Laura VanArendonk Baugh's Blog, page 2

Giftmas Create-A-Thon!

Many of you will remember that I typically participate in Giftmas each year, a writers’ fundraising event for a food bank. This year, we’re doing something a little different! A bunch of writers and creators are working toward various goals, and we’re asking for your pledges to support Doctors Without… Continue reading

Honeysuckle Must Die! (Dealing With Invasive Species)

The husband and I have been tackling invasive species on our property. The primary offender and target is Amur Honeysuckle, also called Asian Bush Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii). It looks nothing like a native honeysuckle, but some people deliberately planted it in gardens, and that was a terrible idea. Now, it’s… Continue reading

Thoughts on A Message from NaNoWriMo

I got an email today from the National Novel Writing Month head office, as I suspect many did. I have feelings. And questions. First, I genuinely believe someone in the office is panicking and backtracking and did not endorse all that was said and done in the last month. From… Continue reading

We are funded!

I’m currently at Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Colorado Gold conference, both speaking and learning from some awesome authors and publishers. But also, we just wrapped up BackerKit’s first ever Booktopia, with my new epic fantasy series The Eyes of Mandoral, and we rocked it! Thank you all so much–I really… Continue reading

It’s today! The Eyes of Mandoral goes live!

Today’s the day! The #Booktopia campaign for The Eyes of Mandoral will go live at 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern. Galen was unhappy in his overcrowded farmhouse even before learning his uncles murdered his father for the spoils of a robbery. Now the only way to keep his family from… Continue reading

An Adventure on Fuji-san

On relatively short notice (just less than a month), I decided with two friends to climb Mt. Fuji. This wasn’t quite as ridiculous as it sounds. I had traveled with these friends in Japan before, specifically for a week of mountain hiking on the Kumano Kodō. While I live in… Continue reading

Cover Reveal for The Poet’s Eye! (and a huge sale)

Big news today, on two fronts! 75% off Audiobook Sale! I’ve never seen this before! I don’t set the pricing on the audiobook of Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out, and it’s rarely on sale—but just now, it’s on a 75% discount. That’s just $3.25 USD for the whole audiobook!… Continue reading

Origins Game Fair: A Trove of Legacies

The Origins Game Fair theme this year is Legacy of Gaming, and that was reflected in the anthology of short fiction, A Trove of Legacies. Each year the Origins authors collaborate to put together an anthology of short fiction. My story, “A Signet to Save,” is a side story featuring… Continue reading

Cover Reveal: Carpe Noctem

Cover reveal! Feast your eyes on Carpe Noctem, a collection of stories about the night. A little spooky, a little edgy, and an extra surprise you might not expect from a book… Night transforms the world. Owls and bats claim the sky from songbirds, nocturnal predators prowl beneath cover of… Continue reading

A Senjafuda Joke. (I’m a nerd.)

I have a talk about senjafuda, paper seals marked with one’s name or pseudonym pasted at shrines and temples, originally as an act of devotion. The pasting later also became an act of self-promotion or as a contest against priests or other pasters (who can get their name to the… Continue reading