It's 2012 not 1812

Brilliant Marketing Ploy--The Mug Shots from Copper

I am a sucker for great marketing ploys--yes, I'm the person who would have sent in box tops to get a decoder ring, and Copper has come up with a dandy. I've been tracking BBC America's show Copper since it was first announced and I'm liking it more and more with each episode. I know the era and the setting pretty well from my own research and I love that the writers are taking the time to use period slang that's accurate and bring up events from the time that aren't completely obvious.
The gimmick?  You can upload your photo to their website and turn a photo of yourself into a vintage mug shot.

I had two thoughts when I saw the results. One, I really look like my brother in drag; and two, this must be what it's like to be a face transplant patient.
Check it out.  On the left is  the original vintage mug shot.
Below left  is the color photo I used. Note, we have nearly identical noses. And the final result is to the right. I find it...strangely fascinating. 
There weren't enough letters to spell out Kat the Blade, which is an inside joke among my geekier friends. (Like I can point geeky fingers at anyone.)  If you want to see what you'd look like as a 19th century felon, check out Mugshot Yourself on the Copper site.

Sunday Sample Story: Death of a Dancer

This story appears in my new collection The Poisoned Teat, which is still not up at Amazon, although it is available from Smashwords. It's  an urban fantasy/noir about a working class vampire in love. It is sparkle-free.

DEATH OF A DANCER

Most of what people think they know about vampires is a lot like what people think they know about American history—a skein of lies tangled up with half-truth and wishful thinking and fanciful notions.

Not every vampire is handsome.

Not every vampire is rich.

Not every vampire is ancient.

In 2008 I was 19 years old and stocking shelves in a 24-hour convenience store when a vampire strolled in for a midnight snack and left me permanently working the night shift.

And I did have to work. Even with groceries taken out of my monthly budget, I still had to cover rent and cable and my WoW subscription, and my cell phone bill.

All vampires are rich? That’s a laugh.

I’ve maybe saved a hundred a month since my blood-birthday and even after four years, that isn’t exactly serious money.

There isn’t much chance I’m going to be making bank any time soon, either. Having to work at night severely limits my employment options. And then there’s the vampire sensitivity to garlic—I can’t even work as a pizza delivery guy.

One Night at the Peacock Hotel

Back in 2000, I co-produced a movie called Retiring Tatiana. Shot on the cheap, the movie was written by the star, Tony Winters. Shot in L.A. and in Tony's home town of Detroit, the film got both a video and DVD release and was featured in that year's Pan-African Film Festival where it took home the "Audience Award." (That was a pretty big deal because the film was in competition with movies like Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog, starring Forest Whitaker.)
Tony has since written a number of other scripts (including a fantastic bio-pic about Sam Cooke) and several plays. He's now looking to raise money for a production of his most recent project, One Night at the Peacock Hotel. Check it out on KickStarter here.

Fun with Shakespeare

I am a big fan of anything that makes Shakespeare fun and Shakespeare the Bard Game looks like a lot of geeky fun. In it, you play an Elizabethan-era theatrical impresario collecting manuscripts.  The product description says a game lasts about an hour and can be played by gamers 12 and up. It's not cheap ($40), so replay-ability would have to be a factor.
The Bard Game is also called Shakespeare the Board Game,
If you fancy card games more than board games, for $8, you can buy Shakespeare's Insult Playing Cards. For two dollars more, you can get Shakespeare's Quotes Playing Cards.
If you like playing with words, there's a Shakespeare edition of Magnetic Words to create your own epic poetry. For less than $10, your refrigerator can be the most erudite appliance in town.
Another great silly Shakespeare thing is a stuffed Shakespeare doll from Little Thinkers. Priced at $16.10, it's a little expensive for something so whimsical, but it's pretty great. 

My all-time favorite frivolous frippery of a Shakespeare toy has to be this Shakespeare action figure (with removable quill pen!!!)

Toto, Thank God We're Not in Kansas Any more

Feminist Fiction Friday--The Winter Palace

Eva Stachniak's beautifully researched historical novel about Catherine the Great is a big juicy read. Told from the point of view of a young woman who enters the Winter Palace as a seamstress and becomes a spy (a "tongue") on behalf of the young woman who will one day be the Empress of All Russia, the book is filled with sex, intrigue and treachery.
The story is told by Barbara (called Varvara in Russian), a Polish book-binder's daughter who turns out to have a natural knack for espionage, although her lessons in it include deflowering at the hands of the spymaster, Alexei Bestuzhev, the Chancellor of Russia. The two women whose lives bookend the story--the ruthless Elizabeth (daughter to Peter the Great) and Catherine--seemingly could not be much different but as Varvara realizes, Catherine has her own agenda and her own methods.
There is love in the book, and a fair amount of sex, but that aspect of the story does not drive it. Probably the most intense man/woman connection in the entire novel is the one between Varvara and her spymaster, and in later scenes, when he tells her some harsh truths about her situation, we know that he is right because we're told so in Catherine's own words at the very beginning of the story.
If you're looking for an historical novel that's long on detail and layered with great observations, you should take a look at The Winter Palace.