A Whirlwind Week: Tor.com, new interviews, reviews, and more!

It has definitely been a whirlwind of a week, ending with the pleasant surprise of staying in the top 10 in the first few days of voting at Tor.com for the Seventh Throne for Best Novel, The Seventh Throne for Best Cover Art, and An Island Sojourn for Best Short Story (from Dreams of Steam II).

I'll just quickly mention that voting is open until this coming Friday, and if you are familiar with The Seventh Throne, or An Island Sojourn, please take a minute to vote at the Tor.com poll site. Just scroll down the page and enter your vote like a blog comment, in a format like: The Seventh Throne by Stephen Zimmer for Best Cover Art, etc.

The cover art category is an interesting one, as you can judge the quality of cover art very quickly. In fact, here it is:



So if you haven't read the book yet, but think the Cover Art is a worthy candidate for Best Cover Art, please go to the site and drop a vote for just this category.


The link to the voting page is:
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/01/vote-in-the-torcom-2011-readers-choice-awards


The past week contained a number of brand new reviews and contests, most of which are still active, as well as some new reviews of the eBook short stories recently released in the Seventh Star Singles line.

If you'd like to read a new review of all four of my new short stories, here is UK-based reviewer Daniel Cann's take on them:

http://www.danielcann.com/index.php/books/chronicles-of-ave-annals-of-the-rising-dawn

Here's a little recap of some of the blog sites with interviews and contests:

Edi's Book Lighthouse
Eva's Sanctuary
A Book Vacation
SciFi Guys
The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
I Smell Sheep
Ali's Bookshelf
Jess Resides Here


Every one of those great blog sites has a unique interview, as I do every interview from scratch. Check them, out and please bookmark and follow these great blogs!

With most of them it is easy to enter the contests, usually just involves leaving a comment. As of right now, I think only the Eva's Sanctuary contest is over. The rest are wide open. :)

I also have an update on the third Fires in Eden Book. I met with my editor yesterday afternoon, and I'm happy to report that she was extremely pleased with this book! She indicated that it delivers strongly on the things set up in books one and two, that the pacing is great, the new elements introduced compelling, and the copy was clean. I was extremely happy to hear this, as I've been working very hard to bring you the best Fires in Eden book yet!

This week will be a busy one, with a bookstore appearance next Saturday in Horse Cave, Kentucky at Two Bears and a Dog Books, a great independent bookstore. I'll blog more about this visit next week, but it will be a mid-afternoon appearance, covering the times of 12 to at least 3pm.

Thank you again to all who have taken the time to vote in the Tor.com 2011 Reader's Choice Awards! I'll be checkin' in again soon!

Voting Open on Reader's Choice Awards-The Seventh Throne Eligible

The Seventh Throne is eligible for the Tor.com Reader's Choice Awards Best Novel and Best Cover Categories!

This is just a note to let you all know that the 2011 Reader's Choice Awards at Tor.com are now up for voting. My novel The Seventh Throne (Book Three of The Rising Dawn Saga) is eligible for the Best Novel and the Best Cover categories. I also have a short story eligible, "An Island Sojourn" in Dreams of Steam II: Brass and Bolts.

I want to make sure my readers know about the contest, and if you feel inclined to vote, all you have to do is scroll down the page on the Tor.com site to the Post Comments and put in the book title/name and category.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Click on this link to go to the voting page:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/01/vote-in-the-torcom-2011-readers-choice-awards#

Traveling Adventures to the Edge of South America

Been writing, working hard, and doing a little travel, so this is going to be a pretty big post. LOL Well, what do you expect from an epic fantasy author, other than an epic-scale post, right?

So, the new year has hit the ground running, but I'm going to back up just a little bit.

I got a nice surprise from my mom, along with my sister, in the way of a trip that took us to Panama, Costa Rica, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, and across Carribean waters over the holidays. The weather was certainly a lot warmer than it has been at home in Kentucky.

I love traveling, and this was my third trip to this region in the last five years, added to a trip to the United Kingdom and Ireland, and Alaska. I've always felt that travel is of great benefit to writers, and I find myself drawing off of my international experiences all the time.

Going through the Panama Canal was a real amazing experience, seeing how the locks work, getting a sense for how it operates, and getting a good feel for the size of it. They are in the midst of building some new locks/gates at the moment, so there's a great deal of construction going on, but the operation is really impressive.



Furthermore, I got to have a spider monkey on my shoulder. Friendly little fellow who stood still for some pics too!





Costa Rica was, as I imagined, beautiful. I got to go into a rain forest and kept imagining velociraptors (as one of the Jurassic Park Movies was shot in Costa Rica, LOL). Got to see a noble sloth, howler monkeys, and all kinds of fun stuff. Really beautiful country and the people there were super cool. One thing I found funny was the popularity of Axel Rose. We got told that many people in Costa Rica have named their boys Axel after the Guns and Roses lead singer! LOL Guns and Roses must be big all through Central America, as they were the only rock band being displayed in some t-shirt shops we saw in Panama, haha.



I absolutely love the Carribean Islands. Always have found the people living there to be super friendly. There's a really laid back air to things around there. I've been to a large number now, including St. Martin, St. Thomas, Tortola, Barbados, Dominica, Grand Turk Caicos, and others, but I have to say that my fav is still Dominica.

Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire all had a different feel to them than many of the other Carribean islands. Less rainy by fair, with a more arid type of environment (Cactus plants are everywhere), they sit below the hurricane belt. We encountered perfect weather on all three of them. They are all largely their own countries, having gained varying degrees of independence from Holland (these were once part of the Netherlands Antilles).



As you probably know from my posts and updates, I have the 4 new short stories out now in the Seventh Star Singles line, 99 cent eBooks that are affiliated with the various authors' novel series. I have three in the Chronicles of Ave, which go with the Fires in Eden Series, and I have one in the Annals of the Rising Dawn, which goes with the Rising Dawn Saga. I'll probably do a series of posts about the stories individually so I can put them each in the right context.

The latest Fires in Eden book is in the edit phase, and I really think those of you who are reading this series are in for a very special installment. I'll be talking a little bit more about this new one in the coming months, but wanted you all to know where things are at with it.

I'm doing only a couple of January appearances, and then in February doing 2 conventions, with ConNooga and MystiCon, before a very busy March as the convention circuit kicks in full gear.

Going to be a very busy time, but I will be keeping you all posted. Expect a few more eBook short stories too...including some in the horror genre! :) more on that very soon....

Fires in Eden series makes the Watch Play Read final gift guide

Always good after enduring a hellacious work schedule to get some good news, which is what happened today when I got a note that the folks at Watch Play Read chose Crown of Vengeance and Dream of Legends, the current Fires in Eden series titles, as selections for their final gift guide for the holidays.

The books were included in a short list that included the incredible Orson Scott Card, and they recommended it as a gift for those that like Lord of the Rings and George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire.

As most all of you know, J.R.R. is my favorite overall author, and George R.R. Martin is my favorite living author, so you can imagine how cool I thought it was to be recommended in relation to those two series. wow! Anyhow, here's the page if you want to take a look (and leave a comment if you want to encourage/support their pick of the books :) )

http://watchplayread.com/wpr-gift-guide-read/


In other news, the four new short stories are now available on both Kindle and Nook, and I hope that those who have been getting them are enjoying them and seeing what they have to offer. If you haven't seen the synopsis on the 4 stories and their titles, then visit this page for more info:

http://seventhstarpress.com/documents/seventh_star_singles.html

There is a LOT more coming in this series, as I want to be able to tide all my wonderful reader-friends over in between main book releases, and this is a perfect way to do it!

Speaking of main book releases, the third Fires in Eden book has been handed in to Karen (my editor for the Fires in Eden Series), so we are on course for a spring release window. Readers have a lot to look forward to with some resolutions of things from Dream of Legends, some new things unfolding, and a couple of very important characters introduced. Very action-heavy book too. Get ready to explore the realm of Midragard quite a bit more, and perhaps a tour around Avalos and the Unifier's big mountain citadel... hint, hint... maybe just a bit with the big fellow from Dream of Legends too.... :)

4 Brand new eBook Short Stories from Ave and the Rising Dawn Saga world!

Here's a nice surprise for fans of either the Rising Dawn Saga or the Fires in Eden series, just in time for the holidays. The new Seventh Star Singles line went live today, with participation from myself and Steven Shrewsbury. On my end of it, no less than 4 brand new short stories, 3 set in the world of Ave (Fires in Eden) and 1 new one from the Rising Dawn Saga world.

The theme of this series is short stories set in the worlds of the novel series. They are stand alone, but will give readers of the novels much more content, background, history, and even some foreshadowing. There's so much to explore and I plan on regularly building onto this collection.

The full press release is below. I hope everyone checks this out. I've had great fun putting these together, and they are only 99 cents too. To read a breakdown of the stories, you can visit this page:

http://seventhstarpress.com/documents/seventh_star_singles.html

Let me know what you think! :)

Stephen

>>

For Immediate Release December 12, 2011

Seventh Star Press Proudly Announces New Seventh Star Singles eBook Series

Seventh Star Press is proud to introduce Seventh Star Singles, an exciting new eBook series that represents a creative approach to eBook publishing. The debut of the new line kicks off with brand new tales from sword and sorcery/fantasy author Steven L. Shrewsbury, and epic fantasy/urban fantasy author Stephen Zimmer. Best of all, the new eBook short stories are all priced at just 99 cents.

Seventh Star Singles offer more for fans of the authors' novel series, as well as being stand-alone stories. The short stories are set in the worlds that the authors' novels with Seventh Star Press are based. For example, readers who came to know Gorias La Gaul in Steven Shrewsbury's Thrall will now be able to go on more adventures with Gorias in the Blood and Steel: Legends of La Gaul short stories included in the Seventh Star Singles line. Similarly, fans of Stephen Zimmer's Fires in Eden series and Rising Dawn Saga will get to explore more of those worlds in his Chronicles of Ave and Annals of the Rising Dawn short story collections for this new line.

"I was the instigator of the new Seventh Star Singles, as I wanted a way for readers of my series to explore more of my worlds in a way that was also accessible to new readers," Stephen Zimmer commented. "They are entirely stand-alone stories, but provide all kinds of background, further depth, and perhaps even some foreshadowing that all relate to the novel series. They have been a blast to develop, as there are so many stories to be told from these worlds that can't be addressed in the plotlines of the Fires in Eden and Rising Dawn Saga novels. I'm really excited that Steven Shrewsbury stepped forward to develop a Gorias La Gaul collection. Any fan of Robert E. Howard is bound to love Steven's work and this new series opens things wide for him to write all kinds of Gorias adventures! "

Steven Shrewsbury's collection Blood and Steel: Legends of La Gaul starts off with two new Gorias La Gaul tales, Author and Finisher of Our Flesh, and Insurmountable. Stephen Zimmer has three contributions to the Chronicles of Ave collection, Into Glory Ride, Land of Shadow, and Lion Heart. Stephen has one story for the Annals of the Rising Dawn, Temples Rising.

A new page on the Seventh Star Press website gives full synopsis and availability on the various story collections. The page can be found at: http://seventhstarpress.com/documents/seventh_star_singles.html

Many new titles are planned in the series in 2012, to be released on a monthly basis alongside the scheduled novel releases.

Updates and additional information can be obtained at the official site for Seventh Star Press, at www.seventhstarpress.com,

Contact: C.C. James Public Relations, Seventh Star Press ccjames@seventhstarpress.com

Seventh Star Press is a small press publisher of speculative fiction located in Lexington Kentucky.

Spec The Halls: A special charity appeal

Note: Today I wanted to pass along a guest post from Steven Saus, a great author, eBook wizard, and all-around good guy who has a very worthy project this holiday season. Please give this a read and consideration! Steven's the real deal as far as good folk in the small press/self-publishing world! :) thanks!
-Stephen Z

Spec the Halls

My name is Steven Saus; I'm an author and publisher. I run Alliteration Ink, where I both publish original work and also provide publishing services. This year, I've taken up the mantle of running Spec The Halls from Abra Staffin-Wiebe. There's both a writing contest and a charity fundraiser. Right now, I'm doing a bit of a blog tour to support the fundraiser; each entry talks about something different, so you'll want to stop by them all. You can see a full linklist of the guest posts at specthehalls.tumblr.com and read more about the whole project (and get the charity eBook) at specthehalls.com.

I've already been asked a few times why Spec The Halls is only going to be available in digital formats.

First, I want to point out that if you get the eBook from our website, not only will more of the purchase price be going to charity, but you'll get more formats. You will get a PDF as well as the ePub (iBooks, nook, Kobo, Sony) and Kindle formats. Basically, if you have a computer, you'll be able to read it.

Second, it means that more of the money can go to charity. If I printed the book (about 150 pages if you made it a trade paperback size), it would cost a few dollars a book - and that's not counting what the retailers take. Because the authors donated the stories, Kathleen Tennant donated the cover art, and I do eBook conversions myself, there are neither up-front or per-unit costs. More money for Heifer International!

Third, this eBook is only available for a short time for the fundraiser. When the fundraiser is over, I won't have excess inventory to worry about!

Finally, digital distribution means that we can do innovative things with the book - like accepting reciepts for donations that people make on their own instead of requiring people to pay me directly.

It's that kind of flexibility that made it obvious that this project required digital-only distribution.

This year's edition of Spec The Halls is only available for a limited time, so act quickly to get your copy!

Black Friday and Small Business Saturday-Consider Seventh Star Press! :)

As you go about your weekend shopping, whether it is Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber-Monday, please consider picking up some books from myself, or one of the other Seventh Star Press authors.

We have a great online store where you can get limited hardcovers, softcovers, and other collectible items like t-shirts and art posters, and the SSP site takes international orders too.

If you are buying an eReader for someone, or know someone that is getting one, consider gifting the Kindle Versions of a Seventh Star Press Book, or a Nook version. There's some great new stuff, with H. David Blalock's Angelkiller, a new urban fantasy, and D.A. Adams' The Fall of Dorkhun, the third in his fantasy series.

I encourage you to take a look at all of it, and whether you buy it from the online site, or on Amazon.com, every purchase really helps a small press. Please give it some thought, and celebrate Small Business Saturday with a purchase of a Seventh Star Press item!


Visit the online store at:
http://seventhstarpress.com/documents/online_store.html