World Horror Con

I can't believe it's just a few weeks before World Horror Con. I'm in charge of the Rapid Fire Reading for Broad Universe and have been hard at it to keep communication open with the person in charge of scheduling and the Broads who will be reading. I'm doing a flyer and I'm so glad I have plenty of time to get this done.

There will be novel pitching at the Con, and I'm trying to prep myself mentally for the event. Time just seems to be moving so quickly.

I'll update as we get closer to the big event.

Lunacon cont.

One of the best things about going to Lunacon is the Rapid Fire Reading in which members of Broad Universe come together to read their work. The past couple of years I've been reading with the same group of talented writers: Gail Z. Martin (The Chronicles of the Necromancer series and The Fallen Kings Cycle), Danielle Ackley-McPhail (Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's Memories and The Halfing's Court), Sarah Avery (the Rogosa Coven series), Roberta Rogow (The Root of the Matter and many more). I so enjoy listening to my fellow Broads read and catching up on what is happening in their careers.

There were a lot of familiar faces on the panels. I was pleased to be in various panel audiences listening to Lawrence M. Schoen (Guest of Honor), Neil Clarke, Michael D'Ambrosio, Neal Levin, Joshua Palmatier (also know him from Online Writers Workshop), Darrell Schweitzer, Hildy Silverman, David Sklar, Ian Randal Strock, Patrick Thomas, Gorden Van Gelder, and Michael A. Ventrella.

I had fun at the party for the release of the anthology After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar, editors Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray. Didn't have a chance to swim or use the hot tub. The panels were just so good and informative that I had almost no down time. I loved hanging out with other writers and learning so much about the business and craft of writing.

Thank you everyone who made this such a great weekend!

Lunacon!

Lunacon this year was fantastic. So many panels about SF, Fantasy and Horror. But also just about the craft of writing. I saw a lot of old friends and was so pleased to be there. The scheduling was terrific, very little overlap. But saying that, the Rapid Fire Readings for Broad Universe was a bit of a challenge with three of our readers booked for other events/panels.

I want to go into detail about the con, but it's a bit late. I'll get back onto this tomorrow.

"Mother Mine" up at Dark Valentine

My short story, "Mother Mine," is now up at Dark Valentine. Enjoy your day!

Last Year and Looking Forward

Last year I went to quite a few conventions: Lunacon, The Steampunk World's Fair, NYC Comicon, and Connecticon.

This year I'll be at those PLUS I'm heading down to Austin, TX for the World Horror Convention.

I'm please to say that I joined the Horror Writer's Association last year.

Finally, my short story, "At the End of Day" came out in Demonmind's Halloween Anthology. It's a lovely book and I'm very pleased to be a part of it.

New Year's Resolution is to keep writing and keep submitting!

Steampunk World's Fair Follow Up

I just had an e-mail from Jeff, one of the organizers of the World's Fair, and next year sounds like it will be even better. Many thanks for creating a wonderful environment for the imagination to feast and grow.

While at the Fair I had the opportunity to become more acquainted with a fellow member of Broad Universe, Emilie Bush. I greatly admire Emilie's pluck and talent. She self-published her book, Chenda and the Airship Brofman and I took every opportunity to pick her brains about such an endeavor. As people who attend writing cons know there are huge changes in the publishing industry. The idea of publishing a book which might go to one of the big chains, sit three weeks on their shelves and then have their covers removed to be disposed of just doesn't sound very green. In our digital age, with PODs, I-pads, etc. shouldn't paper be treated with more respect? Going non-traditional routes is very appealing and something I've thought about for years.

I also had the chance to spend time with the publisher of Weird Tales and Wildside Press, John Gregory Betancourt. I've loved Weird Tales for many, many years and it was a pleasure to take advantage of the Library which he and his associate had set up. It was a generous act since along with providing a cozy space for readings, they also gave space to the books of authors attending the Fair. I came home with a huge amount of reading material.

I ran into CJ Henderson, yet again, and had a delightful talk with him. Again, I spent more money and now have plenty to read for the next few months.

I think the highlight of the weekend came courtesy of the Steampunk Family. Anna and her husband, Herr Von Hedwig, share a past with my own husband and as a result DH and I were invited to their suite to indulge in some delicious home made absinthe. While my favorite drink during my college years was Pernod, it is nothing at all like the homemade stuff which was quite delightful and refreshing. DH had a chance to catch up on old times while I spoke with the author of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, Leanna Renee Hieber.

All in all it was a most inspiring weekend.

As for tonight, I shall be giving a reading of three of my short stories, "Troll Bridge," "Doing Time," and "I'll Love Ya Forever, But..." at the Oasis Garden (52nd off of Tenth Ave., NYC) at 6 PM, as part of the Artists in the Kitchen, Studio Tours Weekend which is now happening.

Wow, such great excitement in such a short time.

Steampunk World's Fair and Another Sale

I'm here at the Radisson Hotel at the Steampunk World's Fair and having a great time.

I was at Lunacon a couple of months ago and never got around to writing about it, so this time I'm trying to be a bit better.

We attended the Brass Ball last night and are looking forward to the many interesting panels and demonstrations today.

Also, I sold my short story, "At the End of Day" to DemonMinds Halloween 2010 anthology this past week. Whoo Hoo!

Well, the first panel is about to start...