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NTS Annotated Reread
🕑 Added 2022-04-03 22:09:19 +0000 UTCA few days later than planned, but I made it. Woo! Let's jump right in, shall we?
So the title and the cover:
NTS Only ever had the one title (except when it was being drafted in which case it was Necromancing 2: Electric Bugaloo which is how I title all of my sequels.), and honestly I thought I'd have to argue for it more. Marketing didn't fight me on this one. Titles are hard and I've always liked my Necromancer titles best and usually people like them...but the fun of working in a bookstore is that I definitely heard a couple mock my titles while I was shelving. "NTS? Someone doesn't have an imagination" was the specific comment. I had to work to not laugh because I could have made their day so awkward. I was a little wounded because one of them was wearing a Mercy's Garage patch (from Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series) and I loved those books, so really these should have been my peeps. Alas, they were not.
Not everyone needs to be your peep is the reality of the situation and honestly I've heard worse. One needs either a thick skin or healthy coping mechanisms in publishing, preferably both. I also had someone in the bookstore once ask me if I could point them to NTS, only she garbled the title--I wish I could remember what she said. (I was at the info desk, no name tag because people said creepy/weird things about my name, so I stopped wearing it.) I gently corrected her and said I could take her right to the book and she said, "No, no, I'm pretty sure I'm right." So I just nodded, handed her the book, and went back to info.
NTS also only had one cover. I love it, so yay!
Fun behind the scenes knowledge--my editor, Reka, left Henry Holt, my publisher, after HMC,N was done. This happens frequently and I was really sad. Reka was amazing and honestly made my first book such a good experience. She handed me of to Noa Wheeler, who I worked with until she left mid-book on Pyromantic. (Told you this happens a lot. I've had 4 editors for 5 books.) Noa was a younger editor but just as skilled and again, a joy to work with, which is good because second books are HARD. You're under a lot of pressure both externally (reviewers, readers, publishers, etc) and internally (self doubt--can I do this again? Was the first book a fluke?). So yeah, second books have a bit of a reputation and I try to warn writers new to publishing. I'm proud of NTS and hanging in there through the rough patch, even if it didn't sell as well as HMC,N did.
A note about the introduction--I'm sure that people saw this and thought, "Wow, Lish, you're kind of a jerk." And...I mean, they're not wrong. But we have two inside jokes going here. The first is the nickname "Fatty" which yes, is insensitive, and refers to my husband aka Man Friend. He is not fat and I wouldn't care if he was and I'm not down with body shaming, generally. This particular instance, however, came from his father making a comment that my husband, "liked his women plump" like he did. (Yes, I know, gross. My father-in-law was a tiny, cowboy trucker and wasn't much into sugar coating things or watching what he said, which I honestly enjoyed about him.) My husband, who is a sweet summer child, REPEATED THIS TO ME.
I know. If he had been dating almost anyone else, he would have been murdered horribly. Instead, we had this discussion:
Me: Your dad just called me fat.
MF: *furiously backpedaling as he realizes what he just said* What? No. No. That's not what that means.
Me: *reaches for thesaurus that I just happen to have on hand* Plump. Fat. Corpulent--it just goes downhill, really...
MF: *desperate now* THAT'S NOT WHAT IT MEANS.
I laughed really hard. Anyway, he called me a week later from his parents and I heard his dad in the background saying, "Is that Lish? Invite her to dinner. She doesn't eat enough. She should eat more."
Me: You told your dad about the fat conversation, didn't you?
MF: Um...no. NO.
Me: Well, tell your dad I'm not fat he's fat, fatty! (To paraphrase Cartman from Southpark)
Sadly, the nickname Fatty kind of stuck once his roommates heard it. He's still in my phone under Fatty. I've asked him multiple times if he wants me to let the joke die, but he keeps saying he's fine with it. As for the, "ha ha--sucker" that is a direct quote from the first time he told me he loved me. As in:
MF: I love you.
Me: *points* Ha ha--sucker! *claps hand over mouth as I realize what I just said*
Me: I am so sorry.
MF: *laughs*
So see? Kind of a jerk. No one should date me. Poor Man Friend.
Now, to actual chapters!
Chapter 1--the song here is a from Nerf Herder's "Welcome to my World." There's a lot of summary in chapter one to remind readers of HMC,N and clue in the new readers who skipped book one. (The monsters.) It also includes one of my favorite scenes--the one where Sean is attacked by tiny woodland zombies. Good clean fun.
Chapter 2- So this song, "Come on a-my-house" has lots of versions, but the one I'm the most familiar with was the Rosemary Clooney one. (Ella Fitzgerald's version is also lovely.) My roommate, Porkchop, had this on vinyl and we used to listen to it sometimes as we'd get ready to go out. She had her own bathroom and it was bigger than the house bathroom, which I shared with 3 or so other roommates at the time. So we would get ready up there and leave the guys to fend for themselves in the other bathroom.
The other inside tidbit in this chapter is the line from Brid, "I fed my Barbie to my cat." Which is a thing I actually did. I am the only girl in my family and until I was fourteen, the only girl cousin on my mother's and father's side. People LOVED to shower me in pink and ruffles. So I automatically hated pink and ruffles. I am contrary, like a cat.
While I was down with My Little Ponies, Cabbage Patch dolls and Breyer Horses, I did not get into Barbie. Except for my Princess Leia Barbie, which was okay, but I wanted Han Solo. Anyway, the other random Barbie I left in the crawl space by my room for my step mother's skittish cat to chew on. He seemed into it. Chewed the heck out of that Barbie.
Chapter 3--"Hello Darkness My Old Friend" is of course taken from Simon & Garfunkel's album of the same title. Still such a beautiful song. I listened to them a lot growing up. There's actually a really cool cover of The Boxer by Mumford & Sons if you haven't checked it out.
The folktale that I reference in this chapter, the one about the troll who hides his heart, is a real folktale. I read a LOT of folktales and fairytales growing up. Shocking, I know.
That's it for now! I'm glad I only did three chapters. I didn't realize I would blather so much about the other stuff. Ha!
Until next time, stay safe, friends! And as usual, hit me up in the comments if you have any questions.
-Lish
