S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 52

RadCon Schedule

Starting tomorrow I will be at RadCon in Pasco, Washington. This science fiction and fantasy convention is the premier con in Central Washington. It might be the only con.

If they don't change my schedule (like they did last year), here are the panels I'll be on:

Friday:
The Miracle of Critique
5:45 - 6:45 PM
Room 2209

Avoid these Grammar Mistakes
7:00 - 8:00 PM
Room 2205

Saturday:
Alternate History and Social Justice/Injustice
12:45 - 1:45 PM
Room 2207

The Best Writing Advice I was Ever Given
3:15 - 4:15 PM
Room 2209

Book Signing
5:00 - 6:00 PM
Mercantile Table

Sunday:
To Outline or Not to Outline, That is the Question
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Room 2203

Come on down, I would love to see you there!

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Diana Savastano and Dianna Gunn

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we welcome writers Diana Savastano and Dianna Gunn.
Diana Savastano

Diana SavastanoDiana Savastano is a former columnist, food writer, magazine editor, and publisher. She is the author of On the Breath of Angels; Winds of Pood, Under the Puddle; Winds of Pood: In the Blizzard; The Upside Down Inside Out Life of Maureen Kiernan; The Princess Who Loved to Swim; and The Marker, a murder mystery sprinkled with romance and paranormal activities. In addition to writing books, she is working with veteran entertainment advisers penning multiple script projects to bring her book characters to life on screen. She lives in Johns Creek, Georgia.

Diana's Books:


The Marker 

Winds of Pood Book 1 and Book 2 (Middle Grade)

The Princess Who Loved to Swim (Children's Chapter Book)

Diana's Links:

Website
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest


Dianna GunnDianna Gunn

Dianna Gunn is a freelance writer by day and a fantasy author by night. Her first YA fantasy novella, Keeper of the Dawn, was released through The Book Smugglers Publishing in April 2017. She also blogs about creativity, books and life at www.thedabbler.ca

Dianna's Book:

Keeper of the Dawn

Dianna's Links:

Website/Blog
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube

From today's program: Go Underground to Find Life on Mars, Some Scientists Say.

Listen to today's program at 6:00 PM ET 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

Somewhere I'd like to Move to.

Coeur d'AleneBack to the 30-day blogging challenge that I'm doing in about thirty weeks.

The next prompt is: "Your favorite OTP." I don't know what that means. I googled it. I still don't know what it means.

So the next prompt is "Talk about your siblings." I have an older sister and an older brother. That was easy.

So the next prompt is "Somewhere you'd like to move or visit."

I talked about places I'd like to visit here.

So what about places I'd like to live?

I've actually been thinking about moving. But to where is the problem. Washington State (where I live) is slowly turning into California (not the good things about California, either). So I thought about moving to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. It's a beautiful place on a lovely lake (although real estate on the lake is very expensive). And it's not too far from Spokane so you'd have a near-by medium-sized city. And I wouldn't be far from family, most of whom live in Washington.

Another option was Sandpoint, Idaho. Again, a nice area on a nice lake. Farther from Spokane, however. But I suspect the real estate might be cheaper. Downside is, it gets a lot of snow in winter.

Then I looked into Idaho taxes and they are high, surprisingly high. I would pay a lot more in taxes if I lived there. And the weather in Northern Idaho is pretty harsh in the winter.

Because of winter, I thought about moving south of the 37th Parallel but that would mean California (yuck), Arizona (too dry), New Mexico (yuck), or Texas (I refuse to live east of there). But last year's hurricanes sort of ruled out southern Texas. I suppose there's Oklahoma, but A) yuck and B) tornadoes.

Texas has the advantage of low taxes (and no income taxes). Texas also has higher speed limits (they need them) up to 85 mph.

I have looked at Lubbock, Texas. It's north enough not to get hurricanes but there's still tornadoes. It's a medium sized city, about like Spokane, maybe a little bigger. Don't know if I could handle the lack of mountains. And my wife is totally against moving far away from our and her families.

So I've thought about living in the Spokane area. My wife complains that that is "even farther" from our oldest son. And that would still be in Washington and who knows what idiotic thing will pass as a ballot initiative next. Or get through the legislature. It's a conundrum.

Where would you like to live? Let me know in the comments below.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with J.D. Horn and Larry Kilham

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers J.D. Horn and Larry Kilham.
J.D. HornJ.D. Horn

J.D. Horn, the highly praised and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Witching Savannah series, now debuts a new contemporary fantasy series, Witches of New Orleans. A world traveler and student of French and Russian literature, Horn also has an MBA in international business and formerly held a career as a financial analyst before turning his talent to crafting chilling stories and unforgettable characters. His novels have received global attention and have been translated in more than half a dozen languages. Originally from Tennessee, he currently splits his time between San Francisco and Palm Springs with his spouse, Rich.

J.D.'s Books


The King of Bones and Ashes

Shivaree

"Witching Savannah Series"

J.D.'s Links

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Larry KilhamLarry Kilham

Larry Kilham is an award-winning author who has traveled extensively overseas for over twenty years. He worked in several large international companies and started and sold two high-tech ventures. He received a B.S. in engineering from the University of Colorado and a M.S. in management from MIT. Larry has written books about creativity and invention, artificial intelligence and digital media, travel overseas, and four novels with an AI theme. He and his wife Betsy live in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Larry's Books:


Free Will Odyssey 

Shades of Truth (nonfiction)

The Digital Rabbit Hole (nonfiction)

Larry's Links:

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

From Today's Program: Lightning is a natural particle accelerator.


Listen to today's program at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

Dinner Party

Back to the 30-day blogging challenge (that I'm doing over about 30 weeks). Today's prompt is: "If you could invite ten people to a dinner, fiction, current, or historical, who would they be?"

This is kind of a challenge, but:

1) Gandalf (fictional character). Not sure why he came first to mind. But I'd love to meet him. Plus we can have fireworks after dinner.

2) Robert Heinlein (dead; writer). Pretty much my favorite all-time science fiction writer.

3) Isaac Asimov (dead; writer). Another one of my favorite science fiction writers. And I'd love to see him and Heinlein debate politics and economics (they are diametrically opposed).

4) Charlene "Charlie" Jones (fictional character). See here.

5) Selena Gomez (celebrity). See here.

6) F. A. Hayek (dead; economist). To debate economics with:

7) John Maynard Keynes (dead; economist).

8) William F. Buckley (dead; writer, intellectual, and many other things). To moderate all these debates.

9) Fabiola Gianotti (scientist). The head scientist at CERN.

10) And I guess I'd better invite my wife or she'll be mad at me.

What do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments below.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Nathan R. Morgan and Mike Bergonzi

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers Nathan R. Morgan and Mike Bergonzi.
Nathan R. MorganNathan R. Morgan

Author Nathan R. Morgan has had the talent to write ever since he was a young child. His parents were very supportive and recognized this in him, so they signed him up for things such as writing camps. Nathan’s interest in writing since such a young age has led him to have a dream of becoming an author. He decided to take it upon himself and do what he loves, and he wrote his first novel over a summer break and through that same fall. Nathan excels in his academic studies, absolutely loves to go fishing, loves his family and friends dearly, loves to travel, likes to go camping, and has a very strong work ethic that was apparent throughout his entire life. He also knows that God had blessed him very much, and he’s made it his mission to share God’s love with others.

Nathan's Book:

Nothing is as it Seems

Nathan's Links:

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Mike Bergonzi

Mike Bergonzi holds a degree in mass communications. He currently resides in Champaign-Urbana, where he’s employed by the city’s local PBS station (WILL-TV) as a camera operator. Such shows he’s worked on include over 100 episodes of Mid-American Gardner and Illinois Pioneers. Michael has also worked on the 2014 and 2016 District 13 Congressional debates in Illinois. While he’s not working in television production, he volunteers at Stevie Jay Broadcasting—a local radio station in the area. His duties include mixing the Brother Johnny and Mike Ditka podcast on ESPNCU.com. Other podcasts he’s worked on include Pendant Production’s Seminar series as the Director of episodes 37-39 and the mixer for Mike Murphy’s Strange Stories “The Touch,” from Misfit’s Audio.

Mike's Books:

Moon and Star: Book One

Moon and Star: Book Two

Moon and Star: The Complete First Saga (First two books combined)

Mike's Links:

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

From Today's Program: Space Dust Can Transport Life.

Listen to today's program at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT, or in archive here.

Passion

Back to the 30-day blogging challenge. I'm going to combine the next two prompts into one post because they are closely related. The prompts are: "What are you passionate about?" and "If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?"

I am passionate about writing. So if I could have any job in the world, it would be a writer. And that is pretty much my job now (even though my freelance career has slowed down a lot). I pretty much can't stop writing. I had very bad writer's block on a novel. Another writer suggested I write something else. So I just started what I thought would be a short story. It is now a novel in the editing/proofreading stages. Because I kept writing and it kept getting longer and longer and longer.

There are some other things I'm passionate about. I used to be passionate about politics but the 2016 election pretty much killed that. I am still (and always, probably) passionate about University of Washington Husky football (Go Dawgs!). If you read this blog regularly, you're probably aware of that.

What are you passionate about? Let me know in the comments below.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Agent Stephanie Hansen and Miranda Nichols

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome Agent Stephanie Hansen and her client Miranda Nichols.
Stephanie HansenStephanie Hansen

Stephanie represents debut to New York Times bestselling authors. She's signed authors with small presses to major publishing house distribution. She received her Master’s in 2008 and Creative Writing Specialization in 2017. Predominately she represents YA SF/F but has a secret addiction for romance. While these are her favorite, she handles everything fiction from children's books to adult thrillers. Previously an editor for Mind’s Eye Literary Magazine, she became a part of Metamorphosis July 2016. Originally looking to help Midwest authors garner the attention of major publishing houses, despite residing in "flyover states", she found camaraderie with multiple agents and editors.

She's seeking: YA series, adult SF/F, thrillers & romance. She is intrigued by prose that flows as smoothly as poetry, unforgettable plot twists & well-rounded characters.

Stephanie's Links:

Agency Website
Agency Twitter
Stephanie's Twitter
Stephanie's Pinterest
Stephanie's Instagram
Stephanie's Google+

Miranda NIcholsMiranda Nichols

Miranda Nichols enjoys her too short-lived moments in Boston visiting family. That’s why her stories tend to travel there. She’s had years of professional experience perfecting detail-oriented work and it shows in her writing. A current student working towards her English degree, she’s following her lifetime calling. She's a loyal friend who's not afraid to tell it like it is. Like the smell of fresh popcorn, her fantasy romances tempt you and keep you coming back for more.

Miranda 's Book:


Blood Awakening (releasing 1/29/18)

Miranda's Links:

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
RomCon
WomenOnWriting

From Today's Program: Eclipse Left Supersonic Wake in the Atmosphere.


Listen to Today's Program at 6:00 PM ET, 3:00 PM PT, or in archive here.

School Daze

Back to the 30 day blogging challenge. The next prompt is "What do you collect?" Well, I used to collect rejection slips. But I'm not really a collector of anything. I'd prefer to collect memories and pictures.

My old high schoolSo the next prompt is, "How has your school life been throughout the years?"

When I was in primary education (K-12) I hated school. It was boring. (Full disclosure: I never finished Kindergarten. It wasn't required in those days and was privately done, like preschool is now.)

I was teased and bullied for being a shy, quiet boy with flaming red hair. This lasted through most of high school. I remember one time in high school this bully was taunting me, trying to get me to throw a punch. I told him as confidently as I could something like, "I'm not going to hit you first, but if  you hit me, I'll destroy you." Yes, I was bluffing. But he never threw that punched. Called me a "chickenshit" and he and his gang walked away. I was either a junior or a sophomore in high school when this happened.

Young Santa ClausCollege was different. First of all, it wasn't boring. I was finally challenged. And there was no bullying and just friendly teasing. Of course, by then my hair had mellowed from the near orange it was when I was a kid to more auburn. I had a beard and people said I looked like young Santa Claus from the kid's show  Santa Claus is Coming to Town . And I had to admit, I rather did.

The biggest problem I had with college was that in high school I never had to study. In college, I had to study but I wasn't in the habit of it. So it took me a while to get into that groove.

When I went back to college after my military career and my major was engineering, I had to study a lot. I studied every day except Saturdays (I gave myself those days off) and then Sunday I usually studied all day. Except when I took a class called Chemical Engineering Unit Operations which was a lab class. Then I had to study on Saturdays, too. It sucked.

The hardest class I took in college was Fluid Dynamics. You did differential equations so much, I was doing them in my sleep. Now I couldn't do a differential equation if you held a gun to my head.

How was your school experience? Let me know in the comments below.

Guest Post: Judith White, Mystery Writer

Today we welcome to the blog Judith White, a writer of detective and mystery novels.
Judith WhiteI once read an article in which was said that the mystery author possesses a high IQ. No, honest, I did! Now, I'm not sure that is true in all cases. I would like it to be fact, though. You see, I am an author of mysteries; four of them to date. Yet, whether that pertains to me personally or not...and there is much room for doubt...I do know that writing a mystery novel is damned hard work, although some have made it look quite easy when the final product is in print. One who comes to mind is my favorite writer of whodunits, Agatha Christie. What a wicked tale she could weave! Dame Agatha wrote approximately 80 detective novels in her lifetime, along with other pieces of fiction. With each one, the woman combined all the elements of a great mystery.

Yes, there are certain elements one has to intertwine in the narrative if one is to be successful in capturing reader audience and admiration.

While I could go through the list of ingredients that are needed for a complete mystery novel...such as the who, how, where, why, etc., I'll tell you what stands out in my mind as one of the most important. For example, X murders Y with an obscure poison at the beach house behind the country estate because...because...well, darn it! Why did X commit such a heinous act? In my humble estimation, X has to have a pretty substantial reason for wanting to get rid of Y! And that reason had better be plausible to the reader. The motive must be totally believable. To me, it's the most important aspect. If a mystery author isn't successful in creating a believable scenario, he or she won't be successful in selling many books.

Have you ever read a mystery novel and, while it being pretty engrossing, you plod through it only to find out a barely mentioned character committed the crime because of a minor infraction the victim committed toward his or her nemesis? I have, and it made me angry; so much so that I didn't desire to read any further work by that author. Number one, the murderer has to be an integral part of the story. How else are arm-chair detectives to put together a rational deduction while reading the story? And number two, the motivation behind the crime had better be solid. Otherwise, the reader will view the work as stupid and lame.

At present, I am developing in my mind a credible motive for my fifth Sam Flanagan mystery novel, and I am hoping and praying that I own even a fraction of the genius of Dame Agatha Christie.



Judith's Amazon Page

Judith's Facebook Page

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