ShevaCon 2012 wrap-up

New blog post: ShevaCon 2012 wrap-up http://bit.ly/wlVs49

I give you my fangirl moment of the weekend: Timothy Zahn (author of Heir to the Empire and several other Star Wars novels), me, and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy).


This past weekend was mine and Ron's 11th anniversary and it also happened that I was scheduled to be a writer guest at ShevaCon, in Roanoke, VA. So for us, it ended up being a fun weekend away where we got to celebrate 11 wonderful years together and make many new friends in the process.



This was the first time either of us had ever attended ShevaCon, but we're very glad we did. The staff bent over backwards to ensure the comfort and needs of each guest and attendee were met. I know the convention had designated "guests of honor," but to be honest, it felt like we were ALL guests of honor. :)

The beautiful Hotel Roanoke where the convention was held.


My books for sale (and yes that is my handsome husband in the background). The CW5 sponsored the con & gave us all fantastic lanyards for our badges too.


Yes, Ron's badge says "Alexander McFrumplepuff" (of the Boston, McFrumpluepuffs). How I love this man!


During the opening ceremonies Jeremy Bulloch was arrested by the Mando Mercs... Eek! But he took it in good humor, and I heard they took him out for dinner.


Our lovely mistress of ceremonies.


I was on SEVERAL panels this weekend (I think my final tally was 10 - it would have been 11, but we were chased away by snow). A few were on costuming, but most were on various writing subjects, and one was a writer's workshop that Allen Wold invited me to assist him with. My fellow panelists (and in many cases, friends) throughout the convention were: David Bartell, Jim Bernheimer, Elaine Corvidae, Betty Cross, Tera Fulbright, Katherine Kurtz, Gail Z. Martin, Mike McPhail, Robin Sullivan, and Steve White. They're all VERY talented I highly recommend you check out their work.


During one panel I was graced with Tim & Anna Zahn attending in the audience. *NO PRESSURE* ;)


But I was ready for anything...


For me, one of the most squeeworthy moments of the con was the Anti-hero panel, which I was the Moderator for, and who would sit beside me, but Jeremy Bulloch. I couldn't help but point at him and stage whisper to the audience "You guys... YOU GUYS! Boba Fett is sitting next to me! Someone quick take a picture." I don't think anyone took a picture, but the panel went very well, and afterwards, as Ron & I were packing up and saying our goodbyes, Jeremy's lovely wife approached me and said that Jeremy wanted a picture with me, and would I mind? Would I mind??? Let me think about THAT one for a second! Um, NO! I did not mind in the least, and I got my picture Jeremy, and as you saw at the start of the post, Tim jumped in the photo and I got to be the happiest Star Wars fangirl EVER!


One great discovery Ron & I made this weekend was the art of Stephen Burks & the rest of Iconograph Studios. Seriously, these guys are awesome - check them out!


We brought home some great "recruitment posters" by Stephen. You can see the Green Lantern one he did next to the Wonder Woman print on our wall by Mark dos Santos.



Stephen's art was so fantastic that Tim Zahn commissioned a Mara Jade original from him!


My other neighbor was another artist, Travis Surber who does a very entertaining geek/southern culture web comic. He graciously gifted me a copy of his book.


Of course one of my favorite parts of every con is seeing all the wonderful geeky shirts and costumes on display by the fans:

Doctor?


It's bigger on the inside.


A lovely Mando.


My favorite Mando, Todd B. Lacey, one of my oldest and dearest friends.


Even Mandalorians read The Human. :D


I swear I'm not a Zombie!


Tera Fulbright giving a panel on Steam Punk costuming with a lovely attendee graciously acting as a model.


Gotta love that hat!


Winners of the Costume Contest.


Little Thor!


Little Vader already choking people...


The Zahns, the Spendloves, and the Bullochs.


Then the snow chased us away and our convention was cut short. BOO! :(


That said, I can't wait for next year! Thanks to all the staff, guests, and attendees for making my first ShevaCon an absolute blast!

ShevaCon 2012 wrap-up

I give you my fangirl moment of the weekend: Timothy Zahn (author of Heir to the Empire and several other Star Wars novels), me, and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy). This past weekend was mine and Ron's 11th anniversary and it also happened that I was scheduled to be a writer guest at ShevaCon, in Roanoke, VA. So for us, it ended up being a fun weekend away where we got to celebrate 11 wonderful years together and make many new friends in the process. This was the first time either of us had ever attended ShevaCon, but we're very glad we did. The staff bent over backwards to ensure the comfort and needs of each guest and attendee were met. I know the convention had designated "guests of honor," but to be honest, it felt like we were ALL guests of honor. :) The beautiful Hotel Roanoke where the convention was held. My books for sale (and yes that is my handsome husband in the background). The CW5 sponsored the con & gave us all fantastic lanyards for our badges too. Yes, Ron's badge says "Alexander McFrumplepuff" (of the Boston, McFrumpluepuffs). How I love this man! During the opening ceremonies Jeremy Bulloch was arrested by the Mando Mercs... Eek! But he took it in good humor, and I heard they took him out for dinner. Our lovely mistress of ceremonies. [...]

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You got that from...

When I attended GMXv3 last October something horrible happened. No, the convention was not horrible - it was amazing. Something that happened there was horrible: when I was in the dealer's room I saw a t-shirt with the slogan "Winter is coming" emblazoned across the front. I was both excited & confused, then quite worried, because it's a big theme/tagline in my War of Seasons novels. I knew my books weren't anywhere close enough to warrant seeing random shirts popping up at vendor's booths yet, so I had a very sinking feeling that this same line was big in another series... Well, come to find out, it's a huge theme/tag line in the George R.R. Martin, Game of Throne books. In fact, I've been seeing t-shirts all over the place with it now. I've never read the Game of Throne series (or watched the show, which came well after I'd written my first WotS novel), so I obviously didn't copy the line. In fact, I thought I was being a bit clever when I wrote it, "Winter is coming," and that it was a good foreboding line in my books (key to the overall plot of the 3 books). Unfortunately for me, several years ago George R. R. Martin thought the same thing (granted Winter is both a different type of "thing" in our books and poses a different "threat"). So my question was this: Do I remove the line from my forthcoming books (it's already in The Human, released June 2011) and instead use something that sounds not nearly as good (like "winter approaches")? Or do I leave it in, and if people want to think I copied Game of Thrones they can? I've found that people already tell me after reading my books "Oh, you got that part from Lord of the rings" or "You got that part from Harry Potter," which if it seems that way, I can say it was never done purposely. I scour my books for "lifts" or anything that sounds too much like something else (i.e., I really wanted a faerie character of mine to sparkle, but due to a certain popular series with another sparkly main characte [...]

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Reviews are love...

Even bad ones, because that means people are reading my book. Though, the worst review I've seen thus far was 3 our of 5 stars for The Human, and their chief complaint was that Story acted like a 25 year old, not a 17 year old. Hey, I'll be the first to admit I wrote Story as more mature than a typical 17 year old, so it's a fair complaint. But that's not the point, the point is, eventually I'm going to encounter someone who hated my book (soon to be books) and that's okay! I know my writing's not for everyone. That said, I am just glowing over this review on BigShinyRobot. My favorite bit: The Human is a very fun read, very much in the vein of the Chronicles of Narnia or The Hunger Games. It has a very strong female lead, an incredibly well-developed world, a fiendish villain you just love to hate, and above all: a love story that doesn't actually make you want to gag. But you can go read the whole thing for yourself on the website. :) p.s. Yes, I'm still writing my little heart out! Though I don't think I'll make my NaNoWriMo Goal... oh well!

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Geek Media Expo V.3 wrap up!

Last weekend I had the great opportunity to attend Geek Media Expo V.3 (GMXv3) as a writer guest. To say it was a LOT of fun would be an understatement! I think most of my weekend was spent with me fangirling over one thing or another. You would have been hard pressed to differentiate me from the attendees for sure - and I'm ok with that! I'm a geek at heart, and when I'm not a writer guest at a convention, I'm quite happily, a paying attendee! I will say that I went to the convention with some trepidation. You see, I didn't really know anyone! I'm not exactly what you would call shy, but I'm so used to my husband, a friend, or a co-worker going with me on my trips that to go completely alone was odd & a bit daunting. I needn't have worried - within about 30 seconds of arriving in the Green Room to pick up my badge & schedule I was immediately befriended by the wonderful & talented Patricia Alice Albrecht (the voice of Pizzazz from Jem, among many things). She basically took me under her wing for the entire convention. She & her wonderful husband Bruce and son Forest, took me out to dinner on Friday night & then spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with me & giving me some great tips & advice on things. I also have some potentially AWESOME news, but more on that later if it comes to fruition. I'd also like to mention that Jennifer Byrd, the guest relations coordinator was AWESOME. I arrived at GMX, was ushered up to the green room & there she was with my badge and a folder detailing my full schedule for the weekend so that there would be no confusion as to where & when I was needed. Plus, she made a point of checking on me, making sure I had everything I needed all weekend. She is a true pro & made my entire experien [...]

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Vintage dresses!

I know I know, NOT a writing post, but hey, let's shake things up a bit (BTW, I DID finish the 1st draft of The Hunter). I was asked by several people on Facebook to post some pics of my vintage dresses (I have a bit of a passion for collecting and wearing them on a regular basis). So I uploaded an album there of them. CLICK HERE TO SEE THEM. This one, from the late 1930s is my very fav of all... click above to see the rest! ~~~~~ Don't forget, physical copies of Songs of the Seasons: Girl are now available.