Looking for a unique gift this holiday season?

Heading out very early to get to New Milford tomorrow for the Nutmeg Book Festival. I'll be signing copies of Chasing the Trickster and The Fairy Cake Bake Shoppe. Hope to make a few friends and see some of my old friends as well.

If you’re in the market for that special holiday gift, then stop by the NUTMEG BOOK FESTIVAL, where a group of local authors have joined together for some one-stop-shopping. An autographed copy of a book might just be the perfect holiday gift for that hard-to-buy for family member or friend.  This festival offers titles in a  variety of genres, and authors will be more than happy to talk about their work while you enjoy a holiday snack in the rustic New Milford Train Station.

GENRES INCLUDE: 

CHILDREN’S FICTION                           CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

YOUNG ADULT FANTASY                     WOMEN’S FICTION

YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE                  PARANORMAL ROMANCE

URBAN FANTASY                                    EPIC FANTASY

MOTIVATIONAL                                      SHORT STORY FICTION

NEW ADULT ROMANCE                     NON-FICTION INSPIRATIONAL ANTHOLOGIES

SCIENCE FICTION

Books featured at this event can be viewed on the in the slideshow gallery on the right side of this page.  For more information on the authors who will be present, visit the author profile pages on this website.

WHERE: NEW MILFORD TRAIN STATION, 11 Railroad Ave., New Milford, CT

WHEN: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2013

HOURS:  10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Branding My Covers

I was fortunate enough to take a class in cover making from Dean Wesley Smith this past month. It was awesome.

I really love the artwork done for my original covers but everything was all over the place. So here is a cover reveal for St. Nick's Favor.

I'd love to hear what you think.

Thank you Horror Writers Association!

At NY Comic Con

I had such a great time getting to know my fellow HWA members a bit better at the NY Comic Con HWA booth.

Here I am at NY Comic Con last weekend with Jonathan Maberry and Doug Wynne.

Thank you, thank you Greg and James for setting all of this up.

New York Comic Con is almost here!

The Horror Writers Association has a table at NY Comic Con and I'm volunteering. If you are in the city for the con, please do stop by.

I will be selling copies of Chasing the Trickster and The Fairy Cake Bake Shoppe.

Labor Day Thoughts

I had one of the best summers ever...

Fall Harvest-Berries from my Garden Plot

• Went to World Horror Con in New Orleans, which was also my 20th wedding anniversary.  
• Went on an art retreat. 
• Went to Fleischmann's River Run B&B. 
• Edited some fab novels for Damnation Books and finished a novel of my own--Perdita. 
• I did a chat over at Savvy Authors on "Writing Scary."

 Lot's of fun.

(Okay, I'm a trifle teary-eyed over the end of summer. Didn't get to the beach for one thing.)

Coming back to the chat at SA. I was wondering why I loved horror and dark fiction so much. And it came to me, this was the result of my grandmother and mother also being attracted to the dark side. My grandmom became ill when I was nine (and died when I was ten) but before then I'd go over to her place on the weekends. We'd go to the Saturday matinee in Port Chester to see totally inappropriate movies...horror movies. I remember seeing "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte;" "Shock Treatment" "Fearless Vampire Killers" and "The Creature From the Black Lagoon." The latter movie might have been appropriate, but the others were very disturbing films. I was seriously scared.

My mom was worse. When I was four years old we moved into a 250-year-old house. She and her theatre friends were excited to hold séances there. My mom communed with "spirits" and owned a Oiuja Board. Supposedly a man, his wife and a little dog all in ghost form shared our house. I didn't see the fun in this, and spent years huddling in my bed listening to heavy steps come up the stairs (old radiator pipes) and jumping from my doorway onto my bed so the thing under my bed couldn't grab my ankles. I didn't find ghosts entertaining and was constantly spooked. I remember mom taking me to NYC to see the movie, "Phantom of the Opera." I didn't care for it so much, though years later I found it to be great.

So yeah, I was weaned on dark stuff and grew up in a haunted house.  No surprise that I write dark fiction. Well, summer's almost over and I can try to look forward to autumn, usually my favorite time of the year but hard to appreciate after such a great summer.

How was your summer? I love to hear from you.

Writing Scary at Savvy Authors this Sunday

Writing Scary with April Grey

August 25, 2013, 8:00pm EST in the Savvy Chatrooms

Years ago when Stephen King first hit the best seller lists, I said to myself, "I don't want to read his books. Isn't life already scary enough?" I soon changed my tune. Horror isn't about life. Although much of horror has to deal with the bad things that happen to people, there is a cathartic element to horror novels and stories which is both entertaining, and even useful. Horror fiction allows us, as readers, to purge some of the anxiety that builds up from the stresses of day-to-day living. The first part of this chat is an overview of horror and why we love to read it and write it. The second part of the chat will examine some of the tropes of horror and how we can better develop the horrific element in our writing. Even if you don't write horror fiction, you may pick up a few pointers to heighten tension in your work and keep your readers hooked throughout your story.

Buy Trickster at 50% off and get the sequel free!

Coffee Time Romance has Chasing The Trickster at 50% off.

Then go to Smashwords for your free copy of the sequel, St. Nick's Favor.

Two great summer reads for you for less than a Starbucks Frap.

I Went and Did it Again!!!

All my e-books at Smashwords are free for the month of July. http://

And Chasing the Trickster is half price at Coffeetime Romance

But OMG there's more...

For free at Smashwords is Darlings of Decay a new anthology of zombie stories by female writers! My story "I'll Love Ya Forever, But..." is in there.  Have a great summer with lots of free dark fiction.

Whoo Hoo!

Unbelievable Savings! This weekend only.

Until Monday, you can get Chasing the Trickster, the first book of the Cernunnos Series for 50% off and then pick up the second book free!

Coffee Time 50% Sale 'til Monday! My novel, Chasing the Trickster only $3.48-- Who will escape the Trickster's snare?http://t.co/s5warzSqGT

At Kindle, St. Nick's Favor. Nina will do anything to keep her promise to St. Nick. http://amzn.to/ZMuwgv 

 

Coffee Time Romance 50% off Sale

 

One Man, Two Women, Two Gods...who will survive the Trickster's snare? Ghostly images materialize in Nina Weaver's photos. Goons try to kidnap her. When her photographs are stolen and her best friend is shot, she realizes that she has no one to turn to but her ex-lover, Pascal "Goofy" Guzman. Together they go on a desperate road trip in search of answers. The truth is darker and more terrifying than Nina could ever have imagined. After their love re-ignites, they fall into the Trickster God's trap.

Coffee Time 50% Sale 'til Monday! My novel, Chasing the Trickster only $3.48-- Who will escape the Trickster's snare? http://t.co/s5warzSqGT

Why do you go to conventions?

 

It started with our son turning ten and becoming interested in gaming.  Both my husband and I had gone to science fiction cons when we were much younger. We decided to try Lunacon and had a blast.  My writing had just been published for the first time (my first sale was over 20 years ago but the magazine folded before publication) and I was huffed.

Over the past six years we've added on Philcon, the Steampunk World's Faire, Connecticon for our gaming son, and World Horror Con as my big treat.

Although I've now sold over 20 short stories and am working on my third urban fantasy novel, it's a toss up whether sitting on panels and doing readings is expanding my fan base. Perhaps I'm being impatient. As KT Pinto twittered to me, her experience at cons has lead to the widening of her fan base.

For me conventions are a chance to relax with my family, watch panels, sit on panels and do readings. Also, it gives me a chance to meet face to face writers that I usually only know through the internet.

Anyway a shout out to the Broads from Broad Universe with whom I did a Rapid Fire Reading: Sarah Avery, Gail Z. Martin, Jennifer Pelland, Roberta Rogow (and Danielle Ackley-McPhail who couldn't make it.) Also, it was with great pleasure that I met with Carole Ann Moleti.

It's Read an E-book Week

Free reads

I've put up my short story collections up for free:

Notes from my Savvy Author's chat - Part One

 
There's a saying: to have a friend you need to be a friend. Finding your tribe is thinking about writing not as an art or a craft or as a business (though it's all those things) but as a community of people sharing a love of writing.

Recently on Facebook a young college student declared that the quality of a piece of writing in getting published is unimportant, all that mattered was who you knew.This young man and I shared over 30 friends and since most of my friends are also writers, this pronouncement didn't go unchallenged for long.

Within an hour an editor chimed in to explain how she had gotten her sales by submitting to markets which fit the story she wanted to sell, and as a publisher she does get submissions from people she knows but turns down many if not more than she accepts because the story must first be excellent but also must fit the project she's putting together.She isn't going to damage her reputation by playing favorites.

While many anthologies are by invitation only, there are venues available to those who know about search engines or have gone to the Writer's Market online (or in their public library). And there's always word of mouth from your friends and newsletters from organizations.

Furthermore, while knowing people can be useful, it's not worth much until your writing is up to par. And this comes from being able to tap fellow writers to critique your work.

Notes from my Savvy Author's chat - Part Two

It's difficult when you are starting out to find those people who can give you the right guidance and insights into being a writer.There's this belief that you need to "know" someone in order to get published. Well, you do need to know people--other beginning writers who are at your level, in additional to Gurus, Teachers and Mentors (I think of them as guardian angels). Also, there are organizations set up to help the novice.

My group is made up of speculative fiction writers; your group might be romance writers. Depending on your focus there is a group to fit you, or you can build one yourself.

Going back to my Facebook associate, social media helped him be better informed about publishing. It's amazing how easy it is to get in touch with a famous author or editor, or even publisher. They are out there ready to mingle, so the temptation to ask them to read your work is always there. However, in general, professional writers are too busy to help out the beginning writer. For editors and publishers to see your work guidelines are set up on websites. Going to a workshop or conference also gets your work seen. Those are the proper ways to go about getting your work in front of pros.

In 2009, a famous screenwriter created quite a stir with an article about how he refuses to read screenplays from friends and acquaintances. No man is an island and this writer had been cornered by a relative's boyfriend to give feedback on a poorly done script treatment.I heard about this article through a big name author whose blog I followed, and it seemed that she and almost everyone she knew had suffered from being asked to read a budding writer's work.

The upshot of the article was that a big name writer won't ask you to fix a faucet or do taxes for free, so why does the beginning writer feel entitled to ask for writing help or feedback from pros gratis?

Why isn't it a good idea for friends and family to be your first readers?

When you've finished that first short story or novel, there's a surge of pride and accomplishment. "Hey, I'm an author!" However a steep the learning curve between first draft and publishable piece means a hundred little rules and by-laws of style that you wouldn't know if they bit you on the butt. If you are sincere about writing, there will be that first professional level crit that leaves the taste of ashes in your mouth.

How you handle criticism will directly affect how many people are willing to work with you. If your grammar is off, there may be someone who has strong grammar skills who will help you, but not if you throw a snit when you are told to fix various items in your writing.

The proper response to criticism is, "Thank you." You can add, "I really appreciate your doing this for me. This will help in doing re-writes." It doesn't matter if a small voice in you is screaming, "This guy's a jerk." Be gracious and profoundly grateful. Unless you are paying for editorial work, this person just gave you a gift of their opinion and time.

I came to writing after 20 years in theatre. In theatre, there's a lot of ego; however, there's little room for someone who can't take criticism. By the time I took my first writing class, I knew how to swallow panic and pain, smile and listen to criticism, and say thank you. I also could put together a grammatically correct sentence (but not much more). I was invited to a twice monthly writing workshop made up from students in that class. It was a huge help in my development as a writer. And people appreciated what I could bring to the table as a crit partner.

Notes from my Savvy Author's chat - Part Three

Wheat or chaff?

A second important aspect of finding your crit group is developing your mad skills as an editor. It's not just grammar: you should be able to do copy, line and content edits. Good editorial skills are priceless. It makes writers want to swap their work with you, especially if you are honest and kind. You don't want your crit partner to put his/her head in the oven over their misuse of commas.

I've been in many classes and workshops over the years, resulting in participation in about six different writers groups. There's a natural life to a group, sooner or later it dies or you outgrow it and move on. There's usually a bit of friction as people strive to improve and it's not unusual for life to intervene resulting in a drop off of writers. C'est la vie.

Various paths to your tribe:

1-People you meet at a class or workshop

2-Forums for organizations devoted to advancement of writers- Romance Writers of America, Broad Universe, Horror Writers Association, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and many others

3-On line crit groups - Online Writers Workshop, Critters.org ,

4-Non-professional groups-Wattpad, Fanfic.net, Adultfanfic.net

5-Teachers, Gurus and Mentors through blogs, e-mails and twitter and other social media - Kristen Lamb (e-mail list), Steven Barnes, Tivi Jones, Rayne Hall (twitter) and Dean Wesley Smith (blog).

6-Meet up groups - Google to locate local writers in your area who share similar interests

7-Conventions - Sit in on panels, meet editors, publishers, big name authors and other writers.

8 - Libraries, indie bookstores, on-line book clubs

Resources:

Writing Support/Workshops Website

Savvy Authors - http://www.savvyauthors.com

Gotham Writing Classes - http://www.writingclasses.com

Wana Tribe - http://wanatribe.com/

Critique Websites -

Critters (free) http://critters.org/

Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror - http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com/

Self-publishing/Fan Fiction (great place to start but posting there means it's been published)

Wattpad - http://www.wattpad.com/

Fan Fiction - http://www.fanfiction.net/

Adult Fanfiction -http://www.adultfanfiction.net/

Teachers, Gurus and Mentors

Rayne Hall (not for novices) https://sites.google.com/site/writingworkshopswithraynehall/

Kristen Lamb - http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/

Steven Barnes - http://darkush.blogspot.com/

Tivi Jones - http://tivijonesmedia.com/blog/

Dean Wesley Smith -www.deanwesleysmith.com

Organizations:

Romance Writers of America - http://www.rwa.org/

Broad Universe - http://www.broaduniverse.org/

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America - http://www.sfwa.org/

Horror Writers Association - http://www.horror.org/

On Editing:

Revising Fiction by David Maddon (one penny at Amazon for used copies--Wow)

http://www.amazon.com/Revising-Fiction-A-Handbook-Writers/dp/0452264146

Self Editing for Fiction Writers Renni Browne and Dave King

http://www.amazon.com/Self-Editing-Fiction-Writers-Edition-ebook/dp/B003JBI2YI/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

Book Clubs

Good Reads - http://www.goodreads.com/

Coffee Time Romance - http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/

Social Media

Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest

St.Nick's Favor Book Trailer

Happy Valentine's Day

 
My latest collection of previously published works includes:

I'll Love Ya Forever, But... -A zombie love story

Doing Time -A mobster finds himself melted by lurve

The Last Case of Todd Nathaniel -A writer finds salvation in one of her characters


As a bonus - The Vision - A young woman uses a love spell to discover her future husband is a monster...or is her?

I'll Love You Forever is currently available at Smashwords.

Please treat yourself to a copy (and reviewers copies are also available). https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/284543

I'd love to hear from you!

Savvy Author's Blog Up

At the end of this month I'll be teaching at Savvy Authors a Writing for E-zines class. In prep for this class my Blog post is up.

Make Your Stories Do Double, Triple and Even Quadruple Duty By Keeping Your rights By April Grey

One of my short stories is in an on-line anthology, it is also in an e-zine, and is due to be released in a "Best of" print anthology. Next year I intend to package this work with two of my other already published short stories as a collection to sell through Kindle and other Internet distributors. That's one short story published four times. And the payment isn't only in cold hard cash; every time a story of mine is published I reach more readers and build my platform.

This is the beauty of writing short stories. They endure as long as you hold onto your rights. And with the advent of e-publications, one needs to be ever more careful against publishers using unfair contracts. Many e-publishers want to hold onto your work until the end of time--which is okay--let them archive your story, just make sure the contract says non-exclusive rights. This means they will let you re-publish your work elsewhere. And you do want to be able to see your story out in the world as many times as possible.

For the rest of the blog please head here.

 

Info about Writing for e-zines
The best piece of advice I ever had as a budding novelist was to also write short pieces. The benefits of publishing short stories and/or non-fiction articles with e-zines (and other publications) are huge. You can make a name for yourself as a writer, create a platform, improve your craft and get paid by selling to e-zines. This course will teach the beginning writer how to research markets, evaluate their own work, write a cover letter/follow up query and track their stories. Students will submit a short piece of 3,000 words or less to the group (a work in progress is okay). Syllabus: 1) Introduction, Introduce yourselves and How to research markets: Top down or bottom's up? 2) Where is your niche - Finding a good match Everyday Fiction and other markets 3) Evaluating your work and finding helpers - come up with a list of ten potential markets to share with the group. Formatting. 4) Tracking your efforts - How many short stories, keep sending them out - Something extra. Not just good for e-zines. Keep track of anthologies, use topics as writing prompts. The question of self-publishing. Wanting to create a track record of sales and publications for a platform and to prove in the game. After publication (make sure you don't sell rights for more than a year) then can self publish as a promotion.
WHEN:	Jan 28, 2013 - Feb 10, 2013
COST:	$20 for Premium Members $30 for Basic Members Cancellation policy: Registrations are non-refundable except when the workshop is cancelled by Savvy Authors.
REGISTRATION:	Click Here to Register at Premium Member rate