Day 2 of Orycon30

Lesson One. Being overly-self-confident about not making wrong turns, leads to a wrong turn the next day. Sheesh. But at least it was corrected quickly.

Lesson Two. Beware of a woman's adrenalin rush. It far outlasts a man's. Be afraid, be very afraid. But then I think I knew this. Always good to be reminded of things we instinctively understand.

About to begin Day 3 of Orycon30. Definitely tired, yesterday was a long day.

Began Saturday, after that wrong turn, with a roundtable discussion on Mermaids and Sirens and Other Attractive Nuances. The discussion was led by Felicity Shoulders. An interesting discussion surrounding the theories of ocean myths, but also touched on River dolphins of the Amazons. A couple of book recommendations included Merman's Children by Paul Anderson and a book by Angela Carter, I believe is titled "Ash Puddle." I need to check more closely on the second book. Anyway, some interesting discussion

After perusing the dealer's room and the art show (where there was some wonderful art) and after spending money on fun and interesting things, I attended another roundtable discussion led by Leah Cutter and Mark Ferrari. Some interesting backgrounds on mythology and fairytales and delving in their tie-in for creating worlds and civilizations.

Then on to Metallurgy in Fantasy and Science Fiction which turned to a more technical discussion by Guy Letourneau, surrounding metals and colors of heat and atoms and hardness, and toughness... And I better refer to my notes. The hour went fast. And my brain was quickly turning to mush by this point. But definitely lots of good info.

The last two panels of the day, for me, were led by Rory Miller and dealt with fighting. I had heard Rory speak a bit last year and I knew these would be great panels. Lots of very useful information and pages of notes. Rory has written one non-fiction book on the subject--Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence and that's on my to-buy list. Even in writing romance, one must be able to write realistic action scenes that are not take from other fiction, or television. These last two panels were very good. "Use of Force Policy: a civilian and writer's guide" and "Violence: How it feels, smells, tastes, looks and sounds like." Some good stuff.

As I said, it was along day, but well worth my time.

Today, I'll begin my day--after a gallon of coffee--with wounding, torture, and maiming characters. Working on Zytarri 2, definitely going to get some good stuff to think about. Should be interesting.

Did I mention I had a new release come out this weekend? Hot Male was released from Amber Allure. No, no violence. But yes, to some sexy gay males and a bit of scifi/futuristic going on.

Gotta run. More later.

Adrianna

A Weekend of SciFi and Fantasy

This weekend I'm attending Orycon30 in Portland, Washington. I even talked my son into attending this year. He loves reading scifi and fantasy and he enjoys writing. Having attended last year for the first time, I'm pleased to say I didn't take any wrong turns in arriving at the Waterfront Marriott Hotel. But that's because I cheated and attended last year at the same hotel.

The theme at this year's Orycon is "Days of Futures Past. The Writer Guest of Honor this year is Harry Turtledove, who is particularly recognized for his works in alternate history. He has been credited for bringing the alternate history genre into the mainstream.

I enjoy attending scifi and fantasy conventions in one respect because it is outside my usual realm of writing, which is romance, and more particularly erotic romance. The panels will often provide me with a fresh perspective and viewpoints from authors who do not write within my specific genre. I am particularly interested because I touch on these areas within the genre of romance and I want to be as true to the mix of genres as I can be.

Some good stuff at Orycon30 this year. I started out with "Spaceships, Colonists, and Castaways: How Small Communities Function. The panelists included Bart Kemper, G. David Nordley, Tom Whitmore, and Harold Gross.

Of interest were chains of command and accidental grouping. The right leader of a starship might in some cases not be the correct leader on that downed starship on a planet. And also the differences in command from castaways to colonists, from a small town to a military base. An interesting discussion.

My next panel, and one I was very interested in attending because it bears directly on several stories I'm plotting right now, was "Bashing Your Way Through Fights. This panel included Jayel Gibson, Barb Hendee, Bart Kemper, J.C. Kendee, Mike Shepherd-Moscoe, and Rory Miller.

Quite interesting on the differences of male and female fighting techniques. What I particularly liked about this panel were that on some points the panelists did not agree, offering some differing perspectives. One of the great things about panels. Should the battle itself be quick, written in short sentences, short paragraphs, or should the scene be varied, depending on the weight of the conflict to the plot. They discussed the problems of stereotyping, archtypes, and genderizing. And the need for individuation. The differences between dual vs. a bar fight vs. small combat v s. full-blown battle. What does a fiction reader from the conflict when they read good fiction. Weight of drama and entertainment and story to the reality of violence. It was noted that the average confrontation takes less than fifteen seconds.

Other panels I attended on Friday were "Twisting History" and "Mythic Imagery in Speculative Fiction. Defining mything can always be an interesting topic.

A couple of books that I've added to my list are:

Writing the Other by Cynthia Ward and Nisi Shawl. Dealing writing cultural and ethnic differences which sounds like an interesting book.

Space Magic By David Levine, including the short story co-written with Sara Mueller, Falling Off the Unicorn.

So, as I'm writing this blog this morning, I'm holding my grandson in one arm and typing with the other. He's more awake with this visit and we're discussing alternate history, unicorns, and myths. Getting ready soon for Day 2.

Adrianna

Podcast Excerpt for The Lion and the Rose Now Available

Title: The Lion and the Rose
Author: Adrianna Dane
Purchase Link: http://amberquill.com/AmberHeat/LionRose.html
Author URL: http://www.adriannadane.com
Publisher: Amber Quill Press/Amber Heat
ISBN: 978-1-60272-132-6
Publisher URL: http://www.amberheat.com
Cover Art by Trace Edward Zaber

Man or beast? Mikelas, half man, half beast, caught between worlds, needs his bride desperately. As tradition demanded, he invoked the magic of the ancient marriage coin, but his Midas mate didn't answer and without her he is doomed to revert to his animal form forever. At one minute to the stroke of forever, a new scrying is performed and Rosemarie Edwards receives a very special gift meant only for a woman of Midas blood.



Rosemarie doesn't believe in fairytale love--she doesn't have faith in humanity at all. Certainly not with the memories of her tragic past shrouding her from any hope of future happiness. But an attractive messenger with an intriguing gold rose and a special invitation will send her on a savagely sensual journey that will change her life from a black-and-white existence filled with painful reminders to the full Technicolor of devastating desire.



One night of sizzling animal passion in what she thinks is a dream, leaves her with a throbbing, visible reminder of the claim of her dominant mate. How did it happen and why does she respond so intensely to the scent of the golden rose? Only by accepting the mysterious invitation to Midian will she find the answers she needs and maybe discover that there can be a happily ever after.

Listen to the first chapter of this story at: http://adriannadane.podomatic.com/entry/2008-02-15T08_30_45-08_00


Excerpt:

The door to the room burst open and a tall, attractive man stalked in.

“Tira,” he growled.

If Tira’s face could have glowed any brighter, it did at that moment. She jumped to her feet, not even bothering to cover her bared breasts.

“Lyon,” she breathed, as he reached her, pulling her into his arms and planting a searing kiss on her lips. Tira wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck and plastered herself to his body.

Rosemarie had no idea what to do. Should she leave? Slowly she began to inch away, planning to make her way to the door.

Finally, they broke the kiss, but Lyon’s hot gaze never left Tira. Tira looked at Rosemarie and smiled.

“My husband has been away on business for a few days. I wanted to remain behind in case you arrived earlier than expected.” She turned to look up at him, and stroked a hand along his firm jaw. He returned the gesture by cupping her marked breast, a measure of possession in the touch.

He turned to look at Rosemarie. “She is the one for Mikelas?”

“Yes, Lyon. But she’s only just arrived. I believe she thinks we are all a little nuts.”

“Nuts?”

“Crazy,” she translated. “Rosemarie, Sophie will show you to your room. Why don’t you rest for a bit and we’ll talk later.

Lyon was slowly dragging her toward the door. Rosemarie could only watch them in awe as they almost moved as one through the doorway. As they passed through, she heard something tear.

“Lyon, stop that.”

“I can’t wait,” Rosemarie heard the deep-throated response. Then there was more tearing.

“Oh, God,” she heard Tira scream.

Quietly she tiptoed out of the room. She’d never been a witness to such blatant sexuality. She found bits of white silk scattered all along the floor leading to the stairs. She caught a quick glance as Lyon rounded the bend at the top of the stairs; Tira was naked, obviously riding his cock as he headed toward a room down the corridor.

She heard the bang of a door and then a loud feminine peal of pleasure. Her own pussy leaked her juices in answer to the earthy scene she had just witnessed.

A woman dressed in a black and white maid’s uniform appeared and picked up the scattered remnants of Tira’s dress. She approached Rosemarie, having gathered all the pieces, and smiled serenely.

“I’m Sophie, Ms. Edwards. I’ll show you to your room. My sister, Martha, will bring along some tea for you in just a bit. I expect you’re hungry after your long trip. If you’ll just come with me.”

Rosemarie was stunned, but she followed Sophie up the wide staircase. At the top, they headed in the opposite direction from which Lyon and Tira had gone. As they reached Rosemarie’s room, she heard another ear-splitting primal scream echo through the corridor.

But what she really wanted to know was, who was Mikelas? And what did he have to do with her?





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Like to know more about Princess Tira of Midian and her Lyon?
Purchase Link: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberHeat/MidasBride.html

Another excerpt from The Lion and the Rose: http://www.adriannadane.com/lionandtherose.html

An excerpt from The Midas Bride: http://www.adriannadane.com/midasbride.html


Photos used in this blog entry courtesy of stockvault.net.
Cover art by Trace Edward Zaber.
All Rights Reserved to the respective parties.