Appearing Tomorrow on Fender's Den Radio Show

As promised, here's the update on the radio show I was thinking I was scheduled to appear on... LOL...

I will be on Fender's Den Radio Show, a VERY cool radio/video show based out of Louisville Kentucky. Their site is at: http://www.fendersden.com/




The time for the show is at 7pm eastern time USA. This is going to be a very fun one, and different from many of the media appearances that I've made, so I encourage you to catch it live, or, if you miss it, check out the archived version later. Go to the website to get information on the show and linking up to it!

If you are on Facebook, they have a brand new fan page up too: that address is:

http://www.facebook.com/fendersdenshow

That's all for now! I'm heading down to participate at Apex Day in Lexington today at Joseph-Beth from 2-4pm, where Gary Braunbeck, Maurice Broaddus, Jason Sizemore, Michael West, and many other great authors will be hanging out, signing, and more.

Apex Day on Saturday! Voyage of the Dawn Treader Today!

Okay, I'm pretty whupped at the moment, but there's an exciting weekend coming up!

The Limited Editions of Dream of Legends are in route to me to be personalized/signed for those who ordered, and I assure you, you will be really pleased with how this book turned out! :) It is one sharp-looking hardcover. Authors tend to get excited when they can actually hold a physical book in their hands. I only have the pre-print run proof copy, which I had to do a line by line last review/check of, not an easy task for a 740 page book, but it is a copy that I got to hold in my hands! LOL.

This weekend, I'll be one of the guests at Apex Day at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington. Gary Braunbeck, Maurice Broaddus, Michael West...the list is big and awesome. It will be from 2-4 at Joseph Beth, and I am really looking forward to participating, as Jason graciously included me on his list. Apex is one of the best independent presses in the country, and it is always an honor to be invited/included on anything with Jason.




There's a facebook page for the event. Link here:
http://www.facebook.com/sgzimmer?v=app_2344061033#!/event.php?eid=146724642029668&index=1


I am supposed to appearing on a pod/video cast on Sunday, but I don't have final details so I'll have to update this later with a blog post if that is still happening.

Everyone should go see Voyage of the Dawn Treader this weekend! It was my favorite of the Narnia series growing up. I'm going to the theater in about an hour to see it, but from the trailers it looks magical. I hope the new director delivered the heart that the Narnia tale has, which is much more important than the flashy special effects. I've been looking forward to this one for a long, long time!

ScareFest this weekend, Kentucky Book Fair next weekend!

First of all, be sure to check out a brand new interview accompanying a nice review of Crown of Vengeance on Bookworm Blues. I really enjoyed this one as it involved some questions that really got at the core of the book, with more than a couple that I have not been asked at all yet. Leave a comment or two while you are there if you enjoyed the interview! here's the link...

http://bookwormblues.blogspot.com/2010/11/crown-of-vengeance-stephen-zimmer-with.html

Just getting ready for ScareFest in Lexington this weekend, which kicks off the first of 2 localized events, the other being the fantastic Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort on November 13th. I am going to be a guest of Deth Publications this weekend, as author Elizadeth Hetheringon and her husband Vance have generously invited me to join them this weekend at their booth.

My last large event was Archon in St. Louis, so I am ready for a convention weekend, and it is doubly wonderful that I have only a whopping 10 minutes to drive to this one! ScareFest is held in downtown Lexington, and will have an attendence in the range of 3-5 thousand...primarily a horror and paranormal fest, it has a number of media/film celebrities from the horror genre signing autographs, along with some programming and parties and a very big dealer room.

I've gotten word that many good friends are going to be there, from Stephen and Suzie Lackey of Captain Pixel Productions, to Joe Garcia of Fast Custom Shirts, to authors Michael West and Crymsyn Hart, to Lexington publishing genius Jason Sizemore of Apex Book Company.

This will be a nice change of pace, as lately I've been slammed with things involving the new Fires in Eden book, as well as helping out my fellow Seventh Star Press authors, Jackie Gamber, and Steven Shrewsbury, whose new novel Thrall is imminent. I can't say how wonderful it is to have Jackie and Steven aboard...fantastic authors AND fantastic individuals. Keep your eyes out for the Thrall announcement, which will unveil the cover art, some Matthew Perry artwork, and the video trailer.

well, I'd better get back to work...lots to do, including working on screenings for a certain short film that has to do with David Blalock's Ascendent novel...hint, hint! :)

A visit to ConText and other adventures...

Last week I had another excellent Columbus experience up at ConText, a fantastic literary convention that has an impressive array of guests. I ended up having a fairly light load of panels, doing just one urban fantasy panel as well as a Kaffeeklatsch, an hour long meet-and-greet type session in the morning, at which ConText generously provided Starbuck's coffee and fresh cookies, etc. for those attending.

I really did not know what you expect at a Kaffeklatsch before, but now I absolutely love them. It was a great, casual way to hang out and just talk with reader friends, as well as get a little extra caffeine to start the day.

I spent a great deal of my time in the dealer's room, running an exhibit, but I did get to catch up with many friends on the Con circuit. Michael West, Steven Shrewsbury, Jason Sizemore, Maurice Broaddus, Janet and Elie Harriet, Scott Sandridge, Maura Heaphy, Travis Clemmons, and many friends were on hand, and I also got to meet many news ones, such as Frank Hall, a bookstore owner from Indiana, Greg Carter, Cat Barth, and Rhonda Wilson (who I've seen at many events and had not met yet, despite the fact that we have many mutual friends!)

Here's a few pics from the Con...


me with Maurice Broaddus


me with Michael West

me with Maura Heaphy (and her book!)


I did finally get my Apex t-shirt, which you can see me proudly wearing in the photos on this page.


(me, with Jason Sizemore of Apex, with me wearing my new Apex shirt!)

The weekend did not pass by without one particular adventure. Friday evening, after having a nice dinner with Steven Shrewsbury, Michael West, Brady Allen, and Michael Knost, I headed on the 3 mile drive to my hotel. I was having a little trouble seeing the street signs, as trees were obscuring them in a neighborhood area. Therefore, I was slowing down and speeding up in between streets. I attracted some attention, evidently, as blue lights showed up in my rear view mirror.

I pulled over, and kind of got the idea that the officer suspected that I may have been drinking. I explained that I was a guest at a convention, and that I was having a hard time finding the left hand turn I was looking for. The officer checked my license and registration, and indicated that he was going to let me off with a warning.

But on the way back, shining his light in the car, he asked me about the "large bladed weapon in the back". I had forgot that I had a large, sheathed blade that we had used the previous week for one of the Kel in Swordbearer still in the car. It had been covered by some of the material I had brought up for the exhibition. To my mind, it is a prop, to the officer's, it was a weapon, and being that it was a functional blade, his assessment was more accurate than mine!haha

Fortunately, I was able to explain this as well, and the blade was sheathed, in plain view, in the back seat, so it did not violate any statutes outright. The officer advised me to put it in the trunk so someone didn't smash my window and try to steal it. He then helped me find the left hand turn I was looking for.

Needless to say, I was highly relieved that the officer was of the reasonable sort, as the situation could have been made out to be a whole lot worse. I am going to have to remember that not all "props" in my mind are seen by the general public as props!

Since I did not get locked up, I was able to see my first live Steven Shrewsbury read on Saturday night, and it was everything that I had hoped for! I had always been told that Steven delivers one of the most entertaining reads you can see anywhere, and he did not disappoint. He has a true flare and style, which including a loud outcry to Odin as well as a thunderous whomp on the table to punctuate the end. Michael West was brave enough to sit right by Steven during the read, which was commendable!

The Con did go very well, and ended with me having a nice dinner with Janet and Elie Harriet, two of my favorites in the Columbus area. Janet has a busy slate coming up in 2010, and will be one of our panelists at FandomFest in Louisville, KY.

(Janet and Elie, with me)

The rest of the week has been a blur, doing work for the new Fires in Eden book, spending a great deal of time on my duties for FandomFest and Duckon (doing programming for the Author's Track and Writer's Track respectively), as well as continued preparations for the next round of shoots for Swordbearer.

I am glad to report that the fight choreography sesssion between Al Snow, Benjamin Wood, and Allan Gilbreath was a success. Held in Louisville during my trip to ConText, they met in a park and put in several hours, a bunch of which was recorded by Matt Perry and Justin Powell, who were on hand. All parties reported a great day, and the genesis of a fight scene that is promising to look absolutely wonderful on screen.

Joseph-Beth Homecoming and On the Road Again to InConJunction

It has been quite a week overall, as I begin the third day here at InConJunction in Indianapolis.

Last Friday saw my homecoming visit to Joseph Beth. For me, this is always a very special signing event. Joseph-Beth in Lexington is one of the most impressive bookstores in the nation. Walking into the place, with its huge atrium, you immediately know why this is one of the main stopping points for all of the New York Times best-selling authors. To have a store like this for my homecoming signing is incredible. From Andrew, one of the resident booksellers who is a sci-fi/fantasy whiz, to Brooke, the head of PR and events, the Joseph-Beth family has always treated me very well, and I always feel a little pressure as I want to bring a nice event to the place when they have me in.

For this one, we did have a very nice program. I did a presentation that included a little talk about The Storm Guardians, some discussion of the others involved in the release such as cover artist/illustrator Matthew Perry and editor Amanda DeBord, and a giveaway of about fifteen door prizes (which included some contributions from Apex Book Company, one of the best small presses out there who just happen to be based in Lexington! Their head editor/founder Jason Sizemore attended).

We also introduced an exclusive collectible print that was given away to all who attended this event. We started this practice at the signing for Crown of Vengeance. People got a color print of the Enki artwork featured in The Storm Guardians. Other than the cover, this was the only image of the batch where the original was in color and not grayscale. I think that people really liked the print, judging by the responses I saw.

I then spent the rest of the time signing and visiting with the crowd, which turned out to be the best one I've had at Joseph-Beth yet. Friends and new faces alike, I took my time and really enjoyed this part of it while others went next door to Bar Louie's (a restaurant located next to Joseph-Beth) and got the after party-celebration underway. I joined this part in progress after I had finished with the signing. We had about 50 people join us for the after-party, which turned out to be a very nice addition to round out the night and one that I will certainly keep for the next signing around January for the followup to Crown of Vengeance.

Just a great, great night!

The week in between was pretty much a blur, as I've been working on book 2 of the Fires in Eden series, and staying on top of everything in the book world and tackling pre-production needs for the forthcoming Swordbearer short film. The first reads are occurring next week for parts, and location scouting is underway. Lots of detail to go over. Compiling a nice shot list for the DP for this one, Aaron Champion, who is superb.

Had to head to Indy on my birthday, July 2nd, for InConJunction, a mixed media Con in Indianapolis that I really like. They had me slotted for a record 9 panels, including another record of 7 in one day. I've never done more than 5 or 6 at a Con, so this was a bit of a challenge in that I was also exhibiting and had to have some people who could watch over all of my stuff while I was on panels. Thankfully, my friends TammyJo Eckhart and her husband Tom were the table next to me, and across from me was Travis Clemmons and Karen Nagel, so I had some folks who I trust to watch over things. Being next to TammyJo always has additional bonuses, as she is the High Priestess of the Chocolate Cult, an online Chocolate review blog, and she ALWAYS has lots of exotic chocolates and chocolate-related treats!

Got to catch up with lots of Indianapolis area friends like Michael West, Stephen Kendall, Chuck Budreau, Mark Racop and all the Magichouse Production gang, and meet new faces such as C.S. Marks (author of the Elfhunter Trilogy), Elizabeth Darville, and filmmaker/author Kate Chaplin.

It has been a good Con so far, though I'm a bit tired here on the fourth. There'll be a cookout waiting at home when I get back in the late afternoon, and I'm looking forward to it very much! Need to do one more panel,spend a little more time exhibiting and hopefully meeting a few new readers, but then it will be time to pack up and head out!

Steven L. Shrewsbury Aboard the Publisher I'm With!

Definitely in a great mood with the public announcement that Steven L. Shrewsbury, a first-class guy and fantastic fantasy/horror author, is now with Seventh Star Press.

I remember meeting Steven for the first time at the 2008 version of Hypericon, a little less than a year out from the release of my first novel, The Exodus Gate. He was a great panelist, and I went up to talk to him afterwards, and found him to be approachable and helpful. He had some great advice on working with bookstores that I was able to use very effecively when my own book got released.

I also picked up HAWG, a horror/thriller tour de force, with a monster of the like that I have not encountered since Clive Barker's Rawhead Rex.

He's had a truckload of tales published, and his recent novels have been through some excellent small presses like Graveside Tales and Lachesis publishing, and, of course, he had a short story in Harlan County Horrors, from Apex Publications, which is one of my favorite small presses of all ( Jason Sizemore, the head honcho there, has great vision, tenacity, and has really progessed Apex forward)

Steven is now aboard Seventh Star Press. The full press release is here:

http://www.seventhstarpress.com/documents/press_releases.html

His new novel Thrall involves the Nephilim, supernatural forces, and is set in the ancient world. His style is, like the press release says, in the vein of guys like Robert E. Howard (the Conan guy) and David Gemmell (whose book Legend is a fantasy classic)

I am looking forward to working with him to promote our work together. He's a self-starter, and rarin' to move forward, which is music to my ears.

I'll keep everyone posted about how Steven's book is coming along and when the release is. He's working with editor Louise Bohmer, and Matt Perry, who has done all my cover art and illustrations, will be doing art for Thrall.

Interesting side note on Louise...she's an editor that Amanda DeBord (SSP's head editor) wanted to bring in to do SSP projects as the roster and catalog expands. Well, it just turned out that Louise did Steven's last novel, Tormentor, and that the two of them really clicked working together. Small world, isn't it?

Anyhow, I've been helping with getting the news about Steven out, as there are two of us involved with PR activities, but it is worth it as Shrewsbury is one of the true gems in the fantasy/horror scene. I'm wishing him the best and I hope you all check him and his work out! (and get Thrall when it is unleashed!)

Joseph-Beth Booskellers in Lexington! The Homecoming Signing tonight.

Here we are, on the day of the homecoming signing, just a few hours away...

First of all, Joseph-Beth Booksellers of Lexington is one of the best bookstores in the entire country. It has been my favorite bookstore since my youth, when the first version of the store opened, in the same store complex where it is today. Of course, it was nowhere near the size that it is now, but it has somehow managed to retain the warm, independent feel that it had from its earliest inception, and this is a real credit to the people who have run it throughout the years.

Joseph Beth has been really wonderful to me, from Brooke, who runs their PR and Events, to Andrew and Brian, two of their sci-fi and fantasy experts. This is a big reason why I wanted to go a little farther with this signing, and I think we've put a nice event together for tonight.

It is a real homecoming event, as I've traveled extensively in the past year in the support of The Exodus Gate. From Des Moines, IA (DemiCon) to Charlotte, NC (ConCarolinas), from St. Louis (Archon), to Memphis (MidSouthCon), to Borders stores in Indianapolis and Columbus, OH, and all kinds of places in between, I've logged ALOT of road miles. It is nice to be doing an event on the homefront! At least I don't have far to drive, and I save a few bucks on hotel costs!

We are going to have a little presentation at 7:15, where I am going to talk about the origins of the book, and the book itself, and then I am going to introduce and talk about the cover artist and illustrator, Matthew Perry (his new art site is at perrypixel.com ), as well as my editor, Amanda DeBord. I really want people to get a sense of how wonderful they've been to the book projects and the contributions that they have made.

Following this, we had a special print made exclusively for tonight, using the Trogen Warrior artwork from Crown of Vengeance. It is an 8X12 print, and looks SHARP. The back has commemorative text for the venue and date, as well as artist credit and a little other information. Every person attending will get one, absolutely free, regardless of whether they buy the book or not.

After that, we will be giving out some door prizes, including framed, signed cover art posters and 8X10's, a book signed by myself, Amanda, and Matt, and some prizes from Apex Publications. Apex is based in Lexington, and it is a small press publisher that this city can take ALOT of pride in. They've maintained a standard of excellence throughout several years, and are really growing into a small press force to be reckoned with! Jason Sizemore, the founder/head editor, was kind enough to provide some door prizes for my signing, and it is a real honor to have an Apex element to tonight!

After all that is done, we will move to the signing portion of the night, which will continue for a couple of hours.

All of it is going to be covered by Filmmaker Aaron Champion, who will be getting footage for a short documentary on the evening. I think this is going to be fantastic, and we are going to get the doc out there as soon as it is ready for everyone to enjoy. Aaron is also working on a video trailer for Crown of Vengeance, which should debut pretty soon!

All in all, we've really worked to make tonight a nice event, and I hope that the folks in the area will decide to come out and visit. I'll post some pictures and such in the coming days!

All In! Crown of Vengeance, ConText, and more...

Just turned in a short preview section of the 2nd book in the new Fires In Eden series, which will be placed at the end of Crown of Vengeance, so all the pieces are ready for the book. We plan on making an announcement very shortly regarding the limited edition version, which will probably be around 100 copies and include some special elements and extras.

ConText was a really great experience. I ended up doing 4 panels that weekend, three of which focused on translations from books to other media and vice versa. Doug Johnson, Michael D' Ambrosio, Sandy Lender, Scott Sandridge, Dr. Maura Heaphy, and Gregory Hall were some of my co-panelists, and we had some fantastic discussions.

I actually made it to two parties over the weekend, hanging out with Michael West and Nicole Cushing on Friday (held by Indiana Horror Writers and Apex Publications) and the Meadowhawk Press gang on Saturday night (co-hosted with Shroud Publishing). Suffice it to say that Michael and Jason's party was shut down by security on friday night...they know how to party! Saturday's went the distance, though I bowed out early, but not before I got to see Dan Gamber of Meadowhawk demonstrating yet another of his many talents as he danced the night away!

I am really digging Sandy Lender's book Choices Meant For Gods, and I picked up a few Michael West stories as well that were highly enjoyable. I also picked up the "Best Magazine Ever Released by Apex Publications"...which Maurice and I agreed is the appropriate designation for it as it has a Maurice Broaddus short story in it!

Speaking of...I had a great panel to round out Sunday with Sandy Lender and Scott Sandridge, who is one of the more colorful characters I've met out there! He's got a whole new conception of orcs in his new podcast novel, The Silverblade Prophecy. I believe Scott set a record for panel participation at ConText. He did a stretch of 6 straight panels on Saturday, and I believe he was on around 10 panels in all that weekend. He is the iron man for sure!

Jason Sizemore was an editing guest of honor over the weekend, and the hour focusing on him, hosted by author Geoffrey Girard, was awesome! Didn't know Jason was a Transylvania University guy and got to learn alot about Apex history. Jason's really doing some great things and I hope every reader out there tries out some Apex stuff...it's very, very good!

Finally got to talk for a bit with Michael D'Ambrosio, who was at the Fright Night Film Festival that I was at, though we didn't get to talk there. Michael is really pursuing some film avenues, so we got to talk a little shop in that respect as well.

ConText had some outstanding programming, and was really enjoyable as a smaller convention that is literary focused. I definitely want to return to this one again next year. Columbus is not too far away, after all! (and I did get to visit the Borders on Kenny Rd. in Columbus, where I will be returning on Thursday, November 5th for a signing for both The Exodus Gate AND Crown of Vengeance)

Progress, New Books, New Podcasts, InConJunction, and more!

The past couple of weeks have definitely been very busy on this end.

First off, as you know from the last post, my wondrous editor Amanda DeBord turned in her edits of the first book of the new medieval fantasy series to me on 7/7. I am well underway on working with the red ink. It is a very healthy process, as Amanda often saves me from myself, and she really "gets it" as far as the series and what I'm trying to do with it.

Matt Perry is underway on the artwork, narrowing down design ideas and beginning initial sketches for what we hope will be at least 10 illustrations, the cover, and a bonus illustration for the limited edition version of the medieval fantasy series kickoff. Matt has some really intruiging ideas regarding the approach that he wants to take for this series of art, and I can guarantee you that it will come out first rate.

And as if that all is not enough for you...

I do have a short story that I am sending over to Amanda for a new horror anthology that she is editing together, to be released this fall via Seventh Star Press. This story is being used by Matt Perry for a special sequential art project kicking off at the beginning of September. I'll have some news posted here about that.

This has all led to some notions that I am exploring regarding a full-blown "Books of Blood" style horror anthology. I have several stories and story ideas in "The Vault" which have some thematic continuity, and are straight out horror genre pieces. LIke the short story I am sending over to Amanda that is being used by Matt for his sequential art project, these stories are very macabre, visceral, and definitely reveal a little of my Clive Barker influence...very different from the fantasy series material in the Rising Dawn Saga and the new medieval fantasy series. Matt and I are discussing doing a full blown graphic novel-style version of a series of short stories later, once a narrative version has been released. This is slowly growing into an exciting project. I don't project more than 5-6 stories for the first release, if this all moves ahead.

Stay tuned on that one for sure!

I am hopefully going to be announcing a very exciting new short film project involving H. David Blalock's novel Ascendant. We are looking at doing a short film revolving around a pivotal fight between champions of good and evil that takes place in the book, and it looks as if we are going to move forward pretty heavily in August on this project. I will be serving as a director and producer, and will be working on the adaptation of the novel elements to the screen. I am very, very enthusiastic about this project. We are already beginning to reach out to some professional Mixed Martial Arts fighters in the superheavyweight class to look at for casting the two main fighters, if that gives you any idea of the imagery and explosiveness we want to capture in this fight scene.

I am also an acting producer on a short film project with my pal Scott Sullivan, which we hope will be shooting in late August/Early September. More on that shortly as well.

I am also going to be launching a new series of blog interviews/reviews and podcasts for Seventh Star Press featuring authors, small publishers, and the like. It will be carried at the Seventh Star Blog site. It will spotlight writers and small press figures that I have met during my adventures to various Cons and other events. I will highlight books that I would like to bring to people's attention. Jackie Gamber, Lettie Prell, D.A. Adams, H. David Blalock, Nic Brown, Maurice Broaddus and Tammy Jo Eckhart are among the first batch that I will be looking to cover, as far as reviews/interviews go. I also hope to do a piece on Meadowhawk Press and another on Apex Publications.

On the film side of things, the Indie Movie Masters blog interviews are well underway, with recent visits with the indie film site Dead Harvey, as well as Ken Daniels, the director of the Fright Night Film Festival. Next on deck is an interview with Stephen and Suzie Lackey of the Con Trek series that is currently being featured on the XboX. We will soon integrate the IMM Podcast on the Indie Movie Masters blog page, and will likely have Stephen and Suzie on the kickoff interview. I hope to soon be visiting with guests such as Jon Klement of Smerdiverse fame, Wayne Clingman of Indy Film Wisconsin, Mark Racop of the Starship movies, and more!

My journey to InConJunction did go very well, by the way. I served on 4 panels, and had a fairly smooth experience all around. The Con is more of a full media event, and as such I got to participate in a couple of panels on blogging, in addition to a couple of literary panels that were stacked with some really fantastic authors (Such as Maurice Broaddus, pictured with me in front of the Apex Publishing banner.

I finally got to hang out a bit with Jason Sizemore of Apex Publications, who is located in my home base of Lexington. I hope to be doing some work with Jason with the Imagicopter project in the near future, as well as some other activities related to promoting small press in our area.

On the film side of things, I got to meet Chuck Budreau of Indy Film News, a resource and networking group for Indiana Filmmakers. I also caught back up with Mark Racop of MagicHouse Productions, who is in the process of finishing up his new sci-fi movie Starship II. I met Mark at a DragonCon a few years back, and he participated in a film/music industry conference I ran for a few years here in Lexington, and it was fantastic to get in touch with him again. His new movie looks like it is going to be really good, with some really nice visuals, so be sure to check out Starship II when it is released.

I also wanted to mention that it was a real pleasure meeting Tammy Jo Eckhart, a very good writer (I am going to be posting a review and interview with her for her book Servant of Destiny) who also happens to be the mastermind behind The Chocolate Cult. Yes, there really is a cult of chocolate now, officially!

Michelle Gussow was also awesome, and I can't wait to see her new short film, Soldier's Song, which looks to pack an emotional wallop! (and big kudos to her as a director for having a scene with a very extended single camera shot! Nice to see someone can still execute something like that in this world of five cuts per second editing)

Also, stay on the lookout for a new book by Angelia Sparrow and Naomi Brooks. I had the great privilege of getting to read this book in advance for consideration of giving a blurb, which I was happy to do as the writing was excellent and the story imaginative and tight. I can't wait to talk more about this book when it goes public.

Well, that about sums things up at the moment! Be sure to stay tuned as there are going to be alot of updates and notices forthcoming!

The Hypericon Adventure!

I really love Hypericon. Actually, I am beginning to think of Nashville as my second home. I have attended Hypericon since the early days of this Con, missing only the year that my father passed away, and this convention has always been a very pleasant experience.

It is still a smaller convention, though it has grown alot since its first year. It showed more growth this year, and as always was a pleasant environment in which to meet and talk with people.

There were alot of outstanding writers, starting with the guest of honor, Brian Keene, who has written some magnificent horror novels such as The Rising, City of the Dead, and Dark Hollow. I was pleased to discover that Brian apparently has excellent taste in music, attested to by his Iron Maiden shirt.

Scott Nicholson, who wrote one of the coolest and most visceral non-typical vampire books out there, They Hunger, was actually on one of the film track panels with me (a screenwriting panel). Scott has alot going on, including the world of graphic novels.



I was very happy to see Dan and Jackie Gamber of Meadowhawk Press (and look out for a special blog article on Jackie's book Redheart...coming very soon to this blog and the Seventh Star Press blog too!). Jackie unveiled a new sharpie tattoo, showing off her new rock n' roll image...it looked a little faded on the last day of the convention, but Jackie explained that was because she was demonstrating her toughness by using a brillo pad to remove the tattoo! Don't mess with Meadowhawk Press! lol

Actually, Meadowhawk Press became one of 4 small press publishers ever to have a release win the Philip K. Dick award! (for Terminal Mind by David Walton) THAT ROCKS!

Jason Sizemore of Apex Publications was also on hand. I have not gotten to know well Jason yet, even though we both live in Lexington! Apex is an excellent publisher, with many writers that I have alot of respect for ( Sarah Harvey, Fran Friel, etc. ), and I hope to get a chance to meet with Jason on the homefront a little more often.

One of the coolest things I encountered this past weekend were P'ckit Dragons, from the Smerdiverse developed by Jon Klement. He is not hard to find, walking around with a big purple hat with ears and a shirt with a little purple dragon peeking out from the shirt pocket. Jon took some time to tell me some of the background of the multi-dimensional P'ckit dragons, and after learning more, I believe everyone should have their own P'ckit dragon! Jon is from St. Louis, so I hope to catch back up with him in person at Archon later this fall.

I finally got a chance to meet D.A. Adams, author of the Brotherhood of Dwarves series. I had been looking forward to meeting him at MidSouthCon, but he had some last minute schedule conflicts and was not at a reading that we were supposed to do together there. I picked up a copy of his first book and will be reading it for sure. D.A. and I appear to have quite alot in common as well, which was really cool to discover.

Seeing Sarah Harvey, Elizabeth Donald, and Angelia Sparrow is always a great thing, and Hypericon was no exception! Elizabeth was generous/kind enough to consign some of my books there so that I had availability in the dealer's room. Believe me, this is a really helpful thing at a convention, and I appreciated it tremendously.

I did get to visit for a little while with Steven Shrewsbury, though I did not get to talk to him as long as I wanted to. Steven's book Hawg was a great read, if not disturbing! Not for the faint of heart! LOL His new one Tormentor is just now coming available.

I got to spend a good bit of time with my pals/partners in crime/fellow independent media sufferers Stephen and Suzie Lackey (who do all kinds of stuff, like Con Trek, Cinegeek.com), and Mike Young. As always, we came up with absurd ideas, as well as a few that might yet have merit! lol Stephen had his hands full running the film track, but we did get out for some very excellent pizza on Sunday.

Speaking of ideas that might have merit, something may be brewing regarding the film side of things! My cohorts in Cineline Productions, Matt Perry and Sven Granlund, and I had a great meeting with the eminent H. David Blalock, author of Ascendant (Sam's Dot Publishing). Suffice it to say that it appears that I will be directing a new project, short film in nature, fantasy in nature (YEEESSSS!) later this summer. Get ready, I'm fired up!

The good Jarl of House Blalock and his daughter Hericka and I did get to spend a good amount of time together, which was fantastic, as they are rapidly becoming a couple of my favorites out there. I am going to be posting something soon on Ascendant as well...so stay tuned!

Was very happy to meet a couple of Kentucky authors, David Jack Bell, author of The Condemned, and Julie Kagawa, whose first YA release The Iron King comes out at the beginning of 2010.

Big thanks to Matthew, Jon, Deb, and all those that came to support my signing slot in the dealer's room and who picked up a copy of The Exodus Gate. It means alot when you see someone step forward to take a chance on a new author. I can assure you that it is not forgotten! ;)


Many, many thanks and salutes go out to conference chairpersons Fred and Stephania Grimm, who are among those willing to take on the punishing job of running a large event. I think they have really been steadily building a very nice event, and I hope that they continue, despite the many headaches and challenges involved. (and kudos to all the volunteers like Deborah, and all the others involved with various aspects like running registration, cooking for the con suite, and more).


Oh yeah, while in Nashville, I also got to visit Davis-Kidd in Nashville. Awesome store, 2 levels, grand scale, while still being indie friendly. I got to meet Ashley Strosnider and Joe Nettles in person, which was super cool as I just knew them through phone calls and emails before.




Overall, Hypericon 5 was yet another great experience. I am already looking forward to Hypericon 6!!