Loren Rhoads's Blog, page 26
February 7, 2019
Get Published podcast
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In addition to talking about my 1-week book tour to my favorite bookstores in Southern California (including Dark Delicacies and Mysterious Galaxy) for 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die, I got to talk about Shut Up & Write, NaNoWriMo, Writing Down the Bones, and how to get yourself motivated to do the work. Check me out on the Get Published podcast: http://traffic.libsyn.com/getpublishedpodcast/Get_Published_Podcast_Episode_185_Loren_Rhoads.mp3
Paul has done over 200 episodes now, covering an enormous spectrum of writing tips and tricks.
February 4, 2019
5 Questions from Dianna Sanchez
Photo by Felix Rust Photography.
Dianna Sanchez is another member of Broad Universe, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting, encouraging, honoring, and celebrating women writers and editors in science fiction, fantasy, horror and other speculative genres.
Dianna is the not-so-secret identity of Jenise Aminoff, whose superpower is cooking with small children. She is an MIT alumna, graduate of the 1995 Clarion Workshop, frequent participant in Odyssey Online, active member of SCBWI, the Author’s Guild, Broad Universe, and New England Speculative Writers, and former editor at New Myths magazine. Aside from 18 years as a technical and science writer, she has taught science in Boston Public Schools, developed curricula for STEM education, and taught Preschool Chef, a cooking class for children ages 3-5. A Latina geek originally from New Mexico, she now lives in the Boston area with her husband and two children.
Dianna has published two novels: A Witch’s Kitchen (Dreaming Robot Press, September 2016), and its sequel, A Pixie’s Promise, which came out in September 2018. Her short fiction appears in the 2017 and 2018 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guides.
She describes A Pixie’s Promise:
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Petunia’s tired of being overlooked just because she’s six inches tall.
She gets lost at home among her gazillion brothers, sisters, and cousins. Her own parents don’t remember her name. When her best friend Millie offers a vacation at her house, Petunia jumps at the chance. Cooking for Millie’s witch of a mother and babysitting a tree should be easy, right? But when an epidemic of spickle pox hits the Enchanted Forest and Millie’s mother comes down with a mysterious illness, Petunia must pitch in to brew cures as quickly as she can, even if that means using up all her pixie dust. It’s a good thing she has friends to help.
Did something in the real world inspire A Pixie’s Promise?
While my immediate family is small – I have only two siblings – I have about ten bazillion cousins and grew up surrounded by a large extended family. My abuela just could not keep track of us all. When she wanted to call someone’s name, she often ended up running through the whole list of people in the room: “MaxDiannaCathyJim!” And then she just gave up, pointed at the person she wanted, and yelled, “You! Youyouyou!”
When I set out to write A Pixie’s Promise, I gave my protagonist Petunia a big family in which she feels lost and overlooked. The enormous bed that Petunia sleeps in with all her siblings was inspired by Abuela’s experience growing up with six sisters and only one bed for all of them. To this, I added the fact that Petunia is a six-inch-tall pixie who’s literally overlooked by most other folk in the Enchanted Forest, which drives her to distinguish herself any way she can. She gets into fights, she tells really bad jokes, but eventually she finds something she loves to do and develops more positive ways to make herself stand out.
What is your favorite scene in the book?
In one chapter, Petunia is kidnapped by a dragon alchemist who needs her to make a particular potion. Petunia refuses to cooperate and fights back as only a pixie can, by being faster and more clever, and by pelting the dragon with bad dragon jokes. This chapter was so much fun to write! It marks a turning point where Petunia pulls together all her skills and talents to overcome rather large obstacles.
What was your writing process like as you wrote the book?
Ridiculously complicated! I have a bad tendency to kitchen-sink my novels: when I write, I get an idea, and I throw it in. When I first turned in A Pixie’s Promise to Dreaming Robot Press, they responded with, “Um, there is WAY too much going on in this book.” They asked me to split the novel into two novels, neither of which would be novel length. That was fine, because they wanted me to use that space to expand and fully develop the plot threads and character arc. I had to sit with this idea for a good month before I finally agreed with them. A Pixie’s Promise turned out really well as a result.
[image error]What was the best thing that happened during your promotion of the book?
With A Witch’s Kitchen, my first novel, I really had to do a lot of legwork to promote my novel and get invited to local events and readings. Now that I’m an established author, I’m starting to get invitations out of the blue from schools and bookstores, which is really gratifying. No, I take it back: the best thing by far was the enormous hug I got from one of my young fans at my launch party.
What do you have planned next?
I’m working on finishing book three of my Enchanted Kitchen series, An Elf’s Equations, which was carved out the second half of that first version of A Pixie’s Promise. It’s been very tricky because I had to change protagonists. Petunia’s character arc was largely resolved in A Pixie’s Promise. My publisher pointed out that another character, Sagara, had largely taken charge for the half of the plot that I then set aside. It made logical sense to have Sagara, a math-loving elf, be the protagonist, but I hadn’t really done any of the work to figure out her character. I needed to do that in order to interweave her character arc with the existing plot. Of course, that has required some more changes to the plot. I got a lot of inspiration from an extended trip to Sweden and Finland last summer that I’m also integrating into the setting. It’s been quite challenging, but ultimately, I think it’s going to turn out great. And after that, on to book four with yet another protagonist, which will take place mostly in Atlantis.
You can pick up a copy of A Pixie’s Promise on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2ryJZ8x.
Check out all of Dianna’s books on her Amazon page: https://amzn.to/2rydYxc.
Or follow her:
Web site: www.diannasanchez.com
Blog: www.diannasanchez.com/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/diannasanchezbooks/
Twitter: @diannabooks
January 31, 2019
WOLF NOTES: An Uncommon Interview – Loren Rhoads
My friend A.L. Kaplan returned the favor by inviting me to be interviewed on her blog. She asked some really fun questions!
January 28, 2019
5 Questions for A. L. Kaplan
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A. L. Kaplan is another of my sisters in Broad Universe, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting, encouraging, honoring, and celebrating women writers and editors in science fiction, fantasy, horror and other speculative genres.
A. L. Kaplan’s love of books started as a child and sparked a creative imagination. Born on a cold winter morning in scenic northern New Jersey, her stories and poems have been included in several anthologies and magazines. Her novel, Star Touched, came out October 2017. She is the Maryland Writers’ Association’s Vice President and served on the Howard County Chapter board for several years. A. L. holds an MFA in sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art. When not writing or indulging in her fascination with wolves, A. L. is the props manager for a local theatre. This proud mother of two lives in Maryland with her husband and dog.
She describes her novel Star Touched:
Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population. Her power to heal may be overshadowed by more destructive abilities. Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble. Will Tatiana flee or stay and fight for the new life she has built? Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends…and herself.
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Did something in the real world inspire your book?
Star Touched was born from a series of nightmares: huge waves of water, giant fireballs, etc. There are several scenes that are straight from those dreams. There are real world inspirations as well. Tatiana’s favorite book, Island of the Blue Dolphins, is also one of mine. The bit about the octopus came from a trip to the aquarium. Some things I didn’t plan on that just sort of happened were the huge meteor that passed nearby earlier in 2018 or the multitude of natural disasters. Really, I didn’t plan that.
What is your favorite scene in Star Touched?
How to choose? I’ll have to go with the first time Fifi transforms. She’s very spontaneous and that scene really shows who she is, which is more than how she appears. It’s also the chapter where my critique group stopped hassling me about naming a teacup poodle Fifi. Don’t shake your head. Read chapter three. It says it all.
What was your writing process like?
I’m somewhere between a pantser and a planner. Many key scenes were vivid from the beginning. Others took a bit of prying. I’d wake in the middle of the night with an important plot point, or figure things out while driving. I have notes scribbled on scraps of paper, napkins, even a few tissues (clean ones).
What was the best thing that happened during your promotion of Star Touched?
This isn’t exactly part of my promotion, but I was at a conference last year that had a YA panel made up of teens. When the moderator asked them if there were any books they’d recommend, one of them said Star Touched. Totally made my day.
What do you have planned next?
I’m working on several projects right now, which is very unusually for me. There is a sequel to Star Touched, a YA fantasy, a sci-fi fantasy series, and a few short stories.
You can pick up a copy of Star Touched yourself at Amazon: https://amzn.to/2SIhuRj.
Where to follow A.L.’s work:
Her Amazon page: https://amzn.to/2QKGcTD
Her homepage: https://www.Alkaplanauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorA.L.Kaplan/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14030738.A_L_Kaplan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alkaplanauthor
January 22, 2019
Dark Delicacies
Me, Christa Faust, and Maria Alexander at Dark Delicacies
In 2008, I did my first book signing as a “real” author. Before that, I’d done events for Morbid Curiosity magazine for 10 years, but in those cases, I was showcasing the work of other authors. I served as emcee, but those shows weren’t about me. They were about the community brought together by the magazine.
[image error]That changed when Sins of the Sirens came out. The book was a four-women anthology. The editor chose my four stories to open the book. Two of the stories had been published previously: “Still Life with Broken Glass” in Cemetery Dance magazine and “Last-Born,” the first Alondra story to appear, in The Ghost-Breakers anthology. The others were new to the book: “Sound of Impact,” about a breakup gone spectacularly wrong, and “The Angel’s Lair,” the short story that led to my novel Lost Angels.
I got on a plane, flew to Burbank, and was practically consumed by nerves as I walked into Dark Delicacies for my first signing as an author. Del Howison, whom I’d met through the World Horror Conventions, was the perfect host. I came away with a Dark Delicacies t-shirt and a pen that was my favorite for signings to come. Thanks to Del, I felt like my work belonged alongside all the treasures he had for sale.
Dark Delicacies is an amazing bookstore. It’s dedicated to horror: books, movies, magazines, collectibles, clothing… You name it. I always spend more than I can afford there because it has things I’ve never seen anywhere else.
[image error]I returned in 2017 to sign copies of 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die. It was great to meet so many of my fellow taphophiles there, co-owner Sue Howison among them. Dark Delicacies has the best collection of cemetery books for sale that I’ve ever seen in one place.
For years now, the owners have watched their neighborhood changing around them. The little mom and pop places have been driven out by increasing rents and more restrictive parking limitations. Del and Sue fought for the neighborhood, but the time has come. They have to move.
They’re doing a Go Fund Me to raise money to fix up a new home for the bookstore. It is also in Burbank, but away from their lovely tree-lined street. If you can possibly kick in a few dollars to keep this amazing bookstore alive and help with their move, here’s the link: https://www.gofundme.com/dark-delicacies-relocation-fundraiser
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January 21, 2019
5 Questions for Jennifer R. Povey
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Jennifer R. Povey is another member of Broad Universe, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting, encouraging, honoring, and celebrating women writers and editors in science fiction, fantasy, horror and other speculative genres.
Born in Nottingham, England, Jennifer now lives in Northern Virginia, where she writes everything from heroic fantasy to stories for Analog. She is currently working on an urban fantasy series of which the most recent volume, Fallen Dark, was released in the summer of 2017. She is a regular writer and designer of tabletop RPG supplements for a number of companies. Her interests include horseback riding, Doctor Who, and attempting to out-weird her various friends and professional colleagues.
Falling Dusk is the first volume of her Lost Guardians series:
Anna McKenzie just wants her life back. She wants the brutal murder of her brother never to have happened. She certainly doesn’t want magic, power, and to deal with a certain vigilante named Victor Prince… …but once the world of magic has claimed her, there is no escape.
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Did something in the real world inspire Falling Dusk?
Yes and no. I’ll be honest and say this book was written as a response to the vampire romance craze. I wanted to portray a (reasonably) healthy relationship with a supernatural boyfriend.
What is your favorite scene in the book?
That’s a favorite child question! It has to be the scene right at the end where the cat comes to the rescue. Anything else would be spoilers, but there’s a reason I have a plush cat with my convention stuff.
What was your writing process like as you wrote the book?
I’m mostly a pantser/discovery writer. This was book one of the series, and I thought I knew how the series ended. Thought. Heck, it wasn’t meant to be as romantic as it was. The characters, especially Anna and Victor, tended to take over. With the later books, I spent a lot of time with the book on one side of my screen and Google Earth on the other. This let me “move” through the locations with the characters. I highly recommend it, if you’re writing in the real world but not in the location you live in.
What was the best thing that happened during your promotion of the book?
Honestly, the one thing I can think of is walking past registration at a con and seeing the volunteer reading it. There’s nothing like seeing your own book “in the wild.”
What do you have planned next?
I just finished and released book four in the series (Risen Day). My next release is with my editor right now: it’s a standalone urban fantasy currently titled Paths. I might be changing the title. After that, I’m going to go back to one of my science fiction universes and write a “parallel” book to my first novel, Transpecial. A sidequel, maybe?
Pick up a copy of Falling Dusk at https://amzn.to/2Qmqyyu.
Check out all of Jennifer’s books on her Amazon page https://amzn.to/2EoI6Ue.
January 14, 2019
5 Questions for Carole McDonnell
[image error]Carole McDonnell is another of my sisters in Broad Universe, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting, encouraging, honoring, and celebrating women writers and editors in science fiction, fantasy, horror and other speculative genres.
Carole is a writer of Christian, supernatural, and ethnic stories. She writes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and reviews. Her story collections are Spirit Fruit: Collected Speculative Fiction and Turn Back O Time and other stories of the fae of Malku. She has several stand-alone novels: Wind Follower, My Life as an Onion, The Constant Tower, Who Gave Sleep and Who Has Taken It Away? She’s also writing several series: The Brothers Worth, The Nephilim Dystopia, and Novels of the Malku Universe.
Carole stopped by to tell me about her book, My Life as an Onion:
After the loss of her fiance, Denise Higgins, a young Jamaican American college student, has fallen on hard times. Struggling with grief, her impoverished life, and a needy family, she accepts an opportunity as a sober companion. Her job is simple: keep Ben Moreau away from drugs and report back to his parents. Then she meets him. Ben Moreau, despite being three years her junior, proves to be far more alluring than she ever thought possible. Not only is he a gorgeous and wealthy French Korean with an ever so charming personality, he is also generous and willing to befriend her so long as he can have her loyalty. Following her heart may only bring her grief. Ignoring it is certain to.
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Did something in the real world inspire My Life as an Onion?
So, so many things happened. I wanted to write a book that contained all the strange things that had happened to me. I’ve had folks ask me if the book was “true.” My only answer is, “The weird stuff happened. The non-weird stuff is all made up.”
What is your favorite scene in the book?
The scene where the angel appears. There are scenes of demons, spirit-sight, generational family curses, but the angel scene is my favorite. Not much happens when the main character sees the angel, but by then her life is in such shambles that the sight of the angel gives her some hope.
What was your writing process like as you wrote the book?
I wanted to be free, totally free. I wanted it to be a Christian book, but I knew that would turn off a few people. I wanted it to be honest about the sexuality of new adults. I wanted to get everything off my chest. In addition, I’ve often disliked Christian fiction books that showed a normal mainstream kind of story, so I wanted to show the natural supernatural events that happens to people as they go about life: magical realism in a normal, casual way. I love Korean, Japanese, and Chinese dramas, so I wanted to do a reverse harem story based on Korean drama tropes. I also wanted to write a book where all these hot guys were in various states of crushes on a dark-skinned Black girl. I felt baring my soul in a book was something young Christian Black girls needed, but it took so much courage. One reviewer said he liked the book but he felt the love story was wish-fulfillment. I had feared that. Other readers loved it and I reminded myself that my book wasn’t made for certain male readers. I’m glad I was brave.
What was the best thing that happened during your promotion of the book?
Someone emailed to tell me the book really touched him. That made my day.
What do you have planned next?
My wheelhouse is tribal fantasy — Wind Follower and The Constant Tower, but I figured I should try writing a paranormal romance. So My Life as an Onion is my only contemporary Christian book so far.
I’ve returned to my wheelhouse. Right now I’m working on two fantasies that are part of two trilogies. The book I’m working on is SeaWalker and it will follow the already published The Charcoal Bride, which is the first of a trilogy about an evil curse that goes through the bloodline of the Malku kings. Malku is a universe where humans, faes, and merfolk live in a pretty diverse society.
The other book I’m working on is The Chimeran Queen. This will be the second installment of the Nephilim Dystopian trilogy, a world where standard humans, chimeric humans, demonic princes, and clones all live in utter disharmony. The first published installment is The Daughters of Men. Folks liked those two books, so I feel I should just get my act together and write the next books in both series.
You can pick up a copy of My Life as an Onion from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Pxh9im.
Check out all of Carole’s books on her Amazon page: https://amzn.to/2PvGbhU.
Follow her new works on her blog: http://carolemcdonnell.blogspot.com/.
January 7, 2019
5 Questions for Dawn Vogel
[image error]Dawn Vogel is another of my sisters in Broad Universe, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting, encouraging, honoring, and celebrating women writers and editors in science fiction, fantasy, horror and other speculative genres.
Dawn’s academic background is in history, so it’s not surprising that much of her fiction is set in earlier times. By day, she edits reports for historians and archaeologists. In her alleged spare time, she runs a craft business, co-edits Mad Scientist Journal, and tries to find time for writing. She is a member of Broad Universe, SFWA, and Codex Writers. She lives in Seattle with her husband, author Jeremy Zimmerman, and their herd of cats. Visit her at http://historythatneverwas.com or on Twitter @historyneverwas.
Her steampunk series, Brass and Glass, is being published by Razorgirl Press. Here’s how Dawn describes the first volume, The Cask of Cranglimmering:
In the windy skies of the Republic, it’s not always easy to chart your own course. When Svetlana Tereshchenko, captain of the airship The Silent Monsoon, catches wind that a cask of mythical Cranglimmering whiskey has been stolen, she and her crew of outcasts fly off in search of it. With the promise of a reward worthy of the cask’s legendary lineage from both the Heliopolis Port Authority and the head of the Kavisoli crime family, Svetlana and her renegade crew embark on a breathless chase that takes The Silent Monsoon from one end of the Republic to the other.
What Svetlana assumes will be an easy search and recover mission quickly becomes more complicated as each step she takes uncovers secrets and lies about the cask and its contents. Now, with an ethereal Ghost Ship haunting their path, friends reveal themselves as enemies and alliances develop with the most unlikely associates. The lives of her crew hang in the balance as Svetlana makes the crucial choice of whom she can trust and whom she should fear.
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Did something in the real world inspire Brass and Glass?
I don’t know that it was in the forefront of my mind, but the whiskey found in the Antarctic several years ago was probably floating around somewhere in my mind when I set out to write about a lost cask of whiskey.
What is your favorite scene in the book?
About midway through Brass and Glass, Captain Svetlana Tereshchenko’s crew has dressed her up, complete with two corsets, to attend a fancy party. Said dressing up is very much not her thing. At the first available opportunity, she asks a gentleman acquaintance to help her get out of her clothes. And while she means it entirely innocently, things get a bit steamy as the scene progresses.
I really loved writing this scene because it’s absolutely loaded with layers of nuance and emotion. It does a lot to establish the relationship between Svetlana and Lar.
What was your writing process like as you wrote the book?
Brass and Glass began life as a short story, but everyone who read it thought it read like the beginning of a book. So while I was on a writer’s retreat, I crowdsourced some REALLY random ideas from my friends, and then cobbled together an outline from those pieces. I finished the first draft a few months later and set it aside for a bit. After a few rounds of my own editing and some beta readers, I found a small publisher interested in publishing the book. Of course, one of their first questions to me was “Are there sequels?” And now, two years later, yes there are. (Book 2, The Long Cursed Map, came out in April 2018, and book 3, The Boiling Sea, is slated for spring 2019.)
What was the best thing that happened during your promotion of the book?
I did a local author event at a nearby bookstore, where there were about 20 authors promoting their books. It started with all of the authors taking a turn to talk about their books and other writing, along with some trivia and other games. The whole time we’re sitting there, there was a young woman in the front row with both of my books at the top of her stack. She hurried over to me as soon as it was time for autographs. She had come to the event especially because I was going to be there, and she was so excited to get my books and autograph! That was a fantastic moment for me. It was the first time I’d met a fan who had started out as a stranger to me!
What do you have planned next?
I still have the third book of the Brass and Glass series to edit, but I’m currently writing something completely different—a post-apocalyptic novel about recovering from past traumas and finding a new place to belong. After that, I’ve got a young adult novel and a middle grade novel in the earliest planning stages.
You can get a copy of The Cask of Cranglimmering at Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EddpR4
Or check out the whole series on Dawn’s Amazon page: https://amzn.to/2EarcYG
December 31, 2018
Never Enough 2018: the Finale
Considering I didn’t have a major release out this year, I’m pretty pleased with the number of interviews I did and the attention that 199 Cemeteries is still receiving.
Podcasts
[image error]Extreme Genes, my first genealogy podcast ever, chatted with me about cemeteries on 3/25/18. My bit starts 24 minutes in:
https://extremegenes.com/2018/02/25/episode-226-black-history-month-advances-in-african-american-research-199-cemeteries-to-see-before-you-die/
Venerable goth podcast Cemetery Confessions broadcast our conversation about cemeteries on 6/17/18:
http://www.thebelfry.rip/blog/2018/6/15/cemetery-expert-loren-rhoads
Mark from On the Odd chatted with me about 199 Cemeteries on October 26, 2018: https://ontheodd.com/199-cemeteries-to-see-before-you-die/
And I’ve recorded two more podcasts that haven’t been released yet: I talked with Timothy Renner about cemeteries for the Strange Familiars podcast and Paul G. Brodie about Shut Up and Write for his Get Published podcast.
Print/Online Interviews:
“Loren Rhoads takes us through the gates of the Cemetery” for Women in Horror Month on Library of the Damned 2/22/18: http://libraryofthedamned.com/2018/02/22/wihm-interview-loren-rhoads-takes-us-through-the-gates-of-the-cemetery/
[image error]Martha J. Allard interviewed me on her blog about the history behind the Alondra stories when Alondra’s Experiments came out. “New Contemporary Fantasy by Loren Rhoads” appeared 2/28/18:
https://marthajallard.blogspot.com/2018/02/new-contemporary-fantasy-from-loren.html
Terri Leigh Relf asked me about my work/life balance (which is more like a pendulum) for her A Day in the Life interview on 3/13/18: https://tlrelf.wordpress.com/a-day…/a-day-in-the-life-presents-author-loren-rhoads/
Christine Verstraete did a 5 Questions interview on her Girl Zombie Author blog on 6/12/18. We talked about Alondra’s Investigations: https://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com/…/5-questions-with-horror-author-loren-rhoad…
Sonora Taylor invited me by for a Q&A on her blog on 8/15/18. Mostly we talked about 199 Cemeteries, but also got into the Alondra stories: https://sonorawrites.com/2018/08/15/ask-the-author-a-qa-with-loren-rhoads/
[image error]Ruschelle Dillon covered all my books in her in-depth Horror Tree interview on 8/20/18: https://horrortree.com/the-horror-tree-presentsan-interview-with-loren-rhoads/
Fiona McVie interviewed me for a second time on her Author Interviews blog on 9/16/18. This time we talked about the Alondra chapbooks:
https://authorsinterviews.wordpress.com/2018/09/06/here-is-my-interview-with-loren-rhoads-2/
Erin Al-Mehairi invited me by her Oh, for the Hook of a Book! blog for a long conversation about cemeteries and more on 10/30/18: https://hookofabook.wordpress.com/2018/10/30/hookinterview-cemetery-travel-writer-and-horror-author-loren-rhoads-lohf/
Articles:
199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die still got some press attention this year, even though it’s been out a while. Most of these stories were a nice surprise when I stumbled across them online.
I served as a consultant about Potter’s Fields for “State-Funded Funerals: What Happens to the Unclaimed Dead” on How Stuff Works on 2/23/18. I’m a fan of the podcast, so this was an honor! https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/cultural-traditions/state-funded-funerals-what-happens-to-unclaimed-dead.htm
A feature story on 199 Cemeteries called “From Established to Eccentric, These Cemeteries are To Die For” appeared on Gonomad on 4/23/18: https://www.gonomad.com/109276-from-established-to-eccentric-these-cemeteries
Lifestyles over 50 reprinted Larry Bleiberg’s “10 Great Cemeteries to See Before You Die”: https://lifestylesafter50.com/10-great-cemeteries-to-visit-before-you-die/
Atlas Obscura did a lovely piece called “In Search of Cemeteries Alive With Beauty, Art, and History” for Halloween: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cemeteries-to-visit-before-you-die-monuments
Halloween Lifestyle cautioned readers “Don’t Die Before You see These Amazing Cemeteries”: http://www.halloween-lifestyle.com/2018/04/23/dont-die-before-seeing-these-amazing-cemeteries/
And the Steampunk Explorer put together an in-depth 3-part series of historic cemeteries that would appeal to those of a steampunk persuasion:
Part 1: USA and Canada
https://steampunk-explorer.com/articles/exploring-historic-cemeteries-part-i
Part 2: Europe
https://steampunk-explorer.com/articles/exploring-historic-cemeteries-part-ii
Part 3: The Rest of the World
https://steampunk-explorer.com/articles/exploring-historic-cemeteries-part-iii
Miscellaneous Good Things:
This is my catch-all category of things that made me smile this year.
199 Cemeteries made the preliminary ballot for the Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Award in Nonfiction. While the book didn’t advance to the final ballot, it was still an honor to make the long list.
Martha Allard reviewed Alondra’s Experiments. This is my favorite part: “Because they follow a single main character they are less like traditional short stories and more like serial chapters of a book, much like Charles DeLint’s Newford stories. This is a good thing for readers, because it means there are more Alondra adventures in store.”
I took part in the Bloody Valentine Horror Event on Facebook on Valentine’s Day, which gave me the opportunity to promote the first Alondra chapbook, Alondra’s Experiments. It was really fun. Thanks to Anita Stewart for setting that up.
The podcast Two Girls One Ghost read my fan letter on air after they mentioned 199 Cemeteries in an earlier episode. Here’s a link to their Haunted Cemeteries podcast: https://audioboom.com/posts/6692482-episode-27-rest-in-peace This originally aired on 2/25/18.
“Grief,” Martha J. Allard’s piece about how reading my space opera books got her through her dad’s death was published on 4/4/18. It is the nicest thing anyone ever said about my writing. https://marthajallard.blogspot.com/2018/04/grief.html
199 Cemeteries made a Buzzfeed list! “30 Gorgeous Products for Anyone with a Morbid Mind” appeared on 4/13/18: https://www.buzzfeed.com/malloryannp/gorgeous-products-morbid-mind
I came across the first edition of Wish You Were Here: Adventures in Cemetery Travel listed on Amazon for $1200. I’d be glad to set you up with one for 10 bucks.
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I sold out of Morbid Curiosity #7 in June! Only #10 left to go.
I got to spend another wonder retreat at Gilchrist in Three Rivers, Michigan. That definitely was a highlight of the year.
Donnie Mirasou wrote in August to say they were using 199 Cemeteries as part of a burlesque routine. That is so cool!
Nancy Kilpatrick blurbed Alondra’s Adventures:
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Sonora Taylor mentioned 199 Cemeteries in her list “October Reads: Time for (More) Darkness” recommendation list on 10/5/18: https://sonorawrites.com/2018/10/05/october-reads-time-for-more-darkness/
I contributed in a small way to Christine Verstraete’s list “October Frights: Favorite Monsters” on 10/14/18: https://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com/2018/10/october-frights-day-5-favorite-monsters.html
I contributed in another small way to Atlas Obscura’s “The Foods You Want People to Leave on Your Grave” on Halloween: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/food-or-drink-you-want-placed-on-your-grave
Through the month of November, I hosted a series of Nanowrimo Write-ins at the Borderlands Cafe in San Francisco.
[image error]I got a new series of author portraits taken by Anna Carson Dewitt. She did a great job of making me comfortable and getting a whole lot of different expressions from me. Check out her work: https://annacarsondewittphotography.shootproof.com/
I got to provide a cover blurb for the first time. I am really excited about Erin-Marie Legacey’s Making Space for the Dead, which is coming from Cornell University Press in April 2019.
[image error]I’ll have more to say about this soon, but I blended a series of teas to represent the characters in my Alondra short stories. I can’t wait to share them with you.
In the meantime, you can check them out at Adagio Tea:
https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/group.html?group=15483
December 27, 2018
Never Enough: Live in 2018
Never Enough doesn’t really describe this year’s live events, because I’m pleased with how many times I got invited to speak or read in public. I’m not sure I could have managed anything more.
Lectures:
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At Cypress Lawn in Colma in September
I spoke to Angela Hennessy’s “Over My Dead Body” class at the California College of the Arts on 2/20/18. My lecture was called “Memento Mori: Even Graveyards Die.”
For the “Memento Mori” evening of the Reimagine End of Life week, I talked about the history and dismantling of “Laurel Hill Cemetery: San Francisco’s Garden Cemetery” on 4/17/18 at the Swedish American Hall. The evening’s whole lineup is here.
I talked about how I came to write 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die at the Association for Gravestone Studies conference in Danbury, Connecticut on 6/21/18.
I showed slides of my favorite cemeteries from 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California on 9/15/18.
One of my favorite events of the year was speaking at the National Novel Writing Month Kick-Off Party at the Bindery on San Francisco’s Haight Street on 9/29/18. I talked about writing The Dangerous Type and Kill By Numbers during Nanowrimos — and using the skills I learned during the annual challenge to finish the third book in the trilogy, No More Heroes. It was really great to be able to give back to the program.
Professor Steven Brown invited me to speak to his horticultural class as San Francisco’s City College on October 1, 2018.
My last lecture of the year was near to my heart. For years, I wanted to trace the development of San Francisco’s Old Mission Cemetery through tourist postcards. I finally got to do it as part of the Odd Salon’s “Cemetery Stories” event during the Litcrawl on 10/20/18. My lecture was called “Postcards from History.”
Readings:
[image error]Love to Death
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Old Devil Moon, 3472 Mission Street, San Francisco
With Anna Avery, Danny Thanh Nguyen, and Sumiko Saulson
I read the bloody bits of “Valentine” from my brand-new collection Alondra’s Experiments.
FogCon
The Spectrum of Horror
Friday, March 9, 2018 at 8 pm
E.M. Markoff and I talked about the Horror Writers Association, then read selections from our work. I reading two of the ghost stories from 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die and the bloody bit from “Valentine” in my Alondra’s Experiments chapbook.
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Me and E.M. Markoff at FogCon.
FogCon
Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading
Friday, March 9, 2018 at 9:30 pm
Members of Broad Universe read a 5-minute excerpt in two rounds, hosted by Rebecca Gomez Farrell. Participants included Sarah Grey, LS Johnson, and Liz Green.
I read the initial seduction from Lost Angels and the beginning of “Catalyst,” another story from Alondra’s Experiments.
FogCon
Strange California reading
Saturday, March 10, 2018 at 1:30 pm
Contributors to the Strange California anthology read portions of their stories, moderated by J. Daniel Batt. Participants included Lara Blackwell, Marion Deeds, Chaz Brenchley, K. A. Rochnik, Juliette Wade, and me.
I read the necromancy scene from “Guardian of the Golden Gate,” the Alondra story that appeared in the anthology.
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Marion Deeds, K. A. Rochnik, and me at FogCon
Author Fest
San Mateo Public Library
Saturday, July 14, 2018 at noon
Emerian Rich gathered a mob of authors: S. G. Browne, Jonathan Fortin, Tina Gibson, Laurel Ann Hill, Mercy Hollow, Lea Kirk, E.M. Markoff, R. L. Merrill, Valerie Frankel, Sumiko Saulson, J. Malcolm Stewart, Dave M. Strohm
I read the attack on the beach from No More Heroes.
WorldCon
Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading
Saturday, August 18, 2018
E.C. Ambrose, Sue Burke, Elizabeth Crowens, Rebecca Gomez Farrell, Jude-Marie Green, Sally Wiener Grotta, J. Tullos Hennig, L.S. Johnson, E.M. Markoff, Tina LeCount Myers, Roberta Rogow, Katheryn Sullivan, Wendy Van Camp, Erin Wilcox, moderated by me.
I read Haoun flirting with Raena in the arcade from No More Heroes.
[image error]The Vogue Theater
Thursday, September 13, 2018
I read “Sado,” the scene in the Japanese restaurant, from Lost Angels before the showing of Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis de Sade in Quills.
30 in 30 Portals reading
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Old Devil Moon, 3472 Mission Street, San Francisco
I read my succubus Lorelei meeting David Bowie from an unfinished story that I started during the class, thanks to Carson Beker.
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Me, with Mercy Hollow, E.M. Markoff, and Emerian Rich
Tales of Horror
San Mateo Public Library
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Participants included Emerian Rich, Mercy Hollow, E.M. Markoff, R. L. Merrill,
I read part of “Sakura Time,” the Japanese ghost story from the third Alondra chapbook, Alondra’s Adventures. The well-attended event was even more fun because all the authors wore costumes.
Miscellaneous Live Events:
Bay Area Book Festival
Saturday, April 28, 2018
I spend another Saturday hanging out with the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Horror Writers Association at the Book Festival this year. I didn’t sell as many books, but the company was really fun.
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Ken Hueler, Jeff Seeman, EM Markoff, Matthew Brockmeyer, me, Anthony De Rouen, Ambyrhawke Shadowsinger, and Crystal Romero with Carlos.
[image error]The 2nd Annual Imagination Fair at Bay Con
Saturday, May 26, 2018
I joined the crew to chat about cemeteries. Setting up my table was extra fun because I brought along some of my favorite Halloween decorations.
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Book Signing at BayCon
Sunday, May 27, 2018
I did my first book signing at BayCon this year. And yes, I rocked my “Call Me General” t-shirt. I split the table so that half was my nonfiction (in this case, cemetery) books. The other side was space opera and succubi.
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Book Signing at WorldCon
Thursday, August 16, 2018
I also did my first book signing at this year’s WorldCon. In fact, I did two! The first was at the SFWA table in the Dealers Room, where people surprised me by being most interested in 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die.
I did a second signing at the Broad Universe table, thanks to Wendy Van Camp. In that case, people were more interested in The Dangerous Type, the first space opera novel.
Convention Panels:
BayCon:
Fan Fiction: A Stepping Stone or a Waste of Time?
Saturday, May 26 at 10 am
Moderated by Denise Tanaka, with me and David Coronado.
Cassandra Clare, author of the Mortal Instruments series, started building her fan base by writing serious Harry Potter fan fiction. The novel Fifty Shades of Gray started out as Twilight fan fiction. The panel will discuss and debate the pros and cons of writing unauthorized media tie-in fiction. Can a beginning writer gain any worthwhile skills in plotting, dialogue, or narrative exposition by writing in an established franchise?
On Beyond Rey
Sunday May 27, 2018 at 11:30 am
I moderated, with Carrie Sessarego and Denise Tanaka.
Now that women are central to the new Star Wars movies (other than Solo), what are some more female-centered projects that should come to the big screen? Bonus points for older works that should be rediscovered.
Master Class: Getting Out of the Slush Pile
Sunday May 27, 2018 at 5:30 pm
Emerian Rich and I talked about all we’ve learned about how to pitch, how to submit, and how to behave so you’re invited to submit again.
Fiction Set in or around the Bay Area
Monday May 28, 2018 at 11:30 AM
Moderated by Chad Peterman, with Fred Wiehe, Jennifer McGaffey, Katharine Kerr, and me.
Come talk about your favorite hometown books and maybe get some new ideas for your reading list.
WorldCon:
What Turns People on to Horror?
Thursday, August 16, 2018 at 3 pm
San Jose Convention Center
E.M. Markoff moderated, with Fred Wiehe, Scott Sigler, Richard Kadrey, me, and LS Johnson.
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. Roller coasters and skydiving, horror movies and dark fiction, mythology and folklore: what scares us and why are we drawn to it? Members of the Bay Area chapter of the Horror Writers Association share their first experiences with horror and discuss how their fears inspire their work. Audience members are encouraged to share their own experiences.
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Photo from Ellderet.com, used by permission.
