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Showing posts from February, 2011

Gender and a sense of mystery

When it comes to politically correct terms for gender roles, anyone who knows me personally long ago gave me up as a lost cause. I don't care one bit about the generalized 'man' being a collective for both males and/or females such as in words like mankind and chairman. I find the insertion of the word woman in such words to be amusing, and the substitution of 'person' downright silly. In person, I'm not even particularly inclined to differentiate male and female versions of long held titles. For instance, I may mention the party's host, and mean the woman hosting it. And as far as new 'titles', well, expect an eye-roll if someone refers to me as an author ess . In print, my characters speak and think in terms that are in line with their views. Unless they are particularly pushy in the politically correct department, my characters typically follow common gender grammar rules simply because 1) so far I haven't had a good reason for one not to an

THANK YOU--Bookmark Project

Thank you everyone who volunteered to be part of the bookmark project! I wasn't sure what kind of reception the post would get, but a ton of readers contacted me and now bookmarks will be headed out to dozens of stores across the states. I'm prepping packages of bookmarks and goodies for the mail, but hopefully everything will be shipped by the beginning of next week. Thank you again! Have a great weekend, everyone.

The Bookmark Project

You might have seen my tweet yesterday about the fact I just received two boxes of shiny new bookmarks. I'm very excited that I'll have these available at future cons and events, but I haven't quite run out of my last run of bookmarks yet, and there is only so much room in my luggage and on tables, so I need to reduce my stock. With that in mind, I'm looking for some minions volunteers who would be willing to see that the old bookmarks make it to bookstores where they can find a new home.  Okay, let's  talk about what is actually involved in this "bookmark project." What I'm proposing is that if you're interested in helping me get the word out about the books (and helping some bookmarks find good homes) send an email to kalayna(AT)kalayna(dot)com with the words "BOOKMARK PROJECT" in the subject line and include your name, shipping address, and the name of the bookstore you plan to take the bookmarks to. I will then send you 20-30 boo

StellarCon Schedule

I know, I only just hung my corset and kicked off my boots from the last convention, but the next is just around the corner and they sent me my panel schedule, so I'm anxious to share it with you. March 4th-6th I will be in High Point North Carolina for StellarCon and if you want to take a peek at my panel schedule, it looks like I'll be chatting about a lot of vampires. LOL. (Don't worry, if vampires aren't your thing and you'd rather chat with me about fae, witches, shifters, mages, and/or soul collectors, just find me outside the panels!) Okay, without further ado, my schedule: Reading (Heritage, Friday @ 4:30PM) Opening Ceremonies & Guest Meet and Greet (Queen Anne B, Friday @ 6:00PM): Come to the Opening Ceremonies and meet StellarCon 35’s Convention Manager and Guests of Honor. It is followed by a meet and greet of all this year’s guests. Vampires of the Past, Present and Future (Victorian B, Friday @ 9:00PM): Come and explore the world of va

RoundCon Wrap Up

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RoundCon has come to a close. Cons seem to go by so fast, but then you know what they say about time and fun. ^_^ With Misty Massey and Faith Hunter at our table This was the first year RoundCon featured a creative track, and anything new takes a bit to catch on. During a few panels the panelists outnumbered the attendees, but as the con continued I think word got around and we ended up with a nice handful of people by the end of Saturday night. (Not surprisingly, our "The Battle of Sex" about sex in genre and writing sex and sexual tension was the most popular panel. It was also our last panel of the night and we were all a little silly by then.) The great thing about such a small group was the amount of interaction that was possible. We really got to chat with everyone and we were able to shape the discussions to what attendees wanted to talk about. I'd like to send a special shout out to Pat who attended every single panel and Debbie who started with us bright an

Will you be at RoundCon?

I can't believe how fast February is flying by. I swear I blinked and opened my eyes to find the first third of the month had already passed. I guess time has never been my friend, but the middle of the month means that one of the events I'm looking forward to is right around the corner. This year I will be kicking off my conference and convention season the weekend of the 18th with RoundCon , a fantasy and gaming convention right in the heart of Columbia, SC. Faith Hunter ( Rogue Mage and Jane Yellowrock series), Misty Massey ( Mad Kestrel ), and I met not so long ago to plan and propose some topics for the con's creative track, and it looks like everything is set to go. There will be a great selection of creative guests (as well as gaming and anime tracks if your geek-nature swings those directions) so it looks like it will be a great weekend. Here are some of the topics planned: Pitch Session Tactics Pitch like the major leagues and learn how to increase your chan

Countdown Meter for GRAVE DANCE

Hello everyone. A flyby post here, but I just had to share this beautiful countdown meter Larissa Benoliel made for the release of GRAVE DANCE. If you would like splash this counter on your webpage, you can find the code on Larissa's COUNTO page. (Scroll down until you see the Grave Dance counter, the code is in a small box below it.) You can find out more about Larissa at her home page HERE or at her TWITTER . Thank you again for the gorgeous counter, Larissa! Happy hump day everyone!

GRAVE DANCE Cover and Blurb

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As promised last week, may I present for your entertainment the official cover copy (back cover blurb) for GRAVE DANCE: Whoever said dead men tell no tales obviously never met Alex Craft. After a month spent recovering from a vicious fight with a sorcerer, grave witch Alex Craft is ready to get back to solving murders by raising the dead. With her love life in turmoil thanks to the disappearance of Fae Investigation Bureau agent Falin Andrews and a shocking “L” word confession from Death himself, Alex is eager for the distractions of work. But her new case turns out to be a deadly challenge. The police hire Alex to consult on a particularly strange investigation in the nature preserve south of Nekros City. The strange part: There are no corpses, only fragments of them. A serial killer is potentially on the loose, and Alex has no way to raise a shade without a body, so she’ll have to rely on the magic of others to find leads. But as she begins investigating, a creature born of the