This Is So Not A Swan Song...

By Robin 'Red Hot' Kaye

Here I am writing my swan song and I'm wondering where the heck we came up with the term. Does anyone really know?

From Wickimedia Commons

I'm wondering if it has something to do with Swan Lake, because, well, how many swan inspired books, movies, ballets or operas are there?



So I do what every normal, basically lazy writer does--I google it. Once I saw what it means, I decided this was so not my swan song.

Did you know that the beautiful swans we picture when we think of the word swan are called Mute Swans?

The legend is that they only 'speak' when they're dying.

Like I said--that's so not happening.

If you want to hear my voice, come visit me: I'll be blogging a a few times a month on Blame It On The Muse.

You can always visit me on my website, on Facebook--I have my personal page, my Fan Page, and on the Killer Fiction Writers Page.

Then there's me on Twitter. My twitter feed is sporadic but fun. You just never know what I'm going to tweet about when I'm at Starbucks. And I can also be found blogging

So just to let you all know, I, like the rest of us Killers, will be around and ready to chat with anyone available.

I have a feeling I'll be talking well after I'm dead, but hey, I guess that should only bother you if you're my children. I often tell them I'll come back just to give them a good scare.

Swan Song

It’s my last post here at the Killer Fiction blog. It’s been a long, good run for all of us, but things change and technology marches forward, always forcing us to a new medium of communication in order to keep up.

But the Killers are not going away. We’re simply relocating to our Facebook page. It allows us more direct interaction with readers and to post more often when we have announcements, releases, contests, etc. or just a pair of new shoes we'd like to show off.

I know some of you are not fans of Facebook, and honestly, I resisted for a LONG time. But for those that don’t want to get online and find “friends” etc., all you have to do is set up a page under a pen name. Call yourself Reading Goddess or Queen of the Library. No one you might want to avoid can find you that way, and you’ll still be able to Like your favorite author pages and keep up with them on a much more regular basis than through blogs. I usually post on my Facebook author page once a day or more, and offer readers a look into my everyday life—something you can’t really get on blogs.

I’m sorry if some of you make the decision not to move with us, but I wish you’d reconsider. I promise, we didn’t make this decision lightly or to offend. The harsh reality for writers is that it’s impossible to keep up with all the social mediums available, write books, and ever see our families, so we have to handpick one or two items to use, feeling it’s better to do one or two things well rather  than five things poorly.

For those that boycott Facebook, please sign up for our newsletters. We announce new releases, contests and other fun things through that medium.

Thank you all so much for supporting the Killer Fiction blog all these years!

Signing off, one last time……

Deadly DeLeon

CHARACTERS YOU CAN SHARE A BEER WITH by Tessa Gray

 

          I love Women’s Fiction, mainly because the characters in them are just regular, real life people that I feel comfortable being around; so comfortable, in fact, I can envision myself sharing a beer with them.

          Like most authors, I pull the characters in my novels from people close to me. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that my beta husband, of thirty-nine years, Jim, has had a strong impact on the characters in my novels. Jim is the consummate animal lover. Our dogs are, for the most part, rescues. One of them is a sheltie named Cassie, or “Crazy Cass”, as I like to call her. We’d initially decided to purchase only one dog: an eight-week old sheltie without issues (for those of you who own shelties, that statement is almost an oxymoron).

          From the second we arrived at the breeder’s home, she gave us the sales pitch, trying to talk us into purchasing two shelties; one normal baby pup, and one---shall we say---with issues. As Jim and I tried to befriend this older dog named Cassie, she slithered into a corner. Making eye contact with this dog nearly caused her to go into convulsions. Jim was ready to cough up a small fortune so that we could take both dogs home. I refused to budge, insisting I wasn’t about to pay a breeder for a dog with hip dysplasia in need a lobotomy.

          The breeder apparently sensed my reluctance and sold us the eight-week old puppy at the agreed upon price, tossing in Cassie as a freebee. The good news is that after four years, Cassie has made significant progress. While she’ll never be as affectionate as the other dogs are, Jim and I both love the fact that we’ve made this dog’s life better. We expect little in return, and on some level, that’s the mark of a true animal lover.

          And that brings me back, full circle, to the topic of creating real life characters. In my novel, LAST CHANCE TEXAS, the hero is a large animal vet named Nathan Wainwright. What makes him likeable to the readers is that he often treats animals for free, insisting that the animal’s welfare must take precedent over the owner’s ability to pay him for services rendered. Although well educated, mucking out stalls to make the animals lives more comfortable isn’t beneath him. Obviously, the man doesn’t take himself all that seriously and you can’t help but love that in a hero!

          Nathan Wainwright has definitely passed the litmus test. I think he’s someone I could share a beer with. For all I know, Nathan and my husband might be the ones with more in common. “Drink up, boys, the beers are on me.”

         

Comment for a chance to win a copy of Tessa Gray's book!  Two lucky commenters will win. Check back around 9 PM central time to see if you've won.  

        

         

           

I'm a Blog Killer

You probably already know that the Killer Fiction ladies are all making our final curtain calls. But just from blogging.

We'll still be around in all our own hideouts (mine are amandabrice.net and Facebook), as well as at the Killer Fiction Facebook page. And really, that seems to be the way things are going these days -- interaction moving to social media rather than the blogosphere.

So don't be sad. You can't get rid of us that easily. (Besides, where would you hide the bodies?)

Plus, we're working on a sooper sekrit project that I think you'll LOVE. It's very excited. So stay tuned!

Anyway, as part of my own swan song, I wanted to take a moment to thank Gemma for making the initial suggestion that resulted in inviting me to hang out with y'all. I was just a baby in the world of publishing (still am!) and had just had a baby (and then had another), and it was such a thrill to get to play with the Big Girls.

But like I seem to do, I killed this blog.

No really! I'm a blog killer.

I used to blog with the Fictionistas, a fantastic group of (then) YA authors, consisting of me, Kristen Painter, Gwen Hayes, Melissa Francis, and Rhonda Stapleton. But as time went on, our writing habits diverged (not everyone was writing YA anymore) and eventually we decided we'd rather, well, you know, write our books than a blog, so now we continue to have an email loop for friendship rather than cross-promotion.

Then last spring I joined YA Indie, which was a vibrant community of indie-published YA authors, blogging about writing and publishing. Two weeks ago, the YA Indie blog founder Dalya Moon decided to restructure the focus since she was no longer focusing on YA and should spend more time writing books than blogging about books, so instead of a daily blog about self-publishing, it  became Heck YA! Indie, which is a twice-a-month-ish blog put out by Dalya herself.

And now the Killers have decided to suspend the blog.

What's the common theme here? I'd like to say it isn't me, but well, would that be entirely true? Sure, I doubt I myself killed any of these blogs, but I did happen to be a contributor to each of them and now they're gone.

Hmmm...

Right about now, my blogmated at the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood should probably be worried.

Anyway, thank you to the Killers for letting me come play, and also for the friendship. And thank you to my readers for loving my books. Come join us on Facebook!

And if you're in the DC area, come join me on Sunday, February 17 at the Arlington Rooftop Bar & Grill for the first Romance Lovers Get Together. You'll enjoy complimentary drinks and appetizers -- including a specialty cocktail named by Washington Loves Romance readers -- in a fun, casual atmosphere. Prizes, including a huge gift basket stuffed with all kinds of book goodies and a $50 Amazon gift card, will be given away.

And not only will it be fun, but you'll be raising money for an excellent cause. All profits generated during the event will go to the Washington Literacy Center.

See ya!