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I am so swamped, I can't believe it. I mean, I'm usually swamped, but this past week beats all. So here's a quick update on what happened at Balticon and why I'm so frikkin' swamped. Thursday, May 22 - After two weeks of wondering, print copies of Demon By Day arrive at my door. One hour later, my business cards for Demon By Day show up. The kick ass boots I ordered to wear at the con showed up the day before. I now have everything I need for the con. And guess what? Demon By Day is now up on Mojocastle.com. Yeah! I'm officially published. Friday, May 23 - I had planned to leave at 7:30AM, but after staying up all night packing, I don't get out of the house until 8:30. I drop my oldest daughter off at preschool, stop by the bank, grab breakfast and snack from the grocery store, and finally hit the road at 10ish. Traffic is pretty good except around D.C. and Baltimore. I arrive at the con by 3 PMish. Not bad time. I hook up with Pam Kinney (aka Sapphire Phelan, famous paranormal romance writer) and get my room key. I'm crashing with her and her husband for the weekend. I also check in with Nobilis of the Nobilis Erotica Podcast and say hi to the staff and a bunch of old friends at Balticon. The carpet at the Hunt Valley Marriot is unbelievably ugly, and I am worried that my dress for Saturday night with clash badly with it. My first panel is that evening. The title is "Marriage of the Future." It's one of the panels I suggested for Balticon, and we have a lively discussion of what marriage could be like, touching on politics, religion, reproduction, property, and other aspects. My next panel is at 11PM. The topic is Sexy Women in Sci Fi - What's the Point? Just what every raging feminist should talk about. Again, we had a lively discussion, and although the male panelists sat on one side of the table while the female panelists sat on the other, no one bit off anybody else's head. After that, I hit the 80's party in my non-80's clothes (I refuse to dress in that time period ever again), and then crashed around 2Amish. Saturday, 24 May - Like a fool, I get up at 7AM, shower, eat, and head out for an early start at the con. The entire day is one long blur of panels on writing, art and podcasting. I met so many fascinating people and made so many great contacts, I can't list them all in the limited time I have today, but here are a few people who's company I enjoyed: Mur Lafferty, writer and podcaster - www.murverse.com James Patrick Kelley - ultra cool sci-fi writer and podcaster, http://www.jimkelly.net/ Jared Axelrod - Aliens You Will Meet, www.freeplanetx.com J.R. Blackwell - writer, burlesque girl, podcaster for Voices of 365 Tomorrows (http://voicesoftomorrow.libsyn.com/) Tee Morris - Podcasting For Dummies, Survivor's Guide to Writing Fantasy, www.teemorris.com Paul Fischer and Martha Holloway of the ADD Cast - http://addcast.net/ Nobilis - podcaster, fellow erotica writer, http://nobilis.libsyn.com/ Amber Rhea - podcaster for Mostly ITP (http://www.gapodcastnetwork.com/network-programs/mostly-itp) Regina Lynn - Sex Drive columnist for Wired Magazine and Sex Rev 2.0 (http://www.reginalynn.com/) Earl Newton and David Kanter - the producers of the ultra-cool Stranger Things podcast, soon to go into syndication! (http://www.strangerthings.tv/) Matt Wallace - podcaster and writer; he wrote the script for episode 4 of Stranger Things (http://www.matt-wallace.net/) Podcasting's Rich Sigfrit - He's Mr. Adventure. Need I say more? (http://www.outcastmultimedia.com/) Thomas Gideon - podcaster for the Command Line podcast, the rough edge where society, public policy and computers meet (http://thecommandline.net/). George Hraab - musician, podcaster, atheist, and all around very funny guy (http://www.geologicpodcast.com/) J. C. Hutchins - author and podcaster of the Seventh Son trilogy and expert on crowd sourcing (http://jchutchins.net/) And on, and on, and on. Like I said, the whole day was a blur. I woke up at 7AM to sit in on all the cool panels and finished up at 1AM after doing two panels - one on sex and technology, and one on erotica podcasts. Both were lively and well attended, which is very cool considering all the other things going on during that time period (like concerts) and the lateness of the hour. I crashed in the hotel room at 2AM Sunday, 25 May - Trying hard not to drag, I got up at 8AM, showered, ate, and headed out again for another early morning. There were just too many frikkin' interesting things to do at this con! The highlights included a writing panel with James Patrick Kelley and Mur Lafferty and others on can writing be taught; a reading by Mur Lafferty from her current work in progress; the premiere of episode 4 from Stranger Things (that was the best two hours of TV I've seen in a looooooooooong time, no joke). I also sat in on the Mr. Adventure Podcast (http://www.pulpadventures.net/), then had dinner with the lovely Martha Holloway and Paul Fischer, watched the Geek Fu Morning Show: After Dark, listened to J. C. Hutchins and Mur Lafferty talk about and then got geared up for my last panel of the weekend - So You Want To Be A Sexy Podcaster. And somewhere in the day there was a panel on voice acting and character work, led by the fascinating George Hraab (http://www.geologicpodcast.com/). After all that I got to see the Stranger Things episode again (an impromptu viewing held for those staff members who missed it the first time), which was even cooler the second time around we got to ask questions about how the whole thing was put together. I crashed around 3AM that morning, but you know.... Monday, 26 May - I got up again at 8AM. Fortunately, I had packed the night before, and after I loaded up my car, I got breakfast at the hotel, said my goodbyes, and made the looooooooong ride home. I was so looking forward to going to be early and spending a few days relaxing before packing up to go on vacation in Florida. But when I got home, I found an e-mail waiting for me that said my manuscript of short stories had been accepted for contract with Logical Lust, but did I have any more material I might want to add? So, I've spent the past week pulling out stories to send in for the collect, plus I've been sending out announcements about Demon By Day (I sold six of my ten copies at the con!), plus I'm trying to get out thank-you's to all the folks I met at the con, plus follow up on contacts for other conventions, plus finish off a couple of episodes for the podcast to run while I'm out of town, plus I need to get stories out to the ERWA writers group... I'm swamped. But I'm happy, so if all this kills me, I'll go with a smile on my face. See you when I get back from vacation. Labels: Conventions And Appearances, SOLD |
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Friday, May 23, 2008
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 Huge news. My first book, Demon By Day is now available from Mojocastle Press. Here's the blurb: In the twilight realm of Daeva Shudra, there dwells an ancient race of demons. Once the most powerful beings on earth, the Daeva must hide in their underground city or be burned to ashes by the sun. The world above belongs to mortals now, inferior creatures with limited abilities for magic, easy prey for demonkind. Between the two races comes Orziel, a half-breed struggling to survive the deadly schemes of his immortal kin. His only weapons are his vicious beauty and ruthless cunning. Otherwise, he is powerless and despised. But lack of power doesn’t check Orziel’s pride or ambition. All his life he’s lied, seduced, and betrayed to get whatever he’s wanted, including his lover, the demon prince Asheru. When Empress Shebazael claims Asheru as her own, Orziel swears he’ll do whatever it takes to take back what’s his, regardless of the consequences. The half-demon travels to the surface, in search of a mortal sorcerer to aid him in his quest. But things go awry when Orziel seduces Jarresh, a beautiful youth with no magic beyond his capacity for love. Will Orziel stand by the only person who’s ever truly cared for him, or will he betray Jarresh to carry out his revenge? I'll be selling print copies of the book at Balticon. If you're there and you want one, just grab me by the arm and let me know. And if you're interested in hearing the audio promo I put together for the book, check out this week's episode of the Heat Flash podcast. Heat Flash is my free weekly podcast of erotic short fiction. There's a new story every Friday. The promo for Demon By Day is at the end of this week's episode, so take a listen! That's all I've got for now. I've got to get some sleep so I can drive up to Balticon tomorrow morning. I'll try to post a few entries while I'm there. Labels: Conventions And Appearances, Helen's Books |
Monday, May 19, 2008
News On The Novel - I Really Should Celebrate
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Well, here's one thing I know I should blog about. My erotica novel, Demon By Day, should be available very soon. I proofed the final galley this weekend and signed off on it. The publisher, Mojocastle Press, is trying to get me print copies in time for Balticon this weekend. Meanwhile, I'm now busting my ass getting ready to promote this puppy. I spent a year and a half writing this book, and then six months finding a publisher. It's been another year and a half editing and getting it ready to publish. I remember very clearly the day I finished the first draft. It was a miserable winter day in February, and I was sick as a dog. I was so thrilled to have actually completed writing a book, a real book! But I was so sick, and I had a fussy toddler on my hands, and with the weather so lousy, there was no way I was going to get out to celebrate. That disappointed me a bit, but when you're a stay-at-home mom in addition to being a writer, that happens a lot. I also remember very clearly the day I first sent the book off to a publisher. I sent it to Tor Books, thinking I'd try one of the major print publishers just once so I could have a rejection letter. I was nine months pregnant with my youngest and just waiting for my due date to come. I remember walking into the post office with my oldest child Cassie, handing the packaged manuscript to the postal clerk and paying my money, and then walking out of the post office and telling Cassie, "Now that's done, the baby can come any time now." Sam must have been listening because my water broke just a few hours later. I had the baby around 3 AM the next day. No celebration for getting the book out, but we did have a little party a few days later to celebrate the arrival of our second daughter. My party outfit consisted of baggy pants and t-shirt, a nursing bra and leaky boobs. A couple months later, I got my rejection letter from Tor and I promptly set out to find a good small press/e-book erotica publisher. That turned out to be Mojocastle, and I can't thank Stephanie Kelsey enough for all the hard work she's put into getting Demon By Day ready and out the door. I remember getting the e-mail saying they wanted to send me a contract. I wanted to dance around the house screaming at the top of my lungs. But by then I had my hands full with a squalling infant, so I didn't get my celebration then either. So here we are three and a half years later. My novel is about to come out in e-book and in print and once again I have no time to stop and celebrate because I've got to get the next several episodes of my podcast produced, pull together all my erotica writerly swag for my appearance at Balticon, and then get ready to head off to Florida for a week's vacation. I could call the vacation a celebration, but I know I'm going to spend most of it chaperoning the kids through Disney World by myself. I think when I get back, I will take a whole day off to myself. Well, no entirely by myself. Can't leave Sam alone now, can I? Although maybe I could hire a sitter for the day? Hmmm... Finding a sitter for the baby. Now that would be cause for celebration. Labels: My Books, Write-At-Home Mom |
Friday, May 16, 2008
Blog, Blog, Blog...
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I have no idea what to do with this blog. It's funny that I'm a writer, and I spend a lot of my time writing, yet when it comes to this blog, the online journal that's supposed to be one of my biggest means of promoting myself online, I can't figure out what to do with it. Part of the problem is that I have other blogs, including one for family and one for my art experiments. I know exactly what to do with those blogs. All the weird funny family stories go in the family blog. All the scribbles and doodles and artwork go in the art blog. Simple, right? So what's supposed to go into this blog, my professional blog? My adventures in writing? Um, yeah, I spend a couple of hours in the chair each day banging my head against the keyboard, hoping I can come up with 1000 words before my toddler wakes up crying for mommy. That's not exactly riveting blog material, especially since that's what happens **every single day**. So what else do I do as an erotica writer/artist? Well, I go to conventions, but that's only a couple of times a year. I did an interview recently, but that was just my first. I podcast, which is even more writing and head-banging against the keyboard, plus some head-banging against the microphone. That's all very exciting, of course. Um, what else could I blog about? Well, I create erotic artwork, but that it takes me forever and a day to put together a finished image, so that's not really a topic I could talk about all the time. I mean, imagine the blog entries. 16 May 2008 - I adjusted the pose of Michael 3's right hand, curving the first two fingers just a little bit more... I mean seriously, 3D artwork is very tedious to create (although the end results are very hot). Man, I just don't know what to blog about that would make this blog different and exciting. I started doing cartoons for the family blog, which is great, because I know exactly what to write and cartoon about. But what's interesting about being a writer/artist that I could blog about on a regular basis? I mean, I don't even get into any trouble for all the naught stories I write, so how exciting is that? Think, think, think... I guess I'll have to brainstorm a bit. Labels: How To Promote, Write-At-Home Mom, Writer's Block |
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I Was Interviewed For The Balticon Podcast!
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Speaking of conventions, I was interviewed this past weekend by Paul Fischer of the Balticon Podcast. The interview is here. Paul talked to myself and fellow erotica writer Nobilis about erotica podcasting, writing sexy stories, family values for erotica writers, and everything in between. We also talked a bit about what we'll be doing at Balticon this coming Memorial Day weekend, where Nobilis and I will both be guests working on the adults' new media track for the convention. We had a great time discussing all the naughtiness we plan to get into, so take a listen to the interview and check out some of the rest of the Balticon podcast. Also stop by and listen to Paul's podcast (one of my all time favorites), the ADD Cast. Labels: Conventions And Appearances, Interviews, Podcast |
- Erotica Art Demo - Go Fish (part 1)
- Erotica Cover Watch!
- Episode 16
- Demon By Day available in print!
- What is a Demon?
- Free Read On Frequently Felt!
- Episode 15
- Cynical Woman Cartoons Have Their Own Home!
- Cartoon Up! The Adventures of Cynical Woman
- Another test for Zoundry's Rave
Erotica Readers & Writers Association
Erotica Readers & Writers Association
EPIC - Electronically Published Industry Connection
Survival Guide To Writing Fantasy
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