Kalayna Price

As you probably know, I have severally cut back my traveling and appearance schedules this year.  While the decision was necessary, I have missed having the opportunity to chat with many of you.  The good news is, I will get to chat and hang out this weekend at ConCarolinas . Below is my schedule for the weekend. I hope to see you there! Fri 04:00 pm Writer's Reception Lakeshore Ballroom I & II - Main Programming Fri 09:00 pm Writing the Other Harris - Programming 9 Sat 04:00 pm The Villain as Protagonist Harris - Programming 9 Sat 10:00 pm Bloodsucking Fiends Olmstead - Programming 8 Sat 11:30 pm Making Monsters Scary Again Olmstead - Programming 8

I can't believe NY Comic Con is only days away. I realized that I haven't posted my schedule for the convention yet, so I should probably do that, huh? I hope to see you there! Friday, October 12th: 1:30 -2:30 PM, 1A14 PANEL: PASSION, POWER, AND PARANORMALS! Description: Authors discuss the inclusion of romantic elements in their action-packed novels. If dating the undead wasn’t tricky enough, these protagonists must also battle the forces of evil while trying to keep their sanity and the world safe from destruction. Moderator Jocelyn Davies (Author of A B eautiful Dark and A Fractured Light ; Editor at Razorbill/Penguin Young Readers)will have the authors divulging the steamy details behind creating their characters and their tricky love affairs. 3:15–4:15 PM AUTOGRAPHING: PASSION, POWER, PARANORMALS Saturday, October 13th:  2:45--3:45 PM, 1A01 PANEL: GENRE-BENDERS: Out-of-the-box Science-Fiction and Fantasy Novels that blur the lines of fantasy, SF, horror, r...

Dragon*Con is just a few days away and I'm getting everything packed and ready. Here is where I'll be during the con: Title: Frightening Folklore Description: look at the ways folklore is used in dark fantasy fiction Time: Fri 5:30 pm Location: Embassy C - Hyatt ( Length: 1 Hour) Title: Reading: Kalayna Price Time: Sat 01:00 pm Location: Marietta - Hyatt ( Length: 1 Hour) Title: You Are What You Fight Description: How heroes identify (or not) with their monstrous foes Time: Sat 7:00 pm Location: Embassy C - Hyatt ( Length: 1 Hour) Title: Creating Memorable Characters Description: Never to early to start developing the best characters possible. What's the secret? Learn from the pros. Time: Sun 11:30 am Location: Embassy D-F - Hyatt ( Length: 1 Hour) Title: Bell Bridge Spotlight Description: Focus on Bell Bridge Books Time: Sun 2:30 pm Location: Embassy D-F - Hyatt ( Length: 1 Hour)   Title: The Perfect Blend: Genre Mixing in Urban Fan...

[If you haven't seen it yet, scroll down to check out the current contes t for a chance to win an Alex Craft or Haven themed t-shirt!] June 28-July 1st I'll be in Louisville, Kentucky for Fandomfest . This will be my first time at Fandomfest, so I'm very excited but a little nervous. If you see me looking lost and alone, please come talk to me. (Even if I don't look lost and alone, come talk to me! I love talking to new and old friends alike.)  The panels look grea t, and I'll be at a table with John Hartness and James Tuck, so I think this will be an awesome conference. I hope I'll see you there. Here is my schedule: Friday: 4:00pm Horror Genre Perspectives from Female Writers (Morrow Room) Join a discussion with a group of female authors as they explore the horror genre from the context of a woman’s perspective! Panel Features:   Selah Janel (M), Mandi M. Lynch, SH Roddey, Pamela Turner, Kalayna Price 5:30pm Using Folklore in Fiction (Wilson Roo...

ConCarolinas starts tomorrow (check out the last post for my schedule) and I've spent most of the day preparing. There were shirts to screen print, buttons to press, and outfits to arrange. And of course, that gift basket I mentioned in the last post. Want to see? Lots of goodies in there, including an ARC of Grave Memory. You have to be present to win, so I hope you'll stop by my table and say hi. I'd love to chat with you! Okay, time for me to go pack and stuff. I'll see you at the convention!

[If you didn't see yesterday's call for minions , please scroll down to the previous post to learn how to get some free stuff by helping me spread the word with bookmarks!] June is almost here (time moves faster each year, I swear) which means it is almost time for ConCarolinas !  This is a convention I look forward to each year because I always see so many friends. The Magical Words crew will be having our yearly reader lunch on Saturday, which is always a highlight of the weekend. I think last year we had sixty-four people turn out for the event--it was amazing. The line up of panels this year is once again exciting, and I'll have a table where I'll be signing books, giving out free stuff, and of course have books for sale. I'll also have a giveaway basket that will include an ARC of Grave Memory--I haven't decided how I'll give out tickets yet, but you have to be present to win, so I hope I'll see you there! Here is my panel schedule. Friday...

This weekend I will be Roanoke, VA for MystiCon . Here is a quick look at my schedule for the event: Fri 8:00 PM Boardroom 1 How To Be a Dark Hunter Determined to vanquish evil in the night. Join Sherrilyn and our other panelists as they discuss how you too can be a dark hunter and protect humanity from things that go bump in the night. Sat 10:00 AM Dogwood 2 Sympathy for The Devil - Liking the Bad Guy We all love to hate the bad guy. The best villains keep fans yearning for more. What makes them so intriguing and how do you write the villain without him/her becoming a caricature. Sat 1:00 PM Signing Table Kalanya Price Signing Sat 6:00 PM Restaurant Koffee Klatch Readings by several of our authors. Sat 8:00 PM Boardroom 1 Where's the Line? Handling Potentially Offensive Topics in Your Work How do you decide how far to go with humor, language, violence, sex and other situations? Do creators have a...

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 J ohn Hartness . I hope you enjoy!

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 ...

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 ...

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 fa...

[ 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 int...

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...

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 ...

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 sig...

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.

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...

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

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

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