of involvement have you had with Star Trek Phase II?

They produced a Trek story I co-wrote (“Enemy: Starfleet”) and it was an amazing experience. Sometimes it was aggravating and sometimes exhilarating and I suspect that’s pretty much like it would be working in Hollywood. I consider myself a friend of the show, and if and when I can help them with something, I try my best to do so. They’re good folks doing some amazing work in keeping Trek alive for the fans.

8.       What other Trek related activities do you pursue?

Currently my wife and I are about to start blogging about Classic Trek. (http://pt-pt.facebook.com/pages/Sam-and-Dave-Blog-Classic-Trek/114825741945032?v=info)
While she’s a science fiction and fantasy fan (and a prolific reader), she more grew up with TNG and while she likes Trek, she wouldn’t call herself a Trekker. We wanted to watch the original show, and see if it holds up–to see if she sees in it what I do, having grown up with it. So, soon we’ll start watching an episode or two a week and talking about it on a Facebook blog.

9.       Does your wife support your Trek habit? Are the cats OK with it?

She’d not have been right for me if she didn’t let me have my Trek! The cats care more about naps in the sun and wet noms than Star Trek, but I respect their decisions in that regard.

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10.   What social media do you use? Are you still actively involved in
promoting book sales?

I’m on Twitter (but more to follow than tweet) and on Facebook and now Google+. I’ve never been a big promoter of myself so I don’t really use it for self promotion, but because I like to chat with people and see what they’re saying.

11.   What was your path to publication? Did you use an agent?

I didn’t use an agent, as I slipped write under the wire when the
office was still accepting work without one, and I had a good word in from Diane Carey who’d written Trek books for them. Because I was working with her husband, that got me in the door. Kinda lucky, I know.  I am working on a book now and will likely get an agent to push it when I’m done.

12.   What is your favorite electronic or digital writing tool?

Believe it or not, I use email (sending an email to myself) to jot
down notes, then I use MS Word when I want to write them up. I used to use WordStar. That’s how old I am.  And the first thing I wrote and finished, when I was age 18, was written on a typewriter.

13.   What is your favorite non-electronic writing tool?

What is this non-electronic tool you speak of?  I will jot notes with pen and paper too, but it’s far more rare.

14.   What is the most persistent distraction from writing?

Life. Spending time with my wife is often far more desirable than writing. Because it’s not my day job, I don’t HAVE to write, so I do so when I want to, and often I want to be with her more than I want to write. She’s very good at directing me and supporting me as she knows I enjoy writing too.

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15.   What is your ideal writing environment? Have you ever been able to create it?

Sure, my ideal writing environment is easy: comfortable chair, TV on and tuned to something I can easily ignore (or if writing Trek, to a rerun so I can study mannerism and pattern of voice and such), and a computer to type on.  More and more it’s a laptop on a TV table in the living room. I can’t write in quiet and I can’t write with music on (or lyrics seep into the prose).

16.   Have you considered writing something that wasn’t set in the Trekverse?

All the time, but Trek is fun and people like it so it has always been a draw for me.  But, I am currently working on a detective novel, set in the late 1950s, but with a science fiction conceit. No Trek characters will be harmed in the making of this novel.

17.   Many writers go through a stage when they hate what they’re writing.
Do you ever feel this way? How do you get through it?

No, I never have hated writing. If anything, I’ve felt antsy if I’ve
NOT had a project to at least be thinking about. Several years ago, after my mother died, I had a short story I had to write and didn’t quite feel like getting started because I thought my feelings were morose. Interestingly, I wrote anyway, and my feelings helped the tone of the story at the start, and I was feeling better (more hopeful) at the end (as was the main character).  (The story was “Eleven Hours Out” in “Tales of the Dominion War.”)

18.   Do you consider yourself to be a writer who has a day-job? Or are you
a computer geek who writes a little on the side?

A little of both, I guess, for now.  I say “for now” because if I won the lottery and could retire, I’d still write. I’d not be working as a server admin or system admin if I had millions in the bank. So, given that I’d always write, I think that makes me a writer with a day job. I never wanted to give up a steady pay-check and the benefits that come with a day-job, and given that many writers I know have had to find day-jobs of late, I think I made the right decision.

19.   When the day comes that you are on stage, accepting some prestigious
award, who are you most likely to forget to thank?

My psychologist and the nurses on the ward in which I’m kept, because if I think I’m getting an award then something in my head has most definitely cracked.  While I think I am a competent writer, and sometimes even a good writer, I don’t see myself as a great writer.  I can, at times, write things I really love and think is a good scene but such things are woven together with threads of writing that are usually only serviceable. If I’m rushed, they can even make me cringe
a little. So I don’t think there are awards in my future, and I also
don’t think I need one. I’m happy if I can entertain someone, even on a fleeting level. If someone reads my work and says “that was good, I liked that” then I feel I’ve done my job.

20.   Who shot first, Han or Greedo?

Han. Duh. I think it damages Han’s character arc from rogue to hero when it’s redone to make Greedo shoot first. Just my opinion. And my wife’s–she’s more of a Star Wars fan than I, and she agrees. Take that, George Lucas!

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-fS

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Wanted

Posted on July 21, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

Some might approach marketing a book from the point of view that it is such an incredible work of art, everyone must love it. An author could spend years trying to convince swarms of people that they should like their story.

Somehow, I don’t think that will work for me. I have a unique setting, and although something different might sound like a good idea, what it really means is “There is no existing market for what you’ve produced.”

But there are people out there who like what I write. In the past month or so, I’ve started receiving compliments out of the blue from people I either know just a bit, or not at all. One tweeter said “Just so you know, you’re awesome.” It apparently was a general statement, not a reply to a specific tweet. I did thank her, but I was really caught off guard.

Someone out there likes me.

I’ve had a few others comment that they read everything I write. Again… flattered, yet flabbergasted. I do think that some of the fiction I’ve put Under Loch & Key is pretty darn good, but there’s a lot of so-so stuff there too.

My marketing job is to find those readers out there who genuinely like what I do, not to convince just anyone that they should like me. But like I posted regarding Kieran Kramer a couple weeks ago, the perfect book can sit unnoticed on a bookstore shelf for months and never get noticed by the right people.

So who are the right people?

  • Readers who love a sweet romance.
  • Readers who enjoy other worlds and futuristic societies, not just for their technologies, but for their different culture and social norms.
  • Readers who embrace the idea that gender, though important, is not the only deciding factor in sexual attraction.
  • Readers who appreciate marriage, in all the adaptive forms it may take.
  • Readers who like stories about every kind of person, from the Dukes and Duchesses to the everyman swinging a hammer for a living.
  • Readers who realize that religion and spirituality mean different things to different people, that these are important aspects of a person’s identity.
  • Readers who just happen to like my style, my sense of humor, and the way I have with words.
  • You know, the kind of people who would see a stranger waving a “free hugs” sign, and run to them with open arms. Or the kind of person holding the sign in the first place!

I know they’re out there. I’ve met a few already. My job is now to locate them, and do my best to entertain and enthrall.

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-fO

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Planned Obsolescence

Posted on July 20, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

A few posts back, I delivered a short rant about black buttons on black electronics.

I could write a much longer rant on those same electronic devices having planned obsolescence. It’s bad enough that consumers do not have the option to purchase a device that is sturdy enough to last for many years, or devices that can be repaired for a modest fee. These days our electronic devices are actually designed to become obsolete in a matter of years or even months. One year after buying my cell phone I was unable to purchase a charger for it because they don’t make them in that style anymore. I was told I’d have to purchase a new phone, and everything that went with it. I declined.

My VHS collection went the way of the dinosaur. I like DVDs, with the ability to change language tracks and other special features. However now some manufacturers are neglecting to put any specials on the DVDs, choosing instead to push Blu-Ray technology by making it the only way to see the movie’s special features.

I’m not willing to discard all my DVDs and re-purchase everything on Blu-Ray. Perhaps the technology is an improvement, but it is not worth it to me. How long will it take for Blu-Ray to become the old, outdated technology? Streaming technology is better in many ways. I admit that I rarely take a DVD off the shelf with so many possibilities to stream video. Someday, I might even accept that I don’t own any movies, I simply own the right to stream them from a service for a specific time. If I can no longer afford the monthly charge, *poof* go my movies.

I would like to purchase an e-reader. There are many choices out there, with competitive features. But no matter which one I pick, my biggest fear is that all the virtual books I purchase will be unreadable as technology progresses.

I love my books. I hate storing and moving them, but I love seeing them and remembering the stories, though I admit I do not often re-read them. A book to me is a tangible thing I hold in my hands to enjoy. Flipping forward to see if I’m close to the end of the chapter, looking at the top to see by the placement of my bookmark whether I’m halfway or more through, these are important aspects of my enjoyment. If I were to look at my bookshelf tomorrow morning, and find that all my books had magically turned into incomprehensible ansi, I would be devastated.

I don’t want my books to be obsolete.

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-fG

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SyFy Q of the Day: Writers of the Future, Writing Their Future

Posted on July 19, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

© Retro Film Studios, Cawley Entertainment Company. Star Trek Phase II: Mindsifter shoot

Before I even started this blog, I would occasionally pose a SyFy Question of the Day to my facebook friends. Sometimes, it was directly related to what I was writing, and I really did want some input to help me decide what direction to take with the story. Other times, it was purely fun. Here’s one of my favorites, from March 2011:

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SyFy question of the day: Trek TOS came out before I was born, but I grew up with and loved the reruns. What will the SyFy fans of the future write and dream about when interstellar travel is a reality?

Linda                     I would say it would be dependent upon the extent of the interstellar travel. In TOS days the next step would have been travel into another quadrant. In the TNG/DS9/Voyager era travel into another quadrant was still only possible because of, in DS9s case, a wormhole, and in Voyager’s case, a superior being flinging them to the Delta quadrant. I would imagine there would always be something more to dream of. Other quadrants, other universes, the potential for alternate timelines. Even traveling where you’ve already gone more quickly (look how much Earth has changed since cars trains and planes came along to get us places faster). JMHO

Al                            I think they will dream of meeting other intelligent life.

Shawn                  Quantum Theory is already here but if we have not mastered that at the time we achieve interstellar travel it will be next on the list.

I would love to hear what you think! Even if you are reading this post a year or more after publishing, I hope you will leave a comment with your own ideas on this topic.

The previous SyFy Q of the Day is at http://wp.me/p1qnT4-f0

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-fz

The next SyFy Q of the Day  is at http://wp.me/p1qnT4-gR

A note about the photo. Thank you to my friends at Phase II who let me use it for this post! It is nice to love and be loved, and be able to ask “Hey, can I use this?” and get an answer right away!

Posted in SyFy Question of the Day | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Who To Interview?

Posted on July 16, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

Photography by Sandra Kimball

The idea of posting interviews on my blog was an early idea that has worked out well. I love doing them, and it gives me a good anchor of something I do every week. Only once have I missed a Friday when an interview fell through, and I filled in with a fictional interview of one of my characters. I am prepared to do that again at any time!

I started finding my interviewees from my twitter feed; writers I liked or was curious about. My connections with Star Trek Phase II also provided some interesting subjects, such as next week’s interview with Dave Galanter. Sometimes I contact someone and say “Hey, can I interview you?” Sometimes I announce “Who wants to do an interview?” and I find volunteers.

I like combining the well known with the not-known-at-all. For one thing, it is easier to prepare an interview for a pre-published writer. They often turn out to be really interesting people, and the tiny bit of publicity they get from my blog helps them get their name out there too. The well-known authors have the advantage of already having a following, and I get more blog hits. Sometimes I find myself in over my head as I research a subject, hoping to compose an interesting and relevant set of questions, but I keep uncovering more and more interesting facts till I’m in an avalanche of possibilities. I might reach out and try an interview with someone who is widely celebrated, such as George Takei (Wouldn’t that be great?) but besides the difficulty in getting a busy celebrity to agree to an interview, it would also be much more work for me to make sure I’m looking into all the different things they’ve done and are currently doing.

After Dave’s interview will be a subject who is neither a writer nor related to the publishing field. John Quinlan is a former wrestler, a male model and a family man. I first came across him while searching for a picture to illustrate a story for The Red Dress Club. The story was about a narcissistic actor, so I needed to find a picture of a man who was Hollywood handsome. Also, my friends had been joking recently about how adding “man candy” to blog posts always increases the number of hits lol! As I frequently do, I went to Wikimedia.

Photography by Sandra Kimball

Wikimedia is great for bloggers because it has tons of images that are free to use. With a little searching, I decided on this photo to illustrate the story “Postcard“. To my surprise, I began getting hits to the blog because people were googling John Quinlan. I didn’t even know who he was! But the search kept showing up on my dashboard consistently. I decided to take advantage of this, and used other pictures of him a couple of times.

Then, my twitter friend and author Cassandra Carr asked “OK, whose picture do you want to see shirtless on my blog?” (See previous comment regarding man-candy and blog hits.) I asked for Christian Slater and John Quinlan. She came through on both counts.

Fast forward a few weeks, and both Cassandra and I were surprised to be contacted by John himself! He’s a real sweetheart, and was quite flattered to be featured on our blogs. Cassandra dedicated a post to him and he kindly chimed in the comments to talk to the readers.

I would love to see John on a romance cover someday! Nothing’s sexier than a man who not only has an incredible body, but does right by his wife and kids. I’m looking forward to interviewing him.

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-fn

Posted in Commentary & Musing, Interviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Interview With Liz Silver

Posted on July 15, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

Liz bears a striking resemblance to Marilyn

International woman of mystery and wearer of many hats, Elizabeth Silver is a writer, a nerd, and a self-proclaimed internet junkie. An avid reader all of her life, Elizabeth also began writing at an early age, and fell in instant, undeniable love. It’s been a long and wicked affair, but literature is damn good in bed with a cup of cocoa.

With her feet planted about halfway between New York and Philadelphia, Elizabeth has often been accused of having her head in the clouds, although what she’s really doing is just thinking really hard. Elizabeth can frequently be found at the local diners or coffee shops with internet access and bottomless refills, working on new story ideas on her own or with her close friend and co-author, Jenny Urban.

Their novellas Winner Takes All and Where the Heart Is are available in e-format from Loose Id.

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1) How do you and your co-author, Jenny Urban, work together?

Jenny and work simultaneously in a Google Docs file, passing back and forth as we go. Each one of us assumes the “role” of certain characters, and so becomes responsible for all of his actions, whether the scene is in his POV or not. For example, in our most recent book, Where the Heart Is, I wrote for Chris (the artist) and Steve (the gym teacher), while Jenny wrote for Jason (the cop). We both take on the job of fleshing out and making the plot work, too. It sounds really complex and technical, but it’s actually a wonderfully organic process that we’ve developed over the years.

Also, it helps that we share a brain.

2) Do you have rules for how steamy you write your sex scenes?

I use whatever language and descriptions I think are most appropriate for those characters in that situation. I don’t like to draw the curtains on a perfectly good sex scene, because sex is fun and steamy and delicious… and awkward and angry and ill-informed. How we make love has a lot to do with who we are, and it shows a lot of where the character is. Does he spend a long time warming his partner up, or is it just hot and steamy kissing that goes right to torn clothes and rough coupling? It says what they want from each other right then, more than any conversation. As to using swear words or words that are otherwise considered “dirty,” sure, I use them. My characters use them, too, and they won’t suddenly start thinking of it as a “purple-headed warrior of love” just because they’ve got naked with someone.

3) Are you a fan of Marilyn Monroe? Or just a look-alike?

Oh, I wish I looked like her! No, actually, I’ve always been a bit of a fan. She was so shy, so fragile, and yet no one really had the time or the patience to allow her to just be. It’s tragic, really, because she was not only a very gifted actress (Some Like It Hot and The Misfits are amazing films, both shot when she was fast approaching the lowest point in her life), but she was also a very talented poet and known by her friends as deeply philosophical. I don’t have pictures of her up on the wall or anything, but I’ve always looked up to her as an example of what can happen when something truly beautiful becomes lost in a sea of loneliness.

This Vanity Fair article about her writings is says it a lot better than I could, but then again, they weren’t trying to fit her awesomeness into a single interview answer: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/11/marilyn-monroe-201011

4) Do your family and friends know you write smut? 🙂

Actually, they do! My mother sometimes tries to encourage me to write “real books,” which leads into her being lectured by me. Really, she just wants to read something I’ve written and had published, and she’s never been a fan of romance novels. My father wants me to write het romances because he DOES read those, though, and his wife keeps trying to convince me that I really do need to tell her my pen name.

And my friends think it’s fantastic. Next year I’ll be the Best (Wo)Man in my friend’s wedding, and the bride has told all of her friends and family that her fiancé’s best friend writes dirty books, so there’s no need to worry about the fate of his stag night.

5) So, what kind of Life Threatening Allergies do you have? Do you often order Death Salad?

LOL. I’ve got the usual allergies (dust, mold, cats, etc), but my bad one is for walnuts and pecans. I can’t even have food that’s made on the same equipment because of cross-contamination. It makes ordering dessert interesting when we go out, though, because you’d be surprised how often walnuts wind up in everything, and if they touch my food, I have to send the whole thing back. So I’ve learned to read packages carefully, and not order things that sound suspicious. Sometimes I slip up and wind up with a lunch I can’t eat, though. Oopsie.

6) Thanks for continuing Choose Your Own Romance, No London Bride. I wish the other stories had caught on, but they seem to have fallen flat. Do you have any bright ideas how to re-ignite or re-invent the Choose-Your-Own idea?

Maybe get people to sign up beforehand that they’ll be participating, have them work together to write all the parts, then post at the same time, and just go live as an interactive reading experience? *hands* Not sure. It’s terribly complex, and I’d run screaming in the other direction if I had to run it. *tips hat*

7) Thank you for prompting #1k1hr on twitter. That often whips me back into the WIP when I’ve been distracted by social media. How much do you write each day?

#1k1hr is so much fun! It’s wonderful to have virtual company while I’m writing. Right now I’m averaging 1724 words a day for this month. I know, it sounds weird that I know the exact number, but I’m actually trying to finish a couple of projects and one of the progress spreadsheets I made tells me my words/day rate (I need 2k a day to meet my self-imposed mid-August deadline).

8) What can you tell me about the Dirty Birdies?

The Dirty Birdies is a group blog of erotica and erotic romance writers that all met via Twitter. The idea is that we all blog how we want. No filters, just honest thoughts that more often than not have to do with writing. We write contemporary, het, ménage, BDSM, m/m, f/f, paranormal, bisexual… anything that strikes our fancy. This month we’re talking about “multiples” as in multiple orgasms, partners, pronouns, story ideas, and more. It’s a really fun place to hang out!

9) What’s the “NoH8” twibbon on your profile picture?

The NOH8 campaign was started as a silent protest to counteract the passing of “Proposition 8” in California, which revoked the right to marry from same-sex couples. It has grown to encompass protest against similar anti-LGBTQ legislation all over the world. I keep that ribbon up as a reminder that we are all human beings, and we all love. Some of us just love differently than others, and that in no way makes us inferior. I still remember what it was like, being 13 years old and falling for girls just as often as boys and having no one to talk to, feeling so alienated and wrong because all the kids around me said that being gay or bi was something to be ashamed of. No one should ever feel that way for experiencing something so beautiful as love and affection.

For more information on the NOH8 campaign, visit their website: http://www.noh8campaign.com/

10) How much writing did you do before being published?

I wrote hundreds of thousands of words, but all for fun. It was a blast, and great practice. Jenny and I even wrote a couple of books that we never really finished, and we keep saying we should do something about that one day. But mostly I wrote a lot. My early stuff was really terrible, really, but then everyone’s is. No one will spring into writing, like Athena from Zeus’s head, with a full toolbox and all the knowledge in the world, after all.

11) What was your path to publication?

Jenny and I finished one of those books we’d been kicking around for fun, and I finally let her talk me into submitting it to Loose Id. We sent it in, and a couple months later received the contracts for Winner Takes All. It sounds terribly easy, but remember all those hundreds of thousands of words that we did before that, leading up to that one manuscript that we agreed was ready.

12) What social media do you use? Do you combine your personal and professional or keep them separate?

I’m on Twitter as @LizSilverWrites, and I blog around places (Dirty Birdies and my own website/blog, UrbanSilver.net, mostly). Since I spend more than enough time on the Internet as it is, I’ve been avoiding Facebook. Likewise, I’m waiting to see if Google+ sticks around or goes the way of Google Buzz.

Of course, I do have a personal FB account, under my non-writing name. But that’s so people who don’t know about my writing, like my 85-year old grandmother, don’t stumble on the wrong version of me. While it would be funny, it would still make for one hell of an awkward Thanksgiving.

13) What is your favorite electronic or digital writing tool?

My laptop. A lot of writers talk about their offices or their desks, but I don’t have either until I finish redecorating my house, so my workspace is a writer’s nest I’ve built in the living room. I have the couch, a table to put my feet on, my laptop, and room to spread out if need be. It’s a pain in the ass when I have company, but since all the important stuff is on my laptop (and my external hard drive backup), I can pick up and move my base of operations anywhere.

Plus, my lappy is red and pretty. The only thing I miss is having a nice and noisy keyboard, like they used to have on desktops back in the day, the kind that made you feel like you were using a typewriter.

14) What is your favorite non-electronic writing tool?

Typewriters. Old-fashioned typewriters. I covet them so.

15) What is the most persistent distraction from writing?

The Internet. I could blame my husband and his amazing ability to know when I’m mid-scene and thus choose that moment to interrupt me, but the Internet is ALWAYS there, even when he’s at work. And man, the variety of shiny objects it offers is GREAT!

16) When the day comes that you are on stage, accepting some prestigious award, who are you most likely to forget to thank?

The way I roll, it would probably be the most important, so that would be my husband. He has never, ever doubted that I could do anything I set my mind to. Fortunately, he knows me well enough to know it’s because I’m a spaz. I forget because I care, baby! Honest!

17) Did you really enter a costume contest as a Corellian Padawan?

Green outfit, Padawan braid, lightsaber and all. Several of the judges were actors from the original trilogy, and even a few from the prequels. I was awesome, but not nearly as cool as the wee baby dressed as an Ewok or the George Lucas look-alike.

18) Do you ever write fan fiction or SciFi?

Oh noes! The question! *grin* Yeah, I’ve written fan fiction before. I first started writing it almost 15 years ago. And it was terrible. But then we’re all bad when we first start out, aren’t we? So I kept writing, changed fandoms a few times, kept writing… I just liked telling stories about characters I loved. Something I still get to do now, only with my own characters. Cool, huh?

And, actually, the novella I’m writing now (which is threatening to become a novel) is a SciFi erotic romance. 😉

19) Can a self-professed celebrant of smut really like geeky stuff like Star Wars?

 Totally. Geeks are kinky peeps if given half a chance.

20) Who shot first, Han or Greedo?

 Han! We don’t need any of that revisionist history here! Han shot first, and YOU ALL KNOW IT.

Anyone up for the Kessel Run?

Oops! I accidentally added a picture of male model John Quinlan to Liz's interview! How did that happen? Stay tuned for John's interview in a couple of weeks!

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SyFy Q of the Day: Dwarfism

Posted on July 12, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

Before I even started this blog, I would occasionally pose a SyFy Question of the Day to my facebook friends. Sometimes, it was directly related to what I was writing, and I really did want some input to help me decide what direction to take with the story. Other times, it was purely fun. Here’s one of my favorites, from June 2011:

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SyFy question of the day: In a positive future, will dwarfism in humans be “cured”, or will it simply be one of many body types?

Geri                       One of many body types – but the physical issues (joint weakness, malformation, etc) will be easily repaired/avoided.

AB                          I started outlining a story where some characters were “normal short” and others were short enough to be considered “dwarf” or “little people”. But when I looked up actors for inspiration, the bio described an actual medical condition.

I like the idea of treating it like I do autism… no, not “cured”, but it is simply something that requires a little adjustment to one’s lifestyle. It is no longer disabling.

Shane                   Those with “dwarfism” will prove to be of a more survivable genetic makeup than everyone else. Non-dwarves will perish while the dwarven races survive and take the place of the inferior Tall Ones.

Geri                       Yeah, I would like to point out that it was the tall dinosaurs that bit the meteoric dust

Juno                      More survivable agreed. That Tyrion Lannister fella is one shrewd dude.

Shelley                 I dont know…it seems to me that actual dwarfs would probably choose not to be if offered another option. Im trying not to to play into political issues just TRYING to see another perspective.

AB                          ‎@Juno… Tyrion is exactly who planted this seed in the first place!

Juno                      Busy ol’ chap Tyrion, always runnin’ around plantin’ his seed.

Patty                     It’ll be the norm. survival of the fittest.. they need less food and fuel…

I would love to hear what you think! Even if you are reading this post a year or more after publishing, I hope you will leave a comment with your own ideas on this topic.

The previous SyFy Q of the Day is at http://wp.me/p1qnT4-e7

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-f0

The next SyFy Q of the Day is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-fz

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Madeleine

Posted on July 11, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

I strive to create a diverse universe for my science fiction stories. I don’t want to describe a freak show; on the contrary I want to show that humanity consists of all kinds of unique persons who all contribute to society in their own very colorful ways.

In About Damn Time, my work in progress, I described one of the young secondary characters as being short. I didn’t think much of it, and I didn’t care to over-describe her since, for one thing, she is a secondary character, and secondly, because I prefer to give my readers only an impression of a character’s physical appearance, and let them fill in the details.

Then I started watching Game of Thrones on HBO. Peter Dinklage plays Tyrion Lannister, the younger son of one of the powerful families. This series is so complex and has so many characters, I won’t go into any of that here. But I was impressed at Mr. Dinklage’s screen presence. At a height of 4’5″, he is not your typical leading man.

I started thinking about basing a character on him, and I soon thought of the young woman in my WIP. The two characters and their romance started building in my brain.

Then, someone (I don’t remember who, it was in the midst of facebook comments) theorized that dwarfism would be cured hundreds of years in the future.

I never thought of dwarfism as being a disease or condition that needed to be cured. But then I looked at Peter Dinlage’s IMDB profile, and it referred to him having achondroplasia. I also remember seeing Little People, Big World where two of the family members had medical issues related to their dwarfism.

I used the topic for a SyFy Question of the Day, and got a mixed response. I tried e-mailing Amy Roloff, but did not receive a response. I desperately wanted to have a Little Person’s perspective before I let the story foment in my brain any further. Their stature is an important part of the plot, not just a characteristic.

Then along came Madeleine. Innocently pushing her cart through Costco, minding her own business.

I debated asking such a sensitive question of a total stranger in the middle of a huge store. I had my 3yo with me, and didn’t want to expose her to any rude behavior. But I took a deep breath, said “Excuse me…” and politely asked my question.

Madeleine was wonderful. She graciously answered my question, explaining that there are over 200 types of dwarfism. It is a genetic anomaly, not a disease. She did seem to be a little offended that someone might suggest it would be “cured”. Maybe it was more that she thought the idea of a cure wasn’t so much insulting, as it was ridiculous.

So my story lives! Natasha and Peter can live happily ever after. I just need to finish About Damn Time first.

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-eU

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