Welcome to Biting-Edge, a blog shared by authors and vampire experts, Mario Acevedo and Jeanne Stein. We’ll cover urban fantasy, vampires, pop culture, and all things Joss Whedon. Unlike other fantasy blogs, we don’t insist on body cavity searches (unless you ask politely). Snarkiness is most welcome...though we won't promise not to bite back!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009
 
Newsflash: I'll be posting here THURSDAY beginning next week.

Now onto the important stuff--

Winner of MBR and magnets-- Vickie! Email me at jeanne@jeannestein.com with your info and your copy of Many Bloody Returns (along with a few other goodies) will be on its way. Thanks to everyone who played and don’t despair—I’ll be holding another contest next week so stay tuned.

Just got the new cover for Retribution:

What do you all think? I must admit, I like this one. Anna's fifth adventure will be released in September. More important, though, is what YOU think.

From MarioLand: Jailbait Zombie released! Get your copy now!

Eos is doing a feature on Jailbait at this link so check it out.

Some items cross-posted from my blog over at The League of Reluctant Adults in case you missed them.




On March 23rd, another Whedon Alum, Nathan Fillion of Firefly/Serenity/Dr. Horrible fame begins his new show on ABC, Castle. We’ll be discussing that on The Biting Edge, too, I’m sure.

Some interesting (at least to me) factoids about bookselling and numbers. For 2008, the top ten books in terms of numbers sold were:

1 Breaking Dawn Meyer, Stephenie 3,310,000
2 Twilight Meyer, Stephenie 3,175,000
3 A New Earth Tolle, Eckhart 3,146,000
4 The Last Lecture Pausch, Randy 2,705,000
5 New Moon Meyer, Stephenie 2,667,000
6 Eclipse Meyer, Stephenie 2,563,000
7 The Shack Young, William 2,551,000
8 The Tales of Beedle the Bard Rowling, JK 1,822,000
9 Brisingr Paolini, Christopher 1,312,000
10 Eat, Pray, Love Gilbert, Elizabeth 1,274,000

For the top fifty list, go here. I think what interests me most is how the numbers fall off after the million + sellers. Number 50 sold 377,000 copies. Also, note the correlation of genre writers to literary/memoir entries. We must be doing something right.

For Tolkien fans, an early unpub’d work is coming out. From the AP:

"The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun," a thorough reworking in verse of old Norse epics that predates Tolkien's writing of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, will be published in May by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. According to Houghton, the book will include an introduction by Tolkien and notes by his son, Christopher Tolkien. J.R.R. Tolkien, whose fantasy novels have sold millions of copies, died in 1973. "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun" was written in the 1920s and '30s, when the author was teaching at Oxford University.

Cool.

Okay, here’s something REALLY cool: You can help name the new NASA node. Voting will be open from February 19th to March 20th, 2009. NASA will announce the winning name in April 2009.
Choices are:
Earthrise
Legacy
Serenity
Venture

While I’m partial to Legacy for personal reasons, Serenity is up and away the favorite—You’ll see what I mean when you vote.

Okay, I have to interrupt here- I just saw this morning's newspaper. Some assholes opened up on a Mardi Gras parade injuring 7 people, including a toddler. What the friggin' hell is wrong with people? At least they have the idiots in custody.

Back to the program.

A couple of writing contests for you aspirants out there:

1. Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest

-Write a short story of no more than 8,000 words, that shows the near future (no more than about 50-60 years out) of manned space exploration.

-No entry fee. But please only submit one story...your best one!

-All entries must be original works in English. Plagiarism, poetry, song lyrics, or characters from another person’s works will not be considered.

-E-mail submissions only. Send entries as .rtf attachments to: baen.nss.contest@gmail.com

-Please put the word SUBMISSION in the subject line when sending a contest entry and QUESTION in the subject line for questions to the contest administrator.

-Please include the following in the body of your email: The title of the work, the author's name, address and telephone number, and an approximate word-count. The manuscript should be an RTF attachment, in standard manuscript format and should be titled and numbered on every page, but the author's name MUST BE DELETED to facilitate fair judging.

-Employees of Baen Books, Jim Baen's Universe, NSS and previous Grand Prize Winner are not eligible. Previous Second and Third place winners are eligible.

-Deadline - April 1, 2009.


2. 78th Annual Writers Digest Competition

Compete and Win in 10 Categories!

* Inspirational Writing (Spiritual/Religious)
* Memoirs/Personal Essay
* Magazine Feature Article
* Genre Short Story (Mystery, Romance, etc.)
* Mainstream/Literary Short Story
* Rhyming Poetry
* Non-rhyming Poetry
* Stage Play
* Television/Movie Script
* Children's/Young Adult Fiction

Entry Fee: Poems are $15 for the first entry; $10 for each additional poem submitted in the same online session. All other entries are $20 for the first manuscript; $15 for each additional manuscript submitted in the same online session.

Add $5 per manuscript to all entries postmarked after May 15, 2009. Entries postmarked after June 01, 2009, will not be accepted.

Complete details at the links provided.

Okay onto Whedon news for the week.

Some disheartening statistics just posted on the Buffy & Angel & Firefly website:

"Dollhouse" Tv Series - 1x02 "The Target" fell 15% in the ratings Sunday 22 February 2009, by Webmaster The numbers are disheartening, if not entirely surprising. The second episodes of Fox’s "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" and "Dollhouse" failed to improve on their premieres last week, even though Friday’s biggest usual competitor from a numbers standpoint — CBS’ crime dramas — aired repeats.

"Dollhouse" (4.2 million viewers, 1.7 preliminary adults 18-49 rating/7 share), fell 15% in the ratings. This is an almost-typical second-episode slip and the show placed second in its 9 p.m. hour, topped by "Supernanny" (5.2 million, 1.8/5).


At 8 p.m., "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (3.8 million, 1.3/5) was roughly steady, falling a tenth of a point from last week’s midseason return to tie a repeat of "Wife Swap" to place second in the hour. Given it’s a Friday night, neither "Terminator" or "Dollhouse" pop out as a jarringly low rating on the grid. But Fox’s shows are relatively expensive scripted dramas that typically require higher numbers than a competitor’s repeats or newsmagazines such as "Dateline" and "20/20," regardless of what night they’re on.


Damn—I do not want this trend to continue so you’re assignment for this week is to tune in!!!

Here are a few more comments from my Buffybuds on Episode 2:

Dina: Anyone watch this week's offering? I thought it was much worse than the first one and ended up fast forwarding through most of it. I think the episodes will vary greatly depending on how interesting the main story is. Here it had too much of The Most Dangerous Game for me. And Echo as 'girl friend' which is just plain rape so I don't like that either.

Maryelizabeth Hart: A few thoughts about the Steven DeKnight episode: What, no one in the Dollhouse reads? The hunter's fake name was the name of the author of The Most Dangerous Game! Although I speculate that the British chick suspected what might happen, and just didn't care. And if he found the Dollhouse and got in with fake credentials, what's slowing down our friend from the FBI? I did like getting some background filled in on the other rogue "doll." And I agree with Dina that making Echo be in relationships, physical and emotional, is rape -- and I don't think we are meant to support it. I think it's meant to be seen as abusive.

Maria Lima:
As to Dollhouse, I must admit that I have very mixed feelings. (1) VERY skeeved about the premise of the "dolls" (2) 1st ep fell very flat w/me, so much so that I stopped watching after 30 mins (3) Miss the Joss-verse touch (like many of you said) - the quips, the smart snarkiness, etc. (4) As much as I enjoyed ED as Faith, I'm afraid she doesn't have the acting chops to pull off this role--maybe in a few years

Charlaine Harris:
Like most of you, I wasn't sucked in to the narrative of "Dollhouse," but I'll keep watching.

And these are comments by hard core Whedon fans. It does not bode well.


Here's the HULU link to the second episode, The Target, it you care to watch.

I am in a quandary about how to handle two blogs—So here’s the question for the week—does it bother you to have a repeat of some items? Should I skew either blog one way or the other? Do you care? Give me feedback—

Next Saturday on the League, there will be another installment of Writers’ Rooms and a rundown of all new releases by League members. There are a lot of them this week and next. We are talking some damned good writers here, so give them a shot.

I do love contests. I think I’ll solve the problem of where to post a contest by posting it on BOTH—So next Thursday, we'll have a new contest for another cache of FABULOUS prizes.

From the one more thing to worry about file:

Web sites may harm health
Too much time networking online faulted, study finds

Like we have a choice in the matter. Didn't even follow up on this one.

PS Notice I added COLOR to some of the text. I didn't know I could until I noticed an extra little COMPOSE button on this blogger thing. You'd think someone would have told me.... thanks, Mario. Thanks a lot.
 
Comments:
All I can really say about the two blogs is I'm only reading you and Mario on the League blog anyway. There are too many bloggers over there and it feels crowded to me. Plus most of the other authors' books don't appeal to me.

I'd rather read you here.
 
Jeanne,

The Retribution cover is awesome! Felix was moved, so to speak, and had to take care of business.
 
OMG I'm thrilled with the new Anna cover. I can't believe how far away September seems.
I agree with you on that Mardi Gras shooting. What in the hell is wrong with people!!
Keep up the great work Jeanne.
 
Thank you Gina & Michelle, for your input. I tend to get lost in the League posts myself.

Felix-- Anna says, you are impossible--

J.
 
1) First of all I started laughing the minute I saw the retribution cove b/c I *just* returned from teh bookstore where I had placed it on pre-order. What fantastic timing you (or possibly I)have.

2) I adore the cover of Retribution (and likewise love the title). I'm also especially happy to finally see Anna's face. For the first couple books I loved the images but had a little laugh b/c I thought the artist couldn't draw faces and was covering up that fact by using shadow and smoke (a very valid method btw). It's pretty interesting though, because if you lay the books side by side (including this image) you notice that each book cover we see more and more of Anna's facial features. Almost like a drawn out visual reveal.

3) I don't mind reading the same information from the blogs twice, especially since I only visit the other blog when you or Mario refers us there.

4) The feedback that people are giving of Dollhouse is breaking my heart. I thought that the second episode was incredible, which was a relief after being so disappointed with the first one. I find it interesting that that is the feedback you were reading, sicne overall the feedback on Hulu was far more possitive than that of the pilot. I hope Fox hasn't shot Joss in the foot again by making him run a sub-par episode as the aired pilot.
 
Thank you for having the contest!

Love the cover of RETRIBUTION. Anna looking ready to kick some ass (and get out of that fire)DH likes the gun...and the fact that Anna is a hottie.

JAILBAIT ZOMBIE is on Friday's shopping list.

I seriously don't mind the cross-posting on the blogs. You are busy chickie and only so much can happen in a week for one to write about. Both blogs bring new fans to the authors.

Looking forward to 23 March to see the new show with Nathan. Woof!
I also am diggin' on the show 'Leverage' on TNT that incudes Christian Kane, baddie lawyer Lindsey....I always lusted for him....

My prayers for the families in New Orleans affected by the assholes.

I accept my assignment and will watch Dollhouse on Friday night and again on Saturday on Hulu. Have you seen Eliza's Hulu commercial? Hellah cool!

Yay for finding color!
 
I agree, what the hell... those guys are a bunch of assholes! Makes so f*ckin' MAD!!!

But... Awesome cover Jeane, i really like it!
 
And Mario,
tell Felix if he gets tired... i'd be happy to lend a hand, so to speak.
 
1. I also really love the cover of Retribution. Way cool! Anna looks like a tough cookie.

2. Today, I purchased my very own copy of Jailbait Zombie. Herman, my devil duck, is a bit excited and keeps trying to sneak a peek. Mario, the downtown Denver B&N is now out of stock. I also wanted to tell them it should be displayed more prominently, but I chickened out.

3. Re Dollhouse, I haven't watched the second episode yet. Maybe tonight. Maybe I'll like it more than the pilot.

4. I've been on a Xena series marathon -- I just started season six and I'm sort of annoyed with it. Need a Xena break. I think the series peaked in season 4 -- seasons 5 and 6 aren't thrilling me as much.

5. Oh -- and I am thrilled -- I found Legend of the Seeker on Hulu. I'd wanted to watch that, so I watched the first episode. I enjoyed it and want to keep going.

P.S. -- I'll read your posts on both blogs happily Jeanne. Maybe some of the other posters will eventually grab me -- for starters paranormal romance isn't what I normally like to read (Anna and Felix are different.)
 
@Jeanne:
OK, I just watched episode 2 of Dollhouse. MUCH better. This really should have been the pilot.
 
Hi Leia-- thanks for the pre-order and your comments. I do like this cover myself.

You said something interesting about DH: I hope Fox hasn't shot Joss in the foot again by making him run a sub-par episode as the aired pilot.

There is reportedly a pilot that Fox didn't air--choosing instead the Ghost ep. It is supposed to be included on a DVD of season 1 to be released whenever. I just don't understand the reasoning of some studio exec's. Hasn't Whedon proven himself by now? He KNOWS what we want.

J.
 
Vickie said: Looking forward to 23 March to see the new show with Nathan. Woof! I also am diggin' on the show 'Leverage' on TNT that incudes Christian Kane, baddie lawyer Lindsey....I always lusted for him....

I like Leverage,too- we should open that up for discussion. Season one ended Tuesday, but it's supposed to be back in the summer. I started watching it just because of Kane-- I always thought he was a hottie!

Congrats on winning the contest and thanks for playing?

J.
 
Vampy Nurse said: And Mario,
tell Felix if he gets tired... i'd be happy to lend a hand, so to speak.

OMG-- you don't know what you're saying! I hope Felix hasn't recovered from his latest bender to see this. He'll be knocking on your door for sure.

:-)

J.
 
Hey Gena-- thanks for your comments. I wonder if HULU watches are counted in viewing statistics? Anybody know?

I'm not familiar with Legend of the Seeker. What is it? Xena is cool, though I never watched the entire series. Just caught an episode here and there. Loved the actress.

J.
 
@Jeanne:

Legend of the Seeker is based on somebody's fantasy series (egads, I don't remember who the author is. Mercedes Lackey? I think the first book has the same title? OK, I haven't read the actual books.)

Anyway, there's the Seeker, the Confesor and the Wizard. There is a barrier separating two worlds, and when the Seeker was a baby the Wizard took him to one world to escape an evil warlord bent on killing him.

The Confessor is a member of a group of priestess warriors from the evil side. They are pledged to protecting the life of the seeker. She crosses the barrier in order to locate the now-grown seeker, with the evil warlord's men hot on her heels.

Toss in a magic book that only the seeker can read, and a legend that only he can stop the evil warlord from killing just about everybody.
 
@Jeanne:

Oh -- one more thing -- toss in that the seeker has NO idea he's the seeker (shades of Luke Skywalker).

Re Xena -- before watching on DVD, I estimate I'd probably seen maybe 25% of the episodes, almost all from the early seasons.

DVD collections have revolutionized TV watching for me. I really like being able to watch the entire series in order of the episodes being aired. Especially in series like Xena and Hercules.

Before doing this I thought they were really frivolous shows. Now I see them as super-creative shows where the producers, writers and actors really did some daring things.

They interspersed mythic arcs that put their characters in increasingly difficult situations with shows that just were lighthearted explorations of character. Just when they nearly break the characters, they'd slip in an absurdly silly comedy that made you fall further in love with the characters.

Sometimes they go over the top, but there's some insane storytelling.

My only complaint is it seems somewhere in season 5 the Sena people started taking themselves too seriously. The same thing happened in X-Files.
 
Gina: I am a fan of Legend of The Seeker, when I remember that it's on Saturday night at 7 on WB2 here in Boulder/Denver area. (now you know, Jeanne, when it's on here) I like the premise. It's done in New Zealand like Hercules and Xena shows were. I loved watching those, too. I should look into the DVD sets...it's where I really fell for 'my boyfriend' Bruce Campbell. sigh....

Jeanne: I think it was posted by Leia last week that Hulu counts for Dollhouse views. It's the official site or some such. I know Echo/Eliza does a commercial for them...
 
@Vickie:

A few months ago I finished my Hercules DVD series lollapalooza.

My dirty little secret is that I don't have cable. Well -- I do have really bargain basement cable (which I am not sure will survive the whole analog-to-digital switch.)

As a result I have no earthly clue which channels I do or don't get, since the list they gave me doesn't actually accord with the channels I actually get. Since mysteriously I get the Sci-Fi channel when I don't think I should, I keep quiet about it.

I don't think I get WB2. I think my channel 7 is a station affiliate (CBS? NBC? ABC? egads, who knows.)

I almost never turn the TV on so this channel chaos usually is irrelevant. When I do, it's usually on the Sci-Fi channel or Hallmark. Those are the only two channels I actually know how to locate. I'm hopeless.
 
This comment has been removed by the author.
 
@Jeanne - you’re welcome for the pre-order :) I may be completely broke but there are a few authors I buy anyways, even fewer that I always pre-order, and you fit into that elite club lol.

As for Dollhouse, you ask the same question I ask. Why does Fox not let him just do what he wants? They have provided him with a massive budget for the show so they at least have some faith in him. Also he's freakin' JOSS WHEDON. He's like a force of nature. How many other TV writer/directors that have their own devotees? Perhaps JJ Abrams, but I can't think of any others in current times at least. Plus the man had actors falling over themselves to be in an online one hour musical experiment about a would-be villain and happy to do it initially without pay. Not only was the net piece top notch, but there were so many hits that the site went down within the first two hours of it viewing. Not only that but it has been extremely successful DVD, iTunes downloads, and soundtrack (both CD and download) wise ... all of that for a little internet experiment that he didn't really expect to succeed so well in the first place. It boggles my mind that people at this point won't just let the man work and do his thing.
 
Ok folks... Legend of the Seeker. It is based on Terry Goodkind's “Sword of Truth" series which clearly had to be toned down in some areas of public television though the Mord Sith of all people were portrayed pretty accurately which I find funny. It has drawn criticism from die hard Goodkind fans for watering down/changing, though I myself have really enjoyed it. I have especially enjoyed Zed who is just as I always imagined him... only in the TV show he spends less time talking about cheese. I believe we are about 8 episodes in now (I haven't watched in a couple of weeks so I'm probably off) and the show is finally beginning to hit its stride. For you Xena fans like me that absolutely adore Joxer, you will be happy to know that that actor makes a guest appearance about five episodes in as a map maker/seller and was brilliant. Plus, if you watch the show and walk away feeling that there is an oddly similar vibe to it ... you would be correct. The Legend of the Seeker is being put on by the people responsible for Xena and Herc: Legendary Journey. Some people have been ticked at Goodkind for this decision, but I'm rather happy with it b/c those people know how to embrace the camp along with the serious and somehow make it all work out. Die hard Goodkind fans would kill me for saying this, but there is far too much content in the "Sword of Truth" books that lends itself to camp that it needs to be handled by someone that understands how to do it well. Don't get me wrong, there is some serious lore involved with the book series that was intriguing until about book 9 (which I can't make myself read past) but camp is there to be had. Also for those of you who are LotR movie fans you will (possibly) be thrilled to know that the person who portrayed Haldir is the person portraying Lord Darkan Rahl in the show. I watch it for him and Zed. *goes off into dream land*

Also as for Hulu figures. I do not know that Hulu viewing figures count, but I have a feeling that they probably do. since all of its content is official, the networks have really latched onto the site and are providing new shows to be viewed there in an effort to help combat illegal uploads ... or at least retain parts of the viewing audience they had lost to the internet by providing said shows in good resolution. As a result I would be surprised if the networks didn't count the viewing figures.
 
@Leia:

I really adore you! You are the bringer of much knowledge.

It totally fits now why I clicked so fast with Legend of the Seeker, if it's put out by the Herc/Xena people. Wouldn't it be cool to work with those people?

I was going to hunt down the author of the books tonight, thanks for saving me.

I absolutely love Joxer. Well, I found early Joxer annoying but I bawled like a baby over several Joxer moments in season 5, including the ultimate moment. I heart Ted Raimi almost as much as Michael, my gifted masseur.
 
Gina you are welcome. I certainly try to be a fount of knowledge, in an effor to avoid what Xander called being "a fount of nothing." Sadly most of the information this brain holds is useless trivia/ :)

*change in information* I meant I was interested until book 6 and not "9". Clearly my undiagnosed dyslexia of the fingers is no longer restricted to a horizontal axis anymore.
 
Leia: I am a fount of meaningless information, too, and I am loved for it. = ) I wish it would have been more helpful when I was shooting for promotion in the Air Force, but ah well.
Joxer is a favorite character, I'll watch anything Ted Raimi does, just as I will watch anything is big brother, Sam, directs or writes or produces or any of the above. Just like with their buddy, Bruce Campbell, who they grew up with.
I look forward to tonight's episode of Dollhouse and tomorrow night's episode of Seeker. Sunday is Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone, so my weekend TV is just fine.
 
Vickie said: I look forward to tonight's episode of Dollhouse and tomorrow night's episode of Seeker. Sunday is Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone, so my weekend TV is just fine.

Add to that Sarah Connor and it's just about perfect!! :-)

J.
 
And beer call after work at Boulder Beer Company...and it's gold....
 
Who knew Eliza could sing?! I mean if that was her last night. Good episode, I thought.
 
This has been one heck of a day. I drove 1 hr to the bridal store to pick up a Maid of Honor dress I had ordered a month and a half ago (had to drive an hour to and from that time as well) only to find that the gown that took a month and a half to arrive had a messed up bodice and they will have to alter it for me. NOW I have to drive an hour to and from *again* in another month to pick the dress up ... hopefully for real that time. I did luck out on some classic computer games found buried in a local used book shop though (not one of my usual haunts), and I did get a chance to get more fodder for my Tengwar Project which I'm working on posting in the next half hour ... but all that is to say I haven't seen Dollhouse yet. I'll watch it tomorrow though and let you all know what's up. :)
 
Leia-- sounds like you need a good stiff drink!

J.
 
Vickie--you should know, girl-- Eliza can do anything. I'm beginning to wonder if that Fed's neighbor isn't a Doll herself sent to spy on him. What do you think? She's either that or a stalker. Either is creepy--

J.
 
Jeanne - can you send a virtual rum and coke my way? lol
 
Hey bar keep-- Leia wants a rum and coke.

It's on the way--

Jeanne
 
@Jeanne:

Haven't watched ep. 3 of Dollhouse yet (what? and put down my copy of Jailbait Zombie??) . But during ep. 2 I thought immediately there was somthing fishy about Lasagne-girl. I kept expecting her to pull a knife out and follow FBI-guy into his apartment rather than retreat to her kitchen with her rejected dish.
 
Aie! Episode 3 was seriously AWESOME! There was at least one really important character reveal in this episode, Eliza really can sing, AND the best part was the headshake at the end. If you've seen it you know what I'm talking about. These episodes just keep getting better and better and at this rate I expect a small sized BIG reveal of some sort around episode six or seven at the latest. As for lasagna girl I'm not quite sure what to think. There were times in this episode that I lost the Stepford Wife vibe from here. I've played with the idea that she was a doll, but even the dolls (when on mission) are more real than she is. Maybe there is another type of Doll competition? Like a second underground organization with even worse ulterior motives? After all, at least the Doll House (morally messed up as it is) on some level still believes that it is helping people. What is there was a second lesser known Dollhouse manned by a different organization with even worse motives? Something like the Initiative of this show. ... hmmm

Jeanne btw thanks for the Run and coke. It arrived this morning. Probably not the best way to start off the morning but it was refreshing all the same ;)
 
Found this on Hulu ... it's a message from Eliza about why people should stick with the show if they are torn.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/eliza-dushku,24418/

Start at about the fourth question down.
 
Leia-- without giving too much away, I'm posting an awesome interview with Eliza on Thursday in which she has some interesting tidbits to share on upcoming episodes. Just a teaser:

Eliza said: Joss’ first script that he did after the pilot is number six, which is called “Man On The Street,” and it is just unbelievable. From that point on, the world unfolds in Joss’ way, with Joss’ speed, and it’s really remarkable.

Episode six--So you've hit it right on, Chickie!!!

J.
 
Leia-- you stole my thunder!! That's exactly the interview I'm posting. We must be channeling each other!!

J.
 
LOL Sorry Jeanne didn't mean to be a thunder stealer.

Well I made my prediction about the sixth episode before reading Eliza's interview ... the timing just seems right though. Joss has a certain pace and anything prior to episode six would be rushing it, but waiting until episode eight would be drawing it out too long. I'm now excited to see exactly what "Man On The Shreet" is about.

Also, did anyone else notice a little bit of Whedon humor creeping its way back into this episode? Go watch the tense, brief discussion between the scientist who makes the imprents and the head of security. The last couple of lines stand out. I'm going to shut up now or I'm going to start giving stuff away which we don't want!
 
Well now I'm at odds and ends because I finished watching the Xena series today. I don't think I'd seen a single episode of the final season before. It was better than the previous season, but I still didn't care for it nearly as much as early Xena.

The difference? It's Gabrielle. They changed her character to be more into the violence, at the same time as Xena got progressively more tired of the violence as she worked her way through making amends for fixing some of her greatest sins of the past.

So I'm of mixed emotion right now. I'm actually relieved not to have to watch amy more Xena. Whereas at this point with Hercules, I was really sad not to have any more to watch.

I guess this means I'll have to watch ep. 3 of Dollhouse. Or read another chapter of Jailbait Zombie.

Or maybe just do laundry and dust.

P.S. -- I am coming after Jeanne with a bar of soap after reading the latest League post...open wide!
 
Gina, did I completely miss something in that post? I didn't see anything bar of soap worthy.
 
Love the cover, Jeanne!
 
@Leia:

Read the comments. Jeane found her potty mouth. Fobbed the f-bomb. I was shocked!!! Shocked I tell you. It gave me an attack of the vapors.
 
Gina said:Read the comments. Jeane found her potty mouth. Fobbed the f-bomb. I was shocked!!! Shocked I tell you. It gave me an attack of the vapors.

Oh Gina, you little devil you. You know you love that word as much as I do. What other single word conveys emotion the way it does? Can you think of any others?

F@#k, no-- (I cleaned it up just in case I really had offended you or anyone else.)

So far, I haven't been told there are words we can't use. And BTW, Mark on the league uses it all the time. If the word police haven't come after him-- I think I'm safe.

;-)

J.
 
I love the new cover. That and your super cool league entries are totally going to draw me into the whole series from the beginning, darn you. ;)
 
Alanajoll you are making me blush. Seriously, though, I do like the cover, too. It's really the first I've been entirely pleased with. Anna and I thank you for giving us a try! I hope you won't be disappointed.

J.
 
Thank you, Carol, too for stopping by!

J.
 
Gina i did not read the comments .. maybe I should.

Jeanne I'm ashamed of you ;)

And even though I've said I like the cover for the new book I went back and looked at all the coveres last night as I cracked open "Blood Drive" for some quality Frey time; and I think that the new cover is my favorite as well. I was quyite taken with "Legacy's" cover, but the new one is even better. A brandished gun beats out swishy bullet belts.
 
This cover is also the first one in the series to not have black smoke/mist winding though the image. Was that mist representative of a particular character? o.0 (I have a name in mind but I know there are people here who haven't read so I don't want to mention names)....
 
Leia said:A brandished gun beats out swishy bullet belts.

My sentiment exactly. Plus, I like her face. It's the first time you see it full on. Not too perfect or cute, no sculpted cheek bones. Natural.

PS - I need to bring Frey back for some quality time myself. Not sure if I can do it in book six, but in seven for sure.
 
about the black smoke-- that was more to hide the fact that Anna never was described as having long hair and yet except in the first cover, she's depicted with long tresses. When I objected, the smoke was supposed to camouflage it.

This cover was also the first that I was asked for input on before it was designed. I suggested less hair (which I got--kind of) and agreed that the amulet that she's holding, which plays a big part in the story, should be included. The moon of course, is a recurring theme in all the books. Again, if it signifies that a vampire can only go out at night, it misses the mark.

But overall, I consider myself very lucky that I'm given original covers instead of reworked stock. And I have to admit, I do like the artist!

J.
 
@Jeanne:

Of course I wasn't mortally offended or anything -- just giving you a hard time!

Though the word rarely passes my lips. I had one of those mothers that actually did take soap to my mouth.

Re the cover -- I think all of Anna's covers have been better than a lot of covers are. I like that Anna doesn't look like a waif. Even when you don't see her face, she looks different than the normal waify girl on most books of this sort.

Yes, I demand more Frey! And he needs to lose the icky wierd girlfriend of his.
 
Far be it from me to tell someone what to write b/c I'm sure whatever you put out will be brilliant, but I too join the Frey cam. I'm not usually a fan of his type, but he and David have emerged as some of my favorite book characters in urban fantasy. don't worry (I'm sure you weren't anyway) I can wait as long as that takes even if it is until book seven or so. What can I say, I'm a patient woman.

The artist is good and I too think that it is great you get original artwork and not the reworked stock which seems normal fare a lot these days. It's also great for peopel that find books by browsing covers. Say what you want, but in fantasy you very often CAN judge a book by its cover and do so repeatedly if you spend enough time in the genre. The iconographer in me is slightly disappointed there was no character represented by the smoke, but I can pretend it was in my head and be happy :-p
 
I'm hanging my head in shame -- I didn't mean to sound so demanding.

Just enthusiastic. I like Frey and he's been too scarce. I totally didn't like the girlfriend invention.

I like David too. I won't talk about what I'd like to see develop with David.
 
gina I was not implying such by any means! lol I think wa ALL love Frey and I'm pretty sure we all know what we would like to happen with David. 'nuf said.
 
er...between David and Anna....
 
I'm loving this dialogue between Gina and Leia about Frey and David. And truth be told, I always imagined David and Anna getting together--REALLY together--at some point. Anna is now rather gun shy of humans, though, after what happened with Max. So it would have to come about in some natural but unconventional way. This sixth book, Chosen, will be Lance's story. He's developed into a full blown character in my head (as you writers know often happens) from the man candy he started out to be.I can't wait to see how you two take to him--

This is so much fun!

J.
 
Hi Jeanne!

Love the cover (the tot likes it too). I missed Dollhouse friday, so I;ll have to check out the hulu link. I had a dance competition (I think it's so retarded to put certain age groups, like adults and older teens on a friday night then complain about low numbers). Sigh. I only got 4th, lol. (I got 2nd the week before and was out for blood, lol).

Mario's going to be near me in a few weeks but it's the tot's bday weekend and I asked her id we can go. The ansewer was basically only if you were going to be there, lol. Aprently Anna is *much* better than Feliex (but don;t tell Mario it might hurt his feelings, lol).

Have a great week!
 
Jeanne - First of all I'm glad to hear that your mind has gone that way with David lol. Of course somehow there would have to be some kind of reveal but David is resilient and considering his and Anna's history I'm pretty certain that they'd be relatively compatible (does this mean we can envision many more books about Anna in the future? lol) As for Lance I'm unexpectedly thrilled about the prospect. I'm not usually into the man candy in books, but Lance has so much inherent potential and you just know he has something in his past. The first time I read about him I sort of passed him off as a mere plot point, but I found myself feeling a bit sad about that and was unable to figure out why since we really don't know a lot about him at all. That said, I can certainly put off more Frey (for now) in order to find out about Lance. I think you just made my day.
 
Suzanne said:Aprently Anna is *much* better than Feliex (but don;t tell Mario it might hurt his feelings, lol).

Tell the tot she is VERY discerning. Also, tell her that she's going to get a package soon-- I'm having magnets made of the new cover!

J.
 
Leia said: Lance has so much inherent potential and you just know he has something in his past. The first time I read about him I sort of passed him off as a mere plot point--

As did I. And then, as you pointed out too, I started thinking about his past and wow, it just grew from there! It's amazing how that happens sometimes, isn't it?

J.
 
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@ Jeanne - It is! I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it all develops.
 
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