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Since I’m on this name kick…
Last names are an ongoing bugbear of mine. There aren’t the same resources as with first names — Behindthename.com has a surname section, but it’s scant.
I used to collect last names from movie credits. I worked in a mailroom once — that was a great place to find wonderful last names. I also worked for an insurance company and occasionally mined surnames from physician databases. When I was writing both SSG and Rampant, I worked at a scientific journal — another great place to find names. Not only did every article come with a host of Dr So-and-sos to steal, the citation lists invariably provided heaps more.
(Here’s a bit of trivia. James Orcutt, aka Poe, was stolen lock, stock, and barrel in this manner. INCLUDING his middle initial, though I decided what that stood for.)
Sorry, I’m back. I got totally distracted by the dossiers. Anyway, my goal with those names was picking things that sounded very normal, like names your schoolmates might have had. I did not want them all to sound like bland, generic fictional names.
With Rampant, the names had a different purpose. These were characters whose family histories were intimately tied up with their superpowers, and so surnames, being a way to track those characteristics, should reflect that. Most of the characters, therefore, have surnames that indicate their heritage (many mean “Lion” since they were part of the Order of the Lioness).
I have, with three exceptions, avoided giving last names of the main characters in any of my short stories. With one, her last name fit too well with her character. With another, it was important to the plot. With Elise from “Errant” her “last name” is more like her title, and again, that’s important for the plot. I don’t know if I could sustain that for a whole book, though. It would have to be a very special circumstance.
In For Darkness Shows the Stars, I had a new challenge with the last names. Since I was writing in a post-apocalyptic world, I decided that surnames carried a different meaning than they do here, where many of our names no longer connect with the qualities our ancestors possessed. How many people, indeed, know that a person named Holtz had an ancestor who lived or worked in the woods? My own last name, Peterfreund, is German for “friend of Peter” but my paternal grandfather was not German, and I have no idea who this “Peter” could have been.* I decided that my post-apocalyptic society would be reinventing surnames from the ground up, so they would be recognizable as belonging to their origin words.
I try to avoid being lazy with last names whenever possible. Even when I use a “common” last name (Giovanni Cole, anyone?) I have done so deliberately, as both a surprise to the reader who bothers to look it up and because of what it indicates to the reader who doesn’t. To pair something as recognizably Italian (and ornate) as Giovanni with something so mainstream American (and masculine, cowboy-sounding) as Cole says something about him that no amount of describing can.
Names are important. Tiff said in the comments of the last post that she was at a point in her writing where it was “more important to nail down the story than the names.” That doesn’t work for the way I write. They are one in the same. If the name isn’t correct, it’s as if I’ve “cast” the character wrong. I can’t get the story correct if the characters are wrong.
I think often about great last naming of fictional characters: Scrooge, Havisham, Dumbledore, Malfoy, Youngblood, Day.** It’s easy to go overboard, of course. (I’m looking at you, Dickens). But if you can find that sweet spot of hinting at a character through their name — oh, it’s a beautiful thing.
I’m working on character surnames today. I haven’t decided how to handle it in my new book.
What are your favorite ficitonal surnames?
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* I was once told by a French woman that “Peterfreund” is a common Jewish name where she’s from, much like people in America would recognize a name like Greenberg or Silverman as being “Jewish.”
** Yes, three authors tend to spring to mind when I think about extraordinary names.
I’m doing preliminary work on my new book right now, which means I’m deep in name-research mode. I need names for characters, for places and for a few things, too. I love coming up with names. Lovelovelove.
In fact, this became something of an issue when we were trying to come up with a name for our daughter last year — because Sailor Boy was of the “brainstorm, decide, and move on” mindset and I scoured name sites and books and did ridiculous amounts of research on every name we came across. I felt I couldn’t possibly put less effort into picking a name for an actual human being than I did in picking a name for one of my fictional characters, and I already obsessed mightily over that. And then of course, AFTER we named her, there was more angst, because I can go and change character names at any time I want to (hi, Giovanni), but after we’d told everyone what her name was, it would be a lot harder to go back and say, “Oops.” (Rather like changing a character’s name AFTER publication.)
So anyway, names. Names have been pretty important in all the books I’ve written. In Secret Society Girl, the characters had mostly common names (Amy, Jenny, George, Jamie) in contrast to their fanciful codenames. In Rampant, the characters all had names that spoke to their family legacy of being unicorn hunters (Philippa means “horse lover” and Cornelia, “horn”). In For Darkness Shows the Stars, character names actually have social significance. (I live in horror of being told to change my character names because of those in another book, as Ally Condie did and as Maggie Stiefvater was once asked to do.)
So now I’m working on a new book. The character names haven’t quite gelled yet. I’m pretty decided on my heroine’s name, though it might be a controversial choice. Opinion seems split down the middle of the folks I’ve asked, but it fits her so well. The other main character has a “working name” but I’m still a bit worried about it. However, it’s one of those things where the more I use it, the more I’m sure it’s his name (especially since none of the alternatives I’ve thought of seem to fit). I’ve decided on names for many of the secondary characters, but I’m still waffling over the name of the villain. I know the sounds I want, but I’m having a problem fitting them into a name that jumps up and sings to me.
Sometimes names come right away. Astrid’s name came at the same time as her character. Others were a matter of thought, like Amy. And others plagued me for draft after draft. But, just as in naming children, when the names you’ve used before start to limit your choices for future names (Can’t have a Charles and a Diana), the names I’ve given characters before limit what I can use now. For instance, I don’t know how I can use Seth or Micah again, even though both are names I love.
Since I”m not yet ready to talk about the names from For Darkness Shows the Stars, let me talk for a moment about the names from the short stories I published last year (since I don’t think I’ve done that yet).
Wen, in “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” came quickly to me. I wanted something short and gender-neutral (I was thinking a lot about Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird), and fit with my vision of Wen as being small but tough. Yves, in that story, was the name I was dying to use for him from the start, because he reminded me so much of a guy I knew named Yves. There was a question about it for a while, since a few readers did not know how to pronounce it, or if they did, wondered if it was too “girly” to use. But I’m glad I kept it. Flower/Flayer... well, the former is from Bambi. I always loved the irony of naming a Skunk “Flower — and it seemed amusingly ill-suited to a killer unicorn, too. Flayer is a good change, and was a worthy match with Bonegrinder.
Elise, in “Errant” was another name that I knew from the moment I began. She came to me, all pale and pretty and seemingly ornamental, but with hidden bite. Elise elides off the tongue, and leaves a hiss behind. Plus, it’s French. Gitta I had to search for. I wanted a German name, and something very strong. Brigitta (Gitta’s full name) has been a favorite ever since The Sound of Music, and the nickname had the appropriate guttural sound to match with my rough-and-tumble warrior nun. Adolphe, the villain… that’s self-explanatory.
So now that Q has turned into a crawling machine, we’ve had to start getting serious about the baby proofing around here. We’re going for a laissez-faire approach: making sure that anything dangerous/breakable is out of reach but not keeping her out of safe places for her to explore. For instance, we’re not locking up kitchen cabinets that just have aluminum pans in them. If she wants to pull out the pans and bang on them like bongo drums, that’s fine. But we are locking up the china, cleaning supplies, etc.
(Q is demonstrating by opening and closing the basket where we keep firewood as I type this.)
The only real hassle here is that my house was not designed for modern babyproofing. My office is on a lower level, so we have to keep the door closed now so Q doesn’t face plant in there every time she’s trying to get to Mommy. Installing gates on our banistered staircase was a long fun afternoon.
This weekend, I tackled the kitchen cabinets. I was most interested in locking up our under sink cabinet, which holds all our nasty chemicals. Though we could move the nasty chemicals, I worry about her potentially crawling around in there, given the pipes and wires and water-filter cords and switch for the garbage disposal. Closing it off is the most efficient and safest solution.
But not, as it turned out, the easiest. Since this was a single cabinet instead of double doors, a lock like this wouldn’t work:
So first I tried these little babies:
No go. These locks require you to open the cabinet partway, then stick your finger in and depress the latch so it releases. Which sounds great, until you realize that the lip of my countertop goes too far over the edge of the cabinet for me to get my finger inside:
Then I tried one of these, figuring i could thread it through the cabinet and attach it to the drawer on the right.
But the angle thwarted me. I could thread it just fine, but I couldn’t figure out how I could get it to release and re-snap given the acute angle I was dealing with (it appears designed to go around the outside corners of ovens or refrigerators, not the inside corners of cabinets.
Hmmm, what to do. At this point, I was getting a little frustrated. I’d spent Q’s entire naptime trying to solve this dilemma (rather than, say, reading one of the many, many new books calling my name). This is also when Sailor Boy suggested simply tying the cabinet drawers shut, to which I responded “Spoken like someone who never has to go in there to retrieve any of the cooking implements.”
Okay. A lot frustrated.
Which is when I got this brainwave:
I attached the fixed side to the underside of the cabinet (Google tells me this is called the “toe space.”) Now, I can unlatch it whenever I need to open it, and it’s VERY unobtrusive. In fact, when I sent Sailor Boy to see my solution, he didn’t even notice it at first!
Great. Problem solved. I spent the rest of her naptime doing simpler things, such as covering electrical outlets.
We still have to resolve a few more cabinet issues, bolt the TV to the wall, and put in a second gate at the top of the stairs. But hey! Progress!
I have been reading with interest the recent flurry of blog posts (in the wake of the release of A Dance with Dragons*) dredging up that old battle of George R. R. Martin’s fans against George R. R. Martin that became internet-famous once Neil Gaiman told everyone to settle on down.
People get very attached to series. A recent sampling of my mail and twitter feed:
“I’m thoroughly confused! Help! The series is clearly a trilogy. Are you working on the last book? Is it done but not published? Oy vey! I need to know what happens!”
“Loved your killer unicorn series! i was just wondering if there would be another one.”
“Will there be a third book in the Unicorn series?”
“Where did you get the idea for both books? Will there possibly be a third book in the series? I was close to weeping when I finished Ascendant.”
“Will we be getting a third Killer Unicorns anytime soon? I want more Astrid in my life.”
And when I’m not getting mail about that, I’m getting mail asking me to write more secret stories, or possibly a fifth Secret Society Girl book. Or both.
Which is all very wonderful, and definitely makes my writerly day. I love that people are so invested in my series and in my work that they would not only read my books, but would take time out of their busy day** to ask me to write more. I thank you, Amy thanks you, Astrid thanks you, and Bonegrinder thanks you.
Fine, fine, fine. But what are the answers?
On Secret Society Girl: Amy’s story is complete. I will never say “never” about writing more about Amy (or more secret stories) but it will only happen when I feel like I have something more to say about her. Right now, I feel like the poor girl had a really tumultuous year and deserves some down time. Where do I think Amy is right now? I think she’s killing it in NYC.
On Killer Unicorns: Astrid’s story is not complete. Anyone who has read Ascendant can glean that. I’ve written before that I envisioned her story as a trilogy. I know what happens to her, and I even know the title of the conclusion.
I just don’t know when I’ll be writing it or publishing it.
I know this is disappointing to fans of that series. I have even gotten flak for it on the internet — some readers have called me “sloppy” or even “irresponsible” for daring to envision a book not under contract.*** There is a growing expectation, I think, that book series must not only appear one after another, with nothing in between, but they must also appear in quick succession — 12 months or less apart.
This is not always the case, however. Megan Whalen Turner’s excellent The Thief was first published in 1996, and the fourth book in that series, A Conspiracy of Kings, only came out in 2010. Lois Lowry’s The Giver was first published in 1993, followed by Gathering Blue in 2000 and Messenger in 2004. Maureen Johnson’s 2006 13 Little Blue Envelopes only saw its sequel published this year, after Maureen wrote heaps more books.
I could go on. The point is, authors do not always write solely in one series and sometimes there are delays between books — they might be due to publishers, or to writers, or to phases of the moon. And it was neither sloppy nor irresponsible of me to write the (fictional) truth of Astrid’s story, in all its elaborate, messy detail. What would have been is if I’d gone back into a completed (and copyedited) manuscript and changed it; cheated Astrid, and the story, and the readers into a rushed, pat, and false ending just so Ascendant could tie itself up in a pretty bow.
There’s a story I heard once about Michelangelo and I think about it often. Sometimes, Michelangelo’s statues would be missing parts — their arms or their feet or etc. When his clients would complain, he’d say it was the fault of the stone cutters back at the mountain. They were the ones who had carved out the blocks of stone he made into statues, and they had left the hands, etc. in the mountainside. Michelangelo believed the figures were already there, inside the stone, and he just freed them. He wasn’t going to change where the hands went just because that was the shape of the stone block that he had no control over.
Now, I’m not Michelangelo! But I can see his point, though, had I known, I probably would have chosen a different stone. For me, while carving, I had every reason in the world to believe that the statue would fit. But, to really pound this metaphor into the ground, the edges cracked off while I was halfway through my carving. And now I’m stuck wondering how best to tack on a new bit of stone.
And I’m aware that the reader doesn’t really care about any of that. For me, I’m thinking, “Wow, I have four short stories and two books out in 2012!” For a reader who is expecting KU3, however, it’s “When is Diana going to write the book I’m waiting for?”**** We both have totally valid reasons for wanting what we want, and I wish to reiterate that your enthusiasm for this series makes me so very, very happy.
I do hope we won’t have to wait for 6 years to see more killer unicorns. The thing is, it hasn’t actually been that long yet (less than a year), and the paperback of Ascendant hasn’t even come out. A lot of people didn’t start reading Rampant until the paperback came out. A lot of people didn’t start reading any of the series until they discovered killer unicorns by reading “Errant” or “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” in the three anthologies those stories appeared in (or by buying Errant online).***** And the paperback of Zombies vs. Unicorns (out this fall!) will hopefully lead even more people to discover the series.
And I do spend a lot of time thinking about the books and strategizing about how to make them happen. I’m actually writing another killer unicorn short story right now, so I’m still very invested in this world and as soon as the right opportunity to finish Astrid’s story presents itself, I’ll be all over it.
I’m just waiting for the right block of stone.
In the meantime, I have a lot of non-killerunicornsthree work going on:
- For Darkness Shows the Stars, a post-apocalyptic retelling of Persuasion: (Balzer &Bray, summer 2012)
- “Stray Magic” in Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, ed. by Jonathan Strahan, (Random House, August 2012)
- “Foundlings” in Brave New Love, ed. by Paula Guran (Running Press Kids, ~winter 2011)******
- two other short stories in anthologies whose titles and publication dates are very far from being announced.
I have one other full-length book under contract right now, with Balzer & Bray. It will be a YA novel. That’s all I can say about it right now, mostly because my editor and I haven’t talked about it yet. I have a pretty good idea of what I want it to be, though I want my editor’s input and insight on the matter as well.
So there’s the complete status of my publishing schedule. I am sorry if it disappoints some of you. I was also disappointed when I learned that Astrid’s story would be incomplete for a while, but since that happened in January of 2010, I’ve had time to get used to the idea (plus I was busy with FDSTS and that whole making-a-baby thing).So yeah, Astrid & co. = on hold but not dead; killer unicorns = still going; more fiction by me = gangbusters. All in all, I’m happy.
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* Also, I only just now this minute realized that the TV show Game of Thrones is based on this book series, which I guess I hadn’t realized because the book series is called A Song of Ice and Fire and only the title of the first one is A Game of Thrones. Which is so very HBO (Hello, True Blood).
** I’m so behind on answering mail. I should put that on my To Do list, too.
*** This is patently ridiculous, given that 99% of books were envisioned and written not under contract.
**** Can you imagine the folks who wish I’d stop it with the killer unicorns and write more chick lit? They’re really bummed. I get those emails, too. And believe me, I’d love to! As soon as I can sell some.
***** Wow, I really need to update my website, too!
****** This is a tentative release date. This anthology has been through the wringer. (Ringer? I never know which one that is.) Anyway, now there’s an edited line-up, a new editor, and a promise to donate proceeds to a shelter for homeless gay youth, so I’m very happy to be part of this collection!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BFF!
I updated the progress widgets on ye olde website this morning (new code words for all my secret projects!), and in doing so was looking at my beginning of month goals and I thought I’d see where I stood:
- finish short story (I can SEE the end. I think it might even be on this page. SO CLOSE, Y’ALL.)
- new proposal (I have an idea, so YAY! But see below for more info on that.)
- finish cleaning out my closet (this weekend is the weekend)
- get rid of the furniture we don’t use anymore (ditto)
- finish babyproofing as Q grows more mobile by the day (some little baby crawled up our basement stairs yesterday so we are DEFINITELY gate-ing it up this weekend)
- put in the rocks around the AC units near the patio (Score! I can cross one thing off! And it look bee-you-ti-ful, if I do say so myself. I should really get in the habit of doing before and after shots, because this was a REALLY big improvement for about $40 of rocks from Home Depot)
- clean out the flower garden and replant (SB says he’s going to do this)
- create an herb garden (I don’t know if this is going to happen this season, plus I think we’ve decided to put the herb garden in where the flower garden used to be)
- Do something about the vines/weeds taking over our yard (SB says he’s on this one, too)
And when I finish my short story– which will be TODAY, God willing and the creek don’t rise — I can supposedly start on my new proposal, which I got a great idea for this week and which I ran by Sailor Boy, Justine, and Carrie, who were all appropriately cheerleadery about it. And I did indeed plan to start on it.
But t hen I discovered Camp NaNoWriMo, which is a NaNo annex for August. August, to be frank, is a much better NaNo month for me than November. (Also, you get an extra day. W00T!) So here’s my new plan for the remainder of July, writing-wise:
- Write short story #4 (tentatively code-named TBWHU)
- Finish the essay I agreed to write
- Do lots of research/outlining and prep-work on my NaNo project
With the intention, of course, of diving right in come August. (Though I’ve been told I’ll be receiving my copyedits in August, which may put a wrench in my plans. Also, I’m going away the second weekend in August. So we’ll see how all that goes.)
As I was filling out my Camp NaNo Bio, I realized that I have written 12 books. TWELVE BOOKS. Holy cow. And I’ve sold nine books (no, this doesn’t add up, because I’ve sold a book I haven’t written yet). I feel like when I make it to an even 10, I should do something to commemorate the occasion. Tenth anniversary is tin. Not feeling it. What’s cool for tin?
I’m a little agog at that. I know it’s not impressive for some of my friends, who have written twelve books like, this year, but given that when I started this whole crazy thing I was like “hmmm, I wonder if I can write a book the whole way through…” I feel pretty good.
In related news, I saw this announcement of a Harlequin Special Edition contest they’re holding. Back when I was trying to write category romance (2001-2005, and 3 of my 4 unpublished books fit into this genre), I never tried to write for SE (then Silhouette SE), though in the intervening years, I have consistently scored the SEs I’ve received in romance novel contests the highest grades. I wonder if I would have had success being a category romance author had I been targeting that line instead of Temptation and Blaze? Ah, the road not taken. Anyway, if your taste runs to Special Edition, you should totally enter the contest, because I like those books and new blood is fun.
So I finally think I know what I’m going to write next. I mean, as soon as I finish this short story (DIE, SHORT STORY, DIE!), and I’m SO excited. There will be romance! There will be hijinks! There will be adventure. There may even be… frocks.
I do so love a story with some good frocks. I know that may surprise some of you, as there were approximately zero frocks in all of the Secret Society Girl stories, and only one good frock in Rampant and Ascendant. But I positively adore frocks.
There is a frock in For Darkness Shows the Stars, which is funny, because of all my heroines, that one has the least opportunity to frock it up. And yet, she does, since that’s how much I love me some frocks, people.
What are your favorite frockalicious stories, and what are your favorite frocks in those stories?
 A recent frockalicious story that I loved was Unlocked by Courtney Milan. I shall forgive her for naming the villain in her story Diana, because Courtney gives very good frock. There’s even a frock on the cover, and because this book was self-published, I know Courtney DID choose that frock.
And if you read the book, you’ll learn why.
My very favorite frock in a book is, of course, the Imperialis Moth frock that Philip Ammon designs for Edith Carr in A Girl of the Limberlost. Philip has spent hte summer studying moths with Elnora Comstock, and has decided that they are the “embodiement of June” and so he convinces his fiancee to use them as an inspiration for their June engagement party.
Here is a description of that marvelous frock:
For she stood tall, lithe, of grace inborn, her dark waving hair piled high and crossed by gold bands studded with amethyst and at one side an enameled lavender orchid rimmed with diamonds, which flashed and sparkled. The soft yellow robe of lightest-weight velvet fitted her form perfectly, while from each shoulder fell a great velvet wing lined with lavender, and flecked with embroidery of that color in imitation of the moth. Around her throat was a wonderful necklace and on her arms were bracelets of gold set with amethyst and rimmed with diamonds. Philip had said that her gloves, fan, and slippers must be lavender, because the feet of the moth were that color. These accessories had been made to order and embroidered with gold… in her heart she thought of herself as “Imperialis Regalis,” as the Yellow Empress.
Elnora has some interesting frocks in this book, too, but no frock has ever impressed upon me the way Edith’s has — and in the scene quoted above, it’s about to have a VERY big impression on all the characters involved.
(And of course my favorite frock COVERS are on the Luxe novels, by Anna Godbersen. The frocks inside are good too, but those covers make me weep with frocky joy.)
So tell me of the frocks you love, and the stories those frocks come with.
Great Post on Re-reading from Alexa at Not Enough Bookshelves.
For years, I re-read The Anne of Green Gables series (up thru Anne’s House of Dreams), A Girl of the Limberlost, and the Chronicles of Narnia (except for the Last Battle) every year. Every. Year. I have also read A Little Princess multiple times, as well too many books about Greek myths, romance novels, horror novels and other children’s books too many times to count.
Recently, I haven’t been much for rereading, because I’ve become aware of how many books there are out there to read (Out there? No, try my bookshelf!) But I have read Laini Taylor’s Lips Touch 3 Times multiple times, just to savor the beautiful language. Also, Karen Katz’s Where’s Baby’s Belly Button? Over and over and over. Q starts laughing the second I pick it up. It’s definitely her favorite book (though I keep trying to get her into Sandra Boynton, like any good Yalie).
So, this Friday: what do you re-read and why?
Wow, half way through the year already! Here’s my last update, from the beginning of June.
Writing: I was supposed to write a short story and start a new proposal. I wrote (most of) a short story. This month I’m definitely starting a new proposal (and I can’t wait! This will be my first new book in almost two years).
Home: The only thing I accomplished on my last month’s goal list was starting work on the Ent. I cut down all the vines I could reach, but they are still surviving (and choking) my beautiful 100-year old maple. I’m not sure what to do except keep going up (though I may need pro help) and hope for the best. Other goals for this month include:
- finish cleaning out my closet (I have two big boxes to donate/trash but I bet I can get another one)
- get rid of the furniture we don’t use anymore, (including two dressers)
- finish babyproofing as Q grows more mobile by the day (she’s crawling with her belly up now, and pulling herself up on anything she can reach)
- put in the rocks around the AC units near the patio
- clean out the flower garden and replant
- create an herb garden
- Do something about the vines/weeds taking over our yard.
Blog: I blogged 11 times in June. Not bad. I’ve already blogged 4 times in July. I need to keep it up. But I’ve been a bit seduced lately, by Twitter and Pinterest (especially the latter, as I get interested in homey stuff).
Quality Time with SB: Quality time with SB devolved into a lot of sitting on the couch and watching Modern Family. We should work to make our time more “quality” — not that I don’t love Modern Family. I’m thinking of trying to plan a mini-break somewhere we can all — the four of us — go. Beach house, mountain cabin — someplace fun. Any ideas?
Rio: She’s better! Yay! We changed her food and she cleared right up. Except, her teeth are still chipping and I’m not sure what’s she’s chewing on, as I’ve removed all her bones and hard things from her toy box. Does she just have really soft teeth? We’re also continuing with our evening walks, and she goes to the park a few times a week.
Garden: Ahem. But obviously, the rest of my yard needs massive work.
And, the big list:
- Revise/finish my contracted novel.
- Write short story #1
- Write short story #2
- Write short story #3
- Write short story #4
- Write essay #1
- Write new proposal #1
- Write new proposal/book #2
- Go to one writing-related conference.
- Walk my dog.
- Plant a garden.
- Make sure I spend quality time with Sailor Boy.
- Do at least two home improvement projects.
- Cut our budget.
Notice there’s a new item on this list? That’s right, I signed up for another project this month. Yay!
 This month only, care of the good people at Smashwords, you can read my historical novelette, “Errant” for free. It’s available in any format, which means you can read it online, as a PDF, as a text file, for your Kindle, ePub, Sony Reader, etc. All you have to do is go to the Smashwords site and download it in your preferred format, using the coupon code SSWSF.
Have you been curious about the killer unicorn series but want to start small? This is a stand-alone novelette!
Have you been wanting to read it but are flat broke? It’s F-R-E-E!
I love this story. It’s my first published work to be written in third person perspective, it’s my first historical, and it’s chock-full of fine ladies, warrior nuns, and of course, killer unicorns.
Check out this 2010 Locus Recommended Read, which Publisher’s Weekly called “A harsh and poignant take on the unicorn myth,”and Booklist was was a “deliciously dark tale of unlikely nuns and even more unlikely unicorns.”
For Free This Month!
 I’ve received word that I’m scheduled to appear tonight on the Sundance Channel show LOVE/LUST, during an episode about secret societies. It’s schedule to run at 10 PM, and, well, if you look at the schedule, a LOT after that. This seems to be the type of show they like to rerun for the insomniacs in the middle of the night.
Because apparently, listening to me wax on about what a bunch of Ivy League prepsters did in the 1800s is a sure-fire sleep aid. 
I am curious to see how they choose to edit it. It’s one of those late night faux reality “clip shows” where they bring in experts to discuss whatever the topic at hand is. I talked a lot about frat initiations.
Which is weird because I was never in a frat, but they’re very similar to secret societies, as you’ll learn if you watch the show.
See? TOTES an expert!
In related news, I was reading an article about baby names yesterday and they were talking about the way male names “go girl” (like Evelyn, Ashley, Tracy) and rarely go back, and they were discussing Jamie. Which of course, I love for a boy. Though I tend to think of it as a common enough girls’ name, I have actually only known one girl Jamie,a and she spelled it “Jaime”. However, I did know a Jamie-short-for-James guy in college.
No, he was not the basis of Poe. He is, however, a screenwriter and producer, last I heard, who launched his career in the industry by making up a fake secret society at Yale, the rights to which story were eventually made into a made-for-TV-film.
It all comes back around.
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