friendship Archives - Laurell K. Hamilton

Fallen Heroes

I got a text from my best friend the other day. We joke that our friendship is old enough to get its own drinks now. He’s a non-practicing Marine, and a former police officer. His text was simple, “Had two friends in law enforcement die today.” It came through when my phone was silenced for Kali sword practice, so I didn’t see it until I was home, then I called him.
A lot of people wonder, what do you say when something like this happens? You say the usual, I’m sorry for your loss, is there anything I can do to help or make this day any less awful? Sometimes there will be specific things they need, or you can take errands off their plate, anything to help ease the moment, but usually the only thing you can do is listen. Let them talk, let them rail and rant, or be calm, very calm. Police and military people are often incredibly calm outwardly, because they’re trained not to let their emotions get the better of them. Most men are conditioned from childhood to not show too much emotion, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t hurting, but don’t poke at that; okay? This is mainly to the women in the lives of such men, do not poke at the wounds, let them talk, listen to what they have to say, but allow them to show you as much, or as little pain as they are comfortable with, the best thing you can do for them is to listen, just let them talk, if they will. If they want silence and solitude give it to them, but if they talk to you take it as the gift that it is, because men like this don’t talk to just anyone. My BFF and I bonded over a lot of things, but one of the most important was that when something seemed wrong, or off, I asked, and I was ready for the answer. I was able to hear about his day at work as a police officer, whatever it was, and listen with no judgement and no horror and no extra emotion from me got added to his story. That’s really one of the reasons most cops don’t talk to the women in their lives, we have tendency to react too much, show too much emotion on our faces and they see it and are worried that they are burdening us, making us feel the pain and difficulty of their jobs. My BFF and I have been doing this long enough that I can give him more emotion, because he trusts me with it and with his own, and I never forget what a gift that trust is, which is why he and I are each other’s three AM phone call. We have seen each other through divorce and loss, and remarriage and gain, and . . . So much. We are each other’s person in a way that is rare for someone with his background and a civilian like me. That I am a civilian woman and have his trust and friendship is even more rare, but I did know him before he went into the Marines, and he knew me before I sold a single short story. We’ve been in each other’s lives a long time, through a lot of changes. We have earned each other’s trust.
All this to explain that I’m putting up a link to a Go-Fund-Me campaign in this blog. The Go-Fund-Me is for a man I never met, but my BFF did. Aaron Allan was a Lieutenant with the Southport Police Department, he was previously a school police officer for the Indiana School for the Deaf, and was one of the two friends that died. Lieutenant saw a car speed by and crash, rolling so that anyone would be worried for the safety of the people inside of it, but he was a police officer. It was his job, his duty, the kind of person he was to run for the crash and to check on the driver first, because you know there was a driver, you don’t always know if there are passengers in a crash, so police are taught/trained to check on the driver first. Lieutenant went to help the driver, make sure he was still alive, and the driver shot him. Why? We don’t know yet. The driver is still alive, so maybe he’ll be able to tell us why. Its likely that he and the other person in the car were fleeing from some criminal activity, or something they thought they shouldn’t be doing, and instead of seeing Lieutenant as someone that was there to help, they saw him as an officer, and as a threat and they killed him. My BFF and I talked about the fact that he would have done the same thing if he’d been the officer responding.
The other friend and officer that was killed was Deputy Chief James Waters, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. He was off duty at the time, and had simply stopped to aid a motorist with a flat tire. He was doing something that a lot of us have done, just helping out someone that seems to need it. Sadly, a semi-truck struck him and he would later die of his injuries. Deputy Chief was from a larger department with greater resources which is why there is no Go-Fund-Me account for him. Southport will do all it can, but its a small town on the edge of a big one and it simply doesn’t have the resources to help the Lieutenant’s family the way the much larger Metro Department would be able to help the Deputy Chief’s family. That’s why the Go-Fund-Me exists for one fallen officer and not the other. My husband and I have personally contributed already, and I’m putting this up here for those of you who might want to help out. No pressure, but I wanted to explain that through my BFF I had a more personal connection to this campaign and that’s why I’m putting the link up. If you feel like helping out, thank you. I understand that for most of you police officers are just someone you see as you drive by their cars, or they give tickets, or they come into your house on the worst possible days and nights, but at their best police officers are the people who run towards the car crashes, the explosions, the screams of pain. They run towards the bad things and try to help the rest of us survive them. I’ve always felt that should be honored and the more men and women in uniform that I am privileged to know, the more I believe that.

Happy Thanksgiving 2015!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! To those outside the United States of America its just another Thursday, but for us it’s Turkey Day! A day for family, food, and gratitude. What are you thankful for, is the question asked around our table each year. I try to pause frequently and make lists of what I’m grateful for, so I thought I’d share some of that list with you today.

I’m thankful for:
My sister, Pilar, who is with us this year, but will be moving out of the country soon. We don’t know when she and I will be together again. We’ll SKYPE and text, and call, but its never the same, so I am very grateful that my little sister can be with us for a few days.
Our daughter, Trinity, who is in college now. She’s with us this year, and doesn’t have any plans to move out of the country, but I’ve learned that plans change, and we’re happy she’ll be with us this year for sure.
My husband, Jonathon, who keeps making me believe that maybe there are romantic soulmates, after all.
Genevieve and Spike, the other halves of our domestic arrangement. We’ve lived together over a year now, and I think we’ve all learned more about ourselves, about love, and about what it takes to be in a committed relationship.
That I am polyamorous and have the chance to try for relationships as complex and rich as the ones I have in my life.
That I am a writer, and earn my living doing what I was born to do. I am even grateful for my deadline, because it helps keep me focused and motivated.
That it is a sunny, warm day after so many cold and wintry ones.
That Jonathon’s family is going to be able to join us for the meal today. We will think of those we have lost, but do our best to be truly grateful for those that remain.
For friends close at hand, and those faraway, who make life richer and more bearable.
For my best friend, he knows who he is, we are each other’s 3AM call, and have seen each other through divorce, the loss of parents, lost loves, found loves, illness, injury, and the dreams that get us through.
That I am healed enough to be back in the gym.
For the health and safety of those I hold dear, for as one professor in college used to say, “We are all just temporarily able bodied.”
I hope today finds you surrounded by people you love, and that includes yourself. If you are alone today enjoy your movie marathon, or your book of chose. For those who are into sports, enjoy the game, as for me and mine we’re watching the dog show. Okay, they’re recording the dog show so I can watch it later, because I have to keep making pages on the new book, so you can all read it next summer. May we all be truly grateful for the blessings in our lives.

Dead Ice: Rafael

Third in the series leading up to Dead Ice, I almost made it Anita, but in the end I decided we’d go with Rafael, the Rat King.

Raphael, drawn by Bret Booth
Question: When are we going to see Rafael on stage more in the books?

Answer: June 9, 2015 in Dead Ice!
Secrets to Share: Once I decided to have wererats in the first Anita Blake novel, Guilty Pleasures, Rafael just sort of appeared on paper. I don’t remember making notes, or trying to create him. He just walked on stage. He was handsome, Hispanic, a great leader doing his best under difficult circumstances to protect his people.
Question: When are we going to learn more about how Rafael runs the wererats?

Answer: See above, in Dead Ice.
Secrets to Share: Rafael told me how he was running his group. I had to work at figuring out how various other shapeshifter groups were organized, but not the wererats. Rafael was even a good leader in my subconscious. The only thing that I had to “invent” was the crown-shaped brand on his arm as the mark of kingship. That I worked at, but for the rest he’s always been very easy to write.
Question: Are Rafael and Anita a thing/an item?

Answer: If you mean have they had sex together, then yes.
Secrets to Share: No one ever asks if Anita is dating Rafael, they don’t ask if they’re lovers, because that can just imply sex and you all saw them have sex on stage, so that’s a given. But lover can also imply a more emotional involvement, and I don’t think we’re expecting that between them. So, what are Anita and Rafael to each other? Both have risked their safety, even their lives, to help each other. They are allies, and have become friends. He is honored and powerful food for Anita’s arduer. In Dead Ice we learn more details than ever before about how they work that.

Sneak Peek from Dead Ice:
His mouth was buried tight against Rafael, his throat working convulsively as he swallowed. I had a moment to think he was drinking blood from the wound, because that was what it meant when I saw Jean-Claude or Asher swallow like that.

New Blog – Jason, the novel, is here!

Today is the official on sale date for my latest book, Jason! It’s the newest Anita Blake novel, and the first original paperback since Micah, thus the title being the name of one of the leading characters in the book. My publisher and I are very into naming conventions. Before you ask, yes, I do have ideas for other short novels featuring other major, or even minor-major characters in Anita’s universe, but currently I’m finishing up the next hardback original for Anita and the gang, Dead Ice.

In fact, Dead Ice woke me at 5:20 this morning according to Spike, who is as light a sleeper as I am, so he was very aware when I tried to creep out of bed and not wake anyone else. Genevieve and Jon usually sleep very soundly, but I learned at lunch that even they knew when I got out of bed. One of the unforeseen downsides of being polyamorous is that when ideas wake you up at odd hours you disturb more people. Or maybe that’s a downside of sleeping with a writer, regardless of your relationship style.

The book was very loud in my head, I knew exactly what came next and exactly how to write the scene. I’d gone to bed knowing what came next, but not how to get from A to B, and suddenly I woke in the dark and I knew. I also knew I couldn’t wait to get to the computer and start typing it. I’ve learned that when inspiration knocks that loudly you need to answer it quickly, because otherwise you end up knowing you had this great idea, or the perfect way to work this scene, but now you can’t remember most of it, just a vague sense you lost the wave that would have carried you further in the book. I hate that feeling, so I was typing before dawn, trying to keep up with my muse. We’d done 12 pages yesterday, so to be this pumped again today was a very good sign that the book is gaining momentum.

I’m happiest as a writer when I’m writing fast. I joke that I write as if the monsters really are chasing me and if I hesitate too long they’ll catch me. For all of you reading this that are wondering why I didn’t give myself a day off to enjoy Jason coming out, well first, I spent many years on tour for every book. It sort of conditioned me that I didn’t get the on sale date off, and in fact traveling across the country to promote a book can be pretty grueling. My record for grueling is still 26 cities in 28 days, that book tour still lives in infamy for Jon and myself, because he traveled with me on every last day of it. We hadn’t met Genevieve and her husband, Spike, at that point.

It is a wonderful thing for a publisher to spend money to send a writer on a book tour, it really is. But I’ve done my time and it’s a blessing to stay home, too. Thanks to the internet there are so many ways to promote your book now that don’t make you get on a plane to travel the country. Because if we were on tour for Jason, I wouldn’t be writing on Dead Ice. I can write on planes, while I try to pretend that I’m not flying (Yes, I shared my fear of flying with Anita), but I lose the thread of a book when I tour. I know some writers can continue to write a new book through a tour, but I’ve never been one of them.

Being home I could take the day off and just enjoy that Jason is on the shelves, but I didn’t. Instead I did what writers do, I wrote. Writers write; that may sound simple, but a lot of beginning writers don’t seem to truly grasp the concept. Writers write when we’re happy. We write when we’re sad. We write when we’re inspired. We write in order to get inspired. We write when the outside world has moved us to spill some reality onto the page. We write when the inside of our head is so loud that it seems almost more real than reality. We write to understand ourselves, to understand others, or to just admit on paper we don’t understand either. We write to make sense of the world and to share fiction that is often tidier and more logical than real life. Some of us write to escape logic and put the fantastic on the page so that everyone can hunt dragons from the safety of their homes. Writers can help you hunt down a killer, solve a mystery so baffling and dangerous that the death toll is frightening, all from the safety of your armchair. Writers write about what moves them, outrages them, intrigues them, makes them laugh out loud, or weep. Writers write; and if they’re very lucky, what they write moves the rest of the world as much as it moves them. I celebrated the release of my newest book, Jason, by working on the next book, because I’m a writer, and writers write.