Kalayna Price

(X-posted at the Tri Mu blog .) I know I've posted on the topic of music before, but well, I'm a massive consumer of music so I'm going to talk about it again. I'm not a fan silence (unless I'm trying to sleep) so if you run into me, you'll probably find I have wires running from my ipod to my brain ears. Now, as a musicwhore consumer of music, it is a bit of an understatement to say I have a large music library. My tastes are diverse and I can get a little itunes happy once in a while, so I'm pretty sure if you hit shuffle on my library the auditory experience will be the equivalent of living inside a schizophrenic's brain. (Side rant: Shake to shuffle is NOT a feature on the ipod nano-- it's a menace . Anyone know how to turn it off? /rant) Recently I've been on a Darkwave/Industrial kick. I have a manuscript due, uh, tomorrow, and I have a good power mix playing that has been great for this last push of revisions. Here are a list of...

So things have been really crazy recently, and the last week I've been rather quiet on twitter for fear I would get too excited and say too much, but I can finally release my news. I am very happy to announce that I have signed with ROC/ACE for a brand new urban fantasy series! The first book in the series (tentatively titled GRAVE WITCH) is about a broke magic-eye for hire whose case with a sexy reaper, a dark cop, and a ghost-silencing killer has more than her rent on the line - it may cost her soul. I do not have information about release dates yet, but I promise to post more information as it comes available. Happy Tuesday Everyone! (Now to go bury myself in revisions again. I have an October 1st deadline I'm racing.)

This is a busy time for me. I have deadlines approaching and side writing projects popping up here and there. I've been skipping a lot of activities recently just to stay caught up. A typical day currently consists of spending eight hours at work and then going home and writing for another seven hours. That adds up to a lot of time in a chair. Certain things should be self evident, but everyone needs reminding sometimes, and this week, my reminder came from fellow Tri Mu, Tori. She messaged me to see how the writing was going. It was only about nine o'clock, but I was tired and feeling rather worn down. Her question: "Have you gotten any exercise recently?" No. No I hadn't. I'd skipped hooping all week, and for the most part, I only stood up and stretched when body parts started falling asleep. Under her advice, I took a break, turned the music up loud, grabbed my hoop, and just let go. I only left my desk for about fifteen minutes, but I returned ener...

I've dropped hints that I've had news of late, and as I now have a signed contract in my hands, I'm finally ready to share. It is my pleasure to announce that I am being represented by the amazing Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency ! She is currently shopping a new series for me, so hopefully I will have more exciting news to share with you soon. In other news, I will be speaking at a local high school tomorrow on the importance/joy of reading. This will be a first for me, and I'm very excited. Now to be girly and waste massive amounts of time fretting over what to wear. ^_^ Switching gears again, I already announced this on the Tri Mu site, but I some how neglected to mention it here (I know, I know, my blog readers are supposed to get news first! Forgive me.) The title for the second book in my Dark Haven series has been approved. It will be called TWICE DEAD and will be released in February 2010 . I have seen a mock-up of the cover, and the book is going...

I mentioned in an earlier post that if I had any bookmarks left after Dragon*con, I would give away several on the blog. I did hold a couple back, so here is your chance to get a signed bookmark. I'm giving away ten (10) in total, and I'm willing to mail internationally. If you are interested click on the contact link on my webpage and send me a message with who you'd like the bookmark made out to and the shipping address where you'd like it mailed. There are no special rules to this give away, it is just first come first serve until I run out. Have a great weekend everyone! UPDATE: All bookmarks have now been claimed. Thank you everyone who entered. Look for more giveaways as the release of TWICE DEAD approaches.

While I try to keep this blog focused primarily on my writing, I am diverging today to share my favorite hobby with you. If you follow my twitter feed, you probably know I started hoop dancing about eight months ago. Well, today is World Hoop Day and the Columbia Hoop Troop gathered to draw attention to hooping. We had hoped to take hoops to the local children's home, but that plan fell through (and is in the process of being rescheduled on a weekend--World Hoop Day being on a Wednesday was the issue.) Instead, a group of about eight of us showed up at the State House in the middle of downtown, turned on some belly dancing music, and just had fun hooping on the green. We got a lot of stares and a couple tourists snapping pictures of us, but we also talked some of the suits walking by to hoop with us. It brought a lot of smiles to faces, and there was a lot of laughter. All and all, it was a great way to spend my lunch hour. If you are wondering about the draw of hooping, I can tel...

I have returned from Dragon*Con. My suitcase is all but empty of bookmarks, but full of signed books (by some of the amazing other authors at the con, of course. And yes, despite returning last night, I have not yet unpacked.) If you've been following my twitter feed, you know I had an absolutely amazing time. For those of you who are not into 140 word micro blog posts, or for those who are interested in seeing pictures, here is a quick recap of the highlights of my convention experience: -- Sunday afternoon I was very privileged to have the honor of sitting on a panel with the amazingly talented Charlaine Harris . (Also on the panel, not to leave them out in the name dropping, were several other amazing authors in my genre [and a couple outside it] including Stacia Kane and Laura Anne Gilman .) The topic was about Strong Female Protagonists, and while we got sidetracked on a tangent at one point, I thought it was definitely an entertaining panel, and I hope it was also a little...