Kim Fielding's Blog, page 26
July 18, 2016
Taking Chances: Staged
I’m a worrier. I plan for things and then make backup plans, just in case. And I don’t often take risks.
Ah, but some risks are worth taking.
Like the one I took in early 2012, when I submitted a novel to a publisher for the first time in my life. That time I had encouragement from family and good friends, and from an author I really admire (thanks, Amy Lane! 
July 6, 2016
New Releases for July–and a giveaway
This summer has been crazy with travel, kid stuff, evil day job drama, and more. I also have several projects in various stages of editing. So I haven’t been blogging. But today I have exciting news to share: a new audiobook release and an upcoming new novel!
The audiobook first, since it just came out today.
Treasure is the perfect summer listen, with a secluded beach, a mysterious man washed ashore, dastardly pirates, and a bit of magic. Joel Leslie has done a terrific job narrating it. And all my royalties go to Doctors Without Borders. Here’s the link on Audible. It’s also available on Amazon and iTunes.
But perhaps you’re in the mood for something darker. In that case, Staged will fit the bill. It’s set in an alternate universe very similar to our own, but where slavery is legal. It releases July 18, but if you preorder now from Riptide, you’ll actually be able to download it at midnight on the night of the 15th.
To celebrate, how about a giveaway? The prize package includes a T-shirt (size XL) featuring the fantastic cover art from the Japanese version of Speechless, signed print copies of Brute and Stasis, and a One Pulse sticker (designed by Paul Richmond in support of the Pulse victims). Due to shipping costs, I’m afraid this contest is open to US residents only. However, I’ll pick a second winner from the comments to receive a $10 Riptide gift certificate, and that is open to entrants worldwide. Just comment on your summer reading plans, and make sure you leave your email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win.
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June 28, 2016
Cover Reveal: Staged
Staged is available now for preorder!
Once the second-prize winner on My Slave’s Got Talent, Sky Blue has spent the past few years singing at a failing New York nightclub. While Sky has never had control over his fate, his life seems to take a turn for the worse when he’s torn from the familiar comfort of performing and sold to a rich and enigmatic man.
Morgan Wallace takes his newly purchased slave to San Francisco, his intentions unclear. On the one hand, he treats Sky with more kindness than Sky has ever known—treats him like a real person. On the other hand, he shares Sky at parties hosted by his sadistic new friends.
A confused slave is an endangered slave, and Sky isn’t even sure of his master’s real name. Is he Morgan Wallace, wealthy and cruel, or Mackenzie Webster, caring and compassionate? Caught between hope, fear, and an undeniably growing attachment, Sky struggles to untangle which parts are real and which are merely a performance. His future, his heart, and even his life may depend on it.
This is in the Belonging ‘Verse, but can easily be read as a standalone. It releases July 18.
the lovely cover is by Tami Santarossa.
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June 20, 2016
Help solve a mystery?
One of the dangers of writing is getting lost in research. Because I am a geek and I do love doing research.
Today for my WIP I was looking up some stuff about Northwest Portland in the 1960s. It’s only a very minor plot point, actually, but I like to be accurate. I discovered the city has a great blog of vintage photos. You can check it out here.
While I was poking around, thoroughly distracted from my original task, I found this photo of a building in what’s now the Pearl District:
That’s the Pacific Coast Biscuit Factory in 1917. The reason why it caught my eye is that this is a photo I took in Portland a couple of weeks ago:
Yep, same building, 99 years later. I took the picture because Colin, one of the MCs in my WIP, lives in a Pearl District loft. I thought this building (which is actually a parking garage) looked exactly like what I imagined for him.
So here’s the mystery part. The Vintage Portland post claims that the top floor was removed from the building at some point after 1917. But I don’t see that–it looks to me like it’s intact. But my photo’s not the greatest and I’m now 700 miles away, so I can’t check for myself.
What do you think? If you’re nearby and want to check it out in person, it’s at NW 12th & Davis–conveniently close to Powell’s Books.
And yeah, the solution to the mystery is irrelevant to my book. But it’s bugging me.
PS–Notice how there’s a thumbprint near the bottom right of the 1917 photo! I wonder whose. That’s another mystery!
ETA: I’ve solved the mystery! Can you? Hint: I used Google maps.
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June 13, 2016
Men with guns
When I was 20 years old, a man pointed a gun at me.
At the time, I was working at a little deli to help pay my college expenses. It was a Saturday and I was there alone. A man walked in, pretended to read the menu for a moment, and then pulled out a handgun and aimed it at me.
I tend to remain calm in emergencies, so I kept my head while I cleaned out the till (maybe $200 total) and handed the cash to him, and then while, at his orders, I yanked the phone from the wall. I don’t even remember feeling terrified. In fact, I was thinking about a psychology class I was taking at the time, where we were learning about weapon focus–the tendency for witnesses to focus on a weapon rather than descriptive aspects of the perpetrator. I focused on the weapon too. After he left, I calmly went to the store next door and called the police.
In the years since, I’ve thought about this incident a lot. About how easy it was for this stranger to nearly end my life over a couple hundred bucks. About how much I would have missed if I’d died at 20. About how the police made only a half-hearted attempt to investigate because, hey, nobody got hurt, and crimes like this one happen all the time in the US. About how it isn’t right that I couldn’t safely work at my crappy minimum wage job.
I thought about that incident yesterday too, when the news hit me about the terrible events in Orlando (I was on the road this weekend, so the news hit me late). I wasn’t targeted because of who I was or because of the perp’s ideology–I was just a kid alone in a place with handy cash, and he wanted his hands on that money. Nothing about me mattered to him.
Over the weekend, dozens of human beings died and dozens more were hurt because they meant less to one man than his own twisted beliefs, and because he had access to weapons of mass destruction. So many lives shattered, so much promise destroyed. Victims who didn’t have safety even in a simple attempt to spend a Saturday night having fun with friends.
I wish for the survivors and for the families involved the hope of finding eventual peace in this great loss. And for all of us, I wish for the courage to take real, meaningful steps to ensure that fewer human beings lose everything to men with guns.
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June 3, 2016
Love Can’t Conquer is here! Giveaway!
I’m excited to announce that Love Can’t Conquer is now available!
I have a couple of things going on to celebrate. There’s a blog tour with a giveaway.
And I’m doing a separate giveaway here and now. Because the book takes place in Portland, I have a themed prize pack. It includes a signed print copy of Astounding!, which also takes places partly in Portland, plus these souvenir goodies:
That’s a ceramic Powell’s Books coaster, a Powell’s keychain, a deck of Portland playing cards, and a postcard from Multnomah Falls, where a scene in the book takes place.
Enjoy!
What are your summer plans? A lot of reading?
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May 30, 2016
30 Day Writing Challenge: Day 30
Wow! We made it through all 30 days of the writing challenge. And it was fun!
30. One thing you’re excited for
My new book!
Love Can’t Conquer releases in four days. You can preorder it now, even. I’m really excited about this one, which will be the first in a series. Hunky urban park ranger plus an ex-addict trying to climb out of a deep hole. Angst. True love. Coffee. What’s not to love?
I have a bunch of other releases in the works too.
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May 29, 2016
30 Day Writing Challenge: Day 29
29. The night of your 21st birthday
Just after midnight the day I turned 21, I went to Safeway and bought beer. They didn’t card me, which was disappointing. And I couldn’t buy hard liquor because this was in Oregon, where you could buy wine and beer in grocery stores but had to buy hard liquor in special OLCC (Oregon Liquor Control Commission) stores. I think that may still be the case, but I’m not sure.
That night, friends and I visited a couple of bars with live music (blues, as I recall). I didn’t get drunk, but did try a grasshopper for the first time.
And that’s it. Not very thrilling.
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May 28, 2016
30 Day Writing Challenge: Day 28
28. The word or phrase you use constantly.
In person, I say these things a lot:
Have I answered all your questions?
It’s in the syllabus
Do your job
Do your homework/the dishes/your laundry, etc
In writing, I find that each book has at least one overused word. Well, my editors find that, actually. In the current book, the word is slightly.
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May 27, 2016
On the road. Again.
Today I’m doing one of my least favorite things: packing. But tomorrow I’ll be doing one of my most favorite things: traveling!
Today was the last day of school–hence the smiling faces. The whole family is piling in the SUV and heading north. We’ll be spending some time with family in Portland and also some time relaxing and being tourists in Vancouver, BC. I’ve been to Vancouver, but it’s been a few years. If any of you know the city and have eating/ visiting/shopping suggestions, I’d love to see them! My other plans for the trip include my parents’ 50th anniversary party and a new tattoo for me.
The timing is good for a trip to Portland, because Love Can’t Conquer releases a week from today and it’s set there. It will be there first in a series, actually. Each book revolves around a different couple in Portland. In Love Can’t Conquer, we have Jeremy the urban park ranger and Qay the former addict. I’m about midway through the second book now. It features Nevin the foulmouthed detective and rich boy Colin. And I have two more books planned afterward.
In the meantime, if you want even more Portland in your books. Dreamspinner is releasing all the Bones books in a discounted bundle. You can preorder now; the bundle releases June 10.
Also, if you’re a Speechless fan, not only does the bundle include The Gig, in which the Bones guys meet the Speechless guys, but also a certain couple makes a brief cameo in Love Can’t Conquer.
I have more summer goodness coming too, including some audiobooks and another novel–a fairly dark slave novel set in an AU–due out in July. It’s called Staged, and I’ll have more information on that one soon.
You can sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/bau3S9 It comes out quarterly, more or less, with the next issue due June 3. It’ll include news, a contest, a discount code, and a free short-short featuring Dylan and Chris from the Bones books.
What are your summer plans?
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