Book Review: Christine Pope's All Fall Down

Illustration by Nadica Boskovska

Writer Christine Pope ventures into fantasy in All Fall Down, a story of pestilence and ignorance and a woman who fights both. This is fantasy in the vein of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire novels, more of a magic-tinged historical novel than a romp with fairies and elves. The world building is precise and developed with both logic and flair. There are contending kingdoms and the actions of rulers impact the lives of the ruled, sometimes in a benign way but often… not.

These people come off the page, they feel real and rooted with problems and responsibilities and hard, hard choices to make. The political situation that exists in the world Pope has created has an impact on the plot; it's integrated into the narrative on many levels and not just thrown in to create random drama.

Merys, the heroine of the story, is a healer, a woman of science not superstition. Kidnapped by slavers who sell her to a lord whose domain runs on slave labor. Lord Shaine is not a bad man, and it's to Pope's considerable credit that she makes him sympathetic and sexy in a way that makes him more than a standard-issue alpha male.

Merys is enormously appealing as a woman who relies on her wits to better her own situation but who also takes care of those around her. Her intervention in the life of a young stable hand changes his life for the better. Her bond with the daughter of the man who holds her captive is warm and caring, and extends to the young man the girl is destined to marry. Merys has real "people skills" and interacts as easily with the cook as with her master's aristocratic allies.

As always, Pope's prose is a multi-sensory experience, with mouth-watering descriptions of feasts and detailed accounts of courtly dress. At its core, this is a romance novel, with several story strands resonating with romance--from the sweet relationship between the lord's daughter and her beloved to Merys' growing attachment to Lord Shaine despite their difference in philosophy. There's a true maturity to their bonding, which does not come without sacrifice but which is all the sweeter for it.

This book is the first in a series of novels set in "The Latter Kingdoms." I cannot wait to read the next one, which is called Dragon Rose.

Daniel Scherl is an amazing photographer!

Photo by Daniel F. Scherl

I have been holding off getting head shots because I just don't enjoy having my picture taken. But that changed yesterday after a session with Daniel Scherl. (Check out his site here.)  He's a friend of a friend and was having a summer sale and I realized I can't keep using the photo that my best friend took.  (Well, I could, but it's kind of informal and I've needed a more "corporate" head shot about 10 times in the last year.)
The photo session was not just a lot of fun, I can already tell the photos are going to be fantastic. This one hasn't been retouched and it's still, oh, about a BAZILLION times better than the last couple of photos I've had taken.  I cannot wait to see what the retouched photos look like.  I'm going for 40-something...(And isn't 40 the new 30?)
 If you're in Los Angeles and you need a photographer, your first call needs to be to Daniel. 

SweeTango Apples

Just as Envy apples are going out of season, there's a new apple in town, something called a SweeTango. It's another red and gold variety that looks like it's been polished even when it's just piled in bins waiting for you to walk by and admire them.
You know it's something special when the produce guy sees you looking at the display and launches into a spontaneous, lyrical endorsement of the fruit,
"Better than an Envy?" I asked skeptically, because as far as I am concerned, the Envy is the perfect apple. I first enjoyed it last year when it was in season for three minutes on August 5. This year it was available for a lot longer--seems like it was around for almost two months--so I could splurge a lot longer. (And "splurge" is definitely the word. At $3.99 a pound, Envy apples aren't cheap.)
"Better than Envy," he said. "Want to taste?" And he whipped out his knife and cut me a couple of slices.
If the apple Eve ate was a SweeTango, the trade off was worth it.
A perfect balance of sweet and acid.
The perfect crispness.
Just the right juiciness.
It is an 11 on a scale of 10.
I was not surprised to find that the SweeTango is a cross between a Honeycrisp (my third favorite apple) and something called a Zestar, which I've never even heard of. 
SweeTangos are also a splurge item. In L.A., they're only carried by one supermarket chain and it would be the upscale Gelson's. (Since Gelson's is handily located half a block from me, my access to the apple goodness is limited only by their hours of operation.)
If you like apples, you really, really, really need to track down this apple.

The hardest working people in show business...

Before I went freelance, the last "real" job I had was working for a high-profile movie and television producer.  He was an exacting boss, and he demanded a high level of work from the people in his company. People whose work was sloppy didn't last long. People who didn't hold themselves to high standards moved on quickly. Since then, I've worked as a consultant to people who make my former employer look like the easiest boss on the planet. I've worked with some of them more than a decade.
I mention this because a lot of people view "show business" as code for "money for nothing."  And you know, when you think of the money, it is stupid money. But I have yet to work with anyone who was lazy.  Everyone I know (and that includes the producers) work hard for their money.
I mention this because I've just gotten back from a trip that was arranged by a corporate travel planner. The firm works as a contractor in a state three time zones away from the company that uses their services. that meant that when i had a problem at 7:30 a.m. PDT, I couldn't contact the travel planner, who didn't come into her office until 12:30 EDT. 
I called anyway, hoping to reach one of her colleagues. There is no direct line.  You have to go through an automated call system that will only direct you to an actual person after four or five tries to override the system.
And if you're disconnected because you're on a cell on a mountain in LA on your way to the airport for a flight you're not going to make, you have to start the process all over again...
I received my itinerary at 8:30 a.m. yesterday, along with confirmations of my flight and a link to print the boarding pass.  I had left for the airport 90 minutes earlier. My traveling companion DID receive his info and was on the 9:15 flight I had been booked for.
I mention this, not to bust the travel agent for being sloppy. (I could have emailed her about the itinerary and didn't,)  I mention it because in my former life as a development executive, any one of about five missteps made by the travel planner would have cost her her job.
A young assistant at an agency once screwed up and sent a character actor to our offices when a meeting had been postponed.  The character actor complained and the assistant lost her job. And on our side, the assistant who'd moved the appointment was grilled as if she'd been caught passing Israeli secrets to the Iranians. "Was she SURE she'd changed that appointment?"  That was kind of ridiculous.
But working at a place like that, working in an industry like entertainment, you learn that half-dash is worse than not done. If you've seen The Devil Wears Prada, you know that the young heroine emerges victorious when she gains confidence and begins to anticipate her boss' irrational demands. Jobs shouldn't be a do or die situation. You shouldn't have to deal with the stress of knowing that ONE MISTAKE can end with your pink slip. But you know...
For me, missing the plane wasn't the end of the world, there are commuter flights leaving every hour and I made my appointment. Stuff happens. I deal with it.
But I've worked on the other side and am used to the way it's done in this businesss we call show.
Next time you want to make fun of someone who talks about how "hard it is" doing what they do in the industry, give them a break. No, it's not rocket science or brain surgery they're doing. But if you're relying on them to get you from one place to another without hassle?  They've got you covered.
And that's a job well-done.

In recipe mode....

I just landed another food-writing gig and am feverishly converting recipes from my slap-dash personal style ("Cut up as many tomatoes as you want to eat) to something that's a little more useful to someone who isn't standing right next to me at the stove. (What is the difference between a dollop of olive oil and a splash? I pretty much just free-style it.
I never realized how much I rely on variations of curry in my daily meal repertoire.
And if garlic somehow vanished from the earth, I'm not sure I could put a meal together.
Yes, let's just say that come the vampire apocalypse, I am safe.

Interview with Heath Lowrance

I'm a fan of Heath Lowrance (in a non-stalker kind of way). I like the way he writes--clean, hard-hitting prose that paints a picture but without laying it on so thick with a palette knife that you have to scrape away a few layers before you get to the good stuff.

I like the way he thinks--I follow him on Twitter and on FB andPinterest where among other images,  he posts cool "noir" photos.

If you check out his Amazon author page, you'll see ten books listed, and I suspect that's not everything.

His most recent releases are the movel City of Heretics, a crime novel set in Memphis, and the novella "Bluff City Brawler," which is part of the "Fight Card' series. Earlier in the summer his short story "My Life With the Butcher Girl" appeared in Pulp Ink 2, an anthology edited by Nigel Bird and Chris Rhatigan.

I am delighted that Heath found the time to stop by Kattomic Energy on his blog tour.

Let's talk about the new book.

How different was it writing a novel than writing a short story? Was it difficult to work on a broader  canvas or did it seem natural?

Writing City of Heretics in particular was very much like the experience of writing a short story, except, you know, more of it. I tried to approach it the same way I'd approach a short story-- that is, cutting to the chase, leaving out everything extemporaneous, and just moving from scene-to-scene. I wanted it to feel like a long short story, so that even though the plot is a bit complex, it never feels weighed down. That was the idea, anyway.

You’ve said you prefer character-driven stories to plot-driven stories. In the case of the book, what came first? The idea or the image of your protagonist?

In this particular case, the character of Crowe came first. I had in mind an older man, coming out of a bad time and about to enter into an even worse time. I knew he was carrying around some anger, letting it simmer in his guts, and I knew he planned on doing something he could never take back. The novel came out of working out what exactly Crowe was angry about. 

The gritty backdrop of the story seems real enough you could navigate the streets by your landmarks. Have you lived in Memphis? Why did you set your story in Memphis?

I lived in Memphis for about five years, back in the late '90's. Something about that city, it just sparked for me. It was seedy and run-down, very modern in all the worst ways-- and at the same time, its history was apparent on every corner. It had stories to tell everywhere you looked and it felt like a living, breathing thing to me. It was an old, sick Southern lady and if you looked really hard you could see vestiges of the beauty it used to be. Memphis made me melancholy, and I thought it was the perfect setting for a novel. Or multiple novels

Do you “cast” your stories when you write them? And if someone made a movie out of COH, who would you like to play Crowe?

I've found myself casting imaginary movies after the fact, but not usually while writing. For instance, I got into a discussion about who would play the roles of Charlie and the Reverend if The Bastard Hand ever became a movie, and I still think Casey Affleck and Daniel Day-Lewis would be great. As for Crowe, I haven't given it any real thought yet, but I'll go again with Daniel Day-Lewis, I think.

  
Let's talk marketing:

You have an impressive  number of reviews posted on your books. How important do you think reviews are in selling books?

If all the talk about algorithms and the rating system and all that confusing stuff about Amazon is true, then reviews are HUGELY important. I have to admit, I can hardly get my head around the fine points of the way Amazon works. But every review, every click of the “like” button, helps. And I’ve noticed that the more reviews I get, the more copies move. It’s bizarre and inexplicable to me.

 For Cityof Heretics, you're doing a blog tour, promotion on your site and social media. What else?  Any readings? Events like Bouchercon? Book store appearances?

I’d love to make it to Bouchercon or Noircon, but it ain’t in the cards. Mostly what I’m doing to promote City of Heretics and Bluff City Brawler (my new Fight Card novella) is the blog tour. This is the first time I’ve ever attempted anything like this on this big a scale, so it’s daunting enough, I think.

Feminist Fiction Friday: Witch Rhymes with Bitch

I was Googling around and put in the search terms "feminist mysteries," expecting to get back a list of books by women writers or books featuring female protagonists. Instead, what I got were links to a series of books about the neo-pagan movement, some of which I've read (Drawing Down the Moon) and some of which I haven't (The Holy Book of women's Mysteries: Feminist Witchcraft,Goddess Rituals, Spellcasting and Other Womanly Arts).
That search led me to this excerpt from a paper on occult crime and law enforcement by a writer named Isaac Bonewits. (The website is holysmoke.orghttp://www.holysmoke.org/  which turns out to be a Scientology site.)

And that sent my train of thought derailing into the whole subject of witches. Some of the greatest villains in pop culture and English literature were memorable witches--Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty and Narnia's White Witch and the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz (and also her kinder/gentler self in Wicked). There is the wicked queen/witch of Snow White and the witches in The Golden Compass. In The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe, a contemporary woman discovers she's heiress to a tradition of healing that goes back to the Salem Witch Trials and an ancestress accused of witchcraft.  The book is a historical novel first and last, but it has a theme that you see over and over in witch books--a woman inherits a supernatural destiny. And in all of these books, the heroine is a strong woman, powerful and in command. (And usually beautiful, which is in itself a sort of power.) The only exception I've seen is Anne Rice's "Mayfair Witches" books, which have, to me, an unpleasant undertone of victimization and sexual politics.