Top 5 Sundays #11 - Favorite Names of Female Characters!

Hello again, ladies and gents. It seems we've found ourselves enjoying yet another weekend and, to quote cheesy weathermen everywhere, it's a scorcher. Definitely a weekend made for air conditioning and reading, especially if, like me, you don't have swimming as an alternative. This week's Top 5 is about names, specifically those of female characters. There are a ton of different reasons why your favourite character may have ended up named as they did. Mickey Mouse, for instance, had originally been "Mortimer Mouse" before Walt Disney's wife, Lillian, convinced him to change it, thank the gods. Sometimes it's the name's meaning that gets it attached to a specific character, sometimes it's just a name the author likes, or maybe the author's borrows the name from a favourite celebrity or family member. Wherever the name came from, there's no arguing that names in and of themselves, are important. They don't just identify the character, they embody the character. Names like Arwen, Dorian, Kirk and Sookie are names that are forever engrained in our culture, immortalized thanks to their stories' fame. It's a lot of pressure when you come right down to it. Remember that scene in the penultimate episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

Guardian: I'm sorry, what was your name?
Buffy: Buffy.
Guardian: No, really...

 Yeah...like that.

So without further ado, Calliope's Domain Top 5 Favorite Names of Female Characters!

#5 - LILY YU from Eileen Wilks' World of the Lupi series

 Named after her grandmother, Li Lei, with a last name that more than lends itself to  puns, Lily Yu is a dedicated FBI agent and powerful touch-sensitive who's a stickler for the rules and just a tad obsessed with organization. Fortunately, she provides the perfect balance to her fiancé, werewolf alpha, Rule Turner.

#4 - CESARIA "CHESS" PUTNAM from Stacia Kane's Downside series

 Chess is a ghost banishing, haunting investigating, drug addicted Church witch. She's a mess, to put it lightly, but despite her own state of disaster she still manages to solve her cases, save the day, and go home to her hunky alpha male boyfriend, Terrible. What I like about Chess's name is the inherent dichotomy; you've have Putnam, a last name that harkens back to devout Puritan settlers (incidentally, twelve year old Ann Putnam jr. was one of the more adamant accusers during the Salem witch trials), Cesaria, which denotes a certain degree of sophistication and seems best suited to upperclasswomen, and Chess, a board game. And it all comes together in one character.

#3 - CICELY WATERS from Yasmine Galenorn's Indigo Court series

 "Cicely" is a derivative of "Cecilia" - the Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name Caecilius, which was derived from Latin caecus "blind." At the start of her series, Cicely is blind to her past lives, her heritage, and her destiny. Half owl-shifting Fae, Half wind-controlling witch, Cicely is all warrior. Galenorn is prone to huge casts and has a tendency to bestow unique and distinctly different names on her characters. Cicely was no exception.

#2 - VERITY PRICE from Seanan McGuire's InCryptid series

I love this name, not to mention the character. A cryptozoologist and professional ballroom dancer, Verity is of the opinion that every living creature deserves life; if they're dangerous to humanity, they should be given the chance to relocate or adapt before killing becomes an option. I love how her name means truth; she knows the truth of what's out in the world, she advocates for the truth as her family perceives it while in opposition to the truth set forth by a Covenant of monster hunters. And then there's the matter of true price, a concept derived from her full name. What is the true price one pays to hold true to family, to values, to heritage?

#1 - MOONFLOWER FREEDOM BREEZE JOPLIN DUVALL-WENSTEIN
 from Molly Harper's Naked Werewolf series

Talk about a mouthful. This is what happens when you've got incredibly devoted hippie parents. I think the name really says it all in this case and all you really need to know is that she goes by "Mo Wenstein" except where parents or government are involved.

Top 5 Sundays #10 - Favorite Book Covers {1st Half of 2012}

Alright now boils and ghouls, this week's Top 5 is taking a look at my favourite book covers so far this year. Everyone knows that old adage about not judging a book by its cover but, hey, the truth is that a book's cover provides potential readers with their first impression of what might lie within its pages. Sometimes, covers will pose the hero or heroine, other times it will snapshot a significant scene or perhaps show a collage of shadow and light, animal and human, architecture and nature that in one way or another indicate the essence of the story the book harbours. I remember reading somewhere that when it came to the blades held by heroines on urban fantasy covers, for instance, the degree of fantasy within the story was directly proportional to the length of the blade; a dagger meant low fantasy, a sword high fantasy. And have you wondered about the sudden change in cover style for MaryJanice Davidson's Undead series? Turns out the original cartoon based covers were drawing too young an audience.

All of which is to say that covers are important - very important. They attract readers, hint at their book's content, and, when you get right down to it, are works of art in their own right. So far in 2012 we've had, on average, about a hundred covers a month revealed for releases ranging as far in the future as January 2013. Here are my top five favourites so far.

#5 - Mortal Ties by Eileen Wilks 

FBI agent Lily Yu is living at Nokolai Clanhome with her fiancé, lupi Rule Turner, when an intruder penetrates their territory, stealing the prototype of a magical device the clan hopes will be worth a fortune--if a few bugs can be worked out . . .

But the prototype can be dangerously erratic, discharging a bizarre form of mind magic—and it looks like the thief wants it for that very side effect. Worse, whoever stole the device didn't learn about it by accident. There's a Nokolai traitor in their midst. Lily and Rule have to find the traitor, the thief, and the prototype. One job proves easy when the thief calls them--and his identity rocks Rule's world.

As they race to recover their missing property, they find Robert Friar's sticky footprints all over the place. Robert Friar―killer, madman, and acolyte of the Old One the Lupi are at war with―an Old One whose power is almost as vast as her ambition to rock the entire world . . .

Expected publication: October 2nd 2012 by Berkley Sensation

So, admittedly, it irks me that this series has zero uniformity when it comes to its cover art, especially considering how amazing some of the more recent covers have been. This one in particular, set to grace the ninth book in the series due out in the fall, simultaneously captures the magic of the series, hints at setting and theme, and showcases main heroine Lily's strength, vulnerability, curiosity, and bravery all with a single snapshot. What greater accomplishment is there for a cover?

#4 - Out for Blood by Kristen Painter

After nearly dying at the hands of the Aurelian, Chrysabelle finds new determination to move beyond life as a comarré. That is until the Kubai Mata bring a new task to her doorstep: rescue the child Tatiana has kidnapped, or Mal becomes enemy number one.

Expected publication: August 21st 2012 by Pocket 

Every cover in this series has shown main heroine Chrysabelle posed with some sort of blade and set into a Gothic styled frame. What I love most about these covers is the artist's use of colour. With the exception of a few details - the red of her ribbon, the blood-hue glow of her blades, the gold of her tattoos - the cover is predominantly black and white. Considering the plot can be summed up using such words as vampires, nobility, tragedy, blood, geisha, blades and outcast this style of cover definitely serves to convey its essence, no question.

#3 - Widow's Web  by Jennifer Estep

Once an assassin, always an assassin. So much for being plain old Gin Blanco. With every lowlife in Ashland gunning for me, I don’t need another problem, but a new one has come to town.

Salina might seem like a sweet Southern belle, but she’s really a dangerous enemy whose water elemental magic can go head-to-head with my own Ice and Stone power. Salina also has an intimate history with my lover, Owen Grayson, and now that she’s back in town, she thinks he’s hers for the taking.

Salina’s playing a mysterious game that involves a shady local casino owner with a surprising connection to Owen. But they call me the Spider for a reason. I’m going to untangle her deadly scheme, even if it leaves my love affair hanging by a thread.

Expected publication: August 21st 2012 by Pocket Books

This cover has made my list for two reasons. Every cover in this series has been stunning and this one has a twist, also known as Reason #1 - the cover you see above? Well, to quote author Jennifer Estep, "The paperback copies will actually have two covers — an outer white cover [on the left] and an inner blue cover [the right, minus the author's name and title, of course - those are there because this is also set to be used as the eBook cover]. Basically, the white cover is a flap that you open up to see the inner cover. This is called a step-back cover. Pretty cool, huh?" Gotta love the ingenuity of that. The second thing I love about this cover is how it harkens back to the earlier ones, once again obscuring Gin's face, once again revealing one of the Spider rune scars gracing her palms, once again giving her blade in the other hand. The introduction of the new coupled with the preservation of the old makes this cover more than just visually pleasing. 

#2 - Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

Some people have everything figured out — Andrea Nash is not one of those people. After being kicked out of the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea's whole existence is in shambles. All she can do is try to put herself back together, something made easier by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend, Kate Daniels.

When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano — the male alpha of Clan Bouda and Andrea's former lover — die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate ... and must work with Raphael. As her search for the killer leads her into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta, Andrea knows that dealing with her feelings for Raphael might have to take a backseat to saving the world ..

Expected publication: July 31st 2012 by Ace Books

The books of the Kate Daniels series are usually sure to have three things: a long haired brunette holding a sword, a lion, and some hint of the book's setting. Well, this book, a spin-off featuring Kate's best friend, has a hint of the decaying skyline of Atlanta in the background but that's where the similarities end. There's no hyena or other hero-hinting symbol and certainly no sword, nope, instead you get a blonde with a smoking gun. The autumn colour scheme of this cover is also a change from the Kate covers - most keeping to darker tones of secondary colours. I love the vibrancy, the hints of bad-ass of this colour, but most of all I love how it breaks from its parent series and captures a style all its own.

#1 - Alien vs. Alien by Gini Koch

Jeff and Kitty Katt-Martini and the rest of the American Centaurion Diplomatic Corps are still recovering from their introduction to Washington D.C. politics, parties, and conspiracies. So when compromising pictures arrive, no one’s too surprised. They’re also the least of anyone’s worries.

Evil androids running amok, birds of all kinds and from all places creating havoc, a Senator trapped in an ever-tightening web of intrigue, and escalating international tensions all seem tough but manageable. But the disappearance of Jeff Martini and Charles Reynolds during the International One World Festival signals more than the usual nastiness — and it looks like even ACE can’t help them.

Then new trouble arrives in old packages and even with the best hackers in the world, beings from near and far, the full might of Earth’s military, and the Wonder Twins on their side, Centaurion Division’s outmanned and outgunned.

Now Kitty’s racing against the clock to find not only Jeff and Chuckie, but to keep the peace between Middle Eastern countries, all while searching for the bases of super-soldier operations — to stop them or die trying.

Expected publication: December 4th 2012 by DAW Books

You've got a book about aliens that has a cover showing flying saucers and androids attacking Washington, D.C. while Kitty crouches down with her daughter, Jaime, with a gun in one hand while presumably her husband, Jeff, stands guard before them. Oh, and there's a bird. The stunning artwork captures so much emotion - anticipation, concern, fear, bravery, protectiveness, curiosity, love. The bright colours contrasts against the looming space ships. But best of all? It captures what amounts to a touching and typical family moment for the Martini family.

All in all, what all of these covers have in common is simple: they help to drive you crazy waiting for their books' releases!

And there you have it - this week's Top 5! Until next week, Ciao!

INTERVIEW: Eileen Wilks

So, this week's interview is with the very talented Eileen Wilks, author of the World of the Lupi series as well as several Silhouette Desire installments. The World of the Lupi series originally began as the short story Only Human in the 2003 anthology Lover Beware. The following year the story of Rule and Lily was given a major face-lift and republished as a full length novel, Tempting Danger. Since then the series has grown to include four more books published with a fifth, Blood Magic, due out just week and s couple more short stories including Originally Human in Cravings with Laurell K. Hamilton, Inhuman in On the Prowl with Patricia Briggs and, just this year, Human Nature in Inked with Karen Chance. Now, without further adieu, the interview (Hey! That rhymed!)

(1) So, I guess I may as well start with the basics: how exactly did Eileen Wilks break into the publishing world?

Slowly! I wrote 4 complete novels plus a couple false starts before I figured out the whole "write to the market" thing and sold. That book was a short contemporary romance I specifically targeted for Desire.


(2) In addition to a bunch of Silhouette romances, you’ve got the World of the Lupi series which seems to have a lot of mythology and tradition tied to it. How ex actly did inspiration for that series come about?
Well, my first two books--the ones that didn't sell--were a mix of sf and romance. I've always thought in terms of mixing romance with sf/fantasy, and I'd been thinking about various elements of my lupi world for some time before I had a chance to incorporate them into a story. That story was a novella, but it wanted to be a book. Or a series. I had a terrible time keeping it within the page count for a novella. After I turned it in, I asked my editor if I could make it into a book. She said yes--and backed it up with a contract. (I love my editor.)


(3) With the exception of the fourth book, Night Season, all of the novels have focused on the characters Lily and Rule. What sort of creator insights can you offer on these characters? How exactly have they developed for you? Are they turning out like you thought they would?
In many ways I write in order to further discover the characters, so I can't say they've turned out like I expected. I didn't expect. I yearned to find out. That said, Lily showed up pretty fully formed right from the start. She's grown and changed over the course of the series, of course, but she was vivid for me from page one.


(4) There are also short stories dealing with fringe characters Kai and Nathan in the anthology On The Prowl, Molly and Michael in Cravings. Have you currently plans for any other short stories? Do you find it more difficult to write short stories compared to novels?
I love to write novellas. They're a change of pace for me. The challenges are different from those involved in writing a long book, and that helps me stay fresh. I've got a couple idea nudging at me for a novella, and hope to be able to pull one of them together after I finish the current w.i.p. (That's writer-speak for work-in-progress.)


(5) On Feb. 1 the next Lupi book, BLOOD MAGIC, is due out. What can you tell us about it?
I hope you don't mind if I just quote the blurb I've got up on my site. I worked hard on it, and like to use it as much as possible. Lily Yu’s world changed when she met Rule Turner, known to the human world as “that werewolf prince.” It’s been eight months since everyone else’s world changed, too—when the Turning hit. That shifting of the realms has magic seeping back into the world in quantities unseen since the hot news story concerned a pair of human babes raised by wolves who went on to found a new city: Rome.

Lily is a homicide cop turned FBI agent. She works for a special Unit within the MCD—that’s the Bureau’s Magical Crimes Division. Lily became a cop to stop the monsters , though it was human monsters she had in mind at the time. These days, the perps she tracks may be a lot more—or a lot less--than human.

In Blood Magic, Lily and Rule are faced with their most dangerous opponent yet, one the law can’t touch. One who can’t be killed. One whose like hasn’t been seen in our world since long before those wolves fostered Romulus and Remus.

Oh, one more thing about Blood Magic: Grandmother is back.

Those of you who haven’t read the previous books in my World of the Lupi series may be scratching your head about now. Someone’s grandmother shows up and you’re supposed to get all tingly? You might be more interested in some of the other characters in Blood Magic, like the assassin. Or the dragon. Or the ancient, undying enemy willing to wait for centuries to achieve what really matters.

Revenge.


(6) Afterwards, there’s been mention of another book, BLOOD CHALLENGE, to follow. Obviously, it’s too early for you to talk about it, but, on a related matter, do you already know the direction this series is taking or is it open-ended and you’re playing it by ear? How many more Lupi books do you plan for/are in the works?
I don't have a set number of books planned, but I do have an ending in mind. I figure eventually the time will come that I want to wrap things up, though I'm not there yet. Right now I'm contracted for 3 more Lily & Rule books. The first of them in BLOOD CHALLENGE, which I'm working on now. I have an arc in mind for those three books--beyond that, I don't know.


(7) In a perfect world, if your publisher suddenly gave you carte blanche and told you to go crazy, what would you like to do with the series? (i.e. like giving a particular character a novel of their own)
Hmm. I might write a book about a character I've mentioned in a couple books--the Etorri Rhej. I'm fascinated by her. I don't think anyone else is--at least, I haven't heard from readers dying to hear more, and that isn't surprising, because she's barely mentioned. But I know a lot more about her than has appeared in any of the books.


(8) In what genre would you classify the Lupi books? They seem to have a little bit of everything.
I try not to classify them. They get shelved in romance, but the world-building is more urban fantasy. But they're also police procedurals--sometimes--or more straight fantasy (Night Season) or even thrillers. This cross-genre-fication may make it harder for new readers to find the books, but I can't seem to help myself.


(9) Aside from the Lupi and the Silhouette romances, have you plans for any other series in the same or similar genre?
No definate plans. I'd love to write more about Kai & Nathan one of these days. I also have a very different "magic is real" kind of world percolating in the back of my brain. Don't know if it will turn into a book or series.


(10) Finally, some random questions about you:
a. What are your hobbies aside from writing?
I love to read, obviously; I also love to garden and to quilt. I exercise because I have to--my brain doesn't work well when I neglect my body. I also like to paint things--walls, furniture, canvasses--though I haven't done that much lately. Not enough time. I'm thinking of trying origami.
b. Could you please describe your dream day?
My dream day varies, depending largely on where I am in a book and what's going on otherwise. Today I'd describe it as a day when I wrote 10 brilliant yet almost effortless pages, had supper out with friends, then went home and started reading a new book by one of my favorite authors. Charlaine Harris, maybe, or Kelley Armstrong. Though I'd love to visit Butcher's Harry Dresden again soon, too.
c. If you found a genie, what would be your three wishes?
Three wishes? Oh, my. I guess I'd wish that Borders, B&N, and Walmart would order in all my backlist--all of the lupi books--and keep them in stock at all times, lol. Then I might be very cliche and mention the lottery. Not a whopping huge lottery, mind, but it would be nice to be able to buy health insurance and have a comfortable cushion. Then I think I'd ask for great health, because I'd just as soon not need that health insurance.

And there it was. A major thanks to Ms. Wilks for taking the time to answer some questions; it was great having you. Be sure to keep an eye out for that aforementioned Lupi book coming out next week: Blood Magic, and try to swing by and pay a visit to Ms. Wilks' website which can be found here.

Over and Out.