Sunday, September 20th, 2009  I’m going on a writing retreat in October.
I got the confirmation card in the mail yesterday, reserving my room at the Holy Cross Abbey. All I need to do to firm up the reservation is send a postcard back, letting them know when I’ll be arriving. Will it be for dinner, or not?
I can’t wait to go. Two other members of my face-to-face critique group will be going as well. We’ll each have a private room, but we’ll be able to meet at any time to hold critique sessions (if we want). This is a retreat of our making, not one set up by the abbey, and we’ll be the ones to set the rules.
The only thing we’ll not be able to do is chat over dinner. Dinner at the abbey is a silent affair. No talking aloud. (In fact, this edict may mean no communication at all throughout the meal. I intend to find out: I’m going to use that time for studying how a silent meal is undertaken by monks…the experience will prove invaluable…for perhaps my next work-in-progress.)
Another thing I want to do is attend Vigils, a mass at 3:30 a.m. In fact, I’d like to spend an entire day attending all masses: Vigils, Lauds (7:00 a.m.), Mid-Day Prayer (2:00 p.m.) Vespers (5:30 p.m.) and Compline (7:00 p.m.) — just to have done it, of course. (Imagine the experience gained for writing!) But I think my writing will suffer…or at the very least, accomplishing my goals for the week may suffer.
My 2009 goals including finishing everything I had started. I believe it was around March that I realized I wouldn’t reach that goal…not while continuing to start several new projects this year. And although I’m already mulling over a piece I want to write once I arrive at the Abbey, I’m going to see how much of a dent I can put into my 2009 goals.
More about goals later. I’ve got a post card to fill out and return…and decisions to make: what shall I take? When shall I leave? What do I hope to accomplish?
Saturday, September 5th, 2009 
I’m giving it away!
I’m holding two contests as part of the launch of my novella, Blood Soup, on September 8th. Here are the rules:
Contest 1 – Getting Viral on Twitter
1) Optional: Follow me on twitter: @kellyaharmon. You don’t have to follow me to win…but I hope you’ll consider doing so. Of course, following me on twitter means you’ll have the opportunity to learn about the start time of this contest…and the second contest, as soon as they start.
2) Tuesday morning (September 8th) I’ll tweet about the launch with the location of where to buy the book. Re-tweet the information with the hash #BloodSoup. Abbreviate if you have to, but don’t omit the hash or the link.
3) The first person to re-tweet with the required info wins a free e-copy of Blood Soup. I’ll also give out free copies to the 25th, 50th, 100th…and the last person to re-tweet the information on Tuesday.
Periodically through the day, I’ll do a search on #BloodSoup to tally up the tweets. I’ll announce winners as they happen.
Contest 2 – A Chance to Win Additional Fiction
1) Buy a copy of Blood Soup.
2) Follow me on twitter: @kellyaharmon.
3) Wait for me to announce a page number, line, and location of a specific word in the line…and then email me and tell me what the word is. For example, I may tweet: “What is the 6th word on line 10 of page 27?”
If you’re the first person to let me know via email, I’ll send you a print (or electronic, if you prefer) copy of either Black Dragon, White Dragon or Triangulation: Dark Glass (your choice) …two anthologies which contain short fiction I’ve written. I plan to give away at least five winners…more if I’m able to do so.
Spread the word! I want to give away lots of fiction!
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 
I’m reading a fantastic book (a novella) by Carole Johnstone right now and I wanted to share. It’s called, Frenzy, and I can’t put it down. I plan to have a little Q&A with the author when I’m done, so look for that soon! Here’s the information:
Frenzy
Caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea…
Eight men wake up to find themselves on a life raft in the middle of an ocean. They are stranded and alone, with no memory of how they got there, and no idea if help is coming.
But they are not completely alone. As hours become days, as water rations dwindle and tempers fray, there stirs a threat more deadly than either sharks or each other.
There is a shadow in the abyss beneath their feet. Watching. Waiting. Stalking eight men lost and adrift above the deepest trench in the world…
Available in e-book format from Eternal Press
Available in print paperback from Amazon
ISBN: e-book: 978-1-926704-38-8; print: 978-1-926704-46-3
Visit the author’s website
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 Murder, Betrayal, Comeuppance…
That’s the tagline for my novella, Blood Soup, available from Eternal Press on September 7. The “Coming Soon” announcements page has recently been posted. You can see it here.
Blood Soup will also be available in print via Amazon, about three weeks after the electronic version.
Do you tweet? Do you like FREE fiction?
I’ll be running two twitter contests related to the book, both on September 7th:
First: The 25th and 50th person to re-tweet my announcement on the 7th will win an electronic copy of Blood Soup.
Second: Anyone who buys Blood Soup will also have the opportunity to win print versions of Triangulation: Dark Glass and Black Dragon, White Dragon (two anthologies that some of my other work appears in) just by tweeting specific information from Blood Soup. For instance, I’ll tweet: What’s the last word on line 4 of page 22? Give the correct answer and you may win a book. I’ll give away up to five print versions of these books. More details to come closer to the launch date. In the meantime, you may want to follow me on twitter: @kellyaharmon.
Excerpt from Blood Soup:
Theodicar looked down at the mewling infant in his arms, and felt the anger rise up. Even in death his wife defied him, the nurse ensuring her success. Women did not rule. He would not allow it. They had created a male child, and that child would take the throne upon his death. “You can save the boy,” he said to Salvagia.
She slitted her eyes at him, her stare mutinous. Her words were loud and hard in the wake of Pia’s death. “I have the power to save one at the expense of the other, Sire. The girl is stronger. And eldest. She was born to rule.”
Theodicar watched the girl curl up in his arms, her birth fluids staining a brown patch on the dyed-yellow wool of his tunic. She burrowed into the crook of his elbow, trying to achieve the comfort of the womb.
“I will not hear those words again,” he said. “That absurd idea died with my wife. My son will rule.” He reached for the boy, thrusting the girl child back into the nurse’s hands. “There’s no need for a daughter. And no need for anyone to know of her.”
“So be it,” Salvagia said, wrapping the weary girl in a square of wool, covering her face. She reached for her basket.
“Kill her now,” said Theodicar.
Salvagia looked stricken.
“Sire, if we kill her now, she will be of no use to her brother. Once dead, the blood won’t flow, and we need her blood to strengthen his.
“Then drain her now,” he snapped. “I will not have her crying out when we call the witnesses back to cut the boy’s cord.”
She paled, but nodded, and grabbed the necessary implements from her basket. She did the job quickly, tears streaming down her face. To keep it warm, Salvagia set the flask of blood in the ashes at the edge of the hearth. Then she wrapped the tiny body in linen and shoved it deep into her basket.
“Your life is forfeit if you speak a word of this to anyone,” Theodicar said. “Do you understand?” She nodded, pushing the basket out of view.
He sat down in his chair. “Call the witnesses back. We’ll sever the cord in their presence to prove the succession. Wipe those tears,” he said.
Thursday, August 6th, 2009 
I got it!
I received my contributor copy of Triangulation: Dark Glass in the mail yesterday. The cover is even more powerful up close and in person. It’s smooth and slick and the colors are a rich, deep, gorgeous darkness…I feel like I could step right into it and ask the guy if I can have a look-see through his spyglass.
Just so you know, Triangulation: Dark Glass is the 2009 edition of PARSEC Ink’s internationally acclaimed anthology series… I’m thrilled to have snagged a place in the line-up: only sixteen tales were chosen out of more than 500.
I’ve been reading the stories, right from the beginning…and I have to say…they’re really good.
(I haven’t gotten to my own yet…so I’m not bragging. Mom taught me not to brag.) But the rest of these tales? Really good so far.
Had you been at Confluence last weekend, you could have picked up a copy (they were printed especially for the Conference). But you can order yourself a copy on line if you’re still interested.
In Other Writing News…
I heard from my editor about a non-fiction piece I wrote on critique groups for a “how to write” book. The book is ready for print. A bio from me and the other contributors, some links to on-line resources for the chapters, and they’re ready to go… I’m excited about that one, too. I’ll put up the cover when it’s available.
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 I received the final artwork for my novella, Blood Soup today! It will be available September 7, 2009 – just in time to start thinking about the Halloween rush. (I think that’s why the cover is a tad more “horror” looking than “dark fantasy”… Still, isn’t it fabulous?
Monday, July 6th, 2009  For 12 years, the people behind Preditors and EditorsTM have made the world a little safer for authors, composers, game designers and artists by pointing out scam publishers, agents, and others who seek to make money off of them.
The Preditors & EditorsTM Web site is jammed with information about “not recommended” agents and publishing houses and warnings of other kinds.
It’s also replete with information on agents and attorneys, book publishers and stores, conventions and workshops and all kinds of resources for creative types.
And it’s all FREE.
Often, when an agent or publishing house is reported by P&E as “not recommended” or outright scamming, the offender slinks away in the middle of the night. Not this time, and P&E is being sued.
I’ve donated. Buddy, if you can spare some change, please donateTM to the cause. And if you haven’t looked over the resources at the Preditors & EditorsTM Web site, you really should.
Sunday, June 28th, 2009 I would have posted this last night when I received it, but it just got to be too late. Check out this awesome cover for the Triangulation: Dark Glass anthology, coming out July 26, in which my story On the Path, appears.
Saturday, June 27th, 2009 On one end of the spectrum…
I finished the edits today for Blood Soup….hundreds of edits and comments and commas (mostly commas)…most of which I agreed to; and some, I’m not adverse to changing…but I’d like more info from the editor. I just didn’t understand the changes she made.
This means I’ll probably have “round 2” edits to work through. No worries.
This editor has caught a number of issues that both my beta reader, my critique group, and a different editor all missed. She’s good. And everything she’s pointing out is going to make the piece tighter and stronger.
At the other end of the spectrum…
I received an email late tonight from the editor of the Triangulation: Dark Glass anthology in which my story, On the Path, is being published July 26. This was my editing document: an email. His changes: two sentences. That’s it.
And he complemented me for doing all the hard work already. Pete Butler, you’re one classy editor.
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 My short story Lucky Clover earned an Honorable Mention in the 2nd Quarter of the Writers of the Future Contest. If I remember correctly, this means it placed in the top 5 – 15% of all stories entered. You can see my name up in lights here (Edit: No you can’t. They removed the entry.), or visit the main contest page for rules.
If you write any sort of speculative fiction, you should investigate WotF. If you win, you’ll be flown to California for a week’s retreat to learn from some really famous authors (the list changes) and your story will be published in the yearly anthology. (Plus, you win cash!)
There’s no entry fee, but your story is judged against the bazillion others entered during the quarter. (Okay, bazillion might be just a tad inflated, but WotF doesn’t publish the real number of entries because they don’t want to scare people away from entering.)
I’ll post a scan of my nice, shiny certificate once I receive it…
|
Writers - Maryland Writer's Assn.
|