Elle Hill

A stunning and brilliant sociology instructor stands before her class, leading a discussion on the environmental, psychological, and international effects of American consumerism. Heads nod, and she’s feeling good. They’re obviously getting it. “Totally,” a student says. The instructor smiles. “That’s why we’re having so many health problems in the U.S. Everyone is eating too much, sitting around all day, and getting more and more obese.” More heads nod. The instructor pauses, looks around. She wonders how many of her students are looking at her fat body and thinking she represents all that is wrong with the U.S. today. I am fat, and this scenario happens at least once per semester in one of my classes. It always hurts, at least a little. It’s also a very simplistic, ill-informed, and incomplete picture of the causes and effects of fatness. But this blog post isn’t about my emotional smarts or even about the annoying myth that fatness boils down to calories in, calories ou...

And so it begins. For the next couple of weeks, usually once per day, reviewers and authors will feature on their blogs my interviews and guest posts.  Wanna know more about me? Wanna hear how I dreamed up the Hunted universe? Wanna read some insights into my writing processes?  No?  Okay, then. Wanna win a $50 Amazon gift card? Yeah, I thought that might spark a little more interest in the wonders that are my novels and me. It's super easy to get entered into the drawing. Simply click on the links below (on the correct day, of course), comment on blog posts, like me on Facebook and on Twitter, etc., and then tell Rafflecopter (links are on the websites) about it. If in doubt, click a link below and follow the instructions. The virtual book tour schedule is below. Please feel free to visit as many of these blogs as you'd like. The more blog comments the merrier!  Good luck! I hope you win the loot! And, you know, buy more of my books and stuff. October...

You know Six Sentence Sunday, where various authors get together and share six sentences of their newly published or forthcoming works? Yeah, well, we authors at Soul Mate Publishing have something way cooler. Seriously. Every Thursday, each of us features one Soul Mate author's info and a snippet of their most current work. This way, we get to help promote one another (and god knows I need all the help I can get promoting myself ), and I get to expose all my awesome and faithful readers to super talented authors and all-around kind peeps.  We're totally the new cool kids in town. You know you wanna hitch your wagon to our awesome, authorly train.  With all that said, below is info from B.J. Scott's Highland Homecoming .  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Highland Homecoming , Book 3 in the Fraser Brothers Trilogy Written by : B.J. Scott Genre and setting : Historical Romance set in northern Scotland , 1308. Heat scale : Sizzling (While not considered E...

I’m going to say something very, very odd. Okay, here it goes: I liked Echo Prophecy . (This is not the bizarre part). I thought it was an interesting and creative blend of the Kane Chronicles , The Matrix , and the Twilight series. (Yeah, that’s the weirdness.) First things first: I love Egyptian mythology. Heck, I have a black cat named Bast and several pieces of (totally cheap and awesomely fake) Egyptian art. I’m also a huge, unrepentant, nerdy fan of The Matrix . When the first Matrix movie occupied the theaters, so did I. Twelve times. I even, although don’t tell anyone I said so, kinda liked the Twilight series, especially the last two. Oddly enough, all of these loves collide in this book, in which the main character, Alexandra Larson, archaeologist and Egyptologist, stumbles across a race of beings on whom the ancient Egyptian divine mythologies were based. More, Lex learns she is not only one of them, but, like Neo, is The One. I’m a shameless fan of “The One” trope...

I could play coy and effect a kind of sophisticated nonchalance, but we all know I do subtle about as well as our current Congress compromises. So, without further ado, I shall commence with the merriment, dances, and over-loud squees: I won, I won, I won! I entered a poetry contest sponsored by the Poetry Society of Colorado , and I won first place. The theme was "overcoming," so I submitted a poem about standing up to and eventually leaving an abusive partner. It's one of my very, very rare rhyming poems, and to be honest, I'm not even remotely a fan of poems that rhyme. Nonetheless, and in large part because the poem fit the theme so beautifully, I submitted it.  Below is the winning poem. You can also read it on their website if you'd prefer.  ****************** Hatchling My cage is in your bedroom To keep my howls in check But bitches might begin to bite And chickens learn to peck You tie my apron tighter To keep ...

As I've mentioned somewhere or other, my poetry is featured in Fat Poets Speak: Voices of the Fat Poets' Society , a poetry anthology edited by my friend and mentor, Frannie Zellman . (And yes, I am a member of the Fat Poets' Society. Tremble with envy.) This is the only poetry book evuh devoted exclusively to exploring fatness and fat pride.   Because one is the loneliest number, we're publishing with Pearlsong Press a followup book of fat pride poetry called  -- you guessed it -- Fat Poets Speak 2: Living and Loving Fatly . It's not available yet; you'll be the first to know when it is.  Anyway, Frannie Zellman interviewed me about fat poetry, fatspiration (is too a word!), and cats. The interview is below. May you thoroughly, fattily enjoy. :) ********************************** 1. When did you write your first poem?  When did you write your first "fat" poem? I wrote my first real poem at the age of thirteen. It was an anti-Vietnam Wa...

Stone Memories Within rocks lie Memories of plants, heat, And crushing pressure that Coaxed stone out of flexibility. With just a pillow between us, their cragginess becomes a mattress, a garden of moss and ideas. My softness can flow like water, Carving with loving concern Canyons into questions, Rubble that sprinkles and roars Like stardust. And maybe, when evening Soaks up afternoon, Rocks will sigh warmly and wetly and Remember the scent of green.