Fellow geeks, I say unto thee: chillax.

Yes, we've all heard the news by now.  Yes, Ben Affleck is going to be Batman.  The sky is falling, DC is doomed forever, we're all still going to see this movie but we are by-God use our Comic Book Guy voices as we do it.

Guys.  It's going to be all right.  Allow me to make a plea on behalf of Benny.

1) Gigli was a long time ago.  Lord help me if I was still held accountable for all of my lapses in taste and judgement over the years.

2) Argo.

3) Hollywoodland.

4) His directorial history.  I highly disliked Man of Steel on the basis of its being too grim and failing to understand the ultimate optimism of Supes in the slightest, but DC has decided to take their cinematic universe in a darker direction and it is what it is at this point.  Batman is a noir figure; Affleck is excellent at noir.

Give the man a chance, oh intarwebs.  I thought Chris Evans and Mark Rufalo were going to be steaming piles of cat mess when they were announced, and I could not imagine any other actors playing Steve Rogers or Bruce Banner now.

I just want to throw this out there.

So...Miley Cyrus, she of legal age, does a sexually provocative performance to Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines."  The world is horrified.

Robin Thicke, he who came up with the song in the first place, does a sexually provocative performance of "Blurred Lines" with Miley Cyrus.  The world says, "Nice suit, bro."

Male privilege doesn't get much more blunt than that, folks.

Ah, we are such strange creatures.

As I was a-writing today, I had to do something-awful-to-a-character-I-love/make-a-character-I-love-do-something awful/all-or-both-but-they-triumph/I'm-melodramatic-they-get-a-torn-nail at Ye Olde Day
Job.  And I broke down crying.  I mean, the ugly kind.  It was not a polite, ladylike lament.  There was snot.  People were concerned.  And I was completely at a loss as to how to explain it.

This is the thing.  I tend to grok towards certain character types, but I don't do Mary Sues.  (If anything, I'm often told that my characters are too snotty and aggressive.)  My persons all have quirks and flaws, sometimes very deep ones*.  I'm used to dealing with characters Being Very Naughty or going through Very Naughty things.  I giggle when I kill my darlings.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME HERE?  I used to be objective.  I swear I was.

...well, I could fake it, anyway.

*I am a sad little redemptionista.  I love watching characters fall to their very bottom and then scrabble back up, bloodied and wiser.  It ties both into the part where I love them and where I'm a wee bit sadistic.  All I can say is: I used to be in fandom.

Character spotlight: Bonnie

It's extremely rare that I do a character spotlight before the release of that character's book.  Particularly so in this case because, well, Bonnie hasn't had a very big role since Super, has she?  Surely the more logical choice would be Naomi, as her book is the one I'm currently editing up for the betas.  Bonnie's role in Siren will be extensive, however, and I find my thoughts returning more and more to her arc as I begin the outlines for Bulletproof and her as of yet unnamed novella.  'Ware spoilers, as I'm going to stay vague but don't have any bigger respect for my own spoilers as I do spoilers for other works.

One of the biggest problems I have as a writer is that, as I try to stay subtle, I overshoot and then have betas constantly telling me on first drafts that they aren't sure what's going on.  I'm working on the balance.  In the meantime, Bonnie is probably the most dynamic character of the series, making the biggest transition from damaged and nearly feral youth into a graceful young hero.  That the majority of this has happened behind the scenes...Jesus, I hope I land this bird.  So here we go:

Bonnie, Ophelia, and Marcus: Bonnie worships Ophelia and Marcus.  Her blood family was cruel to her, her first experience with her own powers was Evelyn abusing her...she's got issues.  But the slightest kindness shown to her from Ophelia and Marcus, and she snaps right around into a shining pupil.  This is one of Bonnie's greatest strengths.  She wears her damage, but her inherent goodness turns to gold when given the tiniest window.  (This is my favorite vein to mine as a writer.  I unabashedly love a hero.  I love to watch someone rising up.)  However, Marcus and Ophelia did so much for her on a material, spiritual, mental, and emotional level that she cannot ever feel equal enough to them to challenge them on the pedestals she has given them.  She cannot grow until she recognizes her parents as flawed and still worthy of her regard based on their strengths (and maybe also their flaws).

Bonnie and J:  And then we have Bonnie and J.  I freely admit that this is among my favorite relationships of the series.  J needs someone to pull her back (and I adore that the twenty year-old is the one who does that), while Bonnie needs someone with whom she can have fun as an equal.  Marcus, Ophelia, and even Naomi (as the stepmother she doesn't particularly like) are her parental figures.  J is her first genuine friend as an equal.  After the events of Super, J is also in pretty dire need of a friend she can lean on, even if she does like to play the role of the superior, naughty aunt now and then.  Besides, the dialogue between them is fantastic.

Bonnie and romance:  Ophelia and Naomi are, of course, the major OTP of the series as an established couple long before the meat of Super begins.  Each book since then has contained a little taste of romance--just a taste, as I am far more interested in developing the women themselves as individuals than in romance as far as this series goes.  So does Bonnie get a beau?  Well, her book is the last of the series before the Thrilling Finale, and she's got some heavy lifting to do to set things up.  I'm going to play coy on this one.

Ah, life.

Today I was offered a job.

Alas, I was waiting on the corner for the light to change so I could cross the street.  I politely told him that the retirement benefits are better at my day job, thank you.

I work in an interesting neighborhood.

SEA! CHANGE! LIVES!

I swear, I will never talk trash about antidepressants.  Never.  My mood over the past five weeks has done a one-eighty that I would not have believed possible six weeks ago.

As a result, I'm actually editing again!  Siren is coming along nicely; it's everything I can do not to spoil the hell out of you in my wild paroxysms of glee.  However, 1) I have way too much fun shooting Bonnie, 2) the return of Naomi's casual nudity is fantastic, and 3) you guys are going to love Dante so, so much.

It gets even better, though.  Due to an unbelievable writing-related jam session with the irreplaceable Aud this afternoon, Sea Change has come back from the grave.  I'm going to have to do some deep structural edits once I finish with Siren (which has a bit of a telling-not-showing issue in places, but on the whole its bones are strong), but, golly, I think this one might just be saved.  I'm going to have to do some research on autism and Aspergers, though.  Yes, because even my silly trash novels apparently have to have weight.

REVIEW: Blind Sight by Emersinda Alvarez

Firstly, profuse apologies to Ms. Alvarez for the lateness of this review; I was hit with one crisis after another this weekend and didn't manage to be productive at all.  That being said, check this book out.  Its world is imaginative and descriptive, and it was nice to read a book that wasn't about an American teenager having a coming of age crisis.  I also greatly enjoyed the relationship between Leocardo and Odette; the care between them is very carefully and lovingly drawn.  This series fits together like a puzzle piece, each volume revealing slightly more of an interconnected story.  I'm definitely checking out the next book.

And now, a few words from the author:

Ermisenda Alvarez on Dreams, Imagination, and Perspectives

I had a dream; I wanted to write novels. I have been writing since I joined a Harry Potter guild on Neopets at twelve years old. You could write short pieces to receive points. Writing didn't stop there.

I had a vivid imagination; I wanted to know more. Often, after finishing a book I pondered about how the story could have been retold from a different perspective, maybe a different character. What if we were able to read the story of Snape over the course of seven novels rather than Harry Potter?

I had chance on my side; I met Eliabeth and we were two young women crazy about writing. So, what did we do? We wrote. How did we write? The nature of our friendship began on a role-playing site whereby we wrote from different characters to create scenes and stories.

We had a dream, vivid imagination and each other. What more did we need? Not much else as we embarked on an amazing journey and wrote Blind Sight despite living half the globe away.

Writing a novel was a dream I have had for a long time but I was so excited to write a two-sided novel that followed two different perspectives. It was an ambitious choice for us to make but one of the best. We have not only challenged ourselves but have provided readers with a new way of reading. For those who only wish to read one side, that is okay, but for those of us who are interested in the power of different perspectives and multiple stories we have another side to offer.

The power of multiple stories cannot be emphasized enough in our daily lives. How many times have we heard one story about an acquaintance but once we have met them, we receive a second story, in which might completely contradict the first. Is either one wrong? Maybe not. But your understanding of the person, or novel in the case, is enriched.

Growing up in a Spanish family and living in Australia has taught me a lot about language in my, so far, short life. My very first language was Spanish, but when school started English became my "mother" tongue. A simple saying can dramatically change through translation, those of you who know more than one language will understand this perfectly. I have had to translate pieces of Spanish into English for friends and even though the words I have translated make sense in English, only I can grasp the full meaning and implications of the phrase.

Staying open minded, listening to varied opinions and soaking up what we can from the zillions of stories out there in the world is part of life. Eliabeth and I have channeled the essence of that concept into our first two-sided novel. We live on an earth with billions of people. We all think differently, we see the world differently and together, we are the characters of humanity. I am inspired by dreams, imagination and people.

The story of Leocardo, Aniela, and Odette in Blind Sight can be enjoyed through one color, one perspective but, why limit yourself? There is not only another color to live through but together, a new range of shades to enjoy.

Ermisenda Alvarez



This post is part of the Blind Sight Blog Tour. Blind Sight is an urban fantasy novel written in two volumes, each telling the story through a different character's perspective.