If you're curious, I used random.org to draw for the winner:)
I'm a geek and a writer. I love comic books, classic movie monsters, everlasting love, old pulp fiction and genres outside of the mainstream.
I write under two names. As Theda Black, I write about men in love with other men. I write fairy tales, urban legends and horror under the name of Klaudia Bara.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
winner for HAHAT
Laurie is the winner for a contribution in her name to the IT GETS BETTER project, along with a free copy of a book of her choosing. Thanks to all of you for participating in the hop and for your support of LGBTQ rights.
If you're curious, I used random.org to draw for the winner:)
If you're curious, I used random.org to draw for the winner:)
Friday, May 17, 2013
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia - May 17
My name is Theda Black, and I welcome you to my little corner of the blogosphere. I'm an LGBT writer, also a horror/erotica writer under another name. It seems like an odd combination of interests, I know. I'm interested in edgy situations, intense relationships, passionate events and no safety nets. I explore the emotional and sometimes physical limits of my characters, particularly involving what they can and will endure for the sake of love. Often that involves darker storylines than normal. You can find out more about me at blackbara.net.
I started several posts for HAHAT 2013 and had to scrap them all. Talking about the issues in general terms just wasn't working. It's personal, and once I understood how I needed to talk about it, things fell into place.
True story:
I live in Tennessee. My daughter, age fifteen, is attracted to boys. Her best friend's dad, a preacher, found out about it. I discovered later on that he'd walked around our neighborhood, questioning the kids because of a rumor he'd heard. One of the neighborhood kids told me she'd felt intimidated by him.
Over the next year she wasn't allowed to see her best friend, someone she's known and loved since elementary school.
The year passed. My daughter is allowed to see her friend again, but not to sleep over. Her friend stayed with us many times in the past, for fun times and during times when her family needed someone to look after her, and vice versa. All of that is over now. I am angry about this, but my daughter says it's progress, and she'll take it.
My daughter is a brave person. She holds her boyfriend's hand in public. In one of her high school classes, she challenged the teacher who aired a negative view on heterosexuality. She and her boyfriend exchanged gifts at school on Valentine's Day and took a little flak for it, but not much. It was a good day.
Most of the time when people at school question her, tease her, treat her like an interesting but completely different species they found inside the classroom, she responds civilly. She has a light, even-handed touch when responding, even though on some days all she really wants is to be left in peace. She only cried once at the bullying she's gotten at school this year, and then she came home and told me. The school dealt with it in a prompt and satisfactory way. I was so very happy to have the school's support and impressed by their response.
This is what it's like for my daughter, growing up. I am incredibly proud of her and humbled by her attitude, her forthrightness, and her bravery.
Oh, but wait - this is how it really goes.
I live in Tennessee. My daughter, age fifteen, is attracted to girls. Her best friend's dad, a preacher, found out about it. I discovered later on that he'd walked around our neighborhood, questioning the kids because of a rumor he'd heard. One of the neighborhood kids told me she'd felt intimidated by him.
Over the next year she wasn't allowed to see her best friend, someone she's known and loved since elementary school.
The year passed. My daughter is allowed to see her friend again, but not to sleep over. Her friend stayed with us many times in the past, for fun times and during times when her family needed someone to look after her, and vice versa. All of that is over now. I am angry about this, but my daughter says it's progress, and she'll take it.
My daughter is a brave person. She holds her girlfriend's hand in public. In one of her high school classes, she challenged the teacher who aired a negative view of same-sex relationships. She and her girlfriend exchanged gifts at school on Valentine's Day and took a little flak for it, but not much. It was a good day.
Most of the time when people at school question her, tease her, treat her like an interesting but completely different species they found inside the classroom, she responds civilly. She has a light, even-handed touch when responding, even though on some days all she really wants is to be left in peace. She only cried once at the bullying she's gotten at school this year, and then she came home and told me. The school dealt with it in a prompt and satisfactory way. I was so very happy to have the school's support and impressed by their response.
This is what it's like for my daughter, growing up and identifying openly as lesbian. I am incredibly proud of her and humbled by her attitude, her forthrightness, and her bravery.
Does her story make more sense now?
It shouldn't.
****
links of interest: Violence Prevention Bullying Statistics stopbullying.gov
Leave a comment (with your email address) for a chance to win! I'd love to make a donation in your name (or a name of your choice) to the IT GETS BETTER project. You're also welcome to a free copy of a novella from my backlist - let me know the title you choose along with the preferred format (mobi, PDF, or epub). I'll draw for the winner the day after HAHAT ends.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
research on wolves and notes to self
For BtNM and Rising Wolf, I very consciously chose to make my weres monsters while under the influence of the full moon. The classic version of the werewolf only shifting when the moon is full, or of being turned into a werewolf via a bite from another werewolf, are actually 20th century additions to werewolf folklore (movie lore, more like). I grew up with those ideas and love them, so I used them. But I had to expand on my version of werewolves for Rising Wolf and used actual wolf pack dynamics as a starting point. So, research.
quote pertinent to RW (or why Mal isn't killed almost immediately for threatening the pack's alpha male):
Furthermore, the breeding male defers posturally when he approaches the breeding female tending young pups. On 26 June 1990, I observed the breeding male walk toward the female in the den "excitedly wagging his tail and body." Similarly, on 18 May 1990 in Denali Park, Alaska, I observed radio-collared breeding male 251 in the Headquarters Pack (Mech et al. 1998) approach breeding female 307 when she was in a den with pups and begin to "wiggle walk," waving his back end and tail like a subordinate approaching a dominant. The female emerged from the den and the male then regurgitated to her. These were the only times I have ever seen a breeding male act submissively toward any other wolf, and it seems to indicate that the breeding female is temporarily dominant to even the breeding male before the pups emerge from the den.
--from the Minnesotans for Sustainability site, on the page titled "Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs," L. David Mech
further cited as
Mech, L. David. 1999. Alpha status, dominance, and division of labor in wolf packs. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:1196-1203. Northern Prairie Publication 1078. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND.
See at < http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/2000/alstat/alstat.htm >. May 16, 2000. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, 8711 37th Street SE, Jamestown, ND 58401-7317
Which for my purposes means to me that the female alpha's protection extends over new pack members - for a very short while.
quote pertinent to RW (or why Mal isn't killed almost immediately for threatening the pack's alpha male):
Furthermore, the breeding male defers posturally when he approaches the breeding female tending young pups. On 26 June 1990, I observed the breeding male walk toward the female in the den "excitedly wagging his tail and body." Similarly, on 18 May 1990 in Denali Park, Alaska, I observed radio-collared breeding male 251 in the Headquarters Pack (Mech et al. 1998) approach breeding female 307 when she was in a den with pups and begin to "wiggle walk," waving his back end and tail like a subordinate approaching a dominant. The female emerged from the den and the male then regurgitated to her. These were the only times I have ever seen a breeding male act submissively toward any other wolf, and it seems to indicate that the breeding female is temporarily dominant to even the breeding male before the pups emerge from the den.
--from the Minnesotans for Sustainability site, on the page titled "Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs," L. David Mech
further cited as
Mech, L. David. 1999. Alpha status, dominance, and division of labor in wolf packs. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:1196-1203. Northern Prairie Publication 1078. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND.
See at < http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/2000/alstat/alstat.htm >. May 16, 2000. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, 8711 37th Street SE, Jamestown, ND 58401-7317
Which for my purposes means to me that the female alpha's protection extends over new pack members - for a very short while.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Dear Author
...linked to a former reviewer's post, called "Why I Now Hate Erotic Romance." Interesting post. That there are plenty of books full of general shite available by unskilled authors, well, yes. That's true. It's not limited by genre. I remember laughing my ass off at reading a Ray Garton werewolf (horror) novel wherein the wife turns into a werewolf and eats her husband's face while they're having sex. "She's eeeatting me!" or some such funniness. (I actually enjoyed it because it was fun, but never mind.)
Friday, April 26, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Barnes and Noble switch from PubIt! to NOOK Press
I received an email yesterday from B&N about their switch to NOOK Press. (PubIt! is scheduled to be phased out in favor of NP). The email says "Same Great Terms: Our favorable PubIt! business terms and commitment to a
transparent retail partnership remain unchanged." But when I went to signup, I read through the terms and backed out, thinking to go through it again thoroughly later since I was skimming the information. I've been through it again and here are some comparisons.
1.
NP can "remove or modify the cover artwork, metadata and product description that you submit to us, or reformat your eBook to make it compatible with NOOK Press."
PubIt! terms: "We may, in our discretion, reformat your eBooks to make them compatible with the Service, and you acknowledge that certain unintentional formatting errors may occur in the process of reformatting of your eBooks."
2.
NP pricing and payment terms are nebulous as set out, aside from this biggie: "We have sole and complete discretion to set the Retail Price at which your eBooks are sold to the customer." But note that NOOK Pricing and Payment Terms offer the same figures given (as of this date) under PubIt! Service Policies.
PubIt! is the same: "We have sole and complete discretion to set the Retail Price at which your eBooks are sold to the customer." Service Policies under PubIt! gives the same figures listed under NOOK Press Pricing and Payment Terms, linked above.
3.
NP: "We will use commercially reasonable efforts to effect any change in List Price you provide to us within twenty (20) days following the date on which you submit it." Reasonable efforts? Is 20 days really necessary?
PubIt! terms in comparison: ""Any change in List Price you provide to us will be effective within five (5) business days following the date on which you submit it." Much more reasonable.
4.
Ebook withdrawal terms has changed by giving NP five more days.
Anyone with more findings, give a shout-out:)
EDIT: Mindy Klasky notes a major flaw when uploading stories at NP in comments
1.
NP can "remove or modify the cover artwork, metadata and product description that you submit to us, or reformat your eBook to make it compatible with NOOK Press."
PubIt! terms: "We may, in our discretion, reformat your eBooks to make them compatible with the Service, and you acknowledge that certain unintentional formatting errors may occur in the process of reformatting of your eBooks."
2.
NP pricing and payment terms are nebulous as set out, aside from this biggie: "We have sole and complete discretion to set the Retail Price at which your eBooks are sold to the customer." But note that NOOK Pricing and Payment Terms offer the same figures given (as of this date) under PubIt! Service Policies.
PubIt! is the same: "We have sole and complete discretion to set the Retail Price at which your eBooks are sold to the customer." Service Policies under PubIt! gives the same figures listed under NOOK Press Pricing and Payment Terms, linked above.
3.
NP: "We will use commercially reasonable efforts to effect any change in List Price you provide to us within twenty (20) days following the date on which you submit it." Reasonable efforts? Is 20 days really necessary?
PubIt! terms in comparison: ""Any change in List Price you provide to us will be effective within five (5) business days following the date on which you submit it." Much more reasonable.
4.
Ebook withdrawal terms has changed by giving NP five more days.
Anyone with more findings, give a shout-out:)
EDIT: Mindy Klasky notes a major flaw when uploading stories at NP in comments
Thursday, March 28, 2013
names and other
The other day I realized a pretty extensive character list had been added to the listing for The Vampire's Boy on Shelfari. I'm terrible at remembering names. As I was looking at it, for a couple of them I thought, "Who the hell was that?" Took me a moment. I put more thought into the main character names, but for many of the minors, the names come after I've planned them with no real significance attached.
I was happy to see Bernie (the neighbor's dog) and Malvoline listed (Jared's cat). I love them.
Work on Rising Wolf continues, slow but steady, and I am satisfied with it thus far. I figure I'm about 20% of the way through it. Mal's monthly transformation is causing changes in him that influence the rest of his behavior during the month. The interesting part to me is that Zach handles it better than Mal.
I was happy to see Bernie (the neighbor's dog) and Malvoline listed (Jared's cat). I love them.
Work on Rising Wolf continues, slow but steady, and I am satisfied with it thus far. I figure I'm about 20% of the way through it. Mal's monthly transformation is causing changes in him that influence the rest of his behavior during the month. The interesting part to me is that Zach handles it better than Mal.
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