Tattoo You: The Invasion of Inked Heroines in Paranormal Fantasy
bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com: In an interview with Smithsonian.com in 2007, Joann Fletcher – research fellow in the department of archaeology at the University of York in Britain – stated that the earliest known examples of tattoos “were for a long time Egyptian and were present on several female mummies dated to c. 2000 B.C. But following the more recent discovery of the Iceman from the area of the Italian-Austrian border in 1991 and his tattoo patterns, this date has been pushed back a further thousand years when he was carbon-dated at around 5,200 years old.”
And that proliferation of tattoos into every facet of our society has definitely influenced paranormal fantasy. It seems like every other new paranormal fantasy I receive has a cover portraying a woman with tattoos. The outstanding Mercy Thompson saga by Patricia Briggs (Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, Bone Crossed and the soon to be released Silver Borne) features a shapeshifting, tattooed female auto mechanic. Marjorie M. Liu’s Hunter Kiss series (Darkness Calls and The Iron Hunt) revolves around a female demon hunter with sentient tattoos. Karen Chance’s Cassandra Palmer saga (Touch the Dark, Claimed by Shadow, Embrace the Night, and Curse the Dawn) chronicles the adventures of a tattooed clairvoyant.
There’s even a new anthology – fittingly entitled Inked – that includes supernatural stories dealing with body art from authors Karen Chance, Marjorie M. Liu, Yasmine Galenorn, and Eileen Wilks!
More here
Are Book Trailers A Waste Of Time?
io9.com: Does it make you want to read the book? Laura Miller at Salon suggests some trailers make books less enticing.
Miller’s piece points to several uninspiring book trailers for non-science fiction books, and actually singles out the trailer for Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan as a rare example of the good book trailer. Writes Miller:
A visit to a dedicated trailer site like Book Screening or a search for “book trailer” on YouTube reveals just how many of these videos there are, and a random sampling will quickly convey a sense of the low average quality. Typically, a trailer will open with text, fade to a stock photograph or a bit of vague footage (clips of bad weather seem particularly popular, as a metaphor for emotional intensity, no doubt), then back to text and so on.
To view some of the trailers and read more here
Books to lure teenagers away from the phone.
www.globe-democrat.com: Both the Harry Potter and Twilight series have transported unknown numbers of teens away from their everyday world into magical worlds with very different rules. Several new books are so exciting they are sure to entice teens away from electronic games and cell phones and into the exotic world they create.
“Incarceron” by Catherine Fisher (Dial, $17.99) is an exceptional sci-fi/fantasy story. The story follows two teenage prisoners. Finn is trapped in Incarceron, a prison from which no one has escaped in centuries. Meanwhile, Claudia is doomed to an arranged marriage by her father, the Warden on Incarceron.
“Fallen” by Lauren Kate (Delacorte Press, $17.99) is the perfect book for Twilight fans who have exhausted that series but still wants more. The dark tale of forbidden love begs the question on the back cover “What if the person you were meant to be with could never be yours?”
Luce Price is drawn to Daniel Grigori from her very first day of school at Sword & Cross boarding school. Although he makes it clear he wants nothing to do with her, Luce will stop at nothing to uncover his secret.
More here
Amazon reads writing on the wall, relents in e-book price dispute; customers can kiss $9.99 best-sellers goodbye.
nerdvana.freedomblogging.com: Amazon.com has yielded to pressure from publishers who sought higher prices for electronic book downloads, ending a standoff that culminated over the weekend with all books from Macmillan being pulled off the online retailer’s virtual shelves.
Amazon had been charging $9.99 for new best-sellers in e-book format for its Kindle device, whereas new best-selling hardcover novels usually fetch $24 or more. Macmillan wanted a business model that set e-book prices at $12.99 to $14.99 upon release. But Amazon, eager to keep prices down as its competition in the e-book market explodes, wouldn’t budge.
Macmillan had help in its revolt from Apple, which last week announced the launch of its iPad device and a new online store for e-books that will mimic its iTunes music store — and let publishers, including Macmillan, set their own prices.
More here
I’ve read some of the Tattooed Heroine books and they are really good. The way the writers mixes having a tattoo as a curse or symbol on your body with the magic, captures the attention of the readers instantly. I’m a big fan of Marjorie M. Liu’s series, it won’t hurt to check her books out 😉 Have you read any of these authors work?
It’s been said that books with themes like Harry and twilight got the interest of the teens and kids to read again, but they shouldn’t just stay there. There are so many other good supernatural books that they could try out 🙂
Are you an E-book person? Or do you prefer the old normal book?
