Shameless promotion

I'm very happy to announce that Masks, the first book in The Lord Jester's Legacy trilogy, has been included in a PacNW book bundle called Legends and Dreams, featuring, as one of the ladies put it, eight women writers and one lucky bastard. That lucky bastard happens to be Kevin J. Anderson! He and Rebecca Moesta collaborated on a great series called Crystal Doors. I'm honored to be in a bundle with both of them.

Here's the extra-cool part. People get to choose how much they want to pay (with a couple of restrictions).

To go directly to the bundle, just click on the link above. I plan on getting the bundle myself, because it's such a good deal and I've been wanting to read those other books for a while. Plus, I just got a Kindle, so the idea of adding seven (I'm not going to count mine, that would be silly) at just under $2 a book sounds great! Oh, about that ... you get to choose how much you pay, but the minimum is $3, and to unlock various bonus books, you may have to pay up to a minimum of $13 to get them all. That's still less than $2 per full-length book.

This offer is only good for about 2 1/2 weeks, and the link may change after we become the top bundle. (Right now we're 'in the wings' while Writers of the Future finishes up their term.) So if the link on the image doesn't get you there, use this one instead before March 3rd, 2015.

Whew. I feel like I've been crowing for hours. Time to sit back, relax ... and then do a ton more writing. I had a big day in the garden, big enough to get a sunburn and blisters. Totally worth it. But now I feel like I'm behind on what I want to do with the story I'm working on. I haven't even got it switched over to my new computer. So, time to get that in motion. And tomorrow ... tomorrow will be another day.

Reviews

I love getting reviews, even ones that make me feel about the size of a flea, and about as wanted. That feeling passes after the initial owie. This round, at least so far, has me feeling more around elephant-sized.

Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet recently came out with #28, which includes "Neighbors" written under my actual name, and a few reviews came back about it.

A nice mention here.

This reader also enjoyed "Neighbors," as well as the other fine stories in this issue.

Locus mentioned the issue, and tried to capture the sorts of stories you can find in LCRW, and gave a brief overview of each with a few opinions thrown in.

If Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet sounds like fun, you can get individual issues at their website. Warning. May be addictive.

I'm glad they're offering the ebook versions. Those older issues, as far as the general public are concerned, aren't available unless you happen to find them on ebay or something. These magazines are especially attractive to people who like a boutique feeling to the things they like to have around and with them.

Masks and Website Updates

Masks is finally up on Smashwords and Amazon. On Smashwords you can get the first 20% free. Warning: if Brokeback Mountain made you feel uncomfortable, the romantic elements in Masks is not going to be any more fun in a setting with flintlock pistols, tall ships and manor houses.

I also updated my website and put up a website (finally!) for Wyrd Goat Press. I'm hoping to have the sequel for House of Goats, House of Chickens, written and put up by mid-summer. Steve Perry wrote a wonderful review for House of Goats (thanks Steve!) on Amazon, and blogged about it too.

I think this post holds the record for most links in a single paragraph, at least for my blog.

Now it's time to take Wizard home from the vet. He had to have a few stitches. Apparently he had a close encounter with a barbed wire fence. He failed to mention this (he didn't even limp!) so who knows how long he hobbled around with that one inch opening in his flesh before my daughter noticed. But he should make a full recovery. I'm sure we'll hear him yowling (he hates to be confined) the second we walk in the door. That'll be sweet music to my ears. I worry about our silly kittehs ....

"Hide and Seek" Wins 3rd in the Long Short Story Contest

It feels so wildly inappropriate to post this now, but at the same time ... the story is a story about grief and anger and loss and the mysteries of death and life--some coincidences don't feel like coincidences, you know?

I'm very honored to have won third place in Wayne Long's Long Short Story Contest.  You can view "Hide and Seek" for free through the link on the contest page or on his blog.  Check out the website, and if you get a chance, take advantage of a free offer good until July 25th, 2011.  Read Wayne's blog for more details about the free offer.

There are so many wonderful short stories out there, and I think it's worthwhile to look for them.  Yes, I love looking at YouTube videos of kittens too, but there's some amazing content out there that isn't visual.  Some folks have picked up on it, while others have yet to discover the incredible wealth of quality writing now available on the internet.  Learn, discover, and enjoy!

And let me know what you think.  Don't worry about hurting my feelings.  Sure, it's possible to do that, but it comes with the territory.  Besides, it would be dumb and narrow-minded and crazy to insist that everyone like everything ever written ... and that's what would be required for writers to never hear a bad word about any of their writing.  I believe in the power and beauty of individual preferences and opinions, even when they're opposite of mine.  Maybe especially.  They help define my place in the universe.  How would I know I preferred fresh fruit if I'd never tasted preserves or artificial flavoring?

Share the wealth and explore the diversity.  There's plenty of fun for everyone.

Check

Reposted from the INK blog.

I got my first payment check yesterday for words I've written.  It's an amazing feeling.  So many years of practice, workshops, flattening my butt on at least a half dozen different computer chairs.  Novels, shorts, stories long since lost or abandoned, hundreds of thousands of words of fantasy that will never see the light of day because I needed that million words of crap before I could begin to make real progress.  Learning to connect with a reader.  Learning to find a balance between my internal editor and my dreams.  Learning to educate myself, because so much of the education of a writer happens either entirely from the inside or by deliberately, through an act of will and trust, separating the ego from the written word long enough to accept a professional opinion.  Learning who trust and when, especially myself (and when not to trust myself.)

The kewlest part of all this?  It's a beginning.  A long road to travel to begin, but that's the nature of this, and many other crafts.

Official Announcement

Beneath Ceaseless Skies (probably no surprise for those of you who are reading between the lines) will be publishing "Thistles and Barley" by Kamila Z. Miller sometime in the future.  I'll let all y'all know when the issue comes out.  In the meantime, they have a new issue online.  

In the forums you'll find news about upcoming stories and their authors in the Official BCS News and Announcements: Submissions Status section.  It's a fun way to get a sneak peek at who you might see in print in the next few months.  Keep a lookout for your favorite authors.

Crowing

Paperback: 180 pages

Publisher: YMAA Publication Center (June 25, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1594391181

ISBN-13: 978-1594391187

Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches

Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review:   (37 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,755 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

#1 in	Books > Sports > Individual Sports > Mixed Martial Arts
#4 in	Books > Sports > Individual Sports > Martial Arts
#8 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Violence in Society

This is not my beautiful house!

I've got Talking Heads on the brain.  

The downstairs has taken over my daily life, which is fine.  It's coming together nicely.  The boy has put the most work in, so his room is closest to being complete.  We ran into a hitch with one of the girl's shelving units--the holes weren't drilled correctly.  Right place, wrong size.  We'd just put together an identical unit the day before (but in a different color) so we knew we weren't just being creative with the destructions--er--instructions.  So I'm charging up the drill battery while I'm typing and will soon expand those holes so they're a snug fit to the dowels.  And yes, the dowels are the right size.  They fit correctly into the opposing holes.  It's all very aggravating, but of all the things that could have gone wrong, this is not a big deal.  And frankly, changing the size of the holes is far less intrusive than driving back to IKEA and getting a replacement, which may only lead to us bringing home another one with the same flaw.  It all relies on how long the person operating the drill for that batch was asleep at the wheel.

I'm staying busy enough that it makes it challenging to get anything unrelated to the downstairs done.  That includes things like dishes, laundry, vacuuming, basic hygiene (sorry INKers if I was extra stinky at the meeting!) and writing.  But I did get a little flash done, and it got a wow response when I read it, so I'm eager to smooth it out and send it on its way.  I'll send it to my favorite flash fiction site first, Flash Fiction Online.  I like the editor's style, and I like what he publishes, so I'm hoping eventually something I write will mesh with what he publishes and then huzzah! I'll have arrived in flash fictiondom.  Or something like that.

Speaking of great online magazines, check out Beneath Ceaseless Skies.  It's a visually beautiful online magazine, and this first issue features a story by my friend, writer extraordinaire and fellow Lucky Lab, David Levine.  Like Flash Fiction Online, there's a forum where you can discuss the stories, something I personally get a kick out of (when I have time!) because I can read about how other people perceived the story and compare notes as far as symbology and impact.

In the good news arena, I had a short story accepted for publication.  I may have mentioned this earlier, but I never get tired of writing it so tough.  I'll announce which story and where as soon as I'm cleared to do that, probably about the time I learn what issue I'll be in.  It's in a SFWA qualifying market, so I'm hoping if I'm dedicated about sending out stories and keep plugging away at the craft, I'll eventually become a SFWA member and maybe get a little more attention for my novels.  I very much enjoy writing short stories when I get a story idea that fits into a tight corner, but I love writing novels.  I want to write lots and lots of books and get paid for them so that I can keep writing lots and lots of books without having to worry about whether we'll have to do something else for retirement if our retirement fund goes poof.  I'm willing to work at other jobs, but I'd rather focus on the written word full time.

If there is such a thing as writing full time.  I'm starting to wonder.  The trouble with working at home is that you're working at home, and there are other things to do.  Fortunately there's not as much to do at home under normal circumstances.  Things will get back to normal soon.  Or else.

Just in time for Nanowrimo, I suspect.  I have so much going on at the tail end of November I have to get done before OryCon30, which means I need to write about 3000 words a day.  Shouldn't be an issue,  but if I get behind it'll be much, much harder to recover.  Big changes, big goals, big accomplishments.  It's been a wild year.