Archive for the ‘ Events ’ Category

These Spooky Times

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: this is my favorite time of year. The temperature cools off, the leaves change color, and all the Halloween decorations come on sale… :P

There’s just something about the month of October that brings out the spooky in all of us. That’s why I always schedule my yearly blog tour during October — what could get you into the Halloween spirit better than listening to a gothic fiction author tell you about her spooky craft?

So come join me during the month of October for my ‘Spooky Times’ blog tour! I’ll be baring it all in candid interviews, and blogging about the writing life of a short story addict.

See you there! :)

2010
10/03
CATEGORY
Events
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A Confluence of ideas

Here it is, just waiting for you!

I don’t know how many of you have heard of Confluence, a nice little SF/F convention held out in Pittsburgh every July.  I discovered them a few years back, when I was just getting started with one book and looking for ways to get known.  I found a contest that they ran, although I’m not sure if it’s under the name Confluence or PARSEC.  In any case, it’s a contest for a very short story to go into their convention program guide.  In addition, they take the best of the submitted stories and self-publish an anthology called Triangulations.  The two are not the same, by the way.  Submitting a story for Triangulations is not the same as submitting for the contest, and the submission requirements are a little different.

So far I haven’t yet won the contest, but one of my stories did get into the anthology for that year, a piece that was sort of a sequel to a story I’d written for Echelon called ‘Off the Map’.  The Confluence contest uses a theme each year, and the theme that year was “Metallic Feathers”.  In OTM I had a griffin that had, you guessed it, metallic feathers.  Something of a mistake, actually, I thought griffins had metallic feathers and wrote them that way.  Only afterward did I check the lore and find that they had regular feathers.  Which was OK since I managed to turn that error to good account in ‘Ex Libris’, the follow-up featuring my armored griffin.

Buy Now, quantities are limited!

My other stories for the PARSEC contest haven’t fared so well.  I’ve already mentioned ’Boys Will Be Boys’, the story I wrote for their Hard Port theme, but I didn’t do even that well with ‘Undermind’, the story I wrote for the Dark Glass theme.  They have some beliefs about how to structure a story that I don’t always hold with, one of which is that the story should always start off strong, with an explosion, say.  Ex Libris did that, but my other stories often start in media res but not necessarily with a literal bang.  I like in media res for starting anything, a story or a chapter, plop the reader down right in the middle of some kind of action.

But even so I like the PARSEC contest and check it every year, even though some years I don’t even enter a story.  It’s a great way to get ideas for stories, even if I can’t figure a way to create a story that fits within their parameters.  Most of my Dark Glass ideas involved vampires, for example, and vampires are slow and careful hunters, not the sort to pounce.  Between slow and non-pouncy there wasn’t much there for a short story.  I have those ideas, though, and bits of story written for them, and some day those stories will see the light of my readers’ eyes, aglow as they read my words.

They’ll be here soon.

2010
07/07
CATEGORY
Events
General
Special Projects
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National Short Story Month

Short stories are an art form older than most fiction. The story’s roots go deep, clear back to the oral tradition, and storytelling around campfires late at night. The story has endured many upheavals of civilization, the onset of print, and now, the digital age and the rise of ebooks. Many famous authors (and many not-so-famous) got their start with short stories, and still more continually prefer the form.

This month is National Short Story Month, and here’s some ways you can celebrate:

  • Read! There are thousands — literally — of short stories to choose from, classics and new alike. There’ll be something to fit your tastes — I guarantee it!
  • Write! To write a basic story all you need are some characters, a setting, and a plot that fills up a handful of pages.
  • Tell your friends! Short stories don’t take a lot of time to read, so they’re perfect for busy people or occasional readers.

~*~

Heather S. Ingemar has loved to play with words since she was little, and it wasn’t long until she started writing her own stories. Termed “a little odd” by her peers, she took great delight in exploring tales with a gothic flair, and to this day, Edgar Allan Poe continues to be her literary hero. To learn more, please visit: http://ingemarwrites.wordpress.com/ or follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/heatheringemar

Buy a story (or two or three): Heather Ingemar on Echelon Direct

2010
05/04
CATEGORY
Events
1 comment

New Zealand Author’s Book Launch to draw South Africans

A book launch by Yvonne Eve Walus, internationally acclaimed author of ‘Murder @ Work‘ and  ’Murder @ Play’, is likely to draw crowds of South African ex-pats because of its Pretoria setting in the politically challenging period of mid-1990s.

The North Shore City author is launching the second in a series of cosy murder mysteries on Friday 23 April 2010, 5.30-7pm.

Yvonne Walus will be in East Coast Bays Library (8 Bute Rd, Browns Bay, Auckland), to launch ‘Murder @ Play’.

It features her amateur detective Dr Christine Chamberlain whose fun weekend at a friend’s opulent mansion turns into a logical puzzle of who-dun-it, with her husband the prime suspect. Christine must use her brilliant mathematical mind to prove her husband’s innocence… whether he’s innocent or not.

‘Murder @ Play’ is published by Echelon Press in USA.

Says Walus, “The 1990s were a fascinating time in South African history: new thinking challenging old beliefs, the media slowly hinting at the possibility of equality for all people, hope and goodwill rising despite the escalating violence. The whites still had a cushy lifestyle: secure jobs for the men, large mansions with swimming pools for the women (many women chose to stay at home and look after the family with the help of their domestic servants). The non-whites still vacuumed the thick carpets and polished the silver BMWs at work, then went home to mud shacks. But the changes – the changes were already afoot….
A quick tourist guide to South Africa in the 1990s:

  • When you go to a doctor or dentist, don’t take your wallet. The bill will be sent to your home address… but if you’re a woman, the bill will be addressed to your father or your husband. Women don’t trouble their pretty little heads with bills.
  • If you’re a woman, expect to be stopped at the door to an alcohol bar: that place is for men only, and your husband is welcome to go in while you wait for him in the street.
  • Even if you are a career woman earning more than your husband does, you will need his signature when opening a credit account in a supermarket or a department store.
  • If you’re a man, the size of your manhood is directly proportional to the size of your gun.
  • Gambling is illegal.
  • Sex with a person of another race has only just been made legal. The Group Areas Act, however, is still in force, preventing people of different races from living in the same suburb.
  • Your car costs half as much as your mansion.
  • This year, you will pay more for a security fence than you pay for your daily house cleaning.

Yvonne Walus is also author to several Echelon Press shorts, including:

2010
03/26
CATEGORY
Events
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Welcoming the New Year

Not all winter holidays revolve around gift giving.  New Year’s traditions focus on reflection before looking forward, and doing something to make the coming year a little bit better than the one just ending.  My mother always said that what you did on New Year’s Day was what you would be doing for the year, which is why no matter how late I am up celebrating with my friends the night before, I always make sure that I write on New Year’s Day, even if it’s only a paragraph or two.  Some cultures call for a lot of noise at the turning of the year to scare away malicious spirits, and others hold that all chores and debts must be taken care of before the stroke of midnight so that you don’t drag any dirty laundry, literal or metaphorical, into the New Year. 

The Scottish culture in particular holds New Year’s traditions in high esteem.  For about four or five hundred years, the Protestant movement prevented the celebration of Christmas in Scotland (it was seen as too “Popish” or Catholic), so the Scottish people focused on the turning of the year, called Hogmanay in thier culture.  Even though Christmas is now regularly celebrated throughout Scotland now, Hogmanay remains one of the biggest celebrations on thier calendar.  Despite frequently frigid temperatures, the Scots people gather in town squares or go from home to home celebrating at multiple parties throughout the night.  Gifts are given and good cheer is shared.  And nearly all the Scots people participate in the tradition of the first footer. 

The first footer is the first person to cross a home’s threshold after the stroke of midnight, and this person influences the household luck for the coming year.  A tall, dark-haired man is said to bring the most luck, while red-heads and women are said to be bad luck.  The first crossing of the threshold should be in instead of out, to make sure that your luck and prosperity do not flow away from the household throughout the coming year.  And if the first footer comes bearing gifts, that brings the most luck of all.  Some bread or cake keeps the household from hunger, while a few coins ensure prosperity, and a bit of whisky brings good cheer with it. 

But what’s a woman to do when she lives alone in the middle of a lonely Scottish heath?  This is precisely the problem that my character, Agnes Milton, faces in my short story, “Over the Hogmanay Threshold.”  Agnes is quite possibly the most superstituous woman in all of Scotland, and she uses all of her whiles to make sure her New Year will be blessed.  But things don’t go quite as planned, leaving Agnes in danger.  

To find out what happens to Agnes, read my story, “Over the Hogmanay Threshold.”

Buy it now at Echelon Press! 

Or you can win a copy of “Over the Hogmanay Threshold.”  Just tell me in the comments section of this post about your favorite holiday tradition or share a holiday memory.  The most touching/funny/creative one posted in the first 24 hours will win a copy of “Over the Hogmanay Threshold.” 

May you and yours have a happy, healthy, and safe New Year!

2009
12/06
CATEGORY
Events
New Releases
1 comment

12 Days of Great Reads!

Ready for great holiday ebooks?  Join Echelon Shorts between December 1-December 12 as we celebrate 12 Days of Great Reads! 

During this celebration, Echelon Shorts will be brining you the best new holiday releases and posts each day from the authors.  Find mystery and romance, mainstream and fantasy, thrillers and young adult stories.  The release schedule includes short stories from Carl Brookins, Austin Camacho, Mary Cunningham, Lois Carroll, Christine Verstraete, Michelle D. Sonnier, Lance Zarimba, Karen Syed, Yvonne Walus, Jeffrey Martin, Vonnie Winslow Crist, and Regan Black. 

Stop by http://echelonshorts.com during the next twelve days to find these posts and stories and for your chance to win free ebooks!

2009
11/30
CATEGORY
Events
Just for Fun!
New Releases
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Astronomicon

We interrupt this blog for a special event bulletin!
Live from the Radissson Hotel in Rochester NY, its…Author Guy!
 
Please, please, hold your applause, just throw money.
 
So here I am at my first ever Astronomicon, trying as always to get my deserving books into the hands of deserving readers.  We got snowed on, on the way up here.  My wife was so jealous when I told her about it last night.  Out on LI we don’t get nearly as much snow as we’d like. 
 
We got in at around 4 and immediately set up our tables.  My daughter, Julia, got a chance for a shower last night, but did I?  Nooo.  And guess who comes by–last night–taking pictures of everybody for the archives.  On the other hand he also recorded a brief interview with me that he said will be podcast sometime in December.  
 BoysWillBeBoys-lg
I’m torn between calling my books epic fables, or new mythology.  I don’t think ‘fantasy novel’ really groks the essence, man.  I’ve been trying for 7 years now to figure out how to describe my books in a 30-second sound bite or a short paragraph, and I still can’t do it.
 
I’ve got other interviews that I did a while back on the Destinies Radio show on WUSB, and the show archives are on CaptPhilOnline.com somewhere.  I wonder if I can post them on my website?  In chunks.  The first interview was almost two hours long, since the follow-up DJ didn’t get there in time.  Fortunately I was able to speak coherently and extemporaneously for an additional hour, at midnight, until she finally got in.  Howard had some good questions, so I had something to talk about.
 
Anyway, back to last night.  It was steampunk night, and here I was without a single copy of Echelon’s new steampunk novel, Thomas Riley.  Lots of people in steampunk costumes too.  As often happens at these sorts of events, we had a lot of browsers, and few buyers.  Most con guests will browse the dealer’s room several times before making selections, and then they don’t actually buy them until the last day, so they don’t have to carry around a lot of stuff.  So I was able to spend a goodly amount of time with several people, talking extensively about my books in particular and Echelon books in general.  Most seemed surprised that I could describe the stories so well, even though I read them a long time ago.  Maybe that’s the problem with both my reading and my writing, I don’t just read, I work at it, so I read more slowly and less often but I know the book when I’m done.  If I was able to just put words on paper I’d also get more words written but I don’t know if they would be as good as the words I write now. 
Or maybe it’s because Echelon Press books are just–that–good.
 
I got to shake hands with Robert Sawyer, the science-fiction author.  Several of the other dealers are also panelists and such so I expect I’ll meet a few more luminaries in the field before the weekend is out.
 
Time to see about breakfast.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.
2009
11/07
CATEGORY
Events
General
Interviews
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