K.G. MacGregor's Blog, page 13

9.6 :: Another brief hiatus (w/Update)

 

After a year-long odyssey of drugs, therapy, injections & imaging, I've finally scheduled back surgery for later this week -- a double spinal fusion. I've been assured my golf game will not suffer much, which is great news because it's been suffering mightily for about 30 years. I want to say to all who have written or posted comments over the past year that I really, really appreciate your kind words of healing & encouragement. I'm especially grateful for all the success stories, since that's where I see myself once I've gotten the recovery & rehab behind me. I haven't entered this decision lightly, and I made sure to put myself in the best possible hands. If you can spare a warm vibe for patience & restraint, please send it telepathically to my partner Jenny. If you've met her, you already know she's a saint.

I don't know how long it'll be before I feel like logging on again, so I hope you don't forget about Mother Load, which will be released October 19th by Bella Books. I just proofed the final typeset galley and send it off for printing, which means everything is on schedule. The ebook will probably be available a week or so early.

[UPDATE: The surgery went just fine, the post-op pain was everything they promised and more  and I'm now back at home making progress every day in terms of walking around and gaining some in-home independence. I'm still a long way from getting out & about, but give me another month or so. My goal is to make it to Opening Night of this season's Miami Heat at the American Airlines Arena downtown on Oct. 29. Thank you for all the encouraging notes & good wishes.]

Speaking of ebooks, there has been a lot of discussion recently among authors about the problem of ebook piracy. It's affecting all of us, whether at Bella, Spinsters, Bold Strokes, Intaglio, Regal Crest, Blue Feather, Bywater, Phoenix Rising & Brisk ... like I said, all of us. We try to alert one another whenever we find someone's ebooks posted on filesharing sites, and we're working together to post take-down notices and report copyright violations to site owners. You may not realize that getting an ebook taken down from a filesharing site is a major, major hassle for the authors, and it isn't always successful. Even when it is, the books usually pop up again within hours. Authors are growing more discouraged every day, and some even say it's affecting their desire to write. Most of these thieves don't view what they do as theft, because to them an e-file isn't really a "thing" since it doesn't cost anything to reproduce. The cost however is in lost sales, and those add up pretty quickly when people start trading one $12 ebook around to their circles of friends and/or torrent sites. From a technical standpoint, there isn't much we can do to prevent these thefts of our work. Our only real line of defense is to ask our readers to help us push back, to have the courage to say "No thanks" not only to the anonymous filesharers, but even to friends who think it's no big deal to send out copies of their ebooks. Tell them you respect copyright and prefer to buy your own. If we don't find a way to beat this back, I'm afraid we'll lose a lot of lesbian voices who write especially for us.

I'm still working out the story details for my next project, but I've settled on a name: Rhapsody. Best to all, and I'll be back to blog as soon as I can.

 

9.6 :: Another brief hiatus

After a year-long odyssey of drugs, therapy, injections & imaging, I've finally scheduled back surgery for later this week -- a double spinal fusion. I've been assured my golf game will not suffer much, which is great news because it's been suffering mightily for about 30 years. I want to say to all who have written or posted comments over the past year that I really, really appreciate your kind words of healing & encouragement. I'm especially grateful for all the success stories, since...

8.19 :: Interview on BlogTalkRadio

Saturday, August 21st at 2.pm. ET.

Hope you'll tune in tomorrow for a discussion of Photographs of Claudia on MyQmunity Gay & Lesbian Book Talk with host Robert Jaquay. We'll talk about the book's inspiration & characters, and how to write a book like this without knowing the first thing about photography. I'll post the link here once the interview is finished, but if you join us live you can call in with your own questions & comments.  

I'll also talk a little about Mother Load, as well as w...

8.8 :: Introducing Mother Load

With the help of my Web Witch, I've put up the Book Page on my next book, Mother Load. I hope you'll take the time to read the background on the book, and whet your appetite with Chapter 1. More than any other, this book was a labor of love, a chance to revisit the characters that brought me out as a writer and allowed me to have a spot in that special place, the Xenaverse. All of you who begged me relentlessly for a sequel can now pat yourselves on the back. Do me a favor, though, and try...

8.5 :: $10 Thursday at Stonewall Library

Those of you who joined us in Ft Lauderdale last winter for the Bella Y-Tour may recall that Stonewall Library, Museum & Archives announced my appointment to its Board of Directors on the day of our reading. It's a fabulous institution dedicated to the preservation of LGBT history & literature, and I'm very proud to be a part of it. It's also the largest lending library in the US for LGBT books.

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Today is $10 Thursday, a simple, straightforward fundraising campaign we orchestrate every month ...

8.1 :: We have a winner!

Thanks to all who joined in on the treasure hunt. I heard from 34 readers in all:  Barbara, Margot, JJ, Becky, Kristy, Val, Tracey, LaRae, Amy Marie, Mandy, Beth, Chris A, Sherry, Deb, Earl, Bonnie, Chris G, MC, Shelynn, Martie, Line, Kristine, Anita, Adriana, Peggy, Linda, CL, Mercedes, Lisa, Mary, dawn, Ann, Elizabeth & ruemor.

I drew one name at random and the winner of an autographed copy is:

BONNIE!!

Congratulations. Send me your mailing address and I'll post it when I get my author...

7.15 :: Just got the cover for Mother Load

You didn't think I was just going to post it here, did you? Au contraire --  I've hidden it well. For those of you who haven't been on one of my treasure hunts before, here's how it works:

* I've posted a clue somewhere on the website. In keeping with the story, it's a tiny ... baby stroller.

* Click on it and the never-before-seen cover for Mother Load will pop up.

* Drop me a note through the Contact Page when you find it and I'll enter your name in a drawing for an autographed copy, due...

6.21 :: Purloined pics from GCLS

Another GCLS con has gone by, this one the best yet. There were many things that made it fun, but I'll start with the obvious -- the friends. There were dozens of writers there, many of whom I've been bumping into at author events since as long ago as 2002. Same with readers, like Rosa Moran & Lynn Glover, folks who have been around for ages. The best, though, were the con virgins, the 30 or so first-timers who felt like they landed in some sort of dream world, surrounded by smiling lesbians ...

5.30 :: Home from NYC

I'm back in Miami long enough to dump the suitcase, do the laundry & repack for Orlando. GCLS starts on Wednesday with the Meet 'n Greet, and I can't wait to see all the familiar faces again. I have a presentation on Thursday called 7 Simple Steps to Writing Real People, and I'm sitting on a panel on book promotions on Saturday afternoon. I also said yes to participating in the Author Auction ... I think it's just for the first dance on Saturday night, but maybe they've upped the ante this...

5.15 :: Quick update

I apologize for the very long gap since my last update. My mom's rapidly declining health has crushed me since just before Christmas, and it's been hard to concentrate on being KG.

I've received my editor's notes for Mother Load and I hope to have that one ready to go to typesetting in a couple of weeks. If you're a fan of Anna & Lily, I think you'll enjoy it.

Next week I go to New York for the Lambda Literary Awards ceremony. Worth Every Step is shortlisted in the romance category alongside ...