*FREE* Books, *NEW* Stories, *SCHEDULES* for Cons and more...

1- First off, starting tonight at midnight my first novel, War of the Seasons, book 1: The Human will be FREE for kindle (or kindle app) for the next 2 days (the 30th & 31st) in celebration of my first time being a Guest of Honor at a con (ConCarolinas) this up coming weekend. If you don't have a Kindle, that's fine - download the app for free on your computer, smartphone, or tablet! FREE BOOK PEOPLE! And tell all your friends! You can get it here: http://www.amazon.com/War-Seasons-Book-Human-ebook/dp/B0055DKRXW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1338344385&sr=8-2 2- Jonesing to read Book 2 in the War of the Seasons series, The Half-Blood? Well guess what - the exclusive 3 chapter preview for it can be found at the end of my just released short story Songs of the Seasons: White Flag. It's another short story that takes place in the War of the Seasons world & will hopefully hold you over for another few weeks while my editor finishes with The Half-blood. You can download it here: http://www.amazon.com/Songs-Seasons-Song-Two-ebook/dp/B0085UYXKK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1338344385&sr=8-4 [...]

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BaltiCon Schedule, 2 new anthologies, & a general update

Ok, just a quick-ish update before I hit the rack. As I'm sure you may or may not have picked up on I'm crazy busy at the moment, so you get this update in list form: 1- In celebration of being asked to be a Guest of Honor at a convention for the first time, I'll be giving away free kindle copies of War of the Seasons: The Human on May 30th and 31st, the two days leading up to ConCarolinas. (as a reminder, kindle versions of WotS: The Human are always free to amazon prime members). 2- I'll be offline/traveling out of the country for the next week or so, but I'll be back just in time for BaltiCon (schedule posted below) 3- In case you haven't heard, I've got a new short story anthology coming out next month at Origins Game Fair. It's titled Time Traveled Tales and in addition to yours truly, also features stories from some of my very favorite people (and authors) Aaron Allston, Donald J. Bingle, Sarah Hans, R. T. Kaelin, Jean Rabe (also the editor), Steve Saus, Michael A. Stackpole, Bryan Young, and Timothy Zahn. You can read a great post about it on Aaron Allston's blog (OH MY GOSH I'VE GOT MY VERY OWN TAG ON HIS BLOG! Must not fangirl... too much.) Toche Station also posted about it here (holy cow I've got ANOTHER tag! WOOOO!). 4- I've got another anthology coming out. This one is non-fiction and is about world building. In addition to myself, Bryan Young, Steve Sau [...]

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Checking in...

HOW IS IT MAY ALREADY??? So, life has been hectic. Aside from loads of travel (which I do for both of my careers, Marine and Author) we also moved this month, and things have just been crazy (I'm hopelessly behind on my email). April Update... Here goes! WRITING: The Audio book for the human is done & I found a distributor! WEEEE! Now If I could only find the time to actually DO all the things I need to do for it. I honestly haven't done anything else re: writing. I simply haven't had the time - my Marine & family needs (along with the move) have sucked up most of my available time. Honestly, if running wasn't currently a part of my job I don't know when I'd find the time to do it! Hobbies: What are hobbies? ;) -Running- One race this month - the GW Parkway classic. It was lovely, and while I didn't PR, I still had a good race. Ron posted fully about it on his blog RonRunsDisney.com. (We ran another race this weekend and it was a brutal 1/2 marathon. Don't know if I'll be able to walk properly tomorrow). As far as my training, I've honestly been slacking. I'm lucky if I get two runs in a week & it shows! I need to get better about that. Marathon training officially kicks off on the 15th - WOOHOO! -Books read (something it seems I now only have time to do while I travel): I read the sequel to a friend's book about nerdy, not good looking, not svelte/thin/muscular vampires that are the good guys. It was hilarious, super fast & fun, and I highly recommend it. Plus it's called A Hard Day's Knight, and reference to a Beatle's song? WIN. Back in Black - so fun! I finally read [...]

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RavenCon wrap up

Last weekend I was a guest at RavenCon for the second time - the first time being a few years ago where I was a costuming guest. It was wonderful to come back to RavenCon, and the best part was how many people remembered me from my costuming days. :) I was touched. I was on several fun panels this time around too - and of course I forgot to write down the ones I was on, so I'll do my best to remember them here (though I'm certain I'll forget one): trends in costuming (moderated by the always entertaining James Fulbright) was a lot of fun - I think we decided that fairy tales were the next big costuming wave to come, that steam punk was on its downslide, and that Doctor Who was in it's heyday. Another great panel I was on was Professional Self-Publishing. I learned so much from my fellow panelists, and hopefully changed some minds/attitudes about self-publishing along the way... and given that I received this email shortly after returning from RavenCon, I know that we changed at least one mind. :) Thank you for introducing your beautiful book at RavenCon this last weekend! Wowza! I USED TO BE one of those "annoyed with the lo quality of self-pubed material" readers but I am absolutely blown away with the craftsmanship that went into creating War of the Seasons. You and your work have made it OK for us readers to start exploring the newer reading materials that are coming out. I see you and your work as a trailblazer and a Quality Standards Setter for the future. I had the opportunity to learn a lot from you this weekend, and thanks for turning my expectations around. Another fun panel I was on was the Military Sci-Fi panel (that one is ALWAYS fun!) - looks like there's a definite audience (at least a [...]

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Thrifty fashion: Butterflies, Vintage, and Flowers

A couple of things before I get into my fashion post. First off, you know I like to run right? No? Well, I do. If you want a full report on the races I run you can read my awesome husband's running blog, RonRunsDisney.com. Also, I just did a guest post on it (the latter 1/2 of the most recent post in italics - it's all about running gear) so go check it out! Yes, I know I still owe you a RavenCon wrap up.. it's coming, I promise. I started a Pinterest account, so feel free to add me there. And if you're on 365project.org, I've got a project there too (yes I know I'm behind - I'll be catching up shortly). As for War of the Seasons, book 2: The Half-Blood, it's off with my editor, as is Songs of the Seasons, song 2: White Flag. So look for them respectively in June and May. Now, how about a Thrifty fashion post? Now for a bit of Vintage, Butterflies, and Flowers! :)

Source: Uploaded by user via Janine on Pinterest

You might be asking yourself (because I know I'm certainly asking myself), why the heck is this author/Marine/mother/wife writing a fashion blog? A [...]

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March in review (yes I know we're 1/2 way through April)

Since I prepare these for family and friends, I figured I'd post theme here too, to let you know what'd been going on & where you can see me next. :) Professional: USMC: Working at the Capitol as a Marine Corps Liaison Officer has been fantastic! I'm learning so much about our government and have been enjoying being a part of it, especially the Capitol Hill Running Club! WRITING: The audio book for The Human is done being recorded and is now in final edits. You guys, I love it! It's AWESOME and so well done! Patricia Albrecht, the voice of Pizzaz on Jem is doing the reading and she's fantastic! I got unblocked on my first chapter and my editor has The Half-Blood and I got a short story to her too (also in the War of the Seasons universe). Now I need to get off my butt and finish up some other writing projects. I need to take a break from War of the Seasons for a bit, so I doubt the next book will come out in June of 2013. But perhaps I can have it out by the end of the 2013. Don't worry, there won't be a multi-year break between books, but I know that right now I really need some distance from the series so that when I start the 3rd (and supposedly final...) book I can attack it with fresh eyes. That said, I'm 1/2 way through writing/revising a retelling of Pride and Prejudice set 400 years in the future and takes place in a military environment. Does this make it a military sci-fi romance? ;) Hobbies: What are hobbies? -Running- Holy crap, no wonder I'm tired. I think I ran 4 races this past month? And 2 of them were the same weekend, 2 of them were St. Patrick's day races, and 2 of them were crazy hilly! 4 Courts 4 miler, RockNRoll 1/2 marathon (I set a new PR!), Hills are alive 10K, Cherry Blossom 10 miler. -Books read: I read a John Hartness's book about nerdy, not good looking, not svelte/thin/muscular vampires that are the good guys. It was hilarious, super fast & fun, and I [...]

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Happy Birthday Ron-Ron!

Enjoy your last year in your 30's sweetie! :)

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