Round Up of Awesome
There’s so much going on, let’s bust out the bullet points.
– I kinda took over page 99 of the September issue of RT Book Reviews Magazine. Not only did they review The Clockwork Dagger and give it four stars (YAY!), but they interviewed me and gave me a chance to talk about recipes. As I am wont to do.
– I was interviewed by Marina Lostetter AND shared my recipe for bacon toffee (aka Bacon Crack).
– I have a story in an anthology that comes out next week called A is for Apocalypse, and a reviewer had very nice things to say about my story specifically.
It’s impossible for me to pick a favourite in this collection, but I recommend beginning with Ms. Cato’s entry to anyone who likes skipping around.
– Folks are saying nice things about The Clockwork Dagger, too! Like here, with 5/5 stars! Also, I was delighted (to put it mildly) when two authors I greatly respect (but don’t know as friends, at all) gave the book a shout out, too–here and here.
Cool things are happening!
Read MoreCover Flats and Interviews and More
My editor sent me a seriously cool surprise this week… cover flats!
This is my first time seeing what the whole wrap-around cover is like. It doesn’t come across well in the pic, but the cover is in matte finish but the title is glossy so it has a really classy contrast. I already have Michael’s Crafts at work to make a custom frame for my precioooussss. I’ll post pics in a few weeks when it’s all done.
Lots of interviews and other posts elsewhere, too!
I’m at Reb Kreyling’s blog to discuss worldbuilding, revisions, even the music I listened to as I wrote my sequel.
I can also be found at Fanboy Comics. My good friend Jodi Scaife interviewed me about my path to publication, my influences, and the challenges of writing cross-genre.
The first Tuesday of the month is my anointed day at the Holy Taco Church. For August, I shared a recipe for Chili Spice Chocolate Brownies. These amped-up brownies use chocolates infused with chipotle and chili. It adds some pleasant heat, but not in a mouth-scorching way (trust me on this, I’m allergic to the hot stuff).
The Clockwork Dagger is included in a feature at Library Journal on A Multiplicity of Realms: SF/Fantasy Genre Spotlight.
I also have a guest post as part of Josh Vogt’s Write Strong series, all about authors who utilize fitness and good eating as part of their writerly routine. I talk about my summertime hikes in the desert near my house. ‘Cause I’m a little crazy like that.
Probably going crazier over the next few weeks, too.
Read MoreMind Meld: Magical Items
This week I took part in an SF Signal Mind Meld on the subject of favorite magical items. I get all sentimental about Final Fantasy IV and long bows. It’s a very fun discussion, so drop by and check it out!
Two-fer-Tuesday
I’m over at Sara Dobie Bauer’s site with an interview all about The Clockwork Dagger. She’ll have a review of the book up on Thursday! Eep!
You can also find me at J. Kathleen Cheney’s blog where I discuss the joys of grammatical goofs.
On that subject, Weird Al’s new video has brought me much happiness on a morning where my allergies are doing unkind things to my body. Thanks for the distraction, Al. <3
Read MoreA Mention to Mention
With my book coming out soon, I can’t help but be paranoid about people talking about me. But this isn’t junior high–I want them to talk about me. Book sales are all about generating buzz. However, Google Alerts haven’t worked in years.
Lo and behold, I was keenly interested in an SFWA blog on Finding Replacements for Google Alerts by Caren Gussoff. She listed two replacement options, and I decided to give one a try: Mention.
I’ve been using Mention for a week now and I am very pleased. Every day it’s sending me links–a few are old, but most are new. I’ve found out about a number of book blogs spreading the word about two upcoming anthologies I’m in, FAE and A is for Apocalypse, and there’ve also been some positive mentions of The Clockwork Dagger on Absolute Write, Twitter, and major fan sites.
If you want to monitor key words online, you might want to give Mention a try.
[Now I’m curious if Mention will alert Caren Gussoff that I mentioned her name. I hope so. I want to tell her thanks!]
Read MorePhoenix Comicon, in Retrospect
Wow. What a weekend.
From Thursday with the craziness of the Holy Taco Church and friends dining together in a former church now dubbed the Taco Guild, to Friday’s full day of convention, to Saturday with back-to-back panels and a grand finale of Drinks with Authors… whew! I’m still tired. My toenails are even sore after two days of steampunk boots.
I’m very happy I was able to share the days with my friend Rachel, who flew out from Texas to keep me sane, because I do crazy things like feed churros to the people but I don’t feed myself. We also glammed ourselves up for Saturday!
I made so many new friends. Maybe a few enemies. But we won’t speak of them.
Plus, I was even provided the divinity known as Churro Bacon Cupcakes. A holy chorus sang. For a few brief seconds, the world was at peace.
Then the cupcake was gone and the world went to crap again.
But that’s okay, because there’s always next year, and more awesome people, and more cupcakes.
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