tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639ceciliatanceciliatanceciliatan2023-12-29T19:19:20Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:4393802023 in Review2023-12-29T19:19:20Z2023-12-29T19:19:20Zpublic1<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-4600" src="https://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023-in-review-collage-700x587.png" alt="" width="700" height="587" srcset="https://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023-in-review-collage-700x587.png 700w, https://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023-in-review-collage-300x251.png 300w, https://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023-in-review-collage-768x644.png 768w, https://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023-in-review-collage-800x671.png 800w, https://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023-in-review-collage.png 940w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" /></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So. This was the year that my cat died, my Dad died, and I got COVID. I keep saying I’ve been getting no writing done. But that’s not exactly true…?</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s mostly that I haven’t been progressing on the Big, Important Novel Series that has occupied the center of my writing life for the past decade (aka the Vanished Chronicles), so it doesn’t FEEL like I got “any” writing done. Certainly in comparison to the years when I had three books (maybe even four?) come out, while publishing a serial with 2-3 chapters per week, plus short stories, my output is minuscule when juxtaposed. It also feels like I didn’t “write” much because much of what DID come out this year were “inventory” stories, which had been sitting around in the hard drive waiting for their final polish or rewrite. But they all count, don’t they?</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">They do.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So here’s a recap of everything I wrote in 2023. </span></span></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>BENT FOR LEATHER and the story “Personalize Your Netherparts”</b></span></span></span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This year has been a slow rollout for my new short story collection, </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Bent for Leather.</i></span></span></span></em><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I say “slow rollout” because the initial goal was to publish in April to coincide with my keynote at International Ms. Leather and Bootblack (IMsLBB). An IMsL edition was printed, but to fulfill the Kickstarter stretch goals, two new pieces of interior art needed to be commissioned and then completed by the artist. So it took until September to get that edition finished and uploaded, and my plan had been to do the “official” launch in November.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But I got COVID in September so all I managed in October and November was to ship the copies due to backers. I didn’t do any of the marketing I had planned. I haven’t had the brain cells.</span></span></span></p>
<span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://ceciliatan.dreamwidth.org/439380.html#cutid1">Read the rest of this entry »</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="https://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/4599" title="Read original post.">cecilia tan</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=439380" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:417555Seeking stories from authors & beta readers about incorporating feedback, critique2018-04-18T20:03:26Z2018-04-18T20:03:26Zpublic0<p><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3339" src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/absorbed-2409314_640-300x259.png" alt="" width="300" height="259" srcset="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/absorbed-2409314_640-300x259.png 300w, http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/absorbed-2409314_640.png 640w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><br />
So I’m teaching a couple of writers workshops coming up, and I’ll be talking about the various kinds of feedback and critique writers can, should, and will receive throughout the writing and publishing process. I’ve gathered a lot of stories already, but I’d like to hear more from both authors and folks who give solicited feedback: critique partners, writers groups, beta readers, and sensitivity readers.</p>
<p>It’s OK to remain anonymous if you don’t want to out yourself or who you’ve worked with. I’d like to hear stories of when feedback worked well and also when it did not.</p>
<p>Some questions to think about and the type of information I’m seeking:</p>
<p><strong>Authors:</strong><br />
Which kinds of feedback have you worked with before? Did you discover one type of feedback worked better for you than others? What *didn’t* work for you? How did you go about soliciting the feedback? How did you meet the person or people? Did you thank them publicly/in the book? Did you compensate them in any way? Can you describe to me some specific advice you were given and how it changed the book or story, what you did to revise, and whether it changed the way you wrote future work? Both good and bad experiences would be helpful to hear. How do you decide which feedback to incorporate and which to leave aside?</p>
<p><strong>Beta-readers and critiquers:</strong><br />
Are you also a writer? Do you specialize in some specific type of critique (whether sensitivity reading or specific genre expertise or knowledge i.e. police procedure, medical)? How do you provide feedback? How did you meet the author(s) you have given feedback to? Can you give a specific example of advice you’ve given in the past? Do you feel authors actually listen? Can you give examples of when you feel your advice was taken the wrong way?</p>
<p><strong>For writers who also give critique (either to a critique partner or writers group):</strong><br />
Do you feel like you give the same kind of critique you want to receive? How does critiquing the work of others help your own writing?</p>
<p>Please either leave your responses in comments below (anonymous responses OK, just don’t put your real name or email in the comment fields) or email me at ctan.writer @ gmail.com</p>
<p>—<br />
<em>Image credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/en/absorbed-book-girl-reading-student-2409314/">Mohamed Hansen, Pixabay</a></em></p>
<p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/3338" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=417555" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:374614Writing Advice: Paranormal Romance with Heather Graham, Nalini Singh, and Rebecca Zanetti2016-07-16T19:09:48Z2016-07-16T19:13:38Zpublic0<p><img src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/rwa2016conferenceheader-700x183.png" alt="rwa2016conferenceheader" width="700" height="183" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-2927" srcset="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/rwa2016conferenceheader-700x183.png 700w, http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/rwa2016conferenceheader-300x78.png 300w, http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/rwa2016conferenceheader-768x200.png 768w, http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/rwa2016conferenceheader-800x209.png 800w, http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/rwa2016conferenceheader.png 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" /><br />
I went to the massive Romance Writers of America national conference this past week and one of the best things about this conference is that so many of the top writers in the genre are here. RWA and the romance community at large is extremely open. It’s the only place I know of where you can take workshops presented by writers who have literally sold in the tens of millions of books where they tell you how you can do it, too. </p>
<p>One event I did not want to miss was the Paranormal Authors Chat with Heather Graham, Nalini Singh, and Rebecca Zanetti. Since I have a paranormal/urban fantasy series starting with Tor Books in 2017 (<i>The Vanished Chronicles</i>), I definitely wanted to soak up whatever wisdom I could. These women are three giants of the field, plus Heather Graham was so unbelievably nice to me when I was a young struggling writer years and years ago that I still remember it vividly. </p>
<p>(The story: We were at a group signing together at a bookstore, I was feeling like an unknown, unwanted piece of chopped liver, while she had a line out of the door. I was at the seat next to her. She could have ignored me and instead she made me feel welcome and included. I love her forever, and this same spirit of inclusion and helping others pervades the whole RWA so far as I can tell.)</p>
<p>You can look up each of these writers’ bona fides but if you are new to them, they are all New York Times bestsellers many times over. Nalini Singh is the author of the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00CJ5UT46/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll2&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=9eedab73eb58eb884015a2b7e160d8fe">Psy-Changeling</a> and the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00D4C2BWQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll2&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=bd0acfde05341744f973e8f2b4315b64">Guild Hunter</a> series among many dozens of other books. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rebecca-Zanetti/e/B003YJTMF8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?qid=1468696053&sr=8-2-ent&linkCode=ll2&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=da3284ceb73f16607ece684bafbd8604">Rebecca Zanetti</a> has published over 25 dark paranormals and has been a finalist for the RT Award. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Heather-Graham/e/B000AR86JU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?qid=1468696016&sr=8-2-ent&linkCode=ll2&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=f97501a55a4382ac91718e45ce7479bf">Heather Graham</a> has written close to 200 vampire and paranormal novels at this point and was a founder of Florida’s chapter o the RWA. Giants, I tell you. </p>
<p>What I’m presenting here is a boiled-down version of the chat that took place. It looks like a transcript but I only capture about 60-70% of what is actually said, and I don’t always get exactly the right words, so don’t take this as quotable gospel. Also I only include here the portion with moderator questions. The audience questions were also fantastic and I learned a lot, but you know, if you want ALL of it, you have to start coming to these conventions yourself… (or buy the audio recordings of the convention, which are available through the RWA!). </p>
<p><b>Why did you chose paranormal?</b></p>
<p>Nalini: I write about telapths and shapefhuters and vampires and angels…why? I started with that because I’ve always been fascinated with the potential of our minds, if we could use 100% of our brains 100% of the time. But what’s the cost of that? What it drove you insane? That was the genesis of the Psy series. The shapeshifters just kind of showed up in the book, as they do because it’s a paranornmal. I wanted to write some shifter that were at home in their skins because I had just read a bunch of books wher the shifters are never happy! I thought I would love to be able to change into a tiger. Why aren’t there any shifters in books who like being shifters? So mine are. The Guild Hunter series… there are angels and vampires and… I just believe in not thinking too much about it. If you think too much about it you think, wow that’s weird… I really believe just let it out and it might be bonkers but let it be awesome bonkers. </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2924#more-2924">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2924" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=374614" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:371289In the wake of Orlando: fans of Daron and DGC please help2016-06-22T16:45:19Z2016-06-22T16:45:19Zpublic0<p>I’ve been exchanging messages with a lot of fans of <em>Daron’s Guitar Chronicles</em> this week. Two different gun incidents happened in Orlando the same weekend, not only the Pulse shooting at a gay nightclub but also singer Christina Grimmie was shot while autographing after a show. Anyone who has read DGC knows that rock star life and coming out as gay and finding safe space to be one’s true self are the major themes that run through the series. So this hit really close to home for a lot of readers, as it did for me, too. </p>
<p>I’m deeply shaken by what happened. As I wrote in my author newsletter earlier this week: as a queer woman of color who spent a lot of time in gay bars in my 20s and just as a human being, I’m still struggling to absorb what happened. </p>
<p>Many of you have probably seen me wearing a T-shirt that says “Music Is My Salvation” on it. I probably wear it to almost every convention! It was a souvenir from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and I’ve worn it so much it’s almost worn through. It’s not an ironic statement for me. </p>
<p>Music is what brings people together in spaces like Pulse, to dance and find community, and to live shows and concerts, to find that ecstatic space of belonging that I think many people find in churches and other spaces of organized religion. Dance clubs and concert halls ARE my church. I worshipped this week at the altar of The Cure, a band that was all-absorbing to me when I was defining my art and my sexuality and my identity as a goth in my late teens and early 20s. </p>
<p>I last saw them in concert in 1989, more than half my life ago, but I saw them this week at the Agganis Arena in Boston. The show was amazing, transcendent, wonderful, and I couldn’t help but think that after David Bowie and Prince have both been taken from us this year, Robert Smith is the one left carrying the torch of “it’s okay to be weird.” That’s my religion, that’s what I preach: “It’s okay to be weird.” </p>
<p>That’s why so many of my protagonists are rock musicians and artists and nonconformists who can’t quite fit into a 9-to-5 world. Everyone has a right to be queer, in whatever way you are queer, whether in sexuality or in being not-like everyone else. You might be the same in some ways and different in others. </p>
<p>I learned in Bible camp (yes, I went to Bible camp) that our goal shouldn’t just be to go to heaven when we die, it should be to create heaven on Earth. My heaven would be one where everyone could be themselves freely without fear of being killed. </p>
<p>In particular it hurts that we are attacked for who we love or how we love. People sometimes ask me if I could be doing something “better” with my life. Right now I think writing stories about love and spreading a message that love is important and all kinds of love are valid is about the most important thing I can do. </p>
<p>But a lot of us are feeling helpless, powerless, angry, and empty since the attack. I know because you’ve been writing and texting and messaging me saying so. So I thought maybe I would propose a bit of collective action on the part of DGC fans and my readers at large: a donation drive. </p>
<p>Here’s how it’s going to work. You make an online donation to one of these three tax-deductible charities: </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.eqfl.org/news/pulse" target="_blank">Equality Florida</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bradycampaign.org/" target="_blank">The Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.rockthevote.com/" target="_blank">Rock The Vote</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Equality Florida is a 501(c)(4) non-profit LGBT advocacy organization and <a href="http://www.eqfl.org/news/pulse" target="_blank">this link</a> goes to their specific fund for the victims, survivors, & families of those in the Pulse shooting. They’re trying to raise $7 million to pay for funerals, counseling, and much more. They’re at close to $6 million right now. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.bradycampaign.org/" target="_blank">Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence</a> was begun by Sarah Brady after her husband Jim, President Ronald Reagan’s press secretary, was shot during an assassination attempt on Reagan. Jim was paralyzed for life. It took three more presidencies before the “Brady Bill” to limit handgun sales was passed and the Brady Campaign to this day still works to change gun laws in the United States. Their current fundraising campaign, simply called “#ENOUGH” is taking donations at <a href="https://secure.bradycampaign.org/page/contribute/center-enough" target="_blank">this link</a>. They are a 501(c)(3).</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rockthevote.com/" target="_blank">Rock the Vote</a> is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan non-profit whose goal is simple: get more young people to vote. They provide information on how to register to vote, run voter reg drives, and other great programs to increase voter participation because they know that the more people vote the stronger our democracy is and the better it reflects the actual country. You can give at <a href="https://secure3.convio.net/rtv/site/Donation2?df_id=2602&2602.donation=form1" target="_blank">this link</a>. </p>
<p>After you make your donation of any amount, even just $5, email a copy of your receipt/confirmation (either a screencap or a PDF or your paypal confirmation) to <strong>daron.moondog @ gmail </strong>along with your mailing address, and I’ll email you back the bonus Daron’s Guitar Chronicles story I’m about to write. (Haven’t written it yet, but I will! All I know right now is it’s going to be from Ziggy’s point of view.) If your donation is $25 or more I’ll also send you some additional DGC stickers/tattoos (send me your mailing address). If your donation is $50 or more I’ll send you one of the remaining DGC red notebooks that I will have extra after the Kickstarter rewards are fulfilled. While Supplies Last of course!</p>
<p>Please help me do something good in this world and I think we’ll all feel less helpless. You are all heroes in your own lives already when you fight for inclusion, equality, and tolerance among your family, friends, and social circles. Please join me if you’re financially able in this step toward bettering the larger world, too. </p>
<p>This campaign will run through July and in the first week of August I’ll report the total amount raised, sound good? Thank you.</p>
<p>-Cecilia</p>
<p><a href="http://daron.ceciliatan.com"><img src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/dgc-all-8-ebooks-banner-600px.jpg" alt="dgc all 8 ebooks banner 600px" width="600" height="462" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2541" srcset="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/dgc-all-8-ebooks-banner-600px.jpg 600w, http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/dgc-all-8-ebooks-banner-600px-300x231.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2902" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=371289" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:367989Help choose the cover of the next Daron’s Guitar Chronicles ebook -CLOSED2016-05-18T14:00:37Z2016-05-24T07:36:04Zpublic0<p>Well, folks, I’ve been poking around at this cover long enough that I really can’t tell which one is the best. I’ve already put the book up for pre-order on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EUY03EE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=ad2d1d9ee91dbece37ebbd2a3ee1eca0" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and other retailers (B&N, Kobo, iTunes, etc.) but I haven’t picked a cover yet. So I’m putting several possibilities up for your feedback here!</p>
<p>Poll is <del datetime="2016-05-24T07:35:14+00:00">at the bottom</del> now closed, but qualitative feedback is helpful, too!<br />
(and if you’re interested in being involved in the reveal of the final cover, an excerpts and release blitz, or reviewing the book on Amazon or Goodreads, please fill out: <a href="http://goo.gl/forms/28NCrENV4b" target="_blank">this signup form</a>). </p>
<p>Images under the cut: </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2849#more-2849">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2849" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=367989" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:364272NY Times Bestsellers tell self-pub secrets at #RT162016-04-14T21:29:40Z2016-04-14T21:32:26Zpublic0<p>One of the panels I attended yesterday at <a href="https://www.rtconvention.com/agenda" target="_blank">RT Booklovers</a> was a packed house on the subject of self-publishing ebook platforms. “Power of the Platforms” was moderated by K.A. Linde and featured three (possibly four?) New York Times bestselling authors: Jamie McGuire, Laurelin Page, Alessandra Torre, and CD Reiss. </p>
<p>They had a lot of tips and information to impart for any author or small publisher – and for each other, often pausing to take notes on each other’s remarks. </p>
<p>The first topic of conversation, and the one that went on the longest and came back up the most times, was about the most disruptive recent change in the digital marketplace: Kindle Unlimited, aka KU. </p>
<p>For those unfamiliar with KU, it’s a “Netflix” type model where readers pay Amazon a fee for unlimited access to books in the KU program. To be in the program, a book has to be ONLY available via KU for 90 days before it can be sold anywhere else, and the author is paid a small fee determined by pageviews which doesn’t come close to what they would have been paid if all those reads were actual sales. Every publisher I’ve talked to doing romance or erotica, including my own imprint Circlet Press, Riverdale Avenue Books, Samhain Publishing, and even the LGBT publishers Riptide and Bold Strokes Books saw revenue from Amazon drop suddenly when the KU program came online. </p>
<p><strong>Here’s what the panelists had to say: </strong><br />
<em>(Disclaimer: I type as fast as I can but I only get about 60-70% of what people say and I occasionally get mixed up on which person was speaking, but I’ve tried to capture the discussion as accurately as possible.)</em></p>
<p>KA Linde: Let’s just get this right out in the open. Kindle Unlimited. Do any of you do KU exclusively? (Some authors have pulled all their books from elsewhere and only do KU.)</p>
<p>Jamie: I don’t. I say open as many doors as you can. I see narrowing the platforms as narrowing the audience. This is the time when promiscuity is a good thing! Do everybody! (audience laughter)</p>
<p>Alessandra: KU is really tempting to a lot of authors and everybody is flocking in that direction, but everything changes and you are cutting out a lot of readers if you just stick to one platform. And there are a lot of opportunities on the small platforms who are more willing to work with you.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2837#more-2837">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2837" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=364272" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:360406#ICFA Panel: Remix Culture, SF/F and Books in Conversation2016-03-18T14:00:32Z2016-03-21T00:49:15Zpublic0<p>I moderated a panel at ICFA (which I had proposed) entitled: Remix Culture: SF, Fantasy, and Books in Conversation and I would like to write a coherent blog post about it, but that’s difficult because while moderating I didn’t get to take good notes and also because the smart, deep-thinking panelists had so many great things to say I can’t recreate more than the tiniest fraction of it. </p>
<p>It being the age of remix culture and postmodernism, however, perhaps a collage of intriguing thoughts and questions from the discussion is apropos. </p>
<p>My opening salvo: “A hallmark of literary fiction is that it contains references and allusions to books that came before from the Bible to Shakespeare to the canon. In science fiction and fantasy we engage with genre tropes (sf: space travel, first contact, artificial intelligence, etc/fantasy: prophecy, kingship, elfland, etc) that pretty much require any book in a subgenre or using a trope to be in conversation with books that share that trope.”</p>
<p>The fantastic panelists:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Three-Parts-Dead-Craft-Sequence-ebook/dp/B0085UEQDO/ref=as_li_ss_il?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458261190&sr=1-1&keywords=craft+sequence&linkCode=li2&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=0a2cc102c8f88caec187f4575dc36108" target="_blank"><img align="right" border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B0085UEQDO&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=whyilikebaseb-20"></a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=whyilikebaseb-20&l=li2&o=1&a=B0085UEQDO" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><a href="http://www.maxgladstone.com/">Max Gladstone</a>: author of fantasy novels known as the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Sequence-4-Book-Series/dp/B011M9LMJ0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1458256682&sr=1-1&keywords=max+gladstone+craft+sequence&linkCode=ll1&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=2fdedd42fa2399d76266caf2d8d83659">Craft Sequence</a>, described as “tales of wizards in pinstriped suits and gods with shareholders’ committees.” Also a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W6GC1I0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&btkr=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=c5fd3b13dc44e3ed2b1d8c8b6ce3b271">copyfighter</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://thereseannefowler.wordpress.com/">Therese Anne Fowler</a>: author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Novel-Fitzgerald-Therese-Anne-Fowler-ebook/dp/B0096QZ6OE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1458256609&sr=1-1&keywords=therese+anne+fowler&linkCode=ll1&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=97c4859b66960e19bb7756383e4eca43">Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald</a> and currently working on a novel about the Vanderbilts</p>
<p><a href="http://samjmiller.com/">Sam J. Miller</a>: whose short stories have been in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&text=Sam+J.+Miller&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Sam+J.+Miller&sort=relevancerank&linkCode=ll2&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=e5afb1213948e296574ff6b88111383e">a lot of magazines lately</a> (and shortlisted for some awards, I believe?) and who is working on a novel for HarperCollins right now called The Art of Starving, about a gay boy whose eating disorder gives him superpowers</p>
<p><a href="http://www.juliarios.com/">Julia Rios</a>: a former editor of Strange Horizons, now editing for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z8SD1C8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00Z8SD1C8&linkCode=as2&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=M5W35JCOLEMRDSKT">Uncanny Magazine</a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=whyilikebaseb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00Z8SD1C8" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />, also a writer and whom I also know as an incisive fantasy and sf cultural commentator from her work on the podcast Skiffy and Fanty and other panels she’s been on</p>
<p>And me (Cecilia). </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2806#more-2806">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2806" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=360406" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:360184The #ICFA Interview with Holly Black2016-03-17T22:41:56Z2016-03-17T22:47:22Zpublic1<p>I’m at ICFA (Int’l Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts) which is a unique academic conference where they not only talk about sf/fantasy/horror literature but invite lots of authors and editors to come be guests at the conference (including me). One of this year’s guests of honor is Holly Black, who wrote one of my favorite novels ever (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tithe-Modern-Faerie-Holly-Black/dp/0689867042/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1458253878&sr=8-1&keywords=holly+black+tithe&linkCode=ll1&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=014ec4094f2ba8f4a8f413228e9db5d8">Tithe</a>) and is an all-around awesome writer I’ve known for years. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tithe-Modern-Faerie-Holly-Black/dp/0689867042/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1458253878&sr=8-1&keywords=holly+black+tithe&linkCode=li3&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=ad052db31169b519235fd49be0ad79a6" target="_blank"><img align="right" border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0689867042&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=whyilikebaseb-20"></a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=whyilikebaseb-20&l=li3&o=1&a=0689867042" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />I moderated a panel I’ll blog about later and then had booksigning, so I missed the first half of Jedediah Berry interviewing Holly Black, but I at least did catch the latter half, and here’s a much much edited partial transcript of the conversation: </p>
<p>They were in the middle of talking about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Coldest-Girl-Coldtown-Holly-Black/dp/0316213098/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1458254121&sr=8-1&keywords=coldest+girl+in+coldtown&linkCode=ll1&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=187b1c068de8470f203075dab1fb9265">Coldest Girl in Coldtown</a> when I came in: </p>
<p><strong>Holly Black</strong>: I ask myself: Would I watch a reality show set in a walled city where there were vampires and sometimes they killed someone? I am the target market for that show! How would we react to vampires in our world? Look at how things are treated: if someone was biting someone in the back there I would probably whip out my phone. Would I put it on Instagram? Probably. I came out of that understanding that I may be a sociopath! (audience laughter) And that’s a lot of where Coldtown came from. </p>
<p><strong>Jed:</strong> So back after there had been a huge wave of vampire fiction, some of it very sparkly, after the vampire wave had crested…</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2801#more-2801">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2801" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=360184" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:354283Photo references for upcoming BDSM rock star romance WILD LICKS2016-02-03T14:00:03Z2016-02-03T14:00:03Zpublic0<p>I know, I know, I just released a BDSM rock star romance last week (TAKING THE LEAD), but I’m already getting ready for the summer release of book two in that same series, and here’s a post collecting a bunch of my visual references to my hero, heroine, and other elements in the book, which I’ll also try to tack up on Pinterest. </p>
<p>In book one (TAKING THE LEAD) we met Axel Hawke, the lead singer of bad boy rockers THE ROUGH. Now meet Mal Kenneally, the guitarist. </p>
<p>Here’s the description Gwen gives of seeing him:<br />
<em>On the side of the stage closest to me was the guitar player, Mal. We’d met once or twice in passing at industry functions. My impression of him from those occasions was that he never smiled and rarely spoke, looming in the background like a judgmental gargoyle. But on stage he was animated, explosive, leaping into the air with his guitar and then landing, flinging his long, dark hair forward and then flipping it back with a head toss. He still didn’t smile, but he matched Axel’s energy with a feral grimace as he sang, and then he sauntered out onto the long runway into the audience, playing a solo and practically humping the guitar as he went. </em><br />
<em>Pure sex. One-hundred percent pure sex that walked on two legs and played the guitar. When that song was over he tore his shirt off and flung it into the audience. His arms and chest looked like something from a fitness craze informercial: you too can have these abs! These biceps!</em></p>
<p>Some dark, long-haired rockers & actors to contemplate: </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2603#more-2603">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2603" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=354283" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:352510Is attending RWA or RT Worth the Cost? (Spoiler: YESSS)2016-01-25T14:35:33Z2016-01-25T14:35:33Zpublic0<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XIDIS4Q/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00XIDIS4Q&linkCode=as2&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=MDONOMR3GP7JP2RC"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00XIDIS4Q&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=whyilikebaseb-20" align="right"></a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=whyilikebaseb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00XIDIS4Q" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />Registration for RWA National opens next week (on Feb 2, according to the RWA website), and so now’s probably a really good time for me to blog about the pros and cons of attending big romance cons, specifically the cost. Really, for me, the only downside is how expensive it is to attend either of the two biggies on the romance calendar, RWA and RT Booklovers (often just called RT). </p>
<p>I mentioned in <a href="http://eepurl.com/TEWfv">my email newsletter</a> recently that I didn’t attend the 2011 RWA conference in New York City because I simply couldn’t afford to. But now in 2016 I can’t afford NOT to. Here’s why. </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2654#more-2654">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2654" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=352510" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:351016Writing Advice: What I Learned from Reading One-Star Reviews2016-01-20T14:00:47Z2016-01-20T14:00:47Zpublic0<p>There are some lessons as a writer that one learns over and over. One that keeps coming around again and again for me is this: What some people <em>love most</em> about a book or story will be the SAME THING that other people <em>hate</em> the most. </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2649#more-2649">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2649" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=351016" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:347376Top Ten Ways To NOT End a Series: An #RWA15 Workshop2016-01-04T04:58:18Z2016-01-04T04:58:44Zpublic0<p>Just came from the panel/class on “How Not to End a [Romance] Series” at RWA 2015 and I am rushing up to my room to see if I can crank out a blog post about it before I go off to a publisher party!</p>
<p>The panelists were Jaci Burton, Marie Force, Jill Shalvis, and Shannon Stacey. All NY Times and USA Today bestselling authors of multiple series. All have sold in the millions. </p>
<p>All of them write series with a central concept of either geography (small town, island, etc) or a brotherhood (firefighters, football or other sports team) that keeps providing them with heroes and characters to be paired up in future books. Each writes the kind of series that has a different romantic pair in each book and since they are character driven, none of them uses large overarching plots to tie things together: they just write whatever character calls to them next. </p>
<p>And each one said, basically, they don’t know how to end a series. All of their series but one are still ongoing (the exception was Shannon Stacy’s Kowalski series, because, as she put it, “I ran out of Kowalskis.”) </p>
<p>They said a lot, all of it excellent advice, but in the interest of time, I’m boiling it down to my top ten takeaways from the panel. </p>
<p>TOP TEN TAKEAWAYS ON HOW TO WRITE AN ONGOING SERIES:</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2452#more-2452">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2452" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=347376" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:341535Join the Cecilia Tan Author Newsletter list, get a free ebook2015-11-17T14:30:14Z2015-11-17T14:30:14Zpublic0<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/edge-plays-cover-ARe.jpg"><img src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/edge-plays-cover-ARe.jpg" alt="edge-plays-cover-ARe" width="200" height="300" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2592" /></a>Many of you know me as a writer of BDSM-themed fiction. In fact my very first published story was called “Telepaths Don’t Need Safewords.” To encourage readers to join my newsletter email list, I’m giving away a copy of the ebook EDGE PLAYS, which collects all the stories/novellas set in the same universe as that short story except for those on sale elsewhere. </p>
<p>So if you’ve read any of the books of Telepaths Don’t Need Safewords, The Velderet, or Royal Treatment, this collection has three new tales for you, and if you haven’t read them, it gives you some sample chapters to try out!</p>
<p>To join the newsletter, visit my website at <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com">http://blog.ceciliatan.com</a> just try to navigate away from the site again and a subscription box should pop up. Put in the info it asks for and then it should provide you with special download links for PDF, epub, or Mobi format ebooks. </p>
<p>If for any reason it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to, you can always email me at ctan.writer @ gmail.com and once I verify you’re on the list I can email the files to you, as well. </p>
<p>Offer good until December 1st only! </p>
<p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2591" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=341535" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:335880Xan West: Kinkster scribe of viscerally thinky erotica2015-10-06T14:00:50Z2015-10-11T01:49:05Zpublic0<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/showyourself.jpg"><img src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/showyourself.jpg" alt="showyourself" width="333" height="499" class="alignright size-full wp-image-2527" /></a>I’m very pleased to host <a href="https://xanwest.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Xan West</a>, whose new book SHOW YOURSELF TO ME is this season’s “must read” BDSM book. I’ve known Xan for years through leather/BDSM activism circles as well as queer writing circles. If this interview doesn’t convince you to give Xan’s work a try, you can read a story from the book over at Sinclair Sexsmith’s blog: “<a href="http://www.sugarbutch.net/2015/10/tender-sweet-young-thing/" target="_blank">Tender Sweet Young Thing</a>.” </p>
<p><strong>CECILIA TAN:</strong> First off, how would you describe yourself to a new reader just discovering you? I’ve been trying to write a coherent short bio of you and utterly failing. </p>
<p><strong>XAN WEST:</strong> My erotica contains a heavy concentration of sadism and a strong D/s dynamic and a bunch of dirty talk. It is deeply queer and often centers trans and genderqueer characters, with a range of pairings and a bunch of group play.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2526#more-2526">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2526" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=335880" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:331514Love Between the Covers: romance writers documentary film2015-09-04T16:30:53Z2015-09-04T16:30:53Zpublic0<p>Last night I attended a special screening of <a href="http://www.lovebetweenthecovers.com/" target="_blank">LOVE BETWEEN THE COVERS</a>, a fantastic documentary by filmmaker Laurie Kahn about romances and the women who write them. </p>
<p>The film has been in the works since all the way back in 2009 when she attended the RWA National conference and thought, hm, I’m onto something here. She secured a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities to not only work on the film but also a full cross-platform documenting of the subject with a website, <a href="http://popularromanceproject.org/" target="_blank">The Popular Romance Project</a>. At the website people can see hundreds of hours of interviews and footage that didn’t make it into the finished documentary. </p>
<p>And like romance novels themselves, the film has faced an uphill battle against sexism. </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2495#more-2495">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2495" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=331514" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:329698Hormones, Caffeine, or Writing a Romance novel?2015-08-27T14:01:36Z2015-08-27T14:01:36Zpublic0<p>Right now my nerves are on fire, I’m jittery as hell, and yet I’m also so exhausted I can barely move. I might be about to cry, or scream, or maybe pass out. Why do I feel this way?</p>
<p>It might be that I gave in to my intense chocolate craving today and had far too much of it than is healthy (plus lots of tea), so perhaps this is caffeine overload. </p>
<p>It might be that my erratic hormone cycles are about to coalesce into something.</p>
<p>Or maybe it’s merely that I’m deep in the guts of the rewrite for TAKING THE LEAD, my next romance novel for Hachette/Grand Central/Forever…</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2475#more-2475">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2475" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=329698" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:323168Digital Branding for Authors at BEA152015-05-29T16:57:25Z2015-05-29T16:57:25Zpublic0<div style="width: 475px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/digital_branding_panel.jpg"><img src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/digital_branding_panel.jpg" alt="Fauzia Burke of FSB Associates and Kristen Frantz of Berrett-Koehler Publishers" width="465" height="373" class="size-full wp-image-2375" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Fauzia Burke of FSB Associates and Kristen Frantz of Berrett-Koehler Publishers</p></div>
<p>One of the cool things about BookExpo America is that there are seminars aimed at authors, publishers, and so on. For the past few years there has been a whole track of programming about the digital space and using digital tools for marketing and commerce. </p>
<p>Fauzia Burke (of FSB Associates) opened by explaining that agent Amy Hughes caught the flu and so didn’t make it, so it was just her and Kristen Frantz (VP of sales and marketing at Berrett-Koehler Publishers). </p>
<p>Fauzia began by answering the question, What is digital branding? “Think about what comes up when you do a Google search for a person. Your website, your social assets, etc.”</p>
<p>“I know the authors in this room are thinking I wrote the book, now I have to be a marketing expert, too? But yes, you have to think about why it’s important. The people who do digital branding get more speaking gigs and they spell more books. If you had a one tweet equals one book sale ratio we would all do it, right? It isn’t so obvious, unfortunately, and it’s not just a sales tool.”</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2374#more-2374">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2374" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=323168" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:321549RT Award Recap: Cecilia Tan Pioneer & Career Achievement Award speeches2015-05-17T07:06:59Z2015-05-27T20:04:29Zpublic0<p>I’m sitting here in bed on the last night of RT Booklovers, with my knee up on pillows with an ice pack. Ouch. You see, at Heather Graham’s Vampire Ball, they had a charity fundraiser for a pediatric AIDS organization, where for five bucks you could dance with the cover model of your choice. So I danced with the delectable DeLonn Donovan, which was lovely. But then the next time I tried to stand up, my left knee was so swollen I could barely limp back to my room. </p>
<p>Great thanks to Sarah Frantz Lyons and L.A. Witt (aka Lauren Gallagher) who retrieved me a bag of ice. I did myself a mischief, it would seem!</p>
<p>I figure to recap the convention I should note a couple of things. Like how about my awards speeches? That’s a good thing to blog! </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2361#more-2361">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2361" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=321549" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:321322More from RT Booklovers: Day 2! GLBT “Post-Gay”? Marketing Series, and Bonus Content2015-05-14T19:40:07Z2015-05-14T19:40:07Zpublic0<p>Here are my recaps of a few more panels: Post-Gay, Marketing Series, and Bonus/Free Content. </p>
<p><strong>POST-GAY: When Characters Just Happen to be Gay</strong><br />
This was a powerhouse panel of fantastic queerfolk including:<br />
<em>HelenKay Dimon, filmmaker JC Calciano, Radclyffe, JA Rock, LA Witt, and Reesa Herberth, and moderated by Sarah Frantz Lyons.<br />
</em><br />
The discussion had depth and pith, and I can’t really recapture the whole ebb and flow of it since I only wrote down a few notes and choice quotes, but the essential internal conflict the community as a whole seems to be struggling with is how to continue to represent queer characters and queer lives within this mainstream literary form without necessarily hewing to either the expected stereotypes and well-trod coming-out and/or tragic arcs, or making their queerness the central aspect of their story. Is it possible to have stories and novels where the characters just “happen to be queer”? </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2359#more-2359">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2359" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=321322" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:320773Reporting from RT Booklovers! Wattpad, writing series, and more2015-05-13T21:00:47Z2015-05-13T21:00:47Zpublic0<p>It has been a fabulous, busy first 24 hours at RT. I arrived last night too late to pick up my badge, but that was all right. Once I retrieved my box of giveaways and unpacked, I headed to the bar where I had nonstop fantastic conversations with smart women from about 8pm to well past midnight. Sarah Frantz and Rachel Haimowitz from Riptide Publishing, book bloggers like Jo from Wicked Lil Pixie Reviews, Stephanie from Book-A-Holic Anon, and Lynda “Fish with Sticks” (a knitting enthusiast as well as book lover), authors Jessica Freehly and L.A. Witt, and more. </p>
<p>Today after a lovely breakfast of berry-filled crepes with chocolate, courtesy of RT at the welcome session, I took in the presentation by Wattpad. The session was led by Wattpad staffer Ashleigh Gardner and bestselling author Anna Todd (whose One Direction fanfic grew into a huge international sensation on Wattpad and was bought by Simon & Schuster and now will be a movie from Paramount). </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2353#more-2353">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2353" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=320773" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:316683Consent is Sexy2015-04-14T16:44:52Z2015-04-14T16:44:52Zpublic0<p><a href="http://amzn.com/B00UH11YBG"><img src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Incubus-Angel-200x300.jpg" alt="Incubus-Angel-200x300" width="200" height="300" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2216" /></a>Today I guestblogged over at the site of Jana Richards as part of my blog tour for The Incubus and the Angel. </p>
<p>My topic is “Consent it Sexy.” </p>
<p>“I think consent is sexy. One of the things that turns me on the most, both in a lover in my real life and in the books I like to read and write, is communication between partners. Consent is about negotiating likes, wants, needs, and boundaries between lovers. Finding out how the key fits into the lock, the magic fit between the two main characters, is the key to any romance novel and I love to see how people get there,” I wrote. </p>
<p>Of course the lack of consent in some romance novels is one of the reasons some criticize the genre and fear it is harmful to women. I point out in the blog post that fantasies about being ravished or “overwhelmed by unstoppable male desire” are valid fantasies to have. Readers do understand the difference between fantasy and reality. </p>
<p>In <em>The Incubus and the Angel</em> I make that force of “unstoppable male desire” an actual magical force that has real consequences in the world, though! And therein lies the central idea of “the incubus” that brings erotic dreams in the night. </p>
<p>Read the whole essay here: <a href="http://janarichards.blogspot.com/2015/04/consent-is-sexy-by-cecilia-tan.html" target="_blank">http://janarichards.blogspot.com/2015/04/consent-is-sexy-by-cecilia-tan.html</a></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/magic-u-forthcoming-banner.jpg"><img src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/magic-u-forthcoming-banner.jpg" alt="magic u forthcoming banner" width="800" height="300" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2274" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/?p=2298" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=316683" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:315667Well that’s fascinating…!2015-04-09T23:29:43Z2015-04-09T23:42:20Zpublic0<p>You know how Amazon pages always give you a strip of suggestions that says “Customers Who Bought {this thing} also bought:” ? </p>
<p>Here’s the strip that is appearing on the newly launched page for The Incubus and the Angel! It’s very good that it lists the other two books in the Magic University series, but its the other books that have me so curious! The other books are a few by Terry Pratchett, and the latest from Max Gladstone! Max and I cross paths a lot in science fiction circles: we competed in the same Kirk Poland Memorial Bad Prose Competition and this very book of his listed on Amazon is in my to-be-read pile right now!</p>
<p>And Marie Brennan’s “A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent” looks like it needs to be added to my TBR pile, too. I guess my readers have good taste!</p>
<p>It’s nice to be in good company. </p>
<p><a href="http://amzn.com/B00UH11YBG"><img src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/mu3_also_bought.png" alt="mu3_also_bought" width="900" height="209" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2301" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/?p=2300" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=315667" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:314714Smart women talking about 50 Shades2015-04-07T19:38:01Z2015-04-07T21:47:19Zpublic0<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N5lKMiNi67U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Last week I had the pleasure of taking part in a televised roundtable discussion about <em>50 Shades of Grey</em>, sponsored by the Brookline Public Library. It was sort of like <em>The View</em> if everyone on that show were nerd girls who like erotica…okay, maybe it was nothing like The View. It was a sharp and needed conversation that handily covered so many topics swirling around the “50 Shades” phenomenon, including the responsibility of librarians, writers, and educators to support women’s sexuality on the one hand and our fears about the inaccurate and negative aspects depicted in the “50 Shades” film and book, depictions of women in the media and pop culture, where real-life BDSM meets fantasy, and much more. </p>
<p>One crucial voice on the panel was that of Cassie Luna, a representative from The Network/La Red, the domestic violence advocacy group <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/?p=2202" target="_blank">I recommended folks donate too</a> if they wanted to do something to stop domestic violence besides handwringing over 50 Shades. It was wonderful to have someone who could actually speak authoritatively about facts of abusive and coercive relationships. </p>
<p>Coming at it from another angle was Nomi Burstein, representing the OTW (Organization for Transformative Works, another group <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/?p=2128" target="_blank">I’ve written about</a>), to talk about 50 Shades’ fanfic roots and the thriving erotica communities that gave rise to it (and that are still thriving). </p>
<p>Michelle Cove was there both as a romance reader and as a representative of <a href="http://www.mediagirls.org/" target="_blank">Mediagirls</a>, a program that teaches middle-school girls to critique how girls and women are portrayed in mainstream media and to create their own. (How cool is that?)</p>
<p>And then there were our two librarians, Robin Brenner, who organized and moderated the panel, and Jennifer Webb. Librarians think about books differently from publishers or bookstores: they look at books as a public resource and a public good. This civic-mindedness leads to deep thoughts about the messages that may be carried in books, whether beneficial or detrimental. “50 Shades” has obviously sparked intense debate on the subject. </p>
<p>Well, and me, there representing the intersection of the real-life BDSM community and the romance writing community, and also a little bit the fanfic writing community, as well. Gee, I get around, don’t I? </p>
<p>A transcript of the video isn’t currently available, but you can watch the one-hour discussion <a href="https://youtu.be/N5lKMiNi67U" target="_blank">on Youtube</a>! (There was also a Q&A portion with the audience, but that was not videotaped.)</p>
<p>A few key highlights:</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/?p=2287#more-2287">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/?p=2287" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=314714" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:314188Baseball Season Goodreads Giveaways!2015-04-06T15:00:23Z2015-04-06T15:00:23Zpublic0<p>Two of my books are baseball related, one is a non-fiction book I co-wrote with Bill Nowlin in 2004 entitled 50 GREATEST RED SOX GAMES, and one is a contemporary erotic romance called THE HOT STREAK. </p>
<p>Riverdale Avenue Books is giving away paperback copies of both books through Goodreads! Click to enter the drawings! Drawings open today and run until May 6th!<br />
50 GREATEST RED SOX GAMES: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/133214" target="_blank">https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/133214</a><br />
THE HOT STREAK: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/133218" target="_blank">https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/133218</a></p>
<p>Widgets under the cut: </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/?p=2278#more-2278">Read the rest of this entry »</a></p><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/?p=2278" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=314188" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-07-08:420639:313291Interview with Kestra Gravier, A BDSM Writers Con Author2015-03-31T14:00:26Z2015-03-31T14:00:26Zpublic0<p><a href="http://www.kestragravier.com"><img src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/kestra_gravier_dreamstime_27083216_150px.jpg" alt="kestra_gravier" width="150" height="150" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2269" /></a>The winner of last year’s <a href="http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?af=1612595">BDSM Writers Co</a>n Book Contest, <a href="http://www.kestragravier.com/" target="_blank">Kestra Gravier</a> was gracious enough to sit down with me to talk about BDSM, fiction, and what to expect from this year’s convention. </p>
<p><b>Cecilia Tan: </b> <em>How did you get started writing about BDSM?<br />
</em><br />
<b>Kestra Gravier: </b>Storytelling has always been an integral part of my seductions. Stroking a lover and whispering, “Imagine you are…” This is a highly successful and oft requested technique. As my stories became more intricate, the natural progression was to commit them to paper (or computer). That’s when I started to become an author.</p>
<p>Further growth occurred with rejections from publishers. Actually, the first rejection was kind of exciting– I felt like a real writer, someone professional had read what I had written and passed judgment. Then came the first acceptance,<em> Dark River: Lady Elinor at Hampton Court</em>. And I was on my way.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003IEJZRE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003IEJZRE&linkCode=as2&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=GXMNTBJFODC5KDKY"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B003IEJZRE&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=whyilikebaseb-20"></a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=whyilikebaseb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B003IEJZRE" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /></p>
<p><b>Cecilia Tan: </b> <em>Is there something you hope people learn or come away from your book(s) knowing or feeling? What is it? </em></p>
<p><b>Kestra Gravier: </b>I hope readers can ‘slip the surly bonds of earth’ for the time they are immersed in my stories and enjoy themselves. If they close the cover (or click the e-reader off), sigh and smile–I’ve achieved my goal. If the reader is inspired to jump their lover’s bones, even better! </p>
<p><b>Cecilia Tan: </b> <em>Have any advice you’d like to share for those interested in learning more about BDSM, whether to write it or to do it in real life? </em></p>
<p><b>Kestra Gravier: </b>For those looking to learn more about BDSM in real life—common sense goes a long way. Remember, most of the lifestyle participants do not travel in billionaire circles or look like book cover models. You are responsible for your own mental, emotional and physical comfort and safety. </p>
<p>With those caveats in mind and realistic expectations, you can approach the lifestyle with an open mind and have fun!</p>
<p><b>Cecilia Tan: </b> <em>What’s the most fun you ever had researching a book or story?</em> </p>
<p><b>Kestra Gravier: </b>That’s a tough choice. With the exception of a short story set on a spaceship en route to Mars, I’ve researched, in person, the settings for all my stories, notably Hampton Court Palace outside of London; a university campus in Charleston, SC; Billy Goat Strut Alley in Louisville KY; and the Oceanfront in Virginia. </p>
<p>I’ve taken a burlesque lesson from author Elizabeth SaFleur, developed recipes for meals in books, and sampled chocolates, wines and perfumes. I’ve done the research to prove to myself that duct tape will not hold raw chicken breasts together.</p>
<p>But the most fun has to be figuring out the answer to “Is this even possible?” A question generally asked about a BDSM scene. Working out the answer can involve positioning bodies like a demented game of Twister to understand if an imagined scene is physically possible, trying out an implement to appreciate the sensations it can evoke; or, even working with a physicist to model the consequences of actions in very low gravity. </p>
<p>Yes, researching the BDSM scenes is the most fun–did you expect anything else? (smiles)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005JU949E/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005JU949E&linkCode=as2&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=BVGLCO4FT2FZPL4E"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B005JU949E&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=whyilikebaseb-20"></a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=whyilikebaseb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B005JU949E" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /></p>
<p><b>Cecilia Tan: </b> <em>What are you hoping will be the most awesome thing about <a href="http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?af=1612595">BDSM Writers Con?</a> </em></p>
<p><b>Kestra Gravier: </b>That’s the easiest question–besides your sessions–I hope the workshop I’m presenting with Dr. Charley is the most awesome activity at the Con. </p>
<p><i>Reality Strikes: When Scenes Go Sideways</i> is designed to get writers, readers and lifestylers thinking about how a scene can go wrong. An activity going off track can be comedic or tragic in literature or in real life, and this workshop will provide guidance on how to think ahead to avoid bad outcomes. And provide some basic approaches if disaster strikes. The workshop will be interactive with questions and ideas from the audience driving several of the segments. </p>
<p><strong>About the author:</strong><br />
Kestra Gravier lives on the water’s edge at various times on the Eastern Seaboard, Ohio River Valley and Lac Léman. She excels at writing characters with life experiences that drive their romances and adventures, and allows her characters to live in interesting settings. Several career changes and way too much education provide a vast array of plot drivers for Kestra’s stories. Passion in the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace? Flirtation with a Louisville iron sculptor? Zero-gravity flogging? Kestra lets you experience the sensations, the settings and the romance yourself.</p>
<p>Winner of the BDSM Writer Con inaugural Book Contest, receiving the highest praise from numerous reviewers for her short stories and novellas, Kestra continues to dramatize the stories welling in her imagination. </p>
<p>You can find out more about Kestra and her writing at http://www.kestragravier.com/ and on Facebook.</p>
<p>Buy SILVER CHASINGS at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UUXWUVY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00UUXWUVY&linkCode=as2&tag=whyilikebaseb-20&linkId=NRVOAPFWJXCQIGFL">Amazon</a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=whyilikebaseb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00UUXWUVY" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> | <a href="https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/silver-chasings">Kobo</a> | <a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Kestra_Gravier_Silver_Chasings?id=0eVnBwAAQBAJ&hl=en">Google Play</a> | <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/silver-chasings/id977854070?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4">iTunes</a></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Silver-Chasings-banner.jpg"><img src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Silver-Chasings-banner.jpg" alt="Silver-Chasings-banner" width="468" height="100" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2271" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?af=1612595"><img src="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/bdsm_con_flyer.jpg" alt="bdsm_con_flyer" width="742" height="960" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2203" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://blog.ceciliatan.com/?p=2267" title="Read Original Post">blog.ceciliatan.com</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=ceciliatan&ditemid=313291" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments