Writing, New Events, and a Few Updates

Finished up my tasks as one of the directors for the broadcasts of the big thoroughbred auctions at Keeneland. Things concluded well at the Keeneland Yearling Sale, as they brought in over $225 million dollars. As I've mentioned before, it is kind of surreal to be in such an environment, as it is very different from the economic reality you see everywhere when you exit the grounds and go about your daily business. All in all, it went very well, and it is always inspiring to be around something that is on an upswing and successful.

As always is the case after a hard-pressed sales period, the past week has been swamped with all kinds of things I couldn't directly get to during the two weeks of sales. Primarily, this involved a trip to Louisville to coordinate on some events next year that I will be involved with. One, of course, is FandomFest,in Louisville KY which has been moved to June 29-July 1 in 2012. It will be at the Galt House this year, so we have the kind of venue that fits the caliber of this event. Should be an amazing weekend, and I will have all kinds of updates here.

I will also be getting underway on Duckon in Chicago and a new Birmingham event scheduled for the last week in February. More on both of those very soon.

I also got invited to be the keynote speaker at the kick-off event for the Read On! program coordinated by the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center, in Maysville, KY. this year's theme is fantasy, and they have invited me to talk about my experiences writing fantasy. Should be a lot of fun. The date is Wednesday, October 5, at the Maysville Conference Center on 2nd Street in Maysville KY.

Writing is the one thing I don't put on the backburner, and I've been hard at it all throughout, primarily on the third book in the Fires in Eden Series. I'm going through the threads with a fine-toothed comb, and really working hard on the sequencing of the threads, so that the pacing of the book is as strong as possible. From the Elder, to Avalos and Avanor, to the ongoing invasions of Saxany and the Five Realms, a lot is happening, and I want this new installment to be action packed while also exploring some new areas of Ave. Readers can expect to become much more familiar with Avalos and Midragard especially... hint, hint.

I am also working on polishing some short stories set in Ave for an exciting new eBook series at Seventh Star Press. There will be an announcement on this soon, but Steven Shrewsbury, the great sword and sorcery author at SSP, and myself, will be the first two out of the gate. The short stories will be a great introduction for new readers into Ave, and for current readers the short stories will take you to many places in Ave you haven't explored yet, while deepening some of Ave's history for you.

I should also have some Dreams of Steam II books listed in the online store at my site pretty shortly, as in around Monday. Those ordering the anthology, containing my second Harvey and Solomon story, can get it signed and personalized, as well as get a special commemorative Harvey button. I have a small number in, so if you want one, be sure to order it relatively soon.

Last, but not least, a great new Dream of Legends review was just posted up at Fantasy Book Review in the UK. They scored it a 9 out of 10, and you can check it out here:
http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/blog/2011/09/30/dream-of-legends-fires-in-eden-book-2-by-stephen-zimmer-reviewed/

That about sums things up for the moment. Busy, but I like it that way! :)

Cyber Monday-Notes on my friend's new book, my new one, and more.

I hope that everyone had a great thanksgiving weekend! I had a relaxing one, including a fantastic dinner at with my mother, sister, and some of our closest friends. Kept up with traditions, such as watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (which was pretty amazing this year, with some super cool pizza dough twirlers that they needed to do a lot more coverage on), and loads of football (though I always find myself feeling bad for the Lions, who always host a Thanksgiving Day game and rarely seem to do very well).

I'm back at it here on monday, which in the US is called Cyber Monday, due to all the online shopping specials going on.

Right now I'm trying to get as much word out as possible for my new book Dream of Legends, which is no small task when you are with a small press publishers and have to contend with the big dollar marketing/PR blitzes from the major publishers. Thankfully, there are some bloggers who have read my books, and my reader-friends, who are helping me go against the grain in getting some word out there. Not an easy thing when the latest TOR release is requesting blogger coverage! LOL

I've just been given interview questions by a very well established blogger that I've not visited with yet, so there are some signs of new interest from the fantasy blogging community. I appreciate that so many of them are open to small press releases, which I think is a good approach, given that small press is where lots of new fantasy authors and very well-established ones are having releases with all of the consolidation and contraction going on at the major press level.

I hope that people do give the limited edition hardcover package some consideration this holiday. It is a very sharp looking book, with a special illustration not found in the regular edition, and it is accompanied by a big package of extras, with 2 posters, art cards, 8x10 cover art print, and bookmarks. Plus, you can add the newest t-shirt design from Dream of Legends for just over 8 bucks. All of it, including the new t-shirt, is signicantly less in price than a new video game, and the book will last a whole lot longer. Orders through the publisher are very helpful to the launch of a book, so do give it some thought.

And if you aren't in the mood for epic fantasy, I will give a shout out for my fellow SSP author Steven L. Shrewsbury, a friend of mine on the circuit, whose great heroic fantasy novel Thrall also has a limited edition version with extras. The deadline for pre-orders on his book is this Wednesday, and as prices go up significantly for any remaining packages after Wednesday, now is the best time to pre-order one.




Here's a link to the online store where you can see both Steven's book and my new one and the packages available. SSP does ship internationally too!


This week will involve a great deal of activity with the awareness campaign for the new book, but I will also be doing a lot of work for FandomFest, a great convention in Louisville Kentucky that I am serving as the Literary Track coodinator for. www.fandomfest.com is the new website, and it takes place next summer from July 22-24. Expect some new media-related things with the convention that I will be participating in.

There will be a whole lot going on with Swordbearer post production throughout December, do keep an eye out for updates on that as well.

Those in the Madison Indiana area should come out and say hi this Saturday, where I'll be from 12-2 at That Book Place, a great bookstore owned by Frank Hall, a familiar face out on the Con circuit.

Alaska, Fright Night, Indy, and on to Swordbearer!

Yes, this is going to be a bit of a long entry, as I have admittedly been slacking on my blogging as of late. I am working to correct that, I promise!

In mid-July, I had the opportunity to go to Alaska for a couple of weeks. Needless to say, I went, and it turned out to be quite an amazing experience. We went up the coastline, visiting places like Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, taking a few detours to go into some big fjords.

The scenery was simply stunning as was the wildlife, ranging from sea otters to humpback whales. The massive, mountainous terrains, capped by snow and with cloud layers well underneath their peaks, were fertile grounds for the mind of a fantasy author!

We finally ended up in Seward, which harbors quite a fishing operation, with the 7th largest output in the entire United States. From there it was inland by bus to Anchorage for a day, and then by train to the Denali national park, and finally we ended up in Fairbanks.

Alaska is a fantastic state, and the people there were definitely my kind of folk...very individualistic with a great deal of self-determination.


After getting back, I had to get ready in a hurry for the Fright Night Film Fest in Louisville Kentucky. This event is a fairly big one, getting a few thousand attendees as a horror genre convention. I had an exhibit in the dealers room, and got to visit quite a few of my indie film friends, to the extent that it felt like a reunion of sorts. Also got to catch up with some of my good author friends, like Michael West (pictured with his son, Kyle), Elizadeth Hetherington (Pictured with the cheerleading outfit on) and Michael D'Ambrosio.

Fright Night is expanding next year into the FandomFest, which is going to have multiple tracks, in multipe genres, and I have agreed to come aboard to help in coordinating the Author's Track for the event. I can't wait to bring together a great group of panelists and develop some outstanding content for what promises to be a very amazing weekend July 29-31 of 2011.

The following weekend was Indianapolis, and my return to the downtown Borders that was one of the first bookstores to embrace me with The Exodus Gate. The signing was being held during the GenCon weekend, as downtown Indy is flooded with thousands of fantasy/scifi/horror fans.

I had a great time, and got to visit with some special readers and friends, some of whom were in for GenCon and some who came from the Indy area. One of the most surprising visitors of all was the guy who was my high school newspaper's editor. He is now a star reporter for the Indianapolis Star, and I can't say enough about how cool it was to look up and see him (I recognized him instantly!)



Jon Klement of DragonTalk Radio and Stephen Kendall, who is on the staff of InConJunction, came by (pictured). I found out that Stephen (who is wearing the awesome Atari shirt) is an afficianado of classic computers like the Commodore Vic-20, Commodore 64, Atari 800, and all the computers that got the PC world started. Also visiting was Courtney Lantz, who was in my film The Sirens, and her boyfriend, Tom Williams (pictured below the photo with Jon and Stephen), both of whom should be making an appearance in Swordbearer. Afterwards, a few of us headed over to the Rock Bottom, which had outstanding micro-beers (I behaved, don't worry...just had one)and sandwiches. After that Michael West, his son, and I headed over to the crosswalk from the large mall there leading to where GenCon was taking place. Elizabeth Darvill and Nick Valentino took a break from GenCon to come out and say hi. I got to chat a little longer with Elizabeth, and found out about her new releases, saw new cover art for one of her upcoming books, and more. She and Nick are becoming quite the steampunk team on the con circuit.

Throughout all of it, I have been working very hard on preparations for Swordbearer. Casting, details of locations, props, costumes, and more occupy a lot of time and tedium, but it is all necessary if you want to pull off a quality project.

We have a great team assembled for this one, including the guys from Cineline Productions, Matt Perry and Sven Granlund, and one helluva DP in Aaron Champion, one of the most talented and craziest people I know. We've been tracking everything on our Facebook page for the short film, and I will be doing a few more posts about the project leading up to the big opening weekend of shooting August 21 and 22.