Guest Post on Fresh Fiction: Why I write -- and read -- Urban Fantasy

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Southern Magic Readers' Luncheon in my home town of Birmingham, Alabama, where I met one of the editors for the Fresh Fiction website. As they say down here, we got to talking, and I pitched my writing/psychology blog posts as a possible guest spot for them. She was interested, and so today, I am very excited to say I have a guest post on the Fresh Fiction site.

In a recent blog interview, someone asked me why I write fantasy. My answer was that I always wanted the world to be more interesting than it really is. For example, one autumn morning when I was a child, I looked out to see a leaf that looked like a little fairy perched on a wind-tossed tree branch. I imagined it was a tiny gnome hanging on for a wild ride. When I got older and discovered the genre of urban fantasy, where magical elements are part of ordinary life, I was hooked.

As a psychologist, I can't help but ponder the question of why I and others like fantasy, and especially urban fantasy, from a psychological perspective. There's definitely the aspect of wanting more magic in life, but I believe it goes deeper. A lot of the problems people come to me with end up boiling down to how they handle real or perceived power imbalances, both externally and within themselves. Urban fantasy is a great way to explore power and how it works – and could work – in our world.

So, with that in mind, here are some reasons I write and read urban fantasy: 

To read the rest, click here.

Another reason to check it out? Comment at the Fresh Fiction site for a chance to win an electronic copy of The Mountain's Shadow.

Thanks, as always, for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

Character on the Couch: A Superhero with Self-Esteem Problems

Image Source:  http://samurai-ko.deviantart.com/art/Close-Enough-to-Touch-by-HPS-102055941

One of my Twitter writing friends sent me the following dilemma (and the above and below awesome pictures):

Character name: Sorina Tavarisch

Age: 36

Gender: Female

Species (if applicable): Human

Cultural or historical context (if important to the story, e.g., if it's a Regency): 

Modern-day/slightly futuristic US city (a la Metropolis or Gotham), where superheroes (and villains) are a common sight.

Brief description and relevant history: (Height 5'10", weight 145 lbs, a rangy, athletic build, long dark hair and dark eyes)

Theoretical physicist, paramilitary munitions expert, and field technician, Sorina "Tava" Tavarisch is one of the new generation of scientists and superheroes taking part in the cooperative efforts of the United States and Russia. She is also a low-level telekinetic - at best, she can move small things around with just a thought. It was these unexplained powers that led her into becoming a physicist, but to this day, she still doesn't understand how she does what she does. As far as she's concerned, though, if it works, it works. With a little help from some customized technology, however, her powers become much more potent.

Where you're stuck, or why your character needs a psychologist: 

Two areas of her life are causes of concern. The first is that, despite her being a decorated war hero, a superhero, and a scientist, Sorina constantly feels inadequate. No matter how good her inventions are, no matter how hard she tries, no matter how many lives she actually saves, she feels guilty that it's not more. The second is that she is absolutely clueless when it comes to romantic relationships. She is far more comfortable in a lab or a classroom or on the battlefield than she is on a date... and now she's dating one of the other leading scientists and superheroes of Paragon City, who is probably just as clueless as she is when it comes to relationships. And she's terrified of screwing it up.

What you may not want me to share generally in the post: Oh, feel free to share!

My follow-up questions:

First, what is at the root of her insecurity? Or is that part of the question? It sounds like your heroine is quite accomplished (and fascinating, btw), but there's got to be a failure or perceived failure in her past that keeps her from owning it. Is it that her superpowers aren't as good as everyone else's? Or did she fail in something in her past that she feels she should've done better with?

Basically, it's that her superpowers aren't as good as everyone else's. And after getting shoved headfirst into a worldwide invasion where everyone (super and normal alike) are doing all that can to keep humanity from being wiped out, the one area that she was good at (scientific invention) was immediately pressed into service of "if this doesn't work, people will die". It doesn't matter that her work HAS saved countless lives and in several small ways, helped turn the tide of the war; all she sees is how her skills are inferior to the challenge of facing alien technology, and that no matter how many times she improves it, she's haunted by those who died because "she didn't get it right the first time".

Second, a similar question goes for the relationship problems. Is she in her first serious relationship at the age of 36? What kept her from doing so previously? Or, in other words, what beliefs does she hold about herself and relationships that caused her to wait so long?

She has been in semi-serious relationships before, but originally her research and her teaching kept her from longer, more serious commitments. And after the Rikti invaded, and she saw so many people die, she became almost afraid to become too attached to someone. (At one point, she has a complete emotional breakdown after she inadvertently jeopardizes a mission because she is more concerned about protecting the guy she's with at the time instead of taking the lead in combat.) Her natural seriousness, plus as I mentioned, her credentials as a war hero and a scientist, tends to distance her from a lot of men.

Image Source:  http://aentheartist.deviantart.com/art/Commission-After-The-Storm-210059056

Dear Michelle,

Your heroine is fascinating and troubled, just how I like 'em. You made her particularly challenging in that she seems like a very concrete person rooted in the literal, not theoretical, which is somewhat ironic because she's a theoretical physicist by training. That seems like it would make it particularly hard for her to translate her research into something immediately useful. Perhaps that's one of her problems.

Tava would be a tough patient because she's got so much evidence – at least according to her – of her unworthiness. One question would be what holding on to the core belief of unworthiness, which translates to feelings of inadequacy, allows her to do or not do. Has she not tried to grow as a scientist, focusing instead on the five years of superpower training that didn't go anywhere, because she's afraid she'll fail or will somehow be found lacking in spite of evidence to the contrary in the scientific realm? What does she risk if she allows herself to be worthy on her own rather than because of her superpowers or scientific inventions?

One way to get her to budge from her stuck position would be to work on reframing and refocusing. The rant you pasted above sounds like someone in a lot of pain but also someone who is focused very much on themselves, as we tend to do when we're hurting. One thing that may help would be to figure out Tava's core values and having her be in situations where she can act on them in different ways. Also, she seems to have bought into her society's values that the individual is measured by his or her superpowers and following that, how many lives they can save. How does this conflict with her own values, or the principles she lives according to? I'm not saying that saving lives isn't important, and it seems like she's been fairly successful at it, but there might be another value at play. She needs to figure out what motivates her more than fear.

For example, she sounds like she's ruled by her head, but there's a huge compassionate component to her heart, which she's focused on success as defined by numbers, which seems to be how things work in her world. Perhaps she can translate that to individual people rather than focusing so much on statistics and learn not to discount the lives she saves in favor of obsessing over the ones she couldn't. Often my clients who feel like they're not doing enough in whatever area can benefit from giving themselves credit for what they have done, even if it's just a few things per day. Is she making a difference on an individual level, or is she even aware if she is? Yes, it will be uncomfortable to move to that realm since she prefers the predictability of the lab or classroom, both of which provide distance between the professor and others.

From what you described, another one of Tava's values is independence. Of course this gets challenged in the face of invasion for two reasons. First, she doesn't get to choose her own path professionally because of where her talents are needed. Second, you didn't say whether the Rikti are aliens who enslave or who kill, but either way, they take the ability to decide one's fate out of one's hands. It makes sense that she would choose a partner who is also constantly in danger because the chance of losing her independence to a long-term relationship is lessened, not to mention going through the emotional pain of grief.

It seems that what we're coming down to is that she needs to find a principle that's more motivating for Tava than fear. What you want to do with her character arc is up to you, but it sounds like she needs to get out of her "invadee" mentality, which is reactive, and focus her energy on what she truly wants and needs.

Figuring out the principles one lives according to can help, as can focusing more in the moment and on what one can truly control. Doing so will help Tava move toward what she can do with others and find other ways she can be helpful and worthy. Maybe she doesn't need to enhance her literal superpowers but rather to develop her own emotional abilities through gradually allowing herself to connect more with others, perhaps some of the people whose lives she saved. Yes, this will feel like a risk to her. As she grows emotionally, she'll be better able to advance her science and her relationship. She could also teach something to her society, which is fragmented into superheroes and villains, about what's needed to repel technologically advanced alien invaders. You have the potential for a great story here, and I look forward to reading what you do with it.

Michelle tweets as @Samuraiko, and hopefully her website will be up soon at superheroromance.com 

If you want more superhero writing, check out Tony Noland's guest blog post from September on superheroes and alcohol.

Review Roundup for Cyber Monday: Mindfulness and The Mountain's Shadow

My blog tour ended up coinciding with two of the busiest weeks I've ever had at my practice, so I wasn't able to post reviews or links to guest posts as they occurred. Yeah, until my writing really takes off, the day job and its demands have to take priority. Someday... Until then, it's been interesting to apply the psychology part of my mind to the experience of having a book out, particularly with regard to how people see the book. A couple of interesting themes have emerged in the reviews.

One of the principles I teach is Mindfulness. The definition of Mindfulness is nonjudgmental present-moment attention. As you can imagine, this is particularly important for people who have anxiety and/or are having trouble sleeping.

Beyond the day job, Mindfulness is coming up in the reviews of The Mountain's Shadow, although none of them mention the principle specifically. No, I wasn't thinking about Mindfulness when I wrote the book. Apparently the twists and turns in the book itself cause people to have to focus on reading it. As one of my friends who read it upon release said, "You have to really pay attention."

I first got an inkling that this was the case for others when I saw this sentence in the review I got on the Fresh Fiction site (click here for the entire review):

To be honest, I did find it a little too complicated for a quick read, but this is a good book from a different angle in the paranormal world.

At first, I wasn't sure how to take that part of the review. When I got Samantha's review from Chick Lit Plus, though, that particular bit of feedback made more sense.  She said:

I’m one who likes to multi-task, such as watching football while reading, but that doesn’t work with this novel either! You really have to give it your full attention so you can keep up with it. 

The Fresh Fiction review also picked up on a theme that keeps coming up in the reviews:  the Mountain's Shadow is a different take on the werewolf world and brings something original to the paranormal/urban fantasy canon.

The Escape into a Book review started with, Wow, this book is very unique and different from what I've read before. 

Ms. Nose in a Book said, I think what I really liked about this story was the story behind the werewolves, how they came to be and how they were being exploited. I think that the story behind the werewolves is so interesting, original and I can totally see it happening in the real world.

There were other similar comments, but I'll finish with one from Storm Goddess Book Reviews:  This story has SO much going for it! Unique, great writing, suspense, captivating....I love how the elements came together and brought so much to the book. 

Other reviewers commented on craft, and I particularly liked the one I got from Library Journal, which began:


Debut novelist Dominic is also a clinical health psychologist and has wisely chosen a subject area familiar to her, a choice that places this story above the average paranormal romance in plot, as well as in characterization...

If you'd like to check out full reviews, here's a list:

Library Journal (second one down)
Fresh Fiction
Chick Lit Plus
Authors to Watch
Ms. Nose in a Book
Escape into a Book
Storm Goddess Book Reviews (includes my FAQ about the book)
Keep Calm & Blog On

If you'd like to buy the book, you can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, and other ebook retailer sites. You can also buy it directly from the publisher by clicking on the book cover image to the right. They have it in all digital formats.

I'll have another Characters on the Couch coming toward the middle of the week. I hope your holiday season is off to a wonderful start!

Blog Tour, continued: More guest posts!

Last week got away from me, so I wasn't able to post links to my Thursday and Friday stops. On Thursday, I stopped by Traveling with T and posted on what color enhances creativity and how that applies to my favorite writing spots.

I pretend it doesn’t matter that much, but I’m really sensitive to my writing environment. Yes, I have scoffed in the past at people who say they can only write in certain places or at certain times. Aside from a slight preference for morning, time of day doesn’t matter much to me, but place does...

To read the rest, click here.

Tamara also posted an excerpt of my first chapter here.

Then, on Friday, I stopped by the Ink & Paper blog and talked about how a major life defeat inspired me to write The Mountain's Shadow and taught me the real meaning of "write what you know."

Inspiration comes in the most unlikely of places. Several months ago, I asked my fellow Twitter writing friends what they found to be the most annoying writing advice. One adage that came up repeatedly was “write what you know.”

 
Okay, that makes sense if you take it literally because even with research, some experiences are beyond us. For example, I’ll never know what it’s like to be fired from a dream research job in the pharmaceutical industry like Doctor Joanie Fisher, the heroine of my novel The Mountain’s Shadow. But even though I can’t know exactly what it’s like, I know the feeling of being disappointed and facing major defeat on a personal level... 

To read the rest, click here.

To see links to past posts and future blog tour stops through Chick Lit Plus, check out my tour schedule.

Thanks to everyone who's following along, and I'll try to do better with posting links as they happen.

Book Review: Chick Lit Plus

My blog tour set up through Chick Lit Plus starts today with a review by Samantha herself:

While this isn’t my normal style of reading material, this book really had me hooked. The writing was really strong – from introducing us to the characters, setting the scene, and really unraveling a complex story filled with twists...

To read the rest, check it out here.

 Thanks, Samantha!

Character on the Couch: Cold fingers...warm heart?

Just in time for Halloween, a young man in the funeral industry named Declan came to see me and spend some time on my couch. Actually, his author, fabulous fellow GRW member Sally Kilpatrick sent me the following quandary:

Character name: Declan Anderson

Age: 31

Gender: male

Cultural or historical context :

Dec's family runs a funeral home. He's not overly enthused about the business, but he did make a promise to his now deceased father that he would keep it in the family. He lives in a small southern town where he's called "Cold Fingers" behind his back and definitely kept at a distance. His younger brother, who's more outgoing, doesn't seem to have the same trouble, but his brother is five years younger. The “Cold Fingers” stems from his first date on a winter's night and a really mean girl he should've never gone out with in the first place.

Brief description and relevant history: 

He's over 6 foot tall, dark and handsome (of course!) but he's gone a little soft around the middle. His mother committed suicide when he was just 7. His father passed away when he was 14. He and his stepmother are just now becoming close--something new in her life is making her a little softer around the edges, but he doesn’t know what it is. He has vowed not to marry as long as he's a part of the funeral industry because he doesn't want his mother's particular brand of history repeating itself. Of course, that was before leggy actress Presley showed up. He's a bit taken with her.

His mother suffered from postpartum depression. That coupled with one traumatic event in particular caused her to go off the deep end. I know she was kept at a polite distance and had to deal with being snubbed by other ladies in town. Once the ladies from her church wouldn't let her bring a dish to the potluck because it would've come from that kitchen.

Oh, and he's almost 10 years older than my heroine.

Where you're stuck, or why your character needs a psychologist: 

His conflict doesn't feel really actualized. Maybe there's something about his past that I'm missing, a different reason he thinks he's not cut out for long term relationships?

My thoughts:

Sally, you've given me a lot to work with. Declan is a very interesting character, and the poor guy has had a lot to deal with.

Declan seems to have a huge responsible streak in his temperament, so it's likely he felt partially to blame for his mother's suicide – the ultimate female rejection at a tender age. Due to the nature of her death, it's possible that he wasn't given the kind of information he needed to make sense of it, so he made up his own explanation. Maybe he'd asked for a baby brother, and then he saw what happened. It's not surprising he has trouble with intimate relationships because he'll always feel like he's at a disadvantage, and he probably also felt like his lack of social support and nicknames were his fault. Kids who lose both parents need a lot of support from other adults, and he just didn't get it, probably because of the community alienating him due to the family business, and later because of the cold stepmother.

He's blaming his desire not to marry on the history with his mother, but it's also fear on his part to admit he wants something different. I would guess there's some resentment that he doesn't feel like he can admit to himself or anyone else over being emotionally blackmailed into taking over the family's funeral home business. Again, there's that responsible streak, but also the inability to separate himself, either physically or in his mind, from the family business and all the baggage that comes with it. He's probably never allowed himself to think about what he truly wants because he's afraid it will be taken away suddenly and tragically like his mother was, or it's going to conflict with living up to his promise to his father.

For example, with regard to Presley, perhaps he feels drawn to her because of her liveliness and her courage to pursue her dreams. She is a splash of color in his world of grays and blacks, a blast of rock music that captures attention rather than plays soothingly in the background so it won't disturb anyone. She might be the chance for the teenage rebellion he never got to have but desperately needed to come to a full sense of selfhood that will allow him to finally grow up. He might feel like he can't bring her into his world because he can't figure out how to keep it from poisoning her and killing her like it did his mother, and he's not going to be responsible for that again. But he can't leave that world because of what he promised his father. That second part may be what you feel like you're missing, and finding out that she has her own problems and insecurities will be huge for him because maybe he can then start admitting his own.

You've set up a huge and fascinating conflict for your hero, and I hope I get to read the finished product.

Resources:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3569022/ (study by the Royal Society of Medicine)

http://www.pcavt.org/assets/files/Articles/'s%20Development.pdf (effects on children at different ages)

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/18/when-a-parent-commits-suicide-a-psychiatrist-s-advice.html (article on effects of parental suicide on kids)

http://www.parentalsuicidesurvivors.org/PSS-Articles/2009-05-25-ParentalSuicideSurvivors-HealingFromShame.pdf

Do you have a character you'd like some psychological help with? Please email me at: 

I'll send you the questions to answer, and we can go from there!

Random discovery:  There's a Museum of Funeral Customs in Springfield, Illinois. That's where the above picture was taken. I kind of want to go, but I bet my husband would be freaked out.

Photo credit:  By Robert Lawton (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Reminder:  my first novel The Mountain's Shadow is now available in all ebook formats. For an excerpt or to order the book directly from the publisher, click here. The book is also available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other ebook retailers.

Guest post: Author fears at Five for Fiction Blog

Like many newbie authors, I thought that once I got my first book contract, it would be smooth sailing, and I wouldn't have anything else to worry about ever. Not true. Although signing my first book deal was very exciting, it brought up a different set of anxieties. I shared those with the lovely ladies at the Five for Fiction blog since their October theme is Fears.

I have a recurring dream in which I'm flying, but power lines get in the way of my soaring to my goal. I either have to go high enough to fly over them or go through them and try not to touch any or I'll get electrocuted and drop to the ground. Building enough energy to fly over them is impossible, so I try to go through them, but as I approach a promising gap, it narrows, and I have to stop short.

My urban fantasy novel The Mountain's Shadow debuted last week. Since Cheryl and I decided way ahead of time that I would be guest posting this month, I had the opportunity to observe my own fears as I went through the different stages of bringing a novel to publication and pitching and writing its sequel. It's only in the past week while thinking about this post and putting it through may iterations that I've come to realize my fears are the power lines in my dreams, and the only way through is through.

To read the rest, click here.

Don't forget, The Mountain's Shadow is now available for all e-readers! Links to Amazon and Barnes & Noble are above. If you don't have an e-reader but want to read it on your computer, you can get a .pdf (or any other ebook format) at the Samhain Publishing website.

Guest blog post: The Science of Werewolves at Tony Noland's blog

I'm pleased to have been invited to post on talented author and friend Tony Noland's blog. My review in Library Journal starts with, "Debut novelist Dominic is also a clinical health psychologist and has wisely chosen a subject area familiar to her, a choice that places this story above the average paranormal romance in plot, as well as in characterization..."* Tony wanted me to talk about the science behind lycanthropy, and that topic is closely tied with how I approached writing the book.

When someone asks what my novel The Mountain's Shadow is about, I often give the short answer of "werewolves with a scientific twist." The genre is urban fantasy (or paranormal depending on who's classifying it), and the main character is a behavioral epidemiologist, or someone who researches the spread of disease. She's close to discovering the cause of Chronic Lycanthropy Syndrome, the hot new behavioral disorder in kids, when a series of strange circumstances makes her lose her job. In spite of a sudden shift from researcher to heiress, she never stops approaching challenges as a scientist.

To read the rest of the post at Tony's blog, click here.

Have you picked up The Mountain's Shadow yet? It's now available in all electronic formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other ebook retailers.

* To read the full review, click here. It's the second one on the page.

Readers on the Couch: Guest Blog at the Mesdames of Mayhem

I wasn't able to post this one right away since I was at a conference and my iPad wouldn't see the wireless. My newest guest post is at the Mesdames of Mayhem, where I discuss why we love mysteries from a psychological point of view.

As a psychologist and behavioral sleep medicine specialist, I hear the following three complaints most often in my practice:

1. I can’t sleep.
2. My mind won’t stop racing.
3. Why is this anxiety/depression/sleep problem happening to me?

I address the first two a lot. The third one doesn’t come up quite as often because people, being naturally curious about themselves and their own lives and minds, usually have a good idea of how their sleep problems started. However, when I ask if they can think of what kicked off their insomnia, about ten to twenty percent of patients frown, wrinkle their noses, and eventually admit they can’t say why or give some vague answer like “stress, but my life has always been stressful, so I’m not sure that’s it.” Some are very distressed that they can’t figure out the origin of the problem because, as human beings, we like to have explanations. Knowing why gives us a sense of control.

To read the rest, click here.

Don't forget that my debut novel The Mountain's Shadow is now available in all electronic formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other ebook retailers.

The Mountain's Shadow Release Day & Acknowledgements

Today my novel The Mountain's Shadow has been released into the electronic world. As I walked through downtown Decatur this morning running errands, I imagined invisible electronic copies zooming over my head as people bought it. This is truly a dream come true for me, and since there's not an acknowledgements section in the book, I wanted to mention the following:

First I have to thank my biggest supporter and fan, my husband Jason. Typically his support of my writing career involves him pouring wine into my glass, but it's also the little things like asking me if I've written when I said I would or offering to accompany me into yet another specialty bookstore to look for references when we travel. He also keeps me grounded in reality and makes sure I take time to relax when I need it.

Second, I would like to thank my family. My parents encouraged the creative side of their child who was prone to daydreaming, and my little sister has always read what I've given her with rapt fascination, both of which made me feel like I could actually do this someday. My godmother Ria Van de Ven, an author herself in Belgium, has also been very supportive, as have all my relatives, Belgian and American.

Next, huge thanks to my editor at Samhain Holly Atkinson, who first decided that this book was worth publishing and who has given me encouragement and feedback when needed. She is my fairy godmother in this process.

I couldn't have gotten a book into publishable shape without a good critique group and beta readers. The Village Writers Group here in Decatur has given me the opportunity for lots of great feedback. I'd especially like to thank the members who responded to early versions of The Mountain's Shadow, known at that time as Wolfsbane Manor:  Estelle, Jill, Amy, Melissa, and Frank. My beta readers Amanda and Hawk also gave me a lot of help and encouragement. I'd also like to thank my current critique group who has supported me through the various anxieties of this publication process and the writing of the sequel, specifically David, Susan, Amy, and Kimberly. (last names left out since I don't know if they would be okay with me using them)

There are a lot of others who have contributed to this effort in various ways. My awesome admin Amber keeps me sane. The faculty of the Central Arkansas VA internship program and my fellow interns thought my writing was a really cool thing, and I don't know that I could have started this project in any other context. Finally, to the patients who told me strange tales of the Ozarks and inspired me, all I can say is please keep telling your stories. I'm so very glad you did and that I was there to hear them.

The Mountain's Shadow is available from all ebook retailers, but please consider getting it directly from my publisher to thank them for the faith they've showed in me. You can buy the book from them here. The links to Amazon and Barnes & Noble are above if you'd rather buy directly from them. It's also available from Apple Books, but I haven't had much luck finding that link.

A Writer on the Couch: Guest posting at Jill Archer's Blog

Today I am guest posting over at Jill Archer's blog about how psychology informs my writing, which lots of people assume, and how writing makes me a better psychologist, which tends to surprise people. This is also a good opportunity to remind y'all that I've got a Characters on the Couch project, and I plan to post my next case soon. If you'd like to know what that's about, click here.

By day, I’m a clinical psychologist with a special focus in behavioral sleep medicine. I have a private practice, and my main clientele is people who want to sleep without using medication. I do general psychotherapy as well.  By night and weekends, I write fiction and blog about wine and writing. 

Although I don’t have any formal writing training beyond one adult continuing education class, which I snuck in while I was in graduate school at UGA, I’ve been writing creatively since I was a child.

The influence psychology has on my writing seems obvious, at least to me. The truth is that I find people and their problems fascinating. They’re both about people, how they change and grow – or choose not to – and the consequences of either path.

To read the rest, click here.

Tony Noland on Superheros and Booze: A Guest Post from a Fellow Author

I know Tony through Twitter, where he keeps me laughing with his wry wit, blatant geekiness, and clever observations about the writing and publishing life. He's also one of the few Twitter writing friends I've met in person. My husband and I were visiting my sister in Philadelphia, and Tony agreed to meet up with us in a small Chinese restaurant. After we figured out we must be the right people, having never even seen pictures of each other before, we settled in for a night of foodie adventurousness. Now I have an inside joke about crunchy frog (congee -- don't ask) and an online/IRL friendship I really value. We've beta read for each other, and I was honored he asked me to do so for his novel, which came out on Monday. It's a very clever book with sympathetic, real characters, fun humor, and a sweet spot where Humanities and Science majors can meet and mingle successfully or at least find common ground over a nice beverage. The love story is well done, too.

So, without further ado, I give you Tony's guest post on superheroes and alcohol:

My new book comes out this week: "Verbosity's Vengeance". It's a science fiction superhero novel starring the Grammarian, a hero who uses grammar- and punctuation-based superpowers to fight Professor Verbosity on the mean streets of Lexicon City. With my book launch this week, you can easily imagine that the question foremost in my mind is: why don't more superheros drink?

Batman is a fitness junkie who treats his body like a temple, Professor X is an abstemious aesthete. Superman is a workaholic and Captain America is a boy scout, but alcohol doesn't have any effect on either of them, anyway. Of heroes who DO drink, Thor's banquet hall mead quaffing is like a frat house joke, Wolverine's Molson-and-Canadian-Club boilermaker habit is just part of his tough guy rep he works to maintain, and Tony Stark's alcoholic boozing is a standard pillar of playboy excess. Each of them is a literary archetypes of different kinds of moral repugnance ascribed to drinking and virtue ascribed to not-a-drop abstention. Where is the moderate, social drinking of the kind enjoyed by billions of people around the world every day?

 You'd think that after a hard day (or night) of superheroics, more superheroes would want to kick back with a drink to unwind, either in the quiet of their own home/cave/fortress or in the company of friends. In my book, Alex Graham doesn't drink while he's on duty as the Grammarian, but in his civilian life, he does enjoy a glass or two of whisky with his old pal and mentor, the Silver Cipher. Alex doesn't abstain completely, nor does he drink to excess. He enjoys his libations in moderation, which I think makes him more relatable and true to life.

"Verbosity's Vengeance" has a lot of wit and wordplay based on language and grammar usage. For that reason, I often get asked if I wrote the book for a younger audience, either as pure adventure or as a teaching tool. It could be used that way, but I wrote it to tell a good story. The word nerd humor is interwoven among the superhero action and tension, with plenty of science fiction technobabble to move things along. Is a young adult audience going to be put off by the occasional quiet martini or flute of champagne at a reception? I wouldn't think so, since they must sure see such behavior in the real world. However, I'm often surprised at what people find objectionable when deciding which book a young adult might pick up.

Drugs, of course, are right out. Any kind of social indulgence in mood-altering substances gets a Just Say No. Sex and swearing are almost as bad as alcohol, since the assumption is that none of them can be done in moderation. Either nobody swears or everybody swears all the time. Either nobody has sex or everybody is in a shifting round robin with everybody else (except for the virtuous heroine and/or hero). Violence seems to be no problem. Katniss Everdeen runs over and around the corpses of teenagers stabbed, burned, and bludgeoned to death. Harry Potter is surrounded by torture, murder and mayhem, but we all pretended butterbeer was magically alcohol-free.

So, sure, you could you give my book to a young adult. They'd love it. You'll love it too if you like action, adventure and wordplay, and if you don't mind seeing responsible adults acting like responsible adults. You can buy a copy for them or for yourself right here. As it happens, there's very little swearing and no sex, although there's G-rated romance between Alex Graham and the intelligent and talented Dr. Kate Hunter. They enjoy a couple of drinks together, too.

Is the Grammarian alone in his appreciation of a good libation? Did I forget someone? Can you think of a superhero who engages in moderate social drinking without some kind of moralistic overlay ascribed to that character?

You can find out more info about Tony and his fiction on his website Landless.

My Book Sale: Guest posting at Demons, Dreams & Dragon Wings Blog

Today the lovely ladies over at the Demons, Dreams & Dragon Wings blog are hosting me as a guest with my first sale story. Yes, you have to click through a content warning to get there, but I promise the post is SFW.

I'm not sure how much I believe in metaphysical stuff like projecting intentions and the power of clearing out old stuff to make room for new opportunity, but after the way my first sale happened, I might become a believer.

To read the rest, click here.

Don't forget, The Mountain's Shadow will be out on October 1! It's already available for preorder on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers.