Publishers Weekly Fan Expo Write Up

My Publishers Weekly blog post write up on Fan Expo is up!

The other author, Heather, and I would love it if you leave comments there!

You can also check out more pics from the con at my Victory Essex blog.

Thanks!

Dear Tahmoh...

Dear Tahmoh Penikett,

Please stop being so hot. I'm a happily married woman now, but whenever I have to look up your name, which is frequently for some reason, I end up at your Wikipedia page and this picture.

You are way too fine with your OJ and cool, assessing gaze. And the suggestive position of your microphone makes me want to come up and ask you questions.

I love my husband. So four the sake of our happy marriage, please stop being so awesome.

Sincerely,

Vicki.


EDIT: FOR the sake of our happy marriage. Thanks for catching that, Jenny!

Fan Expo 2010

I spent a long time trying to decide whether or not to go to Fan Expo this year, but after a long deliberation--and an announcement that said Tahmoh Penikett was making an appearance--I decided to get tickets for John and I for Friday, the least busy day of the con.

Boy, was I ever wrong about that. There was a two-hour lineup stretching around the block of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. I had to stay because Publishers Weekly asked me to be a cub reporter and do a write-up of the event. (Link to come soon, I hope!)

On top of that, I made this video of the queue. Enjoy!

Yup.

"31 Today" from Aimee Mann

Awake

I was lying in bed eyes wide-open for the past...hour? Two hours? And my body has decided it no longer requires sleep. That, in combination with my ridiculously full belly and threatening heartburn, has forced me from my bed

So here I am at the crack of dawn, around 6:25 a.m. checking a Twitter feed that has stopped chirping, with some mind to go and edit my YA book.

Right. Like anything will be coherent at this hour.

Just so you have an idea of how early it is: Even the cat is still asleep. Which wouldn't be news, except that he's usually awake at the slightest indication of us stirring.

I'm trying to decide whether I should concede defeat and brush my teeth now so I'm fully "up"--writing with morning breath is awful, and I can still taste dinner.

My real hope is that I'll start to fade again and have to crawl back into bed around 8:00 a.m., when the rest of the world is just getting up to put on their Sunday bests.

Okay, early-morning blathering over. Going to try to "work" now.

Why Can't I Quit You?

It's come to my attention that there are certain faces among Hollywood's up-and-coming elite that have been inspiring a certain amount of fascination and terror in my heart whenever I see them on screen. I don't know if there's a common thread, but I decided to put up all their faces and decide what it is about them that freaks me out and simultaneously draws me in.

Cillian Murphy: I first saw him in Batman Begins as the Scarecrow/Dr. Jonathan Crane. His pretty blue eyes and chiseled features would draw sighs from any red-blooded woman. And then I noticed the thinness of his lips, which seemed to be in a perpetual pucker, and the deadness of his eyes, as if whatever powers brought him back to life failed to reanimate those parts of him. It's a perfect trait for the creepy Batman villain, so I thought, great performance. And then I saw him in Inception, and lo and behold, the pucker, the dead eyes...I was thoroughly creeped out, but I couldn't stop looking at him. Or appreciating his talent, of course.

Zachary Quinto: The essential charismatic psychopath, I would get Quinto to play just about any killer. His performance in Heroes as Sylar is beyond compare, and his Spock is bang-on. Aside from being a terrific murderer, he's also a horribly convincing nice guy, which automatically slots him in the love-him-but-don't-trust-him category of men you want in the sack but shouldn't close your eyes around. I'd love to see him play Machiavelli in some twisted biopic, perhaps directed by Tim Burton.

Kieran Culkin: To paraphrase a certain Joss Whedonverse character, he's a little bit Chess Club for my usual beat, but after seeing him play "cool gay roommate" Wallace in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, I was charmed. Such casual ease. Such debonair grace. Of course it was all acting, and I've never seen him in anything else, but he did a fabulous job convincing me I'd want to try getting him to bat for the girls. Or is that boys? I'm bad at metaphors. Be not gay, in any case.

Still, that pasty Culkin complexion and greasy hair is really not my thing. Nor are the vampire-red wet lips. Really, I think he should have been cast in Twilight. He wouldn't have needed much makeup.

Alan Tudyk: The Firefly alum falls more on the side of attractive than not, mainly due to his performance as Wash. I mean, who wouldn't want a guy who plays with dinosaurs piloting your ship? He's like that cool uncle who brings you video games your mom would never let you have and lets you stay up past your bedtime watching horror flicks while drinking orange soda.

But then I started seeing him in not so nice guy roles. His guest appearance on CSI as a rehabilitated child molester freaked me right the hell out. And then he pulled the creep-guns out again in Dollhouse as mastermind maniac Alpha, and again as an agent of the Visitors in V. Love him, stay the hell away from him...I can do both, right?

Who creeps you out who you can't get enough of?

DO NOT WANT AGAIN!

Her Cinderella Secret got rejected by The Wild Rose Press.

*Sad trombone noise*

Read the details here.

Epithets and Gender: a Douche Bag's Musings

After reading the comments from my entry into the TRW's Gold contest, I noticed at least two of the judges picked out "prick" as being an epithet associated with men and thus incorrect when referring to a woman.

I have been pondering the gender assignments of epithets since, and trying to determine if or whether there is a higher number of gender-specific epithets for men because there are simply more words to describe male genitalia, or because the association is based on social interaction, where insults among men are sometimes a part of male bonding.

Or is it because I don't know that many words to negatively describe a woman?

The other question I have is about why certain terms seem to be gender specific. It's rare you hear about women being called dickwads, assholes or pricks, for instance. The go-to seems to be bitch or the C-word, if you're feeling particularly vituperative.

And then there are the head-scratchers. For example, whenever I hear the term "Douche bag" I associate it with the male gender, even though a douche bag is a product used mainly by women. "Motherf*cker" is normally associated with men (with Oedipal complexes, I assume), but you never hear people say "fatherf*cker." I don't know what to make of "twat" either.

Don't get me started on homosexual insults--that's a can of worms I'm not going to open in this post.

Feel free to comment, add to the list, give your two cents.

WARNING: The content below will definitely offend some people.

Words to describe men:

Dick (dickwad, dickhead, etc.), prick, douche bag, asshole, bastard, jerk (jerkface, jerkwad, etc.), motherf*cker, wanker...

Words to describe women:

Bitch, c*nt, whore, slut...

Made the finals!

My MMA-based contemporary romance novel Fighting for Her Love made the finals for the Toronto Romance Writers' Gold contest!

Read the good news here.

Three Kangaroos

I've reclaimed the printer/scanner and installed the drivers so I can provide more of my elementary nonsense for the masses.

This is from a book of dictated stories, in which the student draws a picture and then tells a story to go with it, which the teacher writes down. I believe was from grade one.

Apparently, kangaroos like milk and picnics. Note the rainbow birds piled atop each other.

SQUEE!

I have been coveting the Avatar: The Last Airbender -- The Art of the Animated Series book since it came out. It's an Avatard's dream.

I read the book cover to cover on the drive to and back from Bruce Peninsula. All I can say is wow. I mean, WOW. You never think about the detail and thought that goes into a show like this until you really sit down to study it all frame by frame. There's a reason for everything in this show, and studying the design has only increased my appreciation for the series...and made me want to rewatch it for those little things I missed the first time.

Love the insider notes from creators Bryan and Mike. Foreward by M. Night Shyamalan is grudgingly entertaining. But let's not speak of his atrocities when we have such pretty shinies to look at, hmm?

No, you can't borrow it. Okay, well, maybe, if you read it in front of me while wearing gloves.