Author: Jonathon

It was wonderful sleeping in our own bed last night. No matter how nice the hotel, or how many fluffy pillows they give you, it’s just not home. Usually, it takes me a few days to get my feet under me when we first come off the road, but today I did twelve pages. That’s pretty good on any day, but especially for the first full day home. Admittedly, most of it was notes I wrote long hand on the plane to Canada. Anita tends to write better when I’m afraid, and this trip was no exception. So, the pages were on the new Anita book that I’ll be reading from tonight at the Howl. But I also think that I know how to do the next bit of the final battle with Merry. We’ve worked for books and books to get here, we need to enjoy it, or at least not rush.

Violence is like sex, if it’s been a long seduction. You don’t want to get to the pay off and rush. You want to enjoy yourself. You want to take your time. In this case, I want you, the reader, to feel that this battle was worth the wait. But I think, I hope, that tomorrow I can sit down to it. I think it’s ready in my head. I find that if I try and force the Merry books on paper before the idea is ready, it does me no good. I just end up rewriting the next day. Anita will help me write when everything else is stopped up, but maybe that’s partially because of how long I’ve been writing her. We’re like old friends. We know how each other thinks. Merry and I are still getting to know each other.

But twelve pages of anything the day after we get back is good for me. Especially, since we have an event tonight. That usually messes with my head, and makes it hard to write, but not today. Today, I’m strangely calm. There is that part of me that is my grandmother’s voice, that whispers, calm is bad, it means something bad is coming, like the calm before the storm. But calm isn’t bad. You can always panic when the emergency gets here, why waste the energy? Though, really you should panic after the emergency, when everyone’s safe.

Maybe part of my unnatural calm is seeing the notes at the top of the pages as I typed what I’d written on the plane. The first note at the top was, "Don’t scream," underlined three times. Next page had a serious of notes. "Don’t panic. It’s all right. You’re all right. Don’t scream. Nothing is wrong." Choice words were underlined. I’m a visual learner, so just glancing up and seeing the messages to myself helped me not to give into the blind panic. Sometimes I think I’m getting over my fear of flying, then I end up having to write little messages to myself to keep me in my seat. Insult to injury, I actually fell asleep on one of the flights earlier in tour, and dreamed of a plane crash, only to wake up still on the damned plane. That was a treat.

But I looked at those notes to myself, and I knew I hadn’t lost it. I didn’t start screaming. I didn’t allow myself to panic. I did not loose control of myself, my fear, or anything else. I’d sort of put the level of fear away in that part of your mind you box things up in, and try to forget. The notes at the top of the pages, as I typed today, reminded me. It made me have to get that fear out and look at it, like a box on the shelf that you wanted to forget, but that you just couldn’t quite make yourself throw away. Today, I’m home. Tonight we only have to drive a few miles to the Wolf Sancturary. No planes will be involved. It’s all good.

Wolf Howl Reminder, Full Moon Sale (Wednesday), Blue Moon Hardback, Guilty Pleasures Comic Issue 12, LKH Interview, Blood Noir News

Wolf Howl Reminder
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The Wolf Howl with Laurell and SJ Tucker is tonight! June 17. If you didn’t get tickets, you might still be able to if you call Pam and ask. Sometimes, folks who cannot come will turn their tickets in. You can get tickets from Pam Rout at (636) 938-5900.
The gates will be locked at 7PM. So be there a bit before please!

FULL MOON SALE – Wednesday
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Full Moon Sale Item – Doyle Shirt – 20% or more off regular price!
Normally priced $20-$25 on sale for $15
Prices Shown are sale prices. Also, buy a Doyle shirt and get a Comic Con Anita Shirt for One Cent! Be sure to order that below!
Offer good until we run out!

BLUE MOON HARDBACK
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Blue Moon will be available in hardback for the first time on December 2, 2008.

COMIC NEWS
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Guilty Pleasures Issue 12 will be out June 18, 2008. Try your favorite comic retailer or any of these:
http://www.lightspeedhobbies.com
http://www.comicfusion.com
http://www.jetpackcomics.com

NON-US COVERS
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We have some new Non-US covers up!
Guilty Pleasures Brazil
Blue Moon Italy
Caress Of Twilight Italy

LKH INTERVIEW
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If you missed the live broadcast of Laurell on the John Carney Show, they now have it available to listen on the net,
http://www.kmox.com/The-Carney-Show/1670961
Go down to 5/27/08 to find the interview

BLOOD NOIR NEWS
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Thanks to everyone who bought this one! Here are the numbers for it.
1 NEW YORK TIMES FICTION LIST BESTSELLER!
2 at USA Today overall
1 at The Wall Street Journal
1 at Barnes And Noble
1 at Publishers Weekly Fiction List

That’s it for this bit!
Darla

Labels: blue, comic, guilty, hamilton, howl, laurell, marvel, moon, pleasures, wolf

Got up yesterday morning in one of those moods where you want to bounce on the bed and go, “Get up, get up, get up. We have to go DO something.” We had a free day and I wanted to see some of Toronto. I resisted the urge to do the five-year-old version of a wake-up call, managed to be much more grown-up, but it did get everyone up, and preserved my dignity. Dignity is one of the first things that goes when you go on tour together, but a girl can try.
Left to our on devices Jon and I flounder when we have a free day. It’s an unfamiliar city, and the few free moments we have usually come in the middle of tour, like now, so we’re too tired to research, or it just doesn’t occur to us that we are really, truly, going to have free time. But Charles had been to Toronto before, so we asked him, “Where should we go?” Then there is that moment of difference of attitude. Charles almost always finds a way to have a good time when he travels, even if it’s business. He just has a knack for finding fun or different things, and letting all the stress go and having fun. Jon and I, not so much. Okay, me, really not. I am a stress bunny, and that’s not likely to change, but yesterday we tried to embrace the philosophy of fun and do what Charles would have done if we had not been with him.
We went to Queen’s street. How to describe it? Hmm. It’s got some of the flavor of New Orleans, but that’s not quite it. It’s as if New Orleans got together with the Village (Greenwich Village) in New York, and came up with a younger sibling, but again that’s not quite it. I’ll work on describing it later, but for now let’s just say, it was fun. There are all kinds of shops from designer names to The Condom Shack. No, really. Didn’t actually go into that store, but the name alone is too fun not to share. Queen’s street is a place to wander from shop to shop, and just browse and go, cool. But we did find a shop down a flight of stairs that was way fun.
Borderline is a clothes shop, but that doesn’t do it justice. This store is what Hot Topic wants to be when it grows up. It was sooo cool. The three of us had the best time shopping. The store had great clothes not just for women, but for men, too. In fact the guy side of the store was so fun, that I just stayed and helped Jon and Charles find stuff to try on. What I saw, at first, on the girl’s side just didn’t interest me. Then once we got the guys squared away, the gentleman that was helping us, said, “What about something for you?” I said I couldn’t find anything. He said, “What about a corset?” I said, “Cool.”
He found me an outfit that was both sexy, and comfortable, a very rare combination that. Okay, everything but the shoes, but the shoes kick-ass, and for club-ware this nifty I’ll suffer a little for the art of it. The women will understand what I mean, when I say, that I wanted to know if the outfit worked, and all I had to do was step out of the dressing room and see the look on Jon’s face. The gentleman who had been helping us, and who it turns out owned the shop, smiled and said, “You’re welcome.” I think he was talking to Jon.
The wonderful gentleman who helped us put the outfits together, and especially mine, had a real eye. We all had fun shopping, and got wonderful outfits. I shop like a guy, so basically, three guys shopping and none of us got bored. It was way too much fun for anything but happy.
If you guys are good we’ll put up pictures of the outfits later.
Then just down the street went went into an Oakley store and Jon bought new glasses. Like I said, Queen street has lots of different shops. Then, we had to leave Queen street because we were meeting an old friend of Charles’s at another store far enough away that we had to get a taxi. Northbound Leather was one of the best leather shops we’ve ever seen. The smell of rich, good leather wrapped you around at the door like expensive perfume. Yum. The store had everything from leather coats, to very adult leather. There was even a leather tuxedo, which made me think of Jean-Claude. There were other outfits that would have been more appropriate for some of my other imaginary friends in their days jobs as strippers, except, it would probably be a little too leather for a St. Louis crowd in real life.
By that point, I had about shopped myself out. I’m not joking when I say I shop like a guy, and I’d had about as much shopping as I could take even in a shop as fun as this one. But Charles’s friend helped me persevere, and I found some stuff. One of the dresses I may actually wear to a convention this year. We’ll see. Some club-ware can become hall costume, and some cannot.
Jon found some leather pants to replace a pair he had years ago, and Charles tried to be good and resist temptation. So much leather, so little time.
Then we all went to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. Pleasant conversation, good food, and just the end of a fun day.

Thanks for the warm welcome to Canada last night. It was great to see everybody in person, and I’ve never had so many people thank us for coming out to meet and greet. The event was held at the Merrill Collection. It is a library, but it is also one of the largest and most complete science fiction, fantasy, and horror collection in existence. We got a tour before the event and it was amazing. My geek moment was seeing a first edition Dracula. The beginning of the vampire part of my genre sitting right there. Jon’s geek moment was the E. E. Doc Smith collection. Charles’s geek moment was Cyberpunk first edition with a mint box. The first edition Jules Verne books, yes plural, was a geek moment for all of us. That’s just the highlights. Trust me, there were many more treasures.
Then downstairs for the event. They had a nice room all set aside, and chairs for everybody. So nice that you guys didn’t have to stand through the whole thing. The question and answer session went well. I got lots of laughter, and some ooh-ahh moments. My judge for how well you guys are enjoying the Q & A is laughter and gasps. From the reaction, a good time was had by all. Thanks for all the questions. I hope you were as happy with the answers.
Everyone asked what we thought of Canada. Our reply was, we just got in that afternoon. We’ve, as usual, seen the airport, the hotel, and the event. We’re hoping to see more before we go home. I will say that Toronto isn’t what I expected. Those preconceived notions, they’re meant to be broken.

I kept getting asked what is BLOOD NOIR about? What is the book about is one of my least favorite questions, because I’ve always been bad at describing something long in a short space. I’m more an essay answer than a quick quote kind of person. I am working on it, and getting better at it, but since this is a question I’m getting a lot in interviews lately I’ve decided to practice.
BLOOD NOIR is about friendship and love, and telling the difference even when the boundaries are pretty blurred by conventional standards. It’s Jason’s book, and he’s been my imaginary friend since book five, BLOODY BONES. Now, yes, his first appearance was in book four, LUNATIC CAFE, but he was just a bit player to me then. I had no idea he would show up again, even once, let alone that he would be one of the most constantly appearing characters in my series. It was BLOODY BONES where Jason became a person for me. Strangely, that was also the book where Jean-Claude began to be a person and character to me and Anita, and not just a vampire that we needed to avoid.
BLOOD NOIR is the book that took twelve years to be ready to be written. Jason first appeared as a character in 1996, well, it’s 2008, so over a decade of character development, growth, and just plain growing up for both him and me. Jason was always cooperative as a character, in fact, one of the least argumentative imaginary friends that I had. But he kept his secrets. I knew almost nothing about his background. Richard, who fights with me at ever turn on paper, was very open with his family, his childhood, and all sorts of back story that I’ve never found a way to put on paper. But Jason, my happy, cooperative, boy, never shared his family, or his childhood. He left me guessing.
Then I had this idea for a small book, like MICAH, but with Jason in it, as the main character. But after so many years, Jason wanted a big book, not a little one. I couldn’t argue that he’d earned it, so we set off together to write his big book. Anita and I both realized, only during the writing of this book, how little we both knew about one of our supposedly closest friends. A real flesh and blood friend for her, and imaginary for me, but still, we thought we knew Jason. BLOOD NOIR taught me, and Anita, that we didn’t know all that much. That, though Jason seemed like an open book, in fact, he’d kept most of his past hidden, at least from Anita and me. Did Nathaniel know more? They are like best guy friends, so maybe Nathaniel knew more, but neither of the men shared it with Anita. Of course, she did the girl sin, she didn’t ask. To be honest, it never occurred to me to have her ask about Jason’s past. He was just always there, our friend, our confidant, and sometimes lover for Anita.
By the time I finished writing BLOOD NOIR I knew more about Jason’s past than I do about any one’s but Anita, Richard, and Jean-Claude. Admittedly, with our vampire boy, centuries of life mean that there are huge gaps, but I do know a lot of background on all three, that I’ve never found an excuse to use on paper. I’m still hoping, but Jason got his book first.
I guess, it’s perfectly Jason, that he keeps his past so close, and doesn’t talk to me, but he gets the deep background revealed. Interesting, because the only other character that’s gotten a book that was about them, with Anita sort of tagging along was Edward. The book was OBSIDIAN BUTTERFLY. Edward is another character that doesn’t talk to me, and keeps loads of secrets. What Anita learns is about what I know on him. The same is true of Jason. Two, such very different characters; one assassin to the undead, and the other every one’s best friend and bed-buddy, but they are two that do not share. There are others who don’t, but no one that’s been around for so many books.
So, what is the book about? It’s about love, and friendship. It’s about family and the damage they can do to you. It’s about forgiveness. It’s about how far you would go for one of your best friends, and what you’d do to keep them safe. Yeah, there’s sex in the book, and it’s damn good sex, thank you very much. But it’s not what the book is about. There is violence in the book, and killing, and kidnapping, and torture. But that’s not what the book is about either. People get hung up on the sex and violence in my books, but just like real sex and violence, it seldom is what defines your life. Violence can define your death, but seldom your life.
What’s the book about? It’s about love, and honor, and the price the innocent pay for the stupidity of others. It’s about Jason letting Anita into more of his world, and taking me along for the ride. It’s about a character that has been my imaginary friend for twelve years, finally being ready to tell me his story.

You know how in your business some things are so obvious to you, that you forget that not everyone knows how your business works? We all do it, especially if we’ve been in the business five or more years. Somethings seem so normal, that you forget that they aren’t normal to people outside of your profession.
Why do I say all this? Because, Darla has requested I do a blog explaining how book deals work. I thought by announcing the three book deal that it would kill the rumor that BLOOD NOIR was the last Anita Blake novel. It did, but it gave rise to the rumor that after the next three books, then that’s it for the series. Sigh.
Guys, guys, book deals usually run in sets of three. Anita has always been in groups of three for contract purposes. Example: the first contract was for Anita Blake #1, Anita Blake #2, and Anita Blake #3. You go down the list of numbers in sets of three. So, when I finish up the new contract I just got which is #16, #17, and #18 Anita Blake novels, respecitively, we’ll then turn around and negotiate for #19 through #21. Oh, and why do we count BLOOD NOIR as sixteen when contractually it’s #15? Because MICAH was done as a sepearte contract, since it was sort of a suprise for all concerned and not long enough to full-fill one of the slots in the contract I was writing at the time. They put lengths in contracts for books, so the author knows what they’re shooting at, and the publisher knows what they can expect. Now, it’s an estimate, so it’s taken with a grain of salt, but it’s still in there, in writing.
Now, I’ve done book deals one book at a time. NIGHTSEER was that way, then they didn’t want the second book, so that negotiation broke down. The Star Trek book I did, was a one only deal. Same for the Ravenloft novel. You can do book contracts for two books, four, or even six, but three is the most typical for a series.
So, does this explain to everyone that the reason the next Anita contract is only for three books, is that when I’m done writing these three, then we go back to renegotiate for the next three. It’s just how it works. So, don’t panic, there are plenty more books to come, but they are written one contract at a time.

I?m sitting in the dark in my office. The only light is the computer screen and some candles. I can hear the toads singing in the ponds just outside my windows, and covers from THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS is playing. Covers by Marilyn Manson and Fiona Apple to name two. It?s the second disc of the set of the deluxe sound track of the movie. The covers are even more fun that the originals by Danny Elfman. (By the way, what a great last name. Probably sucked in elementary school, but for those of us with an imagination, it?s just too cool.)
This blog will probably go out to you days from now, because I?m writing it on the eve before the final prep for tour. The last minute clothes to try on, and decide what?s going and what?s staying behind. Tomorrow is the last day to do laundry, so whatever we want dry and ready to pack, we have to decide now. I always hate that. Left to my own devices I way over pack. Jon has natural packing genes, his mother packs well, too. Charles, if he ever packed badly, was trained to think less is more by the army. I?ve found that all the ex-military people I know pack well, tight, and travel with no complaints, for the most part. They?ve had worse accommodations, and flown on planes that will rattle the fillings out of your teeth, or so I?ve been told.
I am a big baby when it comes to travel. My idea of being deprived is a hotel without twenty-four hours room service. But in the end, it all comes down to insecurity. I want to pack and take everything with me. What if I need it? As our friend, Richard, who has traveled internationally for months at a time, said, “It?s not like you?re going to the middle of nowhere. What you leave behind, you can buy there.” Spoken like a good traveler, and a boy. Girls back me on this, some clothes you can?t buy “there”, and make-up for those of us who have allergies can be downright problematic. But other than a few outfits and nonallergic stuff, Richard is right. He really is. I know that. I believe that. So, why am I sitting in the dark, listening to music and toads, by candlelight?
Because, when the stress gets high enough I resort to type. I find the dark soothing. I like the sounds that happen at night outside. You?ll go blind working a typewriter by candlelight, but computers make their own light. I am strangely calm, very unusual for me right now.
When I was a little girl I was afraid of the dark. But I haven?t been afraid of the dark in years. A wise person said, that there?s nothing in the dark that isn?t there in the daylight. I know from experience that daylight works just fine for violence. So, I sit in the dark, and let that tension ease. That tension that makes the chest tight and the breath come shallow. Dark and cool, and suddenly I can take a deep breath. I can go to bed soon, and climb between the cool, clean sheets, wrap my warm husband around me, and we can sleep. Sleep, perchance to dream. Sleep, and hope not to dream. Let me take this dark peace with me, and wrap it around us both, and sooth the nerves that frayed as we ran back and forth today.
I sit in the dark, surrounded by music and the singing of toads. Candlelight flickers around me, and I?m reminded that being “normal” is, maybe, not what makes me feel peaceful. I?ve been trying to do all the things that everyone else tells me will ease my tension, but it hasn?t worked. But this works, this dark out pouring of words. This strangely intimate dark. Take a deep breath, and let it out, breath in the peaceful dark, and leave the frantic day behind.

Let’s see, we had lunch, interviews, stock signings, and finally it was time for the signing. Our driver, David, dropped us off at the library, The Civic Center Library, and in we went. The staff greeted us, and after handshakes all around, led us to the event space. I say space, because it’s set up like some of the medium size lecture halls at a college, with the teacher down below of rows of chairs. We started, as we always do, with the questions and answers. Some of you actually asked questions I hadn’t had before, or not in quite that much detail.

One of the questions was about how I had researched the bondage and submission for the books. I talked about starting with the book, A Different Loving, and ending with finding a guide to take me to BDSM events. If I hadn’t done the research, I’d have sooo gotten it wrong, like most movies and books. I was asked if I still went to events, and I had to say, no. I didn’t do public events anymore, because every time I did someone outted me on the internet, or to other people. There are two rules for BDSM that are meant never, ever, be broken. Rule one: safe, sane and consensual. You play safe, don’t get crazy, and no really does mean no. Rule two: you do not out anyone. In fact, I was taught that if someone bears tales out of school from one of these events they can get black listed. Not just from that event, but any and all events. If you can’t keep your mouth shut, then no one wants to play with you. But I can’t go, even if all I do is try to visit with friends, someone is on the internet telling that I was there, what I was wearing, etc . . . Why do I explain this here? Because three different women came up and asked about this later. Two of them misunderstood and thought I’d been black listed, nope, I’ve done nothing wrong. One, just didn’t seem to understand what I meant. So, here, in print, I hope that clears up, the misunderstanding on this topic. I did meet a woman at the Ann Arbor signing that had also had trouble in the St. Louis BDSM community with people tattling. I’m sort of a celebrity, so it makes a little sense, but apparently St. Louis has some people that just can’t keep their mouth shut. Sad.

I did my best not to pace as much as I did at the first signing. You’ve got the video to prove that I was pacing like a caged leopard in St. Louis. Sometimes the nervous energy is just too much, and I have to do something to physical it out. Petting someone works, or petting a pet, but most dogs get weirded out when someone is that tense, and petting a person, even my own husband, weirds you guys out. So, I pace. But once I saw the camera set up in Phoenix, I did try and hold more still. But, part of the problem is that my background early on was theatre. Which means that if you have a stage, you use the whole stage, and you try to make sure that the audience sees you. You play to every inch of the room, if you can, so that everyone who came to the show, gets a good view, if only for a few minutes. So, I use the stage. Which means I drive the videographer crazy. Sorry.

I’ve never been to Phoenix before, so a lot of you thanked me for not making you travel so far to see me. You’re welcome, by the way. You guys were as friendly and welcoming as the Ann Arbor crowd. It has been a great tour so far. There were some of the cutest babies at the event. Jon, even agreed, and he’s not usually a baby person. Some of you were wearing make-up to look like bite marks. The make-up was so good that the first few people, I wasn’t sure if it was fake, or real, so I said nothing. I mean, if it was an injury, you don’t comment. By the time I realized it was just good make-up I said something, but to all of you who were wearing it, good job, guys. I did see it, and it was good enough that short of touching it, or getting way too close, I just wasn’t sure.

I appreciate everyone asking Charles before they tried to touch me inappropriately. I thought, that was interesting, and good idea to find out if the security person will hurt you if you have wandering hands. He will take care of it, if I haven’t taken care of it first. After all, it’s my body and I’m closer. So, thanks for not touching me in a way that would have upset us all. No, really, thanks, I mean that. I’ve had people forget this rule over the years, mostly before I had security with me, and it’s always . . . disturbing. So, big thanks for not being disturbing.

It was another wonderful event. Thanks to all of you that came out. The three of us really enjoyed Phoenix. I think, part of it, was that we got to see more of the town than normal. Usually, we see the airport, the hotel, the book signing, the hotel, and then the airport, again. You just can’t get to know a town like that. Phoenix we had an extra day to soak up some sun, and the wonderful weather. We’d left St. Louis to storms and torrential rain. Ann Arbor we had pouring rain, too. Apparently, it followed us from home. But Phoenix was low nineties, no humidity, a cool breeze; in a word, perfect. Now, the locals tell us that it’s usually well over a hundred degrees in June there, as in 115 degrees. But we caught them in a cold snap, 92. It was a lovely cold snap.

Next stop Canada. See you guys there.