Dear Friends and Readers,

Summer came a little late to many parts of the U.S., but now it's taken hold with a vengeance. We read about record temperatures throughout the east and parts of the west coast. Here in New Mexico the temperatures have been only a little above average, exacerbated by a drought in the months when our July and August "monsoon" should create moist and more comfortable conditions. But we haven't had the rain we'd prefer, and the result has been major fires in adjoining states Colorado and Arizona. Hasn't happened yet in NM (fingers crossed) but everyone in the southwest is hoping that the rain will finally arrive.

In spite of this, spring and summer are my favorite seasons of the year. I love the warmth, the flowers bursting forth in my garden, the birdsong, the endless sunny skies of the Land of Enchantment. I love the long days and pleasant nights. I only wish I'd had more time this year to enjoy the outdoors, but deadlines have conspired to keep me inside and writing on many occasions when I'd rather be working in my garden or walking in a park.

My garden is doing very well. Serge built me two new raised beds, which I have planted with an assortment of xeric (drought tolerant) perennials and hardy annuals. I also planted a wildflower garden, which is now on average of 6 feet tall, with cowpen daisies that sowed themselves over the winter, poppies, plains delphinium, wild blue flax, black-eyed Susan, coreopsis, and beebalm. The bees adore it. Meanwhile, my older raised bed is getting crowded with Hummingbird mint, gaura, autumn sage, Mexican hat, penstemon in several varieties, coreopsis, dianthus, perennial twinspur, chrysanthemums, blanket flower, prince's plume, and hardy geranium. Next year I hope to have more time to enjoy them!

Little Nahla, the latest addition to our animal family, is now one year old and just as much of a challenge as ever. The good news is that our cats are dealing better with her rambunctiousness, and all the beasties are in good health, including my ten-year-old Brownie. In fact, I recently got new pictures taken (on the website now) with Brownie in my arms. She's grinning like mad.

Writing Projects

As of July 15, I've turned in my 2003 historical werewolf book, tentatively titled To Catch a Wolf. It is currently scheduled for a September releasee. The Forest Lord is still on schedule to appear on store shelves in early November. There have been many requests for advance reading copies of this book, I'm pleased to say, and I hope this bodes well for sales in November.

I have signed a contract with Silhouette Books to write a werewolf novella for an anthology edited by senior Editor Leslie Wainger. The anthology is tentatively titled When Darkness Falls, and will be out in October 2003, only a month after To Catch a Wolf. That means I'll have an historical werewolf novel from Berkley and a contemporary werewolf novella from Silhouette appearing back to back.

I haven't yet plotted out the entire novella, but it will feature a Cajun werewolf hero who lives as a recluse deep in the bayous of southern Louisiana. He hides a terrible secret, but all is not what it appears to be when the heroine arrives in Louisiana to rediscover her Cajun roots....

I've just begun work on the novel-length sequel to my novella "Kinsman" from Out of This World. The manuscript is due in early February 2003, which means I'm going to be very hard at work for the next several months. I'm looking forward to dipping my feet into science fiction romance once more.

Conferences

I recently returned from the RWA National Conference in Denver, which was quite an enjoyable experience for the most part. I drove up from Albuquerque to Denver (approximately seven to eight hours) and spent the first two nights in bed and breakfast inns in the mountains to the west. The first night was at Baxter's On the Creek in Idaho Springs, a charming B&B in a charming little town surrounded by mountains and laced with creeks. On the second night, I stayed at The Alps Boulder Canyon Inn, a few miles from Boulder. I thoroughly enjoyed shopping in the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder, and liked just about everything I saw of the town and the area. I"m hoping that Serge and I can return to the Rockies next summer on our vacation.

Once in Denver proper, I checked into my hotel and did a little sightseeing before attending the RWA Annual General Meeting on Thursday. On Thursday night I enjoyed dinner with Silhouette Senior Editor Leslie Wainger, and we discussed our mutual excitement over the novella project. On Friday, I looked up friends (many of whom I hadn't seen in years), attended a breakfast with the executive publisher of Publisher's Weekly, signed copies of Secret of the Wolf at the Berkley book giveaway, had lunch with my wonderful editor Gail Fortune at a sinful restaurant called the Cheesecake Factory, met with public relations specialist Nancy Berland, and then attended both the Berkley and Harlequin parties. I must say that the Harlequin party was quite a blast, complete with an excellent band, kitschy party favors, and a very good Elvis impersonator. I stayed until it was over, and actually danced with some abandon.

On Saturday I met with friends and had lunch with my equally wonderful agent, Lucienne Diver. After an afternoon of shopping along the Sixteenth Street mall (and reconfirming my very favorable impressions of downtown Denver), I returned to crash in my hotel room. Early on Sunday morning, I loaded up the car and headed for home. Overall, it was quite a valuable and pleasant experience.

Over Labor Day weekend, my husband and I will be attending the World Science Fiction convention in San Jose, California (which will also enable me to visit my family in the Bay Area.) I am planning on attending the Romantic Times convention in Reno, Nevada in late October. I have also been asked to be guest of honor at a small conference in October or 2003.

New Poll

I'm going to be conducting occasional polls on fun subjects of possible interest to readers. You can find the first poll by clicking here: What is your favorite current SF/Fantasy/Paranormal television show?

Other News

I'm pleased to say that I now have bookmarks for The Forest Lord, including the lovely cover image of my hero. I will gladly provide a signed bookmark for a Self-Addressed Stamped envelope sent to Susan Krinard, Bookmark, P.O. Box 51924, Albuquerque, NM, 87181.

I hope to have bookplates in the near future, and will announce when they are available.

I expect to be moving my web page from AOL to another server sometime this year, and will switch my URL to SusanKrinard.com. I'll be sure to make an announcement to my e-mail list at that time.

I also hope to add new features to my web page, including the Werewolf's Den with background information and trivia related to my werewolf books, and the Fane Chronicles, covering The Forest Lord and the projected Fane series.

I am always open to suggested about ways to make my website more interesting and informative for readers; please don't hesitate to with suggestions!

This 'N That

I've seen several good movies this summer, including Spiderman and Enigma (a British film in limited release.) I very much enjoyed Minority Report when I saw it, but it raised a great many moral questions in my mind, and left me more disturbed at the issues it avoided (such as condemning people apparently without trial, taking basic human rights away from the human oracles, etc.) My husband and I also found several major plot-holes in the worldbuilding, but I did find the movie itself to be quite entertaining.

K-Pax was rental movie that also raised some intriguing questions, and I did enjoy it, though I was glad I waited for video.

On television, I'm enjoying Witchblade very much. In fact, I prefer this second season to the unrelentingly depressing first. I like Sarah's quick acceptance of the Witchblade in this season, and the fact that her partner has returned "from the dead," so to speak. My only complaint is that I'd like to see Ian Nottingham gain more authority and strength as a person, less cryptic and juvenile in his behavior. I find him to be a very fascinating character, and am relieved that he left behind the very vicious persona of "Ian II" at the end of last season. I'm just waiting for his boss/father/master to return...

I've also become a fan of Stargate, though I'm coming into the season very late. I like the equal relationships of the characters, the competence of the woman scientist, and the interesting SF concepts used in the series -- not original, perhaps, but well-thought-out for this kind of show.

My latest quirky show is Monk with Tony Shalhoub, which I get a real kick out of. Shalhoub's Adrian Monk is both vulnerable and highly intelligent, strange and loveable. I hope the show catches on with viewers as it has with critics.

Last but not least, I watched the X-Files finale after tuning out for most of the last two seasons, and was both frustrated and pleased by the episode. Seeing Mulder and Scully together at last was wonderful, but the downer ending (with a promise of world's end just around the corner) was most unsatisfying. (I write romance--I need to know there's a happy ending on the way!) I only hope they fully address earth's grim future prospects in the next movie. At least we know Mulder and Scully will REALLY be together.

Reader Feature

Please welcome Brie LaThrop, whom I'm sure you'll find most interesting.

Sue: Please tell us a little about yourself, your family, work and home:

Brie: My name is Brie LaThrop, I am currently living in Essaouira, Morocco as a Small Business Development Volunteer in the Peace Corps. I work with 13 women's associations and cooperatives and one male artisanal cooperative and have been assisting these various organizations in improving their businesses. Prior to the Peace Corps, I lived in Seattle, WA where I owned and managed a day spa.

Sue: Why do you like reading romance? Why paranormal romance?

Brie: I have been reading romance novels since I was about 12 years old. I was always an avid reader and quickly became a Harlequin junkie. I believe as a young girl I loved the happy endings, but even more so, I loved the ability to escape to a far away place. As an adult the desire to escape to a world where the impossible and the unthinkable obstacles find resolutions through patience and perseverance is still pretty wonderful.
    My love for paranormal is merely an extension of my theories or beliefs of what we could be if we used even fifty percent of our brain capacity and other senses.

Sue: What other, if any, types of books do you like to read?

Brie: I enjoy thrillers, sci-fi, detective novels and spiritual material.

Sue: Who are your favorite authors (in any genre?)

Brie: Octavia Butler, Margaret Atwood, Maggie Shayne, J.D. Robbs, Laurel K. Hamilton, Ann Rice. . .

Sue: Have you ever had the ambition to write a book of your own? If so, on what subject?

Brie: Yes, I would love to write a book about the relationships between sisters.

Sue: Even if you don't want to write a book, what would you write about if you did?

Brie: If I could exorcise the sisters demon, then I would write a futuristic paranormal fantasy.

Sue: What, besides reading, are your hobbies or special interests or skills?

Brie: I love to travel, cycle, participate in martial arts and I just recently learned to scuba dive. I enjoy trying new things, I think if I were to consider myself as having a hobby, exploring my personal limits would probably be it.

Sue: What ability do you wish you had?

Brie: I wish I had the ability to comfortably express myself through my writing.

Sue: If you could visit anywhere in the world, no matter how far away or exotic, where would that be?

Brie: I've traveled to five continents, which I think is pretty extensive, so I guess I would go to all the places that I have yet to check off my list; India, Australia, Tibet, Eastern and Southern Africa, a ton of places.

Sue: If you could have lived in any historical period other than the present, what would that be, and why?

Brie: I would love to live in the future, in the hopes that we will evolve into a greater expression of humanity than our current modis operandi.

Sue: Which would you rather meet, and why: a friendly ghost, vampire, werewolf, sorcerer, fairy or alien? What would you ask him or her?

Brie: This is a tough one! I think I would like to meet a vampire if it wasn't quite feeding time. I'd love to hear their perspective on the world as it has evolved, listen to the descriptions of the places they've been, the people they've met and the knowledge they had acquired over the span of several lifetimes. More importantly I'd want to know how they had made use of the additional time and skills they had acquired.

Sue: What, to you, is the most important thing in life?

Brie: Love!!!! Thank you again for being such a wonderful medium for this expression!!!!

*~*~*

If you're interested in being one of the future interviewees, with the subject header "Reader Feature" and tell me why you'd like to be in a future "Feature."

Links of the Month

• Practical:
  • Spam Cop
• Writing/Research:
  • Women At Home and Abroad
• Fun:
  • Last Words of Fictional Characters

Best Wishes,

Sue Krinard

http://www.susankrinard.com
P.O.Box 51924
Albuquerque, NM 87181