CONVIVIAL OF WILLIAMSBURG WAS AWESOME!
I got to hang out with great writers like the Guest of Honor Keith R. A. DeCandido, Samantha Bryant, Dr Cal Baldari, Tempie Wade, D.J. McGuire, and excellent creatives like David Doersch (formerly leader of the band Coyote Run), The Blibbering Humdingers, and The Boogie Knights. The panels were very fun and the discussions energizing and thoughtful. Sales for The Scribbling Lion were much better than expected. Overall, a roaring success for a first year convention! If you missed it this year, definitely put it on your calendar for 2025.
My short story The Silver Tree is LIVE over on Abyss & Apex Magazine. I think it’s one of the best short pieces I’ve ever written; go take a look and see if you agree!
NOTHING CHANGES is LIVE! Check out the cool cover art by Monica Marier, and read more about the book below!
A young man obeys his father and vaults past the assumptions of his insular society in a bid for control of their people. Years later, his daughter does the same, but this time in an effort to escape her father’s inflexible, dangerous control.
Their choices resonate through the background of the Children of the Desert series and shape the world. Presented here are their stories, along with six other intersecting tales. Rogues and priests, monsters and saviors, all make their own path through a complex world, affecting far more lives than they ever realize.
Time travel, morality, ethics, and culture clashes are on offer, along with notes on this world’s religion, history, linguistics. and horses.
Power corrupts, people lie, rulers come and go. Nothing changes in the long run …
… or does it?
For more on this collection, head over to The Scribbling Lion site, where a fuller write up and sample story are on offer.
This was a very, very fun collection to write and assemble, especially the linguistic geekery at the end. If you want to know how I build the words of my made up language, you’ll love that section.
Latest news:
I am FINISHED WITH THE FIRST BOOK IN THE SEQUEL SERIES TO CHILDREN OF THE DESERT.
It’s called Lies of Stone, and I am incredibly excited about moving forward into creating back blurbs and typeset and all that good stuff. I have a great cover artist, Christina Yoder, and I’m super pleased with the cover she’s designed! Lies of Stone is tentatively projected to launch at ConVivial of Williamsburg in January 2024. If you’ve been to one of my book launches before, you know it’s worth making the trip for that alone! I have fun with my launches.
I’m delighted to announce the launch of “Nothing Changes“, a collection of short stories set in the same world as the Children of the Desert series. There is a new set of maps in this book as well! Artist Monica Marier is handling the maps and cover, and I couldn’t be happier with what I’m seeing so far. “Nothing Changes” is due out at the end of August.
I also want to remind readers that I have a short story, The Silver Tree, due out in October of this year through Abyss & Apex ezine. I think it’s one of the best short tales I’ve written to date, and I’m really happy it’s found a home.
DO sign up for the Irregular Update! I have special deals planned for subscribers. Regular editions are books, books, and more books, all the way down! Special editions will have deals on upcoming releases like the ones mentioned above. Sign up box can be found on this page and on The Scribbling Lion home page as well.
Newest blog posts:
The Writing Journey of An Odd Little Lion
UPCOMING EVENTS TO WATCH
I attended ConGregate as a regular attendee, and it was great! Definitely, definitely put this convention on your list for next year. It’ll be their ten year anniversary, so I’m positive they’ll put on a fabulous show!
I will be attending the new Williamsburg convention, ConVivial, in January 2024, at which I’m tentatively planning a fun book launch.
And I will MOST DEFINITELY be at RavenCon 2024, whether as a guest or an attendee, because THEY HAVE T KINGFISHER / Ursula Vernon AS A GUEST OF HONOR *flails* *Oh goddess I am going to embarrass myself fangirling at her* *Makes note: must order every book of hers in print to get her signature* *Yes I’m that crazy about her writing* *Cringing in advance about my behavior* *sigh*
OLDER NEWS
I am SUPER EXCITED to announce the reissue of Servants of the Sands, now formatted as two books (in print). The new version is available through ReAnimus Press or Amazon. The eBook is still one volume, but either way it’s been edited and has an additional chapter at the end! (It’s a really good chapter. You want to read it, I promise.) Update 6/2023: The extra chapter is included in the collection Nothing Changes, due out at the end of August.
I have notes and sketches for a lot of short pieces that I would like to flesh out and submit. I have a couple stories slogging around through various publications, so wish me luck! I intend to get at least a couple new things out, self published or professionally, in 2021.
Update as of 4/2021: My short story, The Silver Tree, has been accepted at ABYSS & APEX and will be out in … October 2023 (oddly long time frame for short work, but hey).
I have also just finished a very strange and dark short story that is making the rounds. I think it has a reasonable chance of placement, but it is very very strange and very very dark. Update 6/2023: Still has not found a home. Going in the drawer for now.
Update as of 8/2/21: The series Bible is on hold as I work through overhauling an old story involving lycanthropy, revenge, and Florida. I’m also playing around with mashing up two original Grimms Brothers tales with a snarky avian narrator. I still don’t have a home for that strange little tale I started submitting back in April, but I have hopes. I’m also realizing, much to my frustration, that there is still at least one more closing chapter that really should have been added to Servants of the Sands, so I need to get that knocked out and sent out to anyone who wants that bit of closure. So. There’s that.
Update as of 10/25/21: I’ve given up on overhauling the lycanthropy story; it’s got too many issues baked into the structure. I might be able to take another run at it after a break. Still no home on that strange little story, so that might just go into the collection of short work I’m pulling together for a self-pub project.
Update as of 11/22/21: I’m taking a sharp left turn into a new area: I’ve gotten accepted into the Henrico Master Gardener’s program, and I’ve signed up for classes towards a Horticulture degree! I’m very excited and more than a little surprised at myself. I am still writing, that will never change, but I’m feeling the need for a career focus shift. Maybe it’s a midlife crisis? I dunno. But I’m excited, and I’m happy, and that means I’m writing more than ever. So that’s a win to me.
Update as of 1/1/23: I’m still in Horticulture classes, still very excited about what I’m learning, but admittedly I’ve been battling to get back to writing. A lot happened in 2022; I’m emerging from the chaos and taking a run at this new year with refreshed determination and hope.
…Hey, have you signed up for The Irregular Update yet? I talk about books, mostly, and book related stuff. No politics in the newsletter any more, I promise! Well. Unless you count political books and genre-related news… but I keep that to a minimum. The form is to the right….or it might be in the footer, if you’re reading this on mobile.
Read on, & stay safe out there!
You must be logged in to post a comment.