Riot Boy Soundtrack #1: Atomic
November 23, 2011
As I've mentioned many, many times before, the soundtrack is very important when I'm writing. It keeps me focused -- keeps those little characters from wandering off in random directions when they see something shiny and want it for their nests. For Riot Boy, this wasn't as much of a problem with Etienne, but Brady's a real magpie sometimes.
Never woulda guessed, huh?
But I think this is my first book where the soundtrack wasn't just important to the mood, but pretty much shaped the plot itself. Or where it was so much to my own taste, which might have something to do with it :D I've posted links to "Orgasm Addict" and "Ghetto Defendant", two key components of the "first date", elsewhere -- those lead to their excerpts. So let's try something new...
Blondie!
(For anyone seeing this on an rss feed with no embed: video link here)
Ohhhh your hair is beautifuullllll.
I'm dropping off for the rest of the week for Thanksgiving. To all my American pals, happy turkey day -- even if you're like me and bringing shame to your family by not eating turkey. And to everyone else, happy weekend a little bit early :D
Never woulda guessed, huh?
But I think this is my first book where the soundtrack wasn't just important to the mood, but pretty much shaped the plot itself. Or where it was so much to my own taste, which might have something to do with it :D I've posted links to "Orgasm Addict" and "Ghetto Defendant", two key components of the "first date", elsewhere -- those lead to their excerpts. So let's try something new...
Blondie!
(For anyone seeing this on an rss feed with no embed: video link here)
Ohhhh your hair is beautifuullllll.
I'm dropping off for the rest of the week for Thanksgiving. To all my American pals, happy turkey day -- even if you're like me and bringing shame to your family by not eating turkey. And to everyone else, happy weekend a little bit early :D
Transgender Day of Remembrance
November 20, 2011
Rad Riot Boy Review
November 19, 2011
Thanks to Beatrice, who pointed out that Riot Boy got its first review over at Jessewave's site, and thanks to Raine for taking the time to do it -- and with so much style. Rather prettily written, isn't it? I am particularly pleased that the soundtrack got as good a review as the book itself. Like I say in the comments, in these cases, that's just as important, if not more.
Also happy she pointed out the "Fuck Me, Etienne" shirt, since as you know, that was my alternate title :D
And yeah, I'm going to post these as they come in this time, but I'll also stick 'em on the Riot Boy page as I update it. Just wanted to get this one in there for the weekend. Yay!
Also happy she pointed out the "Fuck Me, Etienne" shirt, since as you know, that was my alternate title :D
And yeah, I'm going to post these as they come in this time, but I'll also stick 'em on the Riot Boy page as I update it. Just wanted to get this one in there for the weekend. Yay!
A Different Kind of Giveaway
November 14, 2011
Different in that it comes from the other me, and asks you to do stuff. But hey, some of y'all may like it!
So you may or may not know that I am two people. I write dark fantasy as KV Taylor, and have for some years. My first full-length novel as such, Scripped, is coming out at the end of this week, and I'm pretty excited about it -- obviously. But I realized it might appeal to some superpowered love readers as well, because while it's primarily a dark paranormal/urban fantasy, it does have a romantic subplot. Actually, most people who've seen it refer to it as a paranormal romance. If a very disturbing one. Think Faerie Stockholm Syndrome and you're there.
But you can win cool dark fiction eBooks by doing a signal boost for me, and the post about this giveaway is here! If you do end up pre-ordering the print version of Scripped, I'm hooking up the first couple of people to email me and let me know with these cool signed, numbered chapbooks I made. Again, these are dark fantasy, but the first story is a love story. A nasty fairy tale style love story, but still. So if you decide to order it, definitely email kate AT kvtaylor DOT com and tell me so I can hook you up. (Scripped will be an eBook too -- I'll post on Friday when everything drops.)
I thought I'd excerpt the prologue, which might explain a little about why I thought it was relevant:
Scripped: You might escape the fae, but you can never go home.
And now back to your regularly scheduled superpowered updates~
So you may or may not know that I am two people. I write dark fantasy as KV Taylor, and have for some years. My first full-length novel as such, Scripped, is coming out at the end of this week, and I'm pretty excited about it -- obviously. But I realized it might appeal to some superpowered love readers as well, because while it's primarily a dark paranormal/urban fantasy, it does have a romantic subplot. Actually, most people who've seen it refer to it as a paranormal romance. If a very disturbing one. Think Faerie Stockholm Syndrome and you're there.
But you can win cool dark fiction eBooks by doing a signal boost for me, and the post about this giveaway is here! If you do end up pre-ordering the print version of Scripped, I'm hooking up the first couple of people to email me and let me know with these cool signed, numbered chapbooks I made. Again, these are dark fantasy, but the first story is a love story. A nasty fairy tale style love story, but still. So if you decide to order it, definitely email kate AT kvtaylor DOT com and tell me so I can hook you up. (Scripped will be an eBook too -- I'll post on Friday when everything drops.)
I thought I'd excerpt the prologue, which might explain a little about why I thought it was relevant:
A frantic rush of hands; warm against still-cold skin, cold against still-warm skin. Jonah’s heart thudded harder than he could remember in a long time, and he ate it up. This wasn’t a fantasy he had to check, this wasn’t wrong or stupid or broken of him. This was real, finally.
Lips began to lose their frosty stiffness, so he took a break and turned his face to the fire to get his own warmth back. It was working: Tal was warming up, and it wasn’t numbing Jonah to a slow death.
And it felt. Not that much, it was too cold for that. But it was there.
It had to be there.
“Why you doin’ this?” Tal asked. His chest rose and fell against Jonah’s side, another strange little miracle.
“Because I owe you,” Jonah lied. He was so good at it now, he did it without even thinking.
Tal pursed his lips. It made him look hard and mean, even with this rare flush under the dirty smudges on his skin. “I ain’t looking for pity.”
Jonah felt a stab of guilt. Honesty, then. There was too much to lose. “Because I missed you.”
Out of context, Jonah supposed that might sound romantic, but neither of them had any illusions. Tal’s face softened in a flash of uncommon understanding. As if by magic — and maybe it was magic — he looked real again.
Jonah knew he hadn’t been missed, except as a source of warmth and scrip; he knew he wouldn’t hear it said back. He didn’t want that. “I missed feeling…” but that was the end of the sentence after all, so he stopped.
Tal’s mouth pressed into that line again. That’s how he’d looked when they’d met. Jonah hadn’t known what that face meant, back then.
“So we miss the same thing, now,” Tal said after a moment. This seemed to satisfy him.
Jonah finally asked the question he’d been desperate to ask all night. “Do you know what you are?”
Tal gave the familiar answer. “I’m dead.” And then another addition, newer: “Don’t belong here. Things are familiar, kinda comfortable. But they’re wrong, too.”
Jonah wondered if that explained the stick art, but didn’t ask.
As for what he was, it wouldn’t help Tal to know if he didn’t already, so Jonah didn’t tell him what he’d discovered. His face and throat were warm again, so he leaned close, kissed the fae boy as much to feel as to keep him from saying any more. That odd sensation of unyielding lips, harder than a girl kiss, but Tal had been practicing, or at least he’d listened. He tilted his face to the side so Jonah could get a better angle and scooted as close as he could. Thin, hard hands returned to exploring Jonah’s skin, smooth scarred patches and rougher chlorine-dried stretches alike, warming more and more. Jonah returned the favor, half curiosity, half desperation.
The cabin smelled like cedar and the fireplace. Alien and old, like a memory he was desperate to keep.
Tal tasted like the ground, like the mines, like dirt and rocks. He tasted like home.
Jonah pulled him into his lap, and he came with a disorienting combination of inhuman grace and human willingness. Long legs wrapped around Jonah’s middle, and instead of just stealing his heat, Tal began to share it. The return of some kind of warmth let his body wake up again, really feel the weight of someone in his lap. He could almost imagine there was something more than a need for heat in the way Tal pushed hard against him. It didn’t have that semi-covert rolling of the hips, the methodical angling of compatible body parts against each other, but it was artless and hungry enough to let him pretend.
A surge of something bright and hot spiked deep inside him, followed by a sense of hysterical relief. Christ, it's been so long.
But he hadn’t wanted to cry in just as long, and now his eyes burned.
He wouldn’t, though. He just kissed with everything in him, just like he’d imagined, like he meant it, and pretended this would last forever. Wondered what would happen next, how far this could go, and if it would leave him better or worse off than he’d been yesterday.
It was hard to care, though. It was like being alive again after a whole year of being dead.
And now back to your regularly scheduled superpowered updates~
Giveaway Winners
November 11, 2011
Hey y'all. I had a rad time at the TRS party, and I hope everyone who dropped by feels the same. It's after midnight now, so the prizes are ready to be distributed. I didn't expect the number of entries I got, especially on the packs giving away Riot Boy, so I decided to do a first place and a runner up for each. (I decided to do that for all the packs, actually, because it seemed unfair to leave out the other one!) So here's what we have:
Riot Boy Prize Pack A: The Annotated RIOT BOY
Winner: #3 - Midia (Prize Pack!)
Runner up: #8 - Susanshapley (Riot Boy eBook)
Winner: #4 - Becca (Prize Pack!)
Runner up: #1 - Beatrice (A Season in Hell)
Winner: #10 - Joder (Prize Pack!)
Runner up: #8 - Brannan (Equilibrium eBook)
So there we have it. I wish I could give everyone who entered one, but I guess I'll just have to hold more giveaways, right?
I'm out for the weekend, but I'll email you winners before bed tonight, and should be able to get things to you by Monday. Or, I should say, in the mail by Monday, if you won one of the packs. <3
Thanks so much for helping me celebrate Riot Boy's birthday!
Riot Boy Release Party!
November 10, 2011
Excerpts and fun facts and all other manner of amusing things are happening allllllll day long at The Romance Studio. I'll update this post as I go as a Superpowered Love index, but definitely check out the whole party to catch the fabulous featured books.
Post #1: Riot Boy by Katey Hawthorne [An Introduction, containing the blurb and the first excerpt on the Riot Boy page.]
Post #2: The Importance of Punk [The never-before-seen "Orgasm Addict" snippet. By which I mean the song. Geez, what did you think...?]
Post #3: The Importance of Poetry [The all-new "Ghetto Defendant" and Arthur Rimbaud snippet.]
Post #4: Putting the Love in Superpowered Love [Another all-new excerpt from the first time our heroes hook up. Gets a little bit hot up in there... or maybe cold.]
Post #5: Equilibrium by Katey Hawthorne [An Introduction, featuring the first scene -- which isn't on the Equilibrium page here! C'mon, Sam and Hansen need love too.]
Post #6: Putting the Superpowers in Superpowered Love [More all-new Riot Boy excerpt stuff, this time from Brady and his... less-than-savory awakened clan.]
Post #7: Better get those handcuffs... [The rated-R excerpt you can find right here at Superpowered Love's Riot Boy page. Mmm-hmm.]
Watch this space for more all through November 10th. And don't forget, today is your last chance to enter The Big Riot Boy Release Party Giveaway~
Post #1: Riot Boy by Katey Hawthorne [An Introduction, containing the blurb and the first excerpt on the Riot Boy page.]
Post #2: The Importance of Punk [The never-before-seen "Orgasm Addict" snippet. By which I mean the song. Geez, what did you think...?]
Post #3: The Importance of Poetry [The all-new "Ghetto Defendant" and Arthur Rimbaud snippet.]
Post #4: Putting the Love in Superpowered Love [Another all-new excerpt from the first time our heroes hook up. Gets a little bit hot up in there... or maybe cold.]
Post #5: Equilibrium by Katey Hawthorne [An Introduction, featuring the first scene -- which isn't on the Equilibrium page here! C'mon, Sam and Hansen need love too.]
Post #6: Putting the Superpowers in Superpowered Love [More all-new Riot Boy excerpt stuff, this time from Brady and his... less-than-savory awakened clan.]
Post #7: Better get those handcuffs... [The rated-R excerpt you can find right here at Superpowered Love's Riot Boy page. Mmm-hmm.]
Watch this space for more all through November 10th. And don't forget, today is your last chance to enter The Big Riot Boy Release Party Giveaway~
Riot Boy Just Happened
November 7, 2011
Why November 10? Why, because I'll be hanging out at TRS's release party, of course! There will be excerpts -- many excerpts, most of which will have to do with the prizes offered in the fabulous Riot Boy packs.
And in the meantime, I'mma wear my "Town Called Malice" shirt for Brady, today. Sing it with me: Stop dreamin of the quiet life cuz it's the one we'll never know...
(The Jam does not endorse Riot Boy. But Riot Boy endorses The Jam.)
The Big Riot Boy Release Party Giveaway
November 4, 2011
Barring disaster, Riot Boy should be seeing virtual shelves next week. (Please don't hate me if a disaster happens, though.) Freakoutgowildscreamingyay! To celebrate, I'm giving away loads of cool stuff. Want some? Awesome.
ETA: 10/11, 11.59 PM
This contest is closed. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to enter! Announcements coming up soon <3
Here's how it works:
-Choose a prize pack -- you can only enter for one, and each has its own page.
-Comment on your chosen pack page (not on this post) with some contact information to let me know that's the one you want. Please be willing to email me your mailing address, if you win. I'll write you a very sweet letter on pretty paper, if you do. [ETA: This giveaway is international -- anyone, any continent is welcome to enter!]
-I'll number the comments and let random.org choose the winners at 11.59 p.m. EST, November 10, at the end of The Romance Studio's release party. Where I will be hanging out all day, drinking absinthe cocktails and posting excerpts and generally making a nuisance of myself. And Brady. But more on that later.
-Profit.
Click through for visual aids, links to the booty, and, of course, to enter!
A: THE ANNOTATED RIOT BOY
for those who haven't bought RIOT BOY yet...
1. Riot Boy by Katey Hawthorne (ebook, delivered via email in the format of your choice)
2. "A Season in Hell" and "The Drunken Boat" by Arthur Rimbaud, trans Louise Varese (dual language edition, paperback)
3. Combat Rock by The Clash (audio CD)
4. Absinthe spoon
B: THE RIOT BOY SURVIVAL PACK
for those who already own/are planning to buy RIOT BOY...
1. "A Season in Hell" and "The Drunken Boat" by Arthur Rimbaud, trans Louise Varese (dual language edition, paperback)
2. Candide by Voltaire (English language edition, paperback)
3. Singles Going Steady by Buzzcocks (audio CD)
4. Absinthe spoon
C: RIOT BOY MEETS NERD BOY PACK
for those who would like both RIOT BOY and EQUILIBRIUM...
1. Riot Boy by Katey Hawthorne (ebook, delivered via email in the format of your choice)
2. Equilibrium by Katey Hawthorne (ebook, delivered via email in the format of your choice)
3. The Singles Collection by The Kinks (audio CD)
4. Absinthe spoon
Troubleshooting:
If Blogger won't let you comment on your chosen page, send an email to kate AT kateyhawthorne DOT com, letting me know which prize pack you want. I'll comment for you, and you will be entered in the proper order, I promise
Some notes on the booty:
-I'm very sorry if you already have the album on the pack you like, but at least you have something worth regifting when the holidays roll around, right?
-Brady says that if you think you don't like the album offered with the pack you want, you haven't listened properly. Try again. (I say, hell, it's free, why not?)
-I would actually love to send you absinthe with the spoons. Alas, I could get into trouble for that, and I can't really check your IDs from here, anyhow.
-This edition of "Une Saison en Enfer" is not the same one Etienne owns, but I have it on good authority that it's a nice translation, all the same.
-Voltaire is hilarious.
-No, you absolutely do not need to read Equilibrium to get Riot Boy, or vice versa. They're wholly unconnected, apart from happening in the same world.
-Riot Boy will be released a few days before the end of this contest. If you can't wait, go for pack B!
Questions? Concerns? That's what this post is for! <3
ETA: 10/11, 11.59 PM
This contest is closed. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to enter! Announcements coming up soon <3
Here's how it works:
-Choose a prize pack -- you can only enter for one, and each has its own page.
-Comment on your chosen pack page (not on this post) with some contact information to let me know that's the one you want. Please be willing to email me your mailing address, if you win. I'll write you a very sweet letter on pretty paper, if you do. [ETA: This giveaway is international -- anyone, any continent is welcome to enter!]
-I'll number the comments and let random.org choose the winners at 11.59 p.m. EST, November 10, at the end of The Romance Studio's release party. Where I will be hanging out all day, drinking absinthe cocktails and posting excerpts and generally making a nuisance of myself. And Brady. But more on that later.
-Profit.
Click through for visual aids, links to the booty, and, of course, to enter!
A: THE ANNOTATED RIOT BOY
for those who haven't bought RIOT BOY yet...
1. Riot Boy by Katey Hawthorne (ebook, delivered via email in the format of your choice)
2. "A Season in Hell" and "The Drunken Boat" by Arthur Rimbaud, trans Louise Varese (dual language edition, paperback)
3. Combat Rock by The Clash (audio CD)
4. Absinthe spoon
B: THE RIOT BOY SURVIVAL PACK
for those who already own/are planning to buy RIOT BOY...
1. "A Season in Hell" and "The Drunken Boat" by Arthur Rimbaud, trans Louise Varese (dual language edition, paperback)
2. Candide by Voltaire (English language edition, paperback)
3. Singles Going Steady by Buzzcocks (audio CD)
4. Absinthe spoon
C: RIOT BOY MEETS NERD BOY PACK
for those who would like both RIOT BOY and EQUILIBRIUM...
1. Riot Boy by Katey Hawthorne (ebook, delivered via email in the format of your choice)
2. Equilibrium by Katey Hawthorne (ebook, delivered via email in the format of your choice)
3. The Singles Collection by The Kinks (audio CD)
4. Absinthe spoon
Troubleshooting:
If Blogger won't let you comment on your chosen page, send an email to kate AT kateyhawthorne DOT com, letting me know which prize pack you want. I'll comment for you, and you will be entered in the proper order, I promise
Some notes on the booty:
-I'm very sorry if you already have the album on the pack you like, but at least you have something worth regifting when the holidays roll around, right?
-Brady says that if you think you don't like the album offered with the pack you want, you haven't listened properly. Try again. (I say, hell, it's free, why not?)
-I would actually love to send you absinthe with the spoons. Alas, I could get into trouble for that, and I can't really check your IDs from here, anyhow.
-This edition of "Une Saison en Enfer" is not the same one Etienne owns, but I have it on good authority that it's a nice translation, all the same.
-Voltaire is hilarious.
-No, you absolutely do not need to read Equilibrium to get Riot Boy, or vice versa. They're wholly unconnected, apart from happening in the same world.
-Riot Boy will be released a few days before the end of this contest. If you can't wait, go for pack B!
Questions? Concerns? That's what this post is for! <3
Where it's at
November 2, 2011
Yeah, I just ended that subject with a preposition. Two turntables and a microphone. (Am I showing my age with the Beck reference? Awesome.)
Seriously, though, looks like November's where it's at. Don't ask me where October went -- I felt the same way after September, to be honest. 'S okay, it's November, and that's even better. Why?
1. Obviously, Riot Boy! Yes, this is the month, my friends -- and very likely sooner rather than later. On Friday I'm going to start a massive Riot Boy Release Day Prize Pack Giveaway, even, to give a good run-up. It'll run from the 4th to the 10th, when I'll be participating in one of The Romance Studio's brilliant release parties. At the party, I'll be posting loads of excerpts, fun facts, and behind-the-scenes info -- most of which will relate to the fabulous Riot Boy Prize Packs, of course.
But more on that later. For updates on the prizes and such, follow the blog, or visit me on twitter -- @taylorkv.
2. Nanowrimo. Oh, haters gonna hate, but I love it. In fact, the first book I ever sold (which will come out -- er, probably by the end of the year) was written for Nano originally. I didn't participate last year, but I'm doing a grand experiment over at kvtaylor.com this time around. The goal: to rewrite one book from scratch by the 14th, and then write another novella by the end of the month.
Can it be done? Maybe. Can it be done without driving me madder than I already am? Maybe not.
And yet, I am undaunted. Come share my pain -- friend me if you're doing Nano!
That's it from me. Back with Riot Boy fun on Friday. <3
Seriously, though, looks like November's where it's at. Don't ask me where October went -- I felt the same way after September, to be honest. 'S okay, it's November, and that's even better. Why?
1. Obviously, Riot Boy! Yes, this is the month, my friends -- and very likely sooner rather than later. On Friday I'm going to start a massive Riot Boy Release Day Prize Pack Giveaway, even, to give a good run-up. It'll run from the 4th to the 10th, when I'll be participating in one of The Romance Studio's brilliant release parties. At the party, I'll be posting loads of excerpts, fun facts, and behind-the-scenes info -- most of which will relate to the fabulous Riot Boy Prize Packs, of course.
But more on that later. For updates on the prizes and such, follow the blog, or visit me on twitter -- @taylorkv.
2. Nanowrimo. Oh, haters gonna hate, but I love it. In fact, the first book I ever sold (which will come out -- er, probably by the end of the year) was written for Nano originally. I didn't participate last year, but I'm doing a grand experiment over at kvtaylor.com this time around. The goal: to rewrite one book from scratch by the 14th, and then write another novella by the end of the month.
Can it be done? Maybe. Can it be done without driving me madder than I already am? Maybe not.
And yet, I am undaunted. Come share my pain -- friend me if you're doing Nano!
That's it from me. Back with Riot Boy fun on Friday. <3
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