State of the Author

My days lately have been filled with work, crafting and gaming preparation. I’ve been posting pictures of what I’ve been working on via Twitter. Marcon and Midorifest preparations have taken me down a peg or three and I feel as though I’ve been doing nothing but prep work for those events.

I have spent a lot of time recreating all of the blog posts I lost through my book blog being shut down. The link at the top of the page for Yeah Books! has been updated to the new site. For as much time and effort as I put into those blog posts, to have it shut down out from under me really hurts. I individually formatted each and every post to my blog. Yes, some of the content was similar, but each and every post was hand entered, hand linked and formatted and checked for accuracy. I spent time on what I did. A lot more than I spend writing “original” posts for my blog.

Yes. A little bitter. I’ll be over it soon.

I have been writing for not only the D20 Girls magazine, but also for the Caffeine Crew and those posts have been going relatively well. I just have to keep up on them and not let deadlines pass me by. Like the encroaching deadline for my blog post on the D20 Girls website. I write about mobile games on the Caffeine Crew, I write about ball jointed dolls for the D20 Girls blog and I have several different articles available for the D20 Girls magazine. In the upcoming edition, I have written a book review, manga review and an article on Japanese street fashion.

Off of the article I wrote, I will be presenting a class at Midorifest on street fashion and what makes a decora style. I will also be running Hunter the Vigil and World of Darkness at Midorifest. I’m considering it a mini-run for Marcon since there’s only a month between them.

And I’m nervous as hell.

Normally when I am in a position of authority, my social anxiety is abated. Hopefully this holds true and the nervousness is just excitement.

We are only a few weeks out from spring. Maybe then I won’t feel so bleh about everything. Maybe I should look into a tanning membership for the next couple of months.

Blog Suspension

Currently my review blog, Yeah Books!, has been suspended until WordPress conducts a review of the terms of service in regards to my blog.

We are not just a tour blog site. We do reviews and I have just added two more book reviewers to the site. I will contact each of my blog partners and see what can be done. If all else fails, I will be signing up with blogger instead and posting all Yeah Books! reviews on Blogger instead.

I’m seriously disappointed that WordPress is banning promotion efforts by authors.

MARCON

I will be serving as one of three game heads for MARCON 50. We will be at the Hyatt convention center in Columbus, Ohio. When I’m not running games, I will be participating in panels and working game operations. If you’re into science fiction, fantasy, write either of those things or you want to come game with us, pick up a badge!

Columbus in Darkness will host a Live Action Role Play (LARP). We have an Amptguard team on staff who will be training us how to fight. (And you know I’ll be in the middle of that as long as Branden will have me.) We have tabletop games, we’ll have computer and system gaming and board games available all weekend.

The panels this year are really interesting. There are several writing oriented panels as well as gaming and general science fiction geekery. I had to severely limit myself on how many panels I wanted to participate in. There are panels I want to attend because I know absolutely nothing about the subject and I want to know more. And that’s not even talking about the presentations.

We have been hard at work putting together prize packs for the various tournaments. I don’t want to let too much slip, but there have been rumors of a super awesome giveaway by the Amptguard group and I also heard rumors of super awesome dice bags. Not to mention what I’m making and giving away. You all know I’m a massage therapist, right? I’ll just sit here and nod knowingly at you while you figure that one out.

We have an entire area specifically for children’s gaming and I will be running Faery’s Tale. Parents and children can play together in this tabletop RPG and I’m SUPER STOKED to play with you guys. Seriously stoked. I even made little prizes for the kids who play. And the parents. Because I would TOTALLY want one of these things. It doesn’t make a lot of noise and it’s pretty. And some of them are sparkly.

Plus there will be NASA things there. I can’t tell you what, but it’s super awesome!

The convention runs May 8th, 9th and 10th. I want to meet people!

Cover reveal! Silent Shadows Come

I received a very exciting email yesterday. The cover art is finally finished for Silent Shadows Come, the anthology I’ve been long awaiting the release. I wanted to share the cover with everyone. It should be released by the end of February for purchase from Circlet Press.

New Release: With Proper Maintenance

My latest release, With Proper Maintenance, a M/M steampunk romance novella, releases today! I am hosting a blog tour and a giveaway to celebrate! More stops are being added all week, so check in to see where we’ll be next!

Tour Stops:

October 10th- Lorraine Pearl, paranormal romance author

October 11th- Yeah Books!

October 12th- Kathryn Kane, romance author

October 13th- Sonya Grady

October 14th- Caffeine Crew

October 15th- H.C. Brown

October 16th- Jerri Drennen

October 17th- J.J. Ulm

If you buy a copy of my book from the Jupiter Gardens Press website and use the promo code GAYSTEAM, you get Angelia Sparrow’s Sky Rat for $0.99! Good on JGP’s site only through 10/31.

Enter the giveaway here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

---

Named the youngest head engineer in the history of his company, Ethan Cole’s first voyage on the Platinum Bow is his chance to stand out from his father’s shadow. His dream is dashed by the roguish Cecil Goode, promoted to Ethan’s position just before the ship sets sail. When the Bow is hijacked by pirates, Ethan and Cecil have to work together to bring the pirates’ nearly wrecked ship to safety. Will they make it to port before the ship plummets from the sky? And what will become of the combustible passion between them? Will it outlast the pirate attack?

Pick up your copy:

[Jupiter Gardens Press]  [Amazon]  [Barnes and Noble]

---

 

Interview on Love, Lust and Lipstick Stains

I am being interviewed today over on the Love, Lust and Lipstick Stains blog! Pop on over and get to know me a little! I’m talking a little about Dimitri’s Walk, my short story in Breathless Press anthology, and what’s hardest for me to write. If you’d like the direct link, click here! http://www.lovelustandlipstickstains.com/2014/06/saturday-storyteller-interview-cv.html

Beth Wylde’s Pride Chat

Man there’s been a LOT of promotion going around! Today I’m participating in a chat with Beth Wylde on her yahoo group. Each June she holds a month long pride chat with authors and publishers. If you are into LGBT romance, come stop in and chat with us. Join Beth’s yahoo group and come chat with us!  I’ll be around from 10am to 5pm.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bethwylde/

There is an entire schedule on the group for the entire month, or at least what’s left of it. Come check it out!

A month of LGBT books

This month on Beth Wylde’s Yahoo group, authors are sharing their LGBT books and a little bit about themselves. If you’re so inclined, you should come on in, sign up and read about all the amazing books the authors are sharing. I’ve found three new reads so far this month and it’s only the third.

Website revamp

I’ve been trying to decide what to do with my website for a very long time. How much is too much? What if the site isn’t easy to navigate? What should I include?

I perused other’s pages and the overall style I liked best was simplistic. The main page leads to my blog, but then there are links to get to know me, links to follow about my books and ways to contact me. I added a “Coming Soon” page for my upcoming releases when they’re announced. I also updated the bibliography to be something more than a tagline. I included coverart thumbnails and a little more information with the blurb. If you want an excerpt, you can click a link and read more about it. I also added buy links so you can purchase from your favorite seller with very little hassle.

Or at least that’s my goal. If you find something quirky or want to make mention of a non-navigatable feature, I am all ears. Please share.

In the meantime, I’ll be filling out some information for a couple of blog hops I might be joining.

What do you think of the site? Let me know in the comments!

Crimson Volume 2 releases March 28th

On March 28th, 2014, The second volume of Crimson from Breathless Press releases with 8 new tales to make your blood rush. This anthology is edited by Jen Bradlee and features several excellent vampire shorts by Autumn Jones Lake, Brantwijn Serrah, Tysche Dwai, C.V. Madison, C.P. Foster, Lace Higgins and S.J. Thomas. (Grab your copy of Volume 1 here!)

I am very pleased to be able to share the cover before the release.

My short story features one of my longstanding characters. Winter has been in my head as long as any character I’ve ever had. She will someday feature in her own series from her beginning as a hunter. This short demonstrates a tryst between Winter and Dimitri. Once we get a little closer to release, I’m certain an excerpt will hit the blog.