Lucienne's Bio
Her short stories have been included in the Strip-Mauled and Fangs for the Mammaries anthologies edited by Esther Friesner (Baen Books), and her essay on abuse is included in the upcoming anthology Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories(HarperTeen). 2011 saw the launch of Bad Blood, the first novel in her Latter-Day Olympians series of contemporary fantasy, set in LA and featuring a heroine who can, quite literally, stop men in their tracks. Long and Short Reviews gave it her favorite pull-quote of all times, "Bad Blood is a delightful urban fantasy, a clever mix of Janet Evanovich and Rick Riordan, and a true Lucienne Diver original." She can now die happy, though maybe not just yet.
Lucienne Diver's Naughty and Nice List
With the holidays ambushing me, as they do every year—working, working…what do you
mean there are only twenty shopping days left until Christmas!—my brain automatically goes
to naughty and nice lists. Oh, and gift lists! You’d think my characters, being fictional and all,
would be exempt from this sort of thing. But, since they always start as voices in my head who
I induce to tell me about their adventures, they feel very real to me. As far as their adventures,
they’re so busy having them, I generally have to clap very loudly and wave my arms around to
get their attention, like “Hey, remember me, the person whose head is hosting you? Time to
come earn your keep.” (Oh, you didn’t know authors were crazy like this? Well, let me be the
first to enlighten you. ;-)
Anyway, I worry about silly little things like this. For instance, would Gina, the fanged
fashionista from my Vamped young adult series, be on the naughty or nice list? If the latter,
would I be able to afford to buy anything from her label-laden “wish” list? I don’t even buy
Ferragamo for myself! So, it’s a very good thing this is all in my head.
In any case, my fictional naughty and nice deliberations go something like this:
Vamped series:
Gina: See, this is a tough one. When she first wakes from the dead in Vamped, she’s mostly
concerned about facing an eternity with no way to fix her hair and make-up to maintain her usual
high standards. Then there’s the vixen vampiress who turns up—biting, killing and resurrecting
Gina’s classmates to enlist them into her own undead army—and Gina stepping up with an “Oh
hell no” and leading the revolt. Points to Gina for putting on her big girl panties and dealing
with it, but there’s still the question of whether vampires have a soul and whether the fanged and
fabulous are even on Santa’s radar. Verdict: jury is still out.
Bobby: Hmm, Bobby bit Gina in a make-out session at the after prom party, not realizing that
it would have such immediate consequences. It gave her the chance to live after death, but not
exactly in a manner of her choosing, so we’ll call that one a push. On the other hand, Bobby is
a true white knight. He’ll do the right thing no matter the cost to himself. He’ll save anybody,
anytime…as long as it’s before sun up when he burns to a crispy critter. Even then, he’d risk the
sun if it didn’t drop him like a stone, leaving him down for the count. Verdict: very nice.
Ulric: I love Ulric. I’m just going to put that out there. Of course, I love Bobby too. (He’s
like an amalgamation of my husband and a young Zac Efron a la High School Musical.) But
Ulric’s the bad boy. Mischievous, wolfish, irrepressible…he’s like a yin to Bobby’s yang.
Pretty irresistible. He’d definitely be on the naughty list, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Verdict: naughty.
Latter-Day Olympians series:
Tori: Tori wouldn’t see herself as a heroine. She’s just a Los Angeles P.I. whose overwhelming
curiosity could get her killed. But since she’s saved the world a few times over, facing ancient
Greek gods trying to stage a comeback when she’s just a humble mortal (potentially with gorgon
blood running through her veins and the power to stop men in their tracks if not actually to turn
them to stone)…I’d say she’s pretty heroic. Since she’s essentially the reason my house is still
standing—yes, my characters and their adventures are that real to me—I’d definitely have to
give credit where it’s due. Verdict: nice.
Detective Nick Armani: Nick isn’t what you’d call “nice.” Tough, determined, sexy as hell—
guilty as charged. But nice? Call him that to his face and see where that gets you. I’m guessing
it’ll involve handcuffs; I’m still trying to figure out how that’s a bad thing. Verdict: naughty.
Apollo Demas: Yup, the Apollo, now a Hollywood bad boy. (See, the gods lost a lot of their
power along with their worship and since their heyday have had to get day jobs.) Nice? Um,
no, not unless doing the wrong things—like hooking Tori on ambrosia in a successful attempt to
save her life—for all the wrong reasons qualifies as nice. Verdict: completely naughty.
Hmm, I think I’m going to have to up my quota of “nice” this holiday season. Maybe I’ll string
some mistletoe and see who wanders by next. I’ll just have to keep my naughtier characters
from eating them alive. Maybe I should appeal to all you readers out there for inspiration. What
do you like to see in your heroes and heroines? Naughty? Nice? The eternal struggle to balance
the two? Inquiring minds want to know.
About Lucienne's Books
With the Ghouligans in town, we can’t stay in Salem. But with a supernatural strangler running loose, we can’t leave.
After figuring out the Feds like to perform mad experiments on vamps for fun and profit, I decided it was time for me—Gina Covello, fashionista of the fanged—and my minions to ditch our government spy jobs. Unfortunately, that made us public enemies number one through six.
Tori Karacis is a little more than your average private eye.
Among other things, her family line may or may not trace back to a drunken liaison between the god Pan and one of the immortal gorgons. It may be just coincidence that her glance can literally stop men in their tracks, or that her family sports enough irregularities to keep the Rialto Bros. Circus in business. Then again, maybe not.
Don't miss your chance to meet Lucienne and spend some time with her and other awesome authors and readers at the Olde City, New Blood urban fantasy / paranormal romance mini-convention this February 8-10th in St. Augustine, FL. We'll have panels, readings, meet & greets and lots of time for everyone to mingle with their favorite authors. Check out http://OldeCityNewBlood.wordpress.com for all the details. Can't wait to see you there!
Wow that was a perfect breakdown! I like the mistletoe idea LOL. A little naughty, a little nice balances well for characters(sometimes) :-) Gives character and conflict.
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