Avaron Dale

I am closing this blog...

2006-08-11T10:30:00.000-05:00

and moving to Livejournal. I much prefer thier interface and site design. In the future you can find my blog here: Avaron Dale

Save the Quiet Kitty ~ An Author's Charity

2006-08-03T12:42:00.000-05:00

Created by Margaret Riley, aka Shelby Morgen, of Changeling Press, Save the Quiet Kitty is a registered charity in the state of West Virginia focuses on supporting authors in crisis. Their initial goal is to raise $6000 for an oxygen machine and current medical expenses for author Camille Anthony, who suffers from a debilitating lung disease. Long term, they want to make help available for other authors in crisis.

Since authors have so many problems acquiring health insurance, this charity may be a big help to many - so donate a buck or two - you never know when you may need it yourself.

A New ePublisher opening up...

2006-07-12T09:30:00.000-05:00

Discovered on the internet, thought I'd post it here in case anyone's interested:

Stephanie Kelsey, formerly Editor-in-Cheif of eXtasy Books, has started a new publishing house. They are starting out as e-publishers at first, but will expand into print later. You can read all about them in their first press release: New Erotic Book Publisher Has Mojo. The company's called Mojocastle Press and will be releasing their first books later this summer... they are currently open for submissions, so take a peek at their temporary site here: Mojocastle Press.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

2006-07-02T15:26:00.000-05:00

Those are one of the more famous quotes from The Bard, from Hamlet, I believe. Well, me, I'd settle on just sleeping. I have discovered, the hard way, that it's impossible to be creative when you aren't getting more than a handful of hours of sleep in a night. I've written several really strange paragraphs as a result of the lack of sleep - including the strange event of lovingmaking between someone who had six hands, no eyes, and five legs. It was on that note I decided that writing should wait until I've managed to get some rest.

A website...

2006-06-25T07:50:00.000-05:00

After much discussion, and listening to even more advice, I've created a "start-up" website for myself and my works. It's very basic at the moment as I have nothing to promote yet, and much of my "status reports" are done here at the moment, but it's out there. It's currently hosted at FreeWebs, which was the most recommended host, until I can afford to purchase the domain name and independant hosting.

Who knew webhosting was so damned expensive?

Don't answer that.

Anyway, you can find my site here or use the link on the sidebar. Meanwhile, I'm going to get back to worldbuilding. I'm almost ready to set pen to paper on the project.

Back to Worldbuilding...

2006-06-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

I was wrong... I'm working up what I would call a parallel world. It's the standard modern world with the addition of vampires and their fuedalistic courts. My focus will be on the Prince of Delmarva, the master vampire ruling over the states of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, and his personal court. Now that I know all about him and his closest associates, I need to find a really good and powerful enemy to go after him.

Anyone got any suggestions?

Changeling Press Rumours

2006-06-18T07:42:00.000-05:00

Changeling Press, known for thier outrageously hot and spicy, to the edge, erotic romances, is not... I repeat NOT, closing at the end of the month. Somehow, someway, a rumour was started on the internet mailing lists which claimed they were, to the point that Barnes and Noble stopped selling their print books because of it. Can we say - stupid? The president of Changeling Press, Ms. Margaret Riley, posted this message to their email loop & newsletter loop...

We've had several notifications from readers attempting to order our paperbacks
from Borders saying they were told we're going out of business. News to me.
We've just officially opened our new office and are ready to start on the next
wave of paperbacks. We're not going anywhere! Obviously I'll be spending Monday
making many interesting phone calls. Sigh. Pray for me that I don't get arrested
for choking someone through the phone lines...

All Wrapped Up is NO harder to get than any of our other books. All any
bookstore has to do is order it. From the number of sales, I'd say most
bookstores aren't having ANY problem doing just that.

Margaret Riley
Changeling Press LLC

Seeing as that came directly from the company owner, I'd believe them. After all, she should know, right?

I, personally, believe the rumour about Changeling began because Inara Press, also know for short serial fiction, is closing at the end of the month. Since both did serials, it's not too difficult to see how such a rumour could be started.

Get it right though - it's not Changeling... and now, off to buy more Changeling stories.

Trends in Erotic Romance

2006-06-16T12:34:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd take a few moments to consider some of the recent trends in erotic romance. I've been reading blurbs for upcoming books from several of my favorite publishers. I've discovered a couple of trends in these books. There's a run on paranormal books - vampires are always popular - but angels and demons are appearing everywhere.

Don't believe me? There's Rafe's War: Book 1 Apocalypse Series by Jade James from Cobblestone Press. Pretty good book, I've read it. Definitely an inspirational title, strange thing to say about an erotic romance, but it is. I'll be reviewing it on my other blog over the coming weekend. In addition to Cobblestone's series, there's a summer series from Changeling Press called Deadly Sins about a set of cursed books and their guardians. Let's be honest, Changeling has an entire sebsection of their site dedicated to books about Angels, Demons, and Deities.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Every major e-publisher, and a few minor ones, have books with religious overtones, carefully hidden so as to not to offend, but they are there. It's a bit weird to read an erotic romance featuring beings that I've been taught all my life are asexual or "above such mortal concerns". Strange as it is, if it's well done, they are wonderful stories. It may be a strange trend, but it is one, something to keep in mind when writing in the future.

New Associated Blog

2006-06-14T10:23:00.000-05:00

In order to keep my personal comments as a reader seperate from my work-related comments, I have created a blog just for my book reviews and commentary. There I can make remarks about books that I have read, good or bad, and keep it seperate from news about my professional career. The latter will be highlighted here.

My review blog will always be linked on the sidebar, but you can also find it here: Avaron's Reviews.

Apocalypse Now...

2006-06-10T14:41:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned yesterday, the Romance Diva s are hosting a seminar class on their forum on how to world build. Their class is focused on creating believable paranormal or fantasy worlds, either independant of our own, such as an alternate universe, or as a blending of a society into the modern world. Personally, after a while, I get rather tired of 'if you want to write a good paranormal your characters have to be able to exist in the real world' deals.

Why does every vampire have to live in the real world - just a step or two outside the mainstream? Why do were-creatures, be they wolves, cats or otherwise, have to blend in to seem real? For that matter, why do these books have to take place in the real, modern world?

As I spend time there, reading the messages and advice from the published authors, I came to realize that all my world-building what ifs were more disaster related, end of the world senarios for the most part. Things that left me wondering what kind of society would develop from the remnants of our modern world.

Let me give you a few examples of these what ifs that popped into my head. There were things like:

What if the Yosemite Supervolcano erupts?
What if some fool starts a nuclear holocaust?
What if there's another event like Chicxulub... causing a mass extinction like the one on the K-T Boundary?

So many ways for the end of the world to come, so little time for an author to explore. Still, I may continue my research into one or more of them. After all if RPGers can create post-apocalypse senarios like Darwin's World, why can't I destory the world and recreate it in my own twisted image? After all, to quote REM, it's the end of the world as we know it...

And I feel fine.

World Building

2006-06-09T13:50:00.000-05:00

World building is a chore. It's difficult, tedious, and time consuming. It's also the backbone of writing a paranormal, shapeshifter, or vampire story. If you don't know the world like the back of your hand, you're screwed.

Wanna learn the rules of world-building, come to the Romance Diva's Forum this weekend where several of the romance genre's best paranormal/fantasy authors will be hosting a world building class. That's where I'll be.