Sunday, December 30, 2012

Happy New Year!

Scared everybody off with that New Agey post last week, huh?

Never mind.  2012 is almost over and 2013 is less than 36 hours away.  Soon I'll have a whole new year in which to post crazy stuff and make everybody wonder.

This year has been pretty spectacular, and my thanks go out to all of you for making it so.  As well you know, I've published three books, ramped up my participation at the Indie Exchange, and joined Indies Unlimited as a contributing author. More importantly, I've sold some some books and gained a few fans. I'm grateful to all of you for my success so far.

I've got a few tricks up my sleeve for 2013.  Gravid should be out in early spring, with Annealed to follow a few months later, assuming all goes well.  That will wrap up the Pipe Woman Chronicles, and force me to come up with an idea for a whole new series.  Aieee....  No idea what I'll do next, sorry.  Maybe some short stories.  Dunno yet.  I'll figure it out when the time comes.  I'm putting off thinking about it so that I don't get sidetracked from finishing Gravid and Annealed -- and nobody wants that, right?  Didn't think so.

Also, starting next week, I'm going to be instituting a new feature on the blog called "Rursday Reads."  I've been reading mostly indie books this year, but I haven't had time to post reviews around the web for months.  I figure if I review one book a week, I can whittle down my tottering pile of Books I Ought to Review within a few months -- and then we'll see where we are at that point.  I'll set up a separate tab for the reviews, and they'll go up on Thursdays.  Why the odd spelling, you ask?  Well, back when I was in junior high, Michigan City Area Schools turned our class scheduling over to a computer.  The schedule forms had a single-letter designation for each day of the week.  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday got the first letter of the word, but for some unknown reason, "R" was picked to designate Thursday.  Hence, Rursday.  And "Rursday Reads" has a nice alliterative thing going for it.  So there you go.

To be clear, I don't intend to turn this into a review blog, and I am NOT accepting books for review.  (Don't go looking for submission guidelines, guys -- there aren't any.)  I'm just trying to kick myself in the butt to get reviews of these books posted -- and, at the same time, give some love to my fellow indies who deserve it.

So those are my writing goals for 2013: finish the Pipe Woman Chronicles, write something else in the second half of the year, post some book reviews here on the blog, keep up with my regular posts all over the place and -- oh yeah, I'm starting another blog tour right after New Year's Day.  It's called the Orangeberry Big Bang Tour.  I don't have a complete schedule yet, but I'll post it on the Tour Dates tab once I get it.

Happy 2013!  Enjoy your celebrations, stay safe, and see you next year!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

We're sorry. Your regularly scheduled apocalypse will not occur at this time.

First things first:  Thanks to everybody who made this last week a success!  Allison Bruning had a health issue, so my post that was supposed to go up on her blog on the 20th didn't happen 'til yesterday.  But everything else went off like clockwork, which is pretty amazing.  I hope you enjoyed all the blog posts, as well as the quotes and the contests here.

Congrats to Viola Pieske, who won the $25 Amazon gift card and the "I Survived the End of the World" key chain!  I'll get that in the mail to you directly.

Thanks again to everybody for playing!

***
We're well past the winter solstice now, and it looks like we're still here.  Of course, in Naomi's alternate universe, things are just getting started.  But I digress....

Or maybe not.

The apocalypse watchers appeared to split into two camps.  There were the ones who relied on a little iffy science and a lot of credulous what-ifs, and posited that a galactic superwave or a shift of the Earth's poles -- or something equally dire -- would cause the world to blow up.  Clearly, none of that happened.

But the other folks -- including, interestingly enough, actual Mayans (yes, they still exist -- they live in the mountains of Central America) -- believe that what happened on the 21st was the end of the old era and the start of a new one.  Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, isn't Mayan, but he is a member of an indigenous South American tribe. In September, he made a speech about the solstice to the United Nations about the winter solstice.  Here's what he said:
According to the Mayan calendar the 21 of December is the end of the non-time and the beginning of time. It is the end of the Macha and the beginning of the Pacha, the end of selfishness and the beginning of brotherhood, it is the end of individualism and the beginning of collectivism – 21 of December this year. The scientists know very well that this marks the end of an anthropocentric life and the beginning of a bio-centric life. It is the end of hatred and the beginning of love, the end of lies and beginning of truth. It is the end of sadness and the beginning of happiness, it is the end of division and the beginning of unity, and this is a theme to be developed. That is why we invite all of you, those of you who bet on mankind: we invite those who want to share their experiences for the benefit of mankind.
Whatever you might think about Morales -- including where he found his scientists and what he means by "collectivism" -- I think it's hard to discount the sentiment he expressed.  Wouldn't it be great if we really were heading into an era of "the end of hatred and the beginning of love...the end of sadness and the beginning of happiness"?

On this post-apocalyptic Sunday night, two days before Christmas, I wish you the beginning of happiness and love.  Happy holidays, everyone.

***
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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Winter Solstice Advent Countdown, week 3 and final.

"I want you to understand one thing," Drew said. "If you take away nothing else from this trip, you should remember this."

"I'm listening," I said.

"It's true that the white men were gunning for the Indians.  They didn't understand us, they saw us as a threat, and they wanted nothing more than to eradicate us.  And so maybe if it hadn't been Wounded Knee, it would have been something else.  But it was this.  It was  Wounded Knee."  We had reached the edge of the parking lot by then.  He turned to me, his eyes riveted to mine. "And in point of fact, none of it would have happened if we hadn't believed in a prophet who told us Indians that better days were coming."

The comparison couldn't have been clearer if he'd hit me over the head with a tomahawk.

-- From Tapped

Here at La Casa Cantwell, it's starting to look a lot like Yule is actually coming.  I spent all day baking, so the house smells terrific.  (Five kinds of cookies, if you must know, plus peppermint bark and spiced nuts.)  The tree is up and decorated, and there are even a few presents under it with my name on them.
I can't help feeling sad, though, for the families in Connecticut whose kids won't be unwrapping presents this year, or ever again.  My heart goes out to all those who've lost someone in this tragedy.

Anyway, a lot is happening this week, in both Naomi's world and mine.  Please take a gander at the "Tour Dates" tab, which has been updated with my stops this coming week in connection with the Orangeberry Virtual Book Expo.  In addition, I've got three very special stops planned.  On Thursday, Allison Bruning's virtual cruise ship visits Naomi's apartment.  Then on Friday, the Indie Exchange has the Pipe Woman Chronicles as part of our Christmas Advent feature, *and* last but by no means least, the Cabin Goddess is letting me do another Fourth-Wall Friday, which I'm very excited about because it's a great feature and a lot of fun to do.

These last three events are important because you can get more entries in this week's contest if you comment at any one of those places.  The prizes this week are a $25 Amazon gift certificate and a key chain that says, "I survived the end of the world, December 21, 2012."  The picture below is about life-size -- the keychain is two inches in diameter -- but the real thing is a little more colorful.

One more piece of business before I go back to making cookies:  Congrats to Charles Ray, who won last week's contest!  Charles, I've sent you an e-mail; if you don't see it, please check your spam folder.  

Good luck, everybody,  Happy Yule, and see you on the other side of 12/21/12.

The Rules (sorry, gotta have 'em):

  1. Friends and family may definitely enter.
  2. Winners from my previous contest may win again.  However, winners from previous weeks in *this* contest may not win *this* contest again.
  3. If there is no winner one week, the prize(s) will be added to the following week's contest.  I am getting this stuff out of my house, one way or the other.
  4. As always, the judge's decisions are arbitrary, capricious, and final.

 ***
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Sunday, December 9, 2012

Winter Solstice Advent Countdown, Week 2.

I pulled my beret out of the coat pocket where I'd shoved it that morning and perched it on my head at what I hoped was a perky angle, using my reflection in a shop window as a guide. As I adjusted my hat, I noticed a man leaning against the building on the opposite side of the street.  That struck me as odd -- he wasn't one of our regular street people, and we were in the middle of the block, nowhere near a bus stop. I turned to get a better look at him, but he was gone. Must have ducked into the building. But I knew he hadn't time while I turned around. Maybe he was finishing a cigarette when I noticed him. Except that he hadn't been smoking.
I shrugged mentally and continued on. I'd gone about another block when an owl suddenly swooped past me, hooting. Startled, I grabbed onto my hat and stepped back. The owl hooted again, flew another hundred yards or so down the street, and then veered up and into the darkness.
"Okay, things are getting just a little too weird around here," I said aloud, and then clapped my gloved hand over my mouth.
-- From Seized
Tapped is off to a good start! It's now available just about everywhere in both e-book and paperback, including at Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and the Apple iBooks store, in addition to Amazon and Smashwords.  Thanks to those who have purchased it so far; you're all my new best friends.  And again, if you liked the book, please go back where you bought it and leave a review.  Indie authors' sales tend to live and die by the reviews they receive. Thanks in advance!

In addition, Tapped is one of the books featured at the Orangeberry Virtual Book Expo for the next couple of weeks.  I've got some blog stops scheduled this week in connection with the expo. Check the Tour Dates tab for more info.

One other housekeeping thing: Smashwords asked me to take down the preview for Gravid because it wasn't a complete book.  So I've moved it here to the blog.  The same caveats as before (re spoilers, etc.) apply.

Now then: Congratulations and a round of applause, please, for Chuck Myers, who wins last week's contest for the Cosmic Coyote pin. Way to go, Chuck! 

As I said, the prizes will be getting a little bigger as time goes on. This week, we have a $10 Amazon gift card (I know -- ho-hum, right?) and a way cool two-inch-wide pin featuring the fractal owl from the cover of Seized.  I had a limited number of these made to hand out at the World Fantasy Convention in Toronto last month, and this is the last one. (Except for mine, which nobody can have, muahaha!)

The rules follow and the place to enter is below.  Good luck, everybody! 

The Rules (sorry, gotta have 'em):

  1. Friends and family may definitely enter.
  2. Winners from my previous contest may win again.  However, winners from previous weeks in *this* contest may not win *this* contest again.
  3. If there is no winner one week, the prize(s) will be added to the following week's contest.  I am getting this stuff out of my house, one way or the other.
  4. As always, the judge's decisions are arbitrary, capricious, and final.

***
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Sunday, December 2, 2012

Winter Solstice Advent Countdown, Week 1.

Joseph howled. He shed his jeans jacket and shirt. And then he changed.
He had always shielded me from seeing him shift. I mean, I had seen him do it in his battle with Loki in the time-out-of-time. But those were spirit shifts, if you will; no actual human body was involved. Body parts just sort of melted and reformed there.
But here in the real world, it was real, and it looked painful.
-- from Fissured
It's release day for Tapped!  The e-book with the glowy wolf on the cover is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and in all kinds of formats from Smashwords.*  (The paperback, with the same cool cover, will go on sale sometime this week.)

In celebration of the new book -- and because, as you know, this year's winter solstice is a Very Big Deal in the Pipe Woman Chronicles -- I'm going to run a contest every week for the next three weeks.  The prizes will get bigger as the month goes on, with a grand prize in the final week.  (Not to say the Cosmic Coyote pin isn't cool. By the way, the pin looks huge in the box below, but in real life, it's two inches square.)

Um, well, I don't know what else to say here.  Hope you enjoy Tapped (and if you do, please go back to where you bought it and leave me a review -- thanks, you rock!), check out the contest rules below, and good luck!

* Alert readers of the Smashwords version of Tapped will find a link at the very end of the book to the first two chapters of Gravid: Book Four of the Pipe Woman Chronicles.  I'm providing these chapters with some misgivings.  First, Gravid was my NaNo project this year, so this is only a first draft and may change (a little or a lot!) by the time the book is published in the spring. Second, there is a major Tapped spoiler, right up front, that I could not take out.  Sooo...if you should decide to read the sneak peek on Smashwords before you read Tapped, don't come crying to me that it ruined Tapped for you.  Okay?  Okay.  Just so we're clear.

The Rules (sorry, gotta have 'em):
  1. Friends and family may definitely enter.
  2. Winners from my previous contest may win again.  However, winners from previous weeks in *this* contest may not win *this* contest again.
  3. If there is no winner one week, the prize(s) will be added to the following week's contest.  I am getting this stuff out of my house, one way or the other.
  4. As always, the judge's decisions are arbitrary, capricious, and final.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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