Carol Callicotte

Author

Skirting the Dark Side September 3, 2008

Filed under: Funny stuff,Self deprecating humor — A French American Life @ 6:58 pm
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“You don’t look like an urban fantasy writer…I always thought that stuff was dark and creepy.” This is the note I got from a fellow writer who I connected with on Facebook. He went on to ask if I had a darker side hidden beneath the neat white shirt.

I had to laugh, because he’s right. I’m blessed/cursed with the look of a sweet innocent thing. But really, I assure you, I DEFINITELY have a dark side. Don’t we all, to some extent or another? Yes, behind the neat, clean shirt and hair lurks a diabolic mind that likes vampires and demons just as much as happy days and fluffy clouds. Stephen King warped my brain at an early age, and I’m forever grateful. Though, in truth, the urban fantasy I write tends toward more humorous and less creepy . Some of my other works in progress might be better classified as magical realism.

Maybe my website photo is more suited to my interest in travel writing. Next time I’ll wear black clothes and carry a scythe.

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Fantasy Writers Research, Too August 13, 2008

Filed under: Cheater,fantasy,Projects,Writing — A French American Life @ 1:09 pm
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Yep – we may create our own worlds and our own rules, but that doesn’t exempt us from research.

Here is a list of some of the things I researched while writing my urban fantasy, CHEATER:

• Traditional and contemporary beliefs about death, the gods and angels of death, and the afterlife, including Celtic, Egyptian, Greek, Indian, Norse, Aztec, and Christian.

• Con artists and their “art”, famous cons and schemes, famous con artists

• The Grim Reaper – folklore, history, and portrayal in literature and film

• Death and mortality rates

• Traditionally held beliefs about Limbo

• All sorts of cool techy stuff like hacking into computers, tiny digital cameras, internet scams…

• Slot machines

• Blackjack

• Las Vegas and Death Valley – that was a fun trip!

• The Lake Havasu region

• Several locales around sweet home San Diego

• Casinos, their rules, their layout

• The Etch A Sketch

• My jobs, that have offered wonderful insight to the inner workings of a bureaucracy (including a nice collection of memos that served as inspiration…)

• Poker

• Charles Babbage, his Difference Engine, and his Analytical Engine

While 95% of what I learned didn’t make it into the book (sometimes 10 hours of research becomes 1 line of text), most of these things play a role. Are you intrigued yet?