DragonCon Day 1!

Arrived yesterday and was busy running around gathering everything to set up the booth and during down time, working on the next book in the SINS book – STRONGER THAN SIN. Got a lot done and then everyone started arriving at the hotel. By 7 pm we were down in our booth area, starting to set up for today when the exhibits open at 1.

Here’s step 1 of our booth – # 707 in case you’re down in Atlanta!

We have a beautiful poster for our booth – Surrender to the Night is our theme.

Meet my booth buddies: Joy Nash, me, Susan Sizemore and Raz Steele!

The view from our hotel room!

Last night was a blast, but tiring. We didn’t get to the restaurant for dinner until nearly 9:30 because we were setting up the booth and getting organized. The restaurant was close to the bar and what a sight! Dozens of people in costumes. Storm troopers, Star Trek officers, a zombie Elvis serenading people. Lots and lots of men in kilts and let me tell you – whoa, very sexy.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the camera then (will learn to always keep it with me!), so I hope to have more pictures for you either later today or tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

You can see all of the photos here as well: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032752&id=1130005412&l=ec573e286a

Undead Uprising Chapter 18

ww.jpgThis week’s Wicked Wednesday brings you another installment of my urban fantasy involving a twist to the werewolf mythology, battles with vampires and a struggle for control in a werewolf pack. I hope you like this next free chapter that I’m offering you.

In the prior chapter, Catalina’s father goes to visit her before she goes out to hunt vampires. Because of her unusual state, Catalina is stronger than the other wolves in her pack in human form, but cannot control herself when she shapeshifts into the wolf. Because of that, she hunts throughout the month, except for the days in around the full moon when she loses control. In this chapter, Catalina is out on the hunt.

For those of you who may have missed the first chapters, you can read them here:

  • Chapter 1
  • Chapter 2
  • Chapter 3
  • Chapter 4
  • Chapter 5
  • Chapter 6
  • Chapter 7
  • Chapter 8
  • Chapter 9
  • Chapter 10
  • Chapter 11
  • Chapter 12
  • Chapter 13
  • Chapter 14
  • Chapter 15
  • Chapter 16
  • Chapter 17

Chapter 18

She barely got her sword up to block the downward swing of the nail-studded bat. Reaching behind her, dazed from an earlier shot to her head by the vamp she had just dusted, she couldn’t quite get her hand on the grip of the crossbow.

The vampire raised the bat again, but she knew better than to continue kneeling there. Her awkward position made it difficult to effectively ward off another swing. Feinting to the left, she drew the vampire’s attention and he shifted the direction of his attack.

The bat impacted against the concrete of the street as she rapidly rolled to the right and came to her feet. Dropping her sword, she reached up behind her shoulder and this time, got a solid grip on the crossbow. Whipping it over her head, she fired as the vampire came at her.

He froze in place a few feet away, a stunned look on his face before he glanced down at the arrow protruding from his heart. The bat slipped from his hand and he scrabbled for a solid grip on the shaft of the arrow with his long, nearly skeletal fingers.

For good measure, Catalina notched another and fired again. Her aim true as the first. With a satisfying thud, the second arrow buried itself deep in the vamp’s heart. He finally crumpled to his knees, and then fell face forward toward her.

Catalina took a deep breath, tossed the crossbow back over her shoulder and picked up her sword. Glancing around, just to make sure there wasn’t another vampire beyond the two that had already attacked her, she approached the body. Turning him over, she realized he still wasn’t dead. He must be one of the old ones to be able to withstand two direct hits to the heart and the arrows driven deeper into his body by his fall.

He snarled at her, long fangs crimson with the blood of an earlier kill, and feebly reached for the arrows once more.

She didn’t hesitate a second longer. Raising her sword, she finished him off, severing his head from his shoulders. The surprising thing was, his hands continued to pluck at the arrows for long moments after. He definitely had been one of the old ones, which made her wonder why an elder was out hunting. Vampire elders usually forced the younger ones to bring them food, so one being out tonight hunting was unusual. As was having one attack her outright.

She walked over to the vampire she had killed earlier in the fight. What was left of him sat up against the edge of the building. Or at least part of him did. The lower half of him sprawled flat on the ground, legs splayed at an awkward angle.

Kneeling beside the upper half of his torso, she glanced into his sightless eyes and held her hand up over the middle of his chest. Nothing left of his power. He had clearly been a young vamp. Maybe even younger than the one who had attacked her a few nights ago. So beyond newly turned.

But even with that lack of age, he had managed to get in a good shot, she thought, rubbing at the knot on the back of her head where he had connected with the quarterstaff he had carried. As she bowed there, a prickling sensation sprang up between her shoulder blades.

Another one of the undead. Nearby.

Goody Time!

Dragon*ConI’m off to Dragon*Con on Thursday! Dragon*Con is an immense pop culture convention which focuses on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the United States. I’ll be a Dragon*Con virgin, but will be with friends who will hopefully help me survive.

I also hope to be bringing you daily updates of what’s happening, since I hear this is an amazing convention!

In preparation, I’ve been putting together a number of goodies which are beneficial to have for conferences or conventions.

Many of the promotional materials that are going out are directed at the science fiction and fantasy crowd at Dragon*Con because of SINS OF THE FLESH is really a hybrid of romance, science fiction and suspense. Some have called SINS OF THE FLESH a science thriller, others paranormal romantic suspense. But regardless of what you call SINS, it clearly falls within the science fiction/fantasy realm thanks to the genetic engineering aspect in the book which leads to the romantic suspense.

Because of that, the bookmarks and postcards for Dragon*Con stress all those elements of the novel. If you’re in need of either bookmarks or postcards, there are a couple of good places that I’ve used and have been happy with — overnightprints.com and nextdayflyers.com.

If money is tight, there is Vistaprint where you can layout some smaller sized bookmarks using their postcard template. Use the free postcard option and you can make 200 bookmarks for the cost of the shipping. Take the postcards to a local printer and they can cut them down for you if you don’t want to do it yourself, but for greater volumes, try the other two companies. The stock is of heavier quality and glossy on both sides.

**Note on Vistaprint – make sure you know what you are signing up for when you click on any third party specials or to get any rewards. Some of them do involve fees.

What else will I be taking? Some t-shirts of course. Those are always popular. For low volume color t-shirts, again try Vistaprint when they are running a 50% special. For THE CALLING t-shirts, I used Creative Solutions, a local NJ company that did a beautiful job with them, especially since I got several hundred at a shot.

Buttons, buttons, buttons. People love to collect buttons. Purebuttons.com did the trick for me!

Pens. What kind of writer doesn’t like pens? National Pen and 4Imprint (who did a marvelous job on the lunch bags) are ones to check out.

Cover Flats are always a good thing to have. Fans love to have autographed cover flats in their collections. Your publisher should be able to provide you with a supply of these when it is closer to the release date of your novel.

For reader/writer based conferences — if you can get ARCs to distribute that’s a good thing. Be sure to ask those that get ARCs to offer reviews on the various online bookstores. If you can’t get ARCs, prepare excerpts for people to take home and read.

Finally – there will be professionals at these conferences, in particular, press people. Make sure to prepare a press kit to be placed in the press area and also have one or two with you at your booth/signing area to distribute. Also make sure to have a good supply of business cards. Vistaprint is a great source for inexpensive business cards.

I hope today’s Tuesday Tip will be of assistance when prepping goodies for your own conferences. Also, although I’ve used the above-mentioned companies and have had positive results, it’s possible that your experience might be different. So please do not hold that against me and be sure to check out any and all companies before entering into any legally binding contract or offer.

Guilty Pleasures Monday – Antonio Sabato, Jr. and Kate Beckinsale

asjThe other day a friends was blogging about who they might cast to play the hero/heroine in their lastest novel. So, I thought I’d give it a shot and started thinking about who might fit the bill.

Today’s Guilty Pleasures Monday are those two actors who I can envision playing Mick and Caterina from SINS OF THE FLESH — Antonio Sabato, Jr. and Kate Beckinsale (always a favorite and a repeat Guilty Pleasure).

Antonio first became well-known thanks to a series of Calvin Klein ads and is currently starring in a reality TV show – My Antonion. You can click here to find out more about the show and watch the first episode.

Kate Beckinsale has starred in a number of movies, including my personal favorites like UNDERWORLD and UNDERWORLD:EVOLUTION and THE AVIATOR. Kate’s latest movie WHITEOUT, where she plays a U.S. Marshall assigned to Antartica, premieres on September 11. Here is a sneak peek at the trailer for that sub-zero crime thriller!

Fun Friday – New York City Sites

I know I’ve been sharing some Behind the Scenes shots for SINS OF THE FLESH and thought I’d share with you some sites from one of my favorite cities and the home of THE CALLING Vampire novels – New York City, or more appropriately, the borough of Manhattan.

As you can imagine, I spend a lot of time there thanks to my day job, but I also take some time to play there when I can and just walk around and enjoy the many different neighborhoods and New York City oddities.

One of my favorite places to go for some calm in the middle of a busy work day are the Tudor City Greens. When the weather is nice, my sis and I will often grab our lunches and head off for a picnic at the Greens which are right near my office building. Here’s a shot of one of the Greens in Tudor City.

Tudor Greens

There’s another interesting fact about Tudor City. If you take the footbridge up from 42nd Street and stand smack in the middle, you will have a one of a kind site, namely, you will be able to look from one side of Manhattan to the other!

Here’s a shot looking westward on 42nd Street. In the far distance you can see the Palisades of New Jersey.

Tudor Greens

Here’s a shot looking eastward on 42nd Street. Fairly close is the East River and beyond that Queens and Long Island.

Tudor Greens

If you’re ever in Manhattan, take a moment to enjoy this unusual spot. If you’ve watched the latest Bourne movie, it may even look familiar since there were a few scenes shot in the Tudor City area.

Have a great weekend!

Time Management Redux

work.jpgWe’ve talked about Time Management before (click here) since so many people wonder how it’s possible that I write as much as I do and still have a full time job. I should also add that family is important and I spend as much time with them as I can and I also volunteer at my writing group, the Liberty States Fiction Writers.

I discussed in that earlier blog how to make time to write, but also how you should plan to take time off. It’s that concept that I want to further discuss in today’s Tuesday Tip, namely having free time.

I don’t have much “free time” but it’s there in my schedule. I always give myself evenings off for various reasons. The first is that you do need time to recharge and relax. We all face tiring and stressful days, so having an hour or two to read a book, watch tv or just sit and chat is absolutely necessary to allow your mind to settle down. Especially for writers. It’s in that down time that our minds will rest and get ready for tackling the next page or chapter.

There’s also something else that’s really important about “free time”. When an emergency arises, like an unexpected deadline, having allowed yourself that “free time” gives you the necessary hours to deal with something unexpected.

For me, a change in deadline or new request can be handled in those few evening hours without the craziness of wondering, “OH MY GOD! HOW WILL I EVER FINISH THIS!” I don’t normally have those moments because I haven’t scheduled every second of every day.

So, plan for the downtime. If there’s nothing due, savor it and let your mind relax in order to destress and face the challenges of the next day. If something comes up, you won’t freak about not being able to find the time to do it.

I hope you found today’s Tuesday Tip useful!

Guilty Pleasures Monday – Chris O’Donnell

My first recollection of today’s Guilty Pleasure – Chris O’Donnell – was his role as Robin aka Nightwing in the original Batman franchise. I thought he was a cutie back then and have been waiting for him to come back. Add the fact that I love NCIS and the pilot that ran for the spinoff looked great, I’m eagerly awaiting the premiere of the NCI: Los Angeles spin-off.

chrisodonnell

You can read more about the spin-off and see some video clips (CBS doesn’t allow you to embed them!) by visiting the official NCIS:Los Angeles web page here or cutting and pasting this link in your browser: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/ncis_los_angeles/

Are you looking forward to this spin-off of a spin-off? (The original NCIS was a spin-off from JAG)