Bloodroom Review

Horror writer Carl Alves gave my vampire novel a cool review, calling Bloodroom's characters"compelling" and saying it "presents some interesting elements in vampire lore." Thanks Carl! Check out the review and then explore Carl's books. I'm currently enjoying his novel Blood Street on audiobook.

Win an Amazon Gift Card!

Idea 1

I need your help choosing a book cover for my upcoming novel Coffin Land, a vampire thriller with a steamy romantic subplot, set in Charleston, South Carolina in 1788. Vote for your favorite  cover idea to be entered into a random drawing for a $15 Amazon gift card. Tell me in a comment: Which cover would make you pick up the book?

Idea 2

Idea 3

Idea 4

Idea 5

Enter to win a $15 Amazon gift card by commenting below on your favorite cover. Be as wordy as you want! Why do you think that one's the winner? And which are runner-ups? Feel free to critique, but keep in mind these are rough mock-ups. Drawing date: Monday, August 24, 6 PM central.

Thomas Jefferson, Single Parent

Thomas Jefferson, writer of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd President may have also been our nation's 1st hot dad (DILF?). When his young wife died; the grief-stricken man had infant Lucy, four-year old Polly, and 10-year old Patsy to raise. Due to a deathbed promise never to remarry, he remained a single parent. Lucy died in childhood. Jefferson, Polly, and Patsy clung tenaciously to each other and, though more often separated than not, remained in constant contact through letters. Jefferson set standards for his girls in education and deportment that were unusual for his day and appear impossible and unhealthy in ours. I give you a few parenting rules from Thomas Jefferson, with tongue in cheek:

No Casual Friday:  Jefferson instructed Patsy in one letter, "Be you from the moment you rise till you go to bed as cleanly and properly dressed as at the hours of dinner or tea. A lady who has been seen as a sloven or slut in the morning, will never efface that impression ..." Ouch!

Sources Cited Below Post

No Downtime:  Here's a typical study schedule:

• From 8. to 10 o'clock practice music.
• From 10. to 1 dance one day and draw another
• From 1. to 2. draw on the day you dance, and write a letter the next day.
• From 3. to 4. read French.
• From 4. to 5. exercise yourself in music.
• From 5. till bedtime read English, write & c. 

Of Course, I'll Always Love You, If ... Jefferson's instructions were at times given as a road map to his heart. In a letter to Patsy, he wrote, "I have placed my happiness on seeing you good and accomplished, and no distress which this world can now bring on me can equal that of your disappointing my hopes ...Keep my letters and read them at times that you may always have present in your mind those things which will endear you to me."

It Ain't Just a River in Egypt: What illegitimate children? What mistress? When Patsy and Polly lived at Monticello as young adults, it can't have gone unnoticed that his unmarried slave woman, Sally Hemings, only got pregnant when their father was home from Washington. The illicit relationship was never acknowledged. When it became a national scandal, the Queens of Denial visited Jefferson in Washington to provide a united family front.

As women, each developed her own way of resisting their father's demands. Patsy blamed kids and a troublesome husband for her lack of free time, and pointed to Lucy as being way more behind than she in keeping the pace. Polly seems to have adopted the slacker role to her advantage, basically throwing up her hands and saying, 'I know, I'm so lazy!' But there can be no doubt that the three of them were crazy about each other.


I thought it would be fun to create a similar relationship between The Bad Death's Julian Mouret and his much younger sister, Charlotte. She was three years old when their father died and left the fifteen year old Julian as man of the house (and therefore, its legal head). Raising a child to be the Ideal requires you to embody that Ideal, yourself. By the time we meet them in The Bad Death, Julian has achieved this. But what happens when the Ideal "parent" falls from grace? We'll see in the next novel, House of the Apparently Dead.

Sources: The Women Jefferson Loved by Virginia Scharff; The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson edited by Edwin Betts and James Bear, Jr.; Thomas Jefferson, An Intimate History by Fawn Brodie.

A Photoshop Trick for Book Marketing

I have cast-of-character strips on my book web pages, bloodroomthenovel.com and thebaddeath.com. They give potential readers a chance to read bios of major characters. Also, the individual images give me visual aids to use in marketing my books. For instance, I'll post an individual character on Instagram with a provocative tagline and the web addy. Adobe offers a monthly subscription for Photoshop for less than $20/month, but you could probably find a good price on eBay or somewhere if you want to own it outright.

At left, you'll see the image I purchased at istockphoto.com has a dark background. Derek Murphy of Creativeindie Covers used this graphic to produce the cover for The Bad Death. At the time, I didn't have a large file of Derek's work. I used a jpeg of the cover in progress, pictured right. To change the model's brown eyes to my heroine's gold, I used Photoshop's marquee tool to select the gold eyes from Derek's small file and copied them into my large file, resizing them to fit my stock image.

Then I had to give my Anika the background Derek had. I have a graphic design background, but this trick is easy if you know where Photoshop's interface keeps the right tools.

Since I also bought the blue watery background from istockphoto, I had that large Photoshop image to work with. I opened that image in Photoshop and copied it into my working file. Copying into my working file automatically put the background on its own layer. On Anika's layer, I used Photoshop's pen tool to draw a path around her. See that thin light outline? That's the path.

When you click on the arrow in the Paths palette, a dropdown menu gives you the option to "Make Selection" of the path.

With the path selected, I clicked on Image in Photoshop's top menu. From the Image dropdown menu, I chose "Apply Image". At that point a palette popped up allowing me to select the layer containing the background.

TaDOW!

Winner Announced in Goodreads Giveaway

Martin Turner won an autographed print copy of The Bad Death. When I host a Goodreads Giveaway, I note with interest the geographical distance between entrants and my sandy little place on the Redneck Riviera. Today, I'm almost ridiculously psyched to send my novel to the quaintly named area of Bexhill on Sea in England.

If you're not Martin Turner, don't despair. You can buy an autographed e-book of The Bad Death (and my other books, too) from Authorgraph, for no more $ than you'd pay Amazon for the non-autographed copy. You're welcome ;-)

Win an Autographed Print Edition of The Bad Death

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Bad Death

by Naima Haviland

Giveaway ends September 05, 2013.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Ballet, Then and Now

Ballet figures largely in my novels. Bloodroom, a twisted romance set in today's Charleston, stars a vampire named Julian who's obsessed with a ballerina. The Bad Death, a vampire novel set in 18th century South Carolina, stars a slave named Anika who's possessed by the spirit of a modern ballerina. In The Bad Death, Julian is nonplussed (to say the least) when his field hand starts dancing like a prima ballerina and displaying some diva 'tude. Taking a writerly grand jeté through time required a ballet history lesson.

Arabesques, Then and Now

Under possession by the modern ballerina's spirit, Anika's movements look exaggerated to Julian's 18th century eyes. Today's "flexerina" had more in common with that century's acrobatic grotteschi in the lower brow commedia dell'arte, as described in Jennifer Homans' comprehensive Apollo's Angels. Compare 18th century prima ballerina La Carmago's arabesque to the modern version, right.

Anika had to dance demi-pointe (on the balls of her feet) because in The Bad Death's setting of 1788, pointe shoes weren't invented yet. Ballerinas wouldn't dance en pointe until Marie Taglioni perfected the art of dancing on the metatarsals of her toes (like the "neck", not quite the tip, of the toe). She was aided by extra stitching that stiffened the forward soles of her tight, soft satin slippers. Compare the old style of slippers with today's pointe shoes, below.

Ballet Sippers, Then and Now

I borrowed the left-side image from a student's terrific wiki-history of Marie Taglioni's impact. And see a signed pair of Miss Taglioni's actual slippers in an image that I was too cheap to pay for here.

Ballet Evolved  is a wonderful series of ballet history lessons in dance, featuring ballerinas from London's Royal Opera House. In this one, Ballet Mistress Ursula Hargeli leads four ballerinas in demonstrating innovations in dance through the centuries. In Baroque costume, Ms. Hargeli demonstrates that era's style of plié, pirouette, and port de bras. It's amusing to see the ballerinas, each at the top of her game in modern ballet, attempt these deceptively simple steps from the distant past.

Frenemies in The Bad Death

Charlotte, Jane Eliza, Eugénie

Oh, the complicated nature of female friendships. One's a murderess. One's using black magic to get pregnant. One's the product of her big brother's OCD. They're besties as long as no one tries to best the others. Each has a unique relationship to Anika, the plat-eye slaying heroine of The Bad Death. Here's a short bio on each.

Charlotte Mouret - As close to perfect as Julian could make her, Charlotte was educated in a schedule that never left time for idle (or independent) thought and married off at seventeen to the family's financial manager. Though Julian assures her their field hand is an idiot savant, Charlotte suspects there's something unnatural in Anika's sudden talents.

Jane Eliza Farmington - Cherished daughter of a retired slaver. Society beauty. Poisoner. All magic that turns a profit is good magic, and Jane Eliza's murders are just business. As a witch doctor's delivery girl, Anika must avoid becoming a toy in Jane Eliza's deadly games.

Eugénie Mouret - Julian's sister-in-law knows full well the power of magic. She'll pay any price for the charms that guarantee a pregnancy. Anika promised her a son destined for power. But if the magic works, who -- or what -- will live in Eugénie's womb?

Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card

I'm trying to decide which book description to use with my historical vampire novel, The Bad Death. Help me out. Vote by leaving a comment on this blog and note it on the Rafflecopter form below to be entered in a raffle to win a $25 Amazon gift card. You can cast more entries by tweeting or posting about the contest on Facebook. The contest is international and runs from Monday, July 29 12:01 AM to Monday, August 5 midnight EST.

The Bad Death is a violent adventure with a kick-ass heroine and a steamy romantic subplot. So, if you were browsing and you picked up a copy, which of these would prompt you to buy the book?

Option A:

Passion rules the heart and terror rules the night…

South Carolina, 1788. The beautiful black woman emerging from his family crypt is a stranger to Julian Mouret, the refined owner of Lion’s Court plantation. A dancer and a mystery, she spins a strange, dark, and impossible tale of peril and flight. Though he fears she must surely be mad, the handsome slave owner is soon himself a slave, lost to the seductions of this enchantress called Anika and determined to lead her North to safety.

But there can be no safe haven for Julian or the exquisite Gullah girl who has bewitched him, not while monsters roam the night. A series of horrifying mutilation murders screams of the presence of “plat-eyes”—shape-shifting blood-sucking supernatural creatures feeding at will on the plantation workers—and only Anika can end the rampage. But to face the vampire horde she will have to master the darkness within. And the price of victory in the battle ahead may well be the eternal soul of the man she is coming to love.

Option B:

Can she defeat supernatural horror in a world overrun by human evil?

It is 1788 in South Carolina's Lowcountry. Planters have fled the feverish climate, leaving vast estates in the care of Gullah slaves. Julian Mouret is the one planter who didn't leave, but how could he foresee the mortal consequence of a stranger’s embrace?

An African beauty emerges from the family crypt and shatters Julian’s isolation with a kiss. How she came to be in the crypt – and the unseen creatures that emerged with her – are mysteries that transcend time.

Anika has the strength and spirit to sustain her through a lifetime of slavery on Mouret plantations, but magic is about to overturn the laws of man and nature.

As a rising tide of brutal killings overwhelm the Lowcountry, Anika suspects shapeshifting creatures of legend known as plat-eyes. She, alone, holds the key to stopping their bloody rampage. But Julian Mouret, a man of science who scorns superstition, will block her at the risk of her life and his soul.

Which one?

Instructions to enter the raffle: First, leave a comment. Then, use the form to mark that you left a comment (this enters your name in the raffle). To increase your odds of winning, use the form to tweet and post about the raffle (you can even tweet and post each day to super-increase your chances of winning). The winner is chosen randomly by Rafflecopter. Thanks for playing!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dressing Julian

Julian Mouret is a vampire in my contemporary novel, Bloodroom. My upcoming historical vampire novel, The Bad Death, also stars Julian Mouret. Today I took the stock image photo I bought for the cast-of-characters animation on bloodroomthenovel.com and "dressed" it in 18th century clothing for the cast-of-characters animation to be featured on thebaddeath.com. This wasn't quite as fun as dressing a good looking man for real, but it was still pretty fun.

The hottie in the tux is from http://www.istockphoto.com/. The young gent with the pistol is from 123rf.com. My challenge was to get Julian out of his tux and into the sharpshooter's old-timey clothes. I used my Photoshop 6.0.
.I can just hear the hoots of incredulity. Yes, I use 12 year old software! It has all the features I need for simple image manipulation. If you don't have Photoshop, Adobe now has an affordable monthly subscription service for its creative programs.

I'll assume you know very little as I explain what I did here. I copied the sharpshooter into the tuxedo photo, which put it on its own layer so I could manipulate it independently. Really, the dressing trick amounted to resizing sharpshooter's body to "fit" Julian's. I used the pen tool to create a path around the cravat so that I could cut and paste it into its own layer. I used the transform tool to resize the cravat and torso.

To fit the the cravat "around" Julian's chin, I used the lasso tool to free select portions I didn't need and also used the eraser tool. Julian looks awfully fierce about his new outfit. Could be that moody sky; it fortells of vampires on the horizon. I cut the sharpshooter out of the sky and dragged the halves of the sky together. Then I duplicated layers and played with the layers blending feature till I got this moody effect. The blending feature in the Layers palette makes the layer in question "react" to the layer beneath it for visual effect. I include a screenshot of my layers. You'll see the selected layer has blending set to "Soft Light". If you mess with enough layers' blending features they all sort of affect each other, which can make for interesting results.

Taking a Year Off to Write: Update (and a movie review!)

After four months of sabbatical, I turned The Bad Death over to beta readers who will keep it through May. Since May 1, I've contacted professional editors and am reviewing their sample edits to the first 10 pages of my novel in order to choose who I'll work with. I created a spreadsheet of 35 book bloggers who might be interested in reviewing The Bad Death and I'm drafting my marketing plan. Wondering what beta readers will think, how extensive my revisions may be, and how supportive book bloggers may (or may not) be has got me tense. I'm surprised to be stressed out. I thought a year off from the day job would be all cake and lollipops. But no. You'd think the minuscule sabbatical budget would be the nail biter, but that's holding up pretty well. It's 'am I good enough?' angst. Part of this is just my temperament. But I also know I've become someone with only one topic of conversation. I need to get out more. 

So Saturday, I met my friend DeAnna for drinks and a movie. It was nice to have a couple of vodka tonics at the Oar House bar, which is open to the air and Bayou Chico, and just chat about anything. Then we went to see The Great Gatsby.  Baz Luhrmann's version of the classic is spectacular. 3D made every scene look iconic (even the credits were framed in 3D Art Deco designs).  Leo gave Gatsby animal magnetism, which I think is an improvement over Robert Redford's portrayal in the 70s version and even over the Gatsby of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. Luhrmann and Carey Mulligan give Daisy more credit for depth and self awareness than the character deserved. Tobey McGuire, with his bug eyes, looked too impressed with wealth and with Gatsby. The novel's Nick Carraway is a comfortable, droll observer. He has the sturdy character for which Midwesterners are known. In the novel, he moves with ease through West and East Eggs, the ash world between them, and the city beyond. A bold departure from its predecessors is that this version is extremely homoerotic, which makes financial sense in this bi-curious era but which I found distracting. At one point, Gatsby even puts his hand on Nick's thigh. One more kibbitz...I won't give you a spoiler, but there's a scene where Gatsby does something straight out of Orson Welles's Citizen Kane. You'll know it when it happens. I'd see the movie again. I recommend the 3D showing, as that technology actually contributes to the point of Luhrmann's production. The emotional heart of the story is more poignant for the exaggerated setting. For fun, here's the film trailer for the 1926 version of The Great Gatsby.

I'm so glad I got out of the house like a real human being.

Taking a Year Off to Write

I took a year's leave from my job to write full time, starting January 3. Since then, I've worked on revising The Bad Death to prepare it for beta readers. My goals for the year are:

• Publish The Bad Death
• Launch The Bad Death, following a marketing plan that includes guest blogging, giveaways, and social media contests
• Submit House of the Apparently Dead to beta readers

Supporting goals include shaping my blog according to advice from successful bloggers (and reader input), as well as increasing the reach of my social network. I would really love to publish the 2nd volume of Night at the Demontorium, but that may be more than I can chew.

The "why, how, and what's-it-like" of taking a creative sabbatical?

Why. I became frustrated with time constraints preventing me from writing more often and writing more volume. In addition to working full time I was writing an hour or two several nights a week and a marathon session on Saturdays, marketing my writing, learning how to market better, working out, keeping house, and doing the occasional community or social event. You know, life. I find it hard always changing focus. I began to feel that the quality of what I wrote suffered from a lack of continuity. I wanted one focus. I wanted to wake up every morning and work on the story. Doing that for a year will help prevent regrets when I'm old and gray(er).

How. I cashed a portion of a retirement plan. This is where Suze Orman takes a moment to bitch slap me into next week. I know, I know. But in addition to having a bigger retirement plan that I left untouched, I had factors in my favor to begin with:

• Debt-free
• No dependents
• Low mortgage
• Good health

Some measures I took to reduce my risk:

• Researched and consulted an accountant
• Saved up an emergency fund
• Saved a separate fund for taxes/penalties on early withdrawal
• Created a budget at the reduced monthly "salary" and tested its feasibility
• Added a Critical Illness policy to my insurance, to the fullest payout in case disaster strikes
• Took a year's leave of absence from work; I didn't quit!

What's-it-Like? From a practical standpoint, I treat it like a day job. I wake with the alarm and get ready for work Monday - Friday. The only steps I leave out are dressing in office clothes and leaving home. I'm at my computer no later than 9. I quit 8 hours later. I get up frequently but I find little breaks refresh me. I don't leave home, though! After work, I usually go to the gym. Then I come home and do some book-related social networking and marketing. On the weekends, I run errands but mostly I lie on the couch and read. Books, both fiction and nonfiction, are brain food. The budget is holding up, though I will tell you with 9 more days in the month that it's getting a little tight. What's it feel like? Wonderful! Throughout school, the ongoing refrain of my teachers was, "Pay attention! Stop daydreaming!" Sometimes it just blows my mind that for the next year, daydreaming is my job.

 Am I crazy? I 'll letcha know later how things turn out. For now, reference above statement about regrets in old age. One regret is dying broke under a bridge. I believe with self-discipline and sacrifice I can rebound and prevent it. Dying creatively unfulfilled? I could go to Hell for that.

Have you ever thought of doing something like this? I'd love to hear from you in a comment!