the league of reluctant adults

By Friday, I always seem to forget that a lot of League readers are out east, so then by the time I post, it's already afternoon there. I think I'll have to go back to posting on Thursday night. I've got to apologize to our guest, too. Had a bit of a crisis yesterday and the club slipped my mind entirely. I hope the two Wednesday threads kept you busy and our guest blogger provided some thoughtful discussion. Anyway, on with the show. Today's theme day. Just like last time. What theme(s) resonated from Mark Del Franco's Unshapely Things? What struck a chord? What memories did it spark? I was struck by Connor's heroism in the face of overwhelming personal obstacles. I always love flawed characters, their vulnerability, particularly. When I read a depiction that is well crafted, and very real (even in a fantasy), I feel like I can access some of that in myself and my own characters. At least I hope I can.

(Quick note from Stacia: Apologies for the wonky photo layout, which should be better because the cover for Dream of Shadows is so gorgeous. Why Blogger has taken such a strong dislike to uploading photos for me lately I don't know. Maybe because I'm cheating on it with Livejournal?) Can You Relate? When Stacia asked me to do a guest blog over here, my first thought was, "Does she know what she's stepping into?" It's not that I'm controversial or confrontational. At least, I didn't start out that way. That's until I realized that there are two romance novel worlds: the world of white heroines, and the world of The Others. It took a long time to come to this realization. Ten years ago I joined my local and national romance writing organizations, eager to learn. I wrote my first book, an interracial romance, and entered it into the Golden Heart. I should have known that the range--one 3, the rest way higher—was an indication of things to come....

Two threads today, one for UT and the other for UD (cause I know you people read it already). I haven't, so I won't be looking in there. I'll leave it up to MDF to check in on those folks who want to venture in. Use this thread to discuss all things spoilery about Unquiet Dreams! The ending perhaps. And by all means take Del Franco to task and pry out some new info. Have fun.

Two threads today, one for UT and the other for UQ (cause I know you people read it already). I haven't, so I won't be looking in there. I'll leave it up to MDF to check in on those folks who want to venture in. Use this thread to discuss all things spoilery about Unshapely Things! The ending perhaps. And by all means take Del Franco to task and pry out some new info. Have fun.

As a result of a certain other book hitting the shelves, I've been busy as hell. But I can't forget about my clubbers, so here we go... Mark Del Franco informed me that there will be a GIVEAWAY at the end of this week, now I have no idea what said GIVEAWAY will entail, but you can be certain, you want it. So check back regularly. If you don't participate in the comments then you don't enter. Get it. Topique No. Deux: Although urban fantasy is a "hot" genre, there are still relatively few male protagonists. Why do you suppose this is? Where does Connor Grey sit in the pantheon of UF heroes?

Not sure if y'all are aware of it, but both Mark and Anton have books releasing today! I know, I know, they're too shy to toot their own horns so I'm going to, uh...toot their horns for them. Um. First I want to talk about Anton's book, Dead to Me . One of the more embarrassing things about being me is I tend to rate my enjoyment of books based in large part on how sexy I find the male lead. (This might be the reason for some of my more unusual tastes, actually.) So of course, large in my mind as I started reading--and kept reading, and stayed up half the night reading--Dead to Me was, do I actually want to make kissy with Simon Canderous? Yep. I loved him. I loved his mix of vulnerability and toughness, his self-awareness, his awkwardness around women, his shady past and his desire to move forward from it. I loved that he wasn't above getting dirty if need be. I loved his really cool apartment that he hadn't yet managed to unpack. Basically, I pretty much loved...

Here we are again, another week of chatting about books and stuff. This time it's Mark Del Franco's druid detective, Connor Grey in the spotlight. We'll be talking about both Unshapely Things and Unquiet Dreams (in a separate post, so hold off with the spoiling, people). I have to remind myself and all you guys, the purpose of a book club is not to discuss whether you liked a book or not, but to express what resonated with you, themes, all that. But favorite bits is still the best place to start. So here's the question... Who's your favorite secondary character and why? I'd jump right into Connor as the topic, but Del Franco has populated his world with such fascinating personalities, they beg a mention--not to gush or anything. So off we go. Remember, Mark has agreed to swing by and answer questions and chat. You never know who'll stop by really.