Tuesday, October 4th, 2011  I received my Darkover Schedule for November!
I’m ‘totally psyched’ about being invited back. I attended for the first time last year, and met many (fascinating, literary, exciting, and interesting) people that I hope to connect with again.
The line-up is HUGE this year, and includes such greats as C.S. Friedman, Esther Friesner, Delia Sherman, Ellen Kushner, Mark P. Donnelly, Katherine Kurtz, Melissa Scott, and more! I can’t wait.
Here’s my tentative schedule (Friday, November 25- Sunday, November 27):
Friday
- 5 PM – How Many Vampires Does It Take To…
Literature about vampires is approaching its 300th anniversary in Western literature (and it’s even older in Asian literature). What makes these night-loving messy eaters so fascinating? If you had the chance to be immortal, would you pay this price? With Margaret Carter, Heather Rose Jones,Tim Liebe, Scott MacMillan; Don Sakers, Mod.
- 8pm – Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading
With Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Debra Killeen, and Vonnie Winslow-Crist. (If you want me to read from anything in particular, drop me a line!)
Saturday
- 11am – The Literary Handyman: Q&A on the Craft and Business of Being a Writer.
Hear about professional experience on both sides of the world of publishing. The audience presents questions about the topic and the panel fields them. With Danielle Ackley-McPhail.
- 4pm – Autograph session.
(This is more for the big guys, but I’m on the roster anyway. 🙂 )
Sunday
- 11 am – Promoting 101
Workshop/panel discussion. Learn about when and how to promote for little to no expense. Covers creative marketing, reviews, press releases, author interviews, and more. With Danielle Ackley-McPhail and Elektra Hammond.
- 1pm – Animal Sidekicks
Besides cats, wolves, horses and dragons what else is there and why? With Tim Liebe, Alanna Morland, Michelle Sonnier and Carl Cipra, Mod.
- 2PM – Questions and Answers
All authors. Come and ask questions of your favorite authors who are here this year. Jennifer Heise (Mod)
Darkover is held in Timonium, MD. If you’re in the area, I do hope you stop by.
Thursday, February 10th, 2011 I had planned for 2011 to be a quiet year as far as being involved was concerned. I want to write more, finish more and submit more than I was able to do last year due to the blog tour, and teaching, and conventions.
And so far, so good. I’ve gotten much more writing done this year (so far) than I had in the same time frame last year.
But, suddenly, there’s a lot going on. Which is good, I realize, so I’ve decided to roll with it.
Here’s the news:
I’ve been interviewed for the Fascinating Authors web site…. link to interview here… and there’s an accompanying radio interview, too. That hasn’t been posted yet, but I’ll mention a link when I have it. (The radio interview was A LOT of fun!)
And I’ve gotten an invitation to Syndcon – a gaming convention in Rockville, MD, (in April) and I’ve accepted. I’m tentatively scheduled to teach a writing workshop with some other writers in the area, as well as appear on some panels.
Any gamers lurking out there who want to learn a bit about writing?
We’re brainstorming some gaming/writing ideas right now. If you’re interested in seeing something in particular, send me a note. I’ll suggest it to the programming staff.
(I hope I’ll get some gaming in, too, during the con. It’s been a while since I’ve taken my bag of dice and characters out for a spin.)
I’ve also been invited back to Darkover. I had a total blast last year, so you can bet I’ll be back. (Darkover happens over Thanksgiving weekend.)
And saving the best for last: Hellebore and Rue is officially out! (I’ll post some buy links as soon as I track them down.)
I’m still in love with that cover. Isn’t it gorgeous?
If you enjoy stories of women wielding magic, you may want to check it out. I’ve written a tale about a swordsmistress who fights a wyvern — with the help of a sorceress.
(You’ll have to let me know what you think if you read it.)
Thursday, December 2nd, 2010 I’m a little late posting this, but things (as usual) have been a bit crazy around here.
I just wanted to mention to folks that if you get the opportunity to attend the Darkover convention in Timonium, MD…you really should.
I had a FABULOUS (!) time this past weekend. I met lots of really nice people (had some great conversations), shopped carefully at the dealer’s location (only had one book #fail – w00t!) and sat in on some fascinating panels.
I was also a speaker on two very different panels:
- Do Fantasy Writers Need Cats? – I believe I was the only dissenting voice on the panel – who wants cat hair in his keyboard? But it was loads of fun with lots of storytelling about pets past and present from all of us.
- Magic and Religion in Fantasy. How do you use them in your writing but keep it believable?
The second panel was a thrilling experience for me, on so many levels… First: because I use both magic and religion in my stories, I felt I had a lot to contribute to the panel. I think I spoke intelligently. Second: there were lots of attentive faces in the audience. People seemed genuinely interested in the topic. And finally: two of my favorite authors were on the panel, too…C.S. Friedman and Katherine Kurtz.
I’m happy to report that I conducted myself professionally…even though I was going all fangirl on the inside.
The dealers were various, and I was sorely tempted buy a lot of nifty stuff. I did some salivating over some beautiful glass knitting needles at one table and a stocking full of gaming dice at another.
The needles were pretty, and apparently sturdy, but I do take my knitting everywhere now it seems…so having glass needles, no matter how hearty, seems like folly.
And the dice, well… can you ever have too many dice? Um….yeah. Although, had there been single sets, I probably could have been persuaded to part with some cash.
There was also leather, lots of leather, which I admired from afar. I knew if I got within smelling distance of any of those lovely items — especially the wearables — I’d be taking something home. Alas.
All in all… a very good time.
If you attended my session on how to get pub’ed and you want my full notes from the seminar, please drop me a line and I’ll send you my PowerPoint presentation as a PDF. I’ll be happy to share. (There is lots of stuff there we didn’t have time to cover.) Also: if you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to ask…send me a note or hit me up on Twitter.
Thursday, November 25th, 2010 Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope everyone (including those not celebrating) has a terrific day.
I plan to eat, socialize with family I haven’t seen in a while, take some photos, knit and talk genealogy. No writing. I just decided that. Today, I’m having a day off.
Tomorrow I’ll write and finish prepping for Darkover.
If you’re going to Darkover, drop me a line. I’d love to meet you.
Stay warm! It turned really cold here yesterday, finally moving the weather toward winter. This morning it’s raining. (And I’m thankful we’re not getting the sleet the weather people called for. I’ll be on the road with all the other crazies. We don’t need the chance of an accident when there’s all that turkey to consume!)
Gobble! Gobble!
|
Writers - Maryland Writer's Assn.
|