Geek Media Expo wrap up

I know I haven't updated recently - long story short my website was having all sorts of problems, but seems to be working just fine now. Sooooo right before Halloween I was a guest again at Geek Media Expo (GMX) and it was once again AWESOME. We took out whole family and on Saturday night the 4 of us dressed up as the Avengers - Captain America, Nikki Fury, Tony Stark, and yours truly as Thor. The costumes were very well received and I think we may have our Christmas card photo. :)

Crystal Coast Con wrap up

Crystal Coast Con literally felt like going home. For about 9 years my husband and I lived all over eastern NC around the MCAS Cherry Point, New River, and Camp Lejeune areas. We lived in New Bern, Swansboro, Kinston, and then finally Emerald Isle for a time. In fact, I wrote the bulk of War of the Seasons: The Human while staring at the beach & hearing the waves crash from my window at Emerald Isle. So, when I got invited to a Con that was less than a mile from my old home I was super thrilled to go! It was so great to see so many old friends (the Carolina 501st Garrison *link* for starters), and make new friends (the talented band Saving Abel *link* was there), and get to spend some time with one of my oldest friends, the talented author Mariana Roberg *link*. On the whole this little con was full of heart, great fans, and of course my beloved Marines. HOORAH! I'm glad I was invited & I'm glad I went. Pics! I loooooved all the costumes I saw there. Hello Lilo! Awesome! Now THAT'S a robot! My friend Jane ROCKIN' Amy Pond! The littlest author! The littlest Riddler The littlest Wolverine The littlest R2-D2 [...]

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Dragon*Con, Thrifty Fashion, & I have an audio book!

Oh hey, GUESS WHAT? War of the Seasons: the Human has an AUDIOBOOK version! And it's read by the amazing, wonderful, talented, Patricia Albrecht! So if you like audio books, here you go! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ As I'm sure you can see from the header photo, Dragon*Con is one of those few conventions where the costuming side of me still comes out to play. Normally at cons now, I throw on a geek tshirt, tardis earrings, and go do my thing. Occasionally I'll put a costume on if asked to (i.e., I was asked to dress like a queen for a chess game at GMX last october), but other than that... well, I'm in "civilian" attire. A few people have asked me why, and I feel like I can't really answer it safely - I don't want to offend anyone, or have anyone think I think less of them if they've made different choices, but the short version is, I want people to remember my books, not my costumes. Most of the times I'm at these conventions as an author guest, not as a costume guest (that said, I do try to dress up if I have time to change for a costume panel), and I've noticed it throws some people off if I show up in costume, or people don't take me seriously, or, like I said, they focus on the costume & not my writing. Or the worst of all (but also good in some ways?): my costume is so good that people don't recognize me. Soooo, yes, I tend to stay away from costumes these days at conventions, unless there is an appropriate time for me to bust one out (i.e., if I don't have a panel in the evening, I generally will). At anyrate, Dragon*Con is a convention [...]

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Remembering Laura "GunslingerPadme" Jan 10, 1986 - May 3, 2012

I meant to make my weekly post on Monday but ran out of time. The same thing happened Tuesday and then yesterday morning I received some tragic news that immediately took over what I was going to post. That said, it's take me a bit of time to process my thoughts and feelings. Well, I imagine I'll be processing them for a while. I found out that my friend Laura (known as "GunslingerPadme" online in most places) took her own life in May. MAY? What kind of friend am I that I didn't notice I hadn't heard from my friend in 3 months? Well, I actually had noticed but I assumed that she had taken a social media hiatus - we all do that, and of course, I would never have thought that this would or could happen! I knew that Laura was unhappy. I knew she was bi-polar. I knew she had many health problems, but I also knew that she was seeing a doctor regularly. I knew that she was taking her meds. I knew she was doing everything in her power to cope, that she was fighting hard to get better, and I thought she was getting better. Or maybe I just hoped she was. Or maybe I just can't understand what it's like to be bi-polar or have the mental & health issues Laura clearly was suffering through. I know she tried to help me (and everyone else) understand - she created a public blog where she wrote everything she was feeling, going through R [...]

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Back from AFG, Thrifty Fashion, and whatnot

So, I'm back from Afghanistan again - as always a busy, exhausting, yet very productive trip. I love my job! And of course I made sure to bring proper reading material with me: It may interest you to know that I finished the 2nd draft of a novella (my Pride & Prejudice in Space story) which is currently with my Alpha reader. I also got a very good start outlining & writing the first 1/3 of the next Songs of the Seasons story on my flights. :D When I got back we had some lovely family time together with the Youngling & the FES while we played tourist in DC (I love this city). ~~~~~ Oh hey, want to win a copy of The Half-blood?