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I had a most productive Girton Write-In last night and added a hefty 3k to Silver Kiss. And my arm isn't even too sore this morning, which only adds to my smug sense of satisfaction.
I'm at that stage in the writing process where the more I write, the more I want to write. I've got to grips with most of the world-building - Pack laws and rituals, how the werewolves have integrated with the humans, all the fun stuff. Now it's time to bring on the Issues! Which Ayla has lots of! Apparently I can't write a werewolf story that doesn't have Issues. Lizzie, the heroine from Wild was addicted to heroin and accidentally killed her boyfriend (... but I've said too much ...). Christian, the werewolf in the Scarlett novels, is an irrepresible playboy with too much money and not enough morals.
So far Ayla hasn't taken any drugs, killed any of her loved ones, or slept around yet but hey, it's early days.
ETA: Squid can hear! Just further proof that they will one day be our masters. And I for one welcome our cephalopod overlords.
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pleased
I'm always encouraging people to start drag races, and nobody ever does.
In real news, I've made a big decision about Wild after some excellent feedback and advice from various parties, and I've decided to swop the location from the US to the UK, whilst keeping Lizzie American. It'll be like An American Werewolf in London, except it's not set in London. So really I could equally describe it as being like Ginger Snaps except not set in Canada, or indeed like Romasanta, but not set in medieval Europe.
Anyway, question for my urban fantasy reading bretheren: I'm struggling to find any current UF novels set in the UK - any recommendations?
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... Came the name of the winner of my Ivy Cole giveaway and that winner is...
Go you! Email me here with your address details and I'll get your book sent out to you as soon as humanly possible.
Thus ends my werewolf month. Le sigh. Thanks to everyone here and over at Blogger for joining in. This was so much fun, I may do it again with a different monster in a couple of months. Suggestions welcome!
- Mood: chipper
Doe Springs has a killer in its midst. The quiet mountain town is haunted by a devil that rips its victims to pieces and leaves their remains behind as a warning, a message. Dog-trainer Ivy Cole knows all about the dead humans that are showing up - she's the one killing them. But while she's dishing out her brand of wild justice to wife-beaters, philanderers and child-molesters, another killer is mutilating local animals and attacking children. And Ivy just can't allow that.
Being a huge fan of all things werewolf-ish, I thoroughly enjoyed Farago's take on the werewolf myth. Ivy Cole has made a virtue out of her lycanthropy, killing those she considers deserving of the punishment, protecting those too weak to protect themselves. She's an intelligent, collected heroine with a heart of gold beneath her cool exterior. The cast surrounding her are well-rounded and utterly believable, from her straight-laced love interest Deputy Sanders to her once-abused, now-blossoming best friend, Patricia. The villain of the piece is both scary and plausible and Ivy's eventual showdown with him is page-turning stuff. Every chapter left me desperately wanting to read the next.
As Ivy and the local police close in on the second werewolf stalking Doe Springs, Farago peppers her story with werewolf and wolf legends and history, offering a deeper insight into the inspiration behind the story. It was fascinating to read these tidbits of information and I never felt that I was being lectured by their inclusion, or that they distracted from the main plot.
From the adrenaline-fueled opening to the bittersweet ending, Ivy Cole and the Moon is an absolute delight, and a must read for fans of werewolves, horror and urban fantasy. You should totally go and buy a copy.
Or better yet, get me to give you a copy. It just so happens that I have a brand new copy of Ivy Cole and the Moon sitting right here by my fish tank. If you fancy getting your hands on it, just leave a comment on this post. The winner will be randomly drawn from an actual hat (a top hat, to be precise) and announced on August 1st.
- Mood: chipper
Personally I feel that werewolves are getting the raw end of the deal in urban fantasy. They’re either whining, angsting pains-in-the-ass or they’re surprisingly tame, de-fanged romance heroes who probably never killed a sheep in their life because they’re too busy wooing the laydeez. Rubbish, I say. What’s worse is that they’re usually playing second fiddle to vampires. Vampires! Come on! Look, whatever problems werewolves have, at least they’re alive, whereas vampires are basically just noisy corpses.
Luckily it’s not all bad. There are some cool werewolves out there. And, it must be noted, they’re all girls. Take for example, if you will, Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty series, starting with Kitty and the Midnight Hour. In the first book of the series, Kitty Norville’s on the bottom rung of her pack, struggling to keep out of trouble and lead a quiet life. Unfortunately, she’s outed as a werewolf on national radio and is soon fighting tooth and claw to escape her pack. I heart Kitty a lot. She’s compassionate, she’s smart, she’s got a wicked sense of humour and when she changes shape, she’s all wolf. She’s not afraid to kill a rabbit or two.
Then there’s Vivian Gandillon of Annette Curtis Klause’s Blood and Chocolate. Young, beautiful and fierce, Vivian relishes the change from girl to wolf. But her loyalties are tested when she falls in love with human artist, Aidan. Her pack is in danger of exposure and Vivian’s suddenly unsure which world she really belongs in. It’s a great coming-of-age story and it was recently made into a film (which I haven’t seen yet.)
Of course, there's Kelley Armstrong's Elena Michaels from the Women of the Otherworld series. Star of Bitten, Stolen and Broken, Elena is one of my favourite werewolves. She's kickass, she's tough and she's the only female werewolf in the world. Throw in half-demons, vampires, necromancers and witches and well ... It's hard out here for a female werewolf.
Last but not least is Lola Galley of Kit Whitfield’s Bareback. Okay, Lola’s not a werewolf. But roughly 98% of the human population is. On the night of the full moon, regular citizens lock themselves in a safe place and shape shift in peace. For people like Lola, unable to change shape, life is very different. Conscripted at eighteen into DORLA (Department for the Ongoing Regulation of Lycanthropic Activity), Lola’s world is fraught with prejudice and danger. Scorned and hated by lycos, life for a bareback isn’t one you’d wish on anyone. I’ve pimped this novel before on my blog, because I honestly, truly love it. It has so much going for it, it’s hard to sum it up in a few sentences and the best advice I can give you is go buy a copy.
And finally there’s my favourite werewolf heroine, Ivy Cole … But I’m saving her for later…
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· People become werewolves after being scratched or bitten by a werewolf.
· Victims of werewolf attacks transform on the first full moon after their attack.
· Garlic, wolfsbane and silver pentagrams are all effective weapons against werewolves. (And I know what you’re thinking, garlic is a vampire tradition, right? Well if you lived in a coffin six feet underground, surrounded by rotting corpses and maggots, would you notice the smell of garlic?)
· A silver object is the only thing that can kill a werewolf. (The tradition of the silver bullet wasn’t added until Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, 1943.)
I have to admit; I never really got the whole silver thing. Silver is a metal traditionally associated with the moon, and the moon is a huge controlling force on werewolves, so why would they be allergic to it? Although it is also seen as a purifying metal… Anyway, I digress…
Since The Wolf Man, there have been a whole plethora of werewolf films, ranging from the good (An American Werewolf in London, Ginger Snaps, Dog Soldiers) to the mediocre (An American Werewolf in Paris, The Howling) to the plain bad (The Howling III – The Marsupials. Yes, really.)
My personal favourites are Ginger Snaps and The Company of Wolves. The first is the smart, darkly funny and gory story of sisters Ginger and B Fitzgerald. After cynical domineering Ginger is attacked by a mysterious creature one night, she and B are plunged into a nightmare as Ginger slowly transforms into a werewolf. The film makes wickedly clever use of devices such as menstruation, STDs and drug use to put a modern spin on the werewolf legend. What really interests me about it is that Ginger’s transformation appears to be permanent, rather than a full-moon-only gig. Two further films, Ginger Snaps Back and Ginger Snaps Unleashed followed. Ginger Snaps Back is fairly forgettable, but Ginger Snaps Unleashed is awesome.
The Company of Wolves is a gothic fairytale of a film, based on the story of the same name by Angela Carter. It’s a chilling, surreal tale of magic and curses, twisting Little Red Riding Hood into a stunning, nightmarish fantasy. Coming-of-age tales meet treachery and vengeance and Angela Lansbury.
Anyone got any favourites that I’ve missed?
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- Music:That godawful umbrella song
For years, Stumpf lead a double life, stalking and viciously attacking anyone who incurred his wrath, whilst all the time appearing to his neighbours to be an ordinary man. His victims were so badly mutilated that nobody could imagine their attacker to be anything besides a savage animal. And so for years, Stumpf’s crimes went undetected. His killed women and children as well, ravishing them in his human form before transforming into a wolf to murder them.
Stumpf also sexually abused his daughter and sister, as well as committing acts of cannibalism. He was accused of having killed and devoured thirteen young women, as well as his own son.
He was finally captured by a party of men and dogs who tracked a wolf and a stolen child to a thicket. Once they cornered the wolf, they watched in amazement as it transformed back into Peter Stumpf. During questioning by authorities, Stumpf readily confessed to being a sorcerer, a werewolf, a cannibal, a rapist and an incestuous adulterer. His daughter and sister were tried as accessories and all three were condemned to death. (Never be a woman in the medieval period. You just can’t win.)
On October 31st, 1589, Stumpf was stretched on the wheel and tortured with red-hot pincers. His limbs were severed with an axe, he was decapitated and his body was burned. Suffice to say, we’ll never know how much of Stumpf’s story is true. All we’ll ever know for sure is what he confessed to. Whether he could actually transform into a wolf may well be immaterial: Stumpf was a psychological werewolf and he was far from being the only one.
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- Music:Christian Aguilera - Fighter
*It took me three attempts to spell "explaining" properly.
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And now, onto the serious stuff. If you’re not interested in becoming a werewolf, you might want to note how to spot one. After all, you never know what sort of people are out there…
Most contemporary images of werewolves come from Hollywood. Films like The Wolfman and Curse of the Wolfman depict hairy, fanged, wolflike beings, incapable of rational thought. They are rarely shown as actual wolves and walk upright rather than on all fours. This is a direct contradiction to ancient traditions, in which the werewolf is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish from a true wolf.
If you suspect a neighbour or a loved one of being a werewolf, you might want to check for the telltale signs, as listed by seventh century physician Paulos Agina:
· Pale skin
· Weak vision (I have weak vision!)
· An absence of tears or saliva
· Excessive thirst (okay, I actually have that one too.)
· Ulcers and abrasions on the arms and legs, caused by walking on all fours
· An obsession with wandering in cemeteries at night*
· Howling until dawn**
Tradition also recommends checking the palms of the suspected werewolf. If they’re covered with coarse, stiff hair, get the silver bullets ready. Overly long index fingers and eyebrows that meet in the centre of the forehead are also giveaways.
*This also applies to Goths, so be careful before you shoot anyone.
**This also applies to regular wolves and dogs, so again, easy on the trigger.
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blah - Music:Some indie band - song's called Worried About Ray. It sucks
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Other studies shows an increase in criminal activity on full moon nights, with most researchers attributing this simply to the full moon providing more light by which to commit crimes. As a werewolf aficionado, I have to ask if there’s another, more primal explanation. Does the full moon call to some deeply buried, instinctive part of our nature, bringing out the beast in us?
I’m not suggesting people can literally be turned into wolves by the light of the moon, but lets face it: human beings are weird creatures and the brain is a powerful organ. Powerful emotions such as rage can override our common sense, making us capable of inhuman acts of violence and destruction. And the wolf, having long (and wrongly) been a symbol of fear and darkness, is an ideal avatar for the manifestation of these less-than-human traits.
In medieval Europe, countless people were burned at the stake, tortured and persecuted for witchcraft and, more importantly to me, for being werewolves. What could have caused such widespread belief and panic? Could it possibly be the knowledge that beneath our civilised masks lurks something deadly and untamed? Something more beast than man?
In honour of my obsession with the wolf within, I’m dedicating this month to werewolves, both fictional and real. Real, you ask? Stay tuned…
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