Meljean Brook

Because nothing says “merry” like fuzzy balls dangling beneath something long, red (and floppy).

Have a great one, everybody!
meljean

From Newsarama:

Most contests in the comic book business are geared toward artists. Shadowline, in partnership with Newsarama, is bucking the tide and creating a contest geared toward writers!

According to Shadowline editor, Kristen Simon, “I’d been hoping to see a super-hero book with a strong female lead to act as a counter-point to our popular Bomb Queen series, but none were forthcoming. So I decided to come up with a contest to create a super-heroine for the 21st Century.”

The character will be 100% creator-owned as all Image and Shadowline books are (Trademark and copyright to be shared by writer and artist). The winning entry will be featured in their own self-titled three issue mini-series to be drawn by fan-favorite artist, Franchesco! (She-Dragon, Green Lantern Corps Quarterly) and back-end profits will be split between the creators.

Follow this link for more information and contest rules. 

Romancelandia Gift Exchange at Carolyn Jean’s blog. 

Too, too funny.

Marjorie Liu has her cover up for her new urban fantasy series, IRON HUNT. Have I ever mentioned how much I love tattoo covers? I do.

And, as I’m sure I’ve noted before, women’s backs.

The New York Times has “The Geek Hierarchy” chart up (you might have to be a subscriber, but it’s free). As a fanfic writer, I’m only halfway down. w00t! (Thanks to Arti for the link.)

The Occasional Superheroine has a post that shows how her ideas about Teh Sexeh have changed; it pretty much matches my own exactly, down to the two women she uses to illustrate it. Although I’m still a huge Jovovich fan. I even watched ULTRAVIOLET. (Bonus Fun: Her Ten Top Angsty Christmas Moments)

And at Writer Unboxed, Ray Rhamey has a great post on characterizing through experiential description. Describing a setting through interaction with it, and revealing character at the same time.

Next up: Top Five Reasons I <3 my man-titty cover.

So we meet again, Automated Postal Center. I see you were intimidated by my mad MacGyver skills that time you tried to eat my debit card, and so you have dreamed up new and horrid trials for me to overcome, new ways to thwart me.

And you have almost succeeded.

At midnight last night, I felt supremely confident entering your domain. My debit-card dropping daughter was safe at home. There were no lines out the door, which was why I had waited until such an ungodly hour to go to the post office. I had only two packages to send, and both were domestic. Two ARCs, no larger than a trade-sized book.

I used you, APC, oh yes. I used you like the bitch you are. I got my postage, slapped it on.

And that is when you bitch-slapped me.

Because, apparently, I can no longer send any package after regular postal hours. The blue bin next to you–I usually take such pleasure opening its steel maw–was locked. A new sign was up that said everything over 13 oz had to be brought to the counter. No sending trade-sized books. No sending anything except envelopes–even those official ExpressMail boxes that the postal employees have so nicely put out for our use have nowhere to go.

So, you’ve got me, APC. I’ll have to brave the lines at the post office, after all.

…but it does beg the question: what use are you, then? You’re like an ATM without money. If I need a stamp for an envelope, I’ll just use the stamp vending machine. So, pfft on you.

Now Comes with Trailer 

One thing that interests me about this movie (aside from the fangirl aspect) is how they are creating buzz: the Joker-related websites, the Gotham Gazette. Interesting and playful, and highly interactive with users.

Reminds me of the buzz that started with the Cloverfield project, and their site with the flippy-pictures … although now, the trailer kind of makes it seem like The Blair Witch Project (but in Manhattan, and the army.)

Lastly, I can’t remember where I saw it in my mad rush through the internets today, trying to catch up and go through my 700 blogs on Google Reader, but there was a comment that, maybe if the writers stay on strike, people will remember what it’s like not to be addicted to TV, and read, enjoy life, etc. At first, I kind of nodded my head … but then I thought, “Okay, what replaces it? Reality television?” And then I think of all the shows that I’d love to be watching but don’t have time, that I have to wait for DVD and maybe, even then, have them sit around until I can watch them.

And now I’m thinking: my god, get those writers back. Why is television such a bad thing, if the stories are compelling and well-written? It’s entertainment, but that doesn’t mean there’s no art to it, or that it lacks quality.  How is watching an episode of, say, Firefly or Battlestar Galactica — less valuable than reading a good sci-fi or romance novel*?

*If “good” isn’t an adjective that we can use for the book or the show (and if “guilty pleasure” doesn’t even apply), I think we can all pretty much agree that it’s time that we wish we could get back, or do other things with … like enjoy life.

…except my stupid internet. 2007 shall be remembered by me as the Year of the Shitty Connection! (the exclamation is important.) My computer would connect everywhere but at my house (where I resorted to using dial-up from my old university account (26.4 kbps!! WTF? Do they still make them that slow?) that couldn’t actually send OUT any e-mails or download (my SMTP server mocked that connection) and even bypassing wireless and plugging the DSL modem directly into my computer didn’t work. And I have no idea what my Wordpress password is, so I couldn’t access my blog from my husband’s computer. But I have fixed it, by god. I sent an e-mail to my agent, and it went through.

Everyone has probably already seen this at Dear Author, (and that’s how I found out about it), but DEMON ANGEL was in a The Courier Mail’s “Best of the Year” list.

Demon Angel, from new author Meljean Brooks, is the kind of novel you are lucky if you manage to come across maybe once a year: a thick, meaty, dig your feet in and hold on tight kind of novel with adventure, sex and an epic quality that’s rarely seen in this genre. Demon Angel is an astonishing debut, and a harbinger of great things to come. If you read one romance this year, make it this one.

As an aside, maybe I should have made my pseudonym “Brooks” instead of “Brook” (which is the last syllable of my maiden name.) It seems to flow off fingers more easily when people are typing it.

Anyway, I’m writing writing like mad, so I can’t promise daily updates, but I’ll be around a bit more now. And I can check my e-mail in a timely manner, too.

Because they don’t get any more accurate than this.

Yes … I think this captures the 1870s 80s perfectly.

Thanks to the power of random.org, we have a winner!

Shari C.! You’ve won the Demon Night ARC!

Congratulations, and thank you to everyone who entered!

There were many fantastic book recommendations; click through and see what everyone has been enjoying and looking forward to (it almost looks like an Christmas list )

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