So Close We Can Taste It

/ Action and Attitude
April 2009 / Volume 1, Number 6
In This Issue

• So close we can taste it
• Early feedback—love it!
• What is Ann up to now?
• Look at the pretty!
• Book watch
• Bev(QB), a tasty erm, tasteful guest

Book Pages
Grimspace
Wanderlust
Doubleblind
Blue Diablo
Want a taste? Have some excerpts
Introducing Sirantha Jax
Let’s take a trip
They call this diplomacy?
Corine Solomon, redhead
Kyra and Reyes
Where in Web is Ann?
Ann Aguirre
Contests, blogging and hot-from-the-press news.
Ava Gray
Home away from home, where Ann’s secret identity dwells
Bradford Bunch
Check out the happenings with this group of wonderful authors
Something Wicked
(These are all indeed wicked women)
Get in Touch


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So close we can taste it

Doesn’t it feel like we have been waiting for the release of Blue Diablo for years and years? And now, finally!, it’s almost here.
Almost but not quite.(Have you ever noticed how time stretches endlessly, and seems to crawl forward like frozen molasses when you are in a hurry for something good to happen? Torture, isn’t it?)
On the plus side, we have come up with a few ways to help you guys pass the time until release day. For example, some lucky readers can get their very own signed copy before release day.
Plus this month there will be not one but two opportunities for US readers to meet Ann and get their Blue Diablocopies singed and personalized!

Early Feedback—love it!

You remember all those pretty shiny ARCs we have been giving away?

Well, several of the lucky winners have devoured theirs already. Allow me to share a taste of what they have to say about Blue Diablo, Corine and Ann’s writing:
An Again, fromA Writer’s Block, writes: “(Ann)Aguirre managed to create a character who really could be one of us. Her power isn’t so bizarrely out there. (…) She’s kick ass without being able to kick everybody’s ass; in a combat situation, she’s better armed with a cell phone ready to call 911 than with a gun, but she’s no damsel in distress waiting for the big strong men to come rescue her.”
Over at Goodreads, KimB says, “Blue Diablo is a refreshingly new entry in the urban fantasy genre (…) I really loved this book, and Corine in particular. She's sassy and a survivor, but she's not the stereotypical kickass hard-bodied heroine you usually find in urban fantasy. She's short, dresses in bohemian chic, and likes to eat; she could be me or one of my girlfriends, except for her ability and the tragedy of her past.”
From all the way across the pond and a couple of minor seas, over in Finland, Blodeuedd commented, “(Blue Diablo) is that kind of book that makes you want to continue reading, you feel the urge to know what is going to happen.”
And let’s not forget this month’s visitor at Action and Attitude, the lovely Bev(QB), who—in the middle of some *cough* troubling *cough* reading—exclaimed, “GOD BLESS ANN AGUIRRE!Within just the first few pages of Blue Diablo, I said to myself, “THIS is why I love to read.””

What is Ann up to now?

You mean beside the still going Blue Diablo Blowout over at her blog, the one with multiple prizes up to $250?
Well, let me tell you what: Ann’s Blue Diablo virtual blog tour starts in full force tomorrow, March 25th at Jennifer’s Random Musings and continues, Monday through Friday, until April 20th, ending with a flourish at Cubie’s Confections.The complete list of stops is posted on Ann’s appearances page.
That’s right, my pretties, a different blog each day, and a signed copy ofBlue Diabloup for grabs. And this is not all yet, not by a long shot!
Being the energetic whirlwind that she is, Ann is doing a very quick trip to San Diego to participate in a book signing at Mysterious Galaxy on Friday April 10th at 7PM. South Californians, this is your chance!
As if all this activity weren’t enough to exhaust anyone, Ann is coming over to the sunshine state for the Romantic Times Convention in Orlando.
And it gets even better (for me at least) Ann is going to hang out around the neighborhood and, if I’m really good, I may be able to snap a few pictures of her visiting at chez aztec.

Look at the pretty!

Here is it, the long awaited cover for Doubleblind, the third Jax novel!
Isn’t it just gorgeous? And allow me to let you in on a little secret: that is exactly how Jax looks in the last chapters of the novel. Exactly like that. It’s truly a most excellent cover and Ann continues to be blessed by the cover faeries, isn’t she?
And that is not the only great looking cover Ann got this month—look at this!
Remember that vampire anthology I had mentioned before? The one for which Ann was asked to write a story? (which, by the way, it’s a great short story—and no, I’m not prejudiced)
This is the cover for the Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2. (Is that a great dress or what?)
You may want to mark your calendars now; this book is coming out in October this year.

Book Watch

First a quick reminder, as there are a number of great titles coming out in the next few days as March draws to a close.
Cynthia Eden’s Immortal Danger comes out on March 31st.
As chance would have it, both Ilona Andrews and Larissa Ione have the third title in a series coming out that day. Magic Strikes is the third book in the Kate Daniels urban fantasy series, and Passion Unleashed, Ms Ione’s third Demonica novel, tells the story of Wraith, the third Seminus demon brother.
Lori Devoti continues the Unbound saga withDark Crusade.
Hot and Bothered is the newest title from Dianne Castell, published by Kensington’s Brava.
Then of course there’s Blue Diabloavailable on shelves everywhere starting on April 7th; as is Jaci Burton’s latest Wild Riders novel, Riding on Instinct.
A short week after that, a huge anthology with twenty four short stories by some of the subgenre’s best authors comes out: The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance.
And to close such a great month in style, Angie Fox’s The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers;Hunter’s Edge, by the talented Shiloh Walker, andset in the same universeas her Hunters series; and finally,Lover Avenged, the seventh title in J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, all come out on the 28th.

Bev(QB), a tasty erm tasteful guest

Visiting all the way from her kitchen over atCubie’s Confections, here is Bev to talk with us about Urban Fantasy heroines.
The best Urban Fantasy usually keeps its world building firmly grounded in our reality so that when the author leads us beyond that reality, the supernatural/paranormal aspects then seem plausible. However, in order to effectively confront supernatural villains, the UF heroines have traditionally needed to be larger than life characters who seldom back down from fights.

One of the godmothers of Urban Fantasy, Laurell K. Hamilton, popularized the template for the Urban Fantasy heroine—AnitaBlake, the über alpha female. For the most part, the genre’s heroines have remained kick-butt and tough, Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse being one notable exception that developed on a different branch of the UF evolutionary tree. UF heroines often refuse to acknowledge their emotions, and consider femininity and vulnerability to be anathemas. They often have issues relating to abandonment or rejection due to the death of their parents, grandparents, and/or someone else they were emotionally dependent on. All this is usually wrapped up in some version of a Sarah Conner/Lara Croft physical package that is irresistibly sexy to the male (and sometimes female) characters. Even Paranormal Romance now seems to frequently shift focus from the angst ridden alpha hero to the Urban Fantasy type of alpha heroine.
As a longtime UF fan, I’ve enjoyed quite a few of these heroines’ stories immensely, and can’t imagine another type of heroine coming out alive from some of those supernatural battles. But lately I’ve noticed what may signal a metamorphosis of the Urban Fantasy heroine. Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson is more likely to shift into her coyote form and run away than she is to stick around to kick bad guy butt. Jeri Smith-Ready’s Ciara Griffin comes from a family of Grifters and saves the day by using the skills she learned running cons.
And now we have Ann Aguirre’s Corine Solomon. You know how you’ll often hear a guy referred to as “a man’s man”? Well Corine is “a woman’s woman” that I couldn’t help but identify and empathize with.
Ann has given us a heroine who’s more BFF than avatar. She’ll have your back in a bar fight; but she won’t be bailing you out of jail because she’ll drag your butt out from under the bar and through the window before the cops ever get there. She loves food, drinks, and damns her hips. Corine sometimes has to bite her tongue to hold back inappropriate comments, and sometimes she doesn’t bother to hold back. She gets horny and gets satisfied, whether alone or with someone else—unlessshe’s denying herself to prove a point. She unabashedly appreciates a nice helping of eye candy. And, oh yeah, she also happens to possess a few paranormal gifts that have kept her on the run most of her life and get her involved with other not-quite-normal characters. Those other characters include her ex-boyfriend, Chance, who’s complicating her life again, but still needs to prove to Corine that he’s not just offering lip service (in more ways than one).
Within just a few moments of meeting Corine I eagerly followed her away from my world and into hers. Is there anything better than feeling reality slip away as you settle into a great book? Blue Diablo reminded me why I love to read, and Corine reminded me why I love to read Ann Aguirre’s characters.
Have you noticed any other recent UF heroines that refuse to conform to the traditional UF heroine role?