Kelly Swails's Blog, page 9

Busy Kelly is Busy

Yeah, it's almost April already. How did that happen so fast? I'm pretty sure that in about 30 days I'll be saying "where the hell did April go?" On my plate this month: working on my mother's-in-law house, a four-day weekend in Vegas with some girlfriends, a workshop in Chicago for the day job, and heading to Wisconsin for a friend's book-release party. And, oh, yeah, I need to write 30K somewhere in there.


Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once it awhile, you might just miss it.

The Crimson Pact is available today!!

I'm fortunate enough to be involved with an exciting new project by Paul Genesse, Steven Saus, and Patrick Tracy called The Crimson Pact. Basically, these guys are taking the future by the horns and publishing anthologies only in e-book format. E-anthologies, if you will. The premise is this:

The Crimson Pact is a human endeavor to stop forces of personified evil known originally as the Demons of Rusted Vale. While the Crimson Pact was originally masterminded by these evil forces to allow them to spread throughout the multiverse (see "The Failed Crusade"), many of the remaining men and women of the Pact sacrificed thier lives so their spirits could follow the Demons and continue to fight against them.

The Demons of Rusted Vale are entities that are chaotic evil in the purest sense. They destroy for the sake of destroying. They are also ruthlessly intelligent, scheming, and able to plan in order to bring about higher amounts of chaos. As they dispersed throughout the multiverse, they estimated that they would be able to conquer other worlds with only a few demons per world. They're not wrong. Some can "pass" as human, others not. It is unclear whether they are "truly" demons, aliens, extraplanar lifeforms, or something else. These guys are simply bad, no matter your cultural point of view.

The first volume is available today. Stop by the site, look around, and if you're so inclined, drop $5 for some really great stories by some talented authors.

March Madness

During the winter months, I like college basketball. During March, I love it. The first weekend of the NCAA tournament is so much fun to watch. The drama, close games, upsets! Players leaving it all on the court! Rooting for the underdog! The huge shining ball of potential that is Thursday morning! Rooting against Kansas on principle!

Happy sigh.

My goal is 3,000 words this weekend. Let's see if I can squeeze 'em in between basketball games.

Looking for a book to keep you awake at night?

Then look no further: Brad Beaulieu's epic fantasy debut The Winds of Khalakovo is available for your sleep-deprived enjoyment. Several great reviews have surfaced already. You don't want to be left behind, do you? Get to you favorite bookseller and pick up a copy. Tell 'em Kelly sent you!

Memocity

Snerked from merriehaskell  .

A - Age: 36

B - Bed size: Queen.

C - Chore you hate: laundry. God, laundry. I hate that it's never completely done. You think you're done but no! Look! You're wearing dirty clothes!

D - Don’t eat: peel-and-eat shrimp. And raw-fish sushi.

E - Essential start-your-day item: Diet Coke. Sometimes a skim-milk latte.

F - Favorite board game: I love a good game of Word on the Street.

G - Gold or Silver: either. Depends on my mood.

H - Height: 5' 7"

I - Instruments you play: does Rock Band count?

J - Job title: Laboratory Technologist

K - Kid(s): none, unless you count the four-legged variety.

L - Love or lust: both!

M - Mom’s name: Joyce

N - Nicknames: Kel. Swails.

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: none for myself.

P - Pants or pantyhose: Uh, pants. I can't even remember the last time I bought hose.

Q - Favorite Movie Quote: "I don't think it means what you think it means." Or: "I keep forgetting about the goddamned tiger."  Or: "Work it baby, work it, own it." Or: "Tess doesn't split eleven ways." Or: "He's trying to fly the tank."  Actually, this one is pretty hard for me. I love movies and quote them way too much.

R - Right or left handed: Right.

S - Siblings: none.

T - Time you wake up: The alarm goes off at 5:15. I hit the shower at around 5:50.

U - Underwear: Um. Of course.

V - Vegetable favorite: cucumber. Really I like most of 'em, though.

W - Ways you run late: deciding at the last minute to blow-dry my hair straight.

X - X-rays you’ve had: Um. My ankle a few times. Teeth. I think that's it.

Y - Yummy food you make: baked goods: cookies, cakes, brownies.

Z - Zoo favourite: I don't really like zoos. Seeing all then penned-up animal makes me sad.

When we last left our intrepid adventurers

Pat Rothfuss's book The Wise Man's Fear drops tomorrow. If you've been eagerly waiting its arrival (like me) but you've been a bit too busy to reread
Our Story Thus Far

Fun overview of the first book that totally makes me want to reread it. Maybe I have time after all ...

You know you want it

My friend and fellow writer antonstrout   has a new book out today called Dead Waters. It's the fourth book in his Simon Canderous series, and I for one can't wait to get my hands on a copy. Go forth and partake!

Burning question of the day

Can vegan zombies exist? Related: can zombies keep kosher?

Discuss. Defend your position.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

My kitties are either stupid or into pain

Or, hell, maybe both. Exhibit A:




Yep, that's my iPhone charging cord that's been chewed into two pieces. Note the multiple sets of teethmarks. It's as if the culprit tried out different spots before settling on the perfect place to ruin my cord.

Why, yes, those are scratch marks on the surface of my table. The cord wasn't on this table, FYI. The marks are from Christmas 2009.

Of course I'm in charge in my house. Why do you ask?

M-O-O-N, that spells movie!!

I just read that they're making Stephen King's post-apocalyptic magnum opus THE STAND into a movie. Not a network miniseries, but an honest-to-God movie that you'll go to the theater to see and everything.

To say I am stoked is an understatement.

Longtime readers of this blog know that I am a Stephen King apostle and THE STAND is my literary bible. I read it veraciously my junior year in high school (the unabridged version had just been released) and have re-read it every few years since. So many characters! So much internal angst that's exploited by the external angst! Bad guys! Explosions! Unexplained dreams and nightmare! The end of the world! Yeah, baby. Yeah.

The article I linked talked about casting the movie ... and I'd love to see who you guys would suggest. I have to admit it's not something I've thought much about. Some writers I know think about real people or search for pictures to help them shape their characters. They "cast the movie" of their book as they're writing it, which helps them bring their characters to life. I've never really used that technique, though I'm not adverse to trying it in the future. But! I digress. This is all about casting THE STAND. Personally, I never liked Molly Ringwald as Frannie--I thought she was too weak--or the dude that played Flagg. In the article they talked about re-imagining the characters (one suggestion: making Tom Cullen a girl), and idea to which I am diametrically opposed.  Just, ugh. Don't mess with success, people. 

Sooooo ... let's get on it. Who do you see as The Walkin Dude? Or Mother Abigail?