So how the writing is going

Fairly well, despite it all.

“Space B!tch” is with the final editor. I have a cover artist. We’re looking at a September-ish release for 2014.

I have submitted a few short stories.

I have been promoting “Trolley,” here and there, like at RavenCon and Balticon, with a brisk sales increase. Oddly enough, sales of my old “Punk Walrus Saga” book have been doing well as well, despite being out of print.

I’ll be hosting the Cosplay at Anime Mid Atlantic June 13-15, then taking a break in July for Camp NaNoWriMo. Then I’ll be back at Otakon, Intervention, and TCEP in August.

Beta copy of “Space Bitch” out to beta readers

SEE… amazing speling errors! MARVEL… at grammar is the poorly! FIND… thongs the spill Czech her din knot kvetch!

So… Katsucon came and went. Major hotel stress. Hotel acting like assholes. Many years from now, I will be able to tell this story in full without jeopardizing any contracts. It makes me sad how quickly some people will blame the Jews from BBYO, but trust me… they were NOT the problem. In fact, they helped us FIX the problem from both sides, and the hotel had to admit all their mistakes on Monday after the con. That was an uncomfortable meeting, let me tell you. If any good came from this, I got to meet some cool people at the BBYO and the hotel will be pretty decent with us in 2014.

ANYWAY… I was co-chair, then I was elected President of Katsucon Entertainment, Inc., which meant I couldn’t be a con chair anymore (conflict of interest), so then I ran their communications division, and while I still do, being President of the Board and head of Communications, PR, and Marketing is about half the work of being co-chair. My wife took over, and then retired due to her health. This means now I can focus on my book, which I did with all speed because I wanted to get the rage of the hotel issues out of my head. Today, Friday, February the 22nd, I released my first draft beta to my readers!

I hope to get these back by April, have a revised Beta 2 for professional editor, and I *hope* to have this book out May 24th!

WordPress ate my last post: here I am in the Balticon Podcast

http://swimmingcatstudios.com/2013/01/14/balticon-46-wrap-up-part-4-late-night-new-media-meet-and-greet/

Listen to me moderate with  Trish Wilson (who writes as Elizabeth A. Black),Paul Elard Cooley, and Doc Coleman. Discussions on new media, steampunk, promotion, and muppet porn.  Only at Balticon 46. 🙂

Balticon 46 not in review

Well, it came and went.  I had a good time.

I am sorry, folks, I am swamped with work fuckery.  I am balls-deep in Russian software, broken Windows 7 logins, and the Windows 2012 release candidate came out with its new Play-Skool interface.  This weekend, I am on a rescue mission I can’t go into online, and I’ll be busy with that.

Short summary of Balticon: I had fun.  I met new friends, reconnected with old friends, and had no assistant so I starved to death with no one to remind me to eat.  One of those statements is false.

I am still editing Alpha Draft 2, and 53% of the way through.  Almost ready for beta.  

My Balticon 46 schedule

Balticon hosts its 46th convention at the Marriott Hunt Valley Inn this Memorial Day weekend, and as usual, I will be there! My publisher (Soylent Publications) will be sharing a table with Cold Moon Press, so you can see me there or at one of many panels:

Friday 6:00 pm (Pimlico) – Me reading for 17 minutes with other 17 minute increments from J. Sherlock Brown, III and Lyle Blake Smythers. The programming book states, “Please note that the authors are listed in alphabetical order. They’ll determine reading order amongst themselves.” Speed reading.

Friday 11:00 pm (Chesapeake) – Late Night New Media Meet and Greet where I moderate a motley crew of podcasters and the like: Trish Wilson (Elizabeth Black), Doc Coleman, and Paul Elard Cooley

Saturday, 1:00 pm (Parlor 1041) – Anime 101 where I moderate an introduction to Anime to old people. Includes a history of Anime, art, voice acting, and Japanese culture. My fellow panelists are Lee Sarfati, Christine Chase, Kat Sarfati, and Tyler Waldman. A must see for those who have never seen anime, and especially for those who have.

Saturday, 5:00 pm (Maryland Foyer) I am having an autograph session: Sharing my long table by the escalators are Michael S. Bracco and Robert I. Katz

Saturday, 6:00 pm (Chesapeake) Comedy Improv hosted by the great Alex R. White, as I, Norm Sherman, Stephen Granade, and Laura Nicole Spencer try to create mayhem. This is a must-see. You will divide your life as a before and after this event.

Sunday, 11:00 am (Parlor 1041) Anime for Parents: a continuation of what we have been doing at Katsucon, I moderate this with Yoji Kondo/Eric Kotani, Sharvonique Renee Fortune, and Stephanie M. Burke.

Sunday, 2:00 pm (Salon A) – Xenoarchaeology Road Show where GoH Jody Lynn Nye moderates a motley crew of science fiction writers to determine what will future archaeologists make of common 20th century household objects? Mark L. Van Name, Christiana M. Ellis, and John Hemry (Jack Campbel) will be my cohorts in speculative thinking.

Sunday, midnight (Salon A) – Eye of Argon – the Play. It what will be described as 90 minutes of pure torture on a Vogon Poetry scale, Michael A. Ventrella will host a literary catastrophe with me, Hildy Silverman, Susan de Guardiola, and Walter H. Hunt.

I haven’t even gotten my own schedule yet, I had to glean this from their pocket program on my own. So the times, places, and people are scheduled to change.

First pass: Chapter 12 of 29

Boy, I sure can spell creatively… yeesh… but I progressed really nicely for one weekend.  I won’t be able to do much next weekend, as I have Roller Derby bout recaps to do and then mother’s day.  I don’t have a mother, but my wife is one, so we’re taking her out.  The next weekend I will I hope to have the first alpha pass done by the first week of June.

Okay, I don’t want to be all arrogant and stuff, but I am really proud of some of what I wrote.  Right now, it’s not the best book; it needs some work, but man… there are some parts I laughed out loud at.  Some I cried a little.  And some will never see the light of day like a hair clog in a shower drain.

“I wrote what…?  Yee…”

I have managed to get a little under halfway of the actual first alpha before I do another pass of the second alpha.  Once that’s fixed, onto Beta 1 and my editors, who will attack it with rock and scissors.  I hope to have all those done by the end of the summer.  Then negotiations with my publisher, and then a Christmas 2013 release I hope by Thanksgiving.

I *should* have some readings for Balticon.  I don’t have a schedule yet, but I’ll post one when it becomes finalized.

Balticon 46 has invited me back!

Somehow I managed not to offend the wrong people, and I have been invited back as a panelist and general resident wise-guy. I’ll let you know what panels and signings I shall have in a later post… probably in late April.

Meanwhile, “Space Bitch” is almost done. Right now, we’re at about 90%. I have to work on the ending a little, and then the first alpha edit will start. I don’t know if this will make it by Balticon, I have to talk with my publisher (who is out touring in Texas). I am still working on the title, and I will start working on getting some cover art after Katsucon. A sequel is already partially diagrammed out.

Everything is “after Katsucon” at this point because it’s less than 6 weeks away. That process is going smoothly. Last night Christine (my bride of almost 23 years and other co-chair) told me we’re ahead of schedule. I was at Magfest this weekend, working the table a little, Katsucon a lot, and finalizing deals and last minute updates with the Gaylord. A big crash meeting in a little over 2 weeks away! Yikes! But thankfully, I HAVE THE BEST STAFF ON THE DAMN PLANET and I am humbled and grateful to have therm work with me.

My @Balticon 45 review is up

Balticon 45 review

The good, the bad, the fantastic. All in all, GOOD SHOW GUYS! Yes, some stuff went wrong, and there were sleeping problems I had. But best Balticon for me in a long, long time (and the previous ones were pretty good as well).

Now, onto fixing the Kindle version of my book and LET’S GET PROMOTING!

@Balticon was a great success

I am not sure what to day except thanks to Soylent Publications, Rogue, Scarlet, Chris and Barb of Unseen LLC, Moria at Balticon Ops, and the rest of the staff at Balticon for making this convention a smashing success. I sold a lot of books, and got to meet a lot of heavies in the industry. I should have a review up shortly.

New Fireside Meanderings Podcast – We prepare for @Balticon

Another episode is up after a few weeks of a hiatus. Punkie and Rogue – Fireside Meanderings: jibba-jabba : Plugging and Panels and Writing, Oh My.

I have been informed, by Balticon, my permanent real schedule is coming soon. It may be different than what I posted earlier. I’ll repost it here when that becomes available.

Some people have asked me about international purchasing. Right now, I am not sure how this is going to work with Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.de, or .fr because frankly, I thought that I’d have maybe a handful of international fans and I’d ship the books from my own house (I have copies sent here for my upcoming book signing). It seems to be available as I post this, however, from DE and FR going for roughly EUR 11-12. UK shows “out of stock.” Try that first, and if that’s not workable, read a little further.

People have asked what my “most profitable” way is to buy the book (you are very sweet, guys). Well, the hard copy on Amazon nets me the most; more than in person, and more than when the Kindle comes out. But we’re talking less than a dollar either way, so if you want the Kindle over the dead tree copy; I’m not complaining unless you download it and put it on PirateBay. Then someone let me know I’m up there so I can crap all over the comments section and say, “If you like the book, send $5.00 to my Paypal account so I can afford to write more,” or “This version is missing chapters, and the ending is not the same as the print copy!” or “How come half of it is in German?” because, really, I can’t stop piracy. I can only manage it. Honestly, though, I would be a little flattered if that happened. Pissed, but flattered. I remember a friend of mine selling my first book from her table was MORTIFIED when someone stole a copy, and offered to pay me for the whopping $5 loss. I said, “Well, my book must be good enough to make people commit crime,” I joked and declined the offer.

Friendship first. Profit last.

But *IF* you want a hard copy mailed to you; like you want it signed or live somewhere where having it shipped from Amazon isn’t conducive to you getting it (“Gewöhnlich versandfertig in 2 bis 5 Wochen??” NEEEEEIIINNN! You poor German bastards), I’ll ship anywhere if you pay for the book and shipping. You’ll have to use Paypal, but wait AFTER this Memorial Day weekend (I simply won’t have time to ship it until after that). I’ll even throw in some free crap I have lying around: my promotional bookmarks, some expired DC Rollergirl postcard promos, a Duke Nuk’em 3D CD, a stick of Big Red, a cartoon drawing of a stick figure with a sword… you never know. Or if you want to ship me a copy you got and have me ship it back, pay for the shipping. My turnaround might be laggy, though. Send me some e-mail if you’d like to have a transaction.

Note: DO NOT just send me money by Paypal. In the past, Paypal mail has kinda gotten lost, and sometimes I have no idea anyone bought one until I use Paypal to buy something, and even then… it may slip between the cracks. I’d be humiliated if someone paid for a book and never got it. I’d be all sepukku up in that.