Dear Friends and Readers,

It snowed on Easter Sunday. That's the kind of spring it's been in Albuquerque ... high 70's in March, then freezing temperatures in mid-April. fortunately, my half-grown perennials seemed to have survived the freeze, and we're promised better weather in the near future. I can't wait! We need the rain, which has also been unusual this spring, but I'm ready for sunshine!

This is my first quarterly newsletter since last summer. It's a long gap ... but, like this spring, the past winter and fall, and even summer, have been unusual and stressful for me. I had to make difficult decisions about what I could and could not do with my limited time, and finally decided to give up my monthly newsletter and concentrate on the quarterly and a new announcement newsletter for interested readers. Even so, the quarterly newsletter may prove to be a bit late from time to time, as it is this month.

Last summer I signed two new contracts, one with Luna books for three books in a projected five-book fantasy series, and one with HQN for three paranormal romance novels. Changing publishers was itself a difficult experience, after several books with Berkley (the last, Kinsman's Oath, out next month). Even more difficult was the prospect of writing two complete novels a year, one fantasy and one romance. I'd never written a book in less than seven or eight months, and had never written a "straight" fantasy at all, though I've been reading science fiction and fantasy all my life. So suddenly I was faced with two whole new challenges.

And challenges they were. Throughout the late summer and fall I worked on the fantasy, Shield of the Sky, and as I approached my February 1 deadline the rest of my life simply fell by the wayside. I had no time to answer e-mails or letters; I didn't go to see movies; I scarcely had time for breaks of any kind. I worked morning until night seven days a week. While this was going on, I was diagnosed with a condition called sleep apnea which causes a person to stop breathing many times a night. This results in very poor sleep and daytime drowsiness ... something no writer needs while on deadline!

As I went through the prolonged process of getting treatment for my apnea (a process which still continues), I finished Shield and turned it in to my editor, who promptly told me that I needed to cut over 100 pages of the 740 page manuscript. I spent another three weeks doing so, and my editor loved the result. Then I had to immediately begin work on my first HQN romance novel, tentatively called To Tame a Wolf. The deadline is August 1, and I'm working very hard to meet it. Two books a year has indeed proven to be quite a test of my writing and organizational abilities, but since I'm now writing in two genres I felt that the change was necessary.

My main goal, of course, is not to sacrifice quality for quantity--thus the long days and lack of vacation time. But I feel it will get easier, especially after my first fantasy novel, which was by far the most difficult thing I've ever written.

Now that spring is here, I'll need to take some time off to work in my garden, which I'm very much looking forward to, and hope to finally catch up on the letters and e-mails sent by readers. Sometimes I wish I had a few extra hours in every day!

So, for the first time in a long time, I'll have two books released this year: Kinsman's Oath, my last Berkley book, in early May, and Shield of the Sky, from Luna Books (www.Luna-books.com), in early October. In addition, my short story "Murder Entailed" will appear in the Warner anthology Murder by Magick in October. As soon as I have covers and other information about the October titles, they'll appear on my updated website at www.susankrinard.com.

My web page now has two "sections," one for fantasy and one for romance, but anyone who knows my work can guess that there'll be plenty of overlap between the two genres. Kinsman's Oath has real SF worldbuilding, alien cultures and starships, but it's centered around romance. Shield of the Sky is definitely fantasy with strong female protagonists, but contains two ongoing romances. I'm sticking to my goal of writing books that "cross genres" and continue to stretch the boundaries.

Kinsman's Oath has received a couple of very nice reviews from Romantic Times BookClub and ReadertoReader, which can now (or shortly) be found on my Kinsman's Oath page.

Future Projects

Currently, I'm lined up to do two more in the projected five-book "Shadow of the Stone" series for Luna--one a year--and three romance novels for HQN. The first HQN book, To Tame a Wolf, is tentatively scheduled for June of 2005. It's another in the werewolf series, featuring Sim Kavanagh, who appeared in Once A Wolf. The second book for HQN is a sequel to The Forest Lord, Donal's story, for 2006. And the third is the first in a possible new series about a ... well, let's say that it has similarities to my werewolf series but involves a different breed of "humans" and is set in the contemporary world.

Everyone's a Critic ...

I learned some time ago that I don't deal with bad reviews terribly well. I take them far too much to heart, and so I tend to avoid reading review magazines and websites unless someone directs me to a good review.

One of the worst offenders for me is Amazon.Com, in which any "critic" can post his or her review without leaving a return address. This allows the opportunity for incredibly cruel reviews without any risk of real dialogue or consequences ... not that writers are "allowed" to respond to critics. It just isn't done, and it generally makes the author look like a whiner.

I made the mistake the other day of visiting one of my book's Amazon web pages to see why the book (To Catch a Wolf) had received such a low star rating. Seems that one disgruntled reader had given it one "star" and proceeded to explain why. She'd lost all "respect" for my heroine because she'd failed to recognize the threat posed by her brother, and came to dislike the hero when he allowed himself to be shot by the villain rather than hurt the woman he loved. In the words of our critical friend, "What the h*ll was Krinard thinking?" (I refer you to Amazon.Com for the complete review.)

Well, Krinard WAS actually thinking. Krinard thinks quite a bit about things such as consistent characterization and what motivates human beings to do the things they do. Krinard has not only read and studied psychology, but has also been through therapy herself, and Krinard knows that people can behave in mighty strange ways if they're properly motivated to do so.

One thing I can't abide is simplistic characters who react in predictably, "typical" ways to the same situation. This just doesn't happen in real life. In psychological terms, people who have "attachments" to other people such as family members, especially unhealthy ones, will go a very long way to protect those relationships, even against their own best interests. They'll be willfully blind and blame themselves rather than the real culprit. They'll even allow themselves to be hurt in order to avoid losing the relationship or situation they know.

This was the situation of my heroine, Athena, in To Catch A Wolf. For her, it made perfect sense to keep herself "blind" to the double-dealings of her brother and a woman she thought her friend. She had far too much invested in her current life to allow herself to really think about what was going on.

But, like any good character, she grew up. She learned to face the truth, as painful as it proved to be. And that's what stories are about to me ... character growth. A perfect character is boring. A character who is flawed and learns to overcome her flaws ... that's real life. That's meaningful. That's storytelling.

In December I turned 45, and I realized how much I've learned over the years. I'm not a kid anymore. I've learned to see with different eyes--wiser eyes, if you will--and I am more and more fascinated by the complexity and uniqueness of human beings. I want to reflect that in my books. Unfortunately, there will always be readers who want the simpler path, the more predictable characters, the ones who act "heroically" every moment and never make a real mistake. I may sometimes make genuine mistakes in my own writing and allow an occasional inconsistency to slip through, but it isn't for lack of "thinking." It's just a mistake, and I guess it's what makes me human!

This and That

With the very little free time I've had for the past several months, I haven't managed to do much but research reading, and that situation will probably continue for some time. I have bought and am looking forward to reading Laura Kinsale's long-awaited Shadowheart. In terms of movies, I've seen Hidalgo and of course the final Lord of the Rings installment, which I loved. Next month I can't wait to see Van Helsing, featuring my adored Hugh Jackman. I hope for his sake that it's a huge success. No one deserves it more.

Fans of the old Beauty and the Beast TV series, which had so much to do with my becoming a writer, might want to check out the current movie Hellboy. Bad as the title sounds, its actually based on the comic book of a "demon" raised as a human to fight evil and his love for a mutant human woman, Liz. It's a violent movie, but has a very satisfying romantic subplot. Ron Perlman, in the title role, is once again playing "beast" to the heroine's "beauty."

I have found time for beading ... i.e., buying handmade beads from various artists and making jewelry. It's something I can do in the evenings while watching my handful of favorite TV shows: Monk, the Law and Order series, Cold Case, and Crossing Jordan. I've taken an interest in Touching Evil as well (give me oddball protagonists any day of the week!). I'm waiting for the return of The Dead Zone but have been very disappointed in the direction Stargate has taken, virtually eliminating Jack's role (by the actor's own wishes) and cutting off the potential romance between him and Amanda. <<sigh>>

Reader Feature

I won't be having a Reader Feature this month because I didn't get my act together in time to set one up. However, I have several readers interested in participating, and I still welcome inquiries from anyone who'd like to be the featured reader of a future newsletter. If you're interested in participating in a future interview, please send an to that effect.

I also have no Links of the Month this month, but hope to get that together next time as well. The next quarterly newsletter will appear in June or July, depending on my schedule.

Happy Spring!

And now, it's time to say good-bye this time around ... got to get to work on the werewolf story and think about planting now that the weather's warming up again. I thank all of you who've stood by me and been patient during this difficult period, and have a wonderful spring!

Sincerely,

Sue Krinard

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