Oh, wait, I think that is supposed to be “What I’m doing at Balticon 46!”
No, on second thought, I think I may have gotten it right the first time.
Bit by bit, my schedule for Balticon 46 has come together, and now I am finally ready to share it in all of its titanic glory! And this year really is titanic. Somehow, when I said that I was willing to do up to 3 panels a day, it got interpreted as 3 panels for each day. Yes, I’m doing twelve panels this year! Plus a reading! The worst part? When I looked over the panels to see what I could back out of… I couldn’t find anything. All of my panels are either things I’d already agreed to do, cool subjects, or a chance to branch out into new areas and break out of the “comfort zone”. So, if you want to see where I’ll be at this year’s Balticon, just click the link and get ready to make some notes. There’s a LOT!
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And, in what seems like a blink of an eye, another week is gone.
But it has been productive. Northern Mist went through editing in what seems like a blink of an eye. I must admit that the editing process was vaguely disappointing. I was expecting more feedback. For once I’m experiencing the desire to continue hammering at a story to polish it further. It has been a new experience. That nagging feeling that says, “I can do better.”
But production schedules will not wait for me. So I have to move forward. [click to continue…]
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Before I get into the review, I have a confession to make. This review is way, way, WAY over due. Last summer I had written a few reviews of books that I had read and enjoyed immensely. This led to my being approached by several people and asked to do reviews on their books. I quickly went from having no reviews to do to having several to do. At the same time, my voice work exploded. I quickly became overloaded. At the time, I decided that the best way for me to clear the backlog was to focus on one thing, batter at that, and keep at it until it was done. Well, some things went easier than others. And then Life happened. The result is that this review is finally being written some four plus months after it was originally intended to be written.
Free Will (and other compulsions) is the second book in J. Daniel Sawyer’s Antithesis Progression series, which manages to combine science fiction and noir elements into a fascinating future setting. The first book in the series is Predestination (and other games of chance). If you’ve read Predestination and enjoyed it, you’re sure to want to pick up Free Will, and no doubt look forward to the next time J. Daniel Sawyer publishes a book with a short title (and a long and contradictory subtitle). At the time of this writing, Free Will is only available in electronic formats, but is available for Kindle
, Nook, and a variety of other formats via Smashwords.
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Ok. I know this is doing things sort of backwards. Very much so like trying to get sponsors AFTER one has won the race instead of before. But I’m hoping that this will actually work. Here’s why.
If you’ve been reading this blog at all this month, you know that I’ve been engaged in National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo. While this has proven to be an excellent exercise for me in managing my time and keeping my writing production up, it could mean more still. NaNoWriMo is put on every year by NaNoWriMo’s parent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Office of Letters and Light, to raise funds to pay for the Young Writers Program and adult main programs throughout the rest of the year. A lot of the money raised comes from donations from the NaNoWriMo participants, but some of us have had better years than others. This past year has been a tight one for me, so I am asking folks to help me out by sponsoring my novel. If you’d like to sponsor me, just visit my sponsorship page and make a donation. If you’re not sure yet, read on… [click to continue…]
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All right. I admit it. I should have written this post earlier. My only excuse is the timing, seeing as this news came out just as I was getting into the swing of things for NaNoWriMo this year. It took this article from Tee Morris to remind me that I had been remiss in supporting my friends in their good fortune. So let me repair that now.
My friends Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris have had their first joint project, Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel
, land on the official ballot of the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards in the Best Science Fiction category! And they are in among fierce competition, with names like Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, Stephen King, John Scalzi, and China Mieville also in the running. Phoenix Rising also happens to be the only Steampunk work in this category. Tee and Pip are my friends, but they have also written a really spectacular book (as you can see from my review here). If you have a Goodreads account, you should vote! And if you choose to vote for Phoenix Rising, I’m sure that would make Tee and Pip happy. [click to continue…]
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For those of you who prefer the Kindle, or just like the flexibility of the Kindle app, my short story The Gift is now available from Amazon through the Kindle store for just $0.99.
Today, the Kindle! Tomorrow the Nook! Oh, wait, tomorrow is Saturday. Maybe we can work the Nook in next week.
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Today I have published my first short story, The Gift, on Smashwords. The story in question was first released on the podcast Every Photo Tells… and was nominated for a Parsec Award in 2010. Now the text is available in print on Smashwords for just $0.99.
This is my first story on Smashwords, but it won’t be my last. Keep your eyes out for more news on further writing and publishing adventures. If you’d like to see more of my writing, please buy a copy of The Giftand encourage your friends to do the same. The money I make will help fund future projects, and encourage me to make more time for writing.
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I have got to tell you about this great book I just finished reading. Which also means telling you about a lot of other books by the same authors. The book is Ghost Ship 
by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, and it is the third book in one series and the 8th book in another series, and… it’s kind of complicated.
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Some people fear birthdays. They hide them. They deny them.
Not me.
For me, a birthday is a victory celebration! Another year to stride upon this Earth, win battles, and fight off death for another day. In the end to plunge my banner into the heart of another year and cry to the heavens that this year will not defeat me! I have taken on all that it had to dish out and I remain standing! Victorious!
But not everyone sees it like that.
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Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel
is the first novel from Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris writing together. They take us back to the age of Queen Victoria, and give us a view of a secret organization in Her Majesty’s government. This clandestine organization, the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, deals with the strange, the bizarre, and those things best not talked about in polite society. Agents of the Ministry travel the world investigating these strange and unusual events, and returning dangerous artifacts to Mother England where they can be safely stored away from dangerous hands.
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