Jacki is a sweetie for letting us all take over her blog. Thanks, kiddo! Good luck with the move and we’re already missing you in New York!!!
So, you’re wondering, who the heck is this Bianca D’Arc character? Is it getting hard to keep track of all the writers traipsing through Jacki’s blog? Well, I’m the dragon lady of Samhain. No, really, I was the first to introduce dragons to the roster of Samhain Publishing back when they first opened their doors for business. My first Dragon Knights book, Maiden Flight, came out on Valentine’s Day of 2005 and I’m looking forward to the fifth, Wings of Change, releasing this September 11th. In between, I’ve managed to get five books out in print and started a paranormal series and a futuristic ménage series for Samhain as well.
That’s mostly what I write – paranormal, futuristic, scifi and fantasy romance. The hotter the better! LOL. I started my working career as a biochemist, so the sci fi is a more or less natural fit. I’ve been a sci fi and fantasy reader since I was a kid and love to mix genres.
As an example, my latest futuristic, Hara’s Legacy, is the start of a series that’s based on a future Earth, where humanoid aliens have taken over and killed off most of humanity. The only ones to survive are those with extrasensory abilities – foresight, telekinesis, telepathy, empathy, healing, and the like. The series, which will ultimately have five books in it, starts on a ranch hidden in the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies. The three brothers are cowboys, so there’s a bit of a Western air, but there are also post-apocalyptic issues they’re all dealing with, paranormal abilities and questions revolving around their very DNA. It’s a mix of sub-genres that somehow adds up to what I think is a pretty entertaining – and very hot – story.
I like bending the rules and stretching the boundaries. Sometimes I write multiple-partner relationships and sometimes not. It all depends on the characters and what they want to do. They’re in charge. Me? I’m just along for the ride. ;-)
Jacki used to live pretty close, so we’ve done a few signings together. I’m definitely going to miss her at those little shindigs, but we’ll still get to hang out at things like RT and the upcoming Reader Appreciation Weekend (RAW) Lora Leigh is hosting in Kentucky. If any of you make it to either event, please look me up! I’m a compulsive shopper, so I always have a lot of fun things to give away.
I guess I should mention my upcoming dragon story, Wings of Change, which will be releasing in ebook formats on September 11, then in print early next year in the anthology called, I Dream of Dragons. Great title, don’t you think? The story is about a dying dragon and how a tavern wench, who was born a noblewoman, helps save his life. She meets some hunky knights along the way and discovers her own heritage of magic and strength… oh yeah, and lots of love.
Love conquers all is a recurring theme in my books. I really like Happily Ever Afters (HEAs) and have been known to throw books against the wall when the author decides to kill off people I like or deny the hero and heroine an HEA. Just a little quirk of mine. By my own little definition of romance, I just don’t see how it can be a romance if it doesn’t have an HEA. Am I wrong on that? I don’t know, but you’re pretty much guaranteed an HEA in my books, though of course, I make the characters struggle to get there. *evil grin*
I’d better skedaddle now. I’m getting my little promo items together for RAW and the book signing at this year’s New Jersey Romance Writers Conference in October. If you’re at either event, or at one of the other signings I'm doing in the month of October, please say hello! Thanks to Jacki for letting me turn her blog into The D’Arc Side for a day. Just FYI - my old blog on blogger got eaten, so feel free to visit me on my new blog. I’ve got a scavenger hunt running right now, so hop on over there for details!
Bianca D’Arc
2007 EPPIE Winner Best Erotic Romance Fantasy/Paranormal
Come over to The D’Arc Side... WWW.BIANCADARC.COM
Showing posts with label science fiction romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction romance. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
One In Four: Linnea Sinclair checks in
First, I need to thank Jacki for adding me to this stellar guest blogging line-up. I’m tickled to be in such company! So here are my thanks, in a language I know Jacki will understand: meow, mew, mew, purr, meow, murrupp!
(See, Jacki and I talk the same language…if you hadn’t guessed from our kitty photo postings back and forth on MySpace…)
I had a topic all picked out for today. I’d intended to ramble—which is what I do a lot of lately—about the strange mixture of science fiction, paranormal and romance that comprises my books and the books of many other authors represented here. Why we’re the best of times but also the worst of times.
That idea was blown out of the water this morning by an AP feed headline in my local paper: POLL: 1 IN 4 ADULTS READ NO BOOKS LAST YEAR.
The article briefly tallied the ugly results of the Associated Press-Ispos poll. One out of four adults stated they read not one book last year. Twenty-seven per cent was the actual figure. Of those who read, the typical respondent reads four books in one year.
One in four. None or four. That explains, the article continues, the dreary state of the publishing industry and flat book sales, “which are expected to stay that way indefinitely.”
“Reading makes me sleepy,” the AP article states, quoting one man’s excuse. (Hmm, Linnea thinks. Well, he’s obviously never tried one of my books. Or Jacki’s. Or Deidre’s. Or Patrice’s. Or Charlee’s, Nalini’s, Yasmine’s, Anya’s…well, hell’s bells. Just scroll down this blog.)
Okay, a moment of BSP (Blatant Self Promotion). But there’s fact in that bit of BSP. Given that the profile of the sleepy non-reader starts with MALE (one third of men and one quarter of women don’t read, according to AP), one wonders what they’ve tried reading?
Especially considering the largest reading population is women?
Could it be that women’s fiction is just more exciting? See, this brings me squarely back to my original topic of science fiction/paranormal/romance/action that is filling a lot of bookshelves these days. You know, the books you love to read. The books we love to write.
Quite honestly, I’ve often wondered why we inflict the Ye Olde Classics on middle schoolers and high schoolers in attempts to get them to read. Okay, the books have universal themes, but twelve year olds don’t give a rat’s patootie about universal themes. They want character and they want action and they want larger than life. Can anyone spell H-A-R-R-Y?
Case in point: my husband was a non-reader when I met and married him. Then one day I shoved a John D. MacDonald rip-roarin’ Travis McGee private detective adventure novel in his mitts. He hasn’t stopped reading since. And when the daughter was slogging her way through Ye Olde Classics at thirteen, I gave her Mercedes Lackey, Sue Grafton, Lillian Jackson Braun and every Star Wars paperback I could find to read. She’s thirty now and just last week finished Deidre Knight’s PARALLEL series and loved it—and has Jacquelyn Frank, Nalini Singh and other names you’re probably very familiar with in her TBR pile. She also inhales every book by Robin D Owens, Susan Grant, Dean Koontz, David Weber and, of course, me. (Can’t forget that BSP!)
But I started her young. How do we seduce that twenty-seven per cent non-reading population and the even larger population (mostly male) who cringes their way through a measly four books a year?
I’ll offer a challenge—and a possible solution. Know a non-reading friend (or acquaintance or work comrade)? Find out if he watches TV or movies. Does he like Matrix, Men In Black, Stargate? Or the CSI shows? Did the final episode of The Sopranos leave a hole in his heart? Print out a list of the authors on this blog and shove it in his hands. Tell him to ignore the fact that some of these authors are found in the romance aisles (if that gives him the yips, tell him to put his Big Boy Panties on…or order on-line). Tell him going into the SF/F aisles won’t make him lose his tough-guy status and turn him into a geek. (Big Boy Panties time again). Tell him, “Try these, you’ll like ‘em. No annoying commercials and you can enjoy the adventure even when cable’s out.” And let’s face it, the brain is the biggest wide-screen, hi-def television there is.
Women readers already know how great these SF/F/paranormal/action novels are. Let’s share the wealth. Let’s blow one in four out of the water.
And now, for a last gasp at BSP, here’s a sneak preview of my upcoming THE DOWN HOME ZOMBIE BLUES, coming November 2007 from Bantam. Think: Men In Black meets CSI: Miami. (With romance, but...shhh! Don't tell the guys that!) Show this book video to your favorite non-reading guy. Get ‘im hooked. Get ‘im reading.
The Down Home Zombie Blues by Linnea Sinclair
Hugs all,
~Linnea
Linnea Sinclair
http://www.linneasinclair.com/
www.myspace.com/linneasinclair
RITA© Award Winning SF Romance
Bantam Spectra 2007-08: Games of Command, The Down Home Zombie Blues, Shades of Dark (sequel to Gabriel's Ghost)
(See, Jacki and I talk the same language…if you hadn’t guessed from our kitty photo postings back and forth on MySpace…)
I had a topic all picked out for today. I’d intended to ramble—which is what I do a lot of lately—about the strange mixture of science fiction, paranormal and romance that comprises my books and the books of many other authors represented here. Why we’re the best of times but also the worst of times.
That idea was blown out of the water this morning by an AP feed headline in my local paper: POLL: 1 IN 4 ADULTS READ NO BOOKS LAST YEAR.
The article briefly tallied the ugly results of the Associated Press-Ispos poll. One out of four adults stated they read not one book last year. Twenty-seven per cent was the actual figure. Of those who read, the typical respondent reads four books in one year.
One in four. None or four. That explains, the article continues, the dreary state of the publishing industry and flat book sales, “which are expected to stay that way indefinitely.”
“Reading makes me sleepy,” the AP article states, quoting one man’s excuse. (Hmm, Linnea thinks. Well, he’s obviously never tried one of my books. Or Jacki’s. Or Deidre’s. Or Patrice’s. Or Charlee’s, Nalini’s, Yasmine’s, Anya’s…well, hell’s bells. Just scroll down this blog.)
Okay, a moment of BSP (Blatant Self Promotion). But there’s fact in that bit of BSP. Given that the profile of the sleepy non-reader starts with MALE (one third of men and one quarter of women don’t read, according to AP), one wonders what they’ve tried reading?
Especially considering the largest reading population is women?
Could it be that women’s fiction is just more exciting? See, this brings me squarely back to my original topic of science fiction/paranormal/romance/action that is filling a lot of bookshelves these days. You know, the books you love to read. The books we love to write.
Quite honestly, I’ve often wondered why we inflict the Ye Olde Classics on middle schoolers and high schoolers in attempts to get them to read. Okay, the books have universal themes, but twelve year olds don’t give a rat’s patootie about universal themes. They want character and they want action and they want larger than life. Can anyone spell H-A-R-R-Y?
Case in point: my husband was a non-reader when I met and married him. Then one day I shoved a John D. MacDonald rip-roarin’ Travis McGee private detective adventure novel in his mitts. He hasn’t stopped reading since. And when the daughter was slogging her way through Ye Olde Classics at thirteen, I gave her Mercedes Lackey, Sue Grafton, Lillian Jackson Braun and every Star Wars paperback I could find to read. She’s thirty now and just last week finished Deidre Knight’s PARALLEL series and loved it—and has Jacquelyn Frank, Nalini Singh and other names you’re probably very familiar with in her TBR pile. She also inhales every book by Robin D Owens, Susan Grant, Dean Koontz, David Weber and, of course, me. (Can’t forget that BSP!)
But I started her young. How do we seduce that twenty-seven per cent non-reading population and the even larger population (mostly male) who cringes their way through a measly four books a year?
I’ll offer a challenge—and a possible solution. Know a non-reading friend (or acquaintance or work comrade)? Find out if he watches TV or movies. Does he like Matrix, Men In Black, Stargate? Or the CSI shows? Did the final episode of The Sopranos leave a hole in his heart? Print out a list of the authors on this blog and shove it in his hands. Tell him to ignore the fact that some of these authors are found in the romance aisles (if that gives him the yips, tell him to put his Big Boy Panties on…or order on-line). Tell him going into the SF/F aisles won’t make him lose his tough-guy status and turn him into a geek. (Big Boy Panties time again). Tell him, “Try these, you’ll like ‘em. No annoying commercials and you can enjoy the adventure even when cable’s out.” And let’s face it, the brain is the biggest wide-screen, hi-def television there is.
Women readers already know how great these SF/F/paranormal/action novels are. Let’s share the wealth. Let’s blow one in four out of the water.
And now, for a last gasp at BSP, here’s a sneak preview of my upcoming THE DOWN HOME ZOMBIE BLUES, coming November 2007 from Bantam. Think: Men In Black meets CSI: Miami. (With romance, but...shhh! Don't tell the guys that!) Show this book video to your favorite non-reading guy. Get ‘im hooked. Get ‘im reading.
The Down Home Zombie Blues by Linnea Sinclair
Hugs all,
~Linnea
Linnea Sinclair
http://www.linneasinclair.com/
www.myspace.com/linneasinclair
RITA© Award Winning SF Romance
Bantam Spectra 2007-08: Games of Command, The Down Home Zombie Blues, Shades of Dark (sequel to Gabriel's Ghost)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
