The Road Trip and More Just Ahead!

This week has been moving fast, with a bunch of meetings and a whole lot of activity on book and movie fronts. I got back late Sunday night from the road trek to Tennesee and Arkansas. Missed the Superbowl, but didn't mind, as the trip was well worth it!

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone that came out to the book signings and test screenings that took place.

Memphis was wonderful. From an afternoon visit with Dan and Jackie Gamber (and Ellen and Ben!), to the Davis-Kidd signing, to the test screening of Swordbearer, it was a great way to kick things off. Jackie, of course, is a fellow SSP author, and I got to see the writing studio where she works her literary magic. The reissue of her book Redheart is right on the horizon, which I am really looking forward to.

The Davis-Kidd visit was very enjoyable. Got to give a full presentation and giveaways, and we had a very spirited audience. Davis-Kidd is truly my home in Memphis.

The test screening of Swordbearer that night was at Studio on the Square, a really nice venue in Memphis. Had a pretty decent turnout, and got some excellent feedback that will help us shore things up for the ConNooga screening coming up on February 20th. Overall, the reaction seemed to be very positive. Didn't seem like there were any burning fires. We even had the honor of having the film reviewer from the Commercial Appeal as part of the audience!

Overnight I stayed at Thran Keep, otherwise known as David Blalock's house. David and his wife Maria are too kind to me! I had a very restful visit, and felt pretty good as we headed out for Arkansas the following morning.

Of course, more snow and ice had to hit, catching us a little on the drive in and a lot more later that evening. The event in Clarksville was the Redgunk Festival, spearheaded by Dr. William Eakin at the University of the Ozarks. I ended up doing a reading, talked a little about epic fantasy and my work, and manned an exhibit in the hallway. We did another test screening of Swordbearer for a primarily student audience. Collected more feedback that both corroborated what we heard from the Memphis crowd as well as got some new insights that were also very helpful.

Want to give a shout out to Sheila at the hotel there, who ended up getting my two Rising Dawn Saga books! It was a great way to start my Clarksville visit.

We went back from Clarksville to Memphis, where I made a second visit to Thran Keep for the night. As always, tremendous hospitality and a restful night! We headed out for Nashville in the morning for a stop at Borders on the West End. We had a nice group in Nashville, and I gave a presentation, giveaways, and did a reading. Got to see some wonderful friends, made some new ones (thanks Jeff!) and even had visits by some author friends like Nick Valentino and Eric Wilson. David Blalock made the trek as well, and I am amazed he wasn't sick of me yet after putting up with me for the three previous days! LOL

I really hope that Borders is able to start doing some small press events now that there's a void to be filled with the closing of the Davis-Kidd location in Nashville. They do such a wonderful job with book events, the location is great, and the Sales Manager there is really fantastic to deal with.

There were some books remaining at both Davis-Kidd in Memphis and the Borders West End in Nashville. I encourage people in those areas, who are wanting to get my books, to please support these two stores and get the books there.

After the Borders event I made the trek back to Lexington, arriving just in time for the last few seconds of the Super Bowl. A bit tired from all the road traveling, but 5 events in 4 days in 3 cities were completed fairly smoothly! It was a good start to touring for 2011, and I am looking forward to ConNooga in Chattanooga on February 18th, which kicks off six straight road weekend with MystiCon, Metropolis SuperCon, Troy Book Lover's Festival, Millennicon, and MidSouthCon to follow.

I'll get some pics up, but wanted to be sure to get this post up before the week got away from me!

Fandom Fest lands John Carpenter, and a few other cool updates!

It has been a busy week, as I've been immersed in work on the 3rd Rising Dawn Saga Book, working on the broadcast team for the January Thoroughbred auctions at Keeneland, and continuing with the million and one activities involved in the efforts to raise awareness of Seventh Star Press titles, not just mine but also Steven L. Shrewsbury's new book Thrall. And... Fandom Fest landed John Carpenter...but more on that later.

Dream of Legends has been arriving with reviewers, and the first major Dream of Legends event looms on Friday, January 21st, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington at 7pm. I am looking forward very much to next Friday, as we will have a full night of fun and activities for everyone coming out to visit and celebrate the new book release. New exclusive print, door prizes, possibly some Swordbearer footage, an after-party at a restaurant next door, and more. Definitely going to be a full night.

As far as Steven Shrewsbury's Thrall goes, we got some very welcome news in that he got not just one, or two, but three excellent reviews, the very first three to be published in fact. I have a TON of faith in Steven and his writing, so I'm not surprised, but it is really good to see the reception that this book is getting. The folks that got limited edition packages have been sending in a torrent of extremely positive feedback on the contents of the packages (as others have for Dream of Legends), which is really cool as I know how hard it is, and how much sacrifice has been involved, to bring out these kinds of premium packages for prices that are a fraction of what's charged for other offerings that don't include the wide array of content that these do.

I've gotten up a couple of nice new author spotlights on the SSP blog too, such as one with David J. Guyton, another with Scott Sandridge, and a third one looming with steampunk star Nick Valentino. Some very cool visits with some interesting insights on the state of the publishing world today.

Things are moving full steam on Swordbearer. We are planning to do test screenings the first week of February in Memphis and Arkansas, with screenings later that month in Chattanooga and Roanoke (ConNooga and Mysticon, respectively).

I will definitely be keeping everyone posted on that for sure.

Fandom Fest landed a MAJOR guest this week, when it was announced on DragonTalk Radio that film legend John Carpenter is confirmed for the July event in Louisville. This follows the recent announcement of Henry Winkler's attendance, so the event is certainly rocketing out of the gate in 2011. I have been making great progress with the Literary Track, and we are at a little over than 60 participating panelists on what is going to be an extensive, very multi-faceted track! Be sure to visit www.fandomfest.com and get ready for an incredible summer convention event.

Pic of the 2010 Pluto Award

I was asked by the kind folks behind the Pluto Award to take a pic with the award. I complied, of course, and thanks to my sister, who has a good eye for pics, I ended up with one that I could live with! lol

Anyhow, here's a pic of me with the 2010 Pluto Award!



Things have hit the ground running already in 2011. Progress is being made daily on the post-production of Swordbearer, great progress is being made on the 3rd RDS book, progress is being made on the 2 Cons that I'm doing programming for (FandomFest and Duckon), and much more. I'm getting good at keeping lists, needless to say!

Have some cool new blogs coming up at the Seventh Star Press Blogspot, where I do periodic reviews, interviews, etc. of other authors and publishers. The last two were with Dave Mattingly of Blackwyrm Publishing and the unrivaled Elizabeth Donald, author extraordinaire, though this post largely focused on her visionary Literary Underworld project. Upcoming authors include Dave Guyton, a very cool guy who has an incredible book trailer that has almost 50,000 hits for one of his novels, Scott Sandridge, who may hold the record for number of panels participated on at a Con, and Nick Valentino, a rising star in the world of steampunk.

Stay tuned for some cool announcements from SSP too, involving a new anthology, a novel release on the horizon from Jackie Gamber, AND a whole new wing of SSP involving eBooks... ;)

I am also going to do a blogpost shortly regarding ways that readers can help raise awareness for authors that they like...not just my readers, but for readers of any author in general, as I do get questions about things like that from time to time and have some insights on that.

The Kentucky Book Fair 2010....Fantastic

The Kentucky Book Fair 2010 was wonderful!

It is such a well-run and organized event, and simply massive...over 200 authors on an arena floor in Frankfort Kentucky. Where else can authors rock an arena? :)


Authors were assigned 3 to each booth space, and I happned to be right under the row 7 sign at the end of the aisle, up front and centered near the entrance. My immediate neighbor was author Michael Williams, who was there to promote his brand new novel Trajan's Arch, which was published by BlackWyrm, an outstanding small press based out of Louisville Kentucky. (photo is of me with Michael on the right)




The day was constantly active...many current reader-friends stopped by the booth, and I met several new ones. I had my most successful single day event outside of Lexington in terms of sales. Many copies of The Exodus Gate and Crown of Vengeance were sold, as well as a number of The Storm Guardians, mostly by people that had read The Exodus Gate. Both Nick Valentino and I had Dreams of Steam, the great steampunk anthology from Kerlak publishing, at our tables, and we each sold many copies of that one as well. (photo is of me with my friend Karen, who I didn't know was coming and decided to surprise me)

It was great to see some other authors, like Gwen Mayo, Abigail Keam, Sarah Glenn, and Shane Berryhill, who I met at ConNooga last year.




It was such a postive, encouraging, and successful event. Connie Crowe, Jen, Amy, and everyone involved did a great job with the hospitality, organization, and presenation. Brooke Raby and the Joseph Beth gang were on hand to help with the transaction and inventory. (photo is of me with KBF staff member Amy, at the end of the event.)

Afterwards I got to go out to eat with Nick Valentino and Elizabeth Darvill, who are two of the hardest working authors out there. They are hitting bookstores and conventions coast to coast, and it is no surprise that they are really attracting attention in the world of steampunk. It felt good to have a Sam Adams Winter Lager after the day we had, and Nick got his first Kentucky Hot Brown, which passed muster in his view!

We had a great visit, and Elizabeth came up with some very intriuging programming ideas that we just might have to put to use in the future...some very creative ideas, to say the least! Needless to say, I haven't heard about anything like she described at any convention I've been to!

To sum it all up, I really hope to have the honor of returning to the Kentucky Book Fair in 2011.

The Kentucky Book Fair this Saturday

Just a quick note about the Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort KY tomorrow:

I had a great experience last year at my first appearance at the Kentucky Book Fair. It is an amazing event, and I have the honor of returning again this year. I went down this morning to set up my assigned space on the convention floor (it is at the main Convention Center at 405 Mero St), and lo and behold they have me at the end of the 7th aisle, which is centered at the front where the main entrance is. Maybe being a Seventh Star Press author and being on the 7th aisle is some kind of omen...I'll let you know what kind after the event is done, LOL.

Saw Shane Berryhill while I was there for setup, who is a great speculative fiction writer from the Chattanooga TN area that I met at ConNooga. Also appearing in the speculative fiction area is steampunk star Nick Valentino from Nashville, a great guy and friend I love to see out on the circuit.

If you are thinking about going, I encourage you to do so...admission is free, and there are over 200 authors presented, in all genres. VERY cool day with about 5,000 attending readers/book buyers. Be sure to look me up and say hi, though!

I will have a copy of fellow SSP author Steven Shrewsbury's new book Thrall with me as well, so you can get a sneak peak at that if you are there. It turned out FANTASTIC! Steven is a great guy so I was thrilled to see how good this novel looks.

I'll check in after the event and let you all know how the day went!

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.

Checking in...full update coming shortly!

Just wanted to post a brief update. Will be putting up some nice posts next week, complete with some spectacular pics, regarding the sojourn that I am currently on. I'm looking at epic scenery daily! Lots of good reinforcement for my depictions of Midragard, Trogen Lands, and perhaps some areas of the Middle Lands!

I will also be putting up a lot of new information about "Dreams of Steam", the new anthology from Kerlak Publishing, edited by Kimberly Richardson, which has my first Steampunk tale "In the Mountain Skies". There are many great authors in this one, such as Nick Valentino, Angelia Sparrow, Stephanie Osborn,Sara M. Harvey, Allan Gilbreath, Missa Dixon, and H. David Blalock.

It is available on Amazon.com. The link to order it can be found at:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982374550?ie=UTF8&ref_=sr_1_2&s=books&qid=1279249707&sr=1-2

Pick up a copy today! :)

Keep an eye on this page, as I will have a very fun update to post in a few days!