Friday Favorites - better late than never?

First off, there's still time to enter my "Six weeks to THE REVENANT" giveaway of BLOOD MAGIC. Check it out here. I won't be tabulating entries until Sunday morning, so do please enter. (If you don't win this time, you'll still be entered in the giveaway for a finished copy of THE REVENANT. And, of course, there will be more giveaways in the weeks leading up to its release.)

Okay, now for the favorites: Friends and Tea!

My longtime buddy and kindred spirit Michelle flew all the way from Nashville to visit me earlier this week.


We enjoyed a tea at The Victorian Tea Room in the quaint old town square of Guthrie.

On Tuesday we headed to Tulsa for a viewing of Jane Eyre (even better on the THIRD viewing), a visit to the gorgeous Phillbrook Museum of Art, and . . .


Tea with friends Brandi Barnett and Ange Brunner at the Dragonmoon Tea Company.


Here's a clearer view of Brandi and the tea tray -- equally delicious, are they not? ;) (OH, and that's our server Vladimir lurking in the background. He was lovely.)

We had a lovely time! Tea always makes gatherings more festive.

If only my launch party could be one huge tea party . . .

Happy weekend, everyone!

[Cross-posted from Livejournal]

Six weeks to THE REVENANT -- Gothic giveaway [NOW CLOSED]

The Revenant officially releases six weeks from tomorrow, and by golly, I feel like celebrating!

Gentle reader, I invite you to join me today and the next five Mondays as I share many of the inspirations behind the story. Each week I'll be giving away a recent YA novel that relates to that week's theme. Simply comment below to enter the drawing for that book.

**All those who comment over the next several weeks will also be entered to win one of two finished copies of The Revenant!

This week's theme: GOTHIC!

What do I love about it?

I adore the iconography and themes of Gothic -- the dreary, crumbling castles or mansions, the dark forests and desolate landscapes, the atmosphere of gloom and confusion, the very real threat of supernatural forces, and the general sense of foreboding and mystery. Why is this so cool to me? I think it boils down to how Gothic landscapes are often a projection of unresolved internal conflicts. Gothic showed us "the return of the repressed" long before Freud came along (just read any Poe story for an illustration of this). As my dear husband put it, "the surroundings give form to the monster within." So compelling! (Here is a really fun Glossary of Literary Gothic Terms, if you'd like to know more.)

What does it have to do with The Revenant?

The easy answer is that The Revenant is Gothic because it's a ghost story. But for me, the setting screamed "Gothic" before I even decided to write about a ghost.


In most Gothic novels the setting itself is a major character. This 1888 photo of students standing in front of the Cherokee Female Seminary gave me a jolt of inspiration with its aura of gloom. I realize that the B&W photography lends strongly to this atmosphere, but still . . . the leafless trees, the wrought-iron fence, the clock tower and turrets, not to mention the dark clothing and grim faces of the students -- all these strongly communicated "secrets" and "mystery" to me. I wanted to place an outsider -- a girl with dark secrets of her own -- within this context and see what sort of trouble I could brew!

What am I giving away?

A shiny hardcover of Tessa Gratton's Blood Magic, which will come to you as soon as it releases (May 24). I had the privilege of reading an ARC of this book, which I devoured in about two days. With its atmosphere of danger, dark secrets and barely repressed (& often wildly out-of-control) passions, I'm delighted to say that it fits the Gothic bill perfectly. However, it is not for the faint of heart -- consider the title, folks!

In addition, you will receive an assortment of Elevensies swag, including bookmarks and goodies for The Revenant. This giveaway is open to residents of North America only. (Don't worry -- there will be another international giveaway in the future!)

How does one enter?

1. Leave a comment that includes a name and some way to contact you. This is really all you have to do to be entered for the weekly giveaway AND to put your name in the drawing for one of two finished copies of The Revenant. (Of course, I'd love for you to expound on your personal Gothic favorites in your comment, but this is not required.)
2. If you'd like an extra entry, please tweet or facebook a link to this contest. Something along the lines of: Win a copy of BLOOD MAGIC at @soniagensler's Six Weeks to THE REVENANT Giveaway! http://tinyurl.com/5wbhkra

I wanted to make it simple, so that's it! Good luck and thanks for helping me celebrate!

[Cross-posted from Livejournal]

Friday Favorite -- writing buddies

This weekend is the OWFI conference, and the best thing about this is getting to spend time with my writing buddies!


Martha, Dee Dee, me, Brandi and Lisa. Just missing Kelly and Shel here -- I do believe we need a new group photo!

I owe a lot to these ladies -- I certainly would not have sold a book without their input and unfailing support. *sniffle*

In other news, next Tuesday will mark the SIX WEEK point until THE REVENANT is released. Look for a special blog post and giveaway on Monday!

[Cross-posted from Livejournal]

TV Tuesday -- Justified

I think it was during a NECRWA session entitled "Rule #87: Watch NCIS for a Master Class in Creating Characters" that someone mentioned the FX show JUSTIFIED in glowing terms. It brought to mind a very positive review from Entertainment Weekly that I'd read long ago. The review intrigued me, but at that time I just wasn't ready to jump on a show about a U.S. Marshall, even if it was based on characters and storylines created by Elmore Leonard. (I've always liked what Leonard has to say about writing.)

After the session, Kim Harrington mentioned that her mom was obsessed with JUSTIFIED and its star, Timothy Olyphant. That finally tipped the scales of my indecision -- I bought a couple of eps from iTunes to watch on the long plane ride from Boston to DFW.

Well.

I was hooked after the pilot.

What kept me from watching in the first place was this idea of a cowboy as a main character. Why did I think this would be a problem? I love strong, stoic men who use their words sparingly. Men who hide their man pain and anger behind dry humor and wry smiles. (Those of you who know me well are nodding -- in books/film/TV I never go for the blabby, idealistic ones who talk about feelings. I want the sarcastic and emotionally repressed guys who'd rather talk with their fists!)

Okay, back to the point - Turns out, Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Givens is exactly my type. He's all of the above, but also has a certain gentlemanly quality that is incredibly appealing. (In a strange way, he reminds me of Ben Fraser from Due South. Not quite so adorably nerdy, but there's the same quiet strength, attention to detail, gentlemanly manner, and, of course, the hat and boots.)

The villains on this show are captivating, too. No need for mustache twirling -- many of these guys are downright psychopaths, but at the same time they're extremely clever, charming and often sympathetic in their moments of vulnerability. Or they're just clever enough to get themselves in bigger trouble than they could have imagined, and it's fun to watch them self-destruct.

I'm not terribly interested in the current "love interest" (after four eps), but I won't complain too much when Raylan can't keep himself away from the woman he's been ordered not to mess with. :)

Anyone else watching?

[Cross-posted from Livejournal]

Salem photo recap

Left Boston at 3:40 yesterday and got home at 2 AM thanks to a stupid storm cell that decided to hang out north of Dallas all day and evening. (Actually, I think it's still hovering there.)

But I'm not here to grouse. I want to share some photos from Salem! (If you prefer to view this on Livejournal, go here.)

As I mentioned earlier, I joined Kim Harrington and Maurissa Guibord at the New England Chapter of the Romance Writers of America conference in Salem, MA this past weekend. I hope to share actual conference intel later this weekend, but this post is mostly a picspam. Yay!

(Click photos to embiggen.)


The Salem Inn is comprised of three separate buildings. I stayed at the Curwen House. My room had a creepy look to it, but if there was a presence there, it was entirely benign. Nothing spooky happened, and I'm mostly okay with that!


On Friday Kim and I visited the Salem Witch Trials Memorial and The Old Burying Point, the oldest cemetery in Salem and the second oldest in the country (started in 1637).


This was my favorite combination of carved skeleton/angel images.


For lunch Kim and I met up with Ellen and Christiana (+ Ellen's two youngest girls) for lunch at Capt's Waterfront Grill & Pub. I feel like I've known these ladies FOREVER, but this was the first time I'd actually met them in person. (I hope it's not the last!) Had a great time -- could have chatted with them all day long.

During our rambles around Salem, Kim and I ran across Salem's Vintage Photography and decided we HAD to get Maurissa to join us for a witchy photo shoot. Maurissa, being awesomely cool, agreed without hesitation.

You may remember the photo I posted on Friday. Well, there were scads of photos in all, and Kim posted the best ones on her Facebook author page for everyone in the world to see. I'll only share a sampling here:


I just love Kim's expression in this one, and Maurissa is doing such a nice job holding the crow. Can you tell what I'm holding? Probably not -- that blob is a black cat.


Crystal ball woo woo!


We're FLYING!


Now we're FALLING!
(This one cracks me up every time.)


"Witches? What are you talking about? We are very serious authors at a conference banquet."


Another serious author photo.


On Sunday, Kim kindly dropped me off at my friend Pam's house. Pam, along with her husband and daughter, treated me to a scrumptious tea before taking me to the airport. It was wonderful fun! I'm so looking forward to this summer when they come to Oxford for a visit -- can't wait to share all the delights with them.

What a weekend! Hope to get caught up on sleep today.

P.S. It was very interesting to watch Obama's statement + all the Osama Bin Laden reportage at the airport last night. If things had gone as planned, I probably would have been asleep and missed it all.