C. L. Norman

Hi. My name is C. L. Norman and I’m a Sookie Fan. I admit it. I like me some Sookie. She’s funny and never boring and always in trouble.

I enjoyed Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris very much. There were rumblings in the blogosphere after Dead in the Family came out. Everyone thought it wasn’t as good. Maybe the series should come to an end. Blah, blah, blah. I liked Dead in the Family. Sookie has had such a wild ride of it through the first 9 books that I think it was about time she had a different kind of challenge and I liked it.

Dead Reckoning sends Sookie back into the thick of things. Some old threats are taken care of and some new challenges are brought to light. Some of which aren’t resolved in anyway before the book ends. Yeah, I was screaming at the end of this book too. For different reasons than I mentioned before. Before it was because I knew the story was over and I had to go home to the real world. This time, I screamed because I have to wait a year to find out what happens next.

There was action and bloody fight scenes (which can only be done in a Sookie book) and Sookie’s love life get thrown for a loop. Again.

I’d recommend these books to anyone who likes romance, mystery, urban fantasy, or having a good time when they read.

        

For a couple of years now, I have had a problem with the world building in most fantasy game worlds. It is the tiniest thing, easily overlooked, but it has been bugging me ever since it dawned on me.

Why do people bury their dead in traditional fantasy gaming worlds?

Undead are very common figures in gaming. Who doesn’t love a good zombie-bashing or vampire-slaying? Some undead are created because of how they died; vampires, ghosts, shades, etc. These types of undead cannot be avoided, at least according to the rules established in most settings. Some, zombies and animated skeletons, are created by some mysterious force or evil necromancer or vengeful god from readily available ‘raw materials’.  Those materials are the dearly departed buried lovingly by those left behind.

Can you guess now my problem with the world building?

Yes, the burial tradition. In a world where undead are fairly common and any graveyard is likely to be the target of any being looking to raise an army of undead, why wouldn’t the dead be cremated on a funeral pyre? Christians bury their dead so that the body will be whole for the resurrection. Followers of the great and mighty <insert game world deity name here> have no reason that is ever mentioned for burying their dead. The gods don’t demand it. Resurrection is a spell that most can’t afford and few have the ability to cast. Why bury their dead?

Last weekend, my character in our Pathfinder game met her end at the teeth of a shark. My companions immediately recovered her body and cremated her without a thought. I didn’t say anything (I was too busy rolling up my next character) and yet it was an automatic decision for them. Undead sailors have regularly been walking the beaches of the island where we adventure and they didn’t want to have to kill my character. Again.

Do you have a theory about why the dead are still buried in gaming worlds? With the looming threat of a Zombie Apocalypse in our world, how do you think we should change our burial practices?

        

Good morning all. Another week is drawing to a close and it is time for my weekly post.

Happy Mother’s Day

Today is mother’s day. A day for spending time with your kids and the mothers in your life. My grade school kids have special things they have made for me and my teen daughters will hold in their attitudes long enough to mumble “happy mother’s day, mom”. It is a family day. Hope you enjoy yours.

Reading

This week I read Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris as I promised I would last week. I have to say I enjoyed it. I have heard some people complain that it is slower paced than the previous novels. I agree with this but it felt right for Sookie and Co. to have that breather. To me it feels like the lull before the storm. This book is all about family. Sookie and her brother get close again. Sam is still worried about his family and their reaction to the Great Reveal. Even Eric has some relatives come to town. There is still a lot going on but more of it has to do with relationships. There is even an appearance by Russian nobility. Fun.

I also read The Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod. I can’t rave about this book quite as much. It is the first in the series and all the different things that were introduced in this book were confusing in places. I did enjoy most of it and found it interesting take on vampires and fae. Also the character of Finn is a satyr and you just don’t see many satyrs in fiction these days. I like him. The vampire nobility that involve themselves with Genny’s life are darkly mysterious and their motives remain in the shadows. That said I will be reading the next one in the series. Now that I understand (or think I do) what is going on with Genny and her past, I am ready to dive forward in her world and see where things go.

Movies

I saw Iron Man 2 on Friday with my husband and two boys and I loved it. My 7 year old has dubbed it the third best movie of all time. Tony Stark has more snark than can fit in that suit and Vanko was sufficiently smart and creepy to be a worthy adversary. The action was eye-popping and fun, the way superhero action movies should be. I recommend this movie to comic fans, action fans, and comedy fans. It even has a bit of something for fans of romance.

Writing

I am still working on that “sitting down and writing everyday” thing that I need to progress further in this dream of mine. I have a conference coming up on Saturday where Terry Brooks is the keynote speaker. I have been a fan of his since I was in high school. In particular I have a soft spot for his character Allanon from the first Shannara series. Allanon had that black cloak that obscured his features and his motives wonderfully well. The first time through the books I didn’t know if he was just pretending to be a good guy or not.

 I also will be heading to a convention and participating in a writing workshop May 28th through the 31st. I found out who is critiquing my submission and now my husband is begging to pretend to be me and go. I will share with you who it is after I hear what he has to say. I can say that I am totally looking forward to hearing what he has to say.

How was your week? Are you enjoying your Mother’s Day?

        

Howdy Folks! How was your week? Do anything wild and crazy? Try that hot chocolate with the dark cherry or discover some other yummy treat?

Movies

Last Sunday I went to see The Bounty Hunter with my oldest daughter. I have to say having a kid I can drag with me to romantic comedies whenever my checkbook and time permits is very cool. As anticipated Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston had me laughing and rooting for the big kiss moment and I wasn’t disappointed.

As a side note, after seeing this movie I started brainstorming how I could write a bounty hunter story myself, in a fantasy setting, of course. You see a lot of assassins and pickpockets in fiction but not as many bounty hunters and they deserve to wear the rogue mantle too. So keep an eye out and maybe one day you will see a bounty hunter story from me.

Reading

Remember how I said I had to fix the lack of reading I’ve been doing last week? Well I did. In spades. I’ve read the thee Mortal Instruments books by Cassandra Clare and the first two Blue Bloods novels by Melissa de la Cruz.

It all started when my daughter and I stopped at the bookstore after the movies and I got her a book and me a book with the idea we would swap when we finished. I finished the first of the Mortal Instruments book by the next day and of course I had to go right out and get the next one and the next. By then my daughter finished her book and I read that one and had to get the next. I stayed up super late reading three nights this week and even though I feel a bit sleepy I feel a lot more like myself now.

I probably don’t need to tell you after all that that I thoroughly enjoyed the books. The pacing, world-building, characters and their relationships were spot on. I even have to say that the way the Blue Bloods is set up I could believe that they might exist. Makes a lot more sense than nocturnal bloodsucking pale people.

Gaming

I was suppose to run the second session of my Night Below campaign last night but Monday I decided I just didn’t have the time to work out all the conversions necessary. So instead I am going to run the Kingmaker adventure path by Paizo. The first adventure didn’t arrive before last nights session but it turned out ok as 2 players didn’t show up and another 2 were later than they anticipated. So we worked on characters, building some background and personalities, even generated birthdays. The next session should be fun.

Writing

As you probably guessed I didn’t get much writing done. Balance is not a specialty of mine. I have decided to try to participate in the #fridayflash social event on Twitter as a result. Maybe the structure of having to have something written and posted every Friday will help out poor pathetic me who spends way more time talking and writing about writing than actually doing it.

So, next Friday, if you don’t see a story posted here, feel free to beat me about the head and shoulders with a boffer weapon. I will deserve it.

Have a good week, friends.

        

I finished rewatching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and it got me to thinking of love triangles and what works for me and what doesn’t.

Buffy by the end of the series is in a love triangle with Angel and Spike. Both are vampires with souls and both love her. And let’s face it, both are good looking. So why is it that folks vote for Buffy to choose one over the other?

Personally, I think Spike is who she should end with. The reason why is the same reason I am glad Joey ended up with Pacey on Dawson’s Creek and why I was frustrated with Felicity choosing Ben over Noel on Felicity.

Angel and Buffy was the dream relationship. The first crush. The first love. The hazy, rose-colored, slow-music playing relationship. Don’t get me wrong. I fully believe that Buffy and Angel loved each other and they had a nice run, but they changed and grew up over the next few years and their love was more of a reflex after that happened. It wasn’t real anymore.

Spike and Buffy started as enemies but they grew and changed together. They worked at their relationship or tried to avoid working at it. Their feelings for each other grew from enmity to allies to friendship and finally to love. After all that effort and growth, they should be together.

At least for a while, the whole unaging thing on the part of Spike will get to be a problem eventually. But that is a whole other topic for discussion.

A new vampire love triangle is on TV. This one is on Vampire Diaries between Elaina, Stefan, and Damon. I’ve read the books and despite a love triangle being advertised on the back cover, I never thought that there was any danger of a triangle forming. Elaina was never in any danger of loving Damon and so no triangle. In the tv show that possibility is already there. My daughter is an avid fan and I like it but the triangle possibility is starting to draw me in. I want to see what happens next.

Of course all of this may be me justifying the girl ending up with the ‘bad boy.’ I am a sucker for the bad boy, they are more fun.

What is your favorite love triangle? Which ones worked for you and which ones had you yelling at the book/TV/screen “No!”?