Kalayna Price

GRAVE MEMORY Covers (US & UK)

2012-01-26T18:20:00.000-05:00

Today I'm very happy to unveil the cover for the third Alex Craft novel, GRAVE MEMORY, which will be hitting shelves this July. And not only do I have US cover, but I also have the UK cover. I believe the books should be hitting shelves simultaneously, so this is super exciting.

Okay, enough chatter. You want the covers, right?

Above is the US cover (The title will be printed with gold embossing)

And this is the UK cover

So, what do you think? I love them. Of course, blue is my favorite color, so I'm probably biased. ^_^

Pictures and such

2012-01-09T15:57:00.000-05:00

This is a fly by posting. I just wanted to post some pictures I found rather exciting:

Image ©Adonna Pruette w/Author Pro

First up, from this weekend here is a picture of Faith and me signing books at the Raven Cursed release party (Which was tons of fun. Thank you everyone who came out!) In front of me, you can see PC in his first public appearance.

Next, another image from the signing--my name on the sign! This is a first for me. I've been in program books and on posters, but never on a sign. So this moment is now memorialized. ^_^ (yes, I'm very easily excited.)

And lastly for this post, some pretties. (This picture doesn't do them justice.) On the left you can see the UK version of Grave Dance which will be released February 2nd and on the right a copy of the German edition of Once Bitten. There is absolutely nothing like holding a book in your hands for the first time.

Okay, that's it for me. Back to writing!
Happy Monday everyone.

Want a signed book?

2012-01-04T19:05:00.000-05:00

Two bits of news today--both dealing with signed books.

First up, I want to remind everyone that this Saturday (1/07) I'll be at the Booknack in Rockhill, SC from 5-7pm as part of the release party for the newest Jane Yellowrock novel, Raven Cursed, by NYT best selling author Faith Hunter. I love Faith's books, and I'm thrilled to have been invited to join her release party, so I hope you'll stop by. We'd both love to see you!

I know some of you aren't in the South East (where most of the events and conventions I attend are located). Which leads me to my second bit of news: I talked to Mike (the very awesome guy at the Booknack) and if you'd like me to sign a book made out to you, the Alex Craft novels can be ordered before the event and I'll sign and personalize it for you while I'm at the store Saturday and the Booknack will ship the signed book(s) to you.

Yes, you read that correctly. You can get a signed and personalized book without driving halfway across the country. ^_^

To order a book, call the Booknack at 803-327-9028. (Their hours are 10am - 8pm EST Monday - Saturday and 2-6pm on Sunday.) They will be accepting payment via credit card only. The cost will be the book's the cover price ($7.99 per book) plus shipping, which will be $3.99 for one book or $5.99 two. If you'd like the book personalized, make sure you order before the signing this Saturday. Mike is also allowing me to sign stock, so if you order after Saturday you can probably still get a signed book--it just won't be personalized.

We don't have any indie bookstores left in my area, so I'm thrilled to be working with Mike and the Booknack to offer you this opportunity to acquire signed books.

I hope to see you at the signing on Saturday (or to sign a book or two for you)! Happy hump day everyone.

Links to free and sale books!

2011-12-28T15:24:00.000-05:00

I hope that everyone is having a very happy holiday season! In the next couple days I'll probably do a post on some of my favorite books of 2011, but for now, I'd like to point you in the direction of some free and or/sale books by some of my favorite authors as well as a special promotion on one of my own books. I've, unfortunately, not had time to read most of the novellas I'm linking to yet, but like I said, favorite authors, so I have a lot of confidence in their quality.

First up is a free Kate Daniels novella by the writing team published as Ilona Andrews. Someone just directed me to it, and I haven't had time to read it yet, but it's a limited time offer, so I wanted to go ahead and link everyone. (I imagine that has spoilers for those of you not familiar with the series).

Next on the list is the novella Easy Pickings written by Faith Hunter and C. E. Murphy. They both have a special fan discount on their sites. Which you can find HERE (Faith) or HERE (C E Murphy) This is a cross over novella for only 1.99 by two amazing authors.

Karen Chance, author of the Cassandra Palmer and Dorina Basarab series has an entire page of free short stories and novellas. She offers warnings of which fall where in the series and will contain spoilers, so definitely go check it out!

Lastly, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before on the blog, but for those of you who haven't checked out my Haven novels yet but are interested and members of Amazon Prime, the kindle now has a new lending library, and ONCE BITTEN is on it! So, if you'd like to 'rent' ONCE BITTEN, it is now available.

Enjoy everyone. I hope you're having a happy and safe holiday!

Prince Charming

2011-12-22T18:40:00.000-05:00

As many of you know if you've seen me at events (or seen pictures from events), I like conversation pieces on my table. It started with a tombstone I picked up before the release party of Grave Witch and has slowly expanded since then. All of the items I display I can justify as tying into my books in some manner (though sometimes it's a stretch). From the tombstone fitting because Alex is a Grave Witch to my adorable little vamplet because of the vampires in the Haven novels, I consider them appropriate. But I've never actually had a table piece that tied directly into any of the books.

Until now.

Recently I commission artist Angela Woodruff to create a stuffed version of PC from the Alex Craft novels. We had several discussions about what he looks like and his personality before she started working and the end results just arrived today.

What do you think? Isn't he adorable!

I'm thrilled with the results, and he will definitely be making appearances at my upcoming events. I hope you'll stop by and check him out at my table (though he's not a toy so pet him gently. LOL).

If you'd like to look a more of Angela's work, check her out on facebook at Rabid Rags.

Happy Thursday everyone, and for those of you heading out for the holidays soon, safe travels to you.

Hallo Deutschland!

2011-12-19T14:49:00.001-05:00

There are milestones in every career. In publishing, the first of these milestones is probably the very first time you write the magical words "The End" followed by new markers at each stage of your career. Each is new and exciting, and I'm very happy to announce that today I've crossed one of those milestones.

Today my very first foreign language book hits shelves!

DER KUSS DER EWIGKEIT is the German language version of ONCE BITTEN, the first novel of Haven. As has probably become apparent in previous posts, I don't speak a word of German, so I'm using a translator. But, to my new German readers who stumble on this post, I just want to say:

Vielen Dank für das Lesen der Kuss der Ewigkeit! Ich hoffe, Sie genießen das Buch!

(That should translate to "Thank you for reading The Kiss of Eternity. I hope you enjoy the book!" --or at least I hope that's what it says and that I haven't announced I'm a jelly doughnut. ^_^)

Have a great Monday everyone!

Reasearch: Folklore

2011-12-14T20:53:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone. This is a fly by post as I am counting down the hours (and words) until a looming deadline.

I've received a lot of questions recently about the research books I use in my writing, particularly for my Faeries and magic. Of course, I make a lot of things up (I am a writer after all) but especially in the Alex Craft novels, I like to incorporate some traditional folklore. And as I can't run off to the UK to hear these stories first hand (those that are left in the oral tradition, that is--so much has been lost). My main source for research is from books.

I've slowly been scanning my research books into goodreads (love their iphone bar-code reader--though some of my books are too old to have bar codes) and I've finally managed to get a decent number of my folklore books scanned into the goodreads system. Which means I can share them with you! The ones I recommend most have the highest star ratings, but just because I haven't added stars yet doesn't mean I don't like the book--it might be that I haven't decided yet or just haven't had time to review it recently enough to to make my suggestion (as a whole, I only have a few complete flops on my shelves, but I don't think I scanned any of them into this list).

Anyway, for those looking for more information on Faeries and Folklore, here is a decent list to start perusing. Enjoy!

And, for anyone curious, here is my wishlist of books I'm hoping to get my hands on in the futre (at least, the ones listed on Amazon). As I haven't actually read any of them, I can't vouch for their quality, but they do look interesting: Wishlist .

And that's a look into one aspect of my research reading habits. I hope this helps those looking to learn more about classic folklore!

A Signing and the German cover for Grave Witch

2011-12-08T00:14:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone. I have two exciting bits of information to share today. The first is that I will be participating in the Booknack's annual Author Festival this Saturday (December 10th). There will be authors signing books throughout the day, and I'm slotted to sign between 5 and 7pm, so if you're in the Rock Hill or surrounding area, I hope to see you there!

As my second bit of news, I'm very excited to share that a facebook friend linked me to the German cover for Grave Witch (yes, a friend found it before I did, these things happen). According to Babel Fish translator, the German title is Of death entices. (If you speak German and that translation is wrong, please let me know as I'm trusting a computer translator and they tend toward unreliable.) I thought that title sounded skeptical. Thank you Mary Lee for the correct translation of the title as Seduced by Death. (Gee, I wonder which character the German editor likes best. LOL)

So what do you think?

Personally, I think it's a striking cover, and the model is definitely cute--but I have no idea who he is supposed to be. No dark haired, blue eyed, mustached hunks in this particular book. That is a kickass tattoo though. ^_^

Okay, that's it for me today. I hope to see you this weekend at the signing!

Shameless Plug--Goodreads Choice Awards

2011-11-14T12:41:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone. I just found out GRAVE DANCE is in the semifinals of the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards in the Paranormal Fantasy section! This is apparently the second round of the competition, so everyone who voted in the first--you totally rock! Thank you!

The selection in this category is awesome--many of my top favorite authors/books from this year are in there. I can't believe I'm grouped in with such awesome writers! To check out all the nominees and cast your vote, click HERE. (I'm not begging for votes because let's face it, there are lots of really awesome books on the list, but if you read and enjoyed Grave Dance, I'd definitely appreciate the vote!)

2011 Goodreads Choice Awards

Vote now for your favorite books!

In other news, I saw the cover for Grave Memory today. So pretty. I can't wait until I can share it with you. (Yes, I'm a tease ^_^)

Happy Monday everyone!

11-11-11 is World Hoop Day

2011-11-11T20:50:00.000-05:00

Every year hoopers celebrate world hoop day by going out to spread the joy of hoop dance to others. While I plan to attend local outreach events in my community, I decided that this year I'd also attempt to reach all of you out in cyber land. So I recorded a quick video about WHD, why I love hoop dance, and some very basic starting steps for those interested in picking up the best dance partner you'll ever have--a hoop! And, of course, I jam out a little at the end.

I hope you enjoy:

Happy World Hoop Day everyone!

Changing times--A look at ebooks and the evolution of digital media

2011-11-04T15:31:00.000-04:00

Things are changing quickly these days. Some of these changes inspire wonder as new technology entertains us or makes our lives easier. Some inspire dread and fear as many of these same changing technologies seem to be the harbinger of destruction for traditions and institutions we've come to know and love.

And yet, things have always changed. Perhaps not so quickly as they do now where most high-end tech is outdated within six months of hitting the shelves, but they've always changed. In visual entertainment, reels gave way to Beta to VHS to DVD to Blueray/HD and digital. In music, records gave way to cassette tapes, to CDs, and now to digital. Movies/television and music are two popular de-stressing pastimes most people partake in. Reading is another. Should we be surprised that traditional printed books are also moving toward digital in the form of e-books?

The transition between technologies seems to grow ever shorter. I'll admit that though I still have some favorite VHS tapes from childhood, I haven't owned a VCR since highschool, and even my DVD's I find to be a less preferred format to digital which with home sharing and apple tv I can watch anything in my library from any tv (or ipad) in my house with just a couple clicks of a button. I don't have a CD player in my house, and only purchase CDs when I'm at a concert and want to get them signed. Of course, once I get home I import them to itunes and permanently shelf the CD. Movements toward such digital dependence never would have occurred without MP3 players and streaming devices like the apple TV. Now that dedicated e-reading devices are easily accessible and reasonably priced (the new kindle is cheaper than an ipod nano) will they become the preferred vehicle for reading?

The benefits are much the same with all media moving toward digital. A definite plus is the drastic reduction of physical space needed for storing a collection, which means not only more room in your house, but one can carry a plethora of choices in a small handbag with minimal added weight. The ability to buy digital copies at any time day or night from nearly any location is also a bonus (though can lead to dangerously impulsive splurges). As a whole one doesn't have to worry about damages associated with previous formats such as scratched cds/dvds or torn/smudged pages.

But there are frightening negatives as well. File corruption is always a fear, though that one is decreasing now that most companies offer offsite backups of purchases, but I acutely remember several friends who lost hundreds of dollars in music when their hard drives gave up the ghost, taking all their digital purchases with them. Some had backups of most of the music. At least two did not. As stated earlier, this is becoming less of an issue as most media providers allow you to redownload previous purchases, but what happens if their company goes under? Or if something happens to their servers? A physical book could get destroyed in fire or flood, but you will never pull a book off your shelf, open it, and suddenly find the book has glitched and is now filled with a jumble of indecipherable code (unless you spontaneously lose the ability to read the language it is written in, I suppose. LOL). Then there are compatibility issues. I'm sure this will eventually be resolved, but most e-stores sell e-books in proprietary formats which other e-readers will not open. If you switch devices (because let's face it, how long do most people hold onto tech these days before upgrading, 3-4 years? maybe less?) you have a possibility of losing access to your previously purchased library. Digital music has become much more standardized, so I imagine other media will be eventually, but when it does, will you be able to upgrade your library or are your purchases lost and stuck in a time vortex?

All of that said, books are different than other entertainment media in a very important way. Music and movies have always required special hardware to be enjoyed and once those formats became outdated not only were the formats hard to find but the hardware needed to play them eventually broke down and replacements became scarce and/or expensive. A physical book is and always has been self contained. Barring disaster, any book you own will always 'work' when you go to read it, its format will not become outdated, and it will never need to be recharged. The movement toward digital changes that, putting it on the same level as other media. How many of you have found yourself once again buying an old favorite movie because the previous format(s) no longer play with your current setup?

I don't think anyone makes VHS or Cassette tapes anymore. I can't even remember the last time I saw these formats on a shelf. DVD and CD formats can be found, but walk into any store that sells them and you'll probably notice that the sections devoted to them are much smaller. Of course, almost all stores carry less physical product on the shelves than they used to, and bookstores are certainly not immune. The midlist authors are all but gone. New titles have less time than ever to make their mark, and even titles which sell are restocked at smaller numbers.

Hard economic times, increased online shopping, e-books, or any combination of the above could very well be to blame. And yet, studies show that more people are reading more books than ever, and that is being contributed to the rise of e-books and the ease e-readers enable people to impulse buy books. Of course, at the same time, e-readers all but eliminate browsing so while more books are selling, they tend to be only those that make a big enough splash to show up on e-reader charts or under recommendations. With a glut e-books hitting the market every day, breaking in and finding an audience is actually getting harder.

So what will happen to the paperback? Is it to go the way of the Betamax and VHS? Or does its physicality and simple, self contained usefulness guarantee its continued existence? Or, will paperbacks fall somewhere in between, like vinyl records which are feverishly collected and cherished by some but largely forgotten by many?

It's hard to say. I guess only time--and consumers voting with their dollars--will tell.

It has been a little over a year since the last time I discussed ebooks on the blog. A lot of people weighed in on previous print vs ebook discussions, but as it has been a while so I'd like to ask again--get a temperature of the changing situation, if you will. What are your thoughts? E-books: love them? Hate them? Haven't tried them yet? What about print? Are you done with dead trees or will someone have to pry your beloved tomes from your fingers before you give them up? Anyone want to make predictions on the market? I'd love to hear from you, so chime in!

Author Chat With Rachel Aaron and John Hartness

2011-10-29T13:34:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone. As you've probably noticed, October has been a month full of events for me. I also have a book due in a couple days--talk about being busy. I apologize for not being around as much as normal. I will attempt to get back on a regular blogging schedule soon.

Anyway, one of my favorite things to do while at an event is to steal a couple of the other attending writers for a quick chat about their books and ask them for some tips for aspiring authors. At RoundCon last weekend, my ~~victims~~ lovely volunteers included Rachel Aaron and John Hartness. I hope you enjoy!

RoundCon This Weekend!

2011-10-21T11:13:00.000-04:00

I know I mentioned RoundCon a few posts back, but I'm giving it another post just in case you are in the area and want to come, but maybe forgot or missed the first post. (Besides, it's not like I'm exactly clogging the blogsphere with posts right now--deadlines and some aspects of my personal life are killing me at the moment, but I'll start blogging regularly as soon as I get caught up on everything. Promise. You'd rather books than blogs, right?)

Anyway, RoundCon 2011.1 starts TODAY. The writer's track is new for 2011, so if you're in the Columbia area and want to hear professionals from all different walks of publishing--from nationally bestselling to small press to self published--talk about writing, craft, the business, the market, and I'm sure any topics you guys might desire us to discuss please make plans to come check out the Con. Seriously, we have several great tracks lined up, but if there is a topic you'd like to know more about or hear our take on (as it relates to writing) we will most likely be more than happy to indulge you. This is a small con, so it's the perfect time to really grill the attending professionals. Besides, writers spend most of their time alone with their keyboards, so when you get us out in public, we sometimes forget to shut-up. ^_^

A full schedule of panels is up on the con website, but here is my official schedule

Friday:

Detectives & Mysteries -- 7pm
Sex & Violence - Writing Emotional Action Scenes -- 8pm

Saturday:

Writing a Series -- 1pm
The New World of Publishing -- 6pm

Sunday:

World-Building --11 am
Tension - Build it or Break it? -- 1pm

When not on panels, I will likely be hanging out at my table (unless the hotel has a bar and you guys would like to buy me a drink *hint hint* ^_^ ). No, seriously, I have a table for the event which I will be sharing with the fabulous Rachel Aaron. I'll have free swag, candy, books to sell/autograph, and I might even bring some of the t-shirts I have left over from dragon. If you don't get all your questions answered in a panel, please feel free to stop by the table and chat with us--we don't want to sit there all by our lonesomes. Stop by, chat, pick up free stuff--can't beat that, right?

Okay, I'll stop rambling now. I hope to see you at the Con!

Guest Release Day Post: AJ Hartley with Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact

2011-10-13T10:00:00.017-04:00

Today I'm wishing a very happy release day to my friend and fellow Magical Words author, A.J. Hartley, for his brand new release Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact. This book marks the first in a series and AJ's first adventure into middle-grade fiction. I haven't yet had the pleasure to read it, and while middle-grade fiction isn't usually added to TBR, this book certainly sounds intriguing so I plan to pick up a copy soon!

AJ sent me some additional information I can share with you guys, so please welcome him to the blog!

A. J. Hartley:
So you’re a kid: a boy of about 11. You’re in the mall in an unfamiliar city, feeling lost, alone and a bit home sick. You look up and you see a bird in one of the plastic trees. You like birds, so you watch it, trying to figure out what type it is. Then there’s a shadow overhead and the little bird gets hits hard by something much bigger, something hawkish but with leathery bat-like wings and the face of… well, if it wasn’t for the cruel-looking beak, you’d say it was the face of a man.

This is how Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact begins, though the voice is different, and oddly enough, it’s how the story began in my head. It was a half dream, I think, a series of images that popped into my head before I fell asleep proper. I liked it. I had no idea where it went from there, but I liked it, and quickly connected it with another idea I had already had, about a boy looking into a mirror and seeing something inside, something beside his own reflection. I put the two ideas together and added a transitional sequence in which the boy chases the strange winged creature through the mall and into a curious shop selling still more curious (curiouser?) mirrors into one of which the flittercrake (for that is what it’s called) has just vanished…

Darwen is my first middle grades book (and will be followed by at least another two in the series). After publishing 6 adult novels, I decided to revisit my roots, remembering what it was like to lose myself in a story that didn’t centre on what I used to call (not so much hopefully as merely inaccurately) grown-ups. I’m not done with adult fiction, but this is more than a change of gears for me: it’s a lot like coming home.

Q: Who is your target readership for this book?
A: The official answer to that, I guess is, 9-12 year olds, but I expect the readership to be quite a bit wider than that. It’s a fairly dark fantasy, and I think it will push into the YA and even adult crowd as Harry Potter did. The protagonist will age with subsequent books, as I hope my readers will.

Q: What’s the hardest thing about writing for younger readers?
A: Getting the voice right. Kids (understandably) hate to be patronized or treated like they aren’t that bright, so telling stories aimed at readers who are not supposed to be ready for or interested in the stuff of adult books is a bit of a high wire act. At first I worried about making sure the vocabulary wasn’t too sophisticated but I soon realized (at least after R.L. Stine had pointed it out to me!) that that was to sell the book and the readers short. Now I find that 99 times out of hundred I use the word I want and don’t worry too much about supposed ‘reading level.’

-So back to the world and plot of Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact:

Q: How would you characterize the fantasy world of the story?
A: Silbrica is a series of linked locuses, all different, though they tend to the natural, particularly forests. The links are mystical portals like great shimmering mirrors, but there are other connectors—strange, steam-punky trains which move between smoky, deserted stations, for instance. It’s a magical world, but one with echoes of our own, and it’s in crisis.

Q: I take it that all is not well in Silbrica?
A: Right. Strange things are afoot, odd shifts in the landscape itself, and rumors of terrible creatures that have not been heard from for ages.

Q: Monsters?
A: For want of a better word, yes: hulking goblin-men on massive steam powered motorcycles, and blind, headless ape-like creatures who find their way by using the long tongues which protrude from the shark-mouth gashes across their chests…

Q: And what of our heroes?
A: Darwen is a mixed race English boy from Lancashire who fails to fit into the swanky Atlanta private school into which he has been dropped in about every way possible. He makes friends with a farm boy called Rich (but isn’t) and a girl called Alex who manages (I think) to be both the most annoying and funniest character I’ve ever written.

Q: They are the Peregrine Pact?
A: Right, named after the old shopkeeper who gives Darwen the mirror through which he first enters Silbrica, Mr. Octavius Peregrine. He is their expert on everything to do with the world beyond the mirrors, but he’s decidedly odd and may not be completely trustworthy.

Q: So it’s scary and funny?
A: I think so. Of course, my sense of humor is notoriously strange so you’ll have to see for yourself, but yes, I think it’s funny. And the scares and suspense elements are as real as I could make them, using the same techniques as I would in adult fiction. I don’t pull any punches on that score. Kids like being scared. I hope.

Q: When will the next Darwen book be out?
A: Fall 2012. The precise date is still being nailed down.

Thanks so much for telling us about your book, A.J. And again, Happy Release Day!
Have a great Thursday everyone!

British born writer A.J. Hartley got his first taste for archaeology touring sites in Greece and Rome as a child with his family. As an English major at Manchester University he took extra classes in Eqyptology and got a job working on a Bronze Age site just outside Jerusalem…

Since then, life has taken him to many places around the world, and though he always leaned more towards the literary than to the strictly historical, his fascination with the past has continued unabated.

He has an M.A. and Ph.D. in English literature from Boston University and is currently the Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As well as being a novelist and academic, he is a screenwriter, theatre director and dramaturg (and has a book explaining what that is). He has more hobbies than is good for anyone, and treats ordinary things like sport and food and beer with a reverence which borders on mania. He is married with a son, and lives in Charlotte.

Find out more at his website www.ajhartley.net or visit the Darwen Arkwright website at www.darwenarkwright.com

(Edited to add: Guys, I totally fail. I scheduled this post several days ago and it was supposed to automatically go live--except I hit the wrong button. Sorry it's a little late.)

October Events!

2011-10-08T20:11:00.001-04:00

I can't believe it's already October. That said, I have two events coming up that I hope I'll be able to see some of you at.

Next weekend, October 15th and 16th, I will be in North Carolina for the literary weekend at the Carolina Renaissance Festival. I think this event will be a ton of fun not only because of the great writers I'll be there with, but because, well, it's Ren Faire--how can you go wrong with that?

The following weekend, October 21-23, I'll be in Columbia, SC for RoundCon 2011.1. The writer's track is a relatively new add-on for the convention, so if you have a chance, I hope you'll come check it out. A full schedule of panels is up on the website, but here is my schedule for the con:

Friday:

Detectives & Mysteries
Sex & Violence - Writing Emotional Action Scenes

Saturday:

Writing a Series
The New World of Publishing

Sunday:

World-Building
Tension - Build it or Break it?

It's going to be a busy couple of weeks, but I hope I get a chance to see several of you at the events!

Answering your Questions: Alex Craft Series

2011-08-30T17:23:00.000-04:00

I'm getting a lot of emails asking how many books will be in the Alex Craft series. The truth is that the answer hasn't been determined yet. Currently, Roc has me contracted for the first three books, but it is my hope that they will want more books in the series because I have a lot more story to tell. I do have an idea how the series will end, but I don't actually know how many books it will take for me to reach it.

Does that make everything as clear as mud? LOL

Have a great Tuesday, everyone.

Dragon*Con Schedule

2011-08-22T11:14:00.000-04:00

I can't believe Dragon*Con is only 10 days away! This year has gone by fast. At the same time, a lot has happened since last Dragon (and yes, this event is big enough for me that I mark my year by it, lol). Can you believe Grave Witch wasn't yet released last Dragon*con? Now the second book is out too. Unreal.

Anyway, for those of you unfamiliar with Dragon*Con, it is the largest sci-fi/fantasy con on the East Coast. It is held over labor day weekend in downtown Atlanta every year and is a huge, four day affair involving just about every type of geekdom out there as well as an amazing music scene, tons guests and about 50k attendees. It is, in a word, amazing. I love it. And this year I'm a guest with an official schedule and everything. In previous years I didn't know what panels I'd be on until I arrived and I missed several of you who were looking for me. This year, look for me here:

Title: Spotlight: Witches
Description: Explores the role of witches in fantasy literature.
Time: Fri 05:30 pm Location: Cairo - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Title: Reading: Kalayna Price
Time: Sat 01:00 pm Location: Roswell - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Title: Spotlight: Dark Faeries
Description: A writer's roundtable about the sinister side of the "Fair Folk."
Time: Sat 07:00 pm Location: Montreal / Vancouver - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Title: Spotlight on BelleBooks & Bell Bridge Books
Description: Whether you're writing about demons, vampires, teens, tweens, ghosts or grandmas, come and see what this dynamic niche publisher is looking for.
Time: Sun 02:30 pm Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Title: Knowing your Audience
Description: So, you sold a book. Who's your audience? Do you write for your audience or for yourself? How do you discover who your audience really is?
Time: Sun 07:00 pm Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

I will also be sharing a booth in the dealers room which I'll try to hang out at whenever possible, but it's going to be a really busy weekend. I know for sure I'll be there most of Monday afternoon. Speaking of the booth, I'll of course have signed books for sale, as well as free buttons and bookmarks, but just to change things up, I'm also looking into having T-shirts about the books. This is not a definite yet, as I have to check out the quality before I commit to anything, but if you're looking for a Willing to Have a Near Death Experience or Fae Investigation Bureau shirt, I might just have them at the table. ^_^

So, who is going to Dragon this year? I hope to see you there!

Free Alex Craft Short and Kita now in audio!

2011-08-10T13:31:00.000-04:00

A couple quick announcements today. First up is that I have a free short story featuring Alex Craft (main character of GRAVE WITCH and GRAVE DANCE) up over at Dark Fearie Tales as part of the Fantastic Fables event. I was asked to involve my characters in a well known fairy tale for the event, so this story is slightly outside the cannon of the series, but it was a fun sketch of a scene to write. The story is called Alex Craft and the Gingerbread House. I hope you enjoy it.

In other news, those of you who listen to your books can now enjoy the first two Haven Novels in audio book form! Here are quick links to the audible editions of ONCE BITTEN and TWICE DEAD.

Happy Hump day everyone!

Tonight is the Fantastical Mystery Tour event!

2011-07-09T11:04:00.000-04:00

Just a quick reminder that tonight is the FANTASTICAL MYSTERY TOUR event at the B&N on Forest Drive in Columbia. This huge, five author event will have two panels, a question and answer session, goodies, a signing, and door prizes--including a FREE NOOK (or equivalent gift card)! This event also doubles as the official release party for Grave Dance!

Event Schedule:
5-6pm: Short panel and an open-forum question and answer with the attendees.
6-7:30pm: Book Signing followed by the drawing for door prizes.
7:30-8pm: short panel geared toward writers and those interested in the writing process.

Attending Authors:
Rachel Aaron
John Hartness
Faith Hunter
Misty Massey
Kalayna Price

Sound fun? I hope so! I also hope you'll be able to make it to the event. (Time and location again: Saturday, July 9th from 5:00-8:00pm at the Barnes and Noble on Forest Drive in Columbia, SC.--3400 Forest Drive, Columbia, SC 29204 phone number: 803-787-5600)

Also, I've been nominated to moderate the first panel, so I need to think up some good questions. Any suggestions?

I hope to see you tonight!

Life as an exercise for writing

2011-07-07T21:32:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week, the head minion had a birthday and to celebrate, we ran off for a day at the beach. While walking down the beach, enjoying the sand squishing under foot and the ebbing waves washing over my ankles, I started to think about what that same beach might be like in Alex's world. In her world, more than likely marrow or mermaids would be out amongst the waves or sunning themselves on the rocks. Depending on which folklore you read, that could be a rather delightful sight, or a very dangerous one as the presence mermaids were often thought to foretell storms. Or, other stories tell of them luring mortals into the ocean where they would then drown them and either eat them or trap their souls in pots far beneath the waves. Very deadly indeed.

I then looked toward the land and thought about how in Alex's world the sand dunes would probably be covered in enchantments. Some would be enchantments to prevent erosion of the shoreline, but others would be strong spells meant to help calm storms and protect the surrounding property. Oh, such charms wouldn't be able to stop a hurricane, but it might help lessen the worse of the damage.

Later that evening I went on a ghost tour and heard stories about how pirates were often buried in shallow graves at the tide line. This improper burial was thought to trap their souls, so there are many stories of ghosts wandering the shore--how much fun (as in trouble) could Alex have there?

It was a fun little exercise (especially since I'm currently working on an Alex Craft novel). Nekros is a landlocked state, but maybe Alex will have to venture to the ocean in some book. ^_^

Happy Thursday everyone! And thank you everyone who has picked up a copy of GRAVE DANCE and/or told your friends about the book! (And don't forget, if you are in the Columbia area, the Fantastical Mystery Tour is this Saturday at 5pm. I hope you can stop by. I'd love to see you!)

GRAVE DANACE Now on Shelves

2011-07-05T09:59:00.000-04:00

Release day is finally here! GRAVE DANCE should now be available at all major bookstores and about anywhere books are sold online. Here are some convenient links to online sellers, or check your local brick and mortar store.

Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Books A Million
Borders

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy Alex's continuing story!

Happy Fourth of July and Winners!

2011-07-04T16:03:00.000-04:00

To those in the US, Happy 4th of July. I hope you have a fun (and SAFE--please practice fire safety if you are firing fireworks tonight) fourth of July.

And speaking of causes for celebration, GRAVE DANCE hits shelves tomorrow! I can't believe the day is finally almost here. Some of you have let me know that you have already spotted the book on shelves. Thanks for letting me know. I hope you enjoy the Alex's story!

Thank you also everyone who helped me spread the word about the release in the "Get the Word Out" contest. It was a big success. Now I think it's time to crank up the random number generator and pull some winners, what do you think? Yeah? Okay.

WINNERS (and the randomly drawn entry):
-Gabbie (who tweeted about the release)
-SJ DRUM (who added the book to her sidebar)
-Ezzie (who tweeted about the release)
-Stephanie (who posted on Goodreads)
-Ruacach (who reviewed GW on Goodreads)

Congratulations winners! Please email me at CONTESTS (AT) KALAYNA (DOT) COM with the subject "WINNER" and let me know which book from the prize pack you'd like to claim and where you'd like me to ship the book (full list of available prizes can be found here). Those of you who entered but whose name was not drawn, I have a consolation prize to thank you for helping me spread the word. Please send an email to the above address with the subject of "Get the word out bookplate" and I will send you a signed bookplate and a bookmark.

Thank you again everyone who helped me spread the word, and I hope you'll continue to help get the word out there about tomorrow's release!

Last day to enter and a tour of Nekros

2011-07-01T12:45:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone. Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to enter the Get the Word Out contest. Thank you everyone who has already helped me spread the word about next week's release of GRAVE DANCE! Winners will be announced next Monday.

In other news, today Alex is acting as a tour guide of Nekros City over at All Things Urban Fantasy for the Deadly Destinations tour. I hope that you'll stop by and check it out this insiders tour of the city.

Get the Word Out Contest: Grave Dance edition

2011-06-24T08:19:00.016-04:00

Ten days until Grave Dance hits shelves--It's almost here! I think now is a good time to give things away, what do you think?

For my last release, I posted a "get the word out" contest, and you guys were absolutely wonderful about letting people know about the book, so I think I will beg for your help once again--and of course, there will be a chance to win free books! So what am I giving away? Let's have a look:

What do you think? Quite a score? I have books from all the authors participating in the Fantastical Mystery Tour, a signed copy from one of my favorite YA authors, and of course, my books. In detail, we have:

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Mad Kestrel by Misty Massey
Skinwalker by Faith Hunter*
Hard Day's Knight by John Hartness*
Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron*
Once Bitten
Twice Dead
Grave Witch (Audio release)
Grave Dance (my very last ARC)
and finally
Grave Dance (mass market)

What do you think? See anything you like?

Okay, good. Here is how to enter to win:

WHAT: The Get the Word out Contest: Grave Dance edition
WHEN: Contest opens today and runs until Friday, July 1st at 11:59 pm
HOW TO ENTER: Help me get the word out about Grave Dance. Blog/tweet/post to facebook about the release. And/Or, write a review of Grave Witch and post it on your blog/amazon/B&N/Goodreads/etc. (review must be posted during the contest dates to count toward entry [edited: extended to reviews posted during June of this year]) THEN post a link in the comments letting me know where you helped spread the word. You will get one (1) entry for each unique location you help spread the word.
HOW WINNERS WILL BE DRAWN: I will use a random generator to draw FIVE (5) winners. These winners will each get to pick one prize. I only have one signed copy of Wicked Lovely and one Grave Dance Arc, so those will go to the first winner who claims them, but I have access to multiples of the other prizes so they can be claimed by multiple winners.
Open Internationally.

Easy enough? Okay, I hope you'll help me get the word out! Good luck everyone.

(*Books from my fellow Fantastical Mystery Tour authors can be personalized to the winner at the event on the 9th. [Shipping of these books will obviously have to be after the event] Also, the first books in these series are listed, but if you would like a later book in the series, let me know and I can swap it. ^_^)

Final part of the GRAVE DANCE excerpt and news on the release party

2011-06-23T08:40:00.077-04:00

I can't believe we are at 11 days and counting until the release of GRAVE DANCE. Which means it's time to share the final excerpt from the book. The first section of chapter two is now live on the excerpt page. I hope you enjoy!

In the next couple days I'll be announcing my blog tour. Things have been so busy that I'm a bit behind on my scheduling, but be on the look out for dates and locations.

And speaking of tours, have you heard about the FANTASTICAL MYSTERY TOUR? This huge, five author event that will have two panels, a question and answer session, goodies, a signing, and door prizes--including a FREE NOOK (or equivalent gift card)! It will be Saturday, July 9th from 5:00-8:00pm at the Barnes and Noble on Forest Drive in Columbia, SC. This event will also double as the official release party for Grave Dance, so as you can guess, I'm super excited. Here is some more information:

Event Schedule:
5-6pm: Short panel and an open-forum question and answer with the attendees.
6-7:30pm: Book Signing followed by the drawing for door prizes.
7:30-8pm: short panel geared toward writers and those interested in the writing process.

Attending Authors:
Rachel Aaron
John Hartness
Faith Hunter
Misty Massey
Kalayna Price (Hey, that's me!)

As you can see, we have a lot of exciting stuff planned for the event, so I hope you'll stop by. I'd love to see you.

Okay, that's all for today but please stop back by tomorrow--I'll have a huge contest/giveaway announcement!

Special Guest: Lucienne Diver

2011-06-22T07:13:00.001-04:00

I have a special guest joining me today on the blog. Please welcome (back) my very fabulous agent who also happens to be an absolutely amazing writer, Lucienne Diver!

Turning Myth to Magic

Every once in a while in life, someone will say something that really makes you think and becomes incorporated straight into your personal perceptions. I remember one of those moments in college, when an acquaintance informed me that, “When someone asks how you’re doing, they don’t really want to know.” From that moment forward, I pretty much stopped sharing, unless I knew the person truly cared about the answer, and it really separated out for me true friends from, well, everybody else. But the most pivotal of those moments probably came in high school with a friend who lived on the next block. I remember visiting her house and noticing that the bookshelves in the living room held, among other things, a statue of Vishnu, a common picture from Christianity (I forget now but think it was Jesus with the sacred heart), and art from various other religions. Coupled with the saint metal she always wore around her neck, I had to ask. Her response, “They’re all just different conceptions of the same God.”

This blew me away. It was like the universe suddenly snapped into place. Of course! If all the people of the world would just realize this and think of the various religions simply as different paths toward the same goal, Earth would be a much happier and certainly less violent place.

Which brings me to my book blog and relevance. When I set out to write Bad Blood, I knew I wanted to use Greek mythology. I knew that I didn’t want to exclude the other mythologies, cultures and traditions. Still, I did need to focus, because trying to do everything would accomplish nothing. As a result, I started researching. Ever since that day at my friend’s house, I’d been fascinated by comparative religion. I’d gotten a bit of this in Latin class, which I took in grade school, because we discussed the Greek and Roman pantheons, but that didn’t go far enough. I got a bit more in college when I took my anthropology classes, especially those that dealt with folklore and myth. Do you know how many cultures have world-ending floods? Or resurrections?

You won’t see a lot of my research in the book, which is what happens so often with research. You do it so that you don’t get anything wrong, but there isn’t room in a novel to fit in everything you’ve learned…at least, not without it sounding like info dump. So, you may not realize the work that went into matching up the Greek gods with their counterparts from other cultures, like Hermes being connected not only to Mercury in the Roman pantheon, but to Iemisch, Loki, Coyote, Spider (Unktomi) and all the other trickster gods. Or the research that went into the backstory of one of my secondary characters, which led me to the story of Liu Lei, the legendary dragonkeeper from Chinese folklore.

Diving into these old tales was a tremendous amount of fun…almost as much fun as actually writing my heroine Tori Karacis and her death-defying adventures. It brought me back to my college days, except that turning folklore into fiction is so much better than turning in term papers!

I hope, if you’re inclined to read, that you enjoy my completely non-academic rendering of myth and magic. If so, help me spread the word!

Bad Blood, first novel of the Latter-Day Olympians

Available June 28, 2011 from Samhain Publishing

www.lucienndiver.com

What's on your TBR?

2011-06-08T18:03:00.000-04:00

Writers are readers, first and foremost. A love of reading is what drives most of us to write and to create stories for others to read and enjoy. So, once in a while I like talk about books on my To Be Read (TBR) pile.

Before I go on, I have to say that 'pile' is a rather deceptive word. Try TBR bookshelf. Stacked 2 books thick. I'd post a picture, but I'm almost embarrassed by all the books I want to read but haven't had time yet. There are tons of great books hitting shelves, and I just can't keep up. But that doesn't mean I'm not hugely excited about the books, and Amazon just sent me two new releases I absolutely can't wait to dive into.

The newest additions to the TBR pile? Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews and Hunt the Moon by Karen Chance. Ironically, both are the 5th books in their respective series--series I absolutely adore! I think both books will be skipping to the front of the TBR pile, so all I have to decide is which to read first. ^_~

So what are you reading?

Author Chat with Magical Words

2011-06-07T09:23:00.000-04:00

Post con wrap-up and My thoughts about sparkly vampires

2011-06-06T22:40:00.002-04:00

[Edited to add: I almost forgot to mention that my publisher is giving at 15 copies of GRAVE DANCE over at Goodreads. Also, if you have a kindle and haven't tried out the Novels of Haven yet, now is the time! ONCE BITTEN and TWICE DEAD are only 2.99 for a limited time during Amazon's Sunshine Sale (I don't know, I didn't name it. Kita would like to avoid that sunshine, thank you. She, unlike Meyer's vampires, doesn't sparkle. She burns.) Okay, back to the scheduled post!]

I'm back from ConCarolinas, and I had an absolutely amazing time. Hands down, this is always one of my favorite cons--it has been for years (since long before I started hitting the circuit as a guest). Why is it so amazing?

The people.

Seriously, the nicest, most amazing writers and readers attend this con. As a full time writer I often feel like a hermit. I occasionally go weeks at a time in which I speak to only one or two other humans. This weekend I was surrounded by interesting people and there was always something happening: panels, lunches, drinks at the bar, parties, ect. Unfortunately, that means I didn't spend as much time at my table as I intended. Several of you mentioned having to stalk the table to finally find me. I hope that everyone who was looking for me did eventually find me and I'm so sorry for not being at my table more. Next year I'll schedule hours I will definitely be at the table and post it so no one has to constantly check in vain.

Anyway, that's not much of a post con wrap-up, but I'm still processing everything and I didn't carry a camera, so I'm not sure what I want to write yet and have no pictures to post. That said, I think I'm finally going to tackle the Stephanie Meyer question that inevitably comes up at every fantasy con: What are my thoughts on the Twilight series?

I'll be honest, I usually avoid this topic like the plague because it is so controversial. I read the first book years ago because 1) I like to know what's hot on the market and 2) people were talking about the series and as I don't discuss books I haven't read. (People talking out of blind ignorance annoys me, so I try not to do it myself.) I do intend to read the rest of the series one day, just so I see the whole picture, but I'll be honest, they haven't made it up the TBR pile yet. That said, my opinion is on only the first book, not the series. So, on to my thoughts:

As much as I will join in a laugh about real vamps not sparkling, I have to say that Meyer answered the question of why vamps don't go out in the sun in a very unique way. Her vamps avoid sunlight (or at least being in sunlight around humans) because they are very obviously not human in the sun. It's different, but I have to give her props on originality. Also, while like most American's inundated with pop culture, I often feel like the two most "true" aspects of the vamp myth which shouldn't be broken are the need for blood and aversion to sun, if you go back and study the real lore about vampires, you'll find that in none of the legends did vamps (or whatever blood-drinker the particular culture sports) burst into flames when exposed to the sun. Vampires being burned by the sun didn't come about until the black and white movie Nosferatu, when it is said the filmmakers ran out of money and needed a way to kill the vampire quickly.

Okay, those are my thoughts on sparkly vampires in particular, but what about the book as a whole? I'll be honest, it's never going to top one of my favorite YA lists, but I can't deny the amazing affect the book had on the market. Vampires, which were headed into a decline, rose again to stalk the charts. But not only that, the YA market exploded! There are some absolutely amazing YA series out there such as Mead's Vampire Academy series and Marr's Wicked Lovely series, that probably wouldn't have gotten the reception they had if Twilight hadn't come first. It didn't break new ground--there was already a YA market, but the upswing that market received was amazing.

On top of that, it got people reading.

Teens (and adults!) who otherwise wouldn't consider themselves readers picked up the books (just like with Harry Potter) and discovered that reading was fun! No writer can complain about that. Especially no writer in my genre, as many of these new readers grow up and migrate into the urban fantasy and paranormal romance genre. So again, I have to give Meyer's major props.

Now, if only I could figure out how she did it . . .
(I still say heroin in the ink ^_~)

The absentee writer reveals her ConCarolinas schedule

2011-06-01T21:41:00.000-04:00

Hey guys. Sorry for the total media silence recently. There has been an utter lack of blogging, tweeting, and facebook and I owe several of you emails. I'm hoping to catch up on email before I leave for the con this weekend, but if I can't reply to everyone, some emails might be answered next week--But don't give up on me! I promise I read every single email and I will reply. (Unless the black void of cyberspace ate the email. If you don't hear from me by the end of next week, you might want to re-send.) As far as twitter and facebook: good news! This weekend is ConCarolinas--one of my favorite small regional cons--so I should have plenty to tweet about in the coming days.

If you'll be at the con (and if you're not planning to, you really should consider it) I'd love to meet you/chat. The organizers have scheduled a great line up of panels (and Panelists!) for the writer's track this year, so I'm very excited. Here is my panel schedule:

Saturday 10:00am (Ballroom A): Magic in the City - Trends in paranormal/urban fantasy fiction.
Panelists: Carrie Ryan, J. F. Lewis, Kalayna Price, Jana Oliver, Pamela K. Kinney, Gail Z. Martin,
Marcia Colette

Saturday 06:00pm (Keynes): Vampires Suck! - Are vampires overdone or are there still ways to write fresh vampire fiction?
Panelists: Theresa Bane, Kalayna Price, Rebecca Carter, Faith Hunter, Gail Z. Martin, J. F. Lewis

Saturday 07:00pm (Keynes): Howling at the Moon - Creating characters that are werewolves or other were-creatures.
Panelists: J. F. Lewis, Marcia Colette, Faith Hunter, Kalayna Price, Gail Z. Martin, Pamela K. Kinney

Sunday 01:00pm (Ballroom A): Mythology & Folklore - Borrowing from the past for your writings of the future.
Panelists: Gail Z. Martin, Jana Oliver, Kalayna Price, Stuart Jaffe, Natania Barron, Mason Lavin

Sunday 02:00pm (Ballroom A): Truth is Stranger Than Fiction - How you can use today's headlines in your genre fiction.
Panelists: Chris Berman, Kalayna Price, Harry Turtledove, Wendy S. Delmater

When not on panels (or attending them, really, you have to check out the schedule--it's going to be a great weekend) I'll probably be at my table in the writer's area. I also intend to hang out with the Magical Words gang at their Drop-in lunch gathering Saturday from 1-3pm at Boardwalk Billy's (located just across the pond from the conference hotel). This is an informal social event, so think about joining us for lunch!

I hope to see many of you this weekend. Happy hump day!

GRAVE DANCE excerpt (May addition)

2011-05-18T12:10:00.000-04:00

The May addition to the GRAVE DANCE excerpt has now been posted! Click here to read it.

I'll be extending the excerpt one more time (in mid-June) and then the book will hit shelves on July 5th. I can't believe we are just over a month and a half from release. In the coming weeks I should have information about blog tours, release parties, and signings, so please stay tuned.

Happy hump-day everyone, and remember to check back later this week for an author chat with Mario Acevedo and clips from last weekend's SC Book Festival.

First Foreign Cover

2011-05-17T23:15:00.000-04:00

I'm very happy to unveil my very first foreign cover. This is the German version of ONCE BITTEN (German title appears to be "The Kiss of Eternity") and I am just floored by how beautiful it is. I will have to figure out how to get my hands on one when it hits shelves this December.

What do you think?

(If you follow my twitter/facebook feed, you might have already spotted this cover, but I just had to share here as well.)

Happy Tuesday everyone! I should have an extended excerpt up tomorrow and videos from the last weekend's SC Book Festival later this week, so check back soon.

ARC Winner!

2011-05-03T09:51:00.001-04:00

First of all, I want to say thank you everyone who entered! It was awesome to read how you found the books. I wish I could send all of you ARCs!

Okay, on to the announcement you all want to see. And the winner is:

dorien-b who wrote "I believe I found the cover of Grave Witch on All Things Urban Fantasy and kept it in the back of my mind. It was a great cover and the blurb had caught my attention, so when release month came I noticed the cover again."

Congratulations Dorien-b! Please send your shipping information to contests(AT)kalayna(DOT)com and I'll sign the ARC and ship it out to you. To everyone else, thank you again for entering! If you didn't win this time, please check back because I'll be having another contest closer to the release of the book.

Happy Monday Everyone!

(Edit: I've just been informed it's Tuesday--how did that happen? Sorry for the late post!)

GRAVE DANCE Contest and extended excerpt!

2011-04-22T15:14:00.000-04:00

Today all my news is about Grave Dance. You might have seen my earlier tweet that I received a couple of ARCs. I think now is a good time to give one of those copies away, don't you?

What is up for grabs: An ARC (advanced reading copy) of Grave Dance. These are pre-pageproof copies, so there are some uncorrected mistakes and a few very minor text changes.
How to win: Leave a comment telling me how you first found me and my books. I'm just curios. ^_^ Only comments left on the blogspot blog will count toward entry, so if you are reading this post somewhere else, please stop by THE BLOG.
When to win: The contest will close April 30th at 11:59pm EST, so be sure to get your entry in before then.
Who is eligible to win: I'm willing to ship overseas, so the contest is open internationally. Anyone who has not already read or received a copy of Grave Dance, and who is not related to me or my critique partners is eligible to win!

Okay, I think that about covers it as far as the contest goes. If you'd like a little more Alex before the contest winner is announced, go check out the EXCERPT. I just extended the excerpt and uploaded the entire first scene. I hope you enjoy!

(Note* Grave Dance is the second Alex Craft novel and the excerpt includes some spoilers from the first book, so if you haven't read GRAVE WITCH yet, please check it out first!)

Good Luck Everyone and Happy Friday!

Do you listen to your books?

2011-03-28T13:44:00.001-04:00

Audio books were something I never gave a lot of thought to. Oh, I'd listened to one or two over the years, but I always preferred to read a book. That has started to change over last year. I can't really pinpoint a single event, but I would say the amount of traveling I've been doing had something to do with this change. Anyway, sometime last year I started listening to audio books in the car. Then I brought them inside and started listening to them while I cooked, or made buttons, or any task that took both my hands but not my full attention. Now I wouldn't say I'd rather listen to a book over read it, but I definitely enjoy being able to multi-task.

All that said, when the audio rights for both the Alex Craft and Haven series recently sold, I was a lot more excited than I probably would have been in previous years. Who will the reader be? What kind of voices will she give the characters? What will Alex/Kita/Nathanial/Falin/Death/Bobby/Tatius/etc . . . sound like? In short, I'm very anxiously awaiting hearing the audio versions.

And for Grave Witch, that wait is almost over.

The audio rights for the first three Alex Craft novels were picked up by the great folks over at Tantor Audio. Grave Witch will be read by Emily Durante and the release is set for next month (April). This will be my very first audio release (though I should have more to announce shortly) so I'm all but beside myself. I get the feeling listening to my book on audio will be quite an experience.

With this release, I also have another first to look forward to--my very first alternate cover. I had no idea the audio release would get its own cover, so I was completely shocked when my editor sent me a cover for approval. It is a different look for Alex, but I think it is totally eye catching and absolutely gorgeous. I have been given the green light to share so I am very pleased to unveil the audio release cover art:

What do you think? (click image to enlarge) And back to the question in the title of this post: Do you listen to audio books?

Happy Monday!

I'm talking about myself!

2011-03-24T13:07:00.000-04:00

Today I'm being interviewed over at My Bookish Ways Blog. There is a giveaway for Grave Witch, so if you haven't heard me talk about myself and my books enough yet, please go check it out!

Deadlines are closing in again and at the same time spring has hit my sunny town in the Carolinas. I'm spending most of my time with my laptop pounding out words. My limited spare time I'm devoting to my garden while the weather is still beautiful. (It's in the high seventies and mid eighties now, but spring is a short season here and summer will hit with high nineties and heat indexes over a hundred soon, so I'm enjoying the good gardening weather while it lasts.) Because of those reasons, (though the former more than the latter) my blogging schedule will be rather erratic over the next few weeks. I'll try to have a substantial post at least once a week, so if there are any topics you guys want me to blog about, please let me know in the comments. I'm not sure what my reader demographics are these days. For a while most of my active commenters were writers and aspiring writers but I'm not sure that is still the case.

So my questions to you are what kind of blogs do you read and what types of posts do you you prefer? Do you like writing craft posts? Do you want behind the scenes type stuff about my writing or about the books? Do you mostly stop by blogs to find out the newest information about book releases/excerpts/covers? Do you like the author chat videos? Do you read many blogs? How often do you check those blogs?

Thanks everyone!

Facebook Contest WINNER!!

2011-03-23T20:56:00.000-04:00

Do you remember last week's post about the Facebook Author Page Contest? Well, the contest has now ended and it's time to draw the winner!

According to the random number generator, the winner is:

LISA FULLER

Congratulations Lisa! Please send an email on facebook or to contests(AT)kalayna(DOT)com with which book you'd like to receive and where you'd like me to ship it. Thank you everyone who "liked" the new author page. Stay tuned for more contests and book info to come.

(Sorry about the late posting of this announcement. This is the first time I sat down with my internet today. Also, I'm dreadfully behind on email. If you've emailed me in the last few weeks, I should be getting back to you in the next few days. Sorry!)

Happy Hump day everyone!

New Widget and a link to "The Preposition Gnome"

2011-03-18T14:50:00.000-04:00

(If you didn't see it yesterday, check out this post for details on how to enter the current contest.)

Hey everyone. This is a just a quick post to let everyone know I'm over at Magical Words today. I wrote a craft post about the preposition gnome haunting my laptop, so I hope you'll head over and check it out.

In other news, I designed a countdown widget for the release of GRAVE DANCE. If anyone is interested in sporting the widget on their page/blog/what-have-you, just click on the grey "Get Widget" box under the counter for the code.

Okay, that's it for me today. (I told you this would be a quick post)
Have a great weekend everyone!

Facebook Author Page Contest!

2011-03-17T12:26:00.001-04:00

I mentioned last week that I was planning a contest for those who "liked" my new author page on Facebook, and I am now ready to get that contest going. Entering is super easy: everyone who currently "likes" the page as well as all those who join by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, March 22nd will automatically be entered to win. Now I'm sure you're all wondering what you could win, right? I'm glad you asked.

Up for grabs is a signed copy of your choice of any of my currently released books. (Sorry, I don't have any ARCs of this summer's upcoming releases, so only the three which are already out.) And, just because I think it will be fun, for every hundred "likes" the page gets during the contest, I'll add in another book. That means that if the page passes 300 fans, I'll be giving away signed copies of my entire backlist. If the contest generates even more entries, for every hundred mark after 300, I'll pick an additional winner. So please spread the word about the page and the contest to anyone you think would enjoy the books!

The winner(s) will be selected using a random number generator and announced both on Facebook and the blog on Wednesday, March 23rd. This contest is open internationally.

Good luck everyone!

GRAVE DANCE excerpt

2011-03-15T15:37:00.000-04:00

Today I'm very pleased to share the first sneak peek excerpt of GRAVE DANCE! If you'd like to check it out, you can CLICK HERE.

This first excerpt is only a few pages long, but check back often because I'll be releasing extended excerpts on or around the 15th of each month between now and the book's release in July. I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

Author Chat with Faith Hunter

2011-03-11T11:49:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone. I'm very pleased to share a quick author chat with New York Times Bestselling urban fantasy author, Faith Hunter. I had a chance to chat with Faith about her books and tips for writers when I was at StellarCon last weekend, so I hope you'll check out the video (below). And for more writing tips, be sure you check out www.magicalwords.net.

Have a great weekend everyone!

(Sorry this is so late in the day--I was fighting with youtube all morning. I finally realized I could upload the video to facebook first and share it that way, and thus circumvented the whole youtube issue, but yeah, way later than I wanted.)

Quick updates and announcements

2011-03-10T12:00:00.000-05:00

First and foremost, I want to thank all of you who have joined the fan page on facebook. Next week there will be a contest that everyone who likes the page will be automatically entered in, so watch this space for more information to come.

Next on the list, I'm very excited to announce that GRAVE WITCH was nominated as "Best Novel with Romantic Elements" for 2010 by The Romance Reviews. If you have a moment, I'd be absolutely thrilled if you'd head over and vote. Thanks!

And on to more updates, I've been given permission to release an excerpt from GRAVE DANCE. Woohoo! I promise I've been waiting as impatiently to share as you guys have been to read. Tonight or tomorrow I'll be releasing a newsletter with a special preview of the excerpt. It will be up online for everyone next Monday. If you haven't joined the newsletter yet but would like to, you can sign up here:

Don't worry, I send out no more than one newsletter a month. Also, I try to make sure newsletter recipients get first previews of covers and excerpts.

Okay, unless I'm forgetting something, I think that is it for the updates today. Please check back tomorrow when I'll have a video interview with NYT bestselling urban fantasy author, Faith Hunter!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Video Author Chat with Misty Massey at StellarCon

2011-03-09T06:00:00.005-05:00

Today I'm very pleased to share with you an quick video chat with Misty Massey from StellarCon last weekend. Misty is the author of Mad Kestrel and a regular poster at Magical Words, an amazing craft website for writers. This video was also filmed in the dealer's room, so the background noise is a little distracting. Sorry about that. I really need to look into getting a mic for my camcorder. Anyway, without further ado, the the video:

Now, when you were watching that interview, did you hear how Misty described her book, Mad Kestrel? She didn't give us a big break down of the plot or give us a long explanation about who her main character is. She gave us just two short sentences: "A rollicking adventure of magic on the high seas. If Jack Sparrow had a little sister, it would be Kestrel."

From those two little sentences, you get an idea of what the story is about (Pirates, magic, adventure) that a longer, rambling explanation likely wouldn't have captured and certainly not it quite so intriguing a way. It gives you just enough to make you curious--which is exactly what it's supposed to do.

They style pitch has many names, depending on who you are speaking to. I'm a bit fuzzy on the exact breakdown of what qualifies as which kind of pitch, so for this blog, I'm going to call that an elevator pitch--which is a short pitch that you could tell someone in the span of an elevator ride. Meaning they ask you what your book is about and you can rattle off "My book is . . ." and be done and have their interest before the doors open again.

To get a pitch like this, you have to boil down your book to it's essence. What is most unique about it? What makes it interesting. At the same time, what evocative words will make the listener immediately form ideas?

At RoundCon a few weeks back one of the other guests was talking about her books and gave a pitch that stopped me and made me think, "wow, I want to read that." Elysabeth Williams described one of her books as "A Steampunk Charlie's Angels" which sounds fascinating. (That is actually probably a 'high concept pitch' which is even shorter than the elevator pitch.)

Boiling a 100k word story down to a single sentence is hard work. It is also a skill I'm personally still working on and am far from mastering. But for all of you aspiring writers out there, I highly recommend practicing. Before you are published you will use these short pitches as part of your query letter to grab an agent or editor's attention and get them to read on, or in person if you get a chance to go to conventions and conferences. If you hit on a good high concept pitch or short elevator pitch, your agent will use it when approaching editors, and your editor will use it to sell the manuscript to the publisher's marketing team. Then you will use the pitch again once the book is out when potential readers stop by your table and ask about your book or when you're on a panel and the moderator asks you to introduce yourself and tell everyone a bit about your book(s). A well polished and practiced pitch will certainly save you from stumbling over your words going "I, uh, write about shapeshifters and uh, vampires . . . " ^_^

Happy hump day everyone!

StellarCon 2011 and an Author Chat With Marcia Colette

2011-03-07T17:30:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone. I'm back from StellarCon and I have a sack of updates to share with you, but I think I'll have to spread them out across the week. For today I just want to direct your attention to my brand new fan page over on Facebook. Please take a second to check it out and "Like" it if you're a facebook user. I'm still getting information up on the page and working out the kinks, but my hope that it will not only be a great place to find out what is happening with me but also to connect with other urban fantasy and paranormal romance readers. I've added a discussion board to the page, so we will see what happens.

Okay, back to the con update. I had an absolutely amazing time at StellarCon. The convention included a lot of firsts for me. My first reading you've seen already, but my other first for a con experience was even more exciting. What was it, you're asking? Well, (to my knowledge) this was the very first con I've been to where I signed books not sold at the event.

Don't get me wrong, I'm always excited when people see me on panels and decide they want to read my books. The fact someone thinks that I said something interesting enough for them to take a chance on my books is awesome. I only hope they enjoy the book when they get home. When someone brings a book from home, one they enjoyed enough to carry to a con and track down the author to get it signed--well, that was definitely a first for me, and definitely an extra thrill! (Special shout out to Larry and to Tom!)

Another first for me was participating in Tony Ruggiero's "Quick Write" session which challenged the participating writers to create a story about a werewolf gigolo in walmart and another about Todd McCaffery involving the Hover Dam and Sexbots. The results were hilarious, to say the least.

Well, there is more to say about the weekend and the con, but I'm going to save it for a future post and wrap up with a vlog author chat!

That's right, I took my camcorder with me to the con, and I managed to pin down a couple of the guests for interviews, so over the course of the week, I'll post those interviews here. First up, we have an chat with Marcia Colette. This chat was filmed during our signing in the dealer's room, so the background noise is pretty bad. Sorry about that. (Oh, and we aren't really ignoring people--I promise!)

Happy Monday everyone, and be sure to check back later this week for another video interview!

My Reading

2011-03-05T12:43:00.000-05:00

This is a flash post because I'm due down at the signing table in 20 minutes. I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who have me advice and encouragement for my first ever public reading. I recorded it, and I think it wasn't a total disaster.

And now for your enjoyment, if you missed the reading in person, you can watch the clip now.

I'm having a great time at StellarCon and I promise a full update once I get back. Have a great weekend everyone.

Con Frantic

2011-03-03T12:23:00.000-05:00

It's Thursday, which means tomorrow I head to StellarCon in Highpoint NC and at 4:30pm I have my first ever reading.

I am nervous.

I'm at 28 hours until the reading and I still don't have a clue what passage I'm going to read. I don't even know how long a passage I should pick. I wish I had attended more readings in the past, but I haven't, so I'm flying rather blind. I just had a long talk with fellow author Rachel Aaron, and she pointed out that if you can't do voices, dialogue tends to run together so avoid dialogue heavy scenes. I'd never considered that.

The block for my reading is 30 minutes, but I doubt anyone would like to hear me drone on that long. It would probably be best to split things up and pick a 10 minute passage, talk a bit and get a feel for what the attendees (if there are any and I'm not reading to an empty room!) are interested in, and then read a shorter second passage based on them. What do you think?

Has anyone out there done a reading before? How about attended readings? Any suggestions or tips? Anyone who has read my books want to suggest a passage they think would be interesting for me to read? Will I see any of you tomorrow?

Happy Thursday everyone. I don't know what my internet situation will be at the con, so I probably won't post about the reading and the con until next week, but I will be < a href="http://twitter.com/kalayna" target="new">tweeting from StellarCon if you're interested.

Have great weekend!

Gender and a sense of mystery

2011-02-28T15:10:00.000-05:00

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 authoress.

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 and 2) it is less confusing for the reader. But occasionally the issue arises where the character doesn't know the gender of the person they are referring to. This is an issue I run into a lot when building a mystery. When a suspect's gender is unknown, and the characters are talking or thinking about the suspect, there are only a couple options for pronouns, and I've yet to find a great solution.

Technically, English does have a singular, gender neutral pronoun. That would be the word 'it'. Yeah . . . I don't know about you, but in my experience people get upset if you so much as refer to their pet as an 'it', let alone use the word for a person. Also, the word just isn't accepted. Imagine a character saying, "We've tracked the suspect to the warehouse district. Don't worry, it won't get away this time." Nope. People would be up in arms.

Okay, what does that leave us with? The cumbersome his or her/ he or she? Imagine a conversation filled with his or her. It would get old fast, and it just doesn't sound natural. Sometimes we are encouraged to switch. One sentence use 'he' and the next 'she'--Ugh. Just ick.

Well, there are always generalizations (which drive the PC people nuts but always seem to be the grammar-pushers top choice). I admit that this is what I'm typically forced to resort to, though I hate it--particularly when forced to pick a gender pronoun as it relates to the mystery of the story.

Why do I hate it, especially since I stated above that in my personal life I'm not particularly politically correct and don't mind gender generalizations? I have a two main reasons:

As mentioned earlier, confusing the reader is never good. The words on the page are the only way I have to convey my story, and unless I've established the fact my narrator is unreliable, the reader expects the character's interpretation of events to be true. If my character refers to the suspect as a 'he' an unknown male is painted in the reader's eyes. What if the suspect is female? That's not a fact that can just be tossed out there, but the reader should also not be mislead unless the red herring is part of the plot.
the automatic assignment of gender pronouns can make the character sound prejudiced and shallow. Why should the character assume that the killer is male and the dead prostitute is female? Until the facts are available, gender is unknown.

To get around at least the first of the above, a character's assumptions are often laid bare. I'm sure we've all read/seen on TV some version of the following conversation more than once:
Character 1: "He shot the victim three times from close range."
Character 2: "How do you know the shooter was male?"
Character 1: "Well, statically/ based on height/ some fact that could eventually be challenged . . . "

So if we can't us "it", "he or she" is too cumbersome, and generalizing is unappealing, what option is left? Not anything your high school grammar teacher would approve. Personally, I tend to try to get away with using "their" and "they" as singular gender neutral pronouns. It's incorrect, but I like it better than the other options. My Copy Editor doesn't agree. I don't use 'their' or 'they' for this purpose often, but at every instance, my copy editor left me a note about number agreement. *sigh*

What do you think is the best solution? Have you found a good way around this issue, or read a book that used a clever method of handling the singular gender neutral pronoun?

Happy Monday Everyone!

THANK YOU--Bookmark Project

2011-02-25T11:16:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-22T08:37:00.000-05:00

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 bookmarks that you can take to the bookstore and either ask the manager to put on the checkout desk for customers to claim, or you can take the bookmarks back to the fantasy section and place them inside other urban fantasy titles so that the reader who buys that book will have a free bookmark and learn about my series. I will also send you your very own minion button (everyone wants one of those, right? Or is that just me?) and I'll send you one of my brand new signed bookplates that you can put in your book.

Anyone interested?

StellarCon Schedule

2011-02-21T11:16:00.037-05:00

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 vampires from the vampires of the past, of the present, and of the future.
Signing (Dealer's Room, Saturday @ 1:00 pm)
Kindle, Nook, and other E-Books: The Future is Now! (Victorian A, Saturday @ 3:00PM): E-Books are actually becoming a very popular source for reading. Our panelists will discuss their use of these devices and formats pertaining to their books. And what the future might hold for this technology.
Tony’s Quick Write (Heritage, Saturday @ 4:00PM) This is the wildest, craziest writing assignment you have ever seen and the best part is it involves our LGoH, Baen Special Guest, and a good number of our Author Guests. If you have never seen it, you need to see this one.
What Does A Vampire Have To Do To Get Your Attention? (Victorian B, Saturday @ 6:00PM): In a world filled with vampires, not the real world, but the worlds of fiction from print to visual media what does a vampire have to do; to stand amongst the sea of vampires that now exist?
Signing (Dealer's Room, Sunday @ 10:00 AM)
The “Urban” in Urban Fantasy (Queen Anne B, Sunday @ 11:00AM): A discussion of the implied importance of cities in urban fantasy, if books set in rural towns should be classified as urban fantasy or some other sub-genre, and/or real vs. fictional cities in urban fantasy.

What do you think? Sound like some interesting topics? You might have noticed that "reading" in there. I will most likely read from Grave Witch -- though if there is interest from those at the reading, I might read from one of my upcoming releases. Now I have to pick a scene or two. I've never done a reading before!

Well, happy Monday everyone. I hope to see you at StellarCon!

RoundCon Wrap Up

2011-02-20T23:12:00.000-05:00

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 and early Saturday morning and hit almost every panel.

John, Faith, Misty, Elysabeth, Me, and Christina

Another plus to the con being small was the amount of time I had to spend with other guests. Many times you sit one or two panels with any given writer and you might catch a drink at some point, but your paths don't cross for extended periods. This con I had the opportunity both on and off panels to chat with Misty Massey and Faith Hunter, both of whom I already knew and liked (both for their work and as people) but who I really had time to become friends with over the course of the convention. I also met John Hartness and Elysabeth Willams, who were tremendous amounts of fun. I didn't get to chat with Chistiana Stiles as much as I would have liked as she was running games, but hopefully I'll get a chance to catch up with her at ConCarolinas in June. And speaking of other cons, I just received my schedule for StellarCon (which is only two weeks away) so I'll get that up on the blog Monday.

Well, I think I've rambled on long enough in this post. I hope the creative track at RoundCon will continue to grow, and that they will invite me back in the future. Thank you everyone who organized the event, and of course, everyone who attended and dropped by panels and/or the table to chat!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Will you be at RoundCon?

2011-02-11T12:22:00.000-05:00

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 chance to sell your book.
Fiction to Gaming, How Hard Can it Be?
Books with Pictures The new popularity of comics and the novel-to-comic transition.
The Flawed Hero
Building Magic Systems Learn how to develop you own magic system for your fiction or game universe!
Post Apocalyptic / Alternate Reality What? My world isn't weird enough already?
The Battle Over Sex Paranormal Romance vs. Urban Fantasy, vs. Erotica
Open Forum - Ask the Writers You have questions. We have answers.

Sound like fun? I'm hoping so!
This will be my first time as a guest at RoundCon, but as this is a smaller con, I have the feeling the panelists will have more time and availability to interact and address questions from the attendees--especially in the open forums!--than at some of the larger cons, so if you have questions you've always wanted to ask a published writer, this would be a great opportunity.

I hope to see you there!

Countdown Meter for GRAVE DANCE

2011-02-02T09:35:00.007-05:00

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

2011-02-01T09:35:00.000-05:00

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 darkest magic comes after her. Someone very powerful wants to make sure the only thing she finds is a dead end—her own.

Have a great day, everyone!

News and Updates

2011-01-24T15:45:00.002-05:00

Oh, uh, wow. It's been a while. *dusts off blog*

It's been a busy couple months, and some how a whole new year managed to slip in since my last update, so I think I'll start off by sharing some exciting news.

I'm very pleased to announce that my super fabulous agent sold the world rights of the German language version of GRAVE WITCH to BLANVALET / LIMES / PENHALIGON, a German imprint of Random House. I guess this means I'm going international! *grins* (I hope to have more of these announcements to share soon, but I always like to have the signed contract in hand, not just the offer, before I say anything on the internet.) Blanvalet also purchased the German rights to ONCE BITTEN and TWICE DEAD from Bell Bridge Books, so hopefully I'll have a lot of German covers and blurbs I can't read to share with you soon. I'm very excited!

And speaking of blurbs, the blurb for GRAVE DANCE has been approved so I should be able to release it very soon. Look for that in the next week or so.

I've been receiving a lot of email recently about the release date of THIRD BLOOD. I'm sorry to say that the third Novel of Haven's release date had to be pushed back. We're currently looking at a summer release, but I'll get you more information as it becomes available. Sorry about the delay, guys. I promise it will be worth the wait.

Okay, that's it for today. I should be returning to regular blogging now, though I'll be aiming for a weekly or bi-weekly posts, not daily. So make sure you check back soon!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T15:06:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I'm thankful for each and everyone one of you. Have a happy and safe holiday.

Blogging?

2010-11-22T10:21:00.000-05:00

My updates are probably going to be rather sporadic for the next few weeks. If you have any questions or subjects you would like me to blog on, feel free to post them in the comments.

Okay, that's all.

Happy Monday everyone.

Dahlonega Literary Festival wrap up and a video chat

2010-11-16T11:57:00.000-05:00

I recently returned from the Dahlonega Literary Festival, a great book festival in an artsy little town in the Georgia blueridge area. I had an absolutely wonderful time and met many amazing people during the weekend event. I also stayed at the cutest little bed and breakfast called the Lily Creek Lodge, and if anyone ever wants to escape for a weekend, I highly recommend it.

Finding your Topic panel

Over the last year I've had the opportunity to speak at a lot of fantasy and fan conventions, but this weekend was my very first literary festival. I've attended a couple literary festivals in the past, and at every single one I've found that genre fiction has been rather under represented and the fantasy genre conspicuously absent. There is often contention and rather nasty biases between literary fiction and genre fiction, so I admit I was a little concerned what reception I, as a rather young, newly published urban fantasy writer, would receive both from the audience who would attend the event and the other writers, but everyone was absolutely wonderful. The discussions on the panels were diverse and fun, my fellow writers were amazingly friendly and a pleasure to converse with both on and off panels, and everyone I spoke to was absolutely wonderful. And, for the first time at any literary festival I've attended, fantasy had a strong showing! There were three fantasists on the guest list: Seressia Glass, Susan Hubbard, and myself. (Special shout out to Carol and Sharon for inviting us.)

I chatted with Susan and Seressia a good deal over the weekend, and near the end of the event, I asked if I could record a quick video chat. I apparently make faces when I talk and gesticulate horribly (I imagine I do this on panels as well) but it was a ton of fun to record the chat, so if you guys like this kind of thing, I'll try to take a video camera to all my events in the future. Check it out here:

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Wanna grab some Grub?

2010-11-11T13:34:00.001-05:00

I have to seriously wonder where the saying "grab some grub" to mean get some food came from. Why am I wondering about this? Mostly because I just spent the last two hours in my garden fighting a grub infestation.

I mean really, do these guys look yummy to you?

Yeah, me neither. And I must tell you, I'm rather distressed by their presence. When I first moved to my new place, I put three 4X4 garden plots down, but I only used two of them because it was so late in the season. The third I decided I would be enterprising, and as this development was built on nutrient deficient sand, do a little open air composting. I have a compost bin, but as a whole I have more grass clippings and weeds than I need in a single bin, so I dumped the extra in the empty garden bed hoping it would improve the soil by the time I'm ready to plant next spring. At first I turned and watered it regularly, but then I probably got a little slack.

Recently I noticed the grubs. Major ick.

I'm not real sure what to do about these guys. I don't want to hard core poison the box because I would like to grow stuff in it eventually. I considered burning it, but 1- I'm pretty sure my homeowners association would have something to say about my starting a bonfire in my garden and 2-it actually composted pretty well, so I'm not sure it would burn. As you can see from the photo, I sifted and plucked a good pound of those suckers from the soil, but I'm sure I missed some.

Anyone have any suggestions?

(Yes, this post is completely unrelated to any aspect of writing. I know, I know, the blog is supposed to be about writing. Let me think . . . How about this parallel: When revising, you have to roll up your sleeves and dig the ugly/bad/gross stuff out of your story to end up with a healthy book?)

Happy Thursday everyone. And seriously, anyone have any tips on how to clear out this grub infestation?

Dahlonega's 7th annual Literary Festival

2010-11-10T13:14:00.000-05:00

I know I posted a while back that my conference and convention season for 2010 was over, but a couple weeks ago I was invited to be a guest at Dahlonega's 7th annual Literary Festival and I was delighted to accept. The festival is this weekend (November 12-14th) in Dahlonega, GA and based on the schedule I just received, it will be a wonderful event.

I'm not sure if a full event schedule is available on the website yet, but I'll be sitting on the following panels:

Saturday 10:45 - 11:30 - Fantasy vs. the Great American Novel.
(Panelists: Seressia Glass, Kalayna Price, Jeffrey Stepakoff, River Jordan, William Rawlings, Vicki Alvear Shecter, Susan Hubbard)

Sunday 11:10 - 11:55 - Finding Topics That Sell, Practical Options for Finding the “Right” Plot for Your Fiction
(Panelists: William Rawlings, River Jordan, Susan Hubbard, Jon Turk, Patrick Michael Finn, Jeffry Stepakoff, Seressia Glass, and Kalayna Price)

Sunday 3:30 – 4:15 - A Woman’s Voice in the Creation and Business of Writing
(Panelists: Laura Knorr, River Jordan, Vickie Alvear Shecter, Seressia Glass, and Kalayna Price)

I will also be at the Welcome Reception on Friday night, the dinner event on Saturday, and Sunday's Brunch. And they've scheduled me for three signings during the event:
Saturday 11:30-12:00pm, Sunday 12:00-12:30pm, and Sunday 4:15-5:00pm.

If you'll be at the festival, I hope you'll introduce yourself and say hi. I look forward to meeting you.

NaNo Day 9: Helpful Links

2010-11-09T13:03:00.000-05:00

So much has been going on recently that I haven't had a dedicated NaNo post since the begining of the challenge (and I'm actually putting off releasing news today--it will wait a day). Today let's talk words.

Week two of the challenge has now started. Everyone still pushing along? How is the wordcount coming? According to my chart, today's word goal is 15k words. (Okay, technically 15,003. Let's be exact.) Have your characters surprised you with what they've said or done? Any unexpected plot developments?

At this point your beginning has well and truly begun, and you are probably hurtling toward the first turning point in your story (or perhaps you've already hit it.) You've made a good start, so keep powering on with the momentum you've created. Here are a couple links to resources you might find useful as you write through the second week:

Write or Die--This is a great motivation tool. The product page used to say "Putting the 'Prod' back in 'Productivity'" (it might still say that somewhere, I only glanced at it) and it does just that. You enter how many words you want to write and the amount of time you wish to write them in and then hit start. A window will pop up for you to write in, and if you stop or you fall behind, it will begin to penalize/agitate you. The aggressiveness of this 'agitation' ranges from annoying sounds and blinking lights to it actually erasing words (*Note erasing words only occurs if you set it to Kamikaze mode. I personally suggest using that mode sparingly.) You can use the program for free on the web, or buy a downloadable desktop version that includes the abilites to have timed wordwars with friends online. If your word count could use some prodding, make sure to check out this program.
NaNoWriMo Report Cards--There are several of these out there, but they all work about the same. They are a spread sheet were you enter your current word count and the number of hours you wrote that day. The spreadsheet then calculates how many words you still need, how many you need to write per day to finish by the 30th, and it estimates the date you'll finish by your current pace. Whether you are ahead, behind, or right on target, it's always fun to watch these number change. Here is link to such a report card.
Dropbox--with as much time and effort as you are putting into writing, don't forget to backup your work. 15k words would be a lot to lose, and your count will only continue growing from this point out. We all hope file corruption, viruses, stolen laptops, lightening strikes, or dead hard drives don't happen, but it's best to be prepared for the worst. Remember to back up your work onto an external device such as a USB stick or to an external server like Dropbox. Or both. (I use both time machine and dropbox) If you've never heard of dropbox, it is a wonderful tool both to back up your files on an off site server and to share your files between multiple computers/devices. The best part? They give you several gigs of server space for free, so check it out.
Scrivener--Now, it is a little late in the writing process for me to mention scrivener to you, but I'd be remiss to create a list of helpful writing links and not include scrivener. This is THE writing software for me. I've written my last three books on Scrivener and I love it. Many of the the things I used to do in several programs or mediums--like plotting with post-it notes--are all incorporated in Scrivener in a way that fits seamlessly with my process. Also, I love the organization capabilities. The creator seriously could have written this program specifically for me. One day I'll do a full post on Scrivener, but not today. Today I'll just say that at some point you should check it out and see if it is a program that would help you manage the daunting task of writing a book. And good news for windows users--they just released a Windows beta, so you're not left out anymore.

Okay, so those are my helpful links for you today. Now, maybe what you really need right now isn't a helpful link, but a moment of distraction? I have those for you too. Check out these NaNoWriMo themed youtube videos:

NaNoWriMo Song by All Caps -- A friend linked me to this fun (and rather accurate) song yesterday. I thought it was not only amusing, but musically fun. I checked out the rest of All Caps music and found it geek-tastically amazing. Check them out HERE.
I am the very model of a Wrimo individual -- Just try not to giggle while watching this one.

And that's enough distraction. Back to writing everyone!
Happy Tuesday. Many words to you!

Grave Witch in the wild Winner(s)

2010-11-08T11:51:00.000-05:00

The polls have closed and the Grave Witch in the Wild contest is now officially complete. The votes have been tallied and with 27 votes in the sidebar and 17 votes in the comments the winner is: Kitty with the Kindle!

Congratulations Dawn! Please email me at Contests(AT)kalayna(dot)com with the shipping address of where you'd like the bookmark to go and let me know if you want the ghost or tombstone. (click here for pictures).

Now, the second prize is supposed to randomly selected, but I have to say, I love all the entries so much that I decided that all four entries deserve to win. I just ordered more charms from etsy, so as soon as they arrive, I'll design two additional bookmarks. That means four prizes in total and everyone wins! ASchilling, KT, and NL Berger, please email me at the above address with where you'd like me to ship your bookmark. (Since the charms have not arrived yet, be prepared that it might be a week or two before I can ship the bookmarks.)

Thank you everyone who voted in the polls and congrats to our winners!
Happy Monday everyone!

On Cooks Source, Copyright Infringement, Pirating, and the power of the internet

2010-11-05T12:13:00.000-04:00

November 4th 2010 might forever be known as the day the internet fought copyright infringement. Most of you are likely already familiar with the events surrounding Monica Gaudio and Cooks Source Magazine, but for those new to the story (were you away from your computer yesterday?) I'll recap very quickly.

On Wednesday night Monica blogged about discovering that a post she'd written several years ago on apple pie had been reprinted in a magazine she'd never heard of let alone granted permission to print her piece or received compensation from. After emailing and calling the contact information (which used to be provided on both Cooks Source's home page and facebook profile), Monica was eventually asked what it was she wanted. She asked for an apology and a $130 charitable donation to the Columbia School of Journalism (which considering she'd been plagiarized by a for profit 'professional' magazine, her request was both kind and rather selfless.)

The managing editor, Judith Griggs, sent this sarcastic and inflammatory response (as reported by Monica on her blog)

But honestly Monica, the web is considered "public domain" and you should be happy we just didn't "lift" your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me... ALWAYS for free!

There are a lot issues in what Judith said, from the ignorant claim that anything released online is "public domain" (it isn't--if you publish something online you might forfeited being able to sell first publication rights, but the moment you create creative property it is considered to be under copyright) to her ridiculous claim that Monica should be grateful for the effort put into editing the piece and perhaps Monica should pay for the improvement to her writing portfolio! Well, it's no surprise Monica was mad--I'd be incensed--but like many victims of theft, I think she felt rather powerless and unsure what she should do next. So she blogged, vented a little (though very calmly and articulately) and asked her blog readers for advice.

I don't think anyone could have predicted what came next.

Monica's blog post went live around 11pm (according to the tag) on Wednesday the 3rd. By the middle of the day Thursday, other bloggers had picked up the story and authors like John Scalzi and Neil Gaiman tweeted links to Monica's post. That was how I first discovered the story. My first thoughts were along the lines of "Oh, that Griggs is in trouble now, this thing is going viral and she's going to find herself in a nice little tempest in a teapot." Little did I know that tempest would turn into a shit storm of massive proportions.

I'm not sure I've ever seen any story go quite so viral so fast. As the day unfolded, it was everywhere. Not just blogs (big or small) but Publisher's Weekly, the Washington Post, and other major players began reporting on the situation before the end of the day. The internet descended in mass on the Cooks Source Facebook page. (Even now, updates are seconds apart) At some point, it became a mob and more violent and hateful than Griggs's actions (however deplorable) warranted (such as her home address and phone number appearing at one point). But the internet (and yes, I am using the term to describe the hundreds of thousands of individuals involved and not cyberspace content) also organized to do some rather productive things as well. The sources of other articles featured in Cooks Source (which, according to their facebook page, has been around since 1997) were sought out to see if Monica's case was an isolated incident or if Griggs's standard policy was theft and plagiarize.

The early findings indicate Monica was not alone. Some of the people Griggs (allegedly) stole content from aren't small players either. An incomplete list of possible copyright holders include Paula Dean, Martha Stewart, Disney, and NPR. People also started tracking down the images in the magazine, and traced the advertisers to inform them they were involved with crooks. Most of those advertisers pulled their support from the magazine by the end of the day.

This was all by the time I turned off the computer last night. That happened in one day. ONE DAY. Guys, the internet has power.

This was organized (well, that's really not the right word--let's say accomplished) by people all over the country (and possibly the world) who don't know each other but who saw an injustice and fought against it. And all in the single day the story broke (and scarily enough, before the story could be confirmed, so I hope this story is true and has the happy ending of Griggs's career justifiably ending and other snippy, ignorant plagiarists learning from her example.)

Yes, some of the mob went too far, but I have to say I'm thrilled to see people crying out at the injustice of copyright infringement and theft of intellectual property. Granted, what differentiated this case from so many (so very many) cases was Griggs's belligerent attitude. I imagine a number of the links in this post will break in the next few days because Cooks Source is, well, cooked.

In the wake of this amazing rally of support (and internet justice!) I'd just like to cheer and count this as a score for all creative types everywhere. But I'd also like to point out that Copyright Infringement comes in another form. One which negatively affects every writer I know--Pirating.

No, there's no snarky, self-righteous evil editor to flame or bombard--mostly because pirating is so devastatingly widespread. I get nearly daily alerts of my books showing up on sharing sites, and I'm not alone. Just this morning a friend of mine whose very first book hit shelves last month was devastated to discover an explosion of torrents for her book--a book that she's been watching the sales rank of because in publishing, sales matter. Writers write, but we like to be able to afford to eat as well.

So, as we are all now hyped up and super aware of the evils of copyright infringement from our encounter with Cooks Source Magazine, can the internet please go attack pirating next. Please?

GRAVE DANCE cover revealed

2010-11-03T11:13:00.000-04:00

Today is the day, and I am very pleased to reveal the cover for the second Alex Craft novel, GRAVE DANCE. I could build this up a bit, but I think I'll just splash the cover and not keep you waiting in further suspense.

So, what do you think?

Personally, I think it's absolutely striking. It retains the ethereal and contemplative aspect of the Grave Witch cover while the closer crop and forward angle of Alex's body adds an edge of power and assertiveness. The cityscape visible behind the cemetery is a gorgeous touch, and I love that they kept the subdued blue greys overall with just a single splash of brilliant of color with Alex's shirt (green this time). In short, I love it and I absolutely cannot wait to see it on the shelf beside the first book!

Happy hump day everyone!

Nano Day 2 and Grave Witch in the Wild finalists

2010-11-02T18:23:00.001-04:00

It's day two of NaNo. How are things going? I saw several of you knocked a nice chuck of your word count out last night. Congrats! If you find you're falling a little behind, no worries--you have plenty of time to catch up. If you find you're spending a lot of time staring at your screen and not writing, try setting a timer for short bursts of writing--try 10 to 15 minutes at a time and you might be surprised what you can accomplish when a timer is counting down. If you're having trouble carving time to write out of your busy day, remember that you don't need long periods of time. If you can jot down a sentence or two at a time while cooking dinner or waiting on the kids to get out of after school activities you'll find yourself a lot closer to your goal when you finally do reach your computer. (Also, thinking about your story throughout the day will keep it percolating in the back of your head.) So, how are those word counts looking?

Switching gears, I want to say thank you to everyone who participated in the Grave Witch in the Wild contest! I received some great entries (as you'll soon see) and I have to say, I'm glad I don't have to pick the winner because it would be tough! It's up to you guys to vote on the winner (yes, I'm leaving the tough choices up to you. Also, remember that a second winner will be randomly selected using a random number generator.) Voting will be open until 11:59 pm EST Sunday, November 7th. You may cast your vote here in the comments (and if you do, please mention why you picked the entry you chose) or you may vote anonymously in the "Poll" box in the left hand column of the blog.

Okay, let's see the options, shall we? (Numbers are above the entry)

Option #1

Option #2

Option #3

Option #4

It's going to be tough, isn't it? I told you. ^_^ You may vote based on any criteria like, and feel free to try to rally support for your favorite here in the comments or elsewhere using this link ( http://3.ly/R7Kv ) back to the post. So, which has your vote?

Happy Tuesday!

Nano Day 1: What the heck is NaNoWriMo anyway?

2010-11-01T17:17:00.000-04:00

Before I start talking about NaNo, let me first remind everyone that today is the very last day to enter the Grave Witch in the Wild contest. I'll be posting the finalists tomorrow, so make sure you get your entries in by midnight tonight!

Also, if you're a newsletter subscriber, I have a very special sneak peek of the GRAVE DANCE cover going out exclusively to subscribers tonight. Everyone else will have to wait until Wednesday for the big reveal. If you're not a subscriber but you would like to be, subscribe here:

Okay, now on to today's blog post.

It's November first, which means it is the first day of NaNoWriMo. All over the world thousands of people will be putting words to the page and starting novels today. Are you one of them?

As I mentioned briefly in an earlier post, I would like to once again run a mini community here on the blog. Participating is easy, if you are taking the challenge, simply stop by the blog a couple times a week and share your current word count. Also feel free to discuss any challenges or triumphs you encounter as you write. Fraternization with other commentors is highly encouraged--please cheer each other on!

Everyone who crosses the 50k word deadline by the end of the month (You'll need to send me a link to your NaNoWriMo profile with winner bar) will be mentioned in the acknowledgments of the upcoming Haven Novel, THIRD BLOOD. Also, out of all of those who finish, I will choose one grand prize winner who will receive his or her choice of one of the following craft books:

Break Into Fiction by Mary Buckham and Dianna Love
Goal Motivation Conflict by Debra Dixon
or
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne & King

These some of my favorite writing craft books and books I think every writer should read at least once. The grand price winner will be chosen at random, but each comment will give you another entry in the drawing (max three entries per day).

Sound easy enough? Well then, let those fingers fly! Today's word goal is 1,667 words (50k divided by 30 days = 1,667 words per day). How has the first day treated you?

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT Tomorrow's Signing CANCELED

2010-10-29T17:23:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, I'm so sorry to cancel the signing scheduled for tomorrow (10/30/10) so close to the date. (Heck, I'm sorry I have to cancel it AT ALL.)

Due to circumstances completely out of my control, tomorrow's signing at the BAM in Sandhills has been canceled. I've been in contact with the manager this afternoon, and the books he ordered for the signing did not arrive, so they have only what was on the shelf--2 copies, apparently. The manager wants to reschedule for an as of yet undetermined date (we'll see) but the pertinent fact is that tomorrow's signing is canceled.

I'm so sorry about this guys. If I had any control of the situation, I'd still hold it.

Sorry!

A couple quick announcements

2010-10-28T12:33:00.000-04:00

Hey, I have just a couple quick announcements to make today:

First up, tonight (Thursday, October, 28th) I will be in the Knight Agency Chatroom starting at 9pm EST chatting live with readers. I have no idea what I'll talk about for an hour if you guys don't show up and ask questions, so please log in and join in the discussion. I would love to chat with you guys. Also, I'll be giving away 3 signed copies of GRAVE WITCH and there will be several other paranormal books by other writers represented by my agency up for grabs, so please drop by. You can find out how to log in and all the other important details HERE.

Second item on the agenda is that my Halloween book signing is this Saturday, October 30th from 1-3pm at the Books-A-Million in Sandhills. (164 Forum Dr. Columbia, SC 29229) I'll have candy and swag, so if you are in or around the Columbia area and couldn't make it to the release party at the beginning of the month, I hope you'll try to make the signing on Saturday. I'd love to see you.

And last on the list, I wanted to talk a bit about NaNoWriMo. If you're not familiar with that weird little word, it's short for National Novel Writing Month, which is a challenge held every November to encourage people to write 50k words in 30 days. I'd planned on doing a complete post on NaNo, but this week hasn't gone as planned, so I'll condense here and expand tomorrow or over the weekend.
Last year I sponsored a mini writing community here on the blog with a chance to win prizes for those who participated and acknowledgment in TWICE DEAD of those who met the 50k word goal. For those of you who are writers or who are aspiring writers, I'd love to host the community once again. Participating is easy: I'll post daily blogs throughout November (or as near daily as I can manage) and participants leave comments with their daily and total wordcount in the comments (no need to check in every day, but try to update everyone on your wordcount a couple times a week.) Also feel free talk about any struggles, snags, or triumphs in the comments and to offer other participants suggestions, encouragements, and congratulations. If the timing works out (and I think it will) everyone who crosses the 50k word finish line will be in the acknowledgments of THIRD BLOOD. I will also put together a prize packet to give away to at least one random participant. (I'll let you know what it is once I decide. It will probably be one of my favorite craft or editing books.) How does that sound? Do you have a novel in you waiting to get out? Now is as good a time as any!

Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you'll drop by the live chat tonight.

P.S. one last thing: I just saw the cover for GRAVE DANCE. You guys are going to love it. More news as soon as I have permission to share.

In Loving Memory: Licorice (May 1999 - October, 27 2010)

2010-10-27T10:55:00.002-04:00

Pets fill a number of different roles in peoples' lives. For me they are family, so today I lost a family member. Licorice was 11 1/2 years old and the sweetest guy you could meet. He was a lap kitty and purr box who often had the tip of his tongue peeking out. Monday we made an emergency appointment with the vet because one of his toes suddenly doubled in size. They put him on a steroid, an anti inflamatory drug, and an antibiotic as a first step, but there was a good chance it was cancer and that on the recheck next week we might have to consider amputation. Yesterday he was happy enough. This morning he was having trouble breathing. He died in transit to the vet. At least he died in someone's arms, knowing he was loved. And it was fairly fast, so I don't think he suffered much.
I do believe animals have souls and that he is in a better place, but that doesn't dampen the ache of saying goodbye. Here are some pictures of my baby so he is immortalized here on the blog.

I hope you're having a better Wednesday than me. Don't forget to hold your loved ones tight, everyone.

Your Questions Answered

2010-10-25T10:22:00.002-04:00

Last week I asked for questions. Today I will be answering them. So let's see what you were curios about:

Edna asked:

Q. How many books will there be for the Alex Craft series?

A. Currently there are three books contracted in the series, but I have ideas that go beyond the third book, so I hope Roc buys more of the series. The next book, GRAVE DANCE, will be released late next summer.

Q. Falin and Death both seem like fantastic love interests for Alex. I was wondering if you already have it set in mind who she will end up with, if anyone at all?

A. I have a definite direction for Alex's love life, but as I'm writing surprises often occur, so nothing is set in stone.

Q. And this is a general sort of comment but I'm incredibly fascinated by Death. In a future book I hope Alex can learn more about him and maybe get a glimpse into his world. How about "A Day in the Life of a Soul Collector"? ;) Falin is quite interesting himself. I'm eagerly awaiting to read more of his history.

A. Those aren't really questions, but I thought I'd just comment that you will definitely be seeing more of both and learning quite a bit more in the next two books. I'm glad you're enjoying the characters and the world! Thanks so much, and thanks for the questions!

The next set of questions are from Natalie via Facebook:

Q.How do you pronounce Falin? I have an acquaintance named Fallon (rhymes with Allen), and I've been pronouncing it the same way, but I've nev...er seen it spelled your way.

A. Technically, the 'i' would make the 'a' long, so I pronounce it FA lin. That said, FAH lin isn't that far off so is probably an acceptable pronunciation.

Q.Why a Chinese Crested? I mean, I love cresties, but it seems like an odd match for Alex.
A. This is actually a question I answered in a recent interview over at Smexy Books. Instead of thinking up a different way to say the same thing, I'm just going to steal that answer. I hope you don't mind.

A Chinese Crested of the truly hairless variety is a small dog with patches of hair only on the head (the crest), feet, and tail. This hair is typically white or black, and their skin is usually pigmented any number of combinations of pink and grey. The first time I saw one, I couldn't decide if it was adorable or had some terrible disease. In my experience, most people either think they look like ugly hairless rats or are cute in a pathetic way. When I was creating Alex's character, I liked the idea that she'd be drawn to a dog who just didn't fit in. He's not a stray of unknown origin—let's face it, sadly, those are a dime a dozen. He's a pure breed that many people would be vaguely repulsed by. It worked for her.

Thanks for the questions, Natalie!

Christina asked:

Q. I've read your Haven books and love them. I was wondering if we were going to see more of Tatius in the next book. I really like him, he is such a fascinating character.(and I may have a teeny tiny crush on him) I was intrigued by his behavior towards Kita in the second book. What is he about?

A. This question makes me smile. I'm so glad you like Tatius. He was one of those characters who was just a name and a small note in the outline of the first book. I mean, I knew his history and his agenda before I started writing, but he was just supposed to be a minor antagonist. Then I wrote his first scene in Once Bitten and he jumped right off the page. Sometimes characters surprise the writer. After the events in Twice Dead, Tatius wasn't supposed to reappear in the series until book four because Third Blood is very shifter and Firth centered, but that punk haired master vamp doesn't tend to care what my outline says. ^_^
Thanks for the question!

Happy Monday everyone. And don't forget, this is the last week for the Grave Witch in the Wild contest. So far I have only a couple entries, so odds of winning are really good. Please check it out!

Do you have questions?

2010-10-21T09:32:00.001-04:00

After the blog party and my month of blogging near daily, I'm a little unsure of what to talk about on the blog. Soon I'll start blogging on NaNoWriMo--very soon, I guess, as November isn't far off and I plan to invite others to take the challenge with me once again this year. November will likely be mostly craft and encouragement posts, but for the rest of October? I'm not sure (hence the silence the last couple days).

So, I thought I'd open the blog to questions.

Do you have something you'd love to ask me? It can be about either series I write, about writing in general, about hooping, heck, you can even ask me your homework questions, but I don't promise to know the answers. If you leave questions in the comments of this post, I'll answer them in tomorrow's post. Sound good?

Happy ~~Vampire Diaries day~~ Thursday! (And don't forget, the Grave Witch in the Wild contest is currently open for submissions. Check it out!)

ETA: Oh, Please try to avoid spoilers about the books in your questions, or please clearly mark them with **SPOILERS** and space down a bit to give others who might not have read the book fair warning. Thanks!

CONTEST: Grave Witch in the wild!

2010-10-18T17:00:00.002-04:00

A week or so ago I inquired whether you guys would be interested in a photo contest with the prize being a custom made Grave Witch bookmark. The response was enthusiastic, so I went in search of the perfect charms. Considering it is nearly Halloween, I thought now would be the ideal time of year to find charms that would tie-in with Grave Witch. Apparently I was wrong. I scoured every craft store and Halloween shop I could find with absolutely no luck. I nearly gave up the search and considered making the charms myself (because I need yet another hobby and everyone wants me learning to carve soapstone instead of writing, right? yeah, no.) Luckily, in a shop I never would have guessed would carry charms, I found the cute little tombstone and ghost that are now on the bookmarks.

These were designed and hand beaded by me. I chose the black and silver with just a splash of red color scheme to mimic the cover of the book. Both bookmarks feature gauzy black ribbon, a silver toned charm, and Swarovski crystals. I'm currently working on the possibility of embroidering the book title on the ribbon, but I have to touch base with a friend to see if her machine could do it, so the final product may or may not feature that (but I really hope it will!) The ghost bookmark has a total of nine Swarovski crystals including a 10mm Siam heart. The tombstone bookmark includes magnetic hematite and a brilliant glass bead as well as a gunsmoke-colored chain and hand-shaped wire.

So, what do you think? Do you want to win one of these limited edition Grave Witch bookmarks?

Here are the contest details:
Contest name: Grave Witch in the wild!
How to enter: Take a picture of yourself, your friends, your children, your pets, your plants--whoever--reading GRAVE WITCH. (If you have an electric copy, just take a picture with your ereader displaying the cover or title page.) Upload the picture somewhere like facebook, twit pic, yfrog, flicker, photobucket, your blog, or anywhere else you can post a picture on the web, and then add a link to the comments of this thread. (Limit one entry per copy of the book, please)
How winners will be chosen: There will be two (2) winners. A panel of judges (aka friends and family I can rope into the job) will choose finalists out of the submitted photos. Those finalists will then be posted on the blog and a poll will be opened for the public to vote on their favorite picture. (Funny, cute, and/or clever pictures probably stand the highest chance in a public forum.) A second winner will be chosen at random from amongst all entries (not just finalists) by a random number generator.
Who can enter: Anyone who is willing to take a picture with the book. I'll ship anywhere that customs won't stop the bookmark from entering the country.
Entry Deadline: Monday, November, 1st at 11:59 pm. I'll announce finalist's later that week, and will announce both winners once voting has finished.

Sound easy? Sound fun? I hope so.

I can't wait to see the pictures!

(**by entering the contest you grant me the right to repost your submitted photo on the website and blog. The winner chosen on the public forum will have first choice between the two bookmarks.)

Hello mister tall, dark, and terrifying

2010-10-15T13:53:00.001-04:00

(Blog X-posted)
October is moving right along which means creepy costumes and sugar highs are just around the corner. Or is that just my plan? Surely not.

Halloween is nearly here, and it's a good time for the things that go bump in the night. Many creatures which once would have been relegated to horror stories and movies are now featured as heroes and romantic leads, but let's forget them for a moment and talk of the terrifying.

What flavor do you prefer your horror stories/movies? Do you like an oppressive atmosphere that keeps your shoulders hitched as you wait for the worst? Do you like the monster you never quite see so he's worsened by your imagination? Perhaps your horror preference is the gore and the gritty details. Or maybe the psychological horror tale that worms itself into the back your mind and then begins to twist. Or perhaps your horror tastes lean toward the destruction of all hope in the face of insurmountable and unstoppable odds? (Zombie Apocalypse anyone?)

From the ghost story to the slasher film, horror is a genre with many faces and many elements. Which work for you? Do you laugh off a scary tale, or do you sleep with the lights on after a good horror flick? It's the month for spooky stories and frightening monsters, so please share your favorite horror movies and books! (We could all use a good scare, right?)

A little ironic

2010-10-14T11:19:00.000-04:00

When I started thinking about writing this post, my initial title idea was "I think my kitten is a vampire." If you are a fan of my novels of Haven, you probably understand why that would have been rather ironic. That said, I'm still inclined to believe my kitten (okay, she's close to three now, but she's the youngest cat) might be a member of the undead.

What makes me think so? Well, I've been having trouble keeping the puppy (who, again, isn't actually a puppy, just the youngest) off the bed when I'm not in the room. She knows she's not allowed on the bed when I'm not in there, and knowing that, she jumps off the bed as soon as she hears me leave my office so that I never catch her on the bed, just hurtling herself over the edge. Oh yeah, and the wet spots where she's been chewing on her feet are a pretty big give away to what she's been doing. In an attempt to keep the puppy off the bed, I've started closing the bedroom door. Easy solution, right?

Not quite.

The kitten sleeps under the bed during day. As her water and litter box are not in the bedroom, locking the puppy out also meant she needed to be locked out. Now you can probably imagine the commotion Monday morning when I first shut the door. I wasn't positive I'd make it through the day. But after thirty minutes or so, the kitten stopped complaining (the puppy continued to complain most of the day). I eventually emerged from my office and looked around to figure out where she'd decided to spend the day. I assumed she would be basking in a window with the other cat, or maybe sprawled in a chair or in one of the pet beds scattered around the house, but she wasn't anywhere to be found. After some more intense searching, I discovered her sound asleep in the bathroom cabinets. The nice, dark cabinets much like the nice dark area under the bed where she usually spends her days, not emerging until night. This is now her morning routine. When I shut the bedroom door, she locks herself in the cabinets.

I think she's hiding from the sunlight. Vampire kitten?

What do you think?

Happy Thursday everyone!

Events and happenings wrap up and THANK YOU!

2010-10-11T16:07:00.002-04:00

The last week has been busy but extremely exciting, and I owe most of that to you guys, so I just want to say Thank You to all of you.

The release of Grave Witch seems to be going well from my outside view (Of course, I won't know anything definite until I hear from my publisher in several months.) The blog tour stops have seen good traffic, the online chatter has been really positive, and reviews are cropping up! Thank you everyone who has picked up a copy already, and double thank you to everyone who has blogged/tweeted/recommend it to others. You guys are AWESOME!

Now, I promised you a wrap up of my first ever book signing. The event on Friday went extremely well (or at least I though it did). I was crazy nervous, which didn't help my already chicken-scratch hand writing or the fact that on good days letters get jumbled in my head and when I'm nervous? Yeah . . .
But everyone who came out was absolutely amazing. I must have talked to fifty or sixty people over the course of the two hour signing. Many of the readers who came to the event were familiar with my Haven series, and it was great to talk about Kita and her world with real live people (who aren't my CPs and a captive audience). I was terrified that I'd sit there all alone for most of the night, but people came and went in such a staggered pattern that I almost wonder if you guys didn't gather and plan entrances before hand. I don't think I went more than a couple minutes without someone there at the table. It was great. I can't decide now if the success of the first signing makes me more or less terrified of the Halloween signing planned for the end of the month. LOL

(WHD pictures by Scott Johnson)

The other big event of the weekend was World Hoop Day. I meant to blog about this before the fact, but I got wrapped up in everything else going on. If you're a facebook friend you probably saw my post about it, but I never actually got around to a proper blog.

I'm not going to say too much here, but if you remember my post on World Hoop Day last year, you know that the event is not only to celebrate the joys and benefits of hooping, but to raise awareness and spread the fun. All around the world on 10-10-10 at 10:10 am, people were hooping in their communities. In my home city, we gathered at the State House and jammed for a full hour.

We had a great turn out for the event, and we got decent exposure from walk by traffic--we even managed to talk several people into joining us! Very fun!

Hope everyone's weekend went well. Happy Monday!

GRAVE WITCH Release Party Tonight!

2010-10-08T15:29:00.000-04:00

This is just a quick post to remind everyone that the Grave Witch Release Party/Signing is tonight from 7-9 pm at the Barnes and Noble on Forest Drive in Columbia, SC. If you are in the area, I would love to meet you!

I just packed my bag of swag and candy, and I'm excited. And a little nervous.

I was excited on release day, but you know, I didn't actually have to do anything on release day--the work on the book was already done, it was just a matter of logistics with the physical copies. (And of course the excitement of knowing people could actually read it!) Today I'm full of nervous energy because I get to talk to people and meet readers. I can't wait! (Now just to figure out what to inscribe when I'm signing books . . .)

I hope to see many of you tonight! And for those of you who can't make it, I'll make sure someone has a camera so I can share all the interesting details.

Have a great weekend!

An afternoon post on contests and pictures--Your opinion needed!

2010-10-07T17:36:00.000-04:00

Irmo, SC by Michelle

Several people have sent me pictures of Grave Witch on shelves or even a few of people with a copy, and am absolutely loving seeing the pictures. In fact, I think they are so awesome that I'm considering holding a contest so more people send me such pictures.

The question with such a contest is what to give away.

A signed book really wouldn't work as most people entering will have already bought a copy. I was thinking something special. Something unique.

Charlotte, NC by Sabrina Luna

If you've noticed my etsy link in the sidebar, you know that I make hand beaded bookmarks and jewelry, so I was thinking about creating an original, Grave Witch themed bookmark. Would that be something you as readers would be interested in? Would it be worth taking a picture of you (or your cat, or your plant, or get creative[but stay "G" rated]) with a copy of Grave Witch to enter a contest to win such a limited edition bookmark?

BAM, Columbia, SC

I'm still looking for the perfect charms to make such a bookmark--it's nearly Halloween, you'd think I'd be able to find more charms that would tie in with the book--but let me know if you think you'd be interested. I'll redouble my efforts in the search and make a couple prizes if that the contest is one you'd like!

Guest Post from Nancy Holzner: The Telling Detail

2010-10-06T10:23:00.000-04:00

Today I'm joined by very special guest, Nancy Holzner, author of the Deadtown novels. If you've been following this blog for a while, you probably recognize Nancy's name and series from a post I wrote several months ago on hooking the reader with the first line. Nancy's first book, DEADTOWN, is a personal favorite of mine, and I'm anxiously awaiting the release of her second novel, HELLFORGED. (It will be out December 28th!)

So, it is with great pleasure that I share this amazing guest post with you. Take it away, Nancy!

The Telling Detail

When I talk to readers about urban fantasy, one thing I hear a lot is that people enjoy this genre because it feels like the story could really happen. The settings are recognizable—you can walk the streets and see the landmarks of magical Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, or San Francisco, and even fictional cities have a real, gritty feel to them. The characters interact with people who could be our coworkers or our neighbors. In addition to their otherworldly battles, characters have problems we can relate to, like how to pay the rent or get over a fight with a boyfriend or deal with an annoying boss. The urban-fantastical world of magic, ghosts, demons, and monsters feels adjacent to ours, like you could turn the wrong corner some dark night and suddenly be there.

I don’t think I’m giving away any trade secrets when I say that authors accomplish this sense of realism-in-fantasy by sprinkling telling details through their stories. A telling detail is an image that packs an emotional wallop and makes the scene feel “true.” It brings the scene to life. The telling detail gives readers a tug on the heartstrings, a shiver along the spine, or a kick in the gut. It’s something we understand and relate to, even when what’s happening is far outside our everyday experience.

Here’s an example from Magic Bites, the first book in Ilona Andrews’s terrific (and phenomenally popular) Kate Daniels series. Kate is about to meet Atlanta’s Beast Lord, a werelion, for the first time; she’s alone in a dangerous part of town and expecting violence. And what does she do in this situation? She calls out, “Here, kitty, kitty.” For many readers, this telling detail is a favorite moment in the book. It cracks the scene wide open and gives us insight into Kate’s character. This detail, along with Curran’s reaction, shows us a hint of what their relationship will be like. And it’s something we can relate to. Maybe you’ve never clutched a sword on your way to meet a werelion, but I bet you’ve blurted out something even when you knew it probably wasn’t the wisest thing to say. The telling detail is a point of connection between reader and story.

Kalayna’s novel Grave Witch has a great telling detail in its opening sentences:

The first time I encountered Death, I hurled my mother's medical chart at him. As far as impressions went, I blew it, but I was five at the time, so he eventually forgave me.

Those two sentences pull us into Alex’s world very quickly, and the image of five-year-old Alex throwing her mother’s medical chart at Death shows us a lot about her temperament. Even before I know a thing about her, I admire Alex for her bravery in the face (literally) of death.

My Deadtown series is set in Boston, where a zombie plague has revealed the existence of paranormals (who were immune to the virus) and forced the norms and the monsters to live uneasily side-by-side. Deadtown’s protagonist, Victory Vaughn, is a shapeshifter who kills other people’s personal demons for a living. Those things are pretty far removed from most people’s experience, so I try to bring Vicky and her world to life through recognizable, relatable, telling details, such as the checkpoints residents must pass through to get into or out of Deadtown; the no-man’s-land between Deadtown and human-controlled Boston (called the New Combat Zone in honor of Boston’s former red-light district); and the kinds of personal demons Vicky exterminates: Drudes (dream-demons that feed on fear), Eidolons (guilt demons), and Harpies (revenge demons).

I also use telling details to give insight into Vicky’s character and emotional landscape. In one scene, Vicky recalls the night her father died, ten years earlier:

I sat on the bed, numb. The world was divided into Before and After, as completely as if someone had split it with a butcher’s cleaver. Before, I’d woken up in this bed, and Dad had been alive. Before, I’d gone down to breakfast, and Dad had been alive. Before, I’d run up here to change out of the sweats I wore for sword practice, and Dad had been alive. The clothes still draped the chair where I’d tossed them.

I told myself I should put them away, but I couldn’t bear to touch them, as if moving them would make it real.

A glass of water sat on my nightstand. Thirsty, I reached for it. Before, I thought, when I’d filled up that glass . . . My hand dropped to my lap.

The clothes on the chair, the untouched glass of water are telling details. As Vicky reaches for that glass, the enormity of what’s happened—the permanence of her loss—sinks in.

Sometimes, a telling detail can show a writer something about the characters as she creates them. In my forthcoming novel Hellforged, Vicky’s protégé Tina, a good-natured teenage zombie who manages to across as obnoxious and self-centered at times, gets a gig as a backup singer for a zombie rock star. Vicky, believing that Tina is in danger, looks for her in her dressing room before a big concert:

I went up the stairs. Tacked to the door was a piece of paper with Tina Terror printed in bold black letters. Tina’s last name was Zawadzki, so I could see why she’d want a stage name. But “Tina Terror”? That was as bad as Monster Paul. Below the name was a lopsided star, hand-drawn in yellow highlighter. It looked like something a preschooler’s mom would hang on the fridge.

In Deadtown, zombies don’t have dreams. They stay in their restricted area and do manual labor. When I “saw” Tina’s hand-drawn star in that scene, I understood it as her declaration that she’s not settling for less. It symbolizes her hopes, but also her fears. Zombies don’t get stars; Tina knows that. So she’s going to make her own. Even if it looks kind of lame, it’s hers.

Telling details can be large or small. They stay with us because they’re vivid and they give us insight. When you think back to your favorite scenes—those that made you laugh or cry or moved you in some way—what you probably remember are the telling details. What are some of your favorites?

Nancy Holzner is the author of the Deadtown urban fantasy series, featuring shapeshifting demon slayer Vicky Vaughn. Deadtown is out now; its sequel, Hellforged, hit bookstore shelves on 12/28/10. You can read Deadtown’s first chapter here.

Thank you so much for joining us today, Nancy! Great post.
I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday, and don't forget to check out today's stop on the blog tour over at The Qwillery.

RELEASE DAY!

2010-10-05T10:21:00.002-04:00

It's finally here: RELEASE DAY!

GRAVE WITCH should now be available at all major bookstores and about anywhere books are sold online. Here are some convenient links to online sellers, or check your local brick and mortar store.

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Books a Million
Borders
The Book Depository

Also, don't forget that I have a Virtual Release Party starting at noon today over at Bitten By Books. I'll be chatting with party goers and even giving out a $50 amazon gift certificate, so don't forget to stop by!

On the blog tour front, today's stop is at the blog of my fabulous agent Lucienne Diver. Don't forget to check it out.

Okay. That's it for me. I'm going to go over there and continue squeeing and doing my happy dance. ^_^

Happy release day everyone!

One More Day . . .

2010-10-04T15:00:00.000-04:00

We are one day from the official release of Grave Witch, and I can hardly believe it. (Actually, according to the countdown widget we are at just under 10hrs because the book is technically released at midnight--but bookstores won't be open so lets say a day.) Reports of sightings are pouring in, and I'm already finding myself checking the amazon and B&N stats (even though those don't really tell me how well the book is doing). Reviews are also really cropping up now, and I'll link to some of those in a minute. In the meantime, I want to point out the two big events happening this week:
The Virtual Release Party at Bitten by Books, and the Release Party/Signing in Columbia.

The Virtual Release Party will be tomorrow, October 5th (release day!) starting at noon over at Bitten by Books. I'll be talking about closed vs open worlds in urban fantasy, about Grave Witch (of course), and basically anything else book/world building/etc people would like chat about. Also, I'll be giving away a $50 amazon giftcard to one lucky party goer. You can RSVP now for extra entries into contest , so go check it out early and make sure to stop by and join the party tomorrow. I look forward to seeing you there!

And if you are in the Columbia area and want to see me in person (and pick up a signed book and some swag) don't forget about the Release Party/Signing at Barnes and Noble on Forest Dr this Friday the 8th from 7-9 pm. The B&N site even has an official listing for the event. I'm bringing candy!

Speaking of B&N, one of my facebook friends just let me know that GRAVE WITCH is a featured recommend read on the B&N Community board. Thanks so much Sue Toro Staltare for the heads up!

Okay, on to more links and such. How about some more things to win? Have you been checking out the Blog tour? Some stops include gift cards, signed books, and/or swag packs so make sure you check it out. Today's stop is a guest post on Folklore in Fiction over at Dark Faerie Tales blog. I'm giving away a $10 gift certificate (you can buy Grave Witch and still have money left over!) so go check it out!

To wrap up this crazy post on what is happening everywhere else but here, let me link you to some of the awesome reviews GRAVE WITCH has received over the last few days:

A rating of "A" over at That's Queen Bitch to You
5 tombstones over at Bitten by Books (Beware: this might be a little spoilerish but an excellent review)
4 Bats and "Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & pre-order the sequel" at All things Urban Fantasy
4 skulls at Dark Faerie Tales

If you write a review or run across one online, feel free to forward it on to me. I probably shouldn't, but I read reviews (I know, dangerous past time)

Until tomorrow everyone!

(side note: anyone else start humming Les Mis after reading post title "one more day . . . "?)

Blog Tour

2010-10-03T14:40:00.003-04:00

In case you missed the blog tour links on the front page of my website, I thought I'd link them again. I'll update this list as posts go live, so check back!

GRAVE WITCH Blog Tour:

Interview at Penguin.com

Interview at All Things Urban Fantasy

Guest Post on the Grave Witch Cover at Literary Escapisim

Interview with Scifi Guy

Mini-interview

Tor.com

Interview on Obfuscation of Reality

Guest Post on "Magic in Modernity" Reading with Tequillia

Guest Post on "Folklore in Fiction" Dark Faerie Tales

Release Party at Bitten by Books

Interview at The Qwillery

RT Book Reviews article on land of the dead and grave sight

Interview at Smexy Books

Interview at Sizzling Hot Books

10/16: Fresh Fiction

10/26: Fang-tastic Fiction

Writers' Police Academy

2010-10-01T16:16:00.001-04:00

If you were following my twitter feed last weekend, you probably received a deluge of tweets with the hashtag #writerspoliceacademy about subjects ranging from signing a waiver which stated I could die to a conversation with the Hazardous Device team that started "So if I wanted to blow up a building . . . ?" As the hashtag implies, I was at the Writers' Police Academy, a conference with the motto "Sweat now so your manuscript doesn't bleed red ink later." They promised a "hands-on, interactive and educational experience to enhance understanding of all aspects of law enforcement and forensics." And I have to say, they delivered! I only wish the Academy had lasted longer because there was just so much to do, to see, and to learn--I couldn't get to all of it. Regardless, I still came home with pages of notes (how many pages? I'm not sure. I've been so busy with the blog tour I've barely had time to look at them!)

Hazardous Device Team's Armor

Obviously I will barely be able to scratch the surface in this blog post, but I'd like to highlight some of the things I did and learned while at the Academy. As always, while I had a camera and even carried it with me at all times, when I arrived home, I discovered I'd taken almost no pictures. Bear with me. (Funny aside, I wrote "Bare with me" at first, then I heard Cera's [one of the Tri Mu] voice in my head going "seriously, you want all your blog readers to get naked with you?" My CP has invaded my inner thoughts, what does that mean? lol.) Okay, on to information from the Writers' Police Academy:

The Academy started by releasing the writers onto a group of law enforcement professionals--some clearly less prepared for a writer's overly inquisitive nature than others. We had a couple hours to move between the set up stations and talk to these professionals. Several questions led to widened eyes, but most were met with amusement, and everyone was wonderful both about explaining what they did, showing us their toys, and answering our often rather alarming questions.

Some random facts gathered: (*Note: any inaccurate information is probably my note taking skills and not misdirection for the officers/agents.)

Remington 870

What we usually refer to as the "Bomb Squad' is officially called (at least in Gilford County, NC) the Hazardous Device Unit. Members of the team are not only certified bomb technicians but are also certified as hazardous material technicians. Their suits (featured in the picture to the left) weigh approximately eighty pounds and are made from Cavlar and Ceramic. In the event they are caught in a blast, the ceramic will shatter and absorb some of the blasts impact.
Fire fighter's tanks are filled with compressed air. Not oxygen.
Police cars in Gilford County are equipped with a Remington 870 in the ceiling of the vehicle. (picture to the right)
Finger print dust is used to lift prints on smooth, non-porous surfaces. For porous surfaces like cardboard or styrofoam magnetic silver black powder will be used.

Okay, those are a few quick facts from about three pages of notes--and the day was only just getting started. That afternoon included tours of the firehouse, a two hour session with Jonathan Hayes who is an internationally best selling author and the Senior Medical Examiner in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Manhattan, and then the night rounded off with Lee Lofland (the organizer of the event, author of the amazing resource book Howdunit Book of Police Procedure and Investigation: A Guide for Writers, and the man behind the The Graveyard Shift) detailing the true story of the grisly murder of Tina Mott.

Lee Lofland, Kalayna, and Jonathan Hayes after the Banquet

I have pages of notes from those events, particularly from Jonathan's lecture on decaying bodies, but as I wouldn't want this blog to end up with an "R" rating due to violence and gore, I think I'll keep those off this space. Moving on.

Day two started with a demonstration/dramatization of an active shooter in a school with law enforcement and EMS workers responding to the scene. This was followed by a full day of workshops and classes on several topics. I really needed to clone myself so I could attend multiple panels at once (but of course, I couldn't do that). These classes included topics such as Gun 101, Crash investigation, Handcuffing techniques, Firearms identification and ballistics, and undercover investigation. The day was rounded off with the Banquet (where keynote speaker Jeffrey Deaver spoke) and a late night signing. But I've skipped the best part . . .

Tom Sweeney and Kalayna. FATS

Remember when I said I had to sign a waiver? That was for my FATS session. That's Firearms Training Simulation. Basically, it was the coolest video game I've ever played. I've always been more of the RPG gamer than first person shooter gamer, but yeah, I would own this system. The guns were real, but outfitted for the program and the scenarios were multiple variable life or death situations a law enforcement officer might come in contact with. In fact, officers are trained with this system (which means I probably shouldn't call it the coolest video game ever, but what can I say? I'm a product of my generation.) There were two parts to the training, the first I was with a partner, and after a rocky first scenario where I completely and totally missed the bad guy and shot up an innocent tree, I became a better shot and the two of us worked well together. We didn't kill any civilians, only got killed a few times, and didn't have any bad shoots that would have lost us our badges (you know, if we had one.)

The second room used a slightly different system, and this one was my favorite because the Glock I was using had a realistic amount of kick to it. Apparently had it been firing live rounds the riffling would have caused the gun to pull right more, but otherwise, it was just like firing a real weapon--which was extremely useful to me as I'd never so much as held a gun before but I write about them. I could go on and on about FATS (in fact, I did when I first got home. Poor DH. He got the story with pantomimes and play-by-plays of the scenarios I faced.) but I'll spare you and move on.

The last day was the "debriefing", which was really a very large question and answer session. If you've ever been around a large group of writers given free rein to ask questions, you can probably guess that this led to points where I was frantically taking notes because it was a great question with an informative answer, and other times I was shaking my head because they weren't asking a question and they didn't care to listen to the professional's answer. As a whole, the debriefing would have benefited from a moderator, but it was an amazing opportunity to get clarification on many things we learned and covered over the previous two days.

This post is becoming obnoxiously long. Kudos to those of you still reading. I think I'm going to end this by saying this post couldn't possibly do justice to how amazing and informative the academy was. I have every intention of returning next year, and if you are a writer who wants to learn more about law enforcement/ ems/ fire fighting/ and other similar topics, I would encourage you to check it out.

Happy Friday everyone. Have a great weekend!

Guest Post from Rachel Aaron: The New Gold Age

2010-09-30T10:12:00.000-04:00

Today I am being joined by debut author Rachel Aaron. I first met Rachel (and heard about her Eli Monpress series) over at the Magic District blog. More recently, I had the amazing opportunity chat with Rachel in person for a couple hours at Dragon*con, where as well as having an entertaining conversation, she gave me a 'teaser book' with the first chapter of her debut novel, Spirit Thief.
The novel is a humorous fantasy, and you can find that same first chapter HERE. (Go ahead and go check it out, I'll wait.) I dare you to read it and not want to read the rest of the book. Spirit Thief hit shelves Tuesday, and you can bet I already pick up my copy.

And now, on to Rachel and her post on The New Golden Age:

When I tell people I'm a writer, one of the first things they say (after the obligatory “So, when are you going on Oprah?”) is generally some variation of “too bad kids/teens/people-in-general don't read anymore” accompanied by either a defeated sigh or a fed up eye roll. Now, I love to counter this by pointing out that people are actually reading more than ever. There's this thing called the internet, maybe you've heard of it? Smart-assing aside, though, I understand what they're saying: people don't buy books, they just watch TV/Movies/cats on YouTube, the age of literacy is ending, etc, etc. It's all part of the never ending cloud of doom and gloom that sits on commercial publishing's shoulder like a vulture, waiting for the bookstores to crumble so it can feast on the rich offal of schadenfreude. A horrifying specter to be sure, and as someone who makes her living selling stories, it would be easy to be afraid. After all, if people don't buy books, my mortgage doesn't get paid. That said, I don't buy into it for a second, and I'm going to tell you why.

When people talk about the public's book buying habits, it's often in comparison to other entertainment options, like movies or television*. And it's true, when you look at book sales numbers next to, say, box office numbers, even the huge bestsellers start to look anemic. So why don't books sell like movies do? It's clearly not a price issue. My book, which released in mass market paperback (the size you can stick in your purse or a really big pocket), retails for $7.99. That's the matinee price at my local theater and a third of the cost of a new DVD. Now, it's true trade paperbacks will run you a bit more, and hardback prices are outrageous, but I think we can safely say that price isn't the driving factor here. So what is it? Why don't people buy more books? Is it because our schools are failing at teaching kids to enjoy reading? Is it because publishers aren't serving the needs of the book buying public? Has America (and rest of the world) simply decided that movies and/or television are superior storytelling mediums?

Well, maybe on some of those, but I would put forward that the real reason book sales are eclipsed by movies and almost every other form of consumed entertainment is because, frankly, books are not for everyone. They are not for the lazy, reading a book requires you to work with the author. Even the simplest, trashiest, escapist books require you to fill in faces, places, voices, everything with your own imagination. Where movies ask only that you watch, meaning keep your eyes open and your brain engaged enough to follow the plot, books are a two way street. You and the author share the storytelling, the author provides plot, character, story, and description, but everything else is up to you. That takes work, though, effort, and if life as an American has taught me anything, it's that we freaking hate doing work, even when the work is enjoyable.

Movies and television are easy. Even in the best of them, your story is fed to you through a straw. All you have to do is take it in. This is not to diss on screen entertainment. I'm an avid reader, but there are plenty of times when all I want to do is turn on the TV and watch. That's fine, that's what television and movies are for: plug-n-play entertainment. But books, books are work. Amazingly fun, rewarding, life altering work, but nothing can change the fact that people are lazy, and work, even awesome work, tends not to get done when there are other options.

This difference (easy story consumption vs. working for you story) might seem like another nail in the coffin for reading. It's not a stretch to say that people don't like effort, just look at how many of us choose the elevator despite the much lauded health benefits of taking the stairs. However, this is also the exact reason I say that, although movies and television and whatever new story technologies are to come will probably always eclipse book sales, books will never, ever go away. See, the work a reader puts into a book is an investment, an investment that often pays out enormously. Reading gives you a stake in the world you are helping to create, something anyone who's ever read a book and finished with that special sort of giddy glee that accompanies a fantastic read can attest to. No one is ever going to give that up.

Still, all that joyful tingling doesn't change the fact that books will never out do movies in sales because books make you do work. Blah. However! This doesn't mean that books are flopping. The vultures are going to have a long wait because books are actually really hot right now, and they're only going to get more popular. That's because the next generation of readers coming up is the Harry Potter generation. Harry Potter and other blockbuster books, Eragon, Lemony Snicket, Twilight, and so on, whatever we may think of them, have done more for reading than any school literacy program could have dreamed. These books made reading cool. They taught an entire generation that books are worth the investment. And for genre writers, it gets even better. I mean, Harry Potter made wizard fantasy, once the realm of the ubernerd, cool. These blockbusters, most of which have been fantasy, have brought floods of money into fantasy/scifi publishing. This money, along with the rise of SciFi culture thanks in large part to videogames and movies, plus the ravenous beast that is Urban Fantasy, has created an explosion of interest, investment, and new offerings in genre fiction. Add to this the excitement of e-readers, which combines reading with America's favorite pastime – gadget buying, and suddenly publishing has a pretty bright future. In fact, I can't think of a better time to be a debut novelist.

The truth is we are living in a golden age of reading. We as a species have never had more or better books so easily and cheaply available. And within this golden age of reading is a platinum age genre fiction, and it's only getting better. So the next time someone says publishing is dying, tell them (politely) that they're full of it. Publishing is changing, and change is never easy or disaster free, but books are thriving. In fact, it's probably never been easier or more rewarding to be an author than it is right now, and there's certainly never been a better time to be a reader. So enjoy this golden age of fiction, read everything that you can, support your writers by spreading the word about their books, and let's see if we can keep this fantastic thing going for years to come.

* (I'm deliberately excluding games here because we're talking about pure storytelling mediums and story is never more than a fraction of any gaming experience. This is as it should be, because a game that is 100% about story is really just a movie where you push buttons.)

Rachel Aaron the author of The Spirit Thief, a funny adventure fantasy about money, magic, and the world's greatest thief, available at bookstores everywhere October 1! You can read sample chapters, reviews, and Rachel's blog at www.rachelaaron.net.

Thank you so much for joining us today, Rachel!

For those of you following the Grave Witch blog tour, remember you can find all the tour stops on the front page of my website. Today's stop is a post on Magic in Modernity over at Reading with Tequillia. Please go check it out!

More to come

2010-09-29T09:17:00.001-04:00

I'm working on the Writers' Police Academy post, so it should be up later today. In the meantime, I have a guest post about the Grave Witch cover up at Literary Escapism. If you've been wondering about how the cover came about (at least the process I was able to observe) then please, go check it out! There is also a contest to win a $10 amazon gift certificate, so check out the post and leave a comment there for a chance to win.

And on the topic places to go and things to win, I'm being interviewed on SciFi Guy and Obfuscation of Reality today. Check it out to learn more than you likely want to know about me and my story, and, of course, signed books are up for grabs!

One more quick note before I return to writing the blog you are actually looking for. Grave Witch has been nominated for "Best UF/PNR BOOK Cover For October 2010 Book Release" at Bitten By Books. The book is currently closing in on third place, which is awesome. The books GW is competing with are all gorgeous, so I'm thrilled so many people like the Grave Witch cover. Thank you everyone who has voted! If you haven't had a chance to stop by and voice your opinion, I urge you to take a minute to vote your favorite. (The poll can be found in the sidebar on the right hand side of the page.)

Thanks everyone!
Check back later for a post on the Writers' Police Academy.

UPDATE: Okay guys. I lied. I only wrote a portion of the post, so the Writers' Police Academy post is now postponed until Friday. (Sorry! Things are a little crazy. But Friday--promise) Tomorrow we'll have a guest post from debut author Rachel Aaron, so check back soon!

Interview with Rachel Vincent

2010-09-28T09:47:00.000-04:00

Today I have the privilege of interviewing Rachel Vincent, the author of the Shifters and Soul Screamers series. I first met (met being virtual) Rachel when I was in the submission process with Once Bitten and she'd just sold Stray but still had a good year or more wait before it was set to hit shelves. She was one of the first authors I worked up the nerve to talk to, and she turned out to be one of the nicest, most helpful people I've ever corresponded with. She also turned out to be an absolutely phenomenal author who quickly rose to the top of my 'must buy' list.

The final novel in her Shifters series, Alpha, hits shelves today and I'm anxiously awaiting the UPS man to deliver my copy. So it is with a great deal of excitement that I'm interviewing Rachel about her writing, the Shifter series, and Alpha.

Without further ado, the interview:

Kalayna: The Shifters series was your first published series and I know it must be a little scary for it to be coming to an end. In a genre with many apparently never ending series, what made you decide to end yours after book six and a short story instead of starting a new arc of the story and continuing?

Rachel: Good question. Usually people ask me why I’m ending the series, and the answer to that is because Faythe’s story has come to its natural conclusion. So why didn’t I just switch to a new character and start a new arc in the same world? I guess I don’t want to be known as a one-trick pony. I love Faythe and her friends and family, and I will always love them. But Shifters wasn’t the first series I wrote, and it obviously won’t be the last, considering I also write YA now. I don’t want to cling to one world just because it’s proved successful for me. I need to know that Shifters wasn’t a fluke—that I can write something else for adults that people will like.

Kalayna: While each book in the Shifters series stands alone, it has been very clear since early on that the everything has been building toward the climatic confrontation promised in this final installment. When you started the series, how much of the storyline was plotted? Have you known since book one where Faythe's journey would take her? I know you use post-it notes and a whiteboard when you sit down to write individual books, but can you share any quick insight to how you planned the series?

Rachel: I wrote Stray as a standalone, because I hadn’t thought very far beyond simply writing the book. Then I was told that urban fantasy tended to sell in sets of 2 or 3 and that it might be beneficial for me to have a sequel at least started when I was ready to pitch Stray. So I wrote Rogue. During the revisions for Rogue, I started to get an idea of where the story was going. When I realized that there would be very real consequences for the crime Faythe committed (through self-defense) in Rogue, the rest of the world building (Council, Malone, large-scale rebellion) began to fall into place.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure I have any insights to share in how I planned out the series. I just kind of did it. There was a lot of talking things through with my CP, my editor, and #1. A lot of idea bouncing. That kind of thing.

Kalayna: Speaking of what was planned . . . I have to ask about the Jace/Marc storyline. (You knew they would come up eventually.) Now, I must say I've been firmly team Jace since I met him in book one--in fact, I felt terribly bad for him and his super cat hearing when he was in traction down the hall from Faythe's room at the end of book one--but I know you have fans voting (rather vehemently) for opposing sides of that love triangle. Did you know from the beginning of the series that Faythe would get caught in that rather tangled love triangle? Have you always known who she will end up with at the end? Have you ever been tempted to change who that will be?

Rachel: Honestly, I never thought of it as a “love triangle” until other people started calling it that, at the end of Stray. Before I’d given any hint of Jace’s continued pursuit of Faythe after being turned down. I’ve always thought of it simply as Faythe having choices, which can happen to anyone. How many people date only one person before making a permanent choice? I went to high school and college. I know most people have options, and most people explore those options. No one I knew in real life struggled as much with the final choice as Faythe has, but then, no one I know in real life has fought side by side with and put her life in the hands of two people who genuinely love her like Marc and Jace love Faythe, either.
Have I always known who she’d end up with? No. But I always knew that it would be one or the other. Sharing just isn’t an option for anyone in Faythe’s world with Alpha potential. They’re too stubborn and a bit jealous. Maybe even a little possessive.
Have I been tempted to change the final decision? Yes, of course! If it was an easy decision to make, I wouldn’t have written it in the first place. This is a real struggle for Faythe, and it was a real struggle to write, too. ;)

Kalayna: In the world of your shifter novels, the pride cats are the predominant shifter species. We are told early on that werewolves are extinct, but over the course of the series we meet two other shifter species. Will we meet any new species in Alpha?

Rachel: No, but you’ll see just about everyone you’ve met in the series so far.

Kalayna: Alpha is the final full length shifter series you ever plan to release. I can only imagine what you're feeling right now as with this book, you will be simultaneously saying goodbye to these characters and sharing with your readers the final payoff for what everything in the series has been building toward. How do you plan to celebrate the release? Anything special or different from what you've done to celebrate the release of other books?

Rachel: Um… I usually celebrate a release with more work. It seems premature to celebrate a release, because on release day, it’s too early to know how the book is doing, in sales. I wish I could say that sales don’t matter. That I can just sit back and enjoy my accomplishment. But the truth is that if a book doesn’t sell well, the author may never get to write another one. So while #1 and I might go out to dinner or take a night off to watch a movie, my celebration always comes with a note of caution and a reminder to myself to keep working hard. If you climb too high, the only way left to go is down. ;)

Thank you so much for joining me here today, Rachel! Now I have to get through my daily pages so I can ~~devour~~ read Alpha when it arrives.

By the way, Alpha and Grave Witch have both been nominated for "Best UF/PNR BOOK Cover For October 2010 Book Release" at Bitten By Books. You can vote for your top two favorites (hint hint) so please take a second to VOTE. (The poll can be found in the sidebar on the right hand side of the page.)

Rachel Vincent is the author of the Shifters series, about a werecat named Faythe Sanders, who is learning to define her own role in her family and fighting to claim a place in her Pride.

Rachel’s young adult urban fantasy series, Soul Screamers, is about a teenage bean sidhe (banshee) trying to balance a normal high school experience with the terrifying, hidden world she’s just discovered. My Soul To Take and My Soul To Save are available now. Look for My Soul To Keep on June 1, 2010.

A resident of San Antonio, Rachel Vincent has a BA in English and an overactive imagination, and consistently finds the latter to be more practical. She shares her office with two black cats (Kaci and Nyx) and her # 1 fan. Rachel is older than she looks—seriously—and younger than she feels, but remains convinced that for every day she spends writing, one more day will be added to her lifespan.

News, interviews, and appearances

2010-09-27T11:25:00.000-04:00

Despite signing a waiver which stated that I could die during my firearms training this weekend, I have returned safe and sound from the Writers' Police Academy. I cannot recommend this conference enough. I learned a ton and came home with pages and pages of notes. In fact, so much material was covered, I'm not ready to blog about it yet. I need to go through my notes and pull pictures from my camera, so look for a post on the academy to hit the blog Wednesday.

Why not tomorrow?

Easy. Tomorrow I will be interviewing Rachel Vincent, the amazing author behind the Shifters and Soul Screamers series. You don't want to miss this one, so make sure you stop by the blog tomorrow.

And speaking of interviews, I'm being interviewed over at All Things Urban Fantasy today. (Yes, today. Go read it!) Leave a comment or question to enter the drawing for a signed copy of Grave Witch.

Also, my interview at Penguin.com is now live! Find out more about Death, who I'd talk to if I had my heroine's ability, and even my favorite word. It's a very fun interview, so check it out.

These interviews mark the very first stops on my blog tour. I'll be popping up all over the blogsphere over the next couple weeks, so watch for links to guest posts, interviews, and of course, giveaways. I'm adding links to the tour to the front page of my website. I'll also be tweeting (and by proxy updating facebook) live links as I find them, so if you follow or friend me on either of those social media sites, you'll be the first to know where to find where I'll be on any given day.

And speaking of appearances, I have two local signings I'm please to announce:

Friday, October 8th I'll have my release party at the Barnes and Noble on Forest Drive from 7pm until 9pm. (Address: 3400 Forest Drive, Columbia, SC 29204 phone: 803-787-5600)
I'll also be having a "Halloween signing" on Saturday, October 30th at the Books-A-Million in Sandhills from 1pm until 3pm. (Address: 164 Forum Dr. Columbia, SC 29229 phone: 803-788-4349)

If you are in or around Columbia or the surrounding areas, I hope you'll stop by and pick up a signed book. These are my first ever signings at bookstores, and I'm terrified of being one of those authors sitting behind an untouched mound of her books who everyone is avoiding eye contact with. So, if you could stop by and say 'hi' that would be awesome. I'll bring candy. (Yes, I'm not above bribing . . . )

Okay, I think I should wrap up there. Don't forget to checkout my interviews at All Things Urban Fantasy today and Penguin.com. Also, stop back by here tomorrow to read me play the part as interviewer and ask Rachel several questions about the upcoming final book in her Shifters series.

Have a great Monday everyone!

From the Archive: U can has Laughs 4 UR Grammar

2010-09-24T00:38:00.000-04:00

I'm out of town at the Writers' Police Academy, so today's post is from the blog archive. This post was originally written back in May of 2008--you know, back when the blog had maybe three viewers. So I'm bringing it for your entertainment. The post is updated slightly and now includes even more kittehs!

Enjoy!

Admit it. You've been there. Icanhascheezburger.com or a some other Caterday site. You've looked at the cute little animals with clever little captions because well, they make you laugh. (And if you haven't looked, you should, laughing is good for you.)

The problem becomes apparent when you think about the fact most people understand grammar intrinsically, not factually. Things sound right to the ear. But if enough people use words/phrases incorrectly, they start sounding 'right' and are eventually adopted as slang, and after enough time, slang is adopted as an evolution of the English language. That's what a living language does--it evolves.

Since the advent of instant messenger, English teachers around the states have reported a rapid degradation of proper grammar. I occasionally have to remind myself that smiley faces ^_^ and *emotes* have no place in professional correspondences. That doesn't mean I don't receive them from other 'professionals' at work sometimes.

LoLCats pictures take 'net lingo to a new level. The images are cute and funny, but if you read the forums, they are practically in another language--lolspeak. In large chunks, this stuff is worse than l33t, or at least on par. But hey, for the most part, it's easy to ignore. Until you find yourself repeating it.

It starts out innocent enough. A joke among friends or loved ones. When the DH is teasing me, I often look at him and say "But...I lubs you!" Or to tease him, I'll point to something and say "I can has that?" Amongst most of my closest friends phrases like "Why you wants that?" or "You no can has" are often said to sent via text or gchat.

All good fun. Maybe even cute at times.

Until someone outside 'the know' hears you. Or, possibly even worse, if you find yourself speaking in this terrible version of English in front of strangers.

Last year several of my closest friends and I attended a regional writers conference. When talking to other people, we used something akin to proper grammar. But, when we'd talk amongst ourselves, we'd inevitably slide into LOL, despite the fact we were still in ear shot of agents, editors, and fellow writers--not the right crowd for sure. We had to ban LOL for the weekend and we still slipped up at times. Shock collars might have been helpful.

Not good.

So, tread carefully as you laugh. Grammar no iz good trade 4 lols.

On Research

2010-09-23T10:16:00.001-04:00

When you tell someone that you write fiction, occasionally (but more often than one might expect) one of two extreme assumptions are voiced:

1.) The writer sat down at the computer and made up the whole thing without having to deal with any pesky research.
or
2.) The story is a true one that the writer somehow got someone to tell them and then changed just a few details. (This one tends to be voiced to people writing straight mysteries and such--not so much to fantasy authors.)

Both of these extremes are amusing because while I'm sure there are some writers out there who do no research whatsoever, I've never personally met one. On the other extreme, well, that one is obvious--we'd call it non-fiction if that were true.

Even in fantasy, there is a happy medium between making stuff up and knowing how things work. This covers everything from you have to know how the rules work before you break them, to the fact the reader needs to be grounded in certain realistic facts to accept the more fantastical. Research could be on anything from anatomy and physiology to the development of certain cultures and civilizations to the layout of a city or building.

My personal research is all over the place. I'm sure my library holds and internet searches have me on some sort of government watch list. My family understands at least--after all, how many people can say her grandparents gave her a guide to poisons for Christmas (and no one else in the room think this is the least bit strange)?

Books and the internet are great sources for information, but often you can talk to someone with experience--it is amazing how many doors will open if you mention you are writing a book and of course are friendly and polite. And once in a while, you can get first hand experience (when appropriate).

This weekend I'm going to get the opportunity to both go directly to sources and get some first hand experience so I can collect and catalog my own impressions. Doing what, you may ask? Well, working with the Boys in Blue (you know, that saying doesn't make much sense anymore--most of the cops around here wear black uniforms.) I will be attending the Writers' Police Academy this weekend for a three day, hands-on, interactive experience geared toward helping writers "enhance their understanding of all aspects of law enforcement and forensics." I can't wait!

Today's questions: If you're a writer, what is the most interesting research you've ever undertaken? Readers, what is something you're familiar with that you think is unique or intriguing that you'd like to share? (Some small fact or bit of trivia?)

Have a great day everyone! Tomorrow's blog post will be a special reappearance of a classic post from the archives--one with pictures! Now I have to figure out what to pack for this weekend. . .

This is not a post.

2010-09-22T16:34:00.000-04:00

This is not the post you are looking for. But, when you click away from the page, you will decide your reader needs from this blog are fulfilled for the day. And hopefully you will return tomorrow when the blog party continues with a new, fascinating, and REAL, blog post. Today I am buried under writing novels.

Until tomorrow . . .
-k

Guest Post from Lucienne Diver: Top Ten Things to Love about Being Fanged and Fabulous

2010-09-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

As many of you probably know, the absolutely fabulous Lucienne Diver is my agent. What you may not know about Lucienne is that on top of being a wonderful agent, she is an amazing author. She writes a fun and sassy YA novel you have to check out. I read the first novel, Vamped, when it first came out last year, and I can't wait to dive into the sequel, Revamped, which just hit shelves. What, on top of adventure, danger, cute boys, deception, vampires, and a character with perfect fashion sense makes this series one that can't be missed?

Voice. And lots of it.

Lucienne's guest post is full of that same great voice, so I hope you enjoy!

More of Gina's Gems (from the notebooks of Gina Covello, fashionista of the damned and star of Vamped and Revamped)

Top Ten Things to Love about Being Fanged and Fabulous

Vampires don't get zits. Score!

Paparazzi can't catch candid shots of you with stubble, smudgy eyeliner, plumbers' butt or other fashion disasters.

When someone tells you "you suck," they mean it literally.

Eternal youth means never having to say you're saggy.

Moonlight is totally flattering.

Minions!

The all-liquid diet is very slimming.

If something costs you an arm and a leg, you can always grow it back.

Let's face it, the neck-biting is just sexy.

And the #1 thing to love:

Fangs are always fashion-forward.

Lucienne Diver writes humorous vamps, because it's hard to take life seriously when your puppy sits under your desk licking your toes as you type. Her heroine, Gina, got her start in Vamped and, as will come as no surprise to those who've read it, subsequently decided she wanted more. Thus, one book became to and two, two will become fourwho knows where it will stop. Today the bookstore, tomorrow, the mall! You can learn more about her here:
Website: www.luciennediver.com
Author blog: http://varkat.livejournal.com
Character's blog: http://ginasgems.livejournal.com

Thank you for joining us here on the blog party, Lucienne!
Happy Tuesday everyone.

On Endings

2010-09-20T15:00:00.000-04:00

"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop."
Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The king's advice to the white rabbit in the above quote seems too easy, too self-explanatory to be of any use to a writer. And yet, how to begin or end a story is an issue I see discussed and bemoaned on craft loops on a regular basis. More emphasis seems to go into the beginning of a book, as that is what agents and editor, and eventually readers will see, but how you leave a reader is as important as hooking them in the beginning. I've blogged before on beginnings, so I thought I'd take a look a endings today.

"Go on till you come to the end. Then stop." Seems easy enough, right? But I bet we've all read a book that left us more than just unsatisfied; endings that just didn't work. Two examples leap instantly to my mind, and I won't be naming any names here for various reasons--spoilers and that it would be in bad taste not the least of those--but let's just say both of the following books were best selling novels by NYT best selling authors.

In my first example, I'm going to talk about a book that I personally felt the author stopped before the book ended, so that the story just abruptly stopped. This was a mystery, and the main character finds the very last clue and mentally unravels the mystery of how the victim was killed and by who. She calls the police right before the murder walks out and cordially invites the main character into the house.

Then the book ends.

Yes, the mystery is solved--we know who did it and how--but what happens when the main character walks into the house? Does her host realize the police have already been called? What happens when they arrive? As none of this is in the book, the assumption is that everything went as clockwork, but I still felt that these scenes were missing. I checked the spine to see if pages had been torn from my book and then went to the bookstore to see if my copy was defective. For me, the book just didn't end in the right place. It hit the climax and then stopped with no easy down for the reader.

In the reverse, with my second example I feel the author continued to write long after the book had ended. This one was a thriller, and we spent a good three hundred pages invested in watching the main character track and attempt to stop a serial killer. Once he was finally dead, I anticipated a little wrap up and the book to be over.

But no. There were a good fifty pages left.

Every plot thread was fully explored and tied off and a second 'mystery' appeared. It wasn't a bad story--honestly, I enjoyed the book--but I'd had my payoff already in the bad guy getting his; the rest dragged. To me, the book ended in one place and stopped far later.

So then, how do we know where the end of a story is and where to stop? Well, like I said, both of the above examples were bestselling novels, so obviously these endings worked for a lot of people--they just didn't for me. Which is one of the issues with writing: enjoyment is a person to person experience.

Not so helpful, I know. What it means when you are writing is that you write what you would like to read. Where do stories you like to read end? Where do you feel your story ends.

Personally, I like books where the main plot is solved and the highest tension occurs, and then we have one last chapter that wraps things up a bit. If we were looking at a visual graph of the tension, the very highest point would be the climax, but then we would have a little downward sloping tail before the last page. I like the main characters to have a second to breath before they let me go, to maybe get a small peek of how their life goes on after all the changes which occurred in the book.

A good example of this can be found in Stacia Kane's Downside novels. I just read all three in the last month (I know, I know: I'm late to the game and several of you have been recommending them for a while. You were right--I loved them) and each book hits it's highest point and ties up the main plot. Then we have a just a couple pages at most of fallout and seeing Chess after she's gone through what she did in the book. These short ends gave me as a reader a chance to ground myself again before saying goodbye. Also, since this is a series, it brought into focus the plot threads Kane left dangling so I was very hungry to go out and find the next book (especially after Unholy Magic).

Of course, then there is always the option of leaving a heavy hook at the end, like the amazing Rachel Caine is prone to do. (Prone to? Ha, I dub her the evil queen of cliffhangers!) Actually, that isn't a fair title as there is a difference between a cliffhanger and a heavy hook. The cliffhanger doesn't tie up the main plot but stops the action (and the book) at a high moment of tension. The heavy hook wraps up the main plot but then, at the very end, hints at or adds in something at the very end which makes you want to jump right into the next book. This is another ending which works for me as long as the main plot truly was completed: mystery solved, bad guys caught, crisis diverted, problem solved--at least temporarily.

So, here are my questions for you today. What are some endings you read recently which worked for you? (no spoilers please!) Why did they work? Without naming names, what endings didn't work? Why? What are your feelings on cliffhangers and heavy hook endings?

I hope every is having a great Monday. Check back tomorrow when I'll be hosting my amazing agent, Lucienne Diver, to talk about her new release!

Title Trivia

2010-09-17T12:36:00.002-04:00

Today, purely for your amusement, I thought I'd share some random trivia about my titles. It's possible I've shared some of this information before, but I'm sure I've never put it all down in one place. I hope you enjoy!

When writing ONCE BITTEN, I initially titled the book Dead Cats Don't Cry, which is a line Bobby says to Kita in the third chapter of the book. At that time, I planned to call the second book in the series Good Cats Stay Dead, which was a line planned for the second book. (When I shuffled the plots of the second and third book, that line was moved and is still said by the intended character, but in book three instead of in book two.) I abandoned these names long before selling the series.

By the time the books sold, the first book was titled Dark Haven. The second and third books were planned as Crimson Death and Moonlight Gate. My working series title was The Kita of Firth Series. My editor tossed the initial title as not sounding urban fantasy enough and several others were thrown around in very quick succession. I actually found out the official title and series title (Once Bitten and the Novels of Haven, respectively) when I saw the final cover at Dragon*Con 2008.

I followed the title scheme set down by my editor with that first book and the titles TWICE DEAD and THIRD BLOOD were approved for books two and three. I'm not sure what book four will be called yet, but I'm throwing around a couple ideas based on the plot for the book, but nothing has settled yet (and then it still will have to be approved.)

As opposed to the many times named Novels of Haven, the Alex Craft Novels had a very different naming journey.

I dislike having projects called "untitled" on my docket, so when I first created the new document for GRAVE WITCH, I went ahead and titled it as such simply because it was about Alex and she is, well, a grave witch. I assumed another name would hit me while I was writing, but nothing better ever came to mind. If I had gone through a formal querying stage for the book, I might have gotten around to changing the name--maybe--but as the situation worked out, Lucienne is the only agent I ever sent it to, and she decided to represent me and it was back out the door and sold before I could so much as catch my breath let alone change the title. Of course, once it was sold, I just assumed my editor would change the title (I mean, that was how it worked with my first series, right?) But it didn't change. People liked the title. (Heck, I like the title, I just assumed . . . well, you know what they say about assumptions.)

Then it came to naming the second book. While writing the first draft, the file actually said GW2. For the first time in my life, I was working on a completely untitled book--totally unlike me. When I started sending it out for critique, that fact really started bugging me, so I started applying random names to the book. Honestly. One day/week I'd send out chapters under one name and the next it would change. I have notes in the margins from my cp's that say things like "Wasn't this called something else before?" Thankfully, the book does now have a title. My editor finally pressured me for a title because the file I sent her just said "An Alex Craft Novel". I sent her a list of half a dozen or so possible names because I still couldn't decide. Luckily, she could. The winner was (I think I can announce this) GRAVE DANCE, which will be out in 2011.

What will the third Alex Craft Novel be called? Please don't terrify me by asking.

Okay, now you know more than you ever wanted about the titles to my series. I hope you found it amusing! Happy Friday everyone. Have a great weekend and make sure to stop back by on Monday when the Blog Party picks up again!

Guest Post from M. K. Hobson: Making things go poof

2010-09-16T09:11:00.000-04:00

Today I have the privilege of introducing you to one of the amazing author guests I have the honor of hosting here on the blog party. I know debut novelist M. K. Hobson from The Magic District blog where we both contribute. Even if the blurb of her recently released first novel, The Native Star, hadn't already convinced me to add it to my TBR, this inside look into her magic system would definitely make me stop and take notice. I found her magical worldbuilding absolutely fascinating, and I hope you do as well.

Without further ado, M. K. Hobson:

Making things go poof

While we write in slightly different genres (historical versus kick-ass urban fantasy) there's one thing Kalayna and I obviously agree on: witches are seriously cool. So when she kindly invited me to do a guest post, I thought I'd head straight for our common ground and talk about my magic system and how I created it.

My debut novel THE NATIVE STAR was released from Spectra at the end of August. Set in 1876, it follows the adventures of a timber camp witch from California and a stuck-up warlock from New York City as they race across the United States by horse, train, and biomechanical flying machine trying to escape the clutches of evildoers.

Because THE NATIVE STAR is a historical fantasy set in a recognizable period in American history, I had to follow a few rules. Whatever magic system I created had to be able to account for the kinds of magical practice that actually existed at the time (e.g., southern hoodoo, Ozark folk magic, Native American magic, etc.) In studying those magical traditions, I decided all magical practice could be broken into three fundamental components: spirit, faith, and blood. In my book, each of those became its own unique strain of magic.

Animancy, like its name suggests, is essentially animist. The essences of earthly things, both living and dead, are used to effect works. The least aggressive strain of magic, animancy is fundamentally collaborative, requiring the practitioner to cooperate with—or at the very least have sympathy toward—the essence of the thing that he or she is asking for help.
Credomancy derives power from human faith—the more intense the better. Credomancers are as powerful as people believe them to be, so much of their effort is put into building and maintaining an imposing façade. They are not above using social and mental manipulation to build their power, and they must never allow their power to be questioned or examined for fear of losing it entirely. In our real world, any kind of religion in which a priest (or priestess) acts as a conduit to the divine is an example of credomancy. While less violent than sangrimancy, the practice of credomancy is not without ethical baggage.
Sangrimancy is blood-magic. In my world, power does not come from the blood itself, but from the human emotions stored within it. The emotional state of the victim at the time that the blood is harvested for magical use is of great importance—thus, a sangrimancer must be accomplished at instilling terror, hatred, passion, or other powerful emotions into his or her victim before bleeding them. Without a doubt, sangrimancy is the most brutal of all the magical strains, and practitioners who employ heavy elements of sangrimancy in their practice are generally not very nice people.

Creating a magic system that worked within real-world history was challenging, but it was one of the most enjoyable parts of writing the book. I invite Kalayna's readers will give it a look and let me know how I did!

M.K. Hobson is the author of THE NATIVE STAR, a historical fantasy romance. Set in an 1876 America where magic is a mostly-accepted part of society, it is currently available at fine booksellers nationwide. You can find out more at the website, www.thenativestar.com

So you see, what happened was . . .

2010-09-15T17:35:00.001-04:00

While I have a project on the back burner that is completely unrelated to either of the series under contract, nearly all of my attention is currently on the two series I'm writing. Which means everything I'm writing right now is a sequel to the book or books before it. In a series, each book should stand alone, as in the major issue presented at the beginning of the book should be resolved to some fashion by the end so the story has its own arc. But most series are connected by more than just character and world. While the main plot might be tied up at the end of each book, plot threads are often woven through a series. Also character growth, relationships, ability development, and such are explored over the course of a series. This means that while theoretically you could pick up a series and read it out of order, you'd get a lot more out of it by starting at the beginning.

That doesn't mean everyone starts at the beginning. In fact, I'd gamble from other discussions I've seen that as many as a third of those reading this post don't mind reading a series out of order. Personally, that would drive me nuts--guess I have a little OCD hidden in me somewhere--but knowing that the books will be read out of order means a writer has to take into account that just because something was explained in a previous book, doesn't mean that all the readers will be familiar with that explanation. (Or even that they will remember with most books coming out nearly a year apart.) So some rehashing of information is necessary, both to inform new readers and to remind everyone else.

The question then, is how much?

I know I've personally read books where I wanted to toss the book across the room as I yelled "I know all that already! Get on with it!" I've also read books where I sat there going "Who is this guy? Did we meet him already?" So there is definitely a happy medium.

When working with back story, the general rule is: No large info dumps. Work the information into the narrative in small slices. While what happened in a previous book isn't the same kind of back story as what happened to the character at say, age fifteen, it still happened before the opening of the current book. Quick reminder explanations of who someone is or how something works the first time it is encountered typically works well. The biggest issues tend to arise when dealing with something that changed drastically in a previous book (most likely due to the plot of that book) and trying to decide how much about that change (and plot) needs to be laid out for the reader. Again, this is (typically attempted to be) done without interrupting the forward progression of the story.

But recently I've noticed something new occurring in books. I wouldn't say it's a new trend because I haven't seen it enough to call it a trend, but I've run across at least a handful of books over the last few years which have a type of foreword that's not quite a prologue and basically quickly (as in maybe a manuscript page or two) lays out some of the pertinent events which occurred in previous books in the serious. Kind of like on TV shows. You know: "Previously on Vampire Diaries" followed by a series of quick scenes which brings viewers up to date before dropping us into this weeks episodes. (Yes, I admit it, I'm totally addicted to that show--it's deliciously dark and twisty.)

Have you read any books recently which had this "previously in . . ." type of start? Did you read it or skip it? Was it a good refresher, or just a rehash you could have gone without? Also, just because I'm curious: Do you always read series in order, or do you read them in whatever order you happen to stumble upon them?

Happy hump day everyone! Also, remember to check back tomorrow for a fabulous guest post from M. K. Hobson.

What does an author look like?

2010-09-14T15:07:00.003-04:00

When you close your eyes and try to picture the quintessential author, what/who do you see?

I mean, when prompted with 'football player' you probably think of a big, muscular guy. 'Basketball player' probably summons images of someone tall. How about librarian? Do you suddenly picture a woman in glasses maybe? Okay, so these are stereotypes, but at the same time they are stereotypes because they are common.

So what is the stereotype of an author? What is the first image that pops in your mind? When you read an author's work and then find them (either in person or online) are you often shocked by their appearance?

I get the feeling I might not be what most people picture as an author. A series of recent responses to my appearance prompts this particular observation. In particular, a recent interaction with a bookstore employee really left me wondering. The encounter went down something like this:

Me (approaching the information counter): Hi, my name is Kalayna Price and I have a book being released by Roc next month. I was hoping you could tell me who I should contact to inquire about setting up a book signing.
Bookseller: I'm sorry, we don't have signings for self published books.
Me: (blink)
Me: (pause)
Me: Well, it's being released by Roc. That's an imprint of Penguin.
Bookseller (no pause): Having a signing will depend on if the book is returnable or not.

She did eventually give me the email address of the person in the store who handled book signings, but I couldn't help being perplexed (and a little put off) by her immediate assumption that I was self-published. Perhaps she'd had a recent encounter of her own that made her act so prickly, but I have the feeling my appearance had something to do with her reaction. It might have been my age (I'm in my twenties--though many of the writers in my genre are in the late twenty/early thirties range) or perhaps the fact my bangs are blue currently. I clean up fairly well, as in I was wearing conservative makeup and business casual clothing the day I went to the bookstore, but certain things--like the blue hair--are hard to hide. Maybe there is some factor I'm not considering for her reaction, but the fact I didn't fit into some perceived concept of what an author should look like is the first explanation that hit me, which is why I'm curious what you out there think an author looks like.

For me, what an author looks like is a murky subject. I mean, as I am an author, I'm rather biased. Also, I break down 'what an author looks like' in to two categories: the writing author and the public author.

In my experience, the writing author looks like your average joe on a Saturday (maybe even slumming it a bit) because when writing, with the only people we encounter during the day being those in our heads, things like putting on make-up and dressing sharp are just distractions that take time away from writing the book.

But the public author? The one at conventions or book signings? Well, she or he is a much more complicated and diverse breed.

From what I've seen when meeting other authors, business casual to suits are the norm--though not the rule. I've seen authors show up in everything from jeans and tee-shirts to tuxes/ball gowns to costumes of one of their characters (and everything in between). While my personal tastes gravitate toward big black boots and corsets, I do try to dress approriately for the situation. That means at professional writing conferences I pull out my suits and try to minimize the fact my hair is two or more different colors (at least one of which isn't found in nature) at any given time and I save my fishnet gloves and stripped tights for fan conventions.

Situations where expectations are less defined are a bit more difficult. As Grave Witch is just over 20 days from release, I'm having to consider what I want to wear to signings--which I have started scheduling despite the above bookseller's response, though that response does give me pause.

These are my questions for you: How much does a person's perception of what an author should look like influences their impression of an author's work if they have never read said work? If you were at a bookstore and saw an author standing by a table with his/her books, would their appearance affect whether you stopped to look at the books? Would you be more intimidated by certain looks? More likely to take someone who looked a certain way more seriously?

I'm extremely curious, so please chime in!
Happy Tuesday everyone!

Want to win a copy of Grave Witch?

2010-09-10T15:35:00.001-04:00

Anne Sowards posted a preview of the upcoming releases for the Ace/Roc line on Dear Author a couple days ago, and Grave Witch is up there and in great company. I didn't see the cut off date to enter the drawing, but it looks like Anne has 2 copies of Grave Witch as well as copies of the new Briggs, Andrews, Caine, and several others to give away. If you'd like to enter, go check it out!

Happy Friday everyone. I hope you have a great weekend. The blog party will start back up here again on Monday, so I'll see you soon!