Crystal Green's Blog, page 23
August 22, 2012
Happy GothicScapes Campers
So this week has been kind of a "clean up week." What I mean by that is that I sent information for the art work for a Fortunes of Texas Special Edition book (w/a Crystal Green) to my publisher. Then I polished the actual book itself, getting it ready to turn in. Today and tomorrow I'm polishing the second GothicScapes Vampire Babylon novella (w/a Chris Marie Green) so it'll be all shiny for my freelance editor and then its December release.
But Friday? Ah, Friday will be the day that Nancy Holder, Linda Thomas-Sundstrom, and I will be having the ultimate clean up--a "format camp" for our first GothicScapes release in October!
See, one thing I didn't really get is that digital work must be formatted before it's actually formatted. What I mean is this--before the magical guy who will be posting our work formats the book for publishing platforms such as Kindle and Smashwords, etc., we have to make sure that we do things like have only one space between periods and the beginnings of new sentences. (Yes--I am old school and, out of habit, I still do two spaces. I have to train myself to stop it.) Also, you have to have certain quote marks throughout the manuscript and we have to streamline all chapter headings.
You know--maybe I should retitle this whole blog. Something like, "The Adventures of a Complete Doofus in Digital Self-Pubbling"! That's sure what I feel like. But I'm sure things will smooth out after this first release.
Oh--by the way... I'll be posting the cover for UNDEAD FOR A DAY, GothicScapes #1, soon! We lovelovelove it. I couldn't have asked for a better cover!
But Friday? Ah, Friday will be the day that Nancy Holder, Linda Thomas-Sundstrom, and I will be having the ultimate clean up--a "format camp" for our first GothicScapes release in October!
See, one thing I didn't really get is that digital work must be formatted before it's actually formatted. What I mean is this--before the magical guy who will be posting our work formats the book for publishing platforms such as Kindle and Smashwords, etc., we have to make sure that we do things like have only one space between periods and the beginnings of new sentences. (Yes--I am old school and, out of habit, I still do two spaces. I have to train myself to stop it.) Also, you have to have certain quote marks throughout the manuscript and we have to streamline all chapter headings.
You know--maybe I should retitle this whole blog. Something like, "The Adventures of a Complete Doofus in Digital Self-Pubbling"! That's sure what I feel like. But I'm sure things will smooth out after this first release.
Oh--by the way... I'll be posting the cover for UNDEAD FOR A DAY, GothicScapes #1, soon! We lovelovelove it. I couldn't have asked for a better cover!
August 16, 2012
Blog post and giveaway!
Hi, all!
I've got a guest blog up today at Tote Bags 'n' Blogs at http://authorsoundrelations.blogspot.com/2012/08/chris-marie-green-digital-revolution.html. I'm talking about the new GothicScapes urban fantasy venture--plus I'm giving away a signed first edition of my very first urban fantasy written as Crystal Green, THE HUNTRESS.
I hope to see you at the blog!
I've got a guest blog up today at Tote Bags 'n' Blogs at http://authorsoundrelations.blogspot.com/2012/08/chris-marie-green-digital-revolution.html. I'm talking about the new GothicScapes urban fantasy venture--plus I'm giving away a signed first edition of my very first urban fantasy written as Crystal Green, THE HUNTRESS.
I hope to see you at the blog!
August 10, 2012
Want to know what the first GothicScapes Vampire Babylon novella will be about?
Here's the "back cover" blurb!
In “Raising the Dead” by Chris Marie Green (A Dawn Madison Vampire Babylon novella), former hunter Dawn Madison hasn’t been the same since she retired from the life. She’s tired and drained from injuries sustained during the team’s last stand against the dragon, but when the clock strikes twelve on Samhain, everything changes. It seems that someone has sent raised-from-the-dark creatures after her, and they’re out for blood—as well as Dawn’s life.
Undead! Revenant!
Big trouble for Dawn and the team.
Stay tuned for word on Nancy's story and Linda's story and more news (and maybe even the cover???)!
Sale date: October
In “Raising the Dead” by Chris Marie Green (A Dawn Madison Vampire Babylon novella), former hunter Dawn Madison hasn’t been the same since she retired from the life. She’s tired and drained from injuries sustained during the team’s last stand against the dragon, but when the clock strikes twelve on Samhain, everything changes. It seems that someone has sent raised-from-the-dark creatures after her, and they’re out for blood—as well as Dawn’s life.
Undead! Revenant!
Big trouble for Dawn and the team.
Stay tuned for word on Nancy's story and Linda's story and more news (and maybe even the cover???)!
Sale date: October
August 9, 2012
Top Secret Project Revealed!!!
I've been hinting for a while about the Top Secret Project I've been working on with a couple of other authors. And that it has something to do with new Vampire Babylon novellas.
I can finally tell you what's going on!
Nancy Holder, Linda Thomas-Sundstrom, and I are working together to digitally self-publish novella anthologies, and we're so excited. We're calling our group GothicScapes.
Our tagline is "Urban Fantasy (x) 3."
3 authors.
3 novellas per anthology.
And hopefully 3 releases per year!
We're planning for our first release to come out in early October--in fact, we're shooting for an October 1 date, but since this is our first endeavor, we're not sure of the exact timing yet. (We'll be more on target as we go along. ) The second release is planned for early December, 2012, and the third in early April, 2013.
Now that I can freely discuss this, there's so much to talk about. We were working on trademarking our group name because we thought it'd be a good idea to have a brand to identify what we're doing. We had to come up with a connecting premise for each release after deciding when our schedules would allow us to write the stories. And we've had to do fun little things like deciding who's going to do what duties (accounting, book formatting, proofing, etc.).
At first, I thought of this as a "fun" project, but there's a whole lot more involved, LOL. But what excites me the most is experimenting with digital publishing...and being able to write Vampire Babylon again!
My novella in the first anthology will be a sort of reboot of the VB series. Dawn and the team are at different places in their lives now that they "captured" the dragon during DEEP IN THE WOODS, book 6. But the dragon is actually *inside* Dawn now, and this presents a problem or two, as you can imagine. To make matters worse, as an ex-vampire (Recall that she briefly became one in BREAK OF DAWN to help Costin.), she's got a "soul stain" in her--a dark mark that's full of dark feelings. If the dragon spirit inside Dawn gets to that soul stain, it'll feed him, making him stronger, so this is a constant danger for Dawn.
So that's the set up. And, believe me, there are a lot of stories to be told!
As I said, the first novella will come out in October, and it'll be in a GothicScapes collection called UNDEAD FOR A DAY. The action centers around Halloween/Samhain (Hence the October release, .) And, you guessed it, all three of our stories will use the theme of the undead/resurrection. I'll be talking more about my Vampire Babylon novella in the future, but let's just say that you'll see some familiar characters, like Kiko, Costin, Jonah, Natalia, and... Well, there'll be a familiar villain for those of you who read the second trilogy in London. And if you haven't read the short story I wrote for a collection called THOSE WHO FIGHT MONSTERS, you might want to catch up with that, too, since it'll give you an idea of Dawn's state of being since the close of DEEP IN THE WOODS....
Just a hint about Nancy Holder's and Linda Thomas-Sundstrom's novellas.... Nancy is writing about witches (and if you read her and Debbie Vigue's WICKED series, you'll know that she's a kick-ass witch writer!) and Linda's story centers around a gargoyle (I can't wait for you to read this, too!).
Man,you guys, there's just so much going on, and I haven't even touched on the December collection. I've already written that novella, as well, and it was pretty emotional. If you've read the whole VB series, you might feel the same way after you're done, too....
Anyway, can you tell I'm energized???
More to come!
I can finally tell you what's going on!
Nancy Holder, Linda Thomas-Sundstrom, and I are working together to digitally self-publish novella anthologies, and we're so excited. We're calling our group GothicScapes.
Our tagline is "Urban Fantasy (x) 3."
3 authors.
3 novellas per anthology.
And hopefully 3 releases per year!
We're planning for our first release to come out in early October--in fact, we're shooting for an October 1 date, but since this is our first endeavor, we're not sure of the exact timing yet. (We'll be more on target as we go along. ) The second release is planned for early December, 2012, and the third in early April, 2013.
Now that I can freely discuss this, there's so much to talk about. We were working on trademarking our group name because we thought it'd be a good idea to have a brand to identify what we're doing. We had to come up with a connecting premise for each release after deciding when our schedules would allow us to write the stories. And we've had to do fun little things like deciding who's going to do what duties (accounting, book formatting, proofing, etc.).
At first, I thought of this as a "fun" project, but there's a whole lot more involved, LOL. But what excites me the most is experimenting with digital publishing...and being able to write Vampire Babylon again!
My novella in the first anthology will be a sort of reboot of the VB series. Dawn and the team are at different places in their lives now that they "captured" the dragon during DEEP IN THE WOODS, book 6. But the dragon is actually *inside* Dawn now, and this presents a problem or two, as you can imagine. To make matters worse, as an ex-vampire (Recall that she briefly became one in BREAK OF DAWN to help Costin.), she's got a "soul stain" in her--a dark mark that's full of dark feelings. If the dragon spirit inside Dawn gets to that soul stain, it'll feed him, making him stronger, so this is a constant danger for Dawn.
So that's the set up. And, believe me, there are a lot of stories to be told!
As I said, the first novella will come out in October, and it'll be in a GothicScapes collection called UNDEAD FOR A DAY. The action centers around Halloween/Samhain (Hence the October release, .) And, you guessed it, all three of our stories will use the theme of the undead/resurrection. I'll be talking more about my Vampire Babylon novella in the future, but let's just say that you'll see some familiar characters, like Kiko, Costin, Jonah, Natalia, and... Well, there'll be a familiar villain for those of you who read the second trilogy in London. And if you haven't read the short story I wrote for a collection called THOSE WHO FIGHT MONSTERS, you might want to catch up with that, too, since it'll give you an idea of Dawn's state of being since the close of DEEP IN THE WOODS....
Just a hint about Nancy Holder's and Linda Thomas-Sundstrom's novellas.... Nancy is writing about witches (and if you read her and Debbie Vigue's WICKED series, you'll know that she's a kick-ass witch writer!) and Linda's story centers around a gargoyle (I can't wait for you to read this, too!).
Man,you guys, there's just so much going on, and I haven't even touched on the December collection. I've already written that novella, as well, and it was pretty emotional. If you've read the whole VB series, you might feel the same way after you're done, too....
Anyway, can you tell I'm energized???
More to come!
July 16, 2012
The Con is over
This is a short epilogue to this year's Comic-Con adventures.
Sunday, which is the day everything winds down and San Diego sort of gets back to "normal," I mainly hung out with friends. One of them dressed in his 501st Stormtrooper outfit, so there were a lot of picture requests for him. He was a superstar.
My big priority was to see the SONS OF ANARCHY panel. The entire main cast was there, but you know my attention was pretty much on Charlie Hunnam (Jax). Again, can you blame me? Oh, and we also got to see the first few minutes of the coming season's episode one. Recap:
* Jax talking. Hot.
* The motorcycle club escorting one of their prospects as he drives a truck. Truck attack. Gun fire. Boom! Sons fend off the attackers.
* A blank screen with sex sounds happening. (It was explained by Kurt Sutter that Comic-Con made him black out the image of Gemma getting...erm..."serviced" from the back by Jimmy Smits. So it was Smits sex.)
* Tara in a bathtub smoking pot or whatever. I never care much about what Tara does. In fact, I like to pretend she doesn't exist.
The cast was funny and full of expletives, which makes things funnier. Big surprise of this panel: Girls love Charlie Hunnam and Theo Rossi (Juice). Kurt Sutter gave away swag based on trivia questions.
And that was the end of the Con for 2012, you guys. Tah-dah!
Sunday, which is the day everything winds down and San Diego sort of gets back to "normal," I mainly hung out with friends. One of them dressed in his 501st Stormtrooper outfit, so there were a lot of picture requests for him. He was a superstar.
My big priority was to see the SONS OF ANARCHY panel. The entire main cast was there, but you know my attention was pretty much on Charlie Hunnam (Jax). Again, can you blame me? Oh, and we also got to see the first few minutes of the coming season's episode one. Recap:
* Jax talking. Hot.
* The motorcycle club escorting one of their prospects as he drives a truck. Truck attack. Gun fire. Boom! Sons fend off the attackers.
* A blank screen with sex sounds happening. (It was explained by Kurt Sutter that Comic-Con made him black out the image of Gemma getting...erm..."serviced" from the back by Jimmy Smits. So it was Smits sex.)
* Tara in a bathtub smoking pot or whatever. I never care much about what Tara does. In fact, I like to pretend she doesn't exist.
The cast was funny and full of expletives, which makes things funnier. Big surprise of this panel: Girls love Charlie Hunnam and Theo Rossi (Juice). Kurt Sutter gave away swag based on trivia questions.
And that was the end of the Con for 2012, you guys. Tah-dah!
July 14, 2012
Comic-Con brief
As some of you know, I used to do a pretty thorough recap of my Comic-Con experiences in the past. That was back in the days before it took every ounce of energy I possess to make it through the crowds. Besides, *everyone* does recaps now, and it just seemed redundant to add my own 2 cents, especially since you have to race to get your "news" up before everyone else does.
Anyway. I had a great Thursday that really reminded me of the old Con days, because I sat in on what felt like an old-school Con panel re: an indie horror movie that I'm excited to see. AMERICAN MARY is about body modification, and I'm curious about the story and visuals--and Katherine Isabelle (from GINGER SNAPS--whoo!) stars in it. The movie looks to be gory as all get out, but the directors (twin sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska) seem to be coming at their horror with some cerebral power behind the blood.
Friday was my big Hall H day because I was bound and determined to see GAME OF THRONES this year. (Last year, I came about 30 frustrating feet from getting inside Ballroom 20. Ugh.) So I got up at about 4:45 am (I know! Yuck!), then met a friend in line (Thank you, Nancy!). We did the geek Hall-H waiting thing, then the staff let us into the hall for another wait until the PARANORMAN panel started.
We watched some PARANORMAN clips with our 3-D glasses. My nephew is dying to see this movie, and I would actually love to go with him. The directors said that this flick comes out of a love for John Carpenter crossed with John Hughes. Um...awesome? They said it was influenced by THE GOONIES and 80s films of that nature, too, and it showed. There's a lot of fun and energy to PARANORMAN. Plus, Anna Kendrick (UP IN THE AIR and general actress of awesomeness) is enough to get me to see a movie. She's the dry-witted girl in high school you really wanted to be friends with, but you were careful never to let her know it because that would make you totally uncool and, thus, unworthy of her attentions.
The BIG BANG THEORY panel was hilarious, as expected. Almost the entire cast was there, except for Johnny Galecki, whose plane was delayed, and Jim Parsons--although he did appear via satellite hook-up. (Hah--isn't that totally something Sheldon would do? That's what made it so funny.) The panel was a little weird, though, because for some reason, all these kids kept coming to the Q&A microphone and asking questions. One girl even challenged the cast to a Nerd Battle to the death. (Gulp.) Sadly, she was removed from the microphone. The cast was politely miffed.
THE WALKING DEAD panel was terrific, and I think that's because Chris Hardwick (host of THE TALKING DEAD) was the moderator. He kept everything rolling and was funny as hell. I wish you all could've seen him give Steven Yeun (Glen) a hard time--strangely, the whole "way too many kids asking questions" thing carried over from the previous panel into this one, but this time we had tween girls who were crushing on Steven. ("I guess we've discovered your demographic." -Funnybunny Chris Hardwick) They showed us a kick-ass season 3 clip package, and I'm telling you--this show hasn't even come close to exploding yet. And I'm not just talking about popularity. The action was intense at the prison, you all. HARDCORE ZOMBIE BEANS. Carol, a character who has gone through an admittedly tough time the past couple of seasons, doesn't do much in the series but drag herself around and make puppy eyes at Daryl, but it looks like she's gonna jack up her 'tude and pull out some weapons this time around. (If you haven't read the comics, don't read what's in the rest of this paragraph: POSSIBLE SPOILER!!! We know that the series has deviated from the comics quite a bit, but a pretty big change seems to have been made with the Woodbury story line. In the comics, Rick, Michonne, and Glen, I believe, went to Woodbury and met the Governor. <---shithead But it looks like Michonne and Andrea are the ones who'll have some Woodbury adventuring here. No matter, though, because Michonne looks *perfect.* She is still a zombie-killing goddess.)
I will tell you this, too--Andrew Lincoln (Sheriff Rick) is smoking hot in real life, especially because he has an English accent. Holy moly, that accent. Sarah Wayne Callies was *very* aware of the burning hatred her character Lori evokes, and I felt terrible for her, because she says she goes to places like the grocery store with her daughter and fans accuse her of being a homewrecker. *Get a grip, people!* Yikes. Oh, and Norman Reedus (Daryl) is gold, clearly loving the fans and his job.
Now...the GAME OF THRONES panel. Let me first say that I love that the cast flew a long way to be at the Con, and we adore them. George RR Martin moderated, and I'm thinking that he might've been a little tired from writing away on WINDS OF WINTER. (I hope!) David Benioff and Dan Weiss, the show runners, weren't on the panel this year because they're on the set in Europe, so we didn't get a lot of insight into the story decisions they made re: season 2. (SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED SEASON 2 yet: I was hoping someone would broach the subject of the Robb/Talisa story line. Truthfully, I'm really curious about why a very key plot element that affected the decisions Robb made about marrying Talisa as well as the one Cat made about releasing Jaime was left out. And I wished for some insight about why they decided to make Jeyne into Talisa.)
Martin's questions were pretty general, but I was *very* excited to be in the same room as Richard Madden (Robb Stark). Can you blame me? Also, they showed us a segment that revealed the casting of some season 3 characters. I am LOVING that Diana Rigg is the Queen of Thorns, which is a small role but a memorable one. The guy playing Beric Dondarrion looked like he might be hot. Also, the kid they cast as Jojen Reed is simply adorable, and I think Meera will be, too.
After the THRONES panel, we stayed for RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION, and Michelle Rodriguez won my admiration when she civilly--yet very firmly--shot down a jerk who used the Q&A panel to ask her to have sex with him. *You read that correctly.* He started off by asking an apparently legit question, then popped out with that gem. She told him a story that involved a stalker who came to masturbate in her backyard; her reaction was to call the police, then laugh at him while she held a sword in one hand and a gun that Samuel Jackson once gave her in the other. "You remind me of that guy," she told this particular freakshow. It was an amazing way to handle what could've been an embarrassing situation.
The last panel we saw was TOTAL RECALL. I'm one of those people who didn't see the purpose in remaking a movie that seemed perfectly fine in the first place, but I think that Colin Farrell definitely brings some soulfulness to a role that was originally quippy and light. Oh--and if you ever get the chance to see a Colin Farrell panel, go. He's witty and cool and lively. I want to be his buddy.
Today's a free day, but I'm thinking of going for the SONS OF ANARCHY panel tomorrow, because I love me some Jax Teller. Meanwhile, have a great Saturday, you all!
Anyway. I had a great Thursday that really reminded me of the old Con days, because I sat in on what felt like an old-school Con panel re: an indie horror movie that I'm excited to see. AMERICAN MARY is about body modification, and I'm curious about the story and visuals--and Katherine Isabelle (from GINGER SNAPS--whoo!) stars in it. The movie looks to be gory as all get out, but the directors (twin sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska) seem to be coming at their horror with some cerebral power behind the blood.
Friday was my big Hall H day because I was bound and determined to see GAME OF THRONES this year. (Last year, I came about 30 frustrating feet from getting inside Ballroom 20. Ugh.) So I got up at about 4:45 am (I know! Yuck!), then met a friend in line (Thank you, Nancy!). We did the geek Hall-H waiting thing, then the staff let us into the hall for another wait until the PARANORMAN panel started.
We watched some PARANORMAN clips with our 3-D glasses. My nephew is dying to see this movie, and I would actually love to go with him. The directors said that this flick comes out of a love for John Carpenter crossed with John Hughes. Um...awesome? They said it was influenced by THE GOONIES and 80s films of that nature, too, and it showed. There's a lot of fun and energy to PARANORMAN. Plus, Anna Kendrick (UP IN THE AIR and general actress of awesomeness) is enough to get me to see a movie. She's the dry-witted girl in high school you really wanted to be friends with, but you were careful never to let her know it because that would make you totally uncool and, thus, unworthy of her attentions.
The BIG BANG THEORY panel was hilarious, as expected. Almost the entire cast was there, except for Johnny Galecki, whose plane was delayed, and Jim Parsons--although he did appear via satellite hook-up. (Hah--isn't that totally something Sheldon would do? That's what made it so funny.) The panel was a little weird, though, because for some reason, all these kids kept coming to the Q&A microphone and asking questions. One girl even challenged the cast to a Nerd Battle to the death. (Gulp.) Sadly, she was removed from the microphone. The cast was politely miffed.
THE WALKING DEAD panel was terrific, and I think that's because Chris Hardwick (host of THE TALKING DEAD) was the moderator. He kept everything rolling and was funny as hell. I wish you all could've seen him give Steven Yeun (Glen) a hard time--strangely, the whole "way too many kids asking questions" thing carried over from the previous panel into this one, but this time we had tween girls who were crushing on Steven. ("I guess we've discovered your demographic." -Funnybunny Chris Hardwick) They showed us a kick-ass season 3 clip package, and I'm telling you--this show hasn't even come close to exploding yet. And I'm not just talking about popularity. The action was intense at the prison, you all. HARDCORE ZOMBIE BEANS. Carol, a character who has gone through an admittedly tough time the past couple of seasons, doesn't do much in the series but drag herself around and make puppy eyes at Daryl, but it looks like she's gonna jack up her 'tude and pull out some weapons this time around. (If you haven't read the comics, don't read what's in the rest of this paragraph: POSSIBLE SPOILER!!! We know that the series has deviated from the comics quite a bit, but a pretty big change seems to have been made with the Woodbury story line. In the comics, Rick, Michonne, and Glen, I believe, went to Woodbury and met the Governor. <---shithead But it looks like Michonne and Andrea are the ones who'll have some Woodbury adventuring here. No matter, though, because Michonne looks *perfect.* She is still a zombie-killing goddess.)
I will tell you this, too--Andrew Lincoln (Sheriff Rick) is smoking hot in real life, especially because he has an English accent. Holy moly, that accent. Sarah Wayne Callies was *very* aware of the burning hatred her character Lori evokes, and I felt terrible for her, because she says she goes to places like the grocery store with her daughter and fans accuse her of being a homewrecker. *Get a grip, people!* Yikes. Oh, and Norman Reedus (Daryl) is gold, clearly loving the fans and his job.
Now...the GAME OF THRONES panel. Let me first say that I love that the cast flew a long way to be at the Con, and we adore them. George RR Martin moderated, and I'm thinking that he might've been a little tired from writing away on WINDS OF WINTER. (I hope!) David Benioff and Dan Weiss, the show runners, weren't on the panel this year because they're on the set in Europe, so we didn't get a lot of insight into the story decisions they made re: season 2. (SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED SEASON 2 yet: I was hoping someone would broach the subject of the Robb/Talisa story line. Truthfully, I'm really curious about why a very key plot element that affected the decisions Robb made about marrying Talisa as well as the one Cat made about releasing Jaime was left out. And I wished for some insight about why they decided to make Jeyne into Talisa.)
Martin's questions were pretty general, but I was *very* excited to be in the same room as Richard Madden (Robb Stark). Can you blame me? Also, they showed us a segment that revealed the casting of some season 3 characters. I am LOVING that Diana Rigg is the Queen of Thorns, which is a small role but a memorable one. The guy playing Beric Dondarrion looked like he might be hot. Also, the kid they cast as Jojen Reed is simply adorable, and I think Meera will be, too.
After the THRONES panel, we stayed for RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION, and Michelle Rodriguez won my admiration when she civilly--yet very firmly--shot down a jerk who used the Q&A panel to ask her to have sex with him. *You read that correctly.* He started off by asking an apparently legit question, then popped out with that gem. She told him a story that involved a stalker who came to masturbate in her backyard; her reaction was to call the police, then laugh at him while she held a sword in one hand and a gun that Samuel Jackson once gave her in the other. "You remind me of that guy," she told this particular freakshow. It was an amazing way to handle what could've been an embarrassing situation.
The last panel we saw was TOTAL RECALL. I'm one of those people who didn't see the purpose in remaking a movie that seemed perfectly fine in the first place, but I think that Colin Farrell definitely brings some soulfulness to a role that was originally quippy and light. Oh--and if you ever get the chance to see a Colin Farrell panel, go. He's witty and cool and lively. I want to be his buddy.
Today's a free day, but I'm thinking of going for the SONS OF ANARCHY panel tomorrow, because I love me some Jax Teller. Meanwhile, have a great Saturday, you all!
July 3, 2012
Hint about a big upcoming project! And site update...
For a few months now, I’ve been working with two other urban fantasy authors on a “top secret self-published digital project.” We have a name for it, and we have a logo. But we have a few things to resolve before we officially announce this endeavor.
Even so, I’m free to tell you this much: I have already written the first Vampire Babylon novella to be digitally self-published with this “Top Secret Project”!
I can’t even tell you how exciting this is. When Vampire Babylon, a series that I wrote as “Chris Marie Green,” ended, I knew there were still a lot of adventures that Dawn Madison, Kiko, and the gang could have. I even wrote a short story for a collection called THOSE WHO FIGHT MONSTERS. But then I started getting very interested in digital publishing and, naturally, I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to go for it with my beloved VB world.
I’ll be putting out another newsletter in August, and it’ll have an official announcement about this project in it, but before then, my friends and I (You’ll find out who they are soon!) will be putting out more information on Twitter and Facebook . You might even be able to connect the dots with our Tweets and posts.
Hang in there for more!
These are very exciting times, because besides this project, I’m working on others, both digital and print-based. In fact, my next “Crystal Green” Special Edition in my St. Valentine, Texas, miniseries, DADDY IN THE MAKING, will be out in October. I don’t have release dates yet for my next Blazes since Harlequin plans on releasing the two books in a connected series back-to-back, but it looks like we’ll have to wait for early 2014. Still, I’ll have four more Special Editions out before then, as well as these new novellas.
I’ll also be getting started on the Jensen Murphy: Ghost for Hire series that Ace recently purchased. My guess is that the first of those won’t be out until 2014, either—but they’re coming! I swear!
I’ve got some cool prizes for the updated contest : two Lori Foster books. And they’re signed!!! You could win SIMON SAYS and TOO MUCH TEMPTATION, plus a stone bracelet I bought at Bottom of the Cup during my last trip to New Orleans. (For those of you who aren’t familiar with Bottom of the Cup, it’s a wonderful tea room where you can get psychic readings. Definitely worth a visit when you’re in NOLA!)
Good luck, and thank you for all your support. :)
June 17, 2012
Question from a reader
Hi, everyone!
Travis from Twitter asked me about casting my books. It's such a fun question! Luckily, I had the opportunity to play with casting with these older posts, so if you're curious about who could've been in the Vampire Babylon series (the first trilogy) or Bloodlands, here you go!
http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2009/02/chris-marie-greens-vampire-babylon.html
http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2011/07/christine-codys-bloodlands.html
Travis from Twitter asked me about casting my books. It's such a fun question! Luckily, I had the opportunity to play with casting with these older posts, so if you're curious about who could've been in the Vampire Babylon series (the first trilogy) or Bloodlands, here you go!
http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2009/02/chris-marie-greens-vampire-babylon.html
http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2011/07/christine-codys-bloodlands.html
June 16, 2012
Vampire Book Club Auction
Vampire Book Club is holding a charity auction benefiting cancer, and I have some signed books up for grabs. Great cause!
http://vampirebookclub.net/books-fighting-cancer-charity-auctions/
http://vampirebookclub.net/books-fighting-cancer-charity-auctions/
May 13, 2012
From the Valley Center Writers Workshop
Hi to the Valley Center Writers who have tuned in here to look at the exercise notes that I promised to post! (And if you're just browsing this randomly, welcome to you, too. )
This is an exercise we did during the second part of the world building fiction workshop on May 12, 2012. Good luck with your worlds and, once again, you all were fabulous!
A Day in the Life
After every stage, remember to ask yourself how you can make the details of what just happened a little different....
Okay--so you've just written down some notes about a world you're creating. Let's walk through this world by using a character that you've either created already or a random character. You can even use yourself, if it's more comfortable.
* Are you male or female?
* What is your name? (Is it a strange sci-fi or fantasy type name? "Normal" name?)
*What is your station in life? (Rich, poor, middle class, something else altogether?)
*What is your job?
*What are the physics of your world (Zero gravity, for instance? Normal?)
[Look at what you have so far. How can you make at least one detail of your world a little out of the ordinary?]
Time for your morning routine....
*What do you eat?
*When you look outside (if there is an outside), what is the weather like?
*What are you going to wear?
[Again, look at what you have so far. How can you make at least one detail of your world a little out of the ordinary?]
*How do you get to work (mode of transportation) if you do work?
*What do you see along the way? (Different creatures or types of people? Road signs or advertisements for politics, religious beliefs, signs of what's important to society? Are there any details you see that will foreshadow what will happen later in the story? Are there any signs of how society is controlled or not controlled?)
*What is the architecture like?
*How is everyone communicating?
[And...look at what you have so far. How can you make at least one detail of your world a little out of the ordinary?]
TWIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You run into an event on your way to work (or wherever). Is this event political? Holiday related? Something to do with the history of the town? Is it based on a grudge that two clans/businesses/groups have with one another?
What is happening in general?
*And what is happening to you, specifically?*
(This moment can end up being a springboard for your plot--an "into the special world" marker on the Hero's Journey. If you're writing a contemporary, this might be where the hero and heroine meet, since it's fertile ground for conflict. Or would this make a good action scene? If you're writing a historical, this moment could paint a vivid picture of the times if the author uses a real event and sweeps the character into it.)
******How does your world changes at this point?*****
And there it is. Have fun, and keep on writing!
This is an exercise we did during the second part of the world building fiction workshop on May 12, 2012. Good luck with your worlds and, once again, you all were fabulous!
A Day in the Life
After every stage, remember to ask yourself how you can make the details of what just happened a little different....
Okay--so you've just written down some notes about a world you're creating. Let's walk through this world by using a character that you've either created already or a random character. You can even use yourself, if it's more comfortable.
* Are you male or female?
* What is your name? (Is it a strange sci-fi or fantasy type name? "Normal" name?)
*What is your station in life? (Rich, poor, middle class, something else altogether?)
*What is your job?
*What are the physics of your world (Zero gravity, for instance? Normal?)
[Look at what you have so far. How can you make at least one detail of your world a little out of the ordinary?]
Time for your morning routine....
*What do you eat?
*When you look outside (if there is an outside), what is the weather like?
*What are you going to wear?
[Again, look at what you have so far. How can you make at least one detail of your world a little out of the ordinary?]
*How do you get to work (mode of transportation) if you do work?
*What do you see along the way? (Different creatures or types of people? Road signs or advertisements for politics, religious beliefs, signs of what's important to society? Are there any details you see that will foreshadow what will happen later in the story? Are there any signs of how society is controlled or not controlled?)
*What is the architecture like?
*How is everyone communicating?
[And...look at what you have so far. How can you make at least one detail of your world a little out of the ordinary?]
TWIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You run into an event on your way to work (or wherever). Is this event political? Holiday related? Something to do with the history of the town? Is it based on a grudge that two clans/businesses/groups have with one another?
What is happening in general?
*And what is happening to you, specifically?*
(This moment can end up being a springboard for your plot--an "into the special world" marker on the Hero's Journey. If you're writing a contemporary, this might be where the hero and heroine meet, since it's fertile ground for conflict. Or would this make a good action scene? If you're writing a historical, this moment could paint a vivid picture of the times if the author uses a real event and sweeps the character into it.)
******How does your world changes at this point?*****
And there it is. Have fun, and keep on writing!
