I'll be at Midsouth Con in roughly four hours!
Here's my panel schedule:
Friday
6 pm - Strong Women Characters
9 pm - Managing Criticism
Saturday
10 am - Reading
11 am - 1990 to Today - the New Vampires
1 pm - Professionals Row (It's be my turn to sell and sign stuff at the Guest Table in the dealer's room
6 pm - Between Lovecraft and King - Horror in the 40s, 50s and 60s
8 pm - The New Dr Who panel
Sunday
11 am - I Am The Audience
So... if you are in or around Memphis, swing by and say hello.
Showing posts with label conventions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conventions. Show all posts
Friday, March 20, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Guess Who's Coming to Birmingham?
So last year we had a con in Birmingham, AL. It was a first year con with around three thousand attendees (which is pretty much unheard of for a first year con). This year, Birmingham has a new con (ImagiCon) and it's been put together by a bunch of great folks who want to make sure Birmingham has its own convention... which... since I *live* in Birmingham, I am all about, too. :)
They almost skipped a year and launched the con in 2010, but even with the short turnaround, they have some cool people coming:
On the Lit Track: Sherrilyn Kenyon will be back (WOOT!), as will Christina Barber, Alan Gilbreath, M.B. Weston, The Wandering Men (I still need to blog about those guys) and yours truly. Debut authors Jeannie Holmes and Stephanie Osborn will also be there along with short story writer (and aspiring novelist) Shelly Li.
There are other guests on the list and you can find them here or you can just go to http://imagicon.org and check out all the guests and events these guys have planned.
So if you're in Birmingham March 27-29, 2009. Come on by and see us. There will be copies of ReVamped in the dealer's rooom and I might be convinced to read a short story or... even an excerpt from the current draft of book 3.
Who knows?
They almost skipped a year and launched the con in 2010, but even with the short turnaround, they have some cool people coming:
On the Lit Track: Sherrilyn Kenyon will be back (WOOT!), as will Christina Barber, Alan Gilbreath, M.B. Weston, The Wandering Men (I still need to blog about those guys) and yours truly. Debut authors Jeannie Holmes and Stephanie Osborn will also be there along with short story writer (and aspiring novelist) Shelly Li.
There are other guests on the list and you can find them here or you can just go to http://imagicon.org and check out all the guests and events these guys have planned.
So if you're in Birmingham March 27-29, 2009. Come on by and see us. There will be copies of ReVamped in the dealer's rooom and I might be convinced to read a short story or... even an excerpt from the current draft of book 3.
Who knows?
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
San Diego Comic-Con 2008
It is quite possible that I should have announced this earlier, but I'll be at San Diego Comic-con this weekend. I'll even have a signing at the Pocket Books table! The signing is at noon on Friday, but I'll be wandering the convention area through out the weekend.
I hope to see you there!
J
I hope to see you there!
J
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Dragon*Con 2007
So, I just got back from Dragon*Con and it was a total blast. It was also combined with several firsts for me.
1) It was the first convention I've been to since becoming a father (six years ago!)
2) I got to meet my editor, Jennifer Heddle, in person for the first time. I can't say how cool it was to get a chance to chat with someone with whom I have worked so closely. For the record, she is exceedingly nice.
3) Before I left for the con, Jennifer emailed the cover proof for my novel. I'm not allowed to post it on the web yet, but I did get to carry it around the con with me. My wife printed out several glossy copies of the proof along with a handful of business cards. Not only did I get exactly the artist that I wanted (without ever being brave enough to mention that I wanted him), but absolutely everyone liked it. The people I met may not remember my name, but I like to think they'll remember Chris McGrath's wonderful artwork.
4) Believe it or not, it was also the first time I'd ever been to any Writer's Track Panels. It may be odd, but I decided that following the writer's track would be the best way to find out if I was doing things the "right" way. You'd think selling a book would have given me more confidence in myself, but I am ever the victim of self-doubt. Fortunately, every writer I met was very nice and most were incredibly enthusiastic and welcoming when I told them about my book. Sherrilyn Kenyon with her "That's great! Is this your cover? It's beautiful! Who's your editor? She's really good!"and Maggie Shayne with her "Welcome vampire brother!" were by far the most enthusiastic.
5) Other writers I met for the first time (all of whom were nice): Theresa Bane, Peter David, Rebecca York, David Drake, Selina Rosen, L.A. Banks, Eric Griffin, Angela Knight, Susan Kearny, Angelica Knight, Mark Weiskoff, Janny Wurt, Phillip Nutman. and I'm certain I'm leaving someone out.
6) Writers weren't the only cool people I met. Kevin Sean Michaels, the man behind Vampira the Movie, was there and I got to talk with him a bit before the From Page to Screen panel began. I also got a chance to ask Hank Reinhardt (calling him a sword and arms historian doesn't really do him justice) a few questions about the uses of military picks for a novel project I really can't say much about yet. I also met cartoonist Andy Runton, the creator of Owly. It isn't about vampires, but Owly has a simple heartwarming storyline that should appeal to any and all.
7) It's strange to drive all the way to Atlanta to meet old friends who live in Birmingham, but I ran into several.
1) It was the first convention I've been to since becoming a father (six years ago!)
2) I got to meet my editor, Jennifer Heddle, in person for the first time. I can't say how cool it was to get a chance to chat with someone with whom I have worked so closely. For the record, she is exceedingly nice.
3) Before I left for the con, Jennifer emailed the cover proof for my novel. I'm not allowed to post it on the web yet, but I did get to carry it around the con with me. My wife printed out several glossy copies of the proof along with a handful of business cards. Not only did I get exactly the artist that I wanted (without ever being brave enough to mention that I wanted him), but absolutely everyone liked it. The people I met may not remember my name, but I like to think they'll remember Chris McGrath's wonderful artwork.
4) Believe it or not, it was also the first time I'd ever been to any Writer's Track Panels. It may be odd, but I decided that following the writer's track would be the best way to find out if I was doing things the "right" way. You'd think selling a book would have given me more confidence in myself, but I am ever the victim of self-doubt. Fortunately, every writer I met was very nice and most were incredibly enthusiastic and welcoming when I told them about my book. Sherrilyn Kenyon with her "That's great! Is this your cover? It's beautiful! Who's your editor? She's really good!"and Maggie Shayne with her "Welcome vampire brother!" were by far the most enthusiastic.
5) Other writers I met for the first time (all of whom were nice): Theresa Bane, Peter David, Rebecca York, David Drake, Selina Rosen, L.A. Banks, Eric Griffin, Angela Knight, Susan Kearny, Angelica Knight, Mark Weiskoff, Janny Wurt, Phillip Nutman. and I'm certain I'm leaving someone out.
6) Writers weren't the only cool people I met. Kevin Sean Michaels, the man behind Vampira the Movie, was there and I got to talk with him a bit before the From Page to Screen panel began. I also got a chance to ask Hank Reinhardt (calling him a sword and arms historian doesn't really do him justice) a few questions about the uses of military picks for a novel project I really can't say much about yet. I also met cartoonist Andy Runton, the creator of Owly. It isn't about vampires, but Owly has a simple heartwarming storyline that should appeal to any and all.
7) It's strange to drive all the way to Atlanta to meet old friends who live in Birmingham, but I ran into several.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
How I got an Agent: (The Short Version)
My guess is that my search for an agent was easier than some, harder than others. You see, going to conventions and pitching your book seems to be a good way to get an agent, but I started trying to get an agent several years after I stopped going to conventions. Don’t get me wrong, I love conventions (particularly Dragon*Con which is held every year in Atlanta), but my children are a little too young to enjoy them yet and most of my vacation time gets eaten up by various holidays and family outings. I’m also a little slow to warm up to people. I can be perilously shy and sometimes when I’m very nervous, I stutter. So even though trying to get an agent by the ambush-at-convention method was impossible for me to schedule, it was probably a good thing.
With this wonderful tool unavailable to me, I was left with words. Words ought to be useful right? I’m a writer. The original draft of BITE ME was over six hundred pages. I’ve written over a million words. As many writers will tell you though, writing a query letter is different. You can’t meander for a hundred pages. You have one page and some agents will not read even that page, perhaps not even the whole first sentence. Sad, but true - and ultimately understandable. So, you have to grab their attention. How do you do that?
I don’t know.
My record at present is twelve agent queries with the following results:
Six: Form rejections
Two: Query back when you’ve completed a different project.
Two: You’re good writer, but I can’t sell this urban fantasy stuff.
One: Prolonged Nibble™.
One: Request for revision - which ultimately resulted in my agent, Shawna McCarthy, agreeing to represent me.
(We love the Shawna. If you like great fantasy short stories, subscribe to Shawna’s magazine REALMS OF FANTASY at www.rofmagazine.com/subscriptions/new!)
Things that help:
It helps to query the right agent. Make sure that you are querying agents who represent what you write. Follow their submission guidelines precisely. Spend some time at http://misssnark.blogspot.com/ checking out how not to look like a complete ass. Visit Preditors and Editors (www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/) to make sure you don’t wind up getting scammed by a complete ass. I used http://www.writersmarket.com/ to obtain my lists of agents and their contact information. It's not free, but it’s cheap and easy. If you’re too lazy (like me) to scope out all the free info available via the web, a Writer's Market subscription can put everything in one spot for you.
There are tons of writers who offer more helpful info online. I suggest Neil Gaiman’s site at http://www.neilgaiman.com/ and SL Viehl’s blog at http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/.
Next in the series: Wow! This Takes A Long Time!
But before that: TV!
With this wonderful tool unavailable to me, I was left with words. Words ought to be useful right? I’m a writer. The original draft of BITE ME was over six hundred pages. I’ve written over a million words. As many writers will tell you though, writing a query letter is different. You can’t meander for a hundred pages. You have one page and some agents will not read even that page, perhaps not even the whole first sentence. Sad, but true - and ultimately understandable. So, you have to grab their attention. How do you do that?
I don’t know.
My record at present is twelve agent queries with the following results:
Six: Form rejections
Two: Query back when you’ve completed a different project.
Two: You’re good writer, but I can’t sell this urban fantasy stuff.
One: Prolonged Nibble™.
One: Request for revision - which ultimately resulted in my agent, Shawna McCarthy, agreeing to represent me.
(We love the Shawna. If you like great fantasy short stories, subscribe to Shawna’s magazine REALMS OF FANTASY at www.rofmagazine.com/subscriptions/new!)
Things that help:
It helps to query the right agent. Make sure that you are querying agents who represent what you write. Follow their submission guidelines precisely. Spend some time at http://misssnark.blogspot.com/ checking out how not to look like a complete ass. Visit Preditors and Editors (www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/) to make sure you don’t wind up getting scammed by a complete ass. I used http://www.writersmarket.com/ to obtain my lists of agents and their contact information. It's not free, but it’s cheap and easy. If you’re too lazy (like me) to scope out all the free info available via the web, a Writer's Market subscription can put everything in one spot for you.
There are tons of writers who offer more helpful info online. I suggest Neil Gaiman’s site at http://www.neilgaiman.com/ and SL Viehl’s blog at http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/.
Next in the series: Wow! This Takes A Long Time!
But before that: TV!
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