Friday, April 15, 2011

Building Book 2 -research phase

For those who have read Ceiling of Stars, which introduced my protaganist Arina and her chef husband , Henri - both are generic pagan Lilleric ( direct descendents of Lilith , Adam's first wife) , you may remember lesser characters , Rosie and Joshua Greenburg. Their daughter , Linda , is a wonderful brassy little girl who has no fear of any of her own, enough to capture the heart of the Copain's only son , Thomas.

I decided in book 2, at this point anyway. that it might be fun to expand their part in the series. So there will be some fun things in store there. I decided that Joshua should be Jewish (Reform) Both Judaism and Islam have a edict against the drinking of blood. But if the gypsies can be forgiven for stealing (allegedly for stealing the nail meant for Jesus's heart), then Joshua can be Jewish. He just has to stay away from the sciatic nerve and spine. And Rosie, a woman that Henri descibes with great admiration as having the "bones of the life down cold," has an interesting background. I used to be friends with a Reform family - okay I own it, my mother used to send me over to their house , where I was invited for dinner , because Rabbi would argue with me , where her minister was condescending - I don't do "on faith" even today.

As a reoccuring theme is that vampires can be anyone , if they are any good about it, they survive and you do not readily spot them, they can be anything. Religious artifacts have no power over them - they are not demons. I had great fun doing Ceiling and to keep my interest, it is necessary that the development in Book 2 ( as yet untitled) be a growth process as well, as I prep Ceiling for agent consideration.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Tornedos , Chapter Partners , and where do I get Henri's information.

We had tornedos yesterday in Middle Tennessee. They were bad enough that our bosses at work evacuated us to the basement of our building for about forty five minutes. I didn't see much damage until I went home last night. Madison Station , about 12 miles from Nashville , lost their power and several really old trees are gone. There was even a hole in the stone wall surrounding the cemetary where the trees used to be , which lies in the path of the fallen trees. We do know from the path of damage that it crossed Gallatin Rd and may have travelled up Briley ( a highway)-both major throughfares. I had lights when I got home and Rivergate ( Madison) was pretty okay .

Yesterday , my chapter buddy , Mariah , sent me the last of her YA novel, Blood Moon. Its a wonderful book and her help as been invaluable. I have sent her the last 5 chapters of Ceiling of Stars. Her help has been invaluable. There are many light moments in Ceiling but my vampires are predators. Read this as there are some really intense times as well. The two parts that I worried about most , she critted as if I were talking about baby Sophie tumbling over in her chair. It did not shock her. I wish her luck with her endeavor, it is a nice story. Having taught , it certainly is something that I would consider on a reading list.

Ok, I am not a chef though I love to cook. My mother is a retired home economist with a major in dietetics . So where do I get Henri's cheffie knowledge? Some of it is experiance, I have cooked all of my life and some of it is because I shop at a restaurant supply store (GFS) at least some of the time.
Add that to years of working restaurant, though I don't anymore, and you have it. The don't put your knives in the dishwasher basket advice was actual advice that I had recieved while shopping. So if you are looking for inspiration , you would be surprised where you will run into it.

So Ceiling is soming together nicely , Mariah's edits and comments have been valid. I am going to finish cleaning up the manuscript and stick it away for the next thirty to sixty days . Then I will reread it and see what changes need to be made. In the meantime, I have started writing the second one- this was always intended on being a series. There is no title yet but ,as I have been told that most authors fall down on book 2, I am working on keeping the concept of genetic vampires hiding in plain sight fresh. Interesting aside, the supervisor from the other department and long time friend saw an outline of a conversation held with Arina in her new location . Henri, though not perfect, doesn't commit most of the sins that human husbands routinely do. Leaving the seat up in the bathroom is common to both species. She wanted to know 1) if he were real and 2.) how you met someone like he and his father. I teased her and said " You don't care that he drinks Human blood about once a week do you? That people may die?" She was pretty much willing to over look the blood drinking if he would pick up after himself and help with the care of any kids (Henri is good about both.) She said that she had watched me write this thing for about two years and never once had I ever had Henri say that Arina needed to lose five pounds. Henri would be so pleased- he is competitive and likes to make Human men look bad. Sad part is if human men are capable of learning the same lessons , they are not doing it but then Henri is over 200 years old .