Fall is my favorite time of year, but this year, everything has moved so quickly that it’s suddenly winter and I’m trying to find time to put up my Christmas tree. 

In late October, I ran my Days of the Dead ..Intern..ational blog tour.  If you missed the cool new content, graphics and brand new never-before-seen excerpt from Dark Lady’s ..Chosen.., or the free ebook chapter from The Summoner, check out all the goodies at www.ChroniclesOftheNecromancer.com/daysofthedead.html.

Halloween weekend found me signing at the Carolina Renaissance Festival, one of my favorite places.  We had a rainy and cold weekend, but I still made some great connections with readers, and returned two weeks later on a beautiful, sunny day because I just can’t get enough Ren Fest. Watch the video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt-wCtepXH8

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I headed to ..Philadelphia.. (actually, ....Cherry Hill.. ..NJ....) for Philcon.  It was my first time at Philcon, but I saw a lot of familiar faces and met some great new people.  Philcon draws a nice crowd, and focuses almost exclusively on books and gaming.  It has a relaxed vibe, which is great during the holiday season.  A very good friend of mine (we’ve been buddies since sixth grade) was able to spend one of the days with me, and I was able to meet my non-fiction agent for lunch, so those were extra bonuses.  And of course, Philcon’s nightlife was also great, with parties for SFWA, NSFIC, Ravencon, and other get-togethers that were “just because.”  Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjXyWjh4zFw

Everything was going great until I woke up with a monster toothache and had to get my dentist to call in a prescription so I could get home on the plane.  Nothing takes the glow off a great weekend like a Monday morning root canal.  On the other hand, they got it fixed (or at least, half done) before Thanksgiving, so I could enjoy the holiday and still eat. 

2010 will be starting with a BANG!  Dark Lady’s Chosen comes out on Dec. 29.  If you haven’t pre-ordered a copy yet, go to my link at www.TheWinterKingdoms.com and you can get some bonus goodies from several of my author friends when you pre-order.  I’ll be out in stores all over the ..Carolinas.. in January/February—watch my home page for updates, since I’m still adding stores.  Audible also plans to have all four Chronicles of the Necromancer books available on audiobook by January 1, and Dark Lady’s Chosen will come out on ebook from Double Dragon right around the paperback launch date, so keep an eye out!

Here are the upcoming events so far:

• Barnes & Noble, Carolina Place Mall, ....Pineville.. ..NC....   Jan. 9 1 - 3
• Borders Books, Northlake Mall, ....Charlotte.., ..NC....          Jan. 23 1 - 3
• Books A Million, ..Concord.. Mills, ....Concord.., ..NC....          Jan 30 1 - 3
• AZ Renaissance Festival                                              Feb 2010
• SheVaCon, ....Roanoke.., ..VA....                                             Feb 26 - 28
• StellarCon, ....High Point.., ..NC....                                          Mar 3 - 7
• RavenCon, ....Richmond.., ..VA....                                           Apr. 9 - 11
• Balticon, ....Baltimore.., ..MD....                                               Memorial Day Weekend
• ConCarolinas, ....Charlotte.... NC                                            June

For all my friends who are also authors, I’ve got another new book coming in January: The Thrifty Author’s Guide to Launching Your Book (Without Losing Your Mind).  It’s my learned-the-hard-way system for making sure everyone knows about your book.  (After all, you could write the best book in the world, and if no one knows it’s out, they won’t buy it.)  The Thrifty Author’s Guide will also be in stores in January, and will be coming out on ebook from Barnes & Noble. 

I expect to have the first draft of my next book about Tris and the gang, The Sworn, completed by the end of December.  That should give me some time to do revisions before the manuscript is due to Orbit in March.  It’s going well, and you’ll get to visit with Tris, Jonmarc, Kiara and the rest of the crew while getting to know several new and interesting characters, so stay tuned!

My con schedule is also starting to firm up.  So far, you can catch me at SheVaCon, StellarCon, RavenCon, Balticon, ConCarolinas.  I’m waiting to hear back on dates from the AZ Renaissance Festival as well as other conventions, so keep an eye on the home page at www.ChroniclesOftheNecromancer.com, and on my tweets at www.Twitter.com/GailZMartin

If you are writing your own book, you might want to check out my new teleclasses at WriteWellU.  In January, I’ll be teaching three teleclasses on PR and Social Media for authors, and in February, I’ll be doing a four-part class on ....World.. ..Building.....  Find out details at www.WriteWellU.com.

That’s all for now, but there’ll be more later, so have a great holiday season, whatever holiday you celebrate!

 

I love Halloween.  It’s my second favorite time of year.  And you know that there’s something special about a week that has All Hallow’s Eve, Samhain, Dia De Los Muertos and Halloween all in the same seven days!

So it’s time once again for my Days of the Dead Blog Tour—all new interviews, guest blog posts, and giveaways, plus surprises all week!

You’ll find the goodies by doing a virtual “trick or treat” from site to site—sites will post the goodies throughout the week, and some sites may post more than one treat, so check back more than once!  Here’s the list of partners:

• SciFiGuy www.SciFiGuy.ca
• Solaris Books www.SolarisBooks.com
• Orbit Books www.OrbitBooks.net (new stuff in 2 places)
• Pat's Vampire Notes http://Patricias-vampire-notes.blogspot.com
• Bragelonne www.Bragelonne.fr
• Double Dragon www.Double-Dragon-ebooks.com
• Fantasy Book Spot www.fantasybookspot.com
• Midnight Syndicate www.midnightsyndicate.com
• Ghost in the Machine Podcast www.GhostInTheMachinePodcast.com
• The Winter Kingdoms (bonus download pre-order) www.TheWinterKingdoms.com  (check at the end of the week)
• My Twitter Page at www.Twitter.com/GailZMartin

If you post a comment on one of the sites where I’m guest blogging, I’ll answer your questions.  I’ll be popping in and out throughout the week on all the blogs.  And on Twitter, I’m tweeting the first chapter to Dark Lady’s ..Chosen.., back by popular demand.

Then on Halloween and All Saint’s Day (Oct. 31 – Nov. 1), I’ll be live at the Carolina Renaissance Festival as the guest author—look for me just inside the front gate at opening and closing cannon both days.  Watch for the video blog to post shortly afterwards!

The weekend before Thanksgiving (Nov. 20 – 22), I’ll be at Philcon in ..Philadelphia.. (OK, it’s really in Cherry Hill, NJ but that’s just across the river).  And of course, there’ll be video from this con, too!

And then Dec. 5, I’ll be signing at Books A Million at Concord Mills in Concord, NC for all the Christmas shoppers who’ve got a fantasy fan on the gift list!

I’m just now setting up the book signings for Jan/Feb, but rest assured I’ll be out in stores as Dark Lady’s Chosen comes out Dec. 29 in paperback, audiobook and ebook!  And all of the series will be available from Audible as audiobooks in December (it’s a great holiday present…hint, hint).

So drop by the blog tour, write a comment or two, and say hello if you’re in the area at one of my signings.  I’ll be looking for you!

Tired, jet-lagged but happy, I am ready to report back from FantasyCon in Nottingham, England, where I was one of the guests of honour last weekend.

FantasyCon is run by the British Fantasy Society, an august organization with a very long heritage that can boast some of the most esteemed British writers among its membership.  Don’t let that fool you into thinking this is a stuffy, academic lot—it’s not.  These are a group of devoted readers who really love the genre and who are among the friendliest people I’ve ever met.

It’s a mid-sized con compared to US conventions—around 300 or so people.  It’s also a book con—no big emphasis on TV or movies, no media stars, and the dealers’ room is almost completely books.  (I told you these were serious readers.)  They’re also a nocturnal bunch, willing to sit up to the wee hours talking about anything and everything to do with sci fi and fantasy.

We were in the heart of ..Nottingham.., of Robin Hood fame, and it’s a little surreal to realize that all those tales (and all those movies) had ties to a real, historical place and I was standing in it.  I got in a day early, and managed to tour ....Nottingham.. ..Castle..... (Did you know that when Richard the Lionhearted stormed the castle to oust Prince John that the castle guards wouldn’t believe Richard was really the king because Richard couldn’t speak English?  He only spoke French and Latin.  It apparently took a siege to convince them.)  And I also toured the extensive escape route caves beneath the castle. 

Then I headed to the Caves of Nottingham (different set of caves) beneath of all things, a shopping center, which led down into caves that have been lived in or used as a tannery (early Middle Ages), hideout (all ages), living space (all ages), tavern (18^th and 19^th century) and WWII air raid shelter.  I also managed to go through the Crime and Punishment museum, a real 19^th century courtroom and jail straight out of Dickens.  And then there was time for a good hot pot of English tea before heading back for dinner with con organizers Peter and Jan Coleborn and several friends.

As a guest of honour, I was on two panels and I was also interviewed by (fellow Solaris author) Juliet McKenna, who had been a guest on my Ghost in the Machine podcast.  Juliet is the author of Irons in the Fire and she and I had several good phone chats before we finally met in person.

The two panels were also fun.  One was the David Gemmell legacy panel, focused on the future of heroic fantasy and the other was on “dodgy archeology” and the role that archeological digs, ancient ruins, old artifacts and other elements play in fantasy.  We had quite a good time and the panels were very well attended.  I also did a reading to an enthusiastic group from The Summoner and Dark Lady’s Chosen.  Then I’ve promised Ian Whates that I will turn in a short story on magic and vampires this Fall for a BFS anthology, so all of the anthology authors had a signing party and hand-signed about 500 copies of the anthology flyleaf.

I met so many people who were all wonderful!  In no particular order:  Master of Ceremonies, the incomparable Ian Watson (watch for Ian on my videoblog), fellow guests of honour Jasper Fforde and Brian Clemens, and special guest of honour Sebastian Peake, fellow Solaris/Rebellion authors Andy Remic and Juliet McKenna, Mark Charan Newton (my former Solaris editor and author of Nights in Villjamur), Christian Dunn (of Games Workshop, formerly of Solaris), Jon Oliver and Jason Kingsley of Rebellion (which will be bringing out Dark Lady’s Chosen Dec. 29), Stephane Marson of Bragelonne (my French publisher who will be bringing out The Summoner, The Blood King and Dark Haven in French this Fall), and Samantha Smith of Orbit (my new publisher—more on that later).  And then there was S.A. Rule, Daniele Serra, Terry Martin of Murky Depths, writer/editor and WorldCon co-organizer Cheryl Morgan, magician extraordinaire John Lanahan, Roberto Quaglia, Sam Stone, Sissy Pantelis, Simon R Green, Andy Bigwood, Kari Sperring, and fellow panel members Patrick Marcel, Mike Chinn, Stephen Deas, and Ian Grahamand Sarah Pinborough.

Some of the other highlights included the FantasyCon banquet, which also included the BFS awards.  You can find out all about the award nominees and winners on the Fantasycon web site, www.fantasycon.org.uk.  It was a lively evening and I had a very nice conversation with Jasper Fforde and Sebastian Peake.  The annual FantasyCon quiz (accompanied by lots of fresh, hot chips—we Americans call them French Fries) was another fun moment.  And then on Sunday evening, I went out to a wonderful Indian restaurant with Ian Watson, Sissy Pantelis, Roberto Quaglia, and Danielle Serra, and when we returned, we found that the “dead dog party” to commiserate the end of the con (that began at 3 pm) was still going strong, and so I stayed on to talk until near midnight.

Getting to and from ..Nottingham.. was the hard part, requiring a series of planes, trains, taxis and subways (all I needed was John Candy and a polka band).  But despite being shoehorned into a tiny airplane seat (I would have had more elbow room if I’d packed myself up and shipped myself as cargo, or perhaps as the vampires do, in a nice, roomy casket), I seem to have returned unscathed.

Anyhow—you don’t have to take my word for it.  You can watch my FantasyCon videos right here!

FantasyCon Day 1   I took this before the con started, visiting ....Nottingham.. ..Castle.... and other Robin Hood sites.

FantasyCon Day 2  Some more historic areas in ..Nottingham.., plus the con kick-off featuring MC Ian Watson.

FantasyCon Day 3 Fun and frivolity at FantasyCon with cameos by Ian Watson, Andy Remic and S.A. Rule

The FantasyCon banquet Highlights of the FantasyCon banquet plus the BFS Award presentation.

One big announcement came out while I was on the plane headed to ..Nottingham...  Coming in 2011, my next two books set in the Chronicles of the Necromancer world will be published by Orbit Books.  The Sworn and The Dread are the first two books in the Fallen Kings Cycle, and while readers of the first four books will find that these books carry the adventures of their favorite characters forward into new perils, new readers will discover that these books are a convenient gateway into the series that doesn’t require having read the first four books to enjoy the story.  Of course, Dark Lady’s Chosen will be launched by Rebellion, the new owners of Solaris Books, and The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven and Dark Lady’s ..Chosen.. will continue to be published by Rebellion.

We’re also deep into the creation of the audio books for the series through Audible.com, and expect the audio versions to be available around Christmas, as well as the e-book version of Dark Lady’s ..Chosen...  Remember—you can pre-order Dark Lady’s Chosen online right now!

Well, another DragonCon has come and gone—only 362 days until next year! 

As usual, it was a wonderful mixture of panels, costumes, music, celebrity spotting, cool discussions and the discovery of new books and essentials such as steampunk corsets.

I’ve done a day-by-day video blog, so you can follow along with me—you can catch those videos here:

Day 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUNMQtmLoc0

Day 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWKxEHPcmbc

Day 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnFiZxyslu8

You’ll notice that I didn’t capture a lot of the amazing costumes for which DragonCon is appropriately famous.  Well, there’s a reason for that, called eight panels.  I was extremely happy to be on that many panels this year, but it left less time for photographing the wildlife.  As I’ve already checked on Twitter and YouTube, others did a thorough and admirable job of that.  Some of the stand-outs I spotted were a truly lifelike and terrifying Sauron, an amazing Bumblebee transformer, some passable Mal Reynolds look-alikes, the cast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, whatever-it-was that won the costume contest, two really, really tall wookies, and the wompa from Hoth.

This year’s favorite t-shirt, “And then Buffy staked Edward. The End.”  My daughter wore that to her high school on Tuesday. 

Highlights…a shout-out to my good friend Chris Jaxson for the launch of his amazing Scimitar Moon.  It’s got pirates and magic—what are you waiting for?  (And, oh yeah, I wrote his cover blurb.  And I meant every word of it.)

Enjoyed the Alt History (aka Steampunk and Pirate) track and heard the Star Wars track was also great.  Was terribly grieved to have missed my chance to be on the Dark Fantasy (Memento Mori) and Skeptics tracks this year due to scheduling constraints, but hope to return next year.  Had great fun on the Sci-Fi Lit, X and Writing tracks as well as the EFF (all things web) track.  Heck, it’s DragonCon.  All the tracks are fun.

Joined the broads at Broad Universe for two signature RFRs—that’s Rapid Fire Readings.  As promoted, “10 Great Women Writers, 10 Fast Reads.”  Organized by the incomparable Trisha J. Wooldridge, the panels included Sara M. Harvey, Ada Milenkovic Brown, Emilie P. Bush, Katherine Mankiller, Racheline Maltese, Jean Marie Ward, Katheryn Hinds, Sunder Cameron Addams, Tracy S. Morris and Trisha and me.  We had fun squishing our readings first into 12 minutes for the RFR on Sunday (not terribly difficult) and then into four minutes for the RFR on Monday.  Yikes!  You’ll catch the introductions for both RFRs on my videos.

Some of the other friends, new and old, that I met up with included:  James Maxey, Lou Anders, Jean Marie Ward,  Jennifer St. Giles, Rita Herron, Gillian Summers, Raz Steel, the folks from Midnight Syndicate, The Southeastern Browncoats (a Firefly group), Ethan Gilsdorf, Teresa Patterson, Scott Sigler, Carole Nelson Douglas, Kat Richardson, Laura Anne Gilman, Heather Osborn, Robert Greenberger, Diana Peterfreund, CL Wilson, Anna DeStefano, the ladies of Yard Dog Press and some of the authors from Bump in the Night, John Ringo, Christiana Barber, DA Adams, Nancy Knight, Gary Raisor. If I’ve left anyone out, I apologize.

Kudos to the hardworking DragonCon track directors, con suite volunteers and green room organizers who kept everything rolling right along.

I’m hoping everyone had a good summer.  It’s been very busy here, which is why I took a little break on Twitter (Twitter.com/GailZMartin) after tweeting the first chapter of Dark Lady’s Chosen in June, but I’m back online, so be sure to follow me and watch for quick bits of news there.

This weekend is DragonCon in ....Atlanta...., and as I asked the program organizers to do, they’re keeping me busy.  If you’re heading for DragonCon, please check out one of my panels or readings and say hello.  Here’s my schedule:

Fictional Writing and Skepticism  Fri, 7 pm, 207 Hilton (I may not get into town early enough for this one, since the family comes with me and I have to wait until the kids get out of school.  But if I can make it, I’ll be there.)

Marketing with Twitter  Sat., 2:30 pm 201 Hilton

Goblins, Minotaurs and Elves, Oh My!  Sat 8:30 pm Manila/Singapore Hyatt

Writing Paranormal Fiction Sun. 11:30 (not sure of location yet)

Self-publishing  Sun. 2:30 201 Hilton

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading Sun. 7 pm  Fairlie, Hyatt

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading Mon. 11:30 am Piedmont Room Hyatt

Plodding or Plotting?  Mon. 2:30 pm Manila/Singapore Hyatt

Please, stop by and introduce yourself if you’re wandering the con!

Now, the other big news is that I’ve got the wonderful cover for Dark Lady’s Chosen online at http://www.chroniclesofthenecromancer.com/DarkLadysChosen.html

Check out the cover, and then please Tweet me and tell me what you think!

Sept. 18 – 20 I’m in ....Nottingham.., ..England.... for FantasyCon as a Guest of Honour of the British Fantasy Society.  On Friday, there’ll be a party and a quiz to kick things off, and I’ll be interviewed by Juliet McKenna (who’s been a guest on my Ghost in the Machine podcast and is a fellow Solaris author).  On Saturday, lots of activity including a panel on heroic fantasy, and a banquet.  Then more panels on Sunday and somewhere in there I’ll do a reading.

In September, my Ghost in the Machine podcast guests are A.J. Hartley (On the Fifth Day) and podcaster extraordinaire Thomas “CMNDLN” Gideon of The Future and You podcast.

More Con news—I’ve been invited to Philcon, the Philadelphia Fantasy Society’s event, Nov. 20 – 22.  So if you’re in the Philadelphia/S. Jersey area, please come out and say hello.

Audio books coming by December!  Audible is now producing The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven and Dark Lady’s ..Chosen.. and plans to release them by late December.  I’ve spoken with the voice artist and am very excited about the project. 

Ebooks now available—and Dark Lady’s Chosen is coming!  The Summoner, The Blood King and Dark Haven are now available for Kindle, Sony and other e-readers on Amazon. 

*****Contest*****

Several of my fellow authors and friends have put together playlists for their books, notably Jeri Smith-Ready and Kevin J. Anderson.  Now granted, Jeri’s book is set in modern times and Kevin wrote and produced completely original music .. but I know many readers and most authors have some music associated with their books.

So here’s the deal:  What songs make the perfect soundtrack for my books for you?  It can be by character or by book or by scene, but if there’s a song or a bunch of songs that were the perfect soundtrack for you, I’d love to know and share the list with others.

Post your suggested song list (title and artist only—please respect copyright and DO NOT post songs or song links) along with what or who it reminds you of on my Squidoo page comments  and Tweet me so I know you’ve posted (www.Squidoo.com/Summoner and while you’re there, please rate my page!)  Post by Sept. 30 and I’ll pick a few that really strike me as a good fit and repost them here and on Twitter (provide an email and I’ll contact you).  If you’re chosen and have provided an email, I’ll send you a limited-edition ARC of The Blood King (Solaris isn’t doing ARCs anymore, so these are now a part of history).

Once the contest closes, I’ll share my thoughts on the music I listen to while writing and songs that make me think of particular characters.  Have fun with it!  Music can be any era.  I’ll be looking forward to it!

*******

Coming up….Carolinas Renaissance Festival on Halloween weekend—watch for me at the front gates as the guest author.  Same week, stay tuned for more details on my Days of the Dead blog tour.  Then Philcon in November, and a new signing Dec. 5 at the Books a Million in Concord Mills, followed by the launch of Dark Lady’s Chosen on December 29!

Thanks to everyone who has followed me on Twitter, friended me on MySpace and Facebook and written emails or posted book comments on Amazon and other online store sites.  Please stay in touch, and if you love the books, tell your friends and please post a comment!

I was just at StellarCon in ....High Point..... It’s a great con with a lot of opportunities to really talk with people.  Spent time with friends James Maxey, Ed Schubert, Rich Sigfrit, Mur Lafftery, Davey Beauchamp, Tony Ruggiero and others.  But don’t take my word for it—watch the vlog! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4owCApofkVY

Next weekend, I’m at LunaCon in Hyde Park, NY.

Just got my invitation to return to the Carolina Renaissance Festival in October.  Still working out the dates, but I’ll update you once that’s settled.

I’m now on Twitter, so please add me:  www.twitter.com/GailZMartin

I’ve also just uploaded the English translation of a new interview with the German publication Phantastich.  Enjoy! http://www.chroniclesofthenecromancer.com/phantistich.html

Here’s the new interview on Radio Free Bliss!   http://radiofreebliss.ksaugustin.com/2009/03/gail-z-martin/

And a new interview on Today’s Author at: http://www.geocities.com/ewenprime/cospta.html

Of course, my newest podcast guests are Stoker-award winning author Jonathan Maberry, and paranormal author Christina Barber.   The podcast is soon to get a whole new web page, so stay tuned!

I just got back from being the guest author at the Arizona Renaissance Festival outside of Phoenix, AZ.  My videoblog is a fun souvenir, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMxI2KP2MrE but it doesn’t begin to cover the size and excitement of such a big festival. 

This is my third year of guesting at Renaissance Festivals, and you get to know the regulars after a while.  So it was always fun to be back with artist Ruth Thompson, entertainers Zilch the Torysteller, the Tortuga Twins, Hey Nunnie Nunnie, and the wandering performers of the Royal Court. 

All jokes about the FreeCreditReport.com commercial aside, you actually do need good credit at a Ren Fest—at least if you want to buy the stuff and eat.  Lots and lots of people were doing both.  And, big surprise, many of the people who like to come out and enjoy a glimpse of the best of the Middle Ages also read fantasy, which meant I met a lot of wonderful readers.

I also had the privilege of hanging out after hours with some of the performers for a birthday party and general good time.  Good company, good food and the wide open Arizona night sky.  

When I wasn’t signing books and meeting readers, I had the chance to explore on my own.  The music is one of the highlights, and it always gives me ideas for the books.  If you want to hear a sample of the siege drums from Dark Haven, check out Tartanic, which isn’t kidding about being “combustible bagpipes and drums”  (www.Tartanic.net).  The Medieval Baebes were special guests, and they put their own spin on songs in Old English with killer drums.  Cast in Bronze (www.CastInBronze.com) also provided inspiration, with its ghostly musician and its otherworldly carillon.  And of course, I’m a sucker for hammered dulcimer, drums, drones, lutes and harps, of which there were plenty.  Carroway would have been pleased.

I came home to find my official invitation to be a guest at DragonCon in my email.  Don’t know what panels yet, but look for me in Atlanta on Labor Day Weekend.

And now that the British Fantasy Society has broken the news, I can announce it here.  I’ve been invited to be a Guest of Honour at FantasyCon in Nottingham, England in September.  I’m really excited, and glad that I’ll finally be able to say ‘hello’ in person to some of the English readers who have been kind enough to drop me a note about the books.

Speaking of which, Dark Lady’s Chosen (book four—due out in 2010) is in the very final editing tweaks before I send it off to Solaris for more final editing tweaks.  Meanwhile, ideas are coming together for books 5 and 6, so it will be a while before things settle down in the Winter Kingdoms.

I’ve still got several more store signings in the Charlotte, NC.. area coming up, then in March look for me at StellarCon (Greensboro, NC) and LunaCon (Hamptons, NY). 

I’m always happy to hear from readers, so please drop me an email or better yet, post a comment to your favorite online book seller, blog or web site to help others discover the series!  There are also several active discussion threads on my site as well as a guest book.  

Time to get back to work! 

Book 3 in the Chronicles of the Necromancer, Dark Haven, is now on shelves.  I’ll be at bookstores all around the ..Charlotte, NC area in February, as well as in Phoenix, AZ or the Arizona Renaissance Festival Feb. 21- 22.  If you’re in the area, please stop by and say ‘hello’ at one of my signings!

The German translations of The Summoner and The Blood King are due out any time now.  Dark Haven has also been contracted for translation, and will be out at a later date.  The German SF/F magazine Phantastich has an interview with me due out about now.  Along the same lines, the Bulgarian publication Starlighter also interviewed me, and that should be posting soon as well.  (If they don’t post an English version, please let me know and I’ll work something out.)  Just did an interview for Tor—keep an eye out for that one, I’m not sure when it will be posted.

We’ve also just contracted for the French translation of all three books.  The Summoner should be out in French at the end of 2009.

April 4 I will be at the SPCC/Anson County Writers’ Conference.  That’s the only new event.  I’ll keep you posted as new events come up.

Coming on Ghost in the Machine Fantasy podcast for February, guests JF Lewis (Staked, Revamped) and Juliet McKenna (Irons in the Fire).

Just finished watching the entire season of Firefly on DVD.  I’m probably the last person in fandom to see it.  Really enjoyed it—would have loved to see where it would have gone from there.

Still editing Book 4, Dark Lady’s Chosen.  I have a few months left before I have to turn it in.  It’s coming together well. 

Looking forward to con season.  For me, it officially kicks off with StellarCon and LunaCon in March.  Those are new cons for me, and I’m looking forward to seeing a mix of new and familiar faces!

Into the West….my mother passed away yesterday after a long illness.  She was the first person to encourage my writing, and although my books were “too scary” for her tastes, she was proud of them nonetheless.  She’s the third of the long-time believers in my writing to slip away in the last few months.  It’s been a rough stretch.

I hope to see you this year at one of the signings or events, or at least through the guest book and discussion pages on my web site or on my MySpace page.  Please drop me a line.  And if the mood strikes you, I’m always grateful when readers jot a comment or review about the books on their favorite online book merchant, blog or forum.