The 2010 Dragon*Con Schedule of Dooooom

Diana Gabaldon! Peter David! Elizabeth Moon! Jeanne C. Stein! Jody Lynn Nye! Eric Flint! Not only are they all at Dragon*Con, they’re all on panels with moi. Not to mention all the other fabulous people on my twelve panels. Yes, twelve. Now you know where the Dooooom comes from.

FRIDAY 1 p.m.
Collaborations: Are Two Heads Better Than One?
See title. Is a good collaboration as good or better than a solo author's work? Why or why not?
Eric Flint, C. Robin (Moderator), Jean Marie Ward
Location: Hyatt – Greenbriar (SF/Fantasy Literature Track)

FRIDAY 2:30 p.m.
To Tell the Truth
For the non-fiction writer. Blogs, articles and books about the speculative fiction markets, including books, short stories, movies and television.
Dr. Bob Blackwood, John Flynn, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Anya Martin, Jennifer Ouellette, Jean Marie Ward
Location: Hyatt – Manila/Singapore/Hong Kong (Writer’s Track)

FRIDAY 4 p.m.
Broad Universe Rapid Fire Readings: Time Travel
The women of Broad Universe take you on a time-traveling trip-tic of storytelling featuring visions of the past, present and future.
Kathryn Hinds, Racheline Maltese, Gail Z. Martin, Jody Lynn Nye, Jean Marie Ward
Location: Westin – International C - Westin (Alternate History Track)

FRIDAY 7 p.m.
True Blood – From Page to Screen
Like the changes to Sookie's world? Hate them? Come by and share your thoughts!
J.F. Lewis, Carol Malcolm (Moderator), Jeanne C. Stein, Jean Marie Ward
Location: Hyatt – Montreal/Vancouver (Dark Fantasy Track)

FRIDAY 10 p.m.
Sexy Science Fiction
What makes a book sexy? Naked women and actual sex scenes? Or are there other literary pheromones at work?
Diana Gabaldon, Gail Z. Martin, G. Mitchell (Moderator), Jean Marie Ward, Diane Whiteside
Location: Hyatt – Fairlie (SF/Fantasy Literature Track)

SATURDAY 10 a.m.
Turning Stellar Rejections into Sales
According to the rejection letter, your book just misses being bought. What can you do to turn a rejection into a sale?
Lynn Abbey, Peter David, Christopher Golden, Lee Martindale, Josepha Sherman, Anne Sowards, Jean Marie Ward
Location: Hyatt – Manila/Singapore/Hong Kong (Writer’s Track)

SATURDAY 11:30 a.m.
Broad Universe Reading
Discover new writers, rediscover ones you know! Up-and-coming women writers read from their own works and others. (2 ½ hours)
Kathryn Hinds, Mary Robinette Kowal, Racheline Maltese, Gail Z. Martin, Jody Lynn Nye, Jean Marie Ward, Diane Whiteside, Trisha Wooldridge
Location: Hyatt – Greenbriar (SF/Fantasy Literature Track)

SATURDAY 7 p.m.
The Worlds of Tim Burton
A fan panel about the works of Tim Burton. What did you think of Alice in Wonderland? Do you ever think he'll ever make that Dark Shadows movie?
Leanna Renee Hieber, DJ Ichabod (Moderator), Mari Mancusi, Jean Marie Ward
Location: Hyatt – Cairo (Dark Fantasy Track)

SATURDAY 8:30 p.m.
Gray Areas: Polymoral Characters
Sometimes bad people do good things and vice versa. Does this make the bad good or the good bad?
Larry Davis (Moderator), Van Plexico, Jean Marie Ward
Location: Hyatt – Greenbriar (SF/Fantasy Literature Track)

SATURDAY 10 p.m.
Love Rots
Zombies in erotica and romance.
Elizabeth Donald, John Everson, Stacia Kane, Mari Mancusi, M. Miller (Moderator), Jean Marie Ward
Location: Hyatt – Montreal/Vancouver (Dark Fantasy Track)

MONDAY 11:30 am.
The New Amazons
Women kick bad guy butt in urban fantasy, young adult fiction, television and real life. How are they doing in epic fantasy?
Lynn Abbey, Gail Z. Martin, Elizabeth Moon, Jean Marie Ward (Moderator)
Location: Hyatt – Greenbriar (SF/Fantasy Literature Track)

MONDAY 2:30 p.m.
Win, Lose or Draw – SF style
Use your drawing skills to win books and prizes in our version of the old game.
Jean Marie Ward (Moderator)
Location: Hyatt – Greenbriar (SF/Fantasy Literature Track)

Yeah, I’m going to be a gibbering ball of goo by the time it’s all over. But dang, what a way to go!

"Personal Demons" under contract

"Personal Demons", a tale about demonic possession and tantric sorcery in Alexandria, Virginia, has been accepted and contracted for Hellebore and Rue: Tales of Queer Women and Magic edited by JoSelle Vanderhooft and Catherine Lundoff. (Insert demented happy dances here. :D) I've loved this story for ages, but people told me it would never sell because my protagonist happened to be a lesbian. Just goes to show the story (and its magically gifted heroine) knew better than anybody. They were waiting for the right home, and what a lovely home it will be. Drollerie Press has a rep for fantastic covers and amazing content. I can't wait to read the other stories in the anthology. Fortunately, the wait won't be too long. The editors and Drollerie Press hope to issue the ebook in time for Halloween. This year! Color me thrilled.

The Vampires Of: Ginjer Buchanan

The good folks at Buzzy Multimedia have published the second in my series of vampire-related interviews. This one features top Ace Books editor Ginjer Buchanan. Enjoy!

The 2010 Pre-DragonCon Post

Is now live--with pictures--at Beyond the Veil. Enjoy!

The Vampires Of...

For those of you who like it when I wear my reporter hat, I've started a new mini-series at Buzzy Multimedia: "The Vampires Of..." The first installment features the delightful Rachel Caine, with a photo of her and her husband R. Cat. Enjoy!

Just Because

Today's Beyond the Veil post wasn't what I planned doesn't mean you shouldn't read it. ;-)

Surfacing at last

I know, I know. The only interesting blogging I've been doing lately has been on behalf of S.J. Willing. It's not that I've given up blogging for un-Lent or anything. I've just been busy, working on some fiction, nonfiction and, for the first time in ages, some fan fiction.

You'll like the short story. It's the new and improved "Syren Bridge", twice as long with more characters, more fun and all the strudel-ly goodness you loved in the first version. I hope to be able to tell you more about its new home in a couple months.

It'll be a lot longer before I can talk about the nonfiction project. It's very different from anything I've done before, but you'll definitely want to read it.

On the guilty pleasures front, I succumbed to the lure of John Scalzi’s June fan fiction challenge. Scalzi is a very evil man, and I say that in full knowledge that he is now president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and therefore ruler of the known SF/fantasy multiverse. But he’s still ebil, Ebil, EBIL.

To benefit the Lupus Alliance of America, Scalzi, Wil Wheaton (yes, that Wil Wheaton), Catherynne Valente, Patrick Rothfuss created a chapbook for electronic publication by Subterranean Press later this year. If that’s all they did I would’ve give them a karmic pass and scoped out the book when it appeared. But noooooooooooo, they couldn’t let it go at a good deed. Somebody (and I think we know who that is) commissioned Jeff Zugale to create the attached cover art. But that wasn’t all they did. Scalzi, Wheaton and SP solicited fanfic writers to create stories explaining the picture. The best story, as determined by the Jury of Awesomeness, will be awarded double the SFWA-defined professional rate/word and be included in the chapbook.

And this is how I spent my June.

Before it was over, Scalzi & Co. received over 350 submissions—which tells you how the Jury of Awesomeness is going to spend their July, August and possibly September. From the links posted after the contest closed, some of the entries were mind-boggling. How does anyone compete with a complete play? Meep!

In other news, I'm attending a new con. I've been added to the guest list of Intervention, the Washington DC-area webcomics con. Intervention will be held at the Rockville Hilton (home of Capclave) September 10-12. I'll be sharing the bill with fellow DC Area Storyteller Anthony Stevens and, for the first time, the love of my life. Yes, Greg Uchrin of IV Caffeine will be attending Intervention as a guest and a dealer. Come and cheer him on...and buy lots of stuff.

In the meantime, there’s ReConStruction and DragonCon.

ReConStruction (August 3-8 in Raleigh, North Carolina) is the tenth occasional North American Science Fiction Convention—in other words, what happens when WorldCon travels somewhere other than the U.S. or Canada for the summer, like this year. It boasts all the usual WorldCon events, including dances, masquerades, auctions, interviews and panels. Laurie Toby Edison, one of my very favorite jewelers, will be there, too. No word on the final program yet, but the interim list of participants and panels looks really good.

Then there’s DragonCon, the ultimate end of summer party. It’s bigger than ever this year. We even sucked in the Westin. Soon all the business district will be ours! Then…

Er, leaving off the plans for world domination, programming is coming together for that, too. What I’ve seen looks fabulous. And if you’re there, be sure to join us for the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Readings. I’ll firing up two new stories: “Syren Bridge” and “Lord Bai and the Magic Pirates”. I am told my impression of a Wagnerian soprano singing about strudel is enough to scar a person for life. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Wrong Wrong Wrong *headdesk*

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Save our SJ

After a five-year medical nightmare, writer SJ Willing has lost the use of his pancreas. He can survive and thrive with the right meds, but they cost $250/month he can't afford, and like most writers, he lacks insurance. His fellow writers at Beyond the Veil have started a number of projects to help out. The first, a "Save our SJ" Donate button on the cover of the group novel Dunvegas, is now live. Please, visit and click. If you need more incentives, I've posted 13 reasons why you should. And I'll add one more: He's a good guy with family who loves and needs him. Thanks!

"Hoodoo Cupid" is front & center at Fictionwise

Well, look at that. I have no idea how long it will be up there, but seeing my little romance on the front page of anything makes me squee.  I am so easy.  Of course, I just finished watching "Comes a Horseman" again on Syfy.  Now off to bed, hopefully with dreams of Domain in my head...