Origins Game Fair 2011 wrap up

Fair warning, this is going to be a looooong picture filled post. To start out, I can't think of a better way to have spent my 32nd birthday than as a guest at Origins. If you were following my tweets/facebook updates at Origins, I think you pretty much have a fairly good idea what things were like for me & how much fun I had (plus how much I learned). But if not, here you go: I started out the convention on Thursday morning playing my very first RPG - no, not Rocket Propelled Grenade (which was my first thought) - but a Role Playing Game. I had no idea what to do - something I think the gamemaster quickly realized when she told me to get out my dice. "Why do I need dice?" So, there's something else I learned when playing an RPG - you need dice. The gamemaster kindly loaned me a set of her dice & between her & Mac they very patiently taught me how to play. Thankfully it was a Star Wars game, so I at least knew the "world" we were dealing with, and didn't have to be schooled in that - it was my saving grace/geek cred. ;) After the game (which turned out to be a lot of fun!), I had to head up to the author meet & greet, where, I've got to admit, it was VERY surreal to be "peers" with the likes of Aaron Allston, Michael A. Stackpole, & Timothy Zahn. I mean, I've been reading these gentlemen since I was 15, so yeah, this was surreal & awesome! I was also glad for the opportunity to get to meet the rest of the au [...]

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What's in a name?

First off, all pre-ordered signed books have been signed, packaged, and will be shipped tomorrow. Any books ordered after today will have a 3-5 business day turnaround (longer in the case of a convention weekend, like Origins this weekend). And now onto the point of this post - or rather, the purpose of my ramblings: As I was sitting here, munching on a brick of fudge (don't judge me), and revising the outline for The Hunter (then I went on to write the first 10 pages, wooo!), I received a text from a friend. "Spendlove??? Really??? How did you come up with THAT for your pen name?" "LOL, well, believe it or not, it's the name I signed for 21 years of my life." "Whaaaaaaaat?! Too funny!" So there you have it - my pen name is not a silly made up name (it's silly, but not made up), or just a fanciful name I came up with for the purposes of publishing. It is, in fact, my maiden name. It just so happens that I have a memorable, fun, whimsical maiden name - sometimes you just get lucky and life helps you out. :) Which brings up the question, what exactly is my current last name? Well, does it matter? Not really, no. I mean, it's not a big secret or anything, but part of the reason I decided to publish under a pen name is that I wanted to keep my two professional lives (writer me & U.S. Marine me) separate - well, as separate as possible in this day and age, because let's face it, THE INTERNET KNOWS EVERYTHING! Again, it's no secret that I'm in the Marine Corps, or what my legal last name is - and at conventions, and meeting people, I'm more than happy to talk about these things, but for my author "identity" (especially online) I wanted to create a specific image, because let's face it, that's a lot of what a pen name is for (much like a stage name for a musician): A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen [...]

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It's everywhere!

OK, well maybe not everywhere, but darn near! You can now get War of the Seasons, Book One, The Human for your Kindle and your Nook for only $4.99! The iBook version (also for only $4.99) should be due out any day now. That said, I need to bring up a problem the Nook version has been having. For some reason the map of Ailionora is not showing up. The weird part is if you open it up on your Nook app on your iPhone/iPad or computer it works just fine. It's only on the actual Nook that it won't show up. It's baffling the B&N Nook techs, that's for sure. Hopefully they'll have it solved and push an update to your Nooks soon. Until then, here is a clickable thumbnail to the map so you can know where in the world you are... Not into reading digital books? You can purchase a signed copy of my book in my shop. Not into collecting signed books, but still want a physical copy? You can get it on createspace or Amazon. Want to test drive before you buy? You can now read Sample Chapters here. And if you do happen to read my entire book, and feel so inclined, I'd love a review at any of those places - Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, your own blog... Let me know what you [...]

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War of the Seasons: The Human, Pre-Sale

My book went to the printers yesterday, and it's almost here! And now, you can pre-order your very own signed and personalized copy from my shop! I'm so very excited! Can you tell? Don't worry, very soon you'll be able to order it for your Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and more. One again, the link to my shop: http://www.ailionora.com/shop/ Hope you enjoy it. :)

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Proof & a Song

Not gonna lie, things have been very stressful (I'm sure my editor would agree), but in a good way, because LOOK: I'm VERY excited about my book! I'm less excited about my new haircut. Bleh. At anyrate, hopefully War of the Seasons, Book One: The Human will be available for purchase in a week or so. *fingers crossed* It's be available for purchase on Nook, Kindle, iBook... you name it! And of course, you can still go the old school ACTUAL PHYSICAL BOOK route. :) Keep an eye out - a free preview download of the first two chapters should be available in the next couple days... Now, onto other news, I HAVE A SONG! I've noticed (and had pointed out to me by several friends) that the growing trend is to have a promo vid for your book. So my ever talented webmaster, Rich, is creating one for me. The thing is, you can't just go using people's music willie nillie for commercial purposes without licensing it, so I contacted one of my favorite bands, The Steelwells to work out me possibly licensing one of their songs for my promo vid. They were, thankfully, on board, and so now, I HAVE A SONG! They have many wonderful songs, but the one I felt fit best with the tone of my book was "Our Fabled Little Rabbits." So here you have their fun & quirky music vid - I'll obviously post my promo vid once it's complete.

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A last minute crisis averted!

So, as I was reviewing the final FINAL print edit of The Human, I asked my husband (who doubles as my attorney), how I needed to credit the lyrics I'd used in my book - specifically, Merle Haggard's, "Okie from Muskogee." He did some research & happened to mention "I hope you aren't using more than one or two lines - more than that and you need permission from the artist." WUT? I was using 6... Ok, so in hind site I really shouldn't have been surprised, but as I said above, I was reviewing the FINAL print edit of my book when I discovered this. To say that I panicked would be an understatement - I had to get revisions to my editor that night if we were going to get everything done in time for our print deadline. Y'all, those lyrics were a huge part of two major scenes in my book. Perhaps with a few days to brew and think about how to rewrite them without the lyrics I could have done it, but to try to do it RIGHT THEN (at the end of a very long day I might add), my brain was fried, and I was in no state to write. I'll admit it, I cried. I threw a pillow at the wall and screamed. Then I went into my bedroom and stared at my draft trying to figure out what the heck I was going to do. I thought it was the end of the world. I can be a bit dramatic at times... 5 minutes later Ron came to the rescue. "Hey baby?" "Yeah?" "Are you dead set on those lyrics?" "No. I only used them because my dad used to sing them when I was a kid." "Well, if you use a song that's out of copyright you don't need permission." *SUDDEN HOPE* "Like?..." "Well, anything where the writer's been dead 70 years or more I think. Or any traditional songs like 'Danny boy'." So, I went with the traditional Irish folk tune "Whiskey in the Jar" (sometimes known as "Kilgary Mountain"). While it didn't have the same childhood sentimental value for me that "Okie from Muskogee" did, my husband has been singing it around the house for the past 11 years, and it was t [...]

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I have a cover!

YOU GUYS! YOU GUYS!!! I HAVE A COVER!!!! Betsy did an amazing job on the art - I love love love it! Just what I wanted - she saw into my head perfectly! You can see her previous concept art for this here. Kelli (also my editor) did a wonderful job on the layout - I especially love the font she picked for it. SO PERFECT! :) You guys - this is REALLY HAPPENING! Clickable thumbnail of the full cover: Just the front cover:

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