This is quite the Wednesday! Not only is it the first Wednesday of the month (time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop), it's also April 2nd, which means it's time for letter B in the AtoZ blogging challenge. I couldn't figure out how to meld the two of these, so you get them both:
This is a pretty new series. Black Sun was a finalist for all the big specfic awards in 2020 and Mirrored Heavens just came out last year. It's an epic fantasy story that pulls from Native American mythologies in the world-building. The main two characters are Serapio, the Crow God incarnate, and Xiala (pronounced SHE-ah-lah), a Teek woman.
The Teek in this series are a matriarchal society renowned for their song, which can be used to magically influence and control others. The Teek put me in mind of Sirens, Mermaids, and Banshees, among other dangerous song-women of world mythologies, with a touch of Amazons, too.
Throughout the book, we learn a lot about the people and what other kinds of people believe about them. I won't spoil it for you by giving too much detail here, but it's fascinating! In fact, the world-building alone is well worth the price of admission in this series.
If I recall correctly, Xiala is in jail when we meet her at the beginning of book one because she assaulted a husband who walked in on her and his wife when they were "getting busy." She's a hard-drinking foul-mouthed, "live life to the fullest" woman, exiled from her people for reasons you don't learn until later. She's magical, and on a journey of self-discovery through a life of piracy, debauchery, and alcoholism.
Here's some images of her as imagined by Peri Celeste:
I probably couldn't keep up with her at the bar, but maybe I could get away with sipping my whiskey slowly while she pounds it back and listen with rapt fascination to her stories, both the true ones and the exaggerations. And if I had to go on a quest, she'd make a powerful ally. As for fighting her? No way. I value my life higher than that.
Now, would she want to hang out with me? I dunno. Maybe if I promised to immortalize her in story and song, she'd put up with a physically week, lightweight drinker for a while. One can dream!
Blogging from A to Z April Challenge:
B is for Bidi Bidi Bom Bom
So, if you tuned in yesterday for my Songs of my Heart post, you heard Aha Me a Riddle I Day, by Laura Love. I swear not all the songs I picked have a seemingly nonsense phrase for the title. It's just a coincidence of the alphabet that these two are in a row.
For others visiting my blog, this is a fun challenge, where we all post
26 times in April, one time for each letter of the alphabet, often on a
theme. I hope you'll check out some of the other participating blogs!
Selena Quintanilla Perez was the Queen of Tejano music in the early 1990s, right as I was moving into adulthood and becoming a Spanish teacher. As a person who didn't grow up speaking Spanish, but learned it in classrooms, music was often really hard for me to understand--definitely harder than spoken Spanish. But I could do pretty well with Selena. And it didn't hurt that she recorded some serious bops!
I still remember dancing to this one in my classroom with my students in Nome, Alaska and laughing until we cried.
If Selena had not died tragically young (she was killed by the president of her fan club), she and I would be of an age, so she's special to me for that reason, too.
Lyrics in Spanish from azlyrics and in English from lyricstranslate. (Bidi bidi bom bom doesn't exactly mean anything--it's just sort of sounds, representing the heartbeat, so it's the same in both versions)
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Cada vez, cada vez que lo veo pasar
Mi corazon se enloquece
Y me empieza a palpitar
Y se emociona, ya no razona
No lo puedo controlar
Y se emociona, ya no razona
Y me empieza a cantar
Me canta asi
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Cada vez, cada vez que lo oigo hablar
Me tiemblan hasta las piernas
Y el corazon igual
Bidi bidi bom bom
Y se emociona, ya no razona
No lo puedo controlar
Y se emociona, ya no razona
Y me empieza a cantar
Me canta asi
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Cuando escucho esta canción
Mi corazon quiere cantar así
Me canta así, me canta a ti
Cada vez que lo veo pasar
Mi corazon se enloquece
Cada vez que lo veo pasar
Y me empieza a palpitar
Así, así
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Me canta asi, me canta a ti
Cada vez que lo veo pasar
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Every time, Every time I see him pass
My heart goes crazy
And it starts to beat
And it get excited, It doesn't reason anymore
I can't control it
And it get excited,It doesn't reason anymore
and it starts to sing to me
It sings to me like this
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Every time, Every time I hear him speak
My legs tremble
And my heart too
Bidi bidi bom bom
And it get excited, It doesn't reason anymore
I can't control it
And it get excited,It doesn't reason anymore
and it starts to sing to me
It sings to me like this
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
When I hear this song
My heart wants to sing like this
It sings to me like this, I sing to you
Every time, Every time I see him pass
My heart goes crazy
Every time I see him pass
And it starts to beat
Like this, like this
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
It sings to me like this, I sing to you
Every time I see him pass
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom
Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge #AtoZChallenge a-to-zchallenge.com
Welcome
to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the
writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the
links at the bottom of this post.
If you had to become one of your characters, which ones would you choose? ______________________
Oh my.
A lot of my characters live some pretty dramatic lives. They've been through things, you know? And that makes good story fodder. But I, myself, have a lovely quiet little life that is mostly low drama and I'd really like to keep it that way.
So, I don't think I'd want to be any of my Menopausal Superheroes
I don't think I'd like to take over for any of my horror characters either. They have to work too hard to survive…and some of them, um, don't.
So, I guess my best hope lies in my current Works-in-Progress: a trio of romance novellas.
Mandy, the graphic designer returning to her hometown in Never Too Late (out for Beta reading)
Abby, the punk band musician finding love while she faces the loss of her best friend in Acid Reign (with my critique partners now)
Bekah, the single-mom veterinarian facing an empty nest in the third, not yet titled novella I'm still drafting.
These are all smart, capable women in their fifties, who are all about to find love in unexpected places. I'm really enjoying writing these un-apologetically optimistic stories, and it wouldn't be a bad thing to find myself in one of their lives if I couldn't keep living the one I have now.
Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.
Have you ever regretted killing off a character? Or not killing one off? ______________________
Interesting question this week!
Killing off characters has really ranged for me. There have been times when I didn't even blink. It was obviously what the story needed. Other times, I'm waffled and written several versions trying to decide.
People die in my horror stories all the time. They are, after all, horror stories. The stakes are high and violence is expected. You're just as likely to end up in the afterlife if you start a horror story as a hero or a villain, since both endings are common in the genre. I do try to make these deaths matter, though. I *hate* stories where one character is killed off solely to motivate other characters or for shock value alone.
In my superhero work, though, I have a much lighter, more optimistic tone, and I've mostly avoided killing. My heroes are not the grim-dark sort you find in some superhero stories, but the true-heart, noble-bright sort for the most part. Even Patricia, the most reluctant of heroes, doesn't use her power indiscriminately.
In the field more generally, characters do die in superhero stories, but it's usually not the heroes, or at least not without a LOT of hoopla and the possibility of undoing that later in some fashion.
I've recently turned in the series ender for the Menopausal Superheroes series. There is a death of a named, recurring character in this last one, and I feel it was the right choice for the story. But, there's another character who was on a trajectory that might well have led to her death and I chose not to kill her off. It didn't feel right.
I think that's the key for me. This is a decision based on what feels right. Does it serve the story? Is it necessary?
I guess we'll find out how readers feel next summer when the book comes out!
How about you? If you write, have you killed off any characters? For readers, have there been any character deaths that you thought were handled well or badly?
Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.
So, to pick the first names of Jessica, Patricia, Cindy, Linda, and Helen, I went to the internet and looked at census information for the birth year of each of them, and chose from the top ten most popular names that year.
Their last names came about for a few different reasons. Jessica Roark AKA Flygirl took her last name from an old friend. Patricia O'Neill AKA The Lizard Woman borrowed her surname from my beloved dog. Cindy Liu, my mad scientist, took on her moniker after some research into common Chinese surnames that English speakers would find relatively easy to pronounce. Linda Álvarez, later Leonel, AKA Fuerte adopted their last name from one of my former students. Helen Braeburn's last name was a bit of a pun to entertain myself, based on her apple-shaped figure and her powers of fire wielding.
When it came time to name all the past lives of Cindy Liu's father, one of the villains of the series, I named them for actors from old horror movies, recombining names like Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Basil Rathbone, John Carradine, and Peter Lorre to make all his aliases. This was partly because of his story line--he literally has transferred his brain from body to body after killing the men whose body he wants to take over--and partly just because I love those old movies and the actors who starred in them.
Thoughout the series, minor characters have often been named after people in my life, just a little Easter egg to myself and them, a thank you for love and support. So all the members of my critique group have made appearances in their somewhere, with one or both of their names. So have several other folks from my broader writing community. One of my kids made an appearance as a child with a healing ability.
In other pieces I've written, my naming practices have varied.
Sometimes it's about researching the time frame, class, and ethnicity of my character to choose an appropriate name. Dienihatiri, the main character in "His Destroyer" published in Slay: Stories of the Vampire Noire, lived in Egypt during the time of the ten plagues. I ran across the name of a real historical person in my research about the nature of what the lives of enslaved people were like, and kept it for my story.
The woman architect in one of my upcoming projects, a Gothic romance called The Architect and the Heir, came to me with her name already in place, Devon Brook. I loved it because it allowed for the gender misunderstanding I'd need for the plot, and played on her discomfort with water.
So, I guess I don't have any one way that I get there, but I find the right name for my imaginary friends one way or another. Know any good stories about character names? Tell me about it in the comments! And don't forget to check out what my colleagues have to say about how they handle this in their work at the link below.
Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.
Is there a literary character you identify with (not one of your own)?
______________________
I identify with characters all the time in my reading--that's part of the joy. But the most important characters that remain near and dear to my heart, are characters I found when I was young: Jo March and Meg Murry, from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, respectively.
The book covers I remember for Little Women and A Wrinkle in Time
I read both of these books in elementary school. If I had to guess, I'd say around fourth grade. Both are determined young women, fierce at heart, stubborn, and brave.
It's not uncommon for women who grew up to be writers to hold these two characters in their hearts, young female characters who defy the odds and expected gender roles to make a difference in the world? One of them becoming an author? Yes, please!
They're still important to me here in my fifties because they inspired me by showing me what was possible.
Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.
What's your favorite book (not your own)? Has it changed in the last few years?
______________________
Oooh, boy. I hate trying to pick a favorite. In almost any category! I'm too changeable in my tastes--and what feels like a favorite today may not please me that much tomorrow. So, anytime I answer "What's your favorite?" I feel like it needs a caveat of "This is my favorite, today." You may get an entirely different answer if you check back tomorrow.
When it comes to books though, the first one to spring to mind when someone asks this one is usually We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.
book cover variations
Like many of my lasting favorites, I found this book when I was young, around age twelve or thirteen. My middle school librarian suggested it to me when I showed an appetite for the eerie and strange in my reading. There's something about loves I discovered at that age that imprints them deeply, at a soul level, and they became a part of me in a way that other things I've loved have not.
I've read this one several times since that first time, and it delights me every time, sending shivers down my spine in whole new ways.
If you've not read Shirley Jackson's work before, she is best known for this book and another work of psychological horror: The Haunting of Hill House(another favorite for me).Jackson had a way of making ordinary, domestic moments into something tense and fraught with possibilities. A lot of the time, the narrators are not completely reliable and the reader doesn't know what it is true and what is interpretation.
Merricat, the main character and narrator of Castle fascinated me because she was such an atypical girl-in-a-book. She didn't care about the same things as other female characters I'd been presented with. She felt more real to me, edgy and judgmental, and fierce.
One of my own works-in-progress (back burnered until I meet my current deadline on the final Menopausal Superhero novel) is a Gothic romance/family drama (working title: The Architect and the Heir) and I think my taste for that kind of story can be traced back to Shirley Jackson and Daphne DuMaurier, both of whom I read around the same time.
I've loved a lot of books since. I still read as voraciously as my life allows, somewhere between fifty and one hundred books a year. But there's something special about this one.
How about you? What's one of the books of your heart? I'd love to hear about in the comments.
Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.
If you were a beloved children's character, which ones would you be?
______________________
Now that's an interesting question. Am I meant to say which character I think is the most like me? Or more like which character would I like to be? Both, you say? Sure! Why not both!
As a child, I was very much like Anne of Green Gables fame. I was always getting in trouble for daydreaming, a little quick to take offense, and very much following my heart.
I even had freckles, reddish hair often worn in braids, and a propensity for books and straw hats.
Honestly, I haven't changed that much. I've just figured out a way to channel my daydreaming into writing, and to go a little slower before I fly off the handle. (Probably much like Anne herself did as she grew up, come to think of it).
So that's who I am like, but then who would I like to be, given the chance?
Should I be content to be who I am, no matter what others seems to think, like Ferdinand the bull? Smart, brave, and helpful like Nancy Drew? Self-sufficient, independent, and unable to be cowed like Pippi Longstocking? Loyal and fierce like Madeline?
I don't think I can pick. How about you? Is there a children's book character you especially identify with? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!
Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.
If you were a muppet, what would you look like? Are you a person, monster, animal, something else?
______________________
What a fun question! I've always had an affinity for Kermit, so maybe I could be added to his family. I mean, he's got a nephew already, right? How about a niece?
Oooh---oooh! Or maybe I could join The Electric Mayhem. They certain have some diversity of appearance.
I think my multi-colored hair would fit right in…and I'd get to hang out with Animal, one of my favorite muppets.
Honestly, I'd take any role the creators wanted to give me, just for the privilege of hanging out with my childhood heroes. How about you? Can you see yourself as a muppet? If so, what kind?
Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.
What does the food your characters eat reveal about their personality?
______________________
Food comes up surprisingly often in the Menopausal Superheroes novels. Maybe this is just because I lean towards being a foodie myself, or maybe it's because I like to show my heroes in domestic settings and food is a part of that.
But let's take this hero by hero.
Jessica "Flygirl" Roark: Even before she became a superhero, Jessica had no interest in cooking.
Her bestie, Leonel, despairs of the beautiful kitchen in her fancy house "going to waste."
In her first marriage, she and her husband bought a lot of pre-prepared foods or picked up takeout when they were out. During her cancer treatments, they used a meal service.
In her single-mom years, she tried to do a little better, but it was hard to develop kitchen skills and save the city in her new role as Flygirl, so her boys had their favorite pizza place on speed dial.
Things are looking up now that she's remarried. Walter is a scientist, and cooking is a science of sorts. He's got a penchant for pancakes and other carb-heavy meals, but superhero work requires a fair number of calories, so it's working out well!
Leonel "Fuerte" Alvarez: The foodie of the group.
Before the mad-science changes that gave him super-strength and changed his gender, Leonel was abuelita to several grandchildren, spoiling them with tamales, biscochitos, conchitas, enchiladas, posole, and countless other Mexican-American masterpieces.
That hasn't changed, though the fancy meal prep happens a little less often now that he's on call to rescue the citizens of Springfield when the need arises.
He still loves to spend the morning in the kitchen and the evening watching everyone he loves enjoy his creations.
His husband, David, has learned that sometimes a tres leches cake means there's bad news coming, but it doesn't stop him from digging in. Bonus! Their house nearly always smells of coffee and cinnamon.
Patricia "Lizard Woman" O'Neill: Patricia likes the finer things in life. Designer bags, expensive travel, theater tickets, visits to the spa, and fine dining.
Overcoming her humble beginnings as the eldest daughter of an often-married and just as often divorced mother, she worked hard and made personal sacrifices to get to a position where she could afford to indulge.
She is proud of making her way up to Vice President even though she started her career in the later 1970s, when the glass ceiling was definitely still firmly in place.
Her condo is provisioned with the basics and she can whip up an omelet like nobody's business, but after spending her younger years flipping burgers and slinging milkshakes, she thinks her time is better spent on something other than cooking.
Sometimes she and Suzie, her girlfriend and sometimes sidekick, like to stay home and get takeout Chinese, but they're definitely first in line when a new restaurant opens in Springfield, ready to find out if the fuss is worth it.
The other characters in the series have some opinions about food, too, but I'll save them for another day. Does food play a big role in books you write or like to read? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.
Tell us about the day in the life of one of your characters. ____________________
Oooh. This one is fun. Who should we follow? I think I'll go with crowd favorite Leonel "Fuerte" Alvarez of the Menopausal Superheroes series.
For those who haven't read the books, Leonel was a 48 year old Latina stay-at-home mother and grandmother until Dr. Liu's products transformed him into a man and gave him super strength, sending his life intro turmoil and paving the way for his reinvention as a superheor. Now, four books into the series, he works for the Unusual Cases Unit as Fuerte (the Spanish word for strong) alongside Jessica "Flygirl" Roark and Patricia "The Lizard Woman" O'Neill saving the city of Springfield.
Let's follow him on a typical Saturday:
7:00 a.m.: Leonel wakes at home in a quiet, older neighborhood in Springfield, the imaginary mid-size Southern city where the Menopausal Superheroes series takes place. His husband, David, is already up and he finds him cuddled up on the sofa with their grandson who spent the night last night, both with the same case of bedhead.
Leonel shoos them to go get dressed and heads to the kitchen and starts pulling together breakfast. When the new puppy starts whining and stretching a paw under the refrigerator, Leonel pauses to pick it up for him and holds the refrigerator a foot or so off the ground allowing him to get the toy that had slid beneath. Sometimes, it's handy to have super strength.
8:00 a.m.: The three Alvarezes gather in the kitchen to enjoy pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse with all the toppings, with bacon, and strawberries and mangos slice thin. (Leonel has always loved to cook). They've planned to drive out to the lake this morning and go fishing, and Carlitos is chattering nonstop. Leonel smiles, and pours more coffee into David's cup.
9:00 a.m.: By 9:00, the three of them are at the lake. David and Carlitos have their fishing poles out, but Leonel is lying on his back staring up at the clear blue sky, enjoying listening to the birds and the soft laughter of his grandson. He drifts off, still tired from the adventures of the day's before, including stopping a tractor trailer from toppling off a bridge onto the highway below.
almost 10:00 a.m.: Leonel wakes up when his grandson pounces on him, asking for a juicebox. Growling good-naturedly, he rolls over to pull one out of the cooler. He's still trying to shake his drowsiness when his work phone rings. Frowning apologetically, he walks down the shore to listen to the call. Suzie, the Director's assistant, apologizes for interrupting his day off and arrange for someone to pick him up. Leonel returns to his family and hands the truck keys to David, kissing them both good-bye and promising to be home for dinner. David reminds him to be careful and they wave as he makes his way to the parking lot.
11:00: Leonel, now suited up as Fuerte, with his signature red shirt and golden sun mask, is flying across the city in the Dact, the air transport for the Unusual Cases Unit, alongside Flygirl and Patricia, the Lizard Woman of Springfield.
Sally Ann Rogers, their team lead, tosses him a protein bar and a bottle of water while she debriefs him on the call. There's been a cave-in at the old mill on the edge of Springfield, and several homeless people who had sheltered there are trapped inside. Rescue workers can't get through.
12:00: Leonel's afternoon is a flurry of activity, holding up walls, moving debris, calming survivors, translating sometimes, assisting in medical lifts. He's in his element and by the time the last survivor has been handed over to the medical team, he is filthy from head to toe, exhausted, starving, and glowing with positive energy. When Patricia flops down beside him and dumps a water bottle over his head, they laugh together, all their usual tension dissipated by working together. Jessica has already taken to the sky and returned home.
6:00: Leonel finally returns home, clean and dressed in the clothes he'd worn for fishing. He's carrying a box from David's favorite pizzeria, and David meets him at the door, trading a cold beer for the pizza box. The two of them finish their evening in front of the television together, talking about the fishing trip and Leonel's afternoon adventures until Leonel falls asleep on the sofa. David wakes Leonel up to go to bed when the movie is over. They roll towards each other, clasping hands at the center of the bed. Within a few minutes both are snoring softly and Leonel dreams of a quiet Sunday at home.
It's not easy, balancing family life and superheroic exploits, but Leonel is the person for the job--all heart and spirit of service.
You can read one of his adventures inThe Good Will Tour, a novella in which Fuerte and Flygirl work together to save the patients in a women's hospital from a vengeful woman with the ability to cause earthquakes. Or try out the entire series, starting with book 1: Going Through the Change.
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