Kacey Ezell's Blog, page 6

Introducing The Dragon’s Horde!

Ultimate MemberGuardian DeckbearerTorch OperativeGuardian Card HolderTorch AllyCit of EnteceaThe Dragon’s Horde

My friends! I’m so excited to introduce to you my new fan membership: The Dragon’s Horde! It’s free to join at the basic level, and you’ll receive downloadable copies of some of my short stories, as well as access to my weekly newsletter and my exclusive Discord community!

However, if you’d like more of a VIP experience, consider joining one of my paid tiers! There are two basic tracks: the Entecea track and the Shadow Card Guardian track. Check out my membership page to get the details and learn how to join and support me directly!

Thank you so much for being part of my life and community. I know you’ll love being a part of The Dragon’s Horde. I have some really great experiences in store for you!

What kinds of VIP experiences do you love, anyway? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time, much love! -kc

Shadow Card Guardian Chapter 1

Sorry, but this content is only available to Dragon Horde Members.

LibertyCon 36 After Action Report

The thing about AARs is that you inevitably leave something out.  Heather Holo (aka H. P. Holo, aka Edie Skye) posted on her socials that she gives hugs at cons because she doesn’t do AARs, and I respect that choice. Because OMG, this weekend was a LOT.

A lot of amazingness. 

A lot of people.

A lot of hugs.

A lot of fun.

A lot of nerdery.

A lot of connections.

A lot of networking.

A lot of ideas.

A lot of brainstorming.

A lot of plotting.

A lot of laughter.

A lot of attention.

A lot of work.

A lot of energy.

A lot of joy.

I could go on, but basically take the best convention experience you’ve ever had or could ever imagine, and then crank that beast up to eleven.  Because from the moment we arrived in Chattanooga to the moment we got back on the plane, it was a full-blown EVENT. 

Being the Mistress of Ceremonies added a new dimension to the experience as well.  First and foremost, let me state for the record that LibertyCon absolutely *pampers* their Guests of Honor (of which the MC is like the junior member.)  We were picked up from the airport by Her Galactic Majesty, Empress Brandy herself, and escorted straight to our room, which had been prepared with snacks and drinks and swag.  At any point in the convention, if I or my family had a question or needed anything, a LibertyCon volunteer was there, ready to move mountains if necessary for us.  If I try to name individual names, I know that I shall miss someone, and I don’t want to do that.  So please let me say to the staff and volunteers as a whole: thank you SO MUCH for making my family’s experience so amazing, and thank you for enabling me to do the best job I could manage as your MC.

As much as I’d love to relive every amazing moment of the con, ain’t nobody got time for that, so I will just hit you with some of my personal highlights.  In no particular order, these are:

Opening ceremonies, wherein once again, I was humbled and floored by how awesome my friends are in enabling my crazy schemes.  Smoooooth!  The GoH luncheon, where I had the opportunity to meet and get to know LGoH M.D. Cooper and AGoH Leia Powell.  Two lovely, talented, and wicked sharp ladies, both a lot of fun!The banquet brunch, where I arbitrarily assigned roles to all of the guests of honor in a space opera universe that exists only in my own head.    It was a lot of fun to see everyone’s reaction to my reimagining of their biographies. Lunch on…Saturday?  I’m not actually sure, but it was when I got to hang out in the legendary LibertyCon consuite with Special Guests Jody Lynn Nye and Bill Fawcett, as well as Todd McCaffrey, David Shadoin, Melissa Olthoff, and my kiddo.Seeing Bill Fawcett make a big deal out of the fact that said kiddo has sold her first short story as a professional author.  Watching her light up every time someone called her an author. Chris Kennedy moderating the “Worldbuilding in Space Opera” panel.  It was a fun discussion, and he did a fantastic job.  I didn’t get to hang out with him nearly as much as I would have liked, but he’s a former Master of Ceremonies himself, so he understands.  Likewise with the “Story in Video Games” panel.  Brian Urbanek, Justin Watson, Griffin Barber, and Tony Andarian were fantastic panelists and really carried a great discussion.Watching Melissa Olthoff get ducked all weekend.  If you know, then you know.  Hats off to Charli and Travis Cox!Joining the Ben Yalow Fan Club.Sunday night with the people I adore.Getting to know Shami Stovall, who is amazing.

There is more.  Of course there is more. We had meals on and offsite with wonderful people.  There were panels and readings and beautiful artwork (some of which came home with me!).  Some of the people I love most in the world were there, and I got to spend far too little time with most of them.  If I didn’t mention you, please know that it’s not because I didn’t love spending time with you.  It’s simply because my brain is currently one big swirl of endorphins, exhaustion, and love. 

I said it in my speech, and it’s absolutely true.  LibertyCon is a family, and we just had the best of reunions, from my perspective.  I hope I was able to do it justice as Mistress of Ceremonies.  I will be back next year, and as often as they have me.  If you have an opportunity to attend LibertyCon, I highly recommend that you do.  Come, join our family. 

Melissa Getting Ducked!

Keeping Promises!

I’m so excited to announce that the third book in my epic space opera trilogy, The Conqueror’s Promise is available now!

This is the completion of the first trilogy in the Ashes of Entecea universe, but don’t worry! I intentionally created this universe to be vast and sweeping, and there are a LOT more stories to be told! More to come on that later. But for now, I hope you’ll enjoy the culmination of the first storyline in this series that is so very close to my heart.

Thank you!! Until next time, much love!

kc

The King’s Daughter Lives!

I’m so excited to announce the release of THE KING’S DAUGHTER! Chris Kennedy and I collaborated on this adventure story of birthrights lost and families found, complete with swashbuckling space pirates and high interstellar politics! If you like epic space opera, I suspect you’ll LOVE this second installment in the Ashes of Entecea series…and I really hope you do!

FantaSci 2024 Schedule

Hey Friends! I’ll be in Durham, NC this weekend from 19-21 April 2024 at FantaSci. Here’s my schedule. If you’re in the area, come say hi!

The Queen’s Fixer is LIVE!

Welcome to the Ashes of Entecea Get It Now!

The first book in my brand new series, Ashes of Entecea is LIVE! I hope you love it, and if you do, please consider leaving an Amazon or Goodreads review!

I poured my heart and soul into this universe, and I’ve been waiting a long time to bring it to you. So go forth and enjoy, my friends!
Much love,

kc

Cover Art Reveal!

Isn’t it amazing? Artist Sam Kennedy really outdid himself. I can’t wait for you to read this first book in the Ashes of Entecea series. Look for The Queen’s Fixer on March 22nd, 2024!

A Long Overdue Update

A Shameless Plea For Your Forgiveness

Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
I have been SO remiss. It’s been so long since I updated this blog and, dear friends, I have to be honest…

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED! In fact, for ease of use, I think I’ll just go ahead and list it out, bullet-point style (Thanks USAF!) Some of this stuff you will have seen before, but I’m giving you the full list for your situational awareness.

I started a job flying EMS helicopters in Richmond, VA at the end of 2022I got a new carI celebrated the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023I went to MarsCon in 2023 and had a blastI had a story come out in The Phoenix Initiative I went to LibertyCon and was announced as the 2024 Mistress of CeremoniesMy husband got a job offer in MassachusettsWe sold our houseWe bought another houseI went to DragonCon in 2023 and it was amazingI then went to Hawaii with friends and familyI quit my amazing flying job to write full timeWe moved to MassachusettsI had a short story come out in 13 Stories and one in Or All Will Burn I went to Utah for Thanksgiving, then South Dakota for Christmas/New YearsI finished two novels in November for NaNoWriMo Down These Mean Streets , the third Noir Fatale anthology, came out on January 2ndI started the third novel in the Ashes of Entecea series with Chris Kennedy in JanuaryI went to Boskone 2024 for the first time ever. It was really funWe finished the third novel in the Ashes of Entecea series on Monday

And now you’re about caught up. I have amazing cover art for the first book in the Ashes series, but I’ll give it it’s own post because art like that deserves to be the center of attention.

In any case, I hope you’ll forgive my long silence, and help me celebrate all these changes and milestones. Remember, too, if you’d like more frequent updates, you can always sign up for my newsletter and get access to the private Discord where I hang out and work most days!

DragonCon 2023 AAR

Before I dive into this post, you should all probably know that I have a special relationship with DragonCon. Dragon was my first and favorite con. I first attended in 2001 with my best friend from pilot training, Tammy. We had no idea what we were walking into.

As it turned out, back on Labor Day weekend of 2001, we walked into our “home planet”. See, Tammy was a sci-fi/fantasy geek like me, albeit a little less closeted at the time. I hadn’t yet learned that it was okay to let my geek flag fly, so I was shy about sharing my interests.

Walking into DragonCon was walking into a place where everyone shared those interests, and celebrated them, and that feeling of wonder and homecoming was one I’ve never forgotten.

Fast forward to 2023. DragonCon has grown by an order of magnitude, and spread over most of a week. It would take far too long to post a play by play of the whole week-long extravaganza here, but I’ll try to hit the high points for you.

We arrived on Wednesday and met up with friends right away. This year, we were back at the Westin Peachtree Plaza, which is my favorite of the con hotels. As always, the Westin staff were incredibly professional and kind and mostly very enthusiastic about the con. Shoutout to those who made our crazy fun weekend possible!

I didn’t have any programming on Thursday, so spent most of the day getting my badge and then giving blood. I try to participate in the DragonCon Blood Drive every year, and the folks at LifeSouth did an amazing job as always.

Friday and Saturday were my heavy programming days. I had panels for the MilSF Media Track, the SF Lit track, the Alternate History track, and for the first time, the Writers’ track. Oh, and one very silly, very sexy DragonCon After Dark panel for the Digital Media track. (IYKYK).

I cannot say enough good things about the ARMY of volunteers who made all of this amazing programming happen. DragonCon is a volunteer-run organization, and none of it could happen without the dedicated service of those volunteers, so if that’s you, please accept my heartfelt thanks. Thanks for creating such an amazing experience for all of us. We truly owe you a debt that can’t be repaid.

Sunday and Monday, I didn’t have any panels, so I was able to spend some time in the MASSIVE Dealer/Exhibitor halls at the AmericasMart, toured the Art Show, did some networking and a tiny bit of shopping, and just hung out with my friends I rarely get to see in person.

Overall impressions that stood out for this year: This year, we at REALLY well. Seriously, good food seemed to be the theme for this year. Between Atlanta Breakfast Club, Ray’s in the City, Atalia, and Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, I can’t remember a DragonCon where I ate so well. Thanks to everyone who shared a meal with me!

Thanks as well to all the DragonCon attendees who came to see me and my fellow geeks on panels, or who struck up conversations in line (or the elevator!). At the risk of sounding like a cheesy 1980s kid’s show, that’s really the magic of DragonCon: The friendships we make along the way.

See y’all next year!