Mixed tidings

This. Erotica on hold for Black Lace and Nexus at Virgin.

Needless to say, I'd rather be reading more of these. Fallen Angel Review, Rainbow Review

More Pressies in the Post

Sexy Little Numbers has just arrived! And appears as below to have a strange white border. This collection contains my "nice little office romance" Hard at Work, as well as stories by lots of other brilliant folk.

Surprise Packages

This is what the postman brought yesterday. I could comment at length about the cover and the fact that I would never in a million years pick up this book as it clearly appears to be targeted at men, but, sigh... Anyway, after a perusal of the stories inside it appears to be a German translation of the Sex...in Public anthology.

I still find translations strangely weird if fascinating. I mean, how come I've written a story or book that I can't read?

Not much doing on the writing front as there's too much real life interference going on at the moment. Also, I've been on a massive cleaning frenzy. Most of the house looks pretty good, just the bedroom still to tackle, which I have to admit is a complete pigsty. Might sort my desk and filing cabinet out today while I'm percolating ideas.

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Recently watched: Nowt
Currently listening to: Birds singing. I think they're nesting in the bush in the garden.
Currently reading: Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourne

Fantasy Writer (Quiz)

Have to say I'm mighty amused by this result. I have no idea who China Mieville is, but the write up makes his books sound interesting. The fact that I'm 76% more violent than the rest of the sample group is actually not surprising based on the context of the questions.

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you? ...

China Miéville (b. 1972)

27 High-Brow, 7 Violent, -19 Experimental and -1 Cynical!

Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Violent, Traditional and Romantic! These concepts are defined below.

China Miéville writes in the British fantasy tradition of authors like Mervyn Peake and Michael Moorcock, a tradition which is a little darker than the Tolkien kind, but Miéville is also a great renewer, as he has taken care to challenge, for example, race-related (or, to be exact, species-related) stereotypes in fantasy. His great breakthrough came with the award-winning novel Perdido Street Station (2000), which is set in the sprawling city of New Crobuzon in the secondary world Bas-Lag. Apart from its urban setting, Perdido Street Station also differ from Tolkien-style fantasy by taking place in an era reminiscent of the Victorian age rather than the typical quasi-medieval setting of so-called high fantasy. This means that Miéville has the opportunity to explore his socialist beliefs in a fantasy environment, even if both Perdido Street Station and its two sequels also feature monsters, adventures and such.

Setting his book in a rather dictatorical society and occasionally spinning his sories around resistance against an oppressive government means that Miéville's books sometimes contain rather horrible violence, made all the scarier because it's often conducted legally by a ruling government. This also makes the boks rather romantic; although the struggle is difficult, the struggle continues and whether you are a socialist like Miéville or not, it's easy to sympathize with the message that the world can be changed for the better. It should also be pointed out that although Miéville is often inventive and has a love for spicing up his prose with archaic words, his books are, narratively speaking, traditional adventure stories. Actually, Miéville has made a point of taking genres such as the pirate story and the Western story and retelling them in a fantasy environment.

Still, Miéville has brought fantasy to new literary heights and can be said to represent hope for the genre's future.

You are also a lot like Michael Moorcock.

If you want something more gentle, try Susan Cooper.

If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, Orson Scott Card.

Your score

Compared to other takers

• 95/100 You scored 27 on High-Brow, higher than 95% of your peers.
• 76/100 You scored 7 on Violent, higher than 76% of your peers.
• 8/100 You scored -19 on Experimental, higher than 8% of your peers.
• 18/100 You scored -1 on Cynical, higher than 18% of your peers.

This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four different scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetical, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you're at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn't mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.

High-Brow vs. Low-Brow

You received 27 points, making you more High-Brow than Low-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, rather than the best-selling kind. At their best, high-brows are cultured, able to appreciate the finer nuances of literature and not content with simplifications. At their worst they are, well, snobs.

Violent vs. Peaceful

You received 7 points, making you more Violent than Peaceful. Please note that violent in this context does not mean that you, personally, are prone to violence. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you are, and you do, then you are violent as defined here. At their best, violent people are the heroes who don't hesitate to stop the villain threatening innocents by means of a good kick. At their worst, they are the villains themselves.

Experimental vs. Traditional

You received -19 points, making you more Traditional than Experimental. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, traditional people don't change winning concepts, favouring storytelling over empty poses. At their worst, they are somewhat narrow-minded.

Cynical vs. Romantic

You received -1 points, making you more Romantic than Cynical. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, romantic people are optimistic, willing to work for a good cause and inspiring to their peers. At their worst, they are easily fooled and too easily lead.

Author picture by the talented artist "Molosovsky". Visit http://www.flickr.com/people/25360041@N06/ for more!

Gothic Temple

I'm being a very bad blogger at the moment, but real life just keeps getting in the way and upsetting my work patterns. Hopefully, it's relatively back to normal this week and I can concentrate on getting a few of the tasks on my desk done/started/or out of the way.

Meanwhile, as I'm deciding which piece of work to tackle first, I thought I'd share a few images of the Gothic Temple at Stowe. This folly is the building I used as a basis for the folly in Pure Folly. Obviously, I made a few modifications, but the structure is basically the same. Enjoy.

Yay! Kiddies are back at school. The sun is shining and the house is nice and cool. I have peace and quiet and a large board full of post it notes. I'm finally starting to piece together the plot to Darleston's book (Wish it had a title.) from all the snippets of scenes that have been tumbling about in my head for ages.

And it's fun. I love Darleston. He totally grew on me while I was working through Fortuna, so I'm rather looking forward to spending months in his company.

The other members of the cast are shaping up nicely too. I'm especially liking the heroine. She's an odd one. Her husband has just summed her up nicely for me. Thank you, Lyle. Villians still need a bit of work though. They're still squabbling about who gets to be the Daddy Villian and who gets royally shafted.

Best of all, I now know why Darleston having a hair cut was so important. Although, there is still the small issue of a certain mark upon his person... hopefully, he'll let me in on the secret en route.

Right, back to it.

*****
Recently watched: Ashes to Ashes
Currently listening to: Interpol
Currently reading: Simply Sinful by Kate Pearce

Maison Madelynne

Feeling a teeny bit guilty at the moment, because I haven't written anything for a week. It's half-term, so kids and Mr Madelynne are home, and we're decorating! Hence, no writing output from me. The problem is, I know I should be writing. Hell, I have half a million things I really ought to be getting on with, but motivation is at an all time low. Maybe it's the lack of chocolate in the household.

Need to tackle a threesome story next.
Then do some revisions on Enticement.
Then write a proposal
and polish up some older stuff
and then... well, you get the idea.

Speaking of threesomes... Actually, no. Let's not. I feel a major rant coming on and you don't want to read about how annoyed I get by all the ménage stories out there that feature two identical cardboard men, whose only differentiating features are there eye/hair colour. Personality-- what's that? Either, they are loving and caring and want to treat her like a spoilt princess and wrap her in cotton wool, cause they are big and strong and caring, and big, and caring and strong and cardboard. OR They are arrogant over the top stalker twerps from another dimension, who are only capable of having sex together, cause they are.. *gay*... I mean, so into her. Nope, didn't think you were interested in reading about that.

Instead, lets end on a more positive note. I've discovered that there's already a review of Pure Folly out there in blog land. Yipee! Thanks to Elisa Rolle. You can read the review here.

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Recently watched: Various Tom Baker era Dr Who episodes (please guys/girls learn how to run.)
Currently listening to: Silence
Currently reading: Various Spice Briefs.

Pure Folly Sneak Peak

Ahead of the release date on Monday, I thought I'd share a little sneak preview of Pure Folly.

In this scene, Jude and Alastair have just stumbled upon a book of erotic artwork.

Enjoy.

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Jude set the lantern upon the desk and blew the dust from a leather-bound tome. The spine cracked as he opened it, but the pages within remained sound save for some minor discolouration due to age. “It appears to be a journal. An artist’s journal.” He flicked through the pages. “It’s all men. Every last page. Best not look too closely.”

“I’m not afraid of a few drawings.” Alastair gave a snort. No, he was simply desperate to see them. Aware of the heat in his cheeks, he bowed low over the desk, until he realised it must appear to Jude that he was studying the obscene drawings.

In a sense he was. The hard masculine beauty portrayed upon the pages called to him, stoked a specific need he’d tried so hard to deny. He wanted to look. Jude had skimmed only the first few vellum leaves. Alastair longed to hug the book to his chest then make a long, slow journey through the pages, taking his time to pour over the details of abdomens and chests, cocks both aroused and flaccid, details of expressions, and of large hands, and naked toes.

Jude held the book open, stopping on a depiction of two men. The first lay hunched over a table, his naked bottom raised high so that the musculature showed. His breeches hung crumpled around the top of his spurred boots. A sword lay discarded upon the floor as he held his buttocks apart so that the second man could direct his rampant staff betwixt them.

Alastair dug his teeth into the tip of his tongue and kept his mouth firmly closed. There was no hint of fear in the expressions of the men, no awareness of their perversity, only love—which made it truly captivating.

“Disgusting or fascinating?” Jude asked. His hazel-green eyes shone as he met Alastair’s gaze.

“We ought to destroy it!” Fear made Alastair blurt. As if he truly wanted to see the pages curl and shrivel into ash. He wanted this book as a primer. Wanted the time to soak up every lovingly rendered image, to study them, and vicariously enjoy their passion as he tossed himself while gazing upon them.

Jude’s raucous laughter pulled him firmly into the present. “Destroy it? What for? Lord Romilly is long dead, and nobody save us even knows it exists. If you don’t care for it, leave it buried here. Or are you too afraid of the potential for corruption? Do the images tempt you, Alastair?”

“No,” he barked, seeking refuge away from the book. But there was no escaping the images, short of smashing every piece of pottery and whitewashing the walls. “Of course, you’re right, we’ll just leave it here and not mention it. The family needn’t be troubled by it. There’s no sense in creating a scandal.”

“No, no sense in causing an upset,” Jude echoed.

Alastair turned away from the desk. He had to leave this room, as much as he wanted what was within it. He’d return sometime—alone. Hell if he hadn’t just discovered a reason to visit this godforsaken tomb. He’d have to take care not to raise eyebrows over that.

Uncomfortable, he shuffled further from the desk. His loins were thrumming with need again, no doubt in the same way other men reacted to lewd depictions of women. However, alongside the arousal lay a bitter ache.

He didn’t want to live his life mooning over pictures. He wanted Jude, flesh and blood, with plenty of sweaty physical contact. If there’d ever been a time to broach the subject, this was it. But while his friend seemed accepting, the risk of revulsion was still too great.

“Alastair…”

“I’m going to sleep,” he mumbled. Running away seemed the safest action.

Copyright 2009 Madelynne Ellis.

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Recently watched: Not a Sausage
Currently listening to: Silence
Currently reading: Between Books

A night off!

Finished the revisions on Fortuna this afternoon, and sent them off to agent, so I reckon I deserve an evening off from this writing lark, before I start on the revisions for Enticement, and plotting the next book.

In other news, I've succumbed to Twitter. Although, I can't honestly claim to have been sucked into its hold all that much. Mostly, I find it useful to skim for news of what's going on in the world of books.

Battling on

Still battling with Fortuna rewrites. I've done a fair amount of trimming and some re-ordering and that was the easy bit. The more difficult bit is juggling one particular sub-plot to its conclusion where it intersects with the main plot. It needs to be in there, because it's the reason why Giles acts the way he does, but it's giving me a headache trying to find exactly the right place for working it out. I think I've found it, but... I still have my doubts. Maybe that's because I'm so used to having it in its original location.

Meanwhile, I've also been giving Darleston's story more thought. I think I have the backdrop sorted out now, and the supporting cast. Oh, and I'm immeasurably fond of the love interests. Yep, that's meant to be a plural :)

Oh, and only a week to go until Pure Folly is released. Yay! I'm excited. There's already a snippet over on my website, but I might post a sneak peak here as well.

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Recently watched: Eurovision
Currently listening to: Cradle of Filth/Green Day
Currently reading: The Lover by Robin Schone