HMC,N Annotation Chapters 19-23

I know what you're thinking--Lish, that's not a HMC,N cover. It's not! I'm out of those. But this collection does include the short story Death & Waffles, which was the first ever appearance of Ashley. I wrote it for my writing workshop in my MFA, and I liked Ashley so much that I worked her into HMC,N. No regrets there. It's possible you've read the Ashley story elsewhere--I think my publisher bundled it together with a partial of HMCN and packaged it as a novella which confused the hell out of everybody. I can't remember if I wrote Death & Waffles at the same time as when I was working on HMCN? It's possible. Same with Heads Will Roll. (Which also features Ed!) I definitely turned that in during one of my last writing workshops because I'd stopped trying to meet their "literary" requirement and I remember turning it into my teacher and telling her, "Hey, here's a story about a battle unicorn named Steve." She laughed. I absolutely emailed her when it sold to Tor.com to let her know my weird battle unicorn would be out in the world. She was thrilled.

Anyway, on with the show!

Chapter 19-I thought I'd finished this chapter, but I hadn't. I already told you some things about here, but here's another--Sam explains how Brid's name is pronounced. It's an Irish name and Gaelic is not a language that should have been anglicized. It means that the sounds don't always correspond with the letters in the way that we know them. I took an Irish Literature class in college taught by a Jesuit priest from Dublin. His favorite pastime was giving us Irish names and words and making us try to read them out loud. Then he'd laugh and laugh and laugh. Honestly, I adored the man. We never, not once, got close to getting them right.

I picked a lot of hard names to pronounce. Samhain (Sow-in) throws people. I knew Bridin would be a problem, so I gave readers a hint through Sam, "Brid sounds like Bridge." So it drove me a little crazy to listen to the audiobook of HMC,N and hear "Brid" throughout. I had no feedback or anything in the audiobook process of HMC,N, or really any of my books except Curses. Sometimes I wouldn't even know there was going to be one until the publisher sent me the finished copy.

20--it cracks me up that James let Sam pet him here and that Sam thinks James is a normal cat. Oh, Sam. You sweet summer child. Fun fact about Brid and Sam's rickets discussion--this is actually a bit of a problem in the PNW. (Also, seasonal depression.) But basically, our cloud cover is often so thick that even if you do go outside a lot, you might not be getting enough vitamin D. As far as I know we have no issue with scurvy, however.

Two other big things happen in this chapter--first is an off page sex scene. I actually planned for Sam and Brid to get together in the next book, not this one. This scene was the first time when it really felt like a character was telling me I was wrong. Brid was very clear. This was happening now. I'm smart enough to listen to Brid. I do remember one reviewer getting upset that I don't mention condoms in this scene. Which...first, it's off page. Second...they're stuck in a cage? They think they're going to die? It's not the highest priority and Sam isn't exactly the kind of fella that carries condoms at all times. Third, you probably shouldn't be relying on me and my weird fantasy book to teach your kid about safe sex. I'm a big fan of it! But it's not my job. Very telling--the same reviewer never mentioned Brid biting a chunk out of someone or any of the violence. Ha!

The other big thing--Ashley appears! And she has a blackberry. Do those still exist? If not, I think it still works. Why wouldn't a harbinger use dead tech?

Chapter 21--Sam learns things and a deal is made. That's about it. 

Chapter 22--Ramon! He gets a lot done in this chapter. The fun thing about this chapter is Ramon has to ride in Mrs. W's car. Again, I'm not a car person. I can't remember what I'd originally picked for her or Douglas to drive, but my agent basically told me those wouldn't work and told me what cars fit their personalities/income brackets better. Sam drives a Subaru because that is the car that is EVERYWHERE up here.  

Chapter 23--we meet Ed! I love Ed. Like I said, If you've read Head's Will Roll, he appears there, and if you read Lena's book on here, he shows up in that story as well. Something about the idea of him and Ashley discussing the bureaucracy of afterlife makes me laugh. No idea why.

Okay, looks like we have one more of these posts left and then it's time for NTS! In the mean time, if you have any questions, post them in the comments.

-Lish