Nerdflirt Snippet From Nobody's Hero
February 21, 2012
Okay, so in re last week's post about comic book inspirations and me confessing I was paying direct homage to the Fantastic Four in Nobody's Hero, here's a snippet of Jamie and Kellan having their first ever nerdflirt at the Winking Lizard. (Yeah, it's a real place, so the innuendo is not mine this time. Ohio people, you know what I mean.) See, Jamie spotted a Spider-Man picture in Kellan's cube the other day. And Jamie is a salesman; he knows how to use what people give him to get them interested. He's not too proud to employ these tactics in the real world, especially not when the enticement's adorkably hot.
Less than a month now 'til the expected release date. More Nobody's Hero fun and excitement on the page right here. Wee!
“I don’t know about trash.” And encouraged by his sudden affection for strong language, I said, “But I do know you’re a fucking nerd.”
Kellan laughed. “What gave me away? The affinity for SQL?”
This was sarcasm, but I replied in earnest: “Spider-Man.”
“Heh.”
“I mean, I was more of a Fantastic Four guy, myself, but --”
“Spidey and Human Torch crossovers.”
“Yes.” Torch. Obviously based on an experience with someone who was awakened, by the way. You get a good heat-type, and they can make it look like they’re covered in fire. It’s magnificent.
“Those were the best.” He took a long swig and grinned. His wide shoulders rounded, he slouched, but not in that protective, curling-in-around-himself way. “Fucking Johnny Storm, man.”
The strange softness of his voice combined with his wanton use of the word “fuck” had a predictable effect. It beguiled me into admitting, “Always thought he was hot.”
“Shit, I was just about to say you remind me of him.”
“That’d explain it.”
“What?”
“Why I think he’s hot. I get a little narcissistic sometimes.”
He smacked the bar and laughed, this time out loud.
“See, you laughing at my jokes only encourages me.”
He shot me a sideways glance, a little knowing smile.
The gaydar, which had been swinging this way and that all night, finally pinged so hard it pinned the needle. Something hot woke up deep in my belly.
And then, of course, my phone buzzed.
Less than a month now 'til the expected release date. More Nobody's Hero fun and excitement on the page right here. Wee!
The Fantastic (Or Why I Love Superhero Science)
February 17, 2012
So, yes, technically the characters in most of my books (all of them, at the moment!) could make superheroes of themselves. They do have superpowers, after all! I called the blog "superpowered love" because that's the point: romance novels about people who have superpowers... that complicate their love lives.
Some might've noticed that although each book really only explores one major aspect of that, the rules of these powers are already hard and fast. That's what the Superpowered Science page is all about, thanks to our Neuronaut-in-Chief Irene Ballagh. We're not making this up as we go along because I believe wholeheartedly in the importance of Superpowered Science as the core around which all the stories are built -- which aspect to I get to explore next, and whose story is that?
From whence came this obsession? I gotta blame Ultimate* Fantastic Four.
Really, it doesn't matter how you explain the origin of the powers, to me. Genetic mutation (X-Men), a chemical spill (The Flash), a ring that means you're a superawesome cosmic protector (Green Lantern), or simply a genetic trait passed down through generations, whatever. So long as the powers operate within certain boundaries, so long as the author plays by certain rules, I can suspend my disbelief. I mean, let's not even get into the ways shapeshifters screw with the laws of conservation. Holy shit. The point is that I just need a pseudo-scientific-but-based-in-actual-science excuse to believe -- well, and it helps if the story and characters are interesting enough that I want to.
And Ultimate Fantastic Four had alllll of that. That is the book that made me truly fall in love with sexy superhero science and understand its full applications. First there's my love of geeks and inherent belief that scientists are sexy... well, just look at them:
|
| From Ultimate Fantastic Four #2 (Bendis, Millar, Kubert) |
Now that is some seriously adorable nerdlove between Reed and Sue, amiright?
In the original* Fantastic Four book, the eponymous team got their powers from SPACE RADIATION... or something. I don't know, it was always with the gamma rays back in the 60s. The Ultimate-verse team launched in 2004, so it got a much-needed update, and their powers are -- well, I won't spoil it, since The Fantastic is readily available as a TPB now if people are interested, but it's all because of an experiment Reed's been working on since he was quite literally eleven years old and getting constant swirlies in gym class. (Yes, the transporter issue mentioned in above awkward geekflirting panels.)
So The Fantastic is the story arc of the first six issues -- them getting their powers, and some of them being less excited about it than others...
 |
| From Ultimate Fantastic Four #5 (Bendis, Millar, Kubert, Dell) |
Seriously, how can you not love these huge dorks? I love them so much I just scanned all that crap in just so I could do this post. C'monnnnnn.
As the book gets going, the implications of their new powers and the dimension that caused them get more and more interesting and less and less random. A pattern emerges, and it just adds to the sheer unadulterated awesome of these four characters. Which is a lot of awesome, frankly.
And that is why I love superhero science. Because it does that for me. So that's why I gotta have it, and that's why I'm lucky Irene feels the same. She's the Reed to my Johnny.
Well, except I'm not quite that dumb. But feel free to contradict me if you see this, Reenie :D
I always like to give full credit to my inspirations, so I even included some geekflirting in re: Fantastic Four in Nobody's Hero. Stay tuned for a snippet on that subject next week, I think!
*For the uninitiated: Ultimate Marvel is different from Regular Marvel. Long story short, Ultimate was an alternate universe reboot in 2000. Both universes still exist in Marvel Comics -- I buy books from both. There's a Spider-Man in Ultimate-verse (Miles Morales) and a Spider-Man in what we'd think of as regular Marvel-verse (Peter Parker), and they never, like, meet up and cause a temporal vortex or anything. That'd suck. But yeah, Ultimate verse has waaaaay less baggage.
WiP Wednesday: Inspiration and the ATF
February 15, 2012
Thank you to everyone who dropped a comment in the giveaway. Copies of Nobody's Hero will wing their way to both Dianna and Sarah as soon as I get them. Yay! And never fear, there will be a big giveaway after the book drops in March too -- with prize packs, Like the Riot Boy giveaway back when Et and Brady first hit the scene in November, there will be Nobody's Hero themed prize packs.
Which means I'm giving away comics, Irish-American punk, and Guinness paraphernalia, yeah. Pretty much. But also, a copy or two of Nobody's Hero itself. In which the love interest is an Irish-American punk comic book nerd who likes Guinness. Fair enough, I reckon.
Right, onto this WiP Wednesday thing again. The truth is that I've not been writing anything this month. I have loads of editing projects to get through and March is going to be hellacious (in a good way), so I want to clear everything out. That means I've been reading even more than usual, but yeah. No writing.
I have, however, been preparing stuff I've already written for submitting to my editor for consideration. It's a gut-wrenching process, trying to decide if a manuscript is finished enough to be seen, but I am extremely lucky in my crit partners and beta readers, most of whom I've known for at least the better part of a decade. Let's just say they aren't afraid to let me know when I suck, and I thank all the gods I've ever heard of for that every day.
The next one to get shipped off is a story about a superhero. I know, all this stuff (so far) is superpowered, but Andrew is actually a vigilante crime fighter in a small town in North Carolina. As a kid, my family spent a lot of long, hot summers in Carolina after my grandparents retired to a lake house down there -- and that house served as inspiration for Andrew's, the little town nearby as inspiration for the imaginary Hooperstown he's devoted to saving. I was plumbing the depths of my childhood summers to come up with the perfect setting...
And I thought, hell, this should be a story about two people who had an adolescent summer fling at this house once upon a time.
The guy telling the story is a different sort altogether. Gabriel is a cocky young special agent. That's right, FBI vs. Superhero.
And Gabriel isn't my fault.
Last summer my friend Hayley stayed with us for a few weeks while she was interning at the ATF. (Federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, yeah, for real. She's hardcore.) We started talking about the crap people have to go through to become FBI agents (which some do after working at the ATF, and some special agents work for the ATF -- which is a totally badass job, but that's another story). And I said, "Man, anyone who got through that would have to be pretty proud. And maybe a bit of a cocky prick, even."
She agreed.
And Special Agent Gabriel Genêt was born. All Hayley's fault.
Will this story ever see the light of day? I don't know, really, but I sure as hell had fun writing it. I even had fun writing the synopsis last night, if you can believe it. Weird how disparate inspirations can come crashing together to make something like that...
I collected some stories like this from romance authors all over the place a few months back: The Inspired (Part 1?). I had Kirsty Logan, Belinda McBride, Jessica Freely, Louise Bohmer, and Lisa Kessler link or tell their stories that day -- and I totally want to do it again. So if you have a pre-existing blog post or a similar story of inspiration, drop me a line and I can include it in my next inspiration round-up! I've already got a few reeeaaaaally good ones lined up -- coming soon :D
Which means I'm giving away comics, Irish-American punk, and Guinness paraphernalia, yeah. Pretty much. But also, a copy or two of Nobody's Hero itself. In which the love interest is an Irish-American punk comic book nerd who likes Guinness. Fair enough, I reckon.
Right, onto this WiP Wednesday thing again. The truth is that I've not been writing anything this month. I have loads of editing projects to get through and March is going to be hellacious (in a good way), so I want to clear everything out. That means I've been reading even more than usual, but yeah. No writing.
I have, however, been preparing stuff I've already written for submitting to my editor for consideration. It's a gut-wrenching process, trying to decide if a manuscript is finished enough to be seen, but I am extremely lucky in my crit partners and beta readers, most of whom I've known for at least the better part of a decade. Let's just say they aren't afraid to let me know when I suck, and I thank all the gods I've ever heard of for that every day.
The next one to get shipped off is a story about a superhero. I know, all this stuff (so far) is superpowered, but Andrew is actually a vigilante crime fighter in a small town in North Carolina. As a kid, my family spent a lot of long, hot summers in Carolina after my grandparents retired to a lake house down there -- and that house served as inspiration for Andrew's, the little town nearby as inspiration for the imaginary Hooperstown he's devoted to saving. I was plumbing the depths of my childhood summers to come up with the perfect setting...
And I thought, hell, this should be a story about two people who had an adolescent summer fling at this house once upon a time.
The guy telling the story is a different sort altogether. Gabriel is a cocky young special agent. That's right, FBI vs. Superhero.
And Gabriel isn't my fault.
Last summer my friend Hayley stayed with us for a few weeks while she was interning at the ATF. (Federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, yeah, for real. She's hardcore.) We started talking about the crap people have to go through to become FBI agents (which some do after working at the ATF, and some special agents work for the ATF -- which is a totally badass job, but that's another story). And I said, "Man, anyone who got through that would have to be pretty proud. And maybe a bit of a cocky prick, even."
She agreed.
And Special Agent Gabriel Genêt was born. All Hayley's fault.
Will this story ever see the light of day? I don't know, really, but I sure as hell had fun writing it. I even had fun writing the synopsis last night, if you can believe it. Weird how disparate inspirations can come crashing together to make something like that...
I collected some stories like this from romance authors all over the place a few months back: The Inspired (Part 1?). I had Kirsty Logan, Belinda McBride, Jessica Freely, Louise Bohmer, and Lisa Kessler link or tell their stories that day -- and I totally want to do it again. So if you have a pre-existing blog post or a similar story of inspiration, drop me a line and I can include it in my next inspiration round-up! I've already got a few reeeaaaaally good ones lined up -- coming soon :D
Valentine's Day Giveaway
February 10, 2012
This contest is now closed! Thank you!
Some call it St. Valentine's Day. Some call it Singles Awareness Day. Some call it Horny Werewolf Day. Whatever you call it, it's about love. Or sex. Not the same, but often intertwined, and a particular area of interest here at Superpowered Love.
Which is why it's clearly time for a giveaway.
How to enter:
Leave your name and email address (or twitter handle, or tumblr, or some other way to get hold of you on the internet) in a comment on this post.
[ETA: Trouble posting a comment? It's cool. Email me (kate [at] kateyhawthorne [dot] com) and let me know, and I'll enter you in the proper order. Promise.]
How you could win:
At midnight (okay, maybe 11.59pm) on February 14, I'll hit up random.org and let it pick two winners.
What you can win:
One of my three books, whichever you like, in the e-format of your choice. Yes, that means Equilibrium, Riot Boy, OR Nobody's Hero. Of course, if you pick Nobody's Hero, you'll have to wait for mid-March to roll around, since it's not out yet. But what are a couple of weeks in the name of love, right? You'll get your copy the very moment I get mine, just before it goes live on the Loose Id site.
Not sure which one, if any, might suit you? Find blurbs, excerpts, character stats, and in the case of the already-out ones, review links on their individual pages:
Equilibrium
Riot Boy
Nobody's Hero
And here we go!
(Other giveaway here, but you have to bring a date, and it's waaaaay creepier :D)
Some call it St. Valentine's Day. Some call it Singles Awareness Day. Some call it Horny Werewolf Day. Whatever you call it, it's about love. Or sex. Not the same, but often intertwined, and a particular area of interest here at Superpowered Love.
Which is why it's clearly time for a giveaway.
How to enter:
Leave your name and email address (or twitter handle, or tumblr, or some other way to get hold of you on the internet) in a comment on this post.
[ETA: Trouble posting a comment? It's cool. Email me (kate [at] kateyhawthorne [dot] com) and let me know, and I'll enter you in the proper order. Promise.]
How you could win:
At midnight (okay, maybe 11.59pm) on February 14, I'll hit up random.org and let it pick two winners.
What you can win:
One of my three books, whichever you like, in the e-format of your choice. Yes, that means Equilibrium, Riot Boy, OR Nobody's Hero. Of course, if you pick Nobody's Hero, you'll have to wait for mid-March to roll around, since it's not out yet. But what are a couple of weeks in the name of love, right? You'll get your copy the very moment I get mine, just before it goes live on the Loose Id site.
Not sure which one, if any, might suit you? Find blurbs, excerpts, character stats, and in the case of the already-out ones, review links on their individual pages:
Equilibrium
Riot Boy
Nobody's Hero
And here we go!
(Other giveaway here, but you have to bring a date, and it's waaaaay creepier :D)
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