Rachel Caine

BLACK DAWN - The last quote of the day!

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:32:10 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day - 2 more days left!

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 10:10:33 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #21

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:11:23 GMT

BLACK DAWN - quotes of the day #19 and #20!

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:54:55 GMT

Counting down ...BLACK DAWN is coming to the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand on May 1! Check out the preorder links on your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Walmart, Waterstones UK, WH Smith UK, Whitcoulls New Zealand ... and many more fine retailers.

Now, on to the quote of the day! A twofer, because I had to miss yesterday (gale force winds, I'm on the OCEAN, don't judge, people!) ... first, an exchange between Shane and Naomi, and second, a little snippet of a big dramatic scene from Claire's POV!
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FIRST:

“Any idea of how far we have to go?”

“No,” Naomi said, and furrowed her brow. “Why?”

“Just thinking that it might be better to go in a vehicle than on foot. For safety.”

“You,” Naomi said, “have a flamethrower, which is not of much use in the enclosed space of an automobile. Perhaps you might have considered that in your choice of weapons.”

“Not a car. A pickup,” he said without hesitation. “I get the back. Ladies in the front. Maximum speed, minimum exposure, plus a good firing platform for me and Claire, with the shotgun. Or you. Whichever.”

Naomi cocked her head and looked at him in silence for a few seconds, then nodded. “Very well,” she said. “Obtain one, if you please.”

“I always knew hot- wiring skills would come in handy, other than getting me more frequent flyer jail points,” Shane said.

SECOND:

The impact slammed the stock of the shotgun against her shoulder so hard that she felt something crack — bone, probably — and a white snap of pain sizzled through her from neck to heels. At the same time, the roar of the shot hit her like a physical slap.

But that was nothing compared to what the silver did to the draug.

The pellets didn’t have time to spread far, but tore a neat circular hole four inches across straight through the draug’s — well, head, she supposed, was the nearest equivalent. There was a shriek of high- pitched agony, and then the draug collapsed in a wet slap as it lost all consistency and shape. Claire yelped as she leaped out of the way of the wave of its . . . corpse? If it was dead, which she couldn’t assume. But it wasn’t coming for her, and that was what was important.

There were more of them, rising out of hidden pools in the muddy yard, out of the drain in the street, condensing out of the rain itself.

Oh God. There were so many.

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #18

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:02:19 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #17!

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:10:46 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #16

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 11:18:53 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #15

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:08:15 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #14

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:36:35 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #13

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:10:04 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #12

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:31:08 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #11

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:28:25 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #10

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:32:03 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #9

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:02:57 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #8!

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 19:56:36 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #7

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:59:00 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #6

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:06:30 GMT

BLACK DAWN Quote of the Day #5

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:50:06 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #4

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:42:50 GMT

BLACK DAWN quote of the day #3!

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:46:14 GMT

BLACK DAWN Quote of the Day #2

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:57:54 GMT

Just a reminder that BLACK DAWN is coming to the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand on May 1! Check out the preorder links on your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Walmart, Waterstones UK, WH Smith UK, Whitcoulls New Zealand ... and many more fine retailers.

Tell your friends! Spread the insanity ...

Now, on to the quote of the day!

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Today's quote comes to you from Team Shane. You're welcome.

The pickup idled slow and deep, and the bed of the thing was approximately the size of a blue whale. The interior of the cab could hold a soccer team. It even had a handy— though empty— gun rack in the back window.

The bumper sticker read: you can have my guns when you pry them from my cold, dead hands. Some joker—possibly the owner of the truck—had added "UN" before "dead" with a black marker. Claire cast a glance at Naomi, who was focused on the same words. There was an odd, vaguely amused smile on her lips that was not just a little creepy.

Shane leaned out the window of the truck and said, “God, I love rednecks. Who wants to drive this bad boy?”

“Not me,” Claire immediately said, at the same time that Naomi said, “I do not know how.”

Shane jumped down from the cab, paused, and stared at the two of them with a blank expression. “Don’t want to?” he asked Claire, and then swung his attention to Naomi, looking even more stunned. “Can’t? Seriously, there’s something wrong with the two of you.”

---------------------

Yep. That's Shane.

-- Rachel

BLACK DAWN: Quote of the day #1

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 14:33:28 GMT

It's that time again ... the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and Morganville is in dire trouble. BLACK DAWN is coming to the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand on May 1! Check out the preorder links on your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Walmart, Waterstones UK, WH Smith UK, Whitcoulls New Zealand ... and many more fine retailers.

Now, on to the quote of the day!

-----------------------------------

This one comes to you courtesy of a scene between Myrnin, Michael, Shane, Eve and Claire ...

Myrnin led them down a maze of corridors into a storeroom, small and dark, that stank of chemicals. Claire remembered it. It seemed a whole lot smaller with the five of them packed inside, but Myrnin squirmed past her, shut the door, and flipped on the overhead bulb, which swung in true horror- movie fashion back and forth above their heads. Just barely above Shane’s, in fact; he hunched to avoid it.

“Great,” Shane said. “Look, I’d rather not be on janitorial duty. I have allergies to cleaners.”

“And to cleaning,” Michael said.

“Look who’s talking. Didn’t they do one of those Animal Planet documentaries about the roaches in your room?”

-----------------------

Back tomorrow with a brand new QUOTE OF THE DAY! Also, be on the lookout for print ads in SUPERNATURAL magazine, the comic LENORE, and television ads for Black Dawn in major markets, coming soon ...

A blog about book ratings.

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:54:16 GMT

FULL DISCLOSURE: I received an email (quite passionately worded) from someone who was concerned that my books were available to be purchased by ANYONE, no matter their age, and wasn't this dangerous for the children? The writer went on to say that books should have content warning labels in order to ensure that children didn't accidentally receive anything not "appropriate" -- and that purchases should be restricted by age.

Needless to say, this got me just a little fired up. So, here is the response (without the letter-writer's name or other details) that I sent on this topic.

--------------------------
Your letter touched me deeply, but not in the way that I think you intended. This is a passionate subject for me: the freedom of people to read without someone – anyone – telling them what they can or cannot have.

First: Books are important windows to the world.

The world is not puppies and rainbows; we tell children it is, and yes, for a time (if the children are lucky) it is true, because we make it true by protecting them. But by the age of 10, most children have encountered frightening situations, have been bullied, belittled, offered drugs, been victims of crimes … the list goes on, and you will not find a junior high-aged student who doesn’t have some experience of the darker side of the world, or know someone who does.

So how then do we prepare these children to deal with darker subjects, darker issues? The theory of ratings says that we do this by pretending it doesn’t exist. This is of no more real use to children than pretending that a car won’t kill you if you walk in front of it. How do we teach children to safely cross the road? We cross it with them, holding their hands. We discuss the reasons why they should take care crossing the road. Eventually, within a fairly short period of time, they are left to cross on their own.

And if parents are concerned about content of books, that is what they should be doing. Reading with their children. Discussing how they feel about various themes or scenes. And putting an adult context around the matter before they let them venture out on their own.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it every time: ratings systems are lazy. They’re just a shortcut by which people can never challenge themselves … and books are all about challenge.

When children are of an age when they begin to seek out works with darker themes, it’s usually because they need to understand what happens, and have some kind of roadmap as to how to deal with it. Maybe someone in their class commits suicide: by reading a book about teen suicide, they may gain valuable insight into why someone might have done such a thing, and how they might have been helped. Maybe they begin to understand how actions and choices have consequences … and those consequences can be fatal.

Second: Think of the extraordinary power of books changes lives.

I’m just going to use one that deeply affected me as a teen – To Kill A Mockingbird. I grew up in a racist time, with deeply racist grandparents, but in this one book, I began to realize that assuming that someone was guilty simply because he was black might be wrong. Yet there is dark content, very dark. That does not mean it is not an important book, or one that is “unfit for children.” I could identify with Scout, and Scout showed me how to be a better person.

Putting a ratings system on it simply means that as a parent, you get to avoid having a serious dialogue with your child about an issue that YOU feel causes you discomfort.

That is intellectually lazy and emotionally cowardly.

Third: A ratings system already exists, in categories.

Category headings specifically tell you the age range for which the book is intended (if childrens/YA), or what it’s about (if adult). If it’s marked young adult, it’s written for a specific age range and clearly marked that way. If it’s in the adult fiction marked as horror, you know what you’re buying and can gather it from the description on the back. Ditto romance.

Last: Warning labels ignore context.

Don’t believe me? Here’s what a warning label would look like for To Kill A Mockingbird:

WARNING: Contains children in peril, sexual abuse, racist themes and language, violence and threat of violence.

Yet it’s one of the most transcendent stories we have in America, a beautiful and lyrical coming of age story told with great compassion.

Here's Romeo and Juliet:

WARNING: Contains frank sexual discussions, underage sexual situations, violence and threat of violence, murder and suicide.

Oh, and here’s one for the Bible:

WARNING: Contains mass murder, suicide, incest, acts of criminal violence, dismemberment, rape, violence against children and animals, witchcraft, stoning, demonic possession, drugs/alcohol abuse. (I could go on, but you get the point.)

Warning labels say nothing at all about the benefits of the book in question. They are totally silent on its context and messaging. They are merely a paint-by-numbers reduction of a great work to a laundry list of potential objections. You can make up these labels for any great work of literature, because the nature of drama is, and must be, dramatic.

Young adults ought to have the right to form their own opinions and make their own judgments about what they accept or reject from their reading. When others make decisions for them, they are doing youth a vast disservice, limiting their critical development of empathy through experiencing other viewpoints, and crippling their educational future by failing to challenge them in meaningful ways.

In short: you’re not doing it for the kids. You’re doing it for lazy parents who don’t want their kids to have any other viewpoints than what they’re told.

I will leave you with a quote:

“We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship.” – E.M. Forster, author of Howard’s End, A Room With a View, and A Passage to India

Mom's Mail: Episode 1

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:25:41 GMT

FIRST IN A NEW FEATURE!

I'm going to cut this for length, so you can skip this incredible tale of what kind of fear mongering gets marketed to the elderly. BUT DON'T BECAUSE IT'S AMAZING.

Let me 'splain.

My mother is turning 85 in the next few months, and like many 84+ year-olds, she has trouble staying abreast of current events (or indeed, any technology invented after the rotary phone). And she gets LOTS of mail. Ridiculous handfuls of mail daily, from all kinds of crazy sources, because she is so polite that she actually *writes back* to these bulk mail idiots to tell them she's sorry she can't help them, and explaining in torturous detail about her medical conditions.

I try to go through her mail when I'm at her apartment to help her keep up with what's real and what's bogus, and talk it through with her.

So this is what I found a couple of days ago that kicked off this new feature.

My first clue that something was rotten in the mail stack was this envelope.

My mother, of course, was VERY upset when she saw it, and immediately began asking me what had happened to her checks, was she overdrawn, was it from the bank, etc. When I say "upset" I mean that it took me about 15 minutes to calm her down. She was almost in tears just from the envelope.

I already knew what I'd find -- you probably do as well, dear reader -- but what the hell, I'll go ahead and show it to you. There are several pages. Gird yourself. And be sure to click to embiggen, for full effect.

You'll notice that no less than 5 times does it repeat the same underlined, CAPITALIZED phrase. That doesn't count the additional two times he rephrased it, but used the same basic structure. Or the time he explicitly said "Mexicans." Because that's where all of 'em come from, the illegals, right?

Let's go to page 2 ... because this is where it starts to get fun.

OK, to recap ... that's 5 MORE times he uses that magic phrase. And another two specific mentions of "Mexicans." BUT WAIT! There's more! Because right around midway through he begins to sneak in his desperate plea for your $16.50, reiterated 4 times before the end of the page.

Wait ... let me get this straight. So I'm signing a "petition" to help Congressman Dreier* get a bill out of committee. And then he explicitly tells me that if I DON'T SEND THE MONEY this bill won't happen. So, what? We're on a cash-for-votes basis now in Congress? Not like we didn't already know that, but ... oooookay.

Oh, hang, on, there's MORE!

See, I'll bet you thought he'd made his point, didn't you? NO. Because here's page 3, where we repeat that underlined phrase 6 more times, plus bonus mentions of "illegal aliens," "Mexicans," and just to mix it up, "illegal Mexicans." (Pause a moment to savor the crazy of "illegal Mexican." Because being a Mexican is, clearly, ILLEGAL, EVEN IN MEXICO.)

HA, you thought he was done, but NO. He only got his plea for your $16.50 in FOUR TIMES on page 3. Clearly, this is not enough. He had a marketing class once that said to keep repeating the key points, and by God, he's going to do that until your eyes bleed.

... But not to worry, he can mix it up. He tossed in at least four more specific $16.50 demands on page 4! Oh, and heck, another four underlined all-caps phrases, plus a bonus "illegal aliens," AND "Mexicans."

AMERICA. FUCK YEAH.

So, to recap: did he get his point across? I MEAN, HE ONLY REPEATED IT FOURTEEN TIMES IN ALL CAPS AND UNDERLINED. (Plus, if you were REALLY keeping score, there was a bonus 15th time where his poor, beleaguered office assistant failed to underline the phrase, but did ALL CAPS; she probably was docked a day's pesos for that.) And even though he didn't start asking for money until halfway through page 2, he managed to almost even the score at TWELVE solid reminders that you need to send him $16.50. RIGHT THE HELL NOW OR THE APOCALYPSE HAPPENS, PEOPLE**.

... but wait. You thought it was over, didn't you? Silly wabbit.

This is a THING OF BEAUTY. Not only because of the money-specific use of green and the official-looking border, but the utterly elegant "... I pray we stop this scheme to steal our Social Security money before it's too late." I mean, doesn't it just give you the vapors? Bring me my smelling salts!

(To his credit, he DID manage to only keep the money demand down to one tasteful line on this particular page. So that brings us up to ... thirteen, a very unlucky number, SURELY HE WON'T STOP THERE!)

He didn't. Behold, the back of that return envelope, which manages to throw in two more reminders to GET THAT CHECK IN THE MAIL. Bonus: also worked in ILLEGAL ALIENS one more time, 'cause why not?

For completeness, here's the back of the petition form ...

Why, looky, you can request financial reports. *done*

And ... from the front of the return envelope, here's the address you can write to should you wish to tell Mr. Wilcox what you think of his tactics.

Ours is already in the mail. FYI: does not include $16.50 check or "generous donation."

I feel better now. Thank you. Oh, and yes, Secure America Alliance does have a website. Feel free to Google -- I don't want to give them link karma. But clearly, they aren't spending your $16.50 on nonsense like web development, since they haven't updated it in, like, forever.

-- R.

P.S. - Lest you think that I am harshing on this poor, idealistic man when CLEARLY THERE IS A PROBLEM, go to the official documentation and definition of the US/Mexico "Totalization" agreements. Totalization agreements have been in place since the 1970s, this one was voted in 2004, and we have similar agreements with Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Canada, the UK, Sweden, France, Chile, South Korea and Australia. Here's some additional info.

Not only that, check out the Snopes busting of this particular urban legend, which was an old chestnut in 2006.

For obvious reasons, I am screening comments. Because crazy people are crazy.

ETA:
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, STOP THE PRESSES ... I pulled up the full text version of H.R. 98 HERE and did a search for "totalization" (which came up empty), then skimmed the text itself. It appears to me that the much-lauded NO SOCIAL SECURITY CHECKS FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS resolution contains, in fact, not one word about any such thing. It concerns making Social Security cards more counterfeit-resistant, establishing employment eligibility databases, etc., but it doesn't say anything like what the letter leads you to believe.

ALSO EVEN MORE ETA
* I called the congressman's office. His staffers (three, including a senior staffer) didn't know about him being featured in the letter, and confirmed that in fact the bill mentioned is unrelated to the specific content of this fundraising letter.

** Even though the plea is, of course URGENT, this particular Apocalyptic hobby-horse has been ridden by Mr. Wilcox since .. you guessed it, 2006. That's just lazy, man. LAZY. We expect better from our cynical fearmongerers!

Upcoming LAST BREATH tour events!

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:29:33 GMT

Now available at retailers like Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Indiebound (independent booksellers), Books A Million, or retailers in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand!

LAST BREATH TOUR EVENTS!

November 1 - ONLINE video launch event - click to visit the Facebook Project Paranormal Books page, and choose the AUTHOR INTERVIEW tab!
Starts at: 3 PM Eastern Time
You can ask questions LIVE during the event, so be sure to get online and help us celebrate the release! We'll be having all kinds of fun.

November 2 - Houston - Murder By The Book
2342 Bissonett Street
Houston, TX 77005
Starts at: 6:30 PM Central Time
Reading, signing, loads of giveaways, raffles & prizes!

November 3 - Omaha - Barnes & Noble - with Chloe Neill!
BARNES & NOBLE #2662
Oakview Mall
3333 Oakview Drive
Omaha, NE 68144
I'll be sharing this bash with the awesome Chloe Neill, author of the Chicagoland Vampires novels, so you MUST be there! It's going to be epic fun. Readings, signings, prizes!

November 5 - Las Vegas - Vegas Valley Book Festival - includes me plus Tera Lynn Childs, James Dashner, Bree Despain, Becca Fitzpatrick, Rachel Hawkins, Sophie Jordan and Veronica Wolff!
YA Paranormal Panel, plus Paranormal Ball
Historic Fifth Street School
401 S. 4th St
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Our Paranormal Panel starts at 10:15 am, with a signing at 2 pm and the Paranormal Ball from 7 to 9 pm at the school's auditorium! Break out your fancy stuff! You know you don't want to miss this.

November 6 - Minneapolis/St. Paul - Barnes & Noble - with Chloe Neill and Andrea Cremer!
2100 North Snelling Ave
Roseville, MN 55113
Starts at: 2:00 pm Central Time
I'm delighted to be sharing this event with Chloe, again, as well as the fantastic Andrea Cremer. We'll be having all kinds of crazy fun, so be there!

November 7 - Muskegon, Michigan - Barnes & Noble
5275 Harvey Street
Muskegon, MI 49444
Starts at: 7:00 Eastern Time
I'm on my own for this one, but I'll be reading, signing, holding raffles, and we'll have a total blast, so I look forward to seeing you there!

November 8 - Exton, Pennsylvania - Barnes & Noble
301 Main Street
Exton, PA 19341
Starts at: 6:00 Eastern Time
I really loved coming to Exton, and it was so great of the B&N folks to come to our rescue to host this event this time ... I look forward to having a real party with all of my Exton/Philly friends again! All of the craziness detailed above, too!

November 9 - Syracuse, New York - Barnes & Noble
3454 Erie Boulevard East
Dewitt, NY 13214
Starts at: 7:00 pm Eastern Time
My first official signing in New York! I'm very excited, and I'll be reading, signing, doing raffles, giving prizes, all kinds of great stuff. Please come see me on this next-to-last stop for the tour!

November 12 - Hurst, Texas - Barnes & Noble
BARNES & NOBLE #2344
861 NE Mall Blvd
Hurst, TX 76053
Starts at: 3:00 pm Central Time
This is the closing event of the tour, back in my hometown area, and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone! It will be a great party to close the LAST BREATH launch, so join me there!