Big Damn Heroines - Women Kicking Ass (#guestpost)

Hello, everyone! My name is K. Piet, and I'm the Marketing Director of Storm Moon Press, here today to tell you about our latest anthology release, which packs a proverbial punch.

Big Damn Heroines is an anthology that was very important to us at Storm Moon Press. When we were thinking up new anthology calls, the concept of a size-friendly anthology focusing on women kicking ass immediately came to mind. You see a lot of female protagonists in the realm of Fantasy & Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, from Buffy to Anita Blake to Kate Daniels to Jaenelle (The Black Jewels). Everyone wants to have the next amazing woman who is strong, kicking ass and taking names.



But how many of these badass women are ladies of size?



Well, of those listed above, the answer is zero. In fact, the majority of the time, the women who end up kicking ass are written as being smaller, skinnier, or shorter than average. I suppose it's in an unconscious effort to make the kicking ass part even more impressive. After all, the big baddies are seven-foot-tall monsters with incredible strength or magical powers that have been building over centuries, so of course we need another physical attribute to put the female protagonist at more of a disadvantage, right? (Can you detect my sarcasm?) But, when authors consistently portray badass women as exclusively slender, svelt, or smaller than average, you run into the problem of the take-away message becoming "Only women of X size are capable of kicking ass." Or should it be XS, as in extra-small?



See, that's where we at Storm Moon Press wanted to put our foot down. There's a misconception that in order to be healthy, athletic, or strong in any way, you have to be a certain weight. The stereotype in most popular fiction follows those lines, and the first thing we wanted to do with Big Damn Heroines was toss that out the window. In this anthology, we proclaim that size doesn't matter, that women can be large and in charge. Kicking ass and taking names is still possible when you're full-figured. Being physically larger than most of the female protagonists out there doesn't automatically relegate you to the role of comic relief, undesirable best friend, or just the background fat character placed there to make the MCs look better by comparison.



In real life, smaller and skinnier doesn't necessarily denote health. The average woman typically can't identify on the physical level with most of the female protagonists out there, so it just reinforces a negative perception of size. Whether it's intended or not in the books we read (not to mention other media), the portrayal of women as main characters does have an impact on the social definitions of what is acceptable or expected of women at a given size. Our message is that size isn't the factor that determines a woman's suitability as a main character and love interest. Ladies of size should be celebrated in fiction right alongside other women.



In short, the anthology delivers on its title; it's full of big damn heroines who not only get the chance to test their mettle, but also find love on their terms. I hope everyone enjoys the eclectic collection of sci-fi, fantasy, and urban fantasy stories in this anthology. Thank you so much for having me today on Beauty in Ruins!

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Big Damn Heroines is a celebration of the plus-sized woman. Specifically, the plus-sized woman kicking ass. The media perception of the strong female protagonist is almost invariably thin, but powerful women come in all shapes and sizes, and it's time that they had a chance to stand up and be recognized. The four stories in this anthology show that bigger women can be more than comic relief or the dumpy best friend. They can be a force to be reckoned with all on their own.



"Machine Gun" Mercy is a member of the Valkyries, an all-female squad of Roughnecks patrolling the outer solar system. When a distress call comes in from the penal colony on Titan, Mercy and the Valkyries descend to confront the Terror on Saturn VI. Porter has followed the career of vigilante superhero Firebird with great interest, if only because Firebird is actually Blaise, once her dearest friend. Firebird seems to be self-destructing, though, and though Porter tries to ignore it, she finds herself drawn into the Folie à Deux, a shared madness that threatens to swallow them both. The widening Distance of Memory following the recent death of their fourth member has left surviving bondmates Zaezon, Margellian, and Corynteea lost and uncertain. But when they come across evidence of a band of Renders attacking villages, they must find their way together as three in order to complete their mission. Finally, Cat, a Finder gifted with the ability to locate objects and people with preternatural ease, is contacted by former lover Mirsagh to help track down a merchant's son. As they follow the man's trail, old feelings—good and bad—resurface, and Cat is faced with the choice to let Mirsagh be the Finder's Keeper again.

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I, Crimsonstreak by Matt Adams (REVIEW)

I, Crimsonstreak by Matt Adams

Published May 15 2013 by Candlemark & Gleam

352 Pages



Synopsis:



Framed by his father, "reformed" supervillain Colonel Chaos, super-speedster Chris Fairborne, AKA Crimsonstreak, is sent to the Clermont Institution for the Criminally Insane. A hero surrounded by dastardly inmates and heartless guards, Chris struggles to keep his wits about him, until the arrival of some unexpected new "guests" at the facility provides him with a means for escape. Once out, though, he discovers that the world he knew is gone, replaced by a fascist, supposedly utopian state run by none other than Colonel Chaos himself.



With the heroes of the world locked away or fighting in a disorganized resistance, Crimsonstreak teams up with a snarky British butler and a teenage superhero-to-be. Together, the unlikely (and bickering) allies must take down Crimsonstreak's dad and set the world right. Not easy when your only powers are super-speed and looking good in spandex. But hey, someone's got to save the world.





Review:



I really had high hopes for this book. I love the concept and superhumans have always been an interest for me. Story starts out great but takes a swan dive as story unfolds.



*The Clermont Institute for the Criminally Insane: Serving evil-doers and those in need since 1972.*



Dark plague, Crusading Comet, Infrared, Crossworld, *His parents* Miss Lightspeed and Colonel Chaos (his current enemy)



After escaping from institute Crimesonstreak meets with a pot headed cheetah eating Cheetos after a long swim he ends up in New York.



In search of his mother's death and his father turned villain. Crimson finds the opposite of what he thought and heard from others.



Pop culture, funny dialogue and some interesting characters (see list above) but just didn't do it for me for a top read.

(as posted on Goodreads/Netgalley)

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Don't Be a Hero by Chris Strange (REVIEW)

As a teenager, I probably spent more time in comic books stores than was wise, and certainly spent far more money there than I care to remember. I witnessed the rise of of superstars like Todd McFarlane and Jim Lee, enjoyed Tim Burton's stunning cinematic rebirth of Batman on the big screen, and suffered through Sidney J. Furie's death-blow to the Superman franchise on VHS. I saw comic books stores explode across North America . . . and then slowly die of attrition a the 'coolness' factor of comic books waned once again.



While I stepped away from the comic book world when the reboots and restarts made it clear the writers had run out of stories, I never lost my love of superheroes. As a result, I'm always on the lookout for new books that feature superhero themes. They're generally hit-or-miss, but Don't Be a Hero is definitely more hit than miss. From the writing style, to the characters, to the storyline, to the dialogue, it's clear Chris Strange has not just a love for the genre, but an understanding for what makes it work.



Yes, it's derivative and cliched at times, but honestly so. Strange wears his superhero cape proudly, and tells precisely the kind of story you might expect. Simultaneously, it's also daring and original at times, with some rather unique touches that undeniably make the story his. Rather than reuse another nameless, faceless, booming North American metropolis, he transplants us to the streets of New Zealand, giving us a setting that's familiar, but which has room for invention. It's a world where mankind has made it to the Moon, establishing a colony for unwanted superheroes, but still gets by with steampunk-ish technology.



Similarly, he resists the urge to go with either the 'super' masculine or the endearingly geeky hero, giving us instead a lesbian superhero - one who's disillusioned and cynical, but otherwise quite ordinary. Heck, there's even a sidekick with the corny "guess my power" name of Carpenter, but he provides a nice balance to Spook. As for the villain of the story, he's very well-crafted, a character who serves as both a worthy foil and source of tangible menace - and who, it must be said, has some memorable henchmen. Strange clearly understands that at the heart of every great superhero tale is that balance . . . that conflict . . . that dichotomy of good versus evil. Without a worthy adversary, even the greatest superhero is just an impressive guy (or gal) in tights, and Quanta certainly helps to make Spook matter.



After a pair of superhero-themed novels that I left unfinished last year, and another pair that I quite enjoyed, I was curious to see how Strange would tilt the balance. Fortunately, this is another story that I quite enjoyed, and one that has me anxious to see what he'll do next. Not only does he keep superheroes cool, he makes then fun again.

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The Fire Inside by Raymond M. Rose (REVIEW)

Jack King seems like a normal guy. He works at a bookstore, has a beautiful girlfriend, and loves photography. But he isn’t normal. Not by a long stretch. He could blow up half this city in the blink of an eye.



It was with this simple tease, just a few short lines, that Raymond M. Rose first captured his attention.Without knowing anything more about it, The Fire Inside immediately slipped into the depths of my towering review pile, just waiting for its chance to see the light of day - or, as the case may be, light of my new Kindle Glo!



Stylistically, the novel challenged me a bit, requiring a bit of persistence to get beyond the sometimes awkward dialogue, irregular word choices, and oddities of grammar. It felt like the manuscript could have used one more round of editing and polishing to smooth out the rough edges, but while it tried my patience early on, it (thankfully) never exhausted it.



Having said that, this was an exceptionally fun read, and one that pretty well captured the spirit of what a superhero novel should be. With many similar novels I've read over the last few years, the trend seems to have been to dress up, modernize, and rationalize all the joy out of the comic book inspiration. I think that's why I struggled so with Myke Cole's first Shadow Ops novel, ultimately relegating it to the DNF pile, while so many peers were gushing over it. I don't want a superhero novel that struggles to attain some level of plausibility - just accept that you've suspended my disbelief, and entertain me.



That's that Rose has done here with The Fire Inside, letting his characters (and their respective powers) shine, free of any artificial guilt restraint. Of course, it helps that they have a solid core story to work around, with a central mystery that invites the reader to play along and try to out-sleuth the characters. I suspect most readers will guess the identity of the supervillain before the characters, but that's all part of the fun. The liberal sprinkling of 'geek' nods is a bit of a distraction, in that it so often pulls you out of the story with either an ah-hah laugh or a knowing smirk, but it shows a love for the genre that can't be ignored.



Are the characters a bit too perfect, a bit too attractive, and bit too good to be true? Sure, but that's precisely what we want our superheroes to be. This is a comic book without the panel illustrations, but one that provides enough detail to allow the reader to imagine their own illustrations. Some readers may feel there's a bit too much exposition, with Rose struggling to pain too much of a picture which each new character introduction or scene change, but think of it in terms of a comic book, with those transitional 'blocks' of text to carry you through, and it all feels quite natural.



Overall, this is a fun, fast-paced, action-packed adventure with enough backstory and character development to really engage the reader. While not perfect - there are a few plot holes or inconsistencies that nagged at me - I'd more than curious to see where Rose takes the Sidekicks saga next.

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Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher (REVIEW and GIVEAWAY)

Good afternoon, and welcome back to Day 4 of Angry Robot Week here at Beauty in Ruins, once again featuring Adam Christopher. We're kicked the day off with an interview, so now it's time to get into my review of Seven Wonders.

Read along, and when you're done, don't forget to check out the giveaway below and enter for a chance to win a paperback ARC copy of Seven Wonders.

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Growing up, I was an absolutely huge fan of comic books. Every Wednesday and every Friday we'd either grab our bikes or hop on the bus downtown to pick up the newest releases. Although I was primarily a Marvel man (The Amazing Spider-Man, The Uncanny X-Men, Excalibur, and The Incredible Hulk were my must-haves), I regularly hopped shelves into DC territory or some of the independents. At some point, however, I began to lose interest. Part of it was frustration with the expensive gimmicks of variant covers, foil covers, bagged editions, etc, but a bigger part of it was sheer boredom. I got the point where I could recognize all the rehashed story lines, and the novelty of massive reboots quickly began to wear thin.



I've tried getting back into comics and graphic novels over the years, particularly with the Dark Tower adaptations and the comic book seasons of Buffy and Angel, but it just wasn't the same. I still like the stories, but the medium just didn't work for me anymore. So, with that in mind, the idea of a comic book novel began to seem very appealing.



Enter Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher - not the first comic book novel I've read, but certainly one of the strongest. The first thing that struck me about it, right from the opening chapters, is that this was a more realistic take on superheroes, and one seemingly tailored for a maturing audience. It's dark, a little gritty, and surprisingly bloody. People actually die, violently and permanently. More than that, it's a bit cynical and jaded, with a city being oppressed by the last remaining super-villain, and supposedly protected by a team of superheroes who aren't in any rush to put their lives on the line to stop each and every act of villainy being perpetrated.



Oddly enough, for a book called Seven Wonders, the heroes are the least interesting part of the novel. Instead, for me, it was the conflict between Tony and The Cowl that kept me reading. Here you have an ordinary guy slowly acquiring superpowers, freeing him from the shroud of terror under which he's lived for years, and the last remaining super-villain, just as slowly losing his superpowers, putting his ultimate end-game for San Ventura (and the Seven Wonders) in jeopardy. The balance between police drama and superhero drama was a nice touch as well, deliberately contrasting themes of heroism, responsibility, and accountability throughout.



I did say it's dark, gritty, cynical, and jaded, but it's also romantic (sometimes in a creepy sort of way), humorous (often in an ironic or sarcastic sort of way), and absolutely action-packed (with very real consequences to those actions). There is also a surprising amount of character development involved, with Tony nearly unrecognizable by the end, and The Cowl and Blackbird . . . well, I'll refrain from saying any more about that pairing, for fear of spoiling one of the most interesting developments in the story. Also, given that we're dealing with prose, and can't actually see the costumes, I must say Christopher does a solid job of differentiating the Seven Wonders themselves, which I expected to be a major challenge.



In terms of plotting, the book reads very much like a comic book, completely with chapter-ending cliffhangers and twists that seem to come out of nowhere. The same with the narrative, where dialogue 'bubbles' are regularly broken up with descriptive 'blocks' as we move from imaginary panel to panel. It's awkward at first, and has the potential to annoy or alienate some readers, but it also helps preserve that comic book feel.



If you like your superheroes all perfect and shiny, your mortality clear-cut, and the lines between good and evil explicitly defined, this may not be the novel for you. Similarly, if you're just looking for more of the same in terms of Dark Knight grimness and grittiness, this may take you in directions you're not comfortable going. However, if you're a comic book fan with an appreciation for all the different flavours of superheroes, and an avid reader with an appreciation for a novel that does something new (and does it well), then this is definitely worth a read.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Don't forget to check out my interview with Lee Battersby as well, for a chance to win a paperback ARC copy of The Corpse Rat King!

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Adam Christopher INTERVIEW & Seven Wonders GIVEAWAY

Good morning, and welcome to Day 4 of Angry Robot Week here at Beauty in Ruins, this time featuring Adam Christopher. We're kicking the day off with an interview, before getting onto a review of Seven Wonders later this afternoon.

Read along, and when you're done, don't forget to check out the giveaway below and enter for a chance to win a paperback ARC copy of Seven Wonders.

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BOB: Thanks for taking the time to stop by, Adam. With the release of Seven Wonders just weeks away, I know you must be busy. Before we get started, can you tell us a bit about yourself?



ADAM: Thanks for having me here, Bob! My name is Adam Christopher, and I’m a writer! I’m the author of Empire State and Seven Wonders, both from Angry Robot, who are also publishing two more books over the next two years – The Age Atomic (a sequel to Empire State), and Hang Wire, an urban fantasy set in San Francisco. I’m also an author over at Tor Books, and my first novel for them, a dark space opera called Shadow’s Call, is out in 2014.



I’m from New Zealand originally, and moved to the UK in 2006. I’m a fan of superhero comics, tea, Lego, and The Cure.

BOB: Wow, thanks for getting Lovecats stuck in my head for the rest of the day! The journey to publication can be a long one, even with the rise of small presses and indie publishing. How has the experience of brining Seven Wonders to print differed from that of Empire State?



ADAM: I initially signed a two-book deal with Angry Robot – Empire State was the novel I pitched to the editor, Lee Harris, and publishing director Marc Gascoigne, over lunch when I went to visit their office back in August 2010. I’d met them both on Twitter a couple of years before, and we became friends thanks to a shared interest in books, comics, films, that kind of thing. I was working on my writing, and while I blogged about it now and again we never really talked about it, even after I met Lee in person at a few UK science fiction conventions. When I dropped Lee a line to say I’d be in the area and suggested we meet up for lunch, I didn’t intend to pitch anything and I certainly hadn’t prepared, so when Marc asked about the book I was currently working on I sort of rambled for about an hour, making a real mess of it. But Marc invited me to send it in when it was done, and I did, and then I got that magic phone call a few months later.



Angry Robot wanted two books – Empire State and something else. Empire State was actually the third novel I’d written (and at that stage I’d written a fourth as well), so a few days after they made their offer I met Lee at the SFX Weekender, a big multimedia SF convention, and we sat down to talk about the other books. I expected them to go with that fourth book, but to my surprise Lee asked to see Seven Wonders, and that was the second book they bought.



Getting Empire State to print – the first time I’d even seen this side of the publishing industry – was a learning curve, but an enjoyable one. I’d written
Seven Wonders before even starting
Empire State, and when it came time to look at it again it had been maybe two years since completion and I’d written two more full novels. So I took the opportunity to revise it extensively – my style and voice had developed in the interim, so
Seven Wonders needed a bit of TLC. Having learned a great deal during the edit of
Empire State for Angry Robot, I was able to pre-empt a lot of the work on
Seven Wonders that I knew they’d ask for, so overall I think the process was smoother.



Looking at
Seven Wonders on the shelf in my office, next to
Empire State, I have a weird sort of feeling – the book was written before
Empire State, but is being published after it. From my point of view it’s an older story… but it feels fresher because it had that big reworking once everything on
Empire State was done and dusted!



BOB: It's fascinating (and a little dizzying) to look at the chain of events that bring a work into print. Given the subject matter of
Seven Wonders, I have to ask where your geek alliances lie – Marvel, DC, or one of the newer kids on the block (Dark Horse, Image, IDW)?

ADAM: I have to say DC – they just feel more like home to me. I do read a lot of Marvel – more now than ever, actually – but I haven’t quite got the depth of knowledge that I do with DC. I’m actually looking forward to the Marvel NOW! Initiative, as that’ll be a good time to dive into some titles and characters I haven’t explored yet.



I’m also really getting into Monkeybrain Comics – they’re a new digital indie publisher, run by Chris Roberson. They only launched in July this year, but already they’re one of the most exciting players.



BOB: Reading a superhero novel is undeniably a different experience than that of a comic book or graphic novel. What advantages/disadvantages do you feel the novel format offers?



ADAM: I agree – comics and graphic novels are visual as well as textual, and superhero comics rely even more on the artwork. That’s why superheroes work so well in films, because you can translate the spectacle and grandeur of a comic page onto the big screen easily if you have enough money!



Novels are completely different, and putting superheroes into prose is definitely a difficult thing. I think it helps that I’m a total superhero comics fanatic, and
Seven Wonders is my big epic superhero adventure, so when I was writing it I was pretty much visualizing it panel-by-panel, shot-by-shot – a mash-up of a graphic novel and a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. Getting that visual aspect of superheroes across was vital.



Novels have a lot of advantages too – you can do into as much depth and backstory as you like, you can see into a character’s mind and see their point of view. You can really do anything you like, and you’ve got the space to explore it all. Of course, you can do that in comics as well, but it’s a different form that has different rules and different techniques.



BOB: Assuming you were offered the opportunity to adapt
Seven Wonders as a graphic novel, who would you insist upon as the illustrator?



ADAM: I’d be hard-pressed to pick just one favourite artist – I love the work of Ivan Reis, Amanda Conner, Nicola Scott, Francis Manipul and Kevin Maguire. Away from that traditional modern superhero style, Alex Ross would be wonderful – his painted art has a real epic, majestic quality. Darwyn Cooke is another favourite, his work is so distinctive.



BOB: Some nice choices! Let’s take the concept of adaptation in a different direction for a moment. With comic book movies dominating the box office, who would you look at for your dream cast in
Seven Wonders?



ADAM: I tend to cast most, but not all, of my characters as I write, which is a handy trick – I think that probably comes from the way I visualise the story in my mind, especially something as “graphical” as
Seven Wonders.



So Detective Sam Miller is Emily Rose and Joe Milano a somewhere between Idris Elba and Jon Huertas. Tony is Milo Ventimiglia, no doubt about it. Jeannie is harder to cast, but Liv Tyler would be interesting.



The Seven Wonders… hmm, maybe Henry Czerny as Aurora, Erica Durance (with blonde hair!) as Bluebell, an aged-up Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Linear, Brian Blessed as Hephaestus, and Christa B. Allen as The Dragon Star and Patricia Velásquez as Sand Cat. SMART is a robot, and a big one at that, so its more the voice that is critical. How about Kevin Conroy? That would be the icing on the cake!



Although it might seem like a strange choice, I see Nathan Fillion making a good Cowl.



BOB: That is an interesting cast - I can definitely see a few of them, but I'd have to see the others in action to figure out how they mesh with what I imagined. If we can talk the mechanics of writing for a moment, do you have a habit, a trick, or an obsession in how and where you write?



ADAM: Not really – as a born procrastinator I’ve spent years looking for tricks, but have so far failed to find any! Writing is a job, which means you have to treat it like one – sit down and write. I do try and stick to a routine, writing 2-3,000 words a day in 1,000-word chunks. I have two writing spots, upstairs in my office, which is more formal and business-like (which I find best for editing and rewriting, and having a large monitor is handy for comparing documents and cutting/pasting bits in and out and making notes), and downstairs in my library. The library has a big comfy chair and I’m surrounded by books. I tend to start projects here on my laptop, and write maybe 90% of the first draft in this more relaxed environment.



BOB: Damn - I keep hoping somebody will find that procrastination trick for me. I'll have to find it myself . . . one of these days! In terms of story, what comes easiest for you, and where do you struggle the most? Is it the title? The first paragraph? The last chapter? The cover blurb?



ADAM: I like to have a title right at the beginning – I don’t know why, but it makes the writing a lot easier! Which is all in my head, of course. I enjoy the opening pages of a new project, before you get to the real meat of the thing. Endings are probably the hardest bit, as I often don’t quite know where to stop!



Cover blurbs and the like are the responsibility of the editor, usually, although it’s usually pretty easy to cribs bits and bobs from the pitches and synopses I’ve already written. I actually love writing these little things – there is something quite satisfying about distilling an entire novel in a couple of paragraphs, or something even shorter, even if it makes you tear you hair out when you’re trying to trim the blurb down word by word.



BOB: When you’re not writing, what authors do you look to for entertainment or inspiration?



ADAM: I read a lot – all writers should, across many different genres. I used to ignore this advice, sticking to my beloved science fiction, but now I read crime, thrillers, even Westerns. It all helps with the writing, too. I always worry when I hear a writer saying they don’t have time to read.



My reading includes, of course, comics. Lots of comics – I probably read on average about four or five issues a day. As well as trying to keep up with new releases, I’m going through a lot of older material, including Daredevil from the 1970s and the terrific runs of Batman and Detective Comics from 2000.



We’re also in this amazing golden age of US TV, so that tends to be about the only stuff I watch these days – Justified, Longmire, Person of Interest, Fringe, Community… some of the best writing around is now in US television. Stephen King used to say that writers should throw out their TVs, but I wonder if he’s changed his view in the last few years!



BOB: I'm partial to our home-grown Canadian shows myself, which means I'm currently mourning the final season of Flashpoint. Before we let you go, what can we look forward to from you next? I know you've mentioned a few projects, but is there another novel in the works, or perhaps a short story to tide the fans over?



ADAM: The next scheduled releases, as I mentioned, are The Age Atomic (Angry Robot, May 2013), Hang Wire (Angry Robot, May 2014), and Shadow’s Call (Tor, early 2014). In the meantime, readers who pick up the limited edition hardcover of Seven Wonders from Forbidden Planet will find a brand new and exclusive short story in the back, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Comic Con. I’ve got another project I’m working on now in a new medium for me, which I’m excited to be part of but which isn’t going to be announced for a while yet.



And then I’ve got four novels to write next year – in first draft, at least! – I’m actually working ahead of my publication schedule by about two books, as Hang Wire and Shadow’s Call are already done, as is the first draft of The Age Atomic.



So, hopefully there’ll be some news to share soon enough. But until then, I’m just going to have to be a big tease and say “watch this space”.



BOB: Well, I’ll let you get back to writing, but thanks again for stopping by.



ADAM: Thanks, Bob!

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Don't forget to check out my interview with Lee Battersby as well, for a chance to win a paperback ARC copy of The Corpse Rat King!

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