An evening with Patricia Briggs

This evening I was lucky enough to see Patricia Briggs at Murder by the Book. If you're not aware of Murder by the Book, you should check out their website. They are quite possibly the coolest bookstore ever (and this is coming from someone who spends 40+ hours a week in a bookstore). Make sure you check out their upcoming events. They have a ton of them, and they host really great, well organized signings.

I'm a big fan of the Mercy books, and was thrilled that I'd get to see her speak. I had no clue that I would walk away an even bigger fan. I'm completely enamored with her now and want to run out and buy everything she's ever written, even though I don't care for straight fantasy.

Let's see if I can remember everything she said from the Q&A:

Her talk started with applause for her hitting #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, and she had her Mercy's Garage jacket with her. That was pretty cool!

The Cry Wolf graphic novel is still happened. Dabel Brothers wasn't a great fit for her working relationship-wise so she's with another company and they're starting to work on them now.

Film rights have been bought for the Mercy books, but the contract is really complicated. She'll have a lot of creative control in the process though. She says she's worried the movies will turn out like Blood and Chocolate and since she'll have a say in them, it will be her fault.

Her first book Masques is being reprinted. She went back a reworked some of, and a never before published sequel is coming out too.

Someone asked if would consider doing books or stories from the point of view of other characters. She said she wants to a Samuel book. She felt it was hard to write about his romance in Silver Borne because it was from Mercy's point of view and she'd like to go back and tell the full story. Someone asked if we'd get a Bran book and she said no. She'll probably do another Anna and Charles book and then alternate them with other characters.

She talked about the folklore that she researched to write the rules of her supernatural world. I loved hearing her talk about how silver used to be considered a holy metal. Did you know people believed vampires couldn't see their own reflection because mirrors were made with silver?

Another person asked her about the rape in Iron Kissed. She said that as she was writing the book the character of Tim was evolving and at the point she knew it was going to happen she called her editor to talk to her about it. Patricia was afraid she was going to alienate readers, and Anne told her to do what felt right. Patricia felt that there was a stereotype that when bad things happen to strong female protagonists they all the sudden stop being strong. She felt that putting Mercy in the situation and then letting her escape at the last minute would have been the coward's way out. At the same time, she didn't want to put the reader through the experience of reading it, because when you really love a character you feel like it's happening to your best friend.

Hearing her talk about that scene, how hard it was to write, how she can't read it, and the decision to write it was amazing. You could tell that it's still really emotional for her and that she didn't do it lightly.

The fae characters and knowledge is based on books that she read as a child. She and her sister had a big volume of old fairy tales and that's where she drew her inspiration from.

As she was signing my book I wanted to thank her for including gay characters in her books. Especially gay werewolves. There was a period in my life where all I read was gay fiction because I wanted to see me reflected in what I was reading. It's so refreshing to read something (especially in the sci-fi/fantasy genre) where there are gay characters and it's just natural. She said that's exactly how she wanted it to be. I asked if she'd ever consider writing a Warren and Kyle short story. I about fell over when she said had ideas for, and would like to do BOOKS with them. BOOKS!

She was so personable and friendly with everyone. If you get a chance to go to a Patricia Briggs signing, GO! She was funny, smart, and very appreciative of her fans. I heard her thank every person for being there as she started signing their books.