Thank You Bunches!

I don’t know about you, but I had a fantastic Halloween! So, my day started off by giving a “treat” to interested readers. A free copy of The Queen of Crows from DriveThruFiction.com. Sending out those e-mails today; I hope those of you who signed up for a copy enjoy it!

Later that night, we had our first reading of HAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror at a library. First? Librarians are awesome. They put out a bunch of treats for the reading and made up a huge poster of the event. So, combined with my bags o’ goodies, there was a lot of sugar to be had.

When I got home? A five star review!

The editing is sharp and the flow of stories is good throughout. I like to be able to digest a story after reading it but found myself turning to read the next story, so whether you like the genre or if you fancy a break from the latest glut of average books then I can highly recommend this one. — HAUNTED Review on GoodReads

I’m happy that readers are really digging this one. So thank you a whole bunch for contributing to a very memorable Halloween!

November 1, 2011
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Post GenCon Wrap-Up and Silly Happy Updates

GenCon 2011 was a lot of work. Prior to the show, Matt and I were dodging bullets and putting in extra hours for the first DriveThruRPG partnership with White Wolf Publishing and select games from Malhavoc Press, Open Design, Nocturnal, Eden Studios and Abstract Nova.

Even with the booth location at the back of a very large and very huge hall… This venture was a runaway hit. The quality of the new books is really awesome. And the fans? The ones who practically wept with joy seeing Vampire: the Masquerade back in print? Or how about the guy that seriously demanded to know when his copy of the twentieth anniversary edition will be sitting in his mailbox because he loves that game so much.

Besides the already scheduled signings, Jim Zubkavich offered to sign the Exalted comic, Greg Stolze was happy to drop off signed excerpts of his Vampire: the Requiem novel, A Hunger Like Fire, and Jason Vey took time to sign All Flesh Must be Eaten books with me from Eden Studios.

Oh, and did I mention we sold out of Ptolus on Saturday morning?

The booth’s success was due to the efforts of the fine people working the booth. Chuck, Mike, Pauline, Sean, Matt, Steve, Corinne, Ken, Steve, Luke, Carol and myself. We came, we sweated, we had meetings, we ate, we sweated some more…

I had a ridiculously busy schedule, but had some help getting through it with my friend Jack Daniels. By the time Monday rolled around, I was “deep fried” and happy to be home.

However…

DOM DOM DOM…

All that squeezing and pushing and cracking heads prior to the show leaves me with? NO STRESS. NO DRAMA. I have forward momentum on many irons in the fire that I’ve been developing for some time.

And some new ones, too! Which are… awesome… In many ways… Of course, probably the best update I have is that we’re scheduling a vacation. Well, that and the awesome, awesome meetings I had. All of which went swimmingly well.

Hee.

More updates and news will be released as it happens. I’m happy to be focusing on the creative aspects of my work, my jewelry design and my art and thrilled I’m working with such excellent and admirable hobbits people.

Life, quite frankly, is made out of awesome. Although my fridge is a little… Well… empty…

August 10, 2011
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Author Signing at GenCon: Indy

I have an author signing! Sadly, there won’t be any cake, but there will be shiny new brochures and some promo cards for The Queen of Crows with artwork by illustrator Leanne Buckley.

I’ve got something else planned, too, but time is running short. I’m hoping to finish a scrapbook filled with photos and more information about my work. If it’s not done in time, then you’ll just have to wait until the next show. Sounds like I’ll have a couple of my books and games on hand, too.

    GenCon: Indy Author’s Alley Signing
    3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Friday, August 5th
    Be there or get a -200 on your next roll

Truthfully, I’m still working on the whole “Hey, how can I inform people about my work without sounding like a complete diva?” angle, which is why I like doing these things. I’m expecting attendance to be hit-or-miss, as it usually is when I share a spot with the Guest-of-Honor. This year’s honorable author is Anton Strout.

The line will form on the left and the right. A part of me wishes we could be like those door knockers from the Labyrinth. Of course, I would be the one that only told the truth…

August 2, 2011
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[Map] Booth and Author Signing Locations for GenCon: Indy

I mentioned earlier that I’ll be helping out some at the DriveThruRPG/ White Wolf booth this year at GenCon: Indianapolis from August 4th through the 7th. This event is like Christmas in the hobby games industry, for you’ll no doubt hear about many new releases and games that debut at the show.

This year will be filled with a few *secret* surprises, good friends and lots of meetings. Even though I continue to write fiction, I feel I have a home in the hobby games industry and it’s because of companies like White Wolf, Eden Studios, Abstract Nova Press and others that I have had a renewed interest in writing genre fiction. Many novelists and short story authors have gotten work published in the hobby games industry including R.A. Salvatore, Elaine Cunningham (who will be the GOH at Geek*Kon in September), Jim C. Hines, Ari Marmell, Jess Hartley, myself and many others.

Since this year is an important year for DriveThruRPG and White Wolf, I thought I’d offer you a map to show you where the booth is. If you’ve been to the show in the past, you’ll notice just how different this layout is. Apex Publications will be located in Author’s Alley as well, so be sure to stop by. The other location I marked is the author signing booth. This year I’m sharing my hour with GenCon GOH Anton Strout.

July 23, 2011
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Back from WisCon, Tuesday Blah

Spent the weekend at WisCon and hung out with a number of people and talked on panels. Much of my time was spent talking to new authors and readers, but I did get the chance to hang out with Matt Forbeck, Monte Cook and a few local authors. The show takes on a professional tone; it’s well-organized and gives participants the chance to honor authors like the guest of honor, Nisi Shawl. Finally got the chance to listen to Cat Valente speak (the woman is electricity in a jar!) and ran into Kelley McCullough, who read from the debut book in his new series due out in November, and Brad Beaulieu, who’s celebrating his new book. More to come on that.

Many of the conversations I had involved some element of concern for the state of the publishing industry. There is a lot of uncertainty, but one of the common pieces of advice I continue to hear is to focus on having a volume of published works (regardless of whether or not you’re self-publishing) to ensure a better chance of success.

This advice is no different than what I’ve heard five years ago or even ten. Technology may have changed, but the mantra focus on the work is a solid one. Worrying about the state of the state doesn’t get a short story submitted or sign the next contract. Jobs may come and go — jobs not related to what I want to do — but I remain. I’m an author and an artist, and no matter what I’m doing, that’ll always be there.

And I’m okay with that.

If you’re visiting my site today, you may have noticed I changed the way the categories show up on the home page. I did that, because I’ve been getting back into blogging instead of penning stuffy articles here. I’ve got several places where I’ll be writing on a monthly basis that I’ll be sharing with you, but this’ll be shifting away from the center-left parts of me toward the light. I mean right. Er. Whatever.

Since the con was pretty intense, I needed to decompress. *coughs* Beer! Well, and shooting stormtroopers in the head. Combine and mix vigorously! W00t!

‘Course, margaritas are better. Good margaritas, that is. I loves me some tequila.

Yeah, that was pretty anticlimactic, but decompression is necessary and blargh. I don’t mind conversations taking on a more serious tone, or even going to those types of conventions, but post-con suxx0rs.

The fix? Engage sushi therapy, fifteen minutes of sunlight, obligatory hugs/torments from sleepy cats and, of course, my next story.

May 31, 2011
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