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This week’s Danger Gal profile is about Sirantha Jax from Ann Aguirre’s novel GRIMSPACE. If you haven’t read this book yet, please note that spoilers follow.

Sirantha Jax is a Jumper, part of a small group of people genetically attuned to navigate ships through Grimspace. Such abilities lead to a shortened lifespan, but Jax is unique among her kind, having survived over 500 jumps and living to the ripe old age of 33. The story opens after the destruction of her ship and with it the death of hundreds of people, the least of which was Jax’s pilot and lover. Jumpers and their pilots often become involved due to the nature of Grimspace where their minds must intertwine. Jax finds herself in a psych lockup with memory loss from the event when March breaks into the station and offers escape — at a price. His rogue Jumper has just died, so getting off the station means jumping one more time, a jump that could be her last.

Once past this initial conflict, Jax learns that March and his crew are trying to create an alternate group of jumpers to wrest control of Grimspace away from the Corp monopoly. Jax’s journey becomes one of moving from caring only about herself to caring about a cause, and March is the catalyst for this change. Aguirre’s choice of first person point of view plants the reader firmly in Jax’s mindset, that of an acid-tongued smart-ass who wants to think she cares only about herself, but as SciFi Weekly points out:

Sirantha never really manifests the celebrity jumper’s snobbery she ascribes to herself. True, she often puts her own needs and wants ahead of other folks’. But that’s not rock-star attitude. That’s the behavior of a grief-stricken person who has narrowly escaped death herself, and who is compelled to help people she barely knows and doesn’t like.

This makes Jax likable for me, and also lends credibility to her character arc. Her inaccurate view of herself makes it that much more believable when Jax finally joins March’s cause. Jax’s voice is so strong, that adding other points of view in the story would have been distracting. March’s psi abilities, specifically his ability to read Jax’s mind, gives the reader a round-about point of view from March as well.

March is a catalyst and example to Jax. He’s made his own journey into caring about something larger than himself, but he’s had to sacrifice parts of himself to get there, a void it seems only Jax can fill because of their unique psi connection. The jumper-pilot relationship is an intimate one, but March’s psi abilities increase that exponentially. Jax’s unique compatibility provides a stabilizing effect and enables March to interact with others more easily. Jax’s smart-mouth attitude is ultimately a cover for her not believing in herself, for falling into the trap that all she has to offer is the J-gene. She tricks herself into believing the few moments of bliss in Grimspace are all that really matter to her. However, March’s psi abilities enable Jax to see herself through someone else’s eyes, and she becomes stronger from that interaction when Jax realizes the difference she can make against the Corp. Through March’s example Jax finds the tools needed to transform herself and also complete March’s own final transformation into a more well-rounded individual.

Plus, when Jax tells March to “frag off” in her mind, it’s fun.

I agree with SciFi Weekly in that Aguirre writes March as “interestingly dark and driven, without turning him into a bad-boy alpha-male cliche.” Both Jax and March subvert stereotypes, mostly by flipping emotional expectations. Aguirre writes March as, initially, the more emotionally aware of the two and Jax is the one unable to easily commit. March’s hard-won emotional balance was learned from an older female teacher, a gun-toting wild woman who sacrifices herself for the greater good. I found this Obi-Wan Kenobi twist on the usually-evil crone stereotype refreshing. Also, Jax often makes decisions based on what she wants out of life rather than out of fear of how people will judge her if she chooses the unexpected.

Three more books are expected in this series, and I know I’ll be looking for them on the bookshelves. Check out the following reviews for more information on GRIMSPACE:

• Lurv à la Mode
• Dear Author’s Review by Jane
• Dear Author’s Review by the other Jane

[Many thanks for the insight, Mr. FuManchu]

My fellow playpal from the Writers At Play group blog Terri Garey has finaled in the RITA for paranormal and Best First Book for DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY.

What’s a RITA? It’s the romance-publishing industry’s highest award of distinction sponsored by the Romance Writers of America to honor RWA’s first president, Rita Clay Estrada, and has become the symbol for the best in published romance fiction.
Up to 1,200 romance novels from 12 different categories are entered each year in the RITA competition. Novels can be entered either by their authors or by the books’ publisher. After the first round of judging by fellow published romance authors, the competition narrows to approximately 100 finalists. Click here to see the whole list of nominations at the SBTB web site. Garey is up against another favorite of mine in the Paranormal category: Linnea Sinclair for her book GAMES OF COMMAND. Good luck to both of you!

Double whammie! This was a great book and I can’t wait to see what happens next for Nikki Styx. Obviously, I’m not the only one who feels that way too:

“Nicki Styx is a heroine to die for in this witty and wonderful new series. DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY will both thrill and chill you as talented Terri Garey brings to life a fresh and funny cast of characters.” -– Teresa Medeiros, NYT bestselling author

From Terri’s site:

What do you get when you cross a hip young woman with a dark side
with some uninvited ghosts?

You get Nicki Styx and her very strange life in Dead Girls Are Easy.

Poor Nicki just wanted to earn a living with her vintage clothing store in Little Five Points, Georgia, and maybe have a little fun on the side. One near death experience later, and Nicki’s life is changed forever by the ability to see and hear spirits.

It’s dark humor with a Southern slant - the angst of a young woman on the edge, a healthy dash of sex and voodoo, a sprinkling of spookiness.

(#21)

Today, March 20, would have been Mr. Rogers’ 80th birthday and is Wear Your Favorite Sweater Day. In honor of this, David Newell (Mr. McFeely), public relations director for Family Communications, Inc. the nonprofit company founded in 1971 by Fred Rogers, has asked that: “. . . everyone (including members of the media) everywhere (from Pittsburgh to Paris) to wear their favorite sweater on that day. . . It doesn’t have to have a zipper down the front like the one Mister Rogers wore on the program, it just has to be special to you.” If you didn’t get the sweater memo before getting dressed this morning, then just take a minute to think about the contribution Fred Rogers made to the world with his children’s television program.

1. “You make each day a special day. You know how, by just your being you. There’s only one person in this whole world like you. And people can like you exactly as you are.”
2. Where orange crayons come from
3. How to make believe
4. It’s important to be a good neighbor
5. Model railroad trollies are cool!
6. They might grow on trees, but you don’t eat pine needles or bark. You do eat apples and bananas though.
7. Be sure to feed your pet
8. Put on your sweater one sleeve at a time
9. It’s OK to feel shy or sad sometimes.
10. I won’t go down the drain with the bath water (”You can never go down/Can never go down/Can never go down the drain.”)
11. “You know, you don’t have to look like everybody else to be acceptable and to feel acceptable.”
12. “Did you know/ Did you know/ Did you know that it’s alright to wonder/ Did you know that it’s alright to wonder/ There are all kinds of wonderful things”
13. “If you will look carefully/ Listen carefully/ You will find alot of things carefully/Look… And listen”

Bonus: When you’re angry “pound some clay and make things out of clay, and sing a song or write a poem.”

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The special guest today over at my group blog, Writers At Play, is Christina Hogrebe of the Jane Rotrosen Agency. Hogrebe will be fielding questions on what she looks for before offering literary representation, what may or not be “hot”, or any other questions you may have. This is your chance to Ask An Agent, and as a special added bonus, Christina will be giving away a free copy of “WILL WRITE FOR SHOES: How To Write A Chick-Lit Novel” by Cathy Yardley to one special commenter.

I mentioned in an earlier post how I want to read Ann Aguirre’s new novel GRIMSPACE.

Aguirre has a fun online promo going on, which is a quiz to see what kind of character you would be in her book — and she’s offering prizes. Seriously, she’s offering a Grand Prize $100 gift card from Barnes and Noble and a First Runner Up $50 gift certificate from Amazon, among other prizes. Check out the rest of the prizes.

My results (my interstellar royalty status shouldn’t surprise anyone who really knows me. Yar!):

Your Result: Jumper
Grimspace navigator? Dude, you’re like interstellar royalty. You’re charismatic and possess a forceful personality. You’re used to having power and you don’t hesitate to use it. You also love to take risks. If it has danger attached, you’re first in line, and no, you’re not wearing a safety helmet. You live for the thrills, don’t care about life expectancy, and expect to go out with a bang.

KICK-BUTT CONTEST! Answer five questions, earn chances to win fabulous prizes. The official GRIMSPACE quiz* Ever wondered what job you’d hold down on a star ship? Yes! Uhm, no… *shifty look* Banana Hammock!

–WIRED’s Clive Thompson thinks that “Science fiction is the last great literature of ideas.” Maybe because the root of the genre is innovation? Or because Science Fiction uses technology to examine possible futures and analyze the present? Thompson also makes the point that “many of sci-fi’s most famous authors — like Robert Heinlein and Philip K. Dick — have positively deranged notions about the inner lives of women.” I’d love to know what he thinks about the SF/R spectrum at the cross-section of Science Fiction and Romance, where most of the writers are female. I’ve wondered if the popularity of the character-driven novel in the Romance genre influenced other genres. Science Fiction then transformed from a plot-based emphasis (the one guy in a rocket ship trying not to burn up on re-entry scenario) to a character-driven one, which opened the door for Romance elements to appear. Ta da! Now we have Science Fiction and Romance novels wrapped up in a Literary style of writing. “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”

–Jezebel points out that women are making inroads into Hollywood as writers, but they’re still hitting that glass ceiling when it comes to directing: “…the Best Original Screenplay category was female-dominated, with 4 out of the 5 nominated films boasting women writers…”

–Show Me SciFi has a nice screencap up from Friday’s Stargate: Atlantis episode “Quarantine,” where Ronon and Dr. Keller nearly hook up. The writers have done a great job of juxtaposing Ronon’s extroverted personality with a grief that he holds close and private. I thought this mix of Science Fiction and Romance was handled better than the issue of Sheppard and Larrin in Travelers. What has really been interesting is how the writers have dealt with Teyla’s pregnancy in the last few episodes. They’ve dealt with her going on a temporary hiatus from missions, but at the same time showing how Teyla has become a more valuable member of the team since her pregnancy. Her Wraith powers have increased, she can control Wraith technology better than before. She hasn’t just become a walking incubator like some other SF characters I know.

–There will be no more episodes of Moonlight until the writers strike is over. SFScope gives its usual weighty review as does The Recapist. I loved the episode, but am left wondering if Lance is so creepy smelling because he’s an old vamp, why doesn’t Coraline have the same parfum if she’s his sibling? At least now we know how Coraline survived that fire. I also would have loved to have seen Mick play guitar hero at Logan’s apartment.

–What am I reading this week? BLOOD PRICE by Tanya Huff (which is the basis for the now defunct Blood Ties TV show) and SPIN CONTROL by Chris Moriarty.

(#13) My 13th Thursday Thirteen!

When I’m not writing this blog or writing my books, I’m a web site designer.

So, I have a particular interest in art, and also in the cover art of the books I read.

Left, The Snow Queen by Joan Vinge (cover by Leo and Diane Dillon)

Below are some of my favorite artists in no particular order (and certainly not a complete list):

1. Thomas Canty
2. Susan Seddon Boulet
3. John Waterhouse
4. William Morris
5. Charles Mackintosh
6. Stephan Martiniere
7. Amy Brown
8. Brian Froud
9. Yvonne Gilbert
10. Paul Youll
11. Leo and Diane Dillon
12. Ralph McQuarrie
13. The uncredited artist(s) who created the Luna books Catherine Asaro covers for THE CHARMED SPHERE, THE DAWN STAR, THE MISTED CLIFFS and THE FIRE OPAL.

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Ding dong. Apple calling. Perhaps in the ongoing quest of companies to maximize marketing to women, Apple has welcomed Avon cosmetics CEO Andrea Jung to its board. WIRED magazine muses on the possibilities. Just please, Apple, don’t make a pink Hello Kitty rhinestone encrusted iMac or iPod. I beg you. I kind of resent the idea that manufacturers seem to think that making something pink is the best way to market their products to women. According to WIRED, “Jung is the first woman to sit on Apple’s board in a decade.”

The new io9 blog is talking about temporary hotels. Kind of reminds me of William Gibson’s coffins in NEUROMANCER.

If you’re looking for new shows to watch during the writer’s strike, and you missed the boat on LOST, ABC is offering all three seasons online, for free, in HD. (By way of SFUpdates.)

There’s a GI Joe movie in the works! Is Barbie going to make a cameo? Seriously, I can’t wait to see what they do with the Shana Mae “Scarlet” O’Hara character, which IMDB says will be played by Rachel Nichols. I have friends who have been trying for years to get me to read comics and I’ve never been able to get into it. I may have to change course on that, since Scarlett would make a great Danger Gal profile, not to mention The Baroness Anastasia.

The Literary Assassin and I have been having a great conversation about female characters in the Star Wars universe in the comments to my recent Danger Gal profile of Princess Leia Organa.

Carole McDonnell over at the Fiction Beyond The Ordinary group blog has a good article “In defense of romance,” about why she writes and reads Romance.

Every year my little group of friends share our lists of the books we’ve read over the course of the previous year. Below is my list from 2007. Many of these books showed up as Danger Gal profiles, so if you’d like additional information on them, check out the Danger Gal archives.

For a bit more book-geek fun, peruse my reading lists for 2006 and 2005. And while you’re at it, check out lists from my friend Berty and SciFiChick.

What’s on my list for 2008? I’d like to finish reading through Susan Grant’s backlist, as well as William Gibson’s. Also, I tried to get Linnea Sinclair’s THE DOWN HOME ZOMBIE BLUES in for 2007, but wasn’t able to. I’ve started Chris Moriarty’s SPIN CONTROL and KITTY IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR by Carrie Vaughn. Right now I’m engrossed in Lara Adrian’s Breed trilogy. I’ve also been meaning to read THE PLANETS by Dava Sobel for about a year now.

1. DOPPELGANGER, Marie Brennan (Fantasy)

2. LOVER REVEALED, J.R. Ward (Paranormal Romance)

3. RUNAWAY DUKE, Julie Ann Long (Historical Romance)

4. DEAD END DATING, Kimberly Raye (Paranormal Romance)

5. COUNT ZERO, William Gibson (Science Fiction)

6. MY FAVORITE EARTHLING, Susan Grant (Science Fiction Romance)

7. GAMES OF COMMAND, Linnea Sinclair (Science Fiction Romance)

8. INFIDEL, Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Nonfiction)

9. LORD OF SCOUNDRELS, Loretta Chase (Historical Romance, reread)

10. FOOL MOON, Jim Butcher (Science Fiction/Fantasy)

11. HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, J.K. Rowling (YA Fantasy)

12. HOW TO LOSE AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL IN 10 DAYS, Susan Grant (Science Fiction Romance)

13. CONTACT, Susan Grant (Science Fiction Romance)

14. LOVER UNBOUND, J.R. Ward (Paranormal Romance)

15. THREE TO GET DEADLY, Janet Evanovich (Contemporary Romance)

16. FOUR TO SCORE, Janet Evanovich (Contemporary Romance)

17. DRIVEN, Eve Kenin (Science Fiction Romance)

18. HIGH FIVE, Janet Evanovich (Contemporary Romance)

19. MOONGAZER, Marianne Mancusi (Science Fiction Romance)

20. DON’T LOOK DOWN, Jenny Crusie & Bob Mayer (Contemporary Romance)

21. INTO THE STORM, Suzanne Brockmann (Contemporary Romance)

22. DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY, Terri Garey (Paranormal Romance)

(#11)

1. “In any case, were I to invoke logic, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” — Spock (ST II)

2. “How many fingers am I holding up?” — Kirk, making the Vulcan salute (ST III)

3. “No, I’m from Iowa. I only work in outer space.” — Kirk (Star Trek IV)

4. “Please Captain, not in front of the Klingons.” — Spock, to Kirk, refusing a hug (Star Trek V)

5. “Oh, sh*t!!!” — Data (Generations)

6. “Yes!!!!!!!” — Data (Generations)

7. “If Spock were here, he’d say that I was an irrational, illogical human being for going on a mission like this……. Sounds like fun!” — Kirk (Generations)

8. “Life forms…. You tiny little life forms….. You precious little life forms…. Where are you?” — Data, singing and playing the control panel like a musical instrument (Generations)

9. “Rumors of my assimilation have been greatly exaggerated” — Picard (First Contact)

10. “Ever since my first day on the job as a Starfleet Captain, I swore I’d never let myself get caught in one of these Godforsaken paradoxes. The past is the future, the future is the past, it all gives me a headache.” — Janeway (Future’s End Pt. I)

11. “Prune juice. A warrior’s drink.” — Worf (Yesterday’s Enterprise)

12. “At ease, Ensign, before you sprain something” — Janeway (Caretaker)

13. “I’m a doctor not a bricklayer.” –McCoy (The Devil in the Dark)

Bonus Quote:

“Mr. Kim, we’re Starfleet officers. Weird is part of the job” — Janeway (Deadlock)

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