Back Among the Living :O)

I just spent two days talking about vampires, werewolves, demons and other things that go bump in the dark, or rather, in paranormal romance. For this was the topic of this year's Booklovers' Conference. It was a lot of fun, but at times a lot of hard work, too, especially the big panel discussion at the end of the conference: not only did I moderate it, but also translated questions and answers back and forth. And THAT was much more difficult than I had thought! But as you can see I survived it, and everybody else survived it, too (at least I didn't find any corpses lying under the table) (okay, so I didn't look either....) The authors that took part in the discussion were Joy Fraser (a friend and fellow German author whose debut novel SCHIMMER DER VERGANGENHEIT was published last autumn), Kathleen Givens (and that was particular pleasure for me because her KILGANNON was the second romance novel I ever read as a romance novel), and Sherrilyn Kenyon (not just one of the queens of paranormal romance, but also proud owner of a cute bat handbag).

I was not on TV after all because the "Brisant" team simply never showed up. I was interviewed by the people from the "Hessenjournal", but didn't appear in the finished report. Which wasn't so bad since they focussed on the Mr. Cover contest -- which was not really such a success.... (apparently there were only three contestants). And, quite predictably, the intro to the TV report was somebody reading a love scene out of context.

Yeah. Exactly.

More soon, now off to feed the cats!

('cause of the BLC the next podcast episode is going to be a bit late)

I'm going to be on TV!!!!

Well, hopefully, that is. :O) On the weekend I'm going to attend the Booklovers Conference in Wiesbaden and apparently a team of "Brisant" plans to do a report on the BLC. And on moi. Or so it seems. We'll see. I mean, it could end up being a 2-second TV appearance. But what the heck. I'm thrilled nonetheless!!!

And also a tad nervous since I still haven't prepared everything for my workshop and the moderation of the big discussion at the end of the conference.

Duh.

Please keep your fingers crossed that everything will work out just fine!

Podcast PS

In this week's episode I mention that Lady Holland was born Elizabeth Vassal and was forced to marry Sir Godfrey Webster who was more than 20 years her senior. His estate was Battle Abbey.

Now, why is Battle Abbey called Battle Abbey?

Because it's situated in Battle.

And why is Battle called Battle?

Because that's where the Battle of Hastings of 1066 took really place!

Apparently, shortly after, the new king had a church consecrated to mark the place of his victory. Over the years, an abbey grew around it. It was destroyed during the Dissolution of Monasteries under Henry VIII and the estate was passed into private hands. In 1922 it was finally made into a girls' school.

Now, on to one of these coincidences: Can you guess where the main estate of the Earls of Ashburnham is situated?

Yes, indeed: near Battle. :O)

Sunday Mutterings on Historical Erotica

There's a thread at AAR's Potpourri board listing metaphors or plot elements people hate. Apart from the fact that several people listed things which belong to the "code" of romance, like comparing the hero to a predator (any guesses where the term "alpha hero" comes from?) (hey, if I don't like dragons and magic swords I'll keep away from fantasy, right?) and seemed to take a certain delight in bashing authors, what struck me as most strange was a comment that loads of historical heroines know about oral sex from a book.

So? What's wrong with that?

I mean, yes, of course, just looking at the ILLUSTRATIONS in these books would have probably been educational enough. *ggg* After all, erotica is no invention of the 20th century. The industry started long before that and produced some rather ... uhm ... interesting results. For heaven's sake, there's an antique Greek comedy featuring women who buy dildos 'cause they're sexually frustrated!

Of course, it might have been not too easy for a gently-reared young lady to find those books in her father's/brother's/husband's library, but the possibility certainly existed because the books existed.

Besides, romance is fantasy. FANTASY! (Even if there are generally no real dragons and no magic swords.)

End of rant.

Sandy's Podchatter #6 -- The Late Night Show :O)

This week I'm reading another one of my old poems -- "Arthur" (I've chosen this in honour of the new semester and my new course on medieval literature). And I'm talking about Lady Holland and Holland House some more.

This morning when I recorded the show, I apparently had some problems with pronounciation, too. :-I *grumble-grumble-grumble* Still, I hope you're going to enjoy this week's episode! It's longer than usual since I didn't post anything last week.

Shameless Fan-Girl

Some weeks are just great -- and this is one of them:

• found the poem about TLB
• got some really wonderful news from NY (but nothing I can post about yet)
• finished that chapter for the thesis
• discovered that I can now get Cranberry juice from the nearest big supermarket (no need to drive all the way to WalMart! Yay!)

AND

• there's a new diary entry up at www.adam-cooper.com!!! Hooray! It's been such a long time since the last one, so this was a lovely surprise indeed. I love reading them because they're about such a different world and Adam Cooper comes across as such a nice guy. Isn't it great to find out that writers, artists, or in this case, dancers whose works you love, are likable people in real life, too? I was similarly enchanted when I read that letter from Dorothy Dunnett (which I enthused about here) and found she must have been a completely lovely and witty lady). :O)
  

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!!!!!!

Ooooooooooh! You won't believe what I've just found! (Well, apart from finding out that I made the most embarrassing mistake on one of the AAR forums and now everybody there will think I'm a total daftie....)

Somebody wrote a poem about The Lily Brand.

Somebody wrote a POEM about MY book!!!!

Oh gosh, how cool is that????

Here's a linkie

And dear Fortheringay from Newcastle, should you ever read this, imagine me throwing my arms around you and giving you a big kiss: Thank you so much! *mmmmwah*

Finiiiiiiiiiiiished!!!!!!

Whoohooo! I did it! At 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning I finally finished that dratted romance chapter for my PhD thesis! All ready to hand it in on Tuesday.

Only that my boss was ill so there was nobody to hand it to. Argh! Well, I just left the dratted thing on his desk; I was so not going to take it home with me again and continue agonizing over it (which I would have surely done). Instead, I can now agonize over whether my boss will like it or not. *g*

On Tuesday we also had our central registration day at uni (= The Day from Hell, or The Day Our Department Turns into Bedlam) . I came home and felt as if a large and heavy something had dropped onto my head. A very, very large and heavy something. Which is why I decided to take the day off today and spend the morning reading. :O) Divoured two Lynne Graham novels: dark, brooding Southern-European heroes sulking through the stories, full of dark, brooding thoughts of revenge and intimidating the poor, hapless heroines. It was absolutely lovely! :O)

Big, big diss crisis

Worked the whole afternoon on revising that romance chapter. At about 6 p.m. I realized that my first draft actually works much better than that second draft. Argh!

Still, English sounds (er ... reads) like that of a daftie. Argh! Argh!

And I really, really want to hand that chapter in on the day after tomorrow. Argh! Argh! Argh!

Hey, perhaps I'll be run over by the masses of new students the day after tomorrow so my prof will never need to know if the chapter wasn't ready for handing in! Now isn't that a cheerful thought? *G*

Don't you just love ...

... days you can start with chocolate? :O)

Happy Easter, everybody!

No new podcast episode today ....

... due to combined dissertation and kitty crisis (the latter involved a really big cyst which Pünktchen opened herself last night, an ensuing really big mess in my flat, and a visit to the vet this morning -- yipee!).

When I worked on "Betrayal" yesterday (or was it the day before yesterday? Hmm ....), I realized I'd need to change my heroine's first name. For some reason or other, Muse thinks a 35-year-old called Ginny is not supposed to behave like a mature human being. Which in turn makes me want to slap poor Ginny for being a total ninny. (See? That name even rhymes with "ninny"! Who'd want a heroine whose name rhymes with "ninny"????) So I'll need to go name-hunting once more.

Possible names at the moment:
-- Sarah
-- Valerie (Val)

Comments? Ideas?

PPS: Ooops

I've just realized that I still haven't decided which WOLFENBACH excerpt to read at the Booklovers Conference at the end of this month. Duh.

And I still haven't properly prepared my workshop.

Nor my seminar which starts the week after next.

Nor the press release for my May-reading, which I want to send out at the end of this month.

Oh, and earlier today I've come across an old version of the romance chapter for my thesis and realized I like that one so much better than what I have at the moment. The problem: the old chapter is still in German! And I really want to hand the whole stupid 50 pages of the stupid chapter in on Tuesday.

So .... in other words .... this translates into

P A N I C !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Drat.)

PS

Perhaps I ought to write about more exciting stuff on this blog. But I'm not so sure whether writing about a guy who does battles with a monster, rips its arm off, and later nails it over the door, wouldn't be too much excitement .... Hmm ...

A few days ago one of my colleagues sent me a link to a new Beowulf film which will be released in 2007. And in that film Angelina Jolie plays Grendel's mother.

Angelina Jolie as Grendel's Mum.

Angelina Jolie as a cranky, old monster.

Go figure.

Wee Friday-Entry

Got a bloody finger and a cold now. Duh. But also finished the whole first chapter of "Betrayal" today. Yay!

Have already sneaked into my sitting room several times now just to admire my lovely new Chinese table (which I'm using like a sort of sideboard). :O)

Crazy Thursday

First, chopped off bits of my finger (hurt and bled like hell).

Second, had my hair cut so I'm looking like a normal human being once more (well, normal human being with bloody finger, that is)

Third, went and bought an old laquered Chinese table from about 1820. And a bronze fertility Buddha (for purely decorative purposes, though). I've never seen one before: it's a Buddha, holding a baby in his arms and sitting in a lotus flower. It's very lovely and it's also a nice example of how certain symbols and postures turn up in different religions. :O)

Back in the creative flow

Today I finished the first part of the first chapter of "Betrayal". For some reason or other my Muse thought it a wonderful idea to sneak in a Tarot-loving, eccentric old woman. So I had to dig out my old books on Tarot. For a very short time Muse and I debated about the bone oracle, too, but apparently that's African. Or at least that's what my book on the bone oracle wants me to believe. Besides, throwing bones is a bit ... uhm ... icky, don't ya think so? So Tarot it is. (But I'm not sure yet whether it's really working, though Muse is determined to include it.) (PS: Never quarrel with your Muse -- she might get it into her head to go off and sulk ...)

For once they got it right! *LOL*

You Should Be a Romance Novelist

You see the world as it should be, and this goes double for all matters of the heart. You can find the romance in any situation, and you would make a talented romance story writer... And while you may be a traditional romantic, you're just as likely to be drawn to quirky or dark love stories. As long as it deals with infatuation, heartbreak, and soulmates - you could write it.

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

200th Post!!!!!

Yay!

And even more reason to yay: I've finished the prologue for "Betrayal"! It took me the whole Sunday afternoon to get it right, but now I'm pleased indeed with the results. So I hope an excerpt of "Betrayal" can go online by the end of this month. :O)

I'm currently finishing a translation of an interview I did with Gaelen Foley for the next issue of the German romance magazine LOVELETTER. Thanks to the interview I had the chance to read the first few chapters of Gaelen's new novel, HIS WICKED KISS, which will come out in May. This was so exciting because A) it was the ARC of sorts I got to read, and B) the book is just fantastic! If you don't believe me, just go to Gaelen's website -- she's posted an extremely funny excerpt there.

So yays all around. :O)

Sandy's Podchatter #5

The fifth episode of my podcast is now online. I'm talking about Holland House -- remember the ... uhm ... strange dinner party in THE LILY BRAND? -- and read a poem which doesn't really make any sense. :O)

Enjoy!


Sandy's Podchatter

Some days are just wonderful!

First I finished that PhD-thingy chapter I've been working on in the last few weeks. Yay!!!! Now I just need to type some stuff up and proofread all of the 40-odd pages on the weekend. :O)

But even better: I got two absolutely lovely e-mails from readers today! There's nothing better than getting mail from people who enjoyed one's book. Or podcast. :O) These two mails really made my day!

Sorry folks ...

... no news today. Spent the day with a "§%$!"!%& migraine. Imagine that: while eight weeks of intense creative writing resulted only in emotional agony (check out the posts for August and September 05), just eight days of intense academic writing have resulted in physical agony. Somehow this doesn't bode well for the rest of this year ...

Crap.

But hey, no soggy kitty hairballs today! Yeah! :O)

Choices ...

I need to decide soon what to read at the Booklovers Conference this month. I'll be definitely reading a snippet from THE CASTLE OF WOLFENBACH, but I just can't decide whether to take the arrival at the castle (which I'd need to shorten for the reading) or the rat scene. Hm.

Continued working on the PhD thingy: today I finished the analysis of Teresa Medeiros' THE BRIDE & THE BEAST. :O)

Sandy's Podchatter #4

... is now online. I'm reading one of my old short stories, called "Witch-in-the-Bottle". It's about two little girls who find out it's much better to let sleeping dogs lie, or rather, to let sleeping witches lie ... And it starts thus:

Silvered & stoppered bottle,

said to contain a witch.

Obtained about 915 aRC from

an old Lady living in

a village near EVOH,

SOUTHLAND. She remarked

"an they do say there be

a witch in it, and if you

let un out there'll be a

peck o'trouble."

Pres. by Hon. MA. Rose Silver-

thorn, 926 aRC.

Half frightened, half curious and very much impressed, the two girls stared at the little bottle, silvery surface shining brightly in the dim light of the museum....