Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens is officially ticking!

Just in time for you to see what all the fuss is about before Zombies Need Brains starts up another Kickstarter, ZNB's first anthology, Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens has landed at a retailer near you. It's got Steampunk. It's got little green men, bug-eyed monsters, secret agent chickens and Chihuahuas. What more do you need ?

A table of contents? We can do that:

"The Cavorite Job" by Ian Tregillis
"Gracie's Fire" by Leah Cutter
"Quinta Essentia" by Bradley P. Beaulieu
"When Comrade Ekaterina Died for the Motherland" by J.R. Hargenrader
"A Clockwork Alien" by Gini Koch
"Heart of the Empire" by Jason Palmatier
"The Red Queen and the White" by C.B. Pratt
"The Wizard of Woodrow Park" by Jean Marie Ward (me!)
"Of War and Wings" by Tansy Raynor Roberts
"Airship Down: A Sound and Fury Adventure" by Gail Z. and Larry N. Martin
"Steamsuit" by David J. Fortier
"Fingers of Steam, Veins of Gold" by Brad Hafford
"Heart of Clockwork" by S.C. Butler
"Lady Antheia's Guide to Horticultural Warfare" by Seanan McGuire

All edited by the irrepressible Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray, the same folks who brought you The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity and After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar.
Wanna taste? I've got your excerpt right here. Or you could check out one of the early reviews:

"They take a steampunk nineteenth century…and add aliens. Would Earth even recognize the threat? It’s a nod to industrialism… A high-five to technological advancement… And, above all, kudos to the genius of action-packed prose."

Word of the Nerd 

Not only that, the book comes in all your favorite flavors:

Trade Paperback 

Kindle

Kobo 

Nook

What are you waiting for? Those Chihuahuas can't hold out forever, you know. ;-)

My 2014 Dragon Con Schedule

Yeah, I’ve been a Bad Blogger. In my defense, I’ve been hard at work on Unconventional Fantasy, a huge anthology celebrating the fortieth anniversary of World Fantasy Con, coming up in Crystal City, Virginia, this November.
About the only thing I’ve had time for is convention appearances, and one of the biggest is coming up fast. I’m about to leave for the World’s Biggest Summer Camp for Wayward Adults: Dragon Con. We’ll be taking over downtown Atlanta, August 29 to September 1. There will be parades! Music! Gaming! Films! Puppetry (no foolin’)! And of course, panels like the these:

 -------------------
Title: Just the Facts, Ma'am...
Description: Writers of non-fiction looking for a career boost? This panel is geared toward perfecting your craft--and discovering new outlets for your work.
Time: Fri 02:30 pm
Location: Embassy D-F - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Panelists: Jean Marie Ward (moderator), John L. Flynn, M. B. Weston, Stuart Jaffe, Anya Martin, Teresa Patterson)

 -------------------
Title: Athena’s Daughters Signing
Description: Meet the writers of Athena's Daughters at the Artists Alley table of cover artist Autumn Frederickson.
Time: Fri 04:30 pm
Location: Grand Hall West - Hyatt (Length: 1.5 Hours)
(Panelists: Autumn Frederickson, Jean Marie Ward)

 -------------------
Title: Athena’s Daughters Authors Meet and Greet
Description: Meet the talented ladies behind the popular Athena's Daughters Anthology, featuring heroines of all ages and stories for the entire family
Time: Sat 10:00 am
Location: A708 - Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
(Panelists: Janine K. Spendlove, Gail Z. Martin, Jean Marie Ward, Diana Peterfreund)

 -------------------
Title: SciFi Spies
Description: Secret agent/spy fiction has always overlapped with SF in a big way, from futuristic gadgets to flying cars to laser cannons in space.
Time: Sat 11:30 am
Location: Embassy A-B - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Panelists: Van Allen Plexico, Jean Marie Ward)

 -------------------
Title: Their World Forever Changed: Chaos and Heartbreak on Lost Girl
Description: A moderated fan-panel discussion of the hit show. (Note: this is a fan panel. No cast members will be appearing on this panel.)
Time: Sat 08:30 pm
Location: Chastain ED - Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
(Panelists: Jean Marie Ward)

 -------------------
Title: Who Needs Dystopias When You Have History
Description: From infant sacrifice in Carthage to the Inquisition, history offers some of the darkest times and places you NEVER want to visit in a time machine.
Time: Sat 10:00 pm
Location: Augusta 3 - Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
(Panelists: Jean Marie Ward (moderator), A. J. Hartley, D.B. Jackson, Katherine Kurtz, Gail Z. Martin, Kathryn Hinds)

 -------------------
Title: Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading
Description: A program of bite-sized readings from some of your favorite Broad Universe authors.
Time: Sun 11:30 am
Location: Vinings - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Panelists: Gail Z. Martin, Janine Spendlove, Jean Marie Ward, Trisha Wooldridge)

 -------------------
Title: Lifestyles of Science Fiction
Description: Science fiction doesn't only explore scientific possibilities but also social ones.
Time: Sun 10:00 pm
Location: Embassy A-B - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Panelists: Diane Hughes, Jean Marie Ward)

 -------------------
Title: Victorian Technology
Description: A panel discussion of the technology of the Victorian era and how to exploit it in your stories or imagination!
Time: Mon 11:30 am
Location: Augusta 1-2 - Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
(Panelists: Jean Marie Ward, Stephanie Osborn)

 -------------------
Title: Win, Lose or Draw Description: SF style.
Description: The traditional convention-closer for the SF Literature Track. Once again, I'll be hosting a competition based on contestants ability to get others to decipher their artwork. There will be prizes, too.
Time: Mon 01:00 pm
Location: Embassy A-B - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Panelists: Jean Marie Ward)

 Looking forward to seeing you there!

Okay, that didn't work

The subscriber button I posted on my website didn't work with any of my email addies. So it's off the sidebar, and I'm back to researching widgets. Ah, the glamour of the Intarwebs--not!

Ah, That New Paint Smell!

Earlier this year, I got disgusted with the duplication of effort involved in maintaining a blog (which, I admit, I use more as a newsletter than a daily/weekly journal) and a "News" page on my website, JeanMarieWard.com. Techno-dummy that I am, I wasn't sure I could rectify the problem on my own. The header needed to be changed and that entailed reconstructing the accidental combination of typeface and format I blundered into three versions of image/photo software ago. But I did it--I did it!--without breaking the site.

Tonight's blog is something of a shakedown cruise for the refreshed site. The basic organization remains the same. The pages don't look noticeably different. But instead of the redundant "News" in the header, there's a shiny new "Articles" tab, which links to my web-based nonfiction. At the moment you'll find about fifty links to interviews on Buzzy Mag, a global link to Crescent Blues, and links to two YouTube features I did for personal research and entertainment.

My ultimate goal is to resurrect the articles I did for SciFi Weekly back in the day, and post them on the site. Whether I can will depend on the copyright status of the articles. Resolving that will involve buttonholing my former editor at a con, because naturally the program where the electronic contracts were stored crashed and wiped all the data. Lesson to remember, folks, paper is still god. I'm also experimenting with a subscription button to provide email updates when I blog, but the first version I tried doesn't appear to work. Obviously, this calls for more experimentation. I'll let you know when it's operational. Until then, you can try, but don't expect the email they keep promising you. Mine has yet to arrive.

On a more writerly note, The Mammoth Book of Tales from the Vatican Vaults has accepted my equally mammoth retelling of the 1814 Burning of Washington, "Cooking up a Storm". When I say "mammoth" I mean effing HUGE. I turned in over seventeen thousand words on a call for six. And, oh yeah, the editor and publisher are British, so of course, I made the Brits my villains. The saga of its acceptance is a textbook example of how not to get published. The only thing missing was the typo in the first paragraph (which I managed to do in another submission earlier this year--oops!) Needless to say there was much mad flailing and ecstatic happy dancing when the contract appeared in my inbox.

I'll post more on the anthology as details become available. But for now just let me say I'll be sharing page space with my good friends John Grant and Dave Hutchinson, as well as folks like Mary Gentle and Storm Constantine. Release is set for spring 2015.

But that's almost a year away. In the meantime, I've got plenty of new things for you to enjoy. "District Coincidental" made it to the Akashic Books website in February. The link will take you to all 750 words of noir-ish goodness (badness? Who knows with noir?)

Hellfire Lounge 4: Reflections of Evil hit the stands at the end of May. In it you'll find the latest adventures of Eddie "WOOD LOUSE!" Woodhouse and Ducky "Duc" Orr. The two hapless sorcerers were last seen at the bottom of a jinni's bottle stinking of absinthe. "Glass Transit", my story in HF4 tells the tale of how they escape that predicament only to land in a mirror on the Hindenburg on May 6, 1937. Oh the humanity! Oh, the teeny tiny excerpt!

Speaking of Eddie and Ducky, their first adventure ("Burning down the House" from Hellfire Lounge 3: Jinn Rummy) will be reprinted with added monkey and Tuckerization in Dance Like a Monkey, the charity anthology to support the inimitable C.J. Henderson during his cancer treatments. That anthology is scheduled for release in a month or two.

It should appear on the shelves about the same time as The Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens, the first anthology from Zombies Need Brains, Joshua Palmatier's new publishing venture. Joshua and Patricia Bray were the editors of The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity. They had so much fun with that anthology and After Hours: Tales from the Ur Bar they decided to create their own press to publish more.

 My contribution to The Clockwork Universe, "The Wizard of Woodrow Park", involved stuffing a sentient chicken into the head of a Daniel Craig clone and sending him after an anthropologist missing for seventeen years in a steam-powered world. I also punked out a Chihuahua. Imagine my consternation when I discovered people really are putting titanium crowns on the teeth of dogs attached to Special Forces teams. DUDES! I was trying for ABSURD! Though I suppose the secret agent chicken probably has that covered...

Finally, this entry would not be complete without mentioning Athena's Daughters, the record-busting Kickstarter literary anthology. The anthology's tag line is: Stories about strong women by strong women. To which I should add: Introduced and illustrated by strong women, too. Both the print and electronic versions are now available from Silence in the Library Publishing and should be available from online and bricks-and-mortar retailers soon.

Given the company--Mary Robinette Kowal, Sherwood Smith, Gail Z. Martin, Diana Peterfreund, Jean Rabe, Janine Spendlove and so many more--I can't tell you how honored I was to be included. But it gets better. My story, "A Gap in the Fence", closes the collection. I still can't believe it. It's a gentle story, but one that means a lot to me. I hope readers will feel the same. That's it for now.

Happy reading!

Athena's Daughters Has Achieved Cover

Isn't the print cover just gorgeous? I can't wait to hold this book in my hands.

Even better, from a purely selfish point of view is the illustration for my story, "The Gap in the Fence" (below). Want to know more? Well, you can read a taste of my story here. Or better yet, pre-order the entire book here. You won't be disappointed!

Awesome Con Schedule is Awesome

Friday, Saturday and Sunday will find me at the DC Convention Center, indulging in the delights of Awesome Con. Since this will be my first Awesome Con, my schedule is unusually light:

5:15-6:15 p.m., Friday, April 18
Part Time Writer, Full Time World

11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., Saturday, April 19

Writing Fantasy This means I'll get to hang with buds like Gail Z. Martin and Silence in the Library Publishers Janine Spendlove and Ron Garner. Yay! Even more remarkable, after more than a decade as a con guest, I might actually get to see some panels other than my own. I can't wait!

Hope to see you there.

My Capclave Schedule

It’s almost here! Capclave, the Washington DC-area science fiction, fantasy and horror convention will run from Friday through Sunday, October 11-13, at the Hilton Washington DC North in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

This is a big thing—not just for me, but also for fans of Guest of Honor George R.R. Martin. I can’t remember the last time he and fellow Guests of Honor—editor Sharyn November, writer Harold Waldrop—have graced an East Coast con.  Putting on my reporter’s hat, I have no idea how much Game of Thrones/Wild Cards/Old Mars gossip I’ll be able to wheedle out of them. But I plan to give it my best shot.

And par-tay! At least, when I’m not on a panel. I think you’ll agree my schedule (below) is choice. Hope to see you there!

Friday

4 p.m. Salon A

The Darker Side of Fae (Ends at 4:55 p.m.)
Panelists: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Alethea Kontis, Michelle D. Sonnier (M), Jim Stratton, Jean Marie Ward
Not everyone can be Tinkerbell, sometimes the world is a little less clean and pure. Is the darker fae a return to time when the fae were strange and alarming?

10 p.m., Salon B

Nice Shoes … (Ends at: 10:55 p.m.)
Panelists: Judi Fleming, Jason Jack Miller, Betsy A. Riley, Patrick Scaffido, Jean Marie Ward
Shoes, do they make the character? What are the tricks to subtly tell the reader about the character through clothes, furniture, job, and hobbies. Is this just a chic lit trait or a common tool?

11 p.m., Salons CDE

I'm Just Borrowing the Characters… Writing Fanfic (Ends at: 11:55 p.m.)
Panelists: Janine Spendlove, Elaine Stiles (M), Jean Marie Ward, Steven H. Wilson
Why do people write fanfic? Is it fair use or unfair abuse? How is it different from retellings of Greek myths or King Arthur? Is using familiar characters and settings "training wheels" for beginning authors or a dangerous crutch that will engrain bad habits? Where are the lines?

Saturday

3 p.m., Salon B

A Survey of Kickass Animals that Probably Don't Exist (Ends at: 3:55 p.m.)
Panelists: Thomas Holtz (M), Diana Peterfreund, Norm Sherman, Howard Waldrop, Jean Marie Ward
From the Goatman to the Mothman, Yeti to Yowie, and Dodo to Ogopogo. From Bloops to Blobs, Giant Owls to Lizard men, Chupacabres to Mongolian Deathworms. From the foul smelling Skunk Ape of the Florida Everglades, to the brain eating Nandi Bears of Kenya, this course is a basic introduction into the study of absurd animals which purportedly exist based on the sightings and information gathered by stammering lunatics, drunken peasants and other researchers in the field.

7:30 p.m., Salons A-E

Mass Signing (Ends at: 8:25 p.m.)
Panelists: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Catherine Asaro, Eric Bakutis, Philippa Ballantine, Matt Betts, Matt Bishop, Neil Clarke, Tom Doyle, Andrew Fox, Charles E. Gannon, Carolyn Ives Gilman, Laura Anne Gilman, Bob Greenberger, John G. Hemry, Alma Katsu, Annette Klause, John Edward Lawson, Dina Leacock, Edward M. Lerner, Marianne Mancusi, George R.R. Martin, James Maxey, Heidi Ruby Miller, Jason Jack Miller, James Morrow, Diana Peterfreund, Patrick Scaffido, Lawrence M. Schoen, Jon Skovron, Alan Smale, Michelle D. Sonnier, Bud Sparhawk, Janine Spendlove, Michael Swanwick, Michael A. Ventrella, Jean Marie Ward, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Steven H. Wilson, Leona Wisoker, K. Ceres Wright
The Saturday evening mass autographing session.

9 p.m., Salon B

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading (Ends at: 9:55 p.m.)
Panelists: Jean Marie Ward (M), Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Day Al-Mohamed, Meriah Lysistrata Crawford, Elektra Hammond, Dina Leacock, Christine Norris, Leona Wisoker
Bite-sized readings from the writers of Broad Universe.

Looking ahead

Art by Kelli Neier

Those of you who obsessively check the sidebar of my website (there's gotta be one of you, right?) will have noticed the release of Hellfire Lounge 4: Reflections of Evil has been pushed back again, and I still don't have a release date for Gaslight & Grimm. (Boo.) But a new story and a new convention have joined the list. (Win!)
First and foremost in any writer's mind is the latest acceptance. "The Gap in the Fence" is one of my favorite contemporary fantasies, but I wasn't sure it would find a home. Then Janine Spendlove and Ron Garner of Silence in the Library Publishing invited me to submit a story to Athena's Daughters. The fit between story and anthology was so close, it's almost as if I wrote it with Athena's Daughters in mind.
Athena's Daughters will be the subject of a Kickstarter later in the year. The first level will fund the ebook, which features the beautiful cover by Kelli Neier shown here. As we go up the levels, there will be additional authors, illustrations and a paper edition. You better believe I'll have more about that as we get closer to launch.
Also listed is my first confirmed con of 2014: World Fantasy Con. The 2014 edition will be happening just a few minutes from my home. But this is one local on I won't be commuting to. I plan to party!
I also plan to party at next weekend's Capclave, and I'll be posting my schedule early next week. Hope to see you there!

Dragon Con 2013: The Good, the Bad, and the...Waffles?

A Steampunk Clark Kent reveals his
true identity at the Aether Lounge
party Aug. 29.

*Twitch*Twitch*Twitch*

Oops! You weren't supposed to see the traditional post-Dragon Con Dead Bug Routine. But this Dragon Con was so much more than usual--more people, more lines, more panels...

Did I mention MORE PEOPLE? Unofficial estimates put attendance at over 70,000 per day. There were lines for everything, including most of the writing track panels. Never saw that before! On the plus side, even the more obscure panelists played to packed rooms.

On the negative, people spent more time in line than they did at events, and at least some of it was spent in the rain--not good if you were in costume. The dealers and exhibit spaces were moved to the America's Mart, which meant that folks not in line were probably on their way to or from shopping. As a hardworking panelist, I didn't get in much shopping. If my roomie Jana Oliver and Glennis LeBlanc of The Missing Volume hadn't conspired on my behalf, I never would've been able to get a copy of Jana's new novel, Briar Rose.

The closest I got to shopping was the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab booth on the first floor of the America's Mart. There I went to town.

Author Faith Hunter (left) and Alison,
the embodiment of her series character
Jane Yellowrock. You should hear
the holy water clank when she moves!

Did I mention I was hardworking? There were nine panels listed on my Guest badge, not including my stint as a presenter for the Parsec Awards. I wound up on two more--one as an emergency fill-in; the other because there were already eight people on the panel, and they figured one more couldn't hurt.

I also recorded eight interviews for Buzzy Mag, including Jim Butcher, and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Richard Epcar, two of the most distinctive voices from one of my favorite anime series, Ghost in the Shell. In the process I discovered that Faith Hunter has the best entourage. I mean, who wouldn't want to have Jane Yellowrock as their personal bodyguard? I also saw some amazing costumes.

But I must confess to a major fail in the photography department. I wasn't fast enough to photograph two women in the Hyatt's Elevator of the Damned. One had diminutive bats doing duty as pasties and a bikini bottom consisting mostly of cobwebs. Her companion had a bra of rubber chickens over a bottom of waffles. Yes, waffles.

I couldn't make this stuff up! I'm not that good!

For the rest, you can see the pictures (and a little light commentary) on my Flickr page, The interviews will follow in about six months. Then we'll be ramping up to do it all over again. I can't wait!

My Balticon Schedule

Balticon is this weekend—and I have schedule. Sort of. We’re talking Balticon, after all. Plans and schedules tend to be (ahem) fluid. The one thing you can be sure of is a lot of fun. So if you happen to be in the vicinity of Hunt Valley, Maryland, this weekend, I hope I’ll see you there! Friday 9 p.m., Salon A Steam-powered: Rage of the New Victorians Moderator: Jean Marie Ward Panelists: Martin Berman‐Gorvine, Richard Allen Leider, Neal Levin, Jeffrey P. Young From werewolves of property to anti-zombie airship pilots, the Empire has struck back. Meet the writers of this Brave Old World and learn about their stories and novels and where they get the ideas for those crazy gadgets. 11 p.m., Chase Room Cover Trends Moderator: Collin Earl Panelists: Richard Allen Leider, Starla A. Huchton, Philip Giunta, Jean Marie Ward What are the latest trends in science fiction, fantasy and horror covers? How are the new media changing the rules? What’s next? Saturday 4 p.m., Salon B Broad Universe Rapid Fire Readings Moderator: Kelly A. Harmon Panelists: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Gail Z. Martin, Christine Norris, Sarah Pinsker, KT Pinto, Morgen Rich, Roberta Rogow, Jean Marie Ward, Trisha J. Wooldridge Bite-sized readings from the amazing women/authors of Broad Universe. Sunday 7 p.m., Salon B Marketing and Promotion Moderator: Roxanne Bland Panelists: Ian Randal Strock; Cecilia Tan, Jean Marie Ward What marketing and promotion will publishers do, and how much of it? What marketing and self-promotion do publishers expect authors to do? Do the big houses do more for their authors than the small press houses, or do they only do more for their "big name" authors? 9 p.m., Parlor 3041 Balancing Creative Life with Real Life Moderator: Leona Wisoker Panelists: Phil Giunta, Jean Marie Ward How do you get your creative time in while still getting to work, having clean underwear and remembering to feed the cat? 10 p.m., Belmont Room Promoting Your Book Panelists: Jean Marie Ward, Michael Ventrella What works in promoting a book? Do book-signings really help a small author? Are bookmarks and/or postcards effective at garnering attention? Does a blog help or hurt an author? Does an author have to have a website? How do you find good reviewers? What tactics do NOT work? What methods might work for an established author that wouldn’t work for a beginner?