Slavery in fantasy : guest blog

I first discovered Maria Zannini's blog through her Prudent Penny posts, though the stories of her cute Rottweilers are even better. As well as being a homesteader, she's a very talented writer and social networker, and I'm delighted to have the opportunity to guest blog on her site.

Maria suggested the topic of slavery in fantasy, which sounded great to me. Slavery can be a controversial topic, it crops up often in fantasy and it allowed me to refer to a Biblical epic.

What does the word “slaves” make you think of right away?

For me, a movie and a book come to mind. The movie is Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments and the book is Alex Haley’s Roots.

Read more here, and be sure to check out the rest of Maria's blog! You'll enjoy it.

Getting more reviews : guest blog

Gemma Noon interviews writers, publicists and other industry insiders on her fascinating blog, The Literary Project, so of course I wanted a piece of the action. :)

For once, though, I took off my writer hat and replaced it with a reviewer crash helmet. The result is my guest blog on Getting more reviews - how writers can increase their chances of getting reviewers to say yes. Check it out!

The Street-Smart Writer : guest blog

There are dozens of books on writing, but few which describe literary con and pitfalls and teach writers how to avoid these. But The Street Smart Writer, by Jenna Glatzer and Daniel Steven, is one of those books, and my review of it is on Writer Beware. Take a look - and keep this book in mind for any writers concerned about the sharks in the writing waters.

Setting and sex : guest blog

I was trying to think of an entertaining way to introduce this topic, and a story from my misspent youth came to mind.

When I was in grad school, I once reluctantly ended a hot date with a guy called Jason because I had to check on my bacterial cultures, but he drove me to the lab. It was eleven p.m., so no one else was there. I unlocked the door and examined my cultures while Jason stood outside.

Read the rest at Leah Braemel's blog, where she's been kind enough to host me today. And leave a comment about the most interesting place your characters have ever had sex!

The Pulse of Publishing : guest blog

It's amazing how much publishing has progressed since I first started writing, back in 2001. That made me wonder if writers should be aware of all these changes - and if so, how they could learn what's being talked about, blogged about and Tweeted in this industry.

Changes always seems to be going on in the publishing industry. New publishers appear, editors change jobs, more authors are self-publishing and scams are revealed. How much of this should writers be aware of?

Read the rest on Absolute Write, where I'm guest blogging today! Preferably while drinking hot chocolate before a fireplace... temperatures over here are well below freezing. Brr.

Tales from the promotion front

I made up some fliers about my book, with the cover art on the front and an excerpt on the back, and decided to give one to an instructor of mine who likes fantasy. So I taped a chocolate toonie to the front, wrote "Hi Michelle, take a look!" on a Post-It, stuck that on the flier and slipped it into her mailbox.

Today Michelle told me that when she found it, at first she was pleased to get candy. "Then I looked at the flier," she said. "And I thought, oh, that's interesting. Marian found a fantasy author with the same name as her!"

And I have a giveaway on Goodreads for a trade paperback copy of Before the Storm. If you're in the States or Canada, hit it for a chance to win!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Before the Storm

by Marian Perera

Giveaway ends February 14, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Start with the Heart : guest blog

How can we strip a romance (no pun intended) down to the bare bones of its central dilemna? That's the topic as I guest blog at The Write Type, where Cheryl Kaye Tardif is generously hosting me. I discuss how to start with the heart of the story, the core conflict between the two main characters.

“She’s the owner of a fancy restaurant. He eats there all the time” probably won’t work, but “She’s the owner of a fancy restaurant. He’s the fancier competition” has inherent tension. And ideally, readers should be able to see both sides. “She’s in love with him. But he stole all her savings and burned down her home” raises the question of what exactly she’s in love with.

Read more here!

Interview : The Blog Realm

Many blogs feature interviews with authors and agents, but Realm Lovejoy draws pictures of them as well.

I'd been searching for some information on an agent called Diana Fox, and found not only an interview with her on Realm Lovejoy's blog, but a cute picture of a lady with a fox as well. Realm graciously agreed to an interview with me, and offered to draw one of the characters from Before the Storm as well.

Now when I first planned that novel, I decided to turn a popular romance cliche around. In the story, Mayerd is tall, dark and tortured, so I pushed him off the hero podium and gave him the sidekick role instead. The end result was that most readers loved him, and everyone wanted to see what would happen to him next. I guess that was a cliche for a good reason.

I asked if Realm could draw him, and his picture is up today - dark, compelling, and showing clearly that he's not "human". So is my interview. Realm asked some thought-provoking questions.

What's your advice for effective world building?

If I condensed it to three points:

1. Know what has been done and what could be done. Read both speculative fiction and non-fiction like Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel.

Read more here and leave a comment if you enjoyed it!

Romance for Cynics - guest blog

Here’s a confession which will come as little surprise to anyone who knows me in real life. When it comes to romance, I can be very cynical.

Much as I enjoy stories where people fall in love, I grew up reading the bodice-rippers of the seventies and eighties. Those have their place, and they certainly paved the way for romances where the action didn’t stop at the bedroom door. But I read about so many alpha males and gorgeous virgin heroines that I grew very tired of them.

Want to read more? The article is at author Lisabet Sarai's spicy blog Beyond Romance, where she's graciously hosting me today. Read the rest and be sure to check out her blog!

Zero hour

Today is the paperback release date of Before the Storm. And tonight we're due for a severe storm in southern Ontario. I assure everyone that it's a complete and utter coincidence.

But if you're looking for something to read during a cold wintery night, here's Chapter 1, which is guaranteed to turn up the heat.

Also, to celebrate my impending citizenship I've decided to tell the story of how I had to leave the States, but ended up trapped in the Middle East and had to escape to Canada. Read about it here. Fair warning, though : it's sad in parts and many chapters end in cliffhangers.

But it also has a happy ending... because sometimes real life, like fiction, works out as we hope it will.