Cindy A. Matthews's Blog, page 13

See you Archon

We're off to Archon tomorrow morning. My first panel is at the noon hour, so I hope there will be some folks able to get off work early enough to keep us on the panel company! But seriously, I'm looking forward to seeing the many folks that I only get to see in person once a year. So, please come by and shake my hand and chat when you spot me in the halls. If I'm running in the halls--well, I'm probably late for a panel or I drank too much bottled water, so you might want to wait and shake my hand later. ;)

I will have promo bookmarks and brochures to pass out. Dig my cover design (still in the preliminary stages) above for the upcoming sequel to my romantic-comedy novel Loving Who, the aptly named Leaving Who. My handsome and talented artist/author hubby, AJ Matthews, created it.

To quote the great Matt Smith: "Fezes are cool." And so are my readers. See you soon!

50 Shades of Mr. Grey !

Why read the rest when you can have the best?


http://www.lsbooks.com/mr-grey-and-the-hotel-ghosts-p403.php
You never know when you're going to run into a famous author... This past month I discovered I'd been living with him!

Believe it or not, I'm living with the author of the original Mr. Grey series! I know what you're thinking: "You can't be married to the author of the 50 Shades of Grey...well, at least not in the state where you currently reside." You're right on both parts, but I'm not talking about the fan-fiction-based, pseudo BDSM story that's been in the news lately. I'm talking about the original Mr. Grey series--the one written by A J Matthews.



http://www.lsbooks.com/mr-grey-and-the-spirit-from-the-sky-p404.php
 Martin Grey in A J's series is a ghosthunter, a very sexy ghosthunter whose job is to help people rid themselves of obnoxious haunting spirits. Think of Ghostbusters meets a very sexy David Tennant or Ryan Reynolds (or whoever your current crush happens to be). The storylines are filled with suspense and intrigue, and the cover art is romantic and uplifting--not boring, sterile gray in color.



http://www.lsbooks.com/lady-in-white-p336.php
 Definitely this is an e-book series worth downloading on your Kindle or Nook this Halloween season. What could be better than hot, erotic-romance with the sexy Martin Grey while he solves a few mysteries and rids the world of a few bothersome ghosts?


http://www.extasybooks.com/rebel-hearts-2/
What's even better is that there are currently four books in the Mr. Grey series. A J penned a fascinating historical "prequel" to the Mr. Grey series, Rebel Hearts. In this story you can meet some of the people who will later haunt the contemporary stories. Very cool! Once again, A J's fascinating novel has been blessed with gorgeous cover art. It was even nominated for an EPIC Award this past year.

Can't figure out what the fuss is about in ebook-land over a poorly written fan-fic? Me neither! A J Matthew's Mr. Grey, Ghosthunter series is head and shoulders above that other series. Romance and action galore in well-written novels that you can be proud to tell your friends about! (Available at LSB Books, eXtasy Books and at Amazon.)


Part of the 50 Shades of Great(ness) Promotion.Support midlist authors--buy and read their excellent fiction!

Another Bite from BLOOD BOND

Here's another "bite" from my vampire erotic-romance BLOOD BOND.

BLOOD BOND(Book 2 in the Kindred vampire series)Celine Chatillonhttp://www.extasybooks.com/blood-bond
Edwin travels to Liverpool and discovers desire in the arms of the wildly sensual Ophelia and her darkly exotic employer known simply as Hamlet. When a vampire hunter threatens to destroy Hamlet, the three lovers’ blood bond is tested. Will Edwin be able to save his Kindred sire and return home in time to see the 1904 World’s Fair?

Excerpt: Ophelia takes Edwin back to her employer's mansion...
 “Why do you call your friend my Hamlet?” Edwin asked, trying not to fall under the spell of Ophelia’s darkly sensual charms. “Is he your benefactor or your employer?”
She smiled sensuously at Edwin and began to stroke the inside of his thighs. “My Hamlet is both. He found me, a lost soul wandering the streets of Liverpool far from her home in Wales, and took me in and gave me a home and clothing and gainful employment. I call him Hamlet because he has never told me his real name.”
Edwin began to perspire. The wonderful sensations from his groin threatened to overwhelm him. His cock began to swell and rise of its own accord until it noticeably stretched and threatened to pop his fly buttons. Ophelia began to lick her red lips as if she thirsted for the taste of him.
“You finished with your drink?” she asked in a husky tone. He meekly nodded and handed her the glass to place down beside the chair. “How can you accept such gifts from a man whose real name you don’t even know?”
She shrugged. “Once you’ve met him, you’ll see.”
“Um, shall I meet him soon?”
Ophelia laughed. “Don’t worry. He’s out tonight. We have the place to ourselves—all to ourselves.” And with that she quickly pounced upon his pants buttons and released his hard member to the mercy of her eager hands and lips...

Blood Bond now available at eXtasy Books

Blood Bond

(Book 2 in the Kindred vampire series)from eXtasy Bookshttp://www.extasybooks.com/blood-bond
Edwin travels to Liverpool and discovers desire in the arms of the wildly sensual Ophelia and her darkly exotic employer known simply as Hamlet. When a vampire hunter threatens to destroy Hamlet, the three lovers’ blood bond is tested. Will Edwin be able to save his Kindred sire and return home in time to see the 1904 World’s Fair?

Warning: This tale contains menage scenes, m/f/m and m/m/f.

 Edwin's first experience with the vampire...
“Relax, it only hurts a little,” she murmured in Edwin’s ear as she stroked his head and shoulders from behind. “What you feel later more than makes up for it.” “But will I…will I have to drink blood after I am…initiated?”“Don’t worry, Edwin. I promise it will be many years before either you or Ophelia will need to seek your sustenance in such a manner.” Hamlet kissed his cheek. “Are you ready?”Edwin nodded. Closing his eyes, he turned his head slightly to give Hamlet easier access. He felt a momentary pinch and then…Ecstasy! Overwhelming warmth flooded his veins as colors exploded in his mind and a feeling of euphoria lifted him from the bed to the skies. He was flying free from the confines of his body. He soared above the clouds…heading into the stars.“Wonderful, isn’t it?” Ophelia giggled and clapped her hands. “I wish I could experience it more often, but Hamlet says it’s even better once you’re on the receiving end.”He opened his eyes slowly. Still light-headed, Edwin observed the gaze of mutual pleasure in Hamlet’s dark eyes. His sensual lips glistened with tint of red. Instead of horror or aversion, Edwin felt complete peace and contentment.“Thank you.” Without hesitation Edwin pulled Hamlet lips to his and kissed him.

 Blood Bond available now at eXtasy! http://www.extasybooks.com/blood-bond
More excerpts to come! (Let me know in the comments below what kind of excerpt you'd like to read.)

Quick Review of "Angel of Europa"

Angel of Europa by Allen Steele
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A murder mystery in space--it's not a bad idea, but it's not exactly original. Still, I enjoyed the reading about how future explorers might get beneath the ice surface of Europa and discover the life forms unique to that world. A good novella for a slow summer's day.

View all my reviews

Blood Bond--coming soon!

 Blood Bond: Coming September 1, 2012 from eXtasy Books...

Blood Bond is the story of Edwin Carstairs, a young architect who goes to Liverpool in 1903 and meets a dark beauty named Ophelia and her "employer" called Hamlet. Edwin can't resist their passion for both sex and blood. Will he be able to prevent his lovers' destruction by a vampire hunter determined to save Edwin's immortal soul?

  
Warning: This story contains m/f/m and m/m/f menage scenes.

Review of "Fort Freak" (edited by George R.R. Martin)

Fort Freak by George R.R. Martin


My rating: 4 of 5 stars




If you love "freaks" and superheroes, then Fort Freak is the book for you! The police precinct is well-realized in a series of short stories from George R.R. Martin's Wild Card universe that have been melded together to form a novel. The writing is excellent (as are the authors who contributed to the tome), but it is a long book to read in one setting, which isn't for those who are becoming more accustomed to novella-length works in e-literature. Still, it's worth the read if only to figure out if Ramshead solves a 30 year old cold case and if "Flipper" can get the Infamous Black Tongue off on assault, among other charges. The characters really do come alive in Fort Freak, and you'll never forget them. And who'd want to? I'd  hang out in Jokertown any day of the week.






View all my reviews

The Response to "Archon Hear a Who"

To keep the Doctor Who fans I wrote about in my last posting abreast of what's happening with our suggesting a Doctor Who media guest to attend a future Archon, here is a reply on an open St. Louis SF fandom email list from the media guest liaison:

Yes, for those of you who missed all the Facebook fun, this blog was absolutely innaccurate. Obviously the writer decided she had a great hook with the 'Horton Hears a Who' tie in, without really bothering to do any research to see if anything she wrote was actually TRUE.

No, we (Archon) have not been contacted by anyone at BBC America, these guests, or their representation. And as Van so aptly pointed out, seriously, if they were calling us saying 'can we please come' what do you think would be happening? It sure as heck wouldn't be Archon saying, 'yeah, thanks but no, we're good'.

Could we get a Dr Who guest in future? Sure, maybe we can work that out. If anyone would have come to me and said, 'Hey, we'd love a Dr. Who guest, and maybe we can even work out some fundraising to help support it' I'd have been their new best friend. I love Dr. Who. But this was handled SO badly that it honestly makes me want to not look too hard into it in the near future because I don't want to encourage this kind of attrocious behavior by anyone else.

Not saying that I WON'T look into it, just saying that this whole mess has put a bad taste in my mouth about the idea. I'll probably be over it before we go hunting for a guest next year. :)

Mary
Archon Media Guest Liaison

Here was my response on this same email list:

Thank you, Katrina, for your fair assessment of the events. My blog posting was never meant as a personal attack against any individual involved with Archon. It was a call to Doctor Who fans to make our voices heard. I believe this is an exercise of freedom of speech. If we are bullied into keeping quiet because it contradicts another person's opinion, then who benefits?

If you read the piece, you'd see I know of persons with direct contacts within  the BBC that live in the St. Louis area. I see now why they were shy about making their points known to the general Archon community--they would be accused of being "liars" as well. I did not once mention Ms. Stadter's name in the blog
article (I had no clue who or what group is in charge of media guests), and I never once insinuated that what she said was not "true". Yet I open my email digest today and see that I'm being called essentially a liar. I only wrote about what I was told on good authority. It is my personal blog and my friends are allowed to talk to me if they so desire. I write on topics when I feel like
it could be of help to my friends. Please don't malign the messenger if you don't care for the message.

I do not appreciate being told I am trying to start controversy within STL  fandom. It is beyond my comprehension why anyone would take a blog posting so seriously. I will not take such unfounded accusations as a personal attack from the Archon board members. But I will sincerely appreciate if the personal attacks cease and desist forthwith. Nobody wins in these situations.

That's all I'm going to say on the matter. In the many years I've been a SF fan,  I've never met a fan I didn't like. I think the general Archon community would say the same. I hate to painted as being a "not-so-nice Doctor Who fan" for future reference to people who don't really know me as a human being. There is enough hatred and hate speech in the world nowadays. Let's try to keep fandom a
happy and supportive place for all to share their thoughts and opinions without fear of bullying or maligning of character.

Thank you for listening.

And that's all I'm going to write on the matter. Yes, it leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. I've always been a great supporter of Archon and fandom in general, but obviously I'm not to everyone's tastes. So be it. You can't please everyone, so they will have to learn to live with me and move on. 

I have more important things on my plate. We're going out of state to visit my mother this weekend and see how she is doing in her new assisted living apartment. I had thought about writing some more about coping with a loved one with cancer, but thought I could use a break and take some time to write on lighter topics for a while. Obviously, my beloved Doctor Who is not a light enough topic. Go figure!


Your kind wishes, comments and prayers on my and my mother's behalf are always welcome. Let's try to build each other up in this life: I think we all realize just how short it is and what really matters.

Archon Hear a Who!

 In case you didn’t grow up reading Dr. Seuss like I did, Horton Hears a Who is a story about a very large elephant who hears a very, very, very tiny civilization living on a dust mote resting on top of a wildflower. Horton tries to convince his friends that these tiny beings in fact exist, but they don’t believe him because they can’t see or hear the microscopic people who inhabit Whoville. Horton doesn’t give up, and in spite of physical pressure and ridicule to give up his belief and destroy the wildflower, he perseveres until the tiny Whovillians make themselves known to all by shouting, “We are here! We are here! We are here!”
David Tennant as the 10th Doctor with the TARDIS
At a “First Friday” event I attended recently at the St. Louis Science Center’s Omnimax theater, a full-house of over five hundred fans watched a double bill of new series Doctor Who episodes featuring nanotechnology. The line to get into the theater snaked throughout the Science Center and out the door. All five hundred plus tickets were distributed—they even had to turn fans away they said because of the fire code. Many attendees came dressed in Who inspired costumes and T-shirts. Many said this was the first time they had realized there were so many fellow fans in the St. Louis area who enjoyed the same TV show they did. Many stated they had never heard of the St. Louis regional science-fiction convention Archon, but they’d attend Archon if they knew other Doctor Who fans and programming would be there.
Tom Baker as the Fourth DoctorBut what’s a classic children’s tale got to do with being a Doctor Who fan and a regional science fiction convention? Hang in there, and I’ll try to tie in the analogy the best that I can.
Archon isn’t the largest annual sci-fi convention in the US, but it has been around the block for quite a few years now—thirty-six years to be exact. It has hosted literary, artist, performing/filking and media guests. For purposes of this blog I’ll concentrate on Archon’s media guests. The fans have turned out in large numbers to see and hear these media guests give talks and presentations. The fans have waited in long lines for autographs and photographs. The fans have generally had a good time at Archon discussing and sharing their love of a particular media guest and/or the movie/TV series franchise he/she represents. In recent times Archon has hosted media guests such as multi-talented voice actor Billy West (Futurama) as well as the gang of Cinematic Titanic, featuring many of the original cast of the cult favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000.  (This year’s media guest just added to the bottom of the list: Gil Gerard. You remember him from the 1970s TV show Buck Rogers, don’t you?)
Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor with Amy Pond
With so many wonderful media guests in its past, a sci-fi buff might assume that Archon is not against inviting media guests to their convention, right? But it has come to my attention recently that Archon does not seem interested in hosting a media guest connected to the worldwide phenomenon known as Doctor Who. Why is this the case? I haven’t a clue, but perhaps you and your like-minded friends can help us find out why Archon doesn’t jump on this opportunity to cash in on the popularity of the world’s longest running science fiction TV franchise. 
Our wedding cake shaped like a TARDIS
I use the term worldwide phenomenon on purpose, for in spite of its origins at the BBC,the television series now plays on BBC America as well as on various PBS stations throughout the US. Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures have broken the chains of being cult TV shows from Great Britain to become American sci-fi favorites with regular viewers in the many millions on a weekly basis. The DVDs, audio plays, books, graphic novels and other related products can be found in Best Buy as well as your local comic book stores. You could even say it’s given the Star Trek franchise a run for its money.
Producer and writer Steven MoffatI’m painting this picture so even if you’re not familiar with the series that you will still see how a media guest from the Doctor Who universe would appeal to many science fiction fans and not just a tiny handful living on a dust mote resting atop of a wildflower. Many Who fans would be willing to travel to the St. Louis area and pay the Archon membership fees to see these Doctor Who media guests. More memberships to the convention sold—more money for Archon to host even bigger and better conventions in the future. A win-win situation.
Here’s where the Horton Hears a Who analogy comes into play: It has come to my attention that several Doctor Who connected media guests have actually expressed an interest in attending Archon. Even better, these actors, producers and writers of the series were willing to come for free if their travel expenses were covered, and they’d be willing to travel from within the United States, since they’d already be in the US working on other projects.
Yes, that’s right. Whomedia guests expressed a desire to attend Archon and were willing to do so for the price of a domestic airline ticket. Increased sales of Archon memberships to fans who’d love to see a Doctor Whomedia guest would surely cover the price of an airline ticket, right?
The names of Doctor Whomedia guests who have voiced an interest in attending Archon? Hold onto your hats, folks: 
John Barrowman as Captain Jack
John Barrowman, Steven Moffat, and Alex Kingston. 
Are you able to peel yourself off the floor now?
Alex Kingston as RiversongYes, Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood fame, the current producer/head writer of Doctor Who, and the vivacious Riversong who played a pivotal role in last season’s story arc all wanted to travel to St. Louis and meet the fans here in the middle of the country. But, somehow, they were turned away or simply ignored by Archon representatives.

Fortunately for fans with lots of money and vacation time, Barrowman and Moffat recently attended Comic-Con in San Diego, and many of the Torchwood crew will be at Dragon Con in Atlanta later this year. These mega-sized sci-fi conventions will benefit from the crowds Who media guests will draw. Alas, those of us who can’t afford to attend far away mega-cons are out of luck.
My novel about Doctor Who fans who meet a mysterious stranger...
Here’s the call to action: If the BBC is  still willing to send a Doctor Who media guest to Archon in the future, would you be interested in attending and supporting the con with your membership? If you are, please consider joining with the local Who fan club, the St Louis CIA, in signing a petition, sending an email, or letter to the Archon committee expressing your support for Doctor Whomedia guests. This link takes you to Archon's contacts info page. Please be polite and to the point in your communications. If you have any other ideas on how to bring Whomedia guests to Archon, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.
The original Star Trekfans were able to bring their beloved program back on the air back in the late 60s, so perhaps a letter writing campaign can demonstrate to the Archon powers-that-be that we aren’t invisible, dust-mote-dwelling denizens. We are many, and we have supporters like Horton who aren’t afraid of helping us to make our voices heard.
Let’s shout together as Doctor Who fans, “We are here! We are here! We are here!”

Trying to Find Humor in the Heatwave

Getting ready for the parade... It's next to impossible to smile on a day when it's 95 degrees Fahrenheit at 9 o'clock in the morning. It's next to impossible to get excited about it being mid-summer when the forecast says the high today will be 109 F with a heat index of 115 F. It's hard to even think about tomorrow when the guy on the radio says tomorrow's temperatures are suppose to be worse.


I mean, my insides literally feel like they're baking themselves into haggis. How much worse can it get?


At least we still have electricity and somewhat of an air conditioner and box/ceiling fans. We're blessed compared to many who lost power in the recent storms. But still, I'm praying for rain and looking toward the skies and sighing a lot. When? When will it rain or at least cool down to say... 92 F?



Still, I've tried to find a little fun in all this sweltering heat. Independence Day started out in the mid-80s, so I figured I could make it through a two mile jaunt called the Webster Groves Independence Day Parade. I didn't go it alone, of course, as I accompanied the Greater St. Louis Ghostbusters along the route. We passed out candy and flyers for the upcoming unofficially first-ever Ghostbusters sci-fi con, Ecto Con.


Check it out. You know you want to... I promise, it will take your mind off the heat. Who you gonna call? I hope not the A/C repair guys but the Ghostbusters!