I’ve been on a broadway musical kick for the past two weeks: Les Mis, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Camelot, Into the Woods, even a little Wicked, though I haven’t see it yet (to be remedied tomorrow!). I can’t help but ask myself: if Broadway is so popular in American culture, why don’t romance novels garner the same respect? Most musicals are romance plots where people burst into song. Disney, too, is full of romance novels put to music. So why are romances still looked down upon as “bodice rippers”? Is it the sex? There’s sex on Broadway. The Twilight phenomenon is also puzzling. How can people read Twilight and dis romance? It’s the same thing!

Slurs to my genre don’t bother me as much as they used to. Perhaps I’ve grown a thicker skin. Perhaps all the people I talk to already know I write romance and have run out of comments. Perhaps there are worse things to worry about. I’m enjoying my reading, writing and all that jazz.

The Phantom of the Opera might be my favorite musical. I watched the movie again this week. Gerard Butler can’t hold a candle to Michael Crawford. The girl sounds good, even if she isn’t Sarah. Has anyone read UNMASKED, the erotic retelling of Phantom by Colette Gale?

Title: City of Ashes
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publication Info: Simon & Schuster, March 2009
Series: The Mortal Instruments, book 2
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3

The second book in Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instrument series was almost as good as the first, though without the delicious romance pull that is Jace and Clary. After the major plot twist at the end of book 1, Jace and Clary’s relationship turns all angst. Book 2 has more action than book 1, and the ending battle was gripping. Simon comes into his own.

Plot (DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T READ BOOK 1!!!!):
In a few short weeks Clary Fray’s life has turned upside down. She discovered a new world lurks behind the mundane one, full of demons, werewolves, vampires, fae and Shadowhunters. Her mother, a former Shadowhunter, is trapped in an enchanted sleep. The boy she likes is really her brother. She’s discovered her father is a dangerous megalomaniac bent on world destruction. Valentine still needs the soul-sword and mirror to overthrow the Shadowhunters. He might be the only one who knows how to wake Clary’s mother.

The Clave sends the Inquisitor to the Institute to find out what happened to the Mortal Cup. She has a personal grudge against Valentine, and is convinced Jace is a spy. She locks him up in the City of Bone. When the Silent Brothers are murdered and the soul-sword is stolen, Jace is the only one to get out alive. He is still conflicted about his father, and risks everything to visit Valentine. How can Clary trust him? When Valentine starts murdering Downworlder children, Clary, Jace, Luke and Magnus Bane hunt him down. Sometimes you must risk everything for the ones you love.

Discussion:
I love this series!! Clary and Jace have more angsty passion in one look than Edward and Bella have in an entire saga. Perhaps it’s because we no longer believe that love between vampires and humans is forbidden–we’ve seen it and read it too many times before. Fraternal love, on the other hand, is still quite taboo. Clary has a number of TSTL moments in book 2, when she rushes off into danger without a plan, without a weapon, without a clue. The Inquisitor was very Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter book 5).

Ms. Clare writes one creepy battle scene. Her massacre at the City of Bones gave me goosebumps. I wasn’t confident during the final battle on the ship that the characters I like would get out alive. Great writing!

This is one of my favorite Young Adult Paranormal Romance series, better than Twilight.

Title: City Of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publication Info: Simon & Schuster, April 2007
Series: The Mortal Instruments, book 1
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Move over Edward Cullen, Jace Wayland is here to steal those young hearts (and young-at-hearts) out from under you. Braver, smarter, hotter, sexier, Jace is a hero for the ages. Book one in Cassandra Clare’s mega popular series is a page turner. As soon as I finished, I ran out to barnes and noble to buy the next two. It’s been a marathon reading labor day weekend! I’m looking forward to book 4 and a potential movie version of the books.

Plot:
Clary Fray is a somewhat geeky, but otherwise ordinary fifteen year old. Or so she believes. When she witnesses the murder of something not-human by three gorgeous teenagers that no one else can see, she begins a tumble through the rabbit hole into a world of demons, mythological monsters and things that go bump in the night. Jace Wayland and his siblings are Shadowhunters–an elite race of half-human, half-angels that fight the demons that threaten to overrun our world. He has little respect for “mundanes,” but Clary seems different. When her mother disappears, leaving demon stench and zombies behind, Clary must uncover the secret world her mother has been hiding, and seize her destiny.

Discussion:
Ms. Clare’s writing is lovely. Her poetic descriptions paint a fascinating world of mythic monsters and epic struggles. Her exceptional talent is in creating characters that jump off the page. Jace Wayland, in particular, is larger than life. He has all the characteristics of Peter Pan, but with a heart. Courageous, conceited, always the first to rush into danger, always the last one to accept defeat, Jace is a bad-ass with a heart of gold. *happysigh* Some of the plot twists were predictable, and I kept reading “Valentine” as “Voldemort.” There were other similarities to Harry Potter, with the kid’s parents all being part of the secret club and Clary getting a photo of them all together. I was quite disappointed by a major plot twist, but ruined the surprise for the rest of the series by reading the back cover blurb of the next few books. Do yourself a favor, don’t read the back cover blurb of books 3 and 4!

If you like the Twilight Saga, you’ll love this series.

Ms. Clare’s next project is also in the Shadowhunter world, but set in the Victorian Era. Check out her new website for the series, called the Infernal Devices, to see all the pretty gears and steam.

Check out these author and book events in Seattle in the upcoming months. Questions should be directed to the host organization, as I am only passing on the information.

SEPTEMBER: Southcenter Barnes & Noble celebrates its 15th anniversary!
Please join us for author panels and signings:

Sun. 09/06 J.A. Jance 1pm (thriller)
Sat. 09/12 Jayne Ann Krentz 3pm (romance)
Sun. 09/13 Robert Dugoni 1pm (thriller)
Sun. 09/20 Team Seattle 2pm: Mark Henry, Cherie Priest, Lauren Dane, Kat Richardson (speculative fiction/urban fantasy)
Sat. 09/26 Yasmine Galenorn 2pm (paranormal romance)
Sun 09/27 Margaret Mallory & Gerri Russell 2pm (historical romance)

Southcenter Barnes & Noble
300 Andover Park W. #200
Tukwila, WA 98188

SEPTEMBER 19-20: Half Price Books Washington Warehouse Sale
Everything $1 or less! 9 am to 6 pm
9241 Greenwood Ave. N. in Seattle

SEPTEMBER 25-27: Seattle Public Library Book Sale
The Friends of the Library hold two major book sales every year, in Spring and Fall. At each sale, over 200,000 books and other items are offered to the general public. Proceeds go to benefit The Seattle Public Library. Location: Magnuson Park, Hangar in Building #30, 7400 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, 98115

• Friday, September 25: 6:30- 9:30 p.m. Member preview sale. Members may purchase up to 25 items. Memberships $10 in advance; $30 at the door.
• Saturday, September 26: 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.
• Sunday, September 27: 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.

OCTOBER 7: 826 Seattle fundraiser: Where the Wild Things Are movie preview
826 Seattle is a nonprofit writing center that helps students, ages 6-18 develop their creative and expository writing skills. Be the first on EVERY BLOCK of Seattle to see what is the most anticipated movie of the year by attending this preview showing of the movie, sponsored by 826 Seattle and our pals at the Northwest Film Forum. How come Warner Brothers is letting us do this? Because Dave Eggers, co-founder of 826 National, also co-wrote the screenplay with director Spike Jonze.

Check out the trailer: http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com/

Quick! Buy tickets here right now: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/79215

OCTOBER 8, 7pm: R.A. Salvatore
The Ghost King: Transitions, Book III (WOTC)
University Bookstore store Seattle
Don’t miss the gripping conclusion to Salvatore’s New York Times best-selling Transitions trilogy! When the Spellplague ravages Faerûn, Drizzt and his companions are caught in the chaos. Seeking out the help of the priest Cadderly–the hero of the recently reissued series The Cleric Quintet–Drizzt finds himself facing his most powerful and elusive foe, the twisted Crenshinibon, the demonic crystal shard he believed had been destroyed years ago.

OCTOBER 10, 4 pm to 6 pm: Emerald City Book Fair
The public is invited to the book fair of the Emerald City Writers Conference, where tons of local romance authors will be autographing books. The event is held at the Bellevue Hilton. The official author list is not yet public, but I’ll post it when it is. We are pleased to donate a portion of the Book Fair proceeds to DAWN, Domestic Abuse Womens Network of South King County.

OCTOBER 23-25: Seattle Steamcon
Dust off your brass goggles for the first ever Seattle Steampunk Conference. There will be costumes, tea parties, Steampunk author speeches, music (Abney Park), games and more. Check out http://www.steam-con.com for more information.

OCTOBER 24-25, 10am-6pm: Seattle Book Festival
Columbia City Event Center. Remember the old Northwest Book Festival on the waterfront? Seattle’s Columbia City community is bringing it back. It’s going to be very cool event with at least 50 authors in attendance and over 80 exhibitors. This is a grass roots effort with all the funding coming from participants. Rumor has it there will be a panel on the “Changing Face of Romance.”

Don’t let the Young Adult title fool you–YA romance is a genre for all of us. Think Stephanie Meyer’s bestselling Twilight Saga: you don’t need to be a high schooler to get sucked into the angst, adventure and romance of 17-year-old Bella and her immortal lover Edward.

Design Your Own YA Cover!

From Christine of The Happily Ever After comes a fun project where you can design your own randomly generated (or semi-randomly generated) Young Adult cover debut. I confess I cheated a little by clicking “refresh” until I got a word/image I liked. *sheepish* Check out my debut cover at left.

CREATE YOUR DEBUT YA COVER

1 – Go to “Fake Name Generator” or click http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/

The name that appears is your author name.

2 – Go to “Random Word Generator.” The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.

3 – Go to “FlickrCC,” Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.

4 – Use Photoshop, Picnik, or similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and/or zoom in.

5 – Post it to your site along with this text.

NEW Romance Writers of America Chapter for YA Authors!

A new RWA chapter for YA authors has formed and they have a lovely new website up and running. Are you an aspiring YA author? Join the chapter to learn the ropes and network with published authors in your genre. The RWA has supported YA romance authors for a while with RITA (published) and Golden Heart (unpublished) categories devoted specially to YA romance. Past YA RITA winners have included Melissa Marr’s WICKED LOVELY and Rosemary Clement-Moore’s HELL WEEK.

The webpage is www.YARWA.com. You can also follow the chapter on Twitter at twitter.com/YA_RWA for current industry news, contests with YA categories, contest wins, and sales.

Never Cry Werewolf by Heather Davis

Heather Davis‘s YA paranormal romance debut is on shelves now! Ms. Davis is a member of my RWA chapter, so of course you should run out and buy the book. It looks like it may appeal to Jacob fans. Here is the official blurb:

NEVER CRY WEREWOLF
September 1, 2009
HarperTeen

“Moonlight can totally change your life.
And it all starts so simply.
You. Him. The moon. You’re toast.”

Okay, so maybe Shelby has made a few mistakes with boys lately (how was she supposed to know Wes had “borrowed” that Porsche?). But her step-mother totally overreacts when she catches Shelby in a post-curfew kiss with a hot senior. Suddenly Shelby’s summer plans are on the shelf, and she’s being packed off to brat camp. It’s good-bye, prom dress; hello, hiking boots.

Things start looking up, though, when Shelby meets fellow camper (and son of a rock star) Austin Bridges, III. But soon she realizes there’s more to Austin than crush material—his family has a dark secret, and he wants Shelby’s help guarding it. Shelby knows that she really shouldn’t be getting tangled up with another bad boy…but who is she to turn her back on a guy in need, especially such a good looking one? One thing’s for sure, that pesky full moon is about to get her into trouble all over again.

What are your favorite YA books?

Heather Massey of The Galaxy Express has an excellent guest blog up at Dear Author today about Steampunk Romance. I encourage y’all to check it out, especially for the great book recommendations in this emerging genre. I have two thoughts to add to her comments:

Victorian Setting or Victorian Trappings?

Ms. Massey writes that the major appeal of the genre is in its historical settings of the Victorian and Edwardian Ages; stylistic elements such as Victorian clothing, brass goggles and airships; and the flexibility of world building (we mustn’t forget that Steampunk is anachronistic in essence). I don’t think of Steampunk as being anchored specifically in the years 1850-1920, but in rather the culture and customs of the Victorian Age. (Brings to mind Alba’s comment in The Time Traveler’s Wife that her father might be chronologically dead, but he isn’t continuously dead.) The most famous Steampunk book of all, Neil Stevenson’s The Diamond Age, is set in the far future. Only the top level of society is Neo-Victorian. The world is powered by nanotechnology. Some Steampunk is set on different planets or fantasy worlds unlike our own. I think Joss Wheden’s Firefly has steampunk elements. It’s the wild west set in outer space. I agree with Ms. Massey that historical romance fans will enjoy Steampunk for the Victorian Romanticism, but I think Steampunk is just as comfortable in future settings as it is in the past.

What about the punk in Steampunk?

My second thought was first brought up by author Meljean Brook. Ms. Brook commented back in February:

“As long as the ‘punk’ part isn’t obscured by all that steam — I have to admit, that’s my biggest concern. The fantasy, the history, the technology — I love it. I could do the pretty, fun stories all day. Questioning the status quo in a genre dependent on its conventions (conventions I enjoy) is a more interesting challenge.”

In our discussions of the marriage of Steampunk and Romance, we seem to have left out the subversive nature of punk. Steampunk in part grew from the Goth and Cyberpunk movements. It’s a counterculture. His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phil Pullman (The Golden Compass, et al) is a great example of subversive steampunk. Lyra helps the angels overthrow heaven itself. Adam and Eve–in disregarding god’s edict and eating the apple of knowledge–are held up as heroic, not sinful. Three cheers for rebellion! The Diamond Age holds up subversive as the personality trait to aspire to.

Rules, of course, were made to be broken. One of the reasons I’m attracted to the genre is that it is so flexible (as Ms. Massey pointed out). I’m very excited to read steampunk ROMANCE, and I expect, and dearly hope, that the plots will be not quite so bogged down in scientific technology as some of the current straight steampunk is. Not that I dislike science; I simply have a short attention span. A little less talk and a lot more action, if you please.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

If you’ve read your most recent issue of Romantic Times Magazine, you may have noticed the article about an upcoming Steampunk YA novel that looks absolutely smashing. Publishers Weekly writes about the book:

“In Westerfeld’s re-imagining, the combatants are the Clankers, whose weaponry consists of heavily fortified machinery, and the Darwinists, whose airships are made up of bioengineered animals. The Leviathan is the most colossal of these: a giant whale kept afloat by microscopic hydrogen breathers.”

I want!

I’m over at the DIK blog today (last day!) discussing the Regency Romance Hero. Come join me!

Ahoy! A new breed of romantic hero has been spotted on the horizon, quickly sailing toward our island on his airship. How shall we recognize this paragon? Let us check A Natural History of the Romantic Hero for informative clues…

Come join me at the DIK Blog today for the rest of my post!

Rumor has it from the Romance Writers of America national conference that Post-Apocalyptic fiction is hot. I am eager to get my hands on the new batch of heroes that announcement will inspire…

Come join me on the DIK blog today for the rest of my scintillating post on Post-Apocalyptic heroes!

If you attended the RWA National Conference, you may be aware that Steampunk is in. Still don’t know what it is? It’s already to late to get on the writing bandwagon. Steampunk is Victorian romanticism mixed with futuristic steam powered technology. Steampunk events coming to Seattle:

August 9: The Steampunk band Abney Park presents The Circus at the End of the World

October 23-25: Seattle Steamcon

Now that you have an event you need a costume. This is my favorite part! (Not that I personally own a steampunk-inspired costume. I just like looking at them on the internet.) You can find lots of ready made ones online, but part of the thrust of the movement is a do-it-yourself initiative. Get ready to let your imagination fly and create. Since I’m a knitter, I’ve been perusing the perfect knitted costumes on Ravelry. This is the costume that, if I weren’t writing and traveling and had a lot more time on my hands, I would make myself. You won’t be able to look at the patterns unless you’re a Ravelry member. It’s free. Sign up and friend me.

left: Edwardian Collar by Zehava Jacobs (available for $5 on etsy)

right: Miniature Top Hat by Lara Breese (available for download for $5)

left: Corset Cover by Veronik Avery from “Knitting Classic Style: 35 Modern Designs Inspired by Fashion’s Archives”

right: Lacy Skirt with Bows by Kat Coyle from Greetings from the Knit Cafe

left: The Point About Cuffs by Vicki Square from “Lace Style”

right: Spatz by Zoe Bogner (available as a free ravelry download!)

To complete the outfit I’ll need a long sleeved blouse and a pair of black laced boots, which technically I could make, but as the white rabbit said “no time! no time! no time!”

Another thing to remember is that Steampunk costumes are inspired from a time that never was. You do NOT have to be historically accurate to a certain part of the Victorian Era. Borrow from your favorite time periods throughout history. Mix and match. As the organizer for Seattle Steamcon, Diana Vick, wrote on the website, “Steampunk needs historical accuracy like a dirigible needs a goldfish.”