That's a good trick, Borders

Just like everyone else, I made a mad dash to the local Borders store to pick up on discounted YA books. I have a library of YA, composed of my obsessive-compulsive Amazon pre-order trigger finger, with mostly books released in the last two or three years. My bookcases are six shelves high, eight feet tall, and I have seven of them. They're almost filled up.

But, like anyone amassing YA literature, I saw Borders' liquidation sale announcements and danced the great dance. Who wouldn't want to pick up the newest, hottest YA books and add it to a growing library? Heck, liquidation prices would get me deals better than Amazon, and my "buy it, buy it, buy it" sense had already passed into insane territory there.

So, I hopped into my car, and traveled on over to Borders, thinking to myself -- Man, I'm going to have six or seven huge bags of books, where am I going to put them all, there's no room in the trunk but maybe I could shove 'em all next to the reptile incubator in my back seat...

Upon arriving at Borders, I thought -- WOW! There are a LOT of people here! The parking lot buzzed with traffic. It resembled the Christmas shopping rush, where cars circle around, searching for any parking space. People streamed in and out of the store, toting bags filled with books. It was a book lover's dream!

I managed to snag a parking spot somewhere half down the line. Cars behind me glared, and glared, and glared, as they wanted it instead. Pleased, I locked my car (no steal incubator plz) and dashed for the doorway, dodging other customers and envying the massive bags they clutched.

And so I entered the store - and there are tons of massive red and yellow signs screaming LIQUIDATION SALE! GOING OUT OF BUSINESS! EVERYTHING UP TO 40% OFF!

Amazon's typical discount for a YA hardcover is around 30%. My heart flew!

I glanced around the store, noticing as people flocked from one display to another. The checkout line weaved through many aisles, reminding me of the Breaking Dawn release in that very Borders, where hundreds of teens showed up to get their hands on the new Meyer book. I didn't look forward to waiting in that line... but man, it'd be worth it!!

Then, in the midst of all the excitement, all the people...

Something hinted to a darker ending.

Over some displays were small signs stating "10% off."

I thought to myself, ah, that must be an anomaly. Amazon could easily beat a 10% discount on these books. All those people wouldn't be in line if there weren't massive deals.

So I headed on over to the YA/Teen section.

Que. Massive. Deflate.

Shoulders fell. A sigh escaped my lips.

20% off. That's what Borders was advertising their YA lit at. Let's make no joke, Amazon could beat that price any day. I pulled out my Smartphone, still clinging to the idea that I'd leave this store of wonderful memories with many books in hand. Even one bag would be acceptable! Barcodes were read... (well, some of them were, Borders has this lovely tendency to put their price over the barcode) ... and much weeping commenced.

Amazon still beat them out, by 10-20% in discount.

This is counting the fact that I have an additional 10% discount, being a Borders Rewards Plus+ Member.

In dismay, I wandered about the store, looking at the various discount percentages. Something had to be worth the gas money I'd spent to drive over. But alas - 10%. 10%. 20%. The Smartphone examined more barcodes. Amazon beat out the prices each time - I even scanned a Bargain Book and found Amazon had beaten that price.

And yet, so many shoppers waited in that line with product in their arms, shining faces showing their glory at finding such a fantastic bargain.

Well played, Borders. Well played. You know the human compulsion toward MASSIVE GIGANTIC LIQUIDATION SALE well.

I went home and cried. Or, rather, logged into my Amazon account and scoured Listmania. Many books were bought that day, but they were not bought at Borders.

Dragons and foxes

In the novel VENOMOID, Lorin (he's the vampire) is put on a mission to get dragon eggs from a wild nest. He successfully gets some, and in a scene where he goes to check on one, an egg hatches. A piebald dragon pops out and bonds to him immediately.

I've always wondered what it'd be like to have a pet dragon. Just recently, I got a pet fennec fox, and I imagine it's quite similar to how it'd be to own a dragon. Fennecs are about the cutest little things you could possibly ever see. Here is a picture of my little guy, Nova. Admittedly he's always moving around, so it can get tough to photograph him.

Foxes aren't pets for everyone. They look super cute, but they're still wild animals (despite the fact that this fellow was born in captivity, and many generations before him were as well). It takes a significant amount of tolerance to keep one. Not to mention, the city, county, and state you live in might not allow it. I had to get a permit to keep Nova.

I've only had my fellow for a week, and this is what I've learned about him so far:

• Boy, oh, boy do they bite! Nova has two bite settings: playful (he'll nip at your fingers when you play with him), and GET AWAY FROM ME! The second setting really hurts if he manages to get you! My hands look like swiss cheese. I have scars on them already! His teeth, while tiny, are very, very sharp.
  
  
• Toilet training? What's that? Nova will pee and poop wherever he wants. Fortunately, I have learned that if I put him in his playpen for about five minutes, he'll do his business in there and then he can come out to play.
  
  
• NOISY! Do you like sleep? If you have a fox, you're not going to be getting much of it. Fennec babies are a lot like human babies -- and my guy is only eight weeks old. If you leave him alone in his cage, he'll cry. If he wakes up and finds himself alone, he'll cry. Sometimes he'll just cry for no reason. Sometimes he downright screeches, and believe me, you can hear it. He tends to screech when I wake up and walk by his bedroom door. He also has a funny sort of trill noise, and a pseudo-bark. The bark is like a light "ruff" that would come from a small dog.
  
  
• His mood can change at the drop of a hat. Sometimes, he'll cuddle against my chest and want his ears stroked. Seconds later, he could suddenly decide to growl and bite my hand in "setting 2" of bite intensity. It's exhausting! It's also why I have so many scars on my hand. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you...

I think having a baby dragon would be a lot like having a fennec fox. Like foxes, baby dragons are cute (well, in theory, they could just look like dried up fish!) and I bet they'd have great personalities. Nova sure does. It's fun to watch him wander around the house. He has a tendency to sneak up to an object, sniff it, then suddenly jump back... and repeat the process! It's like he thinks the object is going to attack him if he gets too close to it. No amount of sniffing is enough to convince him otherwise, until another object catches his attention and the dance continues!

Like I said, I've only had him a week, but it's been a week full of love and hate. Having an animal that screams at night, bites you, and potties everywhere isn't a pet for everyone, but he's worth it to me. It's not all about how cute he is, though that's the first comment I get from everyone he meets - "Awww, how cute!"

It's about the bond we share. I have always loved foxes, and Nova is my little guy.

Now, how do I go about finding a dragon egg... maybe I should check the forest in my backyard! Or I could ask Lorin if he can hook me up with one...

Why gay romance?

A familiar scene involves me pitching my story to a willing listener (friend, acquaintance, family member). They listen, nodding their head, liking the action--then wait, a frown when they realize--"Why do you write about gay romance?"

I feel like I'm going to get this question a lot as I continue writing, so I want to puzzle this out to myself here.

Male/male romance is something I get. Like some authors passionately write about space ships, and some about elves and mythical lands, and some about magic in crafty places, this medium is my passion. There's nothing I enjoy more--nothing--than writing the dynamics between two male characters that are slowly falling in love with each other. It gives me the opportunity to completely and fully fall in love with both characters, making the romance - and hopefully the writing in that section - worlds stronger than when I write any other kind of romance.

I can say with full confidence that I love Lorin and Lex. I love all the aspects of their relationship - Lex's teasing, Lorin's nervous reactions, and the bond that I felt developing between them. When writing other romance, I never felt that bond. I can feel these two yearning in my head to be together, and every neuron in my brain wants to help them do that. The words that flow from my fingertips allow them to spend time together, and when you feel love so intensely from both sides of the relationship, the happiness you experience as the two are together simply cannot be reached by any other medium.

When Lorin and Lex are together, I feel Lorin's intense attraction and love for Lex as the man he wants to hug and cuddle forever. I also feel Lex's protectiveness and adoration of Lorin as his little vampire. This isn't a one-way street where I write from a protagonist's point of view who loves the designated love interest. Both of my protagonists overwhelm me with their feelings, and I'd swear I was the one in love myself.

So, this is why I write it. The intense connection I feel to the characters and the romance makes it so real to me, and so worth any difficulties it takes to get there. I hope that if someone reads the story they might feel even a fraction of the emotions welling up in me whenever Lorin and Lex are together. If someone else can feel this love, then it is worth it tenfold.