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1st Anniversary Blog: A Celebration of Authors 7/27/2010 7:25:24 AM
Time has passed so quickly since I reluctantly started blogging one year ago. Some of the fans of my fantasy series insisted I start a one as a way of keeping them up-to-date with my writing and so on, but I felt I should offer something more, as not everyone visiting my site is personally acquainted with my books. Of course, in starting a blog my greatest concern was whether I had anything worthy of sharing with those in the writing community and if I could even find the time to sustain a meaningful blog, but I managed okay.
Once a month, I would try to offer some of my thoughts on the writing process or share in some writing advice, but the greatest joy I’ve received to date has been using my blog to introduce my readers to so many talented authors; both debut and seasoned, traditionally and indie published!
This anniversary blog is to celebrate the authors featured here in 2009. From new releases to publishing deals and even a film/TV option, I thought the regular followers would love to find out what’s new and what these authors have accomplished in the past year. (If you’d like to read the original interviews, just go to the blog archive for a listing of these featured authors). So, in chronological order based on their posting, here they are, in their own words:
Lori A. May:
This past year has been so productive, there are too many things to account for within just a few sentences-but I'll try! I've received a number of wonderful reviews for my third book, STAINS: EARLY POEMS; many of the reviews are available on my website www.loriamay.com. I'm happy to say I have just completed my fourth book, a non-fiction title, THE LOW-RESIDENCY MFA HANDBOOK: A GUIDE FOR PROSPECTIVE CREATIVE WRITING STUDENTS. The book will be available in December 2010 by Continuum Books. In addition to writing book-length material and a number of articles for magazines such as The Writer, Writer's Digest, and American Road, I have also been traveling a great deal and presenting at writing conferences, festivals, and graduate writing programs. Many of my travels are documented on my blog: http://loriamay.blogspot.com. For the latest publications, news, and events info, I invite readers to visit www.loriamay.com.
Corbin Silverthorn:
Thank you, Lorna, for the opportunity to let everyone know the new things happening at Silverthorn Press, and those happening in my own personal writing life. The biggest news on the website is that we are now accepting submissions from artists and writers of all levels. The submission guidelines can be found here SUBMISSION GUIDELINES. It's very exciting to be a footstool in the career of these fantastic, creative people. Also we will be continuing with the artist and writer interviews. We are updating several sections of the website, including the Silver Witch Grimoire and the section containing current agent information. We truly want this to be an informational and inspirational site for all.
I've been blogging a story on The Raven's Beak. I've named it BITTEN and it has several parts to it. I am currently working on chapter four. You can guess what the story is about! Yes, my favorite subject, vampires!
I'm very excited about working with my wife Sarah on the Tarot project. She is creating the artwork, I am doing the writing, and we are both working together on the design. They will most likely be named, The Silverthorn Tarot, but that remains to be seen. We do have a publishing company that has been waiting patiently and would like to work with us. If all goes well, then the card deck will be out sometime late next year.
Silverthorn Press is growing in leaps and bounds and now we are trying to find a balance between being an informative and interesting website, and an online publisher, willing to give artists and writers a place to showcase their work. We are proud of the work we do, and we are excited in what the future holds for our company.
Alan Baxter:
I've had a busy year. My novels "RealmShift" and "MageSign" were acquired and republished by Gryphonwood Press, so I'm very pleased to be a part of that up and coming publishing house. I'm currently well into my third novel and greatly enjoying the writing process again.
I've been writing a fair amount of short fiction between novels, and had some success getting my short stories published. Most recently I've made sales to Murky Depths magazine and had a story accepted for an Australian anthology from Coeur De Lion publishing called "Anywhere But Earth". The anthology is all about what might be "out there" and looks to showcase a wide variety of science fiction. They've accepted my story, "Unexpected Launch", and that book will be published next year.
With my other hat on as a small press publisher myself, I'm very happy with our own first anthology. I was pleased to get Brenton Tomlinson on board as editor and we had a great response to our submission call.
Now "Dark Page Vol. 1" is available, with fourteen excellent tales of dark speculative fiction. The rest of this year will be focused on hopefully getting a first draft of the new novel finished in time for WorldCon, which is in Australia this year.
Links: My site: http://www.alanbaxteronline.com RealmShift: http://www.amazon.com/RealmShift-Alan-Baxter/dp/0982508743/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 MageSign: http://www.amazon.com/MageSign-Alan-Baxter/dp/0982508751/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 Dark Pages: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Pages-Brenton-Tomlinson/dp/098057823X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273718101&sr=1-1 Blade Red Press - http://www.blade-red.com
Kim Falconer:
A lot has happened since August last year for both of us! Like you, I spend my days writing, editing, brainstorming and pitching, the stuff of life for an author. It’s been productive. I have delivered two more manuscripts to HarperVoyager—book one of my next series, Quantum Encryption and book two! That’s a novel every six months for the last two years and the third in the series, Journey by Night, is to the first draft stage. All on schedule.
In February 2010 the final of series one came out. Strange Attracters has been getting great reviews and the feedback from my readers is awesome. On the first of August, Path of the Stray will be released. It’s the start of the Quantum Encryption series. I’m very excited about these next three books. Not only does the story go places deeper and more convoluted, the cover illustration is by my son, Aaron Briggs. He’s usually a 3D artist but has moved over one dimension to create some spectacular 2D images for this next series. He’s also my alpha reader so he knows the work! Who could want more?
Other exciting news is the release of Quantum Enchantment 1- 3 in eBook format. Now my novels are on Amazon Kindle and other eTailers, a great solution for those outside of Australia and New Zealand who enjoy electronic delivery. On the festival front, in August I’ll be busy at the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival giving a workshop for immerging writers, talking to secondary school students about SF/F and sitting on three panels. It’s going to be a big week! I’ve also just heard that both my 2009 releases, The Spell of Rosette and Arrows of Time, have been nominated for the inaugural Norma K. Hemming Award, a literary award that marks excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, class and sexuality in SF/F. It’s an honor and an inspiration to be considered!
My plans for the next twelve months? I will get books 2 & 3 of Quantum Encryption edited, proofed and released. After that, I’ve another series in mind -- a new story set in a unique and uncanny world.
Thanks Lorna, for inviting me back to chat. It’s great staying in touch with you and your readers!
Website: http://www.kimfalconer.com Follow on Twitter: .KimFalconer
Where to buy the books:
http://www.harpercollins.com.au/authors/50025997/Kim_Falconer/index.aspx Kim’s books on Amazon Kindle
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Kim%20Falconer&tag=asteroerosthe-20&index=digital-text&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
Scott Kessman:
Author Scott Michael Kessman had his second novel in the Tales of Tanglewood YA fantasy series published earlier this year. Entitled "The Tales of Tanglewood: The Curse of Satyr Stump," the novel continues the adventures of Colin in Tanglewood as he and his fey companions try to break the Grey Lady's curse over the satyr chieftain Fionn. Because of the strong influence of Celtic mythology and Irish folklore, his books are now gaining strong recognition in Ireland.
In addition to working on the third novel in the fantasy, Scott is also busy at work completing an urban fantasy entitled "Angel Tears", and revising a gothic vampire novel. A recent move to North Carolina is already filling him with a plethora of new ideas and inspirations.
Both novels in the Tales of Tanglewood series are also available for the Amazon Kindle and the first in a wide variety of formats on Smashwords for only $4.99. You can read the first three chapters of each and discover more about Colin & the fey at http://www.talesoftanglewood.com Information about "Angel Tears" can be found at the Angel Tears Facebook Fan Page
Follow Scott Kessman on Twitter
Chris Belton:
Several things have happened since we last spoke, not least of all the delay of the fantasy novel that I mentioned would be published at the end of last year. The delay was also due to a very unusual situation that was a first for me. Book titles are extremely important in Japan, and my editor, who is one of Japan’s top editors with a long string of bestsellers to his name, came up with a title that he thought would generate greater interest in the book. The problem was, the new title contained the word “ax,” but an ax did not appear anywhere in the book. So I took the whole book apart and more or less rewrote it with a firm ax element, and it is now due to come out in August. It has also been decided that this book will represent the first in a series of books, which was a very gratifying piece of news for me.
I have had a few more non-fiction books published since the last interview, one of which I believe is the world’s first reality book. Ostensibly a non-fiction book aimed at encouraging Japanese people to practice their English on Twitter, the book itself represents a fictional 24-hour tweet-a-thon in which a young Japanese man decides to tweet non-stop for an entire day as a sort of time capsule that he can look back on in the future. So, the book itself represents a single day (June 5th, 2010, to be exact) in the life of this man, but in actuality he has been tweeting on a daily basis since February. Then, on June 5th, I myself stayed up for 24 hours and actually posted every tweet that appeared in the book on Twitter. And, the story is still continuing today. In other words, the story of this man together with the romance he became involved in with one of his followers is an on-going story that started in February and will continue into the future. That’s just a brief explanation, but further details are available on my blog at:
http://www.chrisbelton.com/blog/?p=82 With regard to other works, my horror novel serialization that had been running in a magazine since March last year (Gateway to Hell) came to an end in January, but from April a new mystery novel serialization (Treasure in the Mountains) started in the Asahi Weekly newspaper, which will run through to December this year. I also started a new regular column for the Tacho-Tadoku magazine based on the life and times of Ryoma Sakamoto (a famous Japanese historical figure who played a large role in the Meiji Reformation) as part of a tie-in with a very popular NHK television drama of the same name that is currently being broadcast nationwide. I am also involved in a very large translation project at the moment (close to 2,000 pages,) but it is still top secret and I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so apart from saying that it is related to the movies, I can’t really give any more details.
With regards to appearances, etc., I have been too busy recently to accept many offers to give talks on the lecture circuit, although I did accept one offer to give a talk and sign some books at this year’s Tokyo Book Fair.
Debra Purdy Kong:
Since I guest blogged on your website a few months back, I'm delighted to report that I've had good things happen in my writing life. In January, I found a distributor for my mysteries, Taxed to Death and Fatal Encryption. Also, in March I was offered a contract by TouchWood Editions, a traditional BC-based publisher that publishes a number of titles each year, although only a small percentage is mystery. The publisher connected me with a freelance editor and after two-and-a-half intense months of work this spring, I finished the edits one day before deadline. It was one of the best and most productive two months of my life! This book is the first in a new mystery series featuring transit security officer, Casey Holland. After much debate and discussion, we all agreed that the book would be called The Opposite of Dark, which is based on a passage in the book. It will be released in March 2011, and to say that I'm pretty happy, would be a big understatement. Right now, I'm working on books two, three, and four in the series, which are in various stages of completion. If anyone wants updates on my progress, the best place to find me is on Twitter .debrapurdykong, and I'm also on Facebook. If anyone wants to know more about me, my work and blog sites they can also visit my website at www.debrapurdykong.
Therese Walsh:
I’ve been busy working on my second novel, but I’ve also continued to promote my first—The Last Will of Moira Leahy. Last Will was recently named a finalist for the RWA industry award, the RITA, in the category of “best first novel.” The team at Crown has been working to ready the book for its trade paperback release, too, which will come August 3rd. Just the other day, we learned that TARGET, the store, has chosen Last Will as one of their Breakout Books, which will mean the paperback will be carried nationally in their stores and featured prominently on end caps. I’ve enjoyed participating with book clubs these many months, and recently presented at my first writers’ conference, the Grub Street MUSE conference in Boston. Life has been good!
http://ThereseWalsh.com _http://WriterUnboxed.com
Loreena M. Lee:
My illustrated children’s book, “Dragons I know”, was issued late last year, has been doing very well. It’s available from Ryan Publishing or me directly.
My latest book, “Within these Bonds”, is now out, and will be launched at the Fleetwood Library in Surrey from 2 to 3.30 on July 26th. Bring your friends.
This is a story for adults, about a woman in the 1930’s on a remote Alberta Homestead. Trying to cope in a male-dominated society, she sets out on a path of disappointments and triumphs.
My cookbook will be going to the printers in July, and the 300 page tome will be ready for promotion and sales soon after. I’m excited about it – it’s been a 5 year project. Other than that, I’m working on my memoirs, and I’ve started a new novel, this one set in the future in an alternate universe/planet. It tells of a young woman who is accused of spying, and sentenced to a remote labour camp where she experiences cruelty and compassion.
Having reached my 70th year, I see lots of possibilities ahead. Who knows where my muse will lead me?
Bev Rosenbaum:
Lots happening on this end! My agent is shopping a new series similar in style to ‘I Was a Teenage Popsicle’, and I’ve been writing a bunch of essays for Smart Pop books, a publisher specializing in anthologies on various pop culture phenomena. I just got my author copies of ‘A Taste of True Blood’ – it looks gorgeous and all the essays are fabulous! – and I also have an essay in the upcoming ‘Filled with Glee’. As well, I recently began teaching a children’s writing course at a Toronto college. Catch you later with sales news (hopefully)! Oh, almost forgot to mention that the film/TV option on ‘I Was a Teenage Popsicle’ was recently renewed and a writer was hired, so hopefully I’ll have news on that end for you soon, too!
kc dyer: Let's see. My latest book - A CLOCKWORK CURIOSITY – is finished. This fall, sequel to A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW emerges: FACING FIRE.
(For those of you who know kc through her work as the coordinator of past Surrey International Writers Conferences and are aware she had stepped down from this position, take comfort in knowing that kc is still very active as a board member of this conference!)
Wishing all these authors another amazing year of great achievements and breakthroughs!
