Love. Sex. Death.

Posted on by April 21, 2011

Love. Sex. Death.

That’s why you visited my blog today, right?

Well, okay. Maybe it is for the Blog Tour de Force free book, and the prize AND Kindle drawings.

I don’t blame you. Great! We’ll get to that in a moment.

First, let’s talk about love, sex, and death. They’re what you look for in every novel you read. Doesn’t matter which genre.

“…the need to belong, the hungers of the body, and the search for individual worth; Community, Carnality, Identity. Ultimately, that triad is what all stories are about.” ~ Orson Scott Card

Hungry4You It’s what you’ll find in A. M. Harte’s book, Hungry for You. Through short stories about zombies, you’ll follow characters in search of community, carnality, and identity. Some are living. Some are undead. But set your preconceived notions aside. I promise you, these aren’t your father’s zombies.

 
AdairPaperWomanCoverEbook96dpi Now, I know that zombie fiction isn’t everyone’s cuppa tea, so there’s love, sex, and death aplenty in my historical suspense series starting with Paper Woman, winner of the Patrick D. Smith Literature award. Spies and assassins, ships of sail and storms at sea, swashbucklers and bandits, and a brilliant, brutal, sociopath challenge my main character. I promise you, this isn’t your father’s Revolutionary War.

Okay, you want a free book, a prize, and a Kindle, right?

1.  Win an ebook copy of Paper Woman! (No eReader required.) First, read “The Making of a Fictional Villain, Part 1.” Then return to this post and use the comment form to tell me the following:

  • One characteristic of a good villain
  • Who’s your favorite fictional villain, and why (Love. Sex. Death.)

Make sure you give me an accurate email address. I’ll email you instructions for your Paper Woman download.

2.  Win the Historic Haversack goodie bag! (U.S. deliveries only.) My sponsors’ reviews prove that Paper Woman has the Right Stuff:

So pick your favorite sponsor review, and comment there with the phrase, “Love, sex, and death. Paper Woman has it all!” Then, come back here and comment what review you selected. I’ll enter you in the drawing for the Historic Haversack. Watch my blog for an announcement of the winner.

(Need more convincing? The Pen & Muse posted a review of Paper Woman and an interview of me, plus Red Adept Reviews posted a non-sponsor review for Paper Woman.)

3.  Win the Kindle! Every relevant comment counts as an entry toward the Kindle drawing. The more you and I talk on my blog, the more entries you have. Love. Sex. Death. Let’s talk!

4.  Want more chances to win the Kindle? Of course you do! So let’s stay in touch. Each of the following secures you an additional entry toward the Kindle grand prize drawing. Make sure you comment where you followed and Liked.

I need comments from you folks today. The busier the conversation buzz on my blog today, the greater my chances at winning Blog Tour de Force’s author prize: creation of a video book trailer for my series.

Thanks for stopping by. You’re a winner!

Update: The Paper Woman giveaway has ended. The drawing for the Historic Haversack and the drawing for the Kindle from my blog are closed.

Suzanne Adair

*****

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Comments

Love. Sex. Death. — 247 Comments

  2. Tracy, heroes (protagonists) are usually held to higher ethical standards than villains. We tie the hands of heroes to some extent. When they aren’t allowed to cut loose, they don’t seem as interesting. That’s probably why we’ve seen such a crop of bad-boy heroes like Dexter the sociopath.
    You do realize that Lt. Fairfax cannot be rehabbed, don’t you?

  3. Janie, probably nobody does scary self-control better than German characters in movies. I’m reminded of that glasses-wearing Nazi in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” The reason it was so hilarious when he unfolded that coat hanger was because he’d already showed us his calm facility with torture, and we were expecting more calm torture.

  4. My favorite villain was Angelique, of course. I was in high school when Dark Shadows was on and we always had to get home in time to watch it. Lucky it came on after school was out. You wouldn’t believe my daughter’s favorite though. When she was little her favorite was Todd Manning on One Life to Live. She would just go crazy when he came on. You just have to love a crazy, whacked-out villain.
    I am following you on facebook, twitter and goodreads.
    christygibbon at juno dot com

  6. Autumn, what a fabulous analysis of the character of Janine! She rivals American soap opera divas for dastardlyness. And yes, persistence. Good villains simply don’t give up. Thanks!

  7. Your book really looks very good!! I love historicals, they are my favorite genres.
    Judy
    magnolias_1[at]msn[dot]com

  8. I read and posted on letthemreadbooks.blogspot.
    Judy
    magnolias_1[at]msn[dot]com

  9. I liked you on FB-Judy Cox
    Twitter @ladymagnolia99
    I am a follower of GFC-judy
    I am a fan on Goodreads. Judy Cox
    Judy
    magnolias_1[at]msn[dot]com

  10. Debbi, who programmed the Daleks? Would that not be the true villain? Again, we see the importance of the heroic characteristics of persistence and focus in defining the villain.

  11. Sandra, even today Khan is counted as one of Star Trek’s greatest villains. He’s so smooth, so charming. Wouldn’t you have hated being on his pooh-pooh list?

  12. I would say intelligence for a good villain and the first villain I recall knowing was a villain was Hannibal. He was so wicked, smart, and had the appeal also.
    Judy
    magnolias_1[at]msn[dot]com

  13. Janie, thanks for your comments on My Reading Room. There’s actually a little romance in The Blacksmith’s Daughter and Camp Follower, too. As in Paper Woman, the romantic element enters the story as part of the protagonist’s hero’s journey. If you like how it’s done in Paper Woman, look for my other books in this series.

  16. Villains like Angelique want power and gain it by manipulating other people–she is a classic female villain. My Reading Room praised Paper Woman for its strong female heroine and good plot with both romance and history woven in. We are already friends on Facebook, and I have signed up on the other sites.
    Great creative marketing plan for a book I’m eager to read.

  17. Judy Cox, I’d love to give you a copy of Paper Woman. First you have to follow the instructions on my blog about that post on villains, okay?

  18. This has certainly been a fun week of cage match. I just love meeting new (to me) authors and reading their work. I think my favorite villain might just be Goldfinger; he had a great cat! After all he wanted to control the world and was a total sociopath. I went over to Let Them Read Books and really enjoyed the site – another one new to me. Thanks for your efforts, I look forward to reading your book – just remember keep those hands up and come out swinging the cage match is on.

  19. The best villains must be charming as well as manipulative. I find they are more effective if part of you falls for them or feels for them while you hate them at the same time.
    One of my favorites is Johnny Marcone in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. Marcone is a gangster; he runs the underworld in Chicago and doesn’t hesitate to kill or torture. At the same time, he is charming, attractive and will go out of his way to keep an innocent little girl alive.
    Good luck in the Cage Match today! :)

  20. Judy Cox, thanks for your patience. I finally found all your posts. Okay, you got the whole schmear of points.
    And you, too, like your villains intelligent. I wish Hollywood would pay attention to us on this.

  21. Judy Alter, nice to see you here! Yeah, manipulation is a big characteristic of villains — men and women. Sometimes it’s fun to watch those fictional villains manipulate others, but it can also be creepy.
    Did you post a comment on My Reading Room? I didn’t see one.

  22. Hey Denise, did Goldfinger have a cat, or was that the scar-faced villain in that other Bond flick “You Only Live Twice?” I think there was an interchange between Bond and Goldfinger that went something like this:
    B: What do you expect me to do, Goldfinger?
    G: I expect you to die, Mr. Bond.
    Yeah, Goldfinger definitely had control issues.

  23. Oh, Toni, “Gentleman Johnny” is a delightful villain. He has all of those thugs under his thumb, and he’d love to have Harry Dresden under his thumb, too. The thing about good villains is that they’re so seductive. There’s a lot Marcone could give Dresden in exchange for servitude, and the servitude doesn’t necessarily have to be unpleasant. But a cage is a cage.

  24. I totally agree that “Villain-less fiction can still be lots of fun.” Interesting that you brought up the Star Trek episode “The Doomsday Machine.” Another original ST episode, “The Devil in the Dark” is generally credited with revolutionizing Bug-Eyed Monsters (BEMs) as “villains.” And ST did a lot of villain-less episodes, including the classics “Shore Leave” and “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Even “The Menagerie” didn’t have a real villain by the end.
    I always felt sorry for the writers of a “Riddler” episode! How’d you like to have to come up with those riddles?

  25. Hi Suzanne! My sister Debbi sent me your way. I don’t e-book (yet) so feel free to pass the Kindle on to someone who’ll use it. But I admire the self publishing, self promoting book authors out there (Did I mention my sister Debbi?) and it’s always good to read good fiction. Thanks for writing!

  26. stopping by with a hot cuppa for you Suzanne! thinking you’ll be needing the pm break from all these great conversations! anything you’d like for a snack? got to keep your energy up for the longhaul in this matchup :) Cheers!!

  28. Sylvia, was the Horta in “The Devil in the Dark” really a villain? Didn’t she change her attitude after she and the miners came to an understanding? Most ladies just want to be listened to, you know. But when I compare the Horta to the creature in “Alien,” also a female, now that creature was a kick-ass villain.
    And you know, it never occurred to me what a chore it must have been for the “Batman” screenwriters to come up with the Riddler’s riddles. Ugh. No wonder so many were corny.

  29. Nancy, thanks for stopping by. If you read/follow the instructions on my blog, I’ll send you a free copy of Paper Woman that doesn’t require an eReader. Paper Woman is good fiction, I promise.

  31. Hi again Faith. Nice of you to check on me. My mouse arm is going numb from all the ‘puter action, and I’ve run out of chocolate, but I’m having a blast with everyone here on the blog, talking up villains. Who’da thunk there were so many kinds of villains in fiction?

  33. “was the Horta in ‘The Devil in the Dark’ really a villain?” That’s my point – she *appeared* to be a villain, but once the miners realized she was just protecting her eggs (that the miners were killing), they were able to get along. In 1968, that a BEM could be NOT a villain was a totally revolutionary idea. And that is my favorite kind of “villain.” Sadly, I can’t think of a single HM series that lacks villains. (I may just be weird – I also never found “bad boys” attractive, and I’ve been married to an honest, faithful, dorky-looking guy for almost 23 years now. So the rest of your commenters are welcome to the charismatic, fascinating bad guys.)
    Still eagerly awating my “Paper Woman” code … (and checking my spam box where half of the codes are winding up)

  34. Hi Suzanne,
    I am really looking forward to reading your novel Paper Woman. Sounds intriguing. It’s next on my list.
    Thanks also so much for your kind remarks about my novel and for the Tom Jones reference on my blog the other day. I had mentioned the novel Tom Jones early on when I first started tweeting about my blog and book last summer and no one seemed to get the connection.
    Good luck today in your match. I hope you do well. I’ll keep tweeting about throughout the day and night.
    Thanks again,
    George Pappas
    author of novel Monogamy Sucks

  35. I read and posted on “My Reading Room”.
    A favorite villain is Mrs. Danvers in REBECCA. She was both creepy and intimidating to both the main character and the reader.

  36. Sylvia, I see where you’re coming from, and that is indeed revolutionary. I’ve gotten fodder for at least one additional essay out of today’s discussions. According to Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler, there really ought to be a villain to make a story hold together. But we’ve shown that there can be non-villain stories that are full of conflict. I’m not sure that the Horta or the Doomsday Machine represent the archetypal “shadow.” Very interesting!
    I’ve gotten way behind on answering posts because there were so many, but I’ll be sending along your copy of Paper Woman before the day is through.

  37. Hi George, thanks for stopping by! What — nobody got your reference to Tom Jones? Sheesh! These people must be total barbarians!
    I hope you enjoy Paper Woman, my romp through the 18th century.

  38. I love an intelligent villain. I had a tough time thinking of a villain from my childhood until I thought of JR Ewing from Dallas. Growing up on a farm in the Midwest, I really enjoyed the Dallas series and JR in particular.

  39. Carol H, thanks for stopping by. Mrs. Danvers — yes! What was interesting about her was the way she diverted so much onto the dead Rebecca. So wouldn’t you say that good villains employ the arts of diversion and camouflage?

  40. I commented on the Motherlode review. I really can’t wait to read your book. I love American history, novels and mysteries. You deliver all my favorite things in one book!

  41. Felisa, J.R. captivated the entire nation with his shenanigans! Remember all the “Who Shoot J.R.?” t-shirts and bumper stickers? What was it about his personality that did it for everybody?

  42. Felisa, I saw your comment on the Motherlode blog. Thanks! Yes, I have a lot of balls to juggle while writing my Revolutionary War fiction. History, mystery, suspense — and I also need to make sure you care about what happens to my characters in the story.
    It’s great to get the kind of feedback that my reviewer reported on the My Reading Room blog: “[I] didn’t truly think [the war] was all that interesting until I read this book. Now I am fascinated by the time period when the Revolutionary War wasn’t really a war as much in the south and the uprisings were just starting in earnest.” That makes me smile and hope that I’ve opened a door through which another person can enjoy history.

  43. Glad your blog asks for a favourite *fictional* villain; I thought at first I had to come up with one from childhood TV and I was having trouble remembering back that far.
    A good villain needs to be believable – we have to identify, however unwillingly, with his/her point of view.
    A recent fictional villian I quite adored was Al Swearengen, the foul-mouthed, murderous saloonkeeper in the TV Drama Deadwood. Between the scriptwriters and the actor, I kept having to give my head a shake because I kept liking the guy….

  44. You may be right about Goldfinger – I seem to remember that big white cat showing up in several of the Bond movies and it always looked like the same cat – what a villainous breed it was. Don’t stop to pet the cat – keep on swinging.

  45. I think a good villain needs to be manipulative. One of my favorite villains was Hannibal Lecter. Anthony Hopkins did a phenomenal job portraying that character. Totally creepy!
    Commented on BabsWorldofBooks
    Following on Twitter @Elena_Gray
    Like on FB

  46. Diana, you bring up a great point. The really good villains have you empathizing with them, even liking them. We enjoy good villains and look forward to seeing them again. It’s why the second Star Trek movie, “The Wrath of Khan,” was so popular. Everyone was curious what the powerful Khan had been up to after Kirk dumped him on an inhospitable planet.

  48. Elena, of all the villains mentioned here today, Hannibal Lecter got the most votes from commenters. Using just his voice, Hannibal manipulated the guy in the cell across from him into committing suicide.

  49. I’ll take the love and sex, you can keep the death. No, wait, that’s not an option.
    About villains: yes, control, control, control.
    Good luck with your cage match; you’re already stomping me,if my count is correct.
    Let’s talk offline about a book swap. In the meantime, congrats and good luck.
    jrs
    P.S. My novella Cheap Complex Devices features a character who shares your family name. You might find her congenial.

  50. Suanne,I had already “liked” your Facebook page and was following you on Twitter. We are now “friends” on Goodreads.
    Enjoyed your discussion on villians. I agree they are self-absorbed and manipulative but a villian who “grabs” you must also have that depth of charm, some human quality we can relate to. He’s not on TV (except movie night!), but Hannibal Lector is my all time favorite evil guy! Good luck with your blog from another Guppy.