My book trailer for the Tranquility series is in a monthly trailer contest with you gotta read reviews.

Please check out the contest (which is near the bottom of the page, and not visible on the mobile version of the site). My trailer is number four in the series. Voting will be on the 20th through 26th of the month.

http://yougottaread.com/

If you like movies, you probably already know that the wizard is back! Oz the Great and Powerful is in movie theaters right now.  This movie tells the story of Oscar (with a long name), nicknamed Oz, a carnival magician who lands in the powerful land of Oz and is automatically assumed to be a powerful wizard in his own right.

We at Yard Dog Press don’t see what the fuss is all about.  After all, we certainly don’t have any interest in Oz.  Or do we?

At any rate, to cash in on celebrate the release of Oz the Great and powerful, we are going back into the vault and dusting off our podcast from when I should have stayed in Oz was released.  We hope you enjoy it.

I need to post more often.

I meant to leave for Midsouthcon early, but (as I was fond of talking about probably too much this weekend) I have a baby daughter now, so getting out the door isn’t the most coordinated effort. But a short visit with my dad (I have new stories about my Grandpa) and a few animal cookies later (I had to change my shirt), baby girl was dropped off and I was on my way.

If you happen to drive through Arkansas, be warned. There is construction around Russellville and between Hazen and Brinkley. Expect to get delayed. A lot.

Eventually, I made it to my destination. The Hilton in East Memphis that looks like a big round tower. As soon as I dropped my stuff, I said hello to the good folks at Yard Dog Press (my publisher). This year we were situated across from the folks at Kerlak books/Dark Oak press.  As soon as I sat down behind the Yard Dog table, a fan came up and pointed to me, trying to remember where she knew me. “You’re one of the Four Redheads of the Apocalypse!”  No. No I’m not.

Gryffindor or Slytherin . . . I would probably be sorted into Hufflepuff, actually.

The weekend was a whirlwind. I was on several writing mechanics panels including footsteps to a novel, how to take your lumps (about being edited), supporting characters, spread too thin (about time management), so you said (about dialog), anti-heroes, and writing short form.

I was also on a fun panel called “Would you rather?”  As in “Would you rather comb snape’s hair or brush Gollum’s teeth.” It was a fun, rapid-fire panel where you had to answer questions and give reasons.  I was a little punchy at that point, so I had a great time.

So Thor and Loki walk into a bar.

Memphis is always an interesting Convention for me. Different region, different fans than the ones I see in Kansas, Oklahoma and Dallas. More costumers here. Fewer NASA employees.  I’m forced out of my comfort zone because of the different vibe and that’s not a bad thing.

Despite the steampunk theme, I saw fewer steampunk costumes this year. Perhaps the trend is cycling down in costuming. In books, it seems to be going strong. Kerlak has several new Steampunk Anthologies that look interesting.

Saw lots of people whom I love to see, but haven’t seen in a while. Tons of folks that I used to play with in the SCA – Brander, Leif, Mike, Kat, Melandra.

Bumped into Joy Ward and Walt Boyes and introduced myself. They told me that it’s nice to have a face to put with the stories that I’ve been turning in along with Brad for the 1632 universe. They also made the announcement (so It’s safe for me to say something).  The 1632 universe was optioned by the BBC for a series. I’m excited to be one of the 140-150 authors involved in the project. (I think this might be the biggest shared world project in the history of  . . . ever).

Ethan and his dragon poetry eggs. Dragon poetry has to be better than Vogon poetry.

Also saw a lot of talented writers. So here is a plug for authors who are not me who have great books out.  Kat Robinson has a book out called “Arkansas Pie.”  The book is just what it says on the tin.  The best pies in Arkansas.  Laura J. Underwood has a new Keltora book out from Yard Dog Press called Tales from Keltora, as well as Bad City, the sequel to Bad lands that she and Selina write together. Emilie Bush has two children’s steampunk books out (which I bought for my little girl). Kimberly Richardson who edits several steampunk books from Kerlak, as well as Tales from a Goth Librarian. Ethan Nathe, who in addition to his own books, was selling dragon eggs with tiny poetry scrolls inside.

And M. Keaton (writer of the Brass Africa steampunk stories) and I talked potential collaboration. Possibly something urban fantasy and noirish. Stay tuned for details if they become available.

On Sunday, I would have liked to linger, but the snowpocalypse was dumping weather on Missouri, and my hubby texted me photos of snow back home in Northwest Arkansas, so I bid a fond goodbye to folks after my 10:00 slot on Pro row and headed out. Only to get stuck in construction twice again.  By the time I made it home, it was 7:10 p.m., and I saw no snow along the way.  I guess whoever controls the weather likes me.

I’ve been producing the Roadshow for nearly two years now. But I’ve never read one of my own stories for the podcast (that I recall).  That all changes today. This episode, I read from Yumbies of the Carribbean, which can be found in International House of Bubbas.

Also, News from the Yard:

Tim Frayser’s new book, Memoirs of an Ex Zombie is available in eBook format from Damnation Books and Amazon.com.  Tim tells us that the print version of the book should be out within a week or two.

Yard Dog Press will be at Midsouthcon this year. Our newest titles include the perfect bound edition of The Four Redheads of the Apocalypse, Death Under the Crescent Moon, Some Distant Shore and The Fantastikon: Tales of Wonder.

See you there!

It’s February! It’s the month of Romance! Everywhere except here. Join us for the Yard Dog Press Audio Roadshow where our themes this month sound more like it should be Thanksgiving. We’ve got a big fat bird for dinner as Katherine Eliska Kimbriel reads her short story Ducks from the chapbook Wings of Morning. Then get your commercial groove on just like Black Friday with a very special Yard Dog Press commercial. Finally, Robert Brown shows us what it’s like to spend time with the weird relatives in Savin’ Ned.

In addition, we have a little bit of news from the yard:

Yard Dog Press and Dusty Rainbolt will be launching their newest title “Death Under the Crescent Moon” at Con DFW. Mention that you saw it here and get $.50 off the cover price at the convention.

YDP has also re-released the popular “The Four Redheads of the Apocalypse” chapbook with a new, perfect-bound cover. The cover price is $6.00, but you will also receive a $.50 discount at Con DFW if you mention that you saw it here.

William Ledbetter has a Non-Fiction article up at the Baen Website (www.baen.com) entitled “Family Therapy: Learning to Love Mercury and Pluto.” The article discusses the probes that have been sent to those two planets (or one planet and one whatever they’re calling Pluto these days).

Melanie Fletcher just sold a paranormal Erotic Romance Novellette titled “A Boon by Moonlight” to Evernight Publishing for their Romance on the Go line. Look for it under her pseudonym Nicola Cameron.

Tracy S. Morris just launched a second podcast along with longtime Yard Dog fan Rosemary Johnson, which they call Lunch on Fridays. Two geek girls talking about geek things. The first podcast is up at www.lunchonfridays.com.

If you are going to Con DFW, we hope you’ll download this podcast and listen to it in your playlist on the way there.

I just completed a book trailer for my Tranquility Book series.

I think it looks good for a first effort.

I just finished out my term as one of the Broaduniverse podcast coordinators. I guess I wasn’t content to rest, because I immediately started up a new podcast with my friend Rosemary Johnson. This one is really low concept.  ”Why don’t we podcast some of these lunch conversations we have?”  Thus was born: Lunch on Fridays.

For our first episode, we talked Time Travel in fiction. The topic ranged from Back to the Future and Looper around to Terry Pratchett’s Night Watch. I hope you’ll give it a listen.

 http://lunchonfridays.com

We’re only two months late, but it was the holidays. Can you blame us?

This edition of the Roadshow has a Funny story from Katherine Eliska Kimbriel that starts out “We were drunk and we had this dynamite.”   The story is entitled “That Exploding Toilet Myth, and is available from Flush Fiction: Stories to be read in one sitting.

How do you follow something like that?  Julia Mandala has just the thing with an excerpt from her novel House of Doors.

Then we have some news from the yard:

Jody Lynn Nye has a new book in the Myth Adventures series out. The book, entitled Myth Quoted, is available from Ace Books.  You can find it in all major book stores, and on Amazon.

Robin Wayne Bailey  Has a new release through Yard Dog Press called The Fantastikon: Tales of Wonder.  Robin wI’ll be signing books at the new Prospero’s Bookstore location in the Valentine Shopping Center on February 15, and if everything can be worked out, he plans to also film a couple of new “Zombie Poetry” videos for youtube. presentation.  You can find three of his zombie poetry videos already on youtube.

Robin will also be at Conquest May 24-26 and is a special guest at A-Kon May 31^st through June 2^nd.

Gary Jonas’  The Night Marshal is available on Amazon In E-Book Format and dead tree editon.

Yard Dog Press will be at Con DFW inDallas February 15-17.

I’m watching the Back To The Future Blue Ray today. The original draft for the movie called for the time machine to be a refrigerator, and in one draft the 1.21 gigawatt jolt was supposed to come from a nuclear explosion.

A refrigerator and a nuclear explosion. What does this remind you of?

Yeah, me too.

Coincidentally, Steven Speilberg was involved with both movies. Now I’m not saying that this happened, but sometimes a writer can internalize an idea and then unknowingly recycle it.

Maybe, just maybe that’s what happened here.

I always feel weird when I tell people what I got for Christmas. Let’s face it, times are tough all over. So telling people what I got for Christmas feels a little too much like bragging for my comfort. Suffice it to say I got what I wanted,

and managed to avoid spoiling the baby too much for her first Christmas. (Which is not too hard, at this point she would be satisfied with just a box.)

Getting gifts for Hubby is always a challenge anyway. When he wants something, he basically gets it for himself. So if he hasn’t gotten it yet, it’s probably out of our budget.

I try to make up for this by being creative. This year, leading up to Christmas I gave hubby a 12 days of Christmas gift. Each day, hubby got a small gift along the 12 days of Christmas theme. For example, day four is traditionally four calling birds. Instead, hubby got phone accessories. (The birds are calling…never mind.)

For Christmas itself, Hubby got 12 planned out dates for the coming year. One for each month. That should ensure that we have a regular date night, I’ll prolonging the Christmas Gift-giving anticipation through the whole next year (which is really what Hubby finds most fun anyway.)

Hope everyone out there had a very Merry Christmas, or whatever Holliday they choose to observe. And we all find ways to keep the holiday spirit of generosity and goodwill all year long.