Lynn Kurland's Star of the Morning

[jmward14]

When Patty Briggs was kind enough to cite Lynn Kurland in her blurb for With Nine You Get Vanyr, I was flattered.  I loved Lynn's RITA-awardwinning novella "To Kiss in the Shadows" and interviewed her for Crescent Blues based on the strength of that story.  In the interview, Lynn talked about her then current novel, From This Moment On, and her love for and desire to write fantasy.  
Since I interviewed her as the first wave of the paranormal romance tsunami was beginning to crest, I didn't think a lot about the fantasy comment.  Everybody and their dog was selling paranormals.  Why wouldn't Lynn want to ride the wave?
I should've listened harder.  Lynn was talking about epic fantasy.  And she meant every word.
The proof is in her new book, Star of the Morning.  Run--do not walk--to your bookstore and buy this book.  Star of the Morning follows the adventures of Morgan, a practical mercenary swordswoman, who finds herself saddled with a magical knife, a growing party of minions--including a blustering king and his heartbreakingly wonderful wizard brother--and a destiny she rejects with every fiber of her being.  The characterizations are glorious.  The humor, especially the fish-out-of-water sections where King Adhemar tries to act like a regular guy, will leave you laughing so hard it hurts.  There be dragons, dwarves and a dash of elves too, but the book is so yummy, I refuse to hold that against it.  LOL  A perfect read to refresh the soul on a blustery winter night.
My only real complaint is this is the first book of the Nine Kingdoms trilogy, but I can't find anything on future volumes--not even when the next book will be released.  Arrgh!  But I did find two novellas set in the same world "A Whisper of Spring" from the anthology The Queen in Winter, and "The Tale of Two Swords" from To Weave a Web of Magic.  Not enough to hold me, by any means.
Well, I knew Patty's blurb was fabulous.  I just didn't know how fabulous.  Another one I owe her.  Right now my karmic debt is so big she owns a 30-year mortgage on my next life.
And it couldn't be held in kinder hands.  :D
Happy New Year, everyone!

Comments

[whitemunin.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that sounds like a wonderful book! **adds to list** I have a gift card to spend! I know what I'll be buying.

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

You might also want to try a couple Samhain titles. Anything by Kate Johnson. I FLE'd her novella "The Twelve Lies of Christmas" and laughed so hard I scared the cat. It's chick lit spies, but exceptionally well done. Kate's in her twenties too. I hate her utterly. She has no right to write so well. LOL
Another keeper is Ann Vremont's SACRED HEART DIARIES, the novel I'm working on now. *user fans self* Unquestionaly her best, most complex work to date.
I honestly don't know what to compare it to. It's epistolatory erotica set in late 18th century France and the West Indies, and it's amazing. The book starts as little stories of the amorous adventures of well-bred convent girls and *evolves* into something indescribably wonderful.
And being Ann, the sex is an integral part of the narrative, not window dressing. Gawd, I envy her, Kate and Lynn their gifts.
Speaking of gifts, what have you been up to? Have things calmed down enough for a phone call?
Hugs,
Jean Marie

oh, here I am

[annvremont.livejournal.com]

Thank you much for the mention and for the MBaM review on Reluctant Muse. :-)

Hey, is your February print date an available for purchase date (at least from MBaM) or something different?

Ann

Re: oh, here I am

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

The reviews are heartfelt in both cases. I'll post a Bravo! on MBaM as soon as SACRED HEART DIARIES is released. Loved the book! I just hope the cover doesn't scare mainstream readers away, because the writing's so elegant.
Yep, the February release date is supposed to be a true print release. The reviews have been really good. Fingers crossed sales will be too. There's not necessarily a correlation. LOL
Hugs,

Re: oh, here I am

[annvremont.livejournal.com]

I have a cover story -- I sent in a too loose CAR and got back something I couldn't live with. But Vanessa was a doll and agreed to start from scratch. (Now, if I could have something that looked like a screenshot from the Marie Antoinette movie, that would be pretty sweet as far as sales go. But that isn't going to happen.)

Anyway, how do you pick what to use as a cover for Diaries? Five or six different heroines, though Veronique or Candacis would be the best choices if forced to chose. Then there is the issue of historical accuracy--that is an easily verified period, so easy to get dinged on. So I told her I wanted something with a sense of restriction and sensuality ... what gets these young women in trouble in the first place. :-) And I sent her a desktop (http://www.annvremont.com/desktop_shd.jpg) I'd done. Then she adapted to her style. It's a little darker than what I sent her, but, considering the content, maybe some of those people should get scared away :-).

A long time ago, someone suggested I dress it up as a Catholic ?Missal? -- those red prayer books. That would be perfect for bookstore distribution, but wouldn't help sell squat online.

Off to check my LJ settings because it's not sending me notifications like it should.

Ann

Re: oh, here I am

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

That's true. This cover will definitely help the online sales, even though it's going to cause problems with the literal thinkers. The visual speaks to the characters' internal truth but not the incidents depicted in the story. (Off-stage blindfolding doesn't count. LOL)
To keep it safe, I think I would've gone for a mirror shot--a head and (bare) shoulders of Veronique staring dazedly into mirrors reflecting different sides of her face. It would be nice if one of the reflections could show a male figure seated like Conan the Brooding Barbarian in the shadows, but reflections can be hard to manipulate. The image would be a compromise, but if the shot extended to the very top of the nipples, it would provide the titillation factor.
Yeah, I'm all about the bookstores. I can't write fast enough to make online sales worthwhile. LOL
Hugs,

Re: oh, here I am

[annvremont.livejournal.com]

the mirror scene was one I thought about putting in the CAR and it would have been sweet, too. But the scene would be hard (if not impossible) to match from stock photos and would be one helluva render in Poser (one most machines couldn't handle, as Poser has some pretty inefficient code and is a resource hog on the computer). Someone who has a new version of Vue Infinity, or within the last couple of releases of Maya or 3dsmax probably could have.

Re: oh, here I am

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

Can't Poser images be resaved as jpgs or gifs? Forgive my ignorance. I know the art programs are out there, but I'm pretty lame with a pencil. Letting me play at art on a computer is like giving my mom--aka the Worst Cook East of the Mississippi--a high-end stove. LOL
Hugs,

Re: oh, here I am

[annvremont.livejournal.com]

You can save as png, gif, tif, bmp, jpg, tga and psd -- and you can build an image that way, but, for the mirror type image, for example, between multiple render times and postwork to seamlessly combine the layers, you wind up with a 12-15 hour result. I have a lot of sympathy for the cover artists (which may mean I short myself on what I ask for in covers).

Meaning--Samhain pays pretty well, by most epub standards ($150 I think?). If you spend 3-5 hours and don't incur any significant costs (e.g. stock photos or specific CG models (I bought a $30 CG motorcycle for one cover and then the publisher folded)), that's $50-$30 an hour. (If this counts as self-employment wages, then 7% comes out for unemployment, 2X% comes out for this that and the other--taxes for the self-employed suck!)

I'm right there with your mom! We have two smoke/fire alarms in our house. They're both considered food timers. :-)

PS, and on the guilty pleasures front...

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

Don't know if this is your cup of tea, but I have a profound weakness for good yaoi. Absurd, I know. Silly--tell me about it. But I still count out the shekels for DESCENDANTS OF DARKNESS and SAIYUKI whenever a new volume appears.
Anyway, if you like that or good slash, SOUL OF THE NIGHT, the next volume of Anne Cain's and Barbara Sheridan's yaoi vamps will be released Jan. 2. The first, "The Devil's Disciple", is available as a download. Historic vamp slash--it's like dark chocolate, unbelievably addictive.
Wish I could've copy-edited the pup, though. There were a couple of typographic glitches that made me wince, but the story and the description of late Tokugawa Japan were just wonderful.
There are some other Samhain titles in all genres that I'm seriously considering for purchase. But I don't like to recommend anything I haven't read. Fortunately or not--and sometimes it's a really big NOT!--I read a lot of Samhain titles as a part of the final line edit process. But for every clunker, there's a glorious story no one else seems to have the wit or heart to publish.
Hugs,