Six Sentence Sunday: "Burning Down the House"

Balticon is less than four weeks away, and I'll be participating in two (count 'em, two!) launch parties for two amazing anthologies, The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity and Hellfire Lounge 3: Jinn Rummy. In honor of the occasions, this month's Six Sentence Sundays will be devoted to the stories featured in those anthologies. Since you've already had several snippets from "Fixed", let's take a taste of "Burning Down the House", my story in Hellfire Lounge 3. Enjoy!

Eddie Woodhouse lurched between the tables of the Sixth Circle Club, apologizing every ponderous step of the way. Carrying a full-grown jinni inside his skin was hell. Its spine-crushing weight was only the start. Despite the swelter of July in New York, his thermal fleece sweatsuit, the heat of the crowd and the flames jetting in the six upright iron cages evenly spaced along the club’s circular wall, it was all he could do to keep from shivering as he approached the sorceress waiting at the shadowed table furthest from the door.

Gritting his teeth, he eased his tripled girth into the wide-armed leather chair across from her. The puffy cushions clenched around him like a boxing glove around a fist.

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To read the rest, you'll have to buy the book--and you can get it at Balticon. Hope to see you there.

RavenCon Schedule

RavenCon is this weekend!  I can’t wait, and when you see the schedule they’ve given me, you’ll know why.  And this is only the tip of their programming iceberg.  Glen Cook and Matthew Stewart are the writer and artist guests of honor, respectively.  This year the con hosts its first media guest, Battlestar Galactica’s Nicki Clyne. Not to mention an all-new Masquerade and a concert by Bella Morte, whose lead singer Andy Deane is also a writer and on the program.   And so am I:

Friday, April 14

4 p.m.

Space Cowboys and Fantasy Noir: From Shadowrun to the Garret Files to Priest, mixing genres can result in some interesting stories.  What genres mix well?

John Betancourt Glen Cook, S. Reesa Herberth, Stuart Jaffe, Michelle Moore, Jean Marie Ward

5 p.m.

Creating a Timeline: How carefully should an author keep track of what happens, when, and where?  What are some techniques to make this easier?

Day Al-Mohamed (m), Pamela K. Kinney, Bud Sparhawk, Jean Marie Ward, Robert E. Waters, Steve White

Saturday, April 15

2 p.m.

Broad Universe Rapid-Fire Reading: Tasty, bite-sized readings from the authors of Broad Universe, an international organization dedicated to promoting science fiction, fantasy and horror written by women.

Danielle Ackley McPhail, KT Pinto, Gail Z. Martin, Jean Marie Ward, Leona Wisoker (m)

3 p.m.

Design a Superhero: What makes a superhero great? Panelists describe what they think makes a memorable superhero.

Butch Allen, Billy Flynn, CJ Henderson, Patrick A. Vanner, Jean Marie Ward

5 p.m.

Modern Fairy Tales: Lost Girl, Grimm, and Once Upon a Time all bring fairy tales to the TV screen.  What makes some shows work, and others not?

Butch Allen, Flynnstress, Warren Rochelle, Suzanne Rosin, Michelle D. Sonnier, Jean Marie Ward

Sunday, April 16

11 a.m.

Are Panels About Vampires Played Out?  Every year, we have a panel asking if vampires are passé.  Are panels asking if vampires are passé…passé?

Scott M. Baker, Keith R.A. DeCandido, KT Pinto, Jim Stratton, Jean Marie Ward, Robert E. Waters

2 p.m.

Military Science Fiction and Fantasy: Panelists discuss the various subgenres of military SF and fantasy, from Star Trek to Battlestar Galactica to the Black Company.
Glen Cook, Mike McPhail, Tony Ruggerio, Janine K. Spendlove, Patrick A. Vanner, Jean Marie Ward (m)

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Cat-assisted writer (Photo by Greg Uchrin)

The iconic Duzell, born we don't know, entered our lives in September 2006 and left as considerately as he did everything sometime around eleven this morning. He got me through some of the worst times of my life, always gentle, always the gentleman. I wasn't ready for him to go. I don't think I would've ever been ready. Sometimes you are blessed with a friend, human or animal, too good for just one life. I wish my sweet boy many such lives, all of them filled with the love he deserves.

Six Sentence Sunday: Stealth Con, or How to Succeed at Cons with a Cunning Plan

Our beloved Feline Overlord is ailing, and last weekend was devoted to him. But I'm back this week, with a little nonfiction in honor of RavenCon, where I'll be next weekend--the story of my first RavenCon in 2007:

The email from RavenCon’s assistant director of programming was polite but not encouraging:

“Right now our guest list is full, but I will put you on our short list if a guest cancels…”

A lot of writers will take that as a hint. In other words: “Stay home, little girl, you’re not big enough/you’re the wrong genre to play in our sandbox.” But I’m evil and wise in the ways of science fiction/fantasy conventions. And I had a cunning plan.

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If you want to read more about my first RavenCon, you can find the full story here.