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Tag: arisia

Posted
January 9, 2018
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Arisia Schedule!

01082018 - Arisia LogoI love doing conventions, and I’m always really thrilled to return to the Arisia family each year!

And look… I am actually remembering to post my schedule so people can find me!

During hours I’m not on panels or giving workshops, there is an excellent chance you will find me at the Broad Universe table in the Dealer’s Room.  I have books! It makes me super happy when people buy said books and ask for signatures. <3

So, outside of the Broad Universe table, here’s where you can find me THIS weekend at ARISIA!

Friday, January 12, 8:30 PM, Room 404 – Party Not Found? 2 (Electric Boogaloo)

I’m hosting the Broad Universe party at Arisia, and they put me in Room 404 again—and even a technophobe like me can make bad puns. Do find us and enjoy great food, great stories, and meet some awesome Broads!

 

Saturday, January 13, 10:00 AM, Adams – Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading

(I’m waking up early after throwing a party for y’all!) Come discover your new favorite writer as members of Broad Universe read short excerpts from their work. Each writer has just a few minutes to show you what she’s capable of! We offer chocolate and the chance to win prizes. Broad Universe is an international organization that supports women writers, editors, and publishers. NOTE: Not all authors may be in attendance for the entire time slot. Other members of Broad Universe not listed may be reading.

 

Saturday, January 13, 7:00 PM, Douglas – Rewriting Fairy Tales: Updating our Mythologies

(I’m moderating!) With anthologies such as _The Starlit Wood_, along with many authors choosing to rewrite and rework old fairy tales, what is the purpose of rewriting our myths, or writing new ones? What can we learn about ourselves when we bring these old stories into today? What is the purpose of creating new fairy tales?

 

Sunday, January 14, 11:30 AM, Bulfinch – Writing & Tarot

Last year we filled this up, so this year you gotta pre-sign up at PROGRAM NEXUS. In any case, I love teaching this hands-on workshop that talks about Tarot as both a tool for divination and a tool for your writing.

 

Sunday, January 14, 4:00 PM, Alcott – Tricks for Self-Editing

I’m thrilled to be giving this workshop again too, and this is another that fills up quickly, so pre-sign up at PROGRAM NEXUS. Why should you sign-up and come to this workshop? I’ve edited over 50 books for multiple publishing houses; I teach writing and editing; and I put a lot of effort into not making people cry.  And what I can teach you will make you a better writer because most of writing is editing.

 

Sunday, January 14, 7:00 PM, Independence – Everything But the Writing

This is Trisha’s killing the workshops year at Arisia! And it’s another one you should pre-sign up for at PROGRAM NEXUS.  I’ve been in business as “A Novel Friend” since 2003—and I have the tax forms to prove it.  This is a look at the business side of making a career as a writer or editor, whether you want to stick to fiction or branch out into journalism, non-fiction, or “other” realms.

 

Monday, January 15, 11:30 AM, Marina 1 – Spec Poetry Reading

I also write poetry! And so do a bunch of other awesome folks. Do you? Join us or come listen.  If you want to read, come early to sign up for a slot.

 

Monday, January 15, 1:00 PM, Alcott – How to Train Your Dragon & Other Writing Issues

(Because animal stories! And as an editor, I have been known to leave…detailed…comments on misuse of animals in Track Changes.) Whether you’re writing horses and dragons in a medieval setting, or having your space hero(ine) bond with a psychic cat or flying banshee, incorporating animals into your fiction requires knowledge of how real-life animals act. Our panel of experts will discuss how to write real and unreal animals, what they eat, how often they need to rest, how they act around humans, other animals and machinery; and other interesting tidbits which can bring your sci-fantasy stories to life.

 

Posted
February 19, 2013
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Conventions and Dreams…

One of my favorite parts about being a professional geek is attending conventions.  This weekend I was at Boskone, the slightly more literary and serious sibling to Arisia, where I was last month.

Boskone is a quiet convention for me. I haven’t done a lot of work to try and get on panels, so the only things I’m in charge of is the Broad Universe book table and showing up for the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading.

And having fun and networking and that whole bit.

Arisia was a bit of a crazy con for me, but it always is.  It’s right up there with Dragon*Con in “life-changing events.”  It’s how I got involved with Spencer Hill Press. (For the whole story, read the intro to our first anthology, UnCONventional.)

This year, my Arisia crazy-level was upped to the Nth degree.  Not only was I in charge of the Broad Universe table, I was sharing it with three other vendors… and we were kind of stuck in a back corner.

Also, I was in charge of zombie-fying everyone for the Touch of Death release party – an awesome novel you can find out more about here.

With the blessings of the wonderful Kelly Hashway, we used her party to give Kate Kaynak, founder of Spencer Hill Press, a very special gift from all the authors and editors who – thanks to her love, support, and creation of SHP – have made amazing strides in realizing their dreams.

Here’s the video of that gift (it’s a little blurry to start, but gets better). Enjoy!…. Er… WordPress won’t let me update it… so let me give you the link to Blogger where the upload did work!

http://novelfriend.blogspot.com/2013/02/conventions-and-dreams.html

 

Posted
January 15, 2013
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Editor’s Perspective: Touch of Death

01132013 - ToD CoverTouch of Death, by Kelly Hashway, is released this week!  With an awesome A-Prom-Calypse Zombie Prom at Arisia this Sunday!

Jodi Marshall isn’t sure how she went from normal teenager to walking disaster. One minute she’s in her junior year of high school, spending time with her amazing boyfriend and her best friend. The next she’s being stalked by some guy no one seems to know.

After the stranger, Alex, reveals himself, Jodi learns he’s not a normal teenager and neither is she. With a kiss that kills and a touch that brings the dead back to life, Jodi discovers she’s part of a branch of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus. A branch of necromancers that are descendents of Medusa. A branch of necromancers with poisoned blood writhing in their veins.

Jodi’s deadly to the living and even more deadly to the deceased. She has to leave her old, normal life behind before she hurts the people she loves. As if that isn’t difficult enough, Jodi discovers she’s the chosen one who has to save the rest of her kind from perishing at the hands of Hades. If she can’t figure out how to control her power, history will repeat itself, and her race will become extinct.

xx

November 2011, Kate Kaynak, head of Spencer Hill Press, sent me an email with a manuscript she thought would be something I’d love.  It was my first manuscript since working with Kate on UnCONventional.  I’d done about six other novels/non-fiction books on a freelance basis with the authors; this was the first novel for SHP, the first novel a publishing house was contracting me to work on.

So, I was a little nervous, I have to admit.

But I loved the manuscript.  Kate had – and still has – a good eye for my taste in books.  I grew up reading all the Goosebumps and Fear Street books; I loved YA horror in a contemporary setting.  High school sucks, so I enjoy reading about how much worse it could be.

And I know going into a manuscript that I’m going to have to read and re-read it dozens and dozens of times. For freelance work, I’ve done books I just like, because, well, it was income.  With the way Kate was organizing her editing team for SHP, we had our choice from the submissions and slush pile.  We had the choice to choose something we could thoroughly enjoy reading dozens and dozens (and dozens) of times over.  Touch of Death definitely fit that bill for me.

In any case, Kelly served me a zombie deer in the first five pages, an icon I adored right from the start. I still have the plush one she sent me “guarding” my desk!  He’s going to travel with me to Arisia this week, too, because he totally deserves to be at the A-Prom-Calypse Release Party.  There was also a zombie squirrel. Yay undead critters! (Yes, I’m weird like that.)  Even moreso, I connected with her main character, Jodi, and I absolutely appreciated where she was taking Greek mythology, particularly the Medusa story… because, as far as I’m concerned, the original myth of Medusa seriously screwed the poor woman… and plenty of modern myths are still just dealing with the “monster” aspect as opposed to the “person” aspect of her.

Besides how much I loved the novel, itself, here’s what I loved the editing process.  First of all, there wasn’t a lot of changes that needed to be made.  (Well, in my editing experience, it wasn’t a lot for me, anyway. Kelly is free to disagree. 😉 )  We went over a few of my usual suspects – things that surprise me if I don’t play with – like some car physics (Thank you Hollywood vs. Mythbusters), battle/fistfight physics and psychology, hospital/medical protocol (Thank you TV hospital dramas vs. actual medical persons), and then the two of us had a good time keeping an eye on Jodi’s fluids and their resulting body/resurrection count (Kelly actually caught one biggie that I missed in regard to this!)  All of which were easy-peasy and a lot of fun.

Now, Kelly has the superpower of speedy turnaround – definitely the fastest author turnaround that I’ve ever worked with for a novel length, while addressing everything I noted.  When I say “address,” I mean it with a liberal definition – but an entirely positive one.  Nothing got ignored or forgotten.  She may have not have followed all of my suggestions, but she answered all of my questions… and then did her own thing which, in all cases, was way better than what I suggested anyway.

Even now after having seen it from submission to publication, I still have opened up my editor’s ARC it to look up something for marketing or such… and still gotten lost in the pages.

And as of this week – it’s available for anyone to purchase and love!  I can’t wait to see this turn into something very awesome for Kelly.

(Especially since I know what happens in the sequel, Stalked by Death! Mwahahaha!)

Posted
January 23, 2012
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Newsie, News, News, News!!

ImageJanuary is more than half over!  I’m doing stuff with Deadlines!

 

First, this is the LAST WEEK for anyone to sign up to take the fabulous New England Horror Writers Workshop at Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, MA! 

 

Kristi Petersen Schoonover, TJ May, and I are running an all-day workshop covering the craft of writing, editing, and business for writers – including a critique of the first 2000 words of your manuscript!  The workshop is only $30 – and we’re giving a $5 discount to members of the Worcester Writers Collaborative, New England Horror Writers, Broad Universe and Worcester college students. Sign up three ways:

 

Paypal & email pattyatannies@gmail.com

Stop into Annie’s Book Stop at 65 James Street in Worcester

Call Annie’s at 508-796-5614

 

We’re planning on having a fabulous time!

 

xx

 

In yet another event, visit Tatnuck Bookseller on 18 Lyman Street, Westborough, MA for the Worcester Writers Collaborative Author Explosion (Not Literally!) on Sunday January, 29th! 

 

Eighteen local authors (including me!) will be reading and signing and generally having a lot of fun.

 

Come join us!

 

xx

 

Arisia was fabulous!!  UnCONventional did wonderfully in its debut, and Our Fearless SPH Leader, Kate Kaynak, was happy to go home many boxes lighter than she came. 

 

The party was a blast – and it was so good to meet so many of our contributors!

 

We had CAKE!!  (That’s me & Kate holding it in the pic, surrounded by our valiant team of editors and contributors!)

 

The Broad Universe table was also well visited with many sales, and we had a great showing on many fun panels.  For a more comprehensive review, check out these blogs by my buddies, Justine Graykin, Kendra Saunders, and David Sklar.

 

xx

 

Bad-Ass Faeries 2 also had another great review!  And they especially liked “Party Crashers” by Christy & me. J

 

xx

 

And, um… I have a pile o’ papers that needs minimal attention before I go to bed…

 

Hope to see you at an event!

Posted
January 9, 2012
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A Resolution to… Party & Promote!

ImageOk, so, I didn’t finish writing up all my goals in a coherent post. However, I’ve got a convention this weekend!

 

I love Arisia, and I love being part of this convention, so if aren’t already registered, consider doing so.  It’s a fabulous time!

 

And, for if/when you are there, here’s how you can stalk me!

 

First, check the Broad Universe table in the Dealer’s Room.  Find out about our awesome organization, get nifty Broad merch, hang with Broads, become a Broad… and patronize Broads who’ll have their books around! (Because, you know, you totally need more books!  Aside from Sunday, where I’ll barely manage to be there for opening and then be panel-hopping and putting on a show for the rest of the day (just look at my schedule below!), there’s a good chance you’ll find me at the table – or someone there can find me for you. 

 

Besides that, if I can manage to get a ride, I plan on being at the Memorial Service for Badger on Friday.  Badger was a great supporter of the New England area Broads, and an all round wonderful person.  Her passing is a great loss to the SFF community.

 

As for the Official Schedule (verbage borrowed from Arisia site):

 

Friday

 

5:30, Adams

Gender Limitations in SF/F

 

Often, strong female characters are portrayed in such a way that seem to be a rejection not just of traditional gender roles but of all things feminine. Similarly, male characters that take on what are regarded as traditional female roles are viewed as emasculated figures incapable of pro-active action. Where are the strong warrior women that can also be compassionate or the house-husbands that have a role beyond being the punchline of a joke?

 

I’m Moderating!  With Super-Cool Friends!

 

 

Saturday

 

11:30, Quincy

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading

 

Broad Universe is an international organization of women and men dedicated to celebrating and promoting the work of women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Come hear samples from the works of several members of the Broad Universe organization.

 

There’s a bunch of us, I’m emcee-ing. 🙂  There will be chocolate.  Come!

 

1:00 PM, Paine

How to Design a Fun Role Playing Adventure

 

You need to come up with a roleplaying adventure for your friends, quickly! But nothing’s coming to mind. What to do? Our panel of experience gamemasters will share tips and tricks to come up with fun, challenging, and interesting adventures for your friends that will keep them coming back for more.

 

… It appears I’m the chick-in-residence at this panel. Cue evil laughter!!!

 

5:30, Galleria

Autograph?!

 

I’m at an autograph session with James MacDonald and Steve Sawicki!  Um… please come so I don’t feel like a loser with no one at my signing?  I <3 you!

 

 

Sunday: Day of Insanity

 

11:30 AM, Quincy

UnCONventional Reading

 

UnCONventional is an [AWESOME!] anthology of sci-fi and fantasy stories set in cons that are a cover-up for something paranormal [‘cos, that’s the truth, y’know!]. Come hear [FANTABULOUS] samples from it by several of the contributing authors. [Brackets mine.]

 

Just be there!  I bribe you with chocolate and coffee!!!

 

 

2:30, Harbor Ballroom III

Tea With Special Guests

 

Squee! I’m a “Special Guest!”  But there’s, you know, ton of other awesome people, including all the guests of honor (the Foglios! Esther Friesner!)  and a few other fabulous friends of mine.  It’s a special thingamajig, so get the ticket and enjoy a lovely tea! 

 

 

4:00, Paine

Writing as a Business

 

You’ve got your manuscripts and cover letters ready, and you’re sending out submissions. How do you market yourself? Should you hire an agent, and how do you work with them? What are the rights that can be attached to a short story or novel for the author? When do rights revert back to the author? Is self-publishing a viable option, and what are the pros and cons of doing it? Where do you go for help and advice?

 

I’m Moderating, again – with another group of Super-Cool Friends!

 

 

5:30, Douglas

Food Communicating Culture in Literature

 

How do writers communicate things about their cultures and characters via the food they use? What can you discern about cultures based on if they get their food in pill form or if they are vegetarian/vegan, omnivores, or carnivores? How does the anatomy and physiology of your aliens or magical creatures dictate their food requirements? What about the terrain? Does the diversity of food culture–and what it communicates–on Earth get shown in literature?

 

I’m a-moderating again, with new people who have excellent reasons to be on this panel.  You gotta come check it out!

 

 

8PM, TBA

PARTY! PARTY! PARTY!!! 

 

Spencer Hill Press and Broad Universe co-host a kick-arse party celebrating the release of UnCONventional – and the all-round awesomeness of our writers.  There will be lots of lovely food and CAKE! and caffeinated beverages and who knows what else.  Make sure we’re on your party list!

 

… I may get some sleep in there, and then…

 

Monday

 

… I have Monday off!  I can sleep!  And go to panels!  And pack up the table! 🙂 

 

Hehehehe!

 

Hopefully I’ve excited you about going to Arisia.  I look forward to seeing you there!!