November recap

A lighter month of blogging with the birth of the baby...

Writing stuff

Alexis

Getting back in the swing of things

Ephemeris holiday bundles

Happy Thanksgiving

Black Friday Specials

R-Complex

Cyber Monday Special

Cyber Monday Special

DriveThruSciFi has a special bundle offer on four e-books from Nomadic Delirium Press. Three of the books are mine. You get Seedlings on the Solar Winds, The Opium of the People, and Marionettes on the Moon from me...and from James Baker, you get The Poet. All four e-books are just $5.

Go to http://scifi.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=65958 and order, because the deal is only good for one day.

R-Complex

My short story "R-Complex" has sold to Aoife's Kiss. This is only the second short story I've written this year, and it's my second sale...pretty good run.

The story will appear in the June issue, which will be a very special anniversary issue. I can't go into details yet, but I do know that there are two VERY BIG authors from the SF field who will also appear in this issue.

Black Friday Specials

Smashwords has three of my e-books on sale for 99 cents for Black Friday.

You can order Seedlings on the Solar Winds by going to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/16551 and using coupon code TD26P.

You can order The Opium of the People by going to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/16609 and using coupon code TX57H

You can order Marionettes on the Moon by going to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/16865. This book is always 99 cents, but if you're ordering the others, you might as well order it too.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S. A lot of Thanksgivings I use this blog to talk about something that's very important to me...Native American rights, but I'm going to forgo that this year and talk about the things I'm actually thankful for.

First, and most obvious, would be my beautiful wife Rebecca. And right along side her would be my three wonderful daughters, including the youngest, who will be celebrating her first Thanksgiving...although she's not actually aware of that.

I'm also thankful for my extended family, as well as my friends, who have been there through good times and bad, and supported me every step of the way.

I'm also thankful for all of my readers...all two or three of you :-). You guys make all the hours I spend away from my family at the keyboard worth it. I'd also like to say that I'm thankful to all of the editors who have supported my writing over the years. Without you guys, I wouldn't be anything.

So, make sure you let everyone in your life know that you're thankful for their being there, and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Ephemeris Holiday Bundles

There are two Ephemeris bundles available at DriveThruRPG at special holiday prices. The two bundles are virtually the same, except that one features the core rulebook and the other does not. This way the bundles are good for the new Ephemeris players, as well as the seasoned Ephemeris players.

You can find them at:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=86038

or

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=86042

Getting back in the swing of things

Life is starting to return to normal here...or at least as normal as it ever gets. Alexis is turning out to be a great little baby. She pretty much only cries when she's hungry. She had her first sponge bath yesterday, and didn't complain once. She really doesn't seem to complain about the things that most babies complain about, and we're happy about that. Her circadian rhythms seem to be off a bit, as she sleeps more during the day than at night, so we've had a couple of rough nights, but hopefully we're getting her rhythms shifted.

I'm finally starting to get caught up on the pile of work that has fallen on me. I've seen early proofs of my next book cover, and I can't wait to share it with everyone once we have a final copy. I'm putting together notes for a story I need to write for an editor who approached me at MileHiCon. I'm hoping to get started on that in the next few days. All the other little annoying things that take up my time are also being taken care of.

I realized that in my last post about Alexis, I didn't post a picture, although most of you have probably already seen her...so, here she is...

Alexis

Alexis Brianna Erwine was born on Monday Nov. 8th at 2:14 pm. She weighed in at 9 lbs. 3 ozs. and was 21 inches long. Although she is my third daughter, she is actually my first biological daughter. I've heard a lot of people talk about how you instantly fall in lover with your child when they're born, and I figured I knew what they were talking about...but believe me, this is one feeling that really does have to be experienced to truly understand it.

We got home from the hospital Wednesday night, and we were prepared for a long night, but she slept pretty well. She woke up a few times to eat, but went right back to sleep. Last night she was a little fussier, but overall she has been a great baby. She doesn't cry a lot, although she does have a little of her mom's attitude when she doesn't get her way.

So far there hasn't been a lot of sibling rivalry, although the cat wants nothing to do with her...but we pretty much expected that.

The hardest part for me has been that I came down with a rather nasty cold from sleeping in the air conditioned hospital room. As a result, I have to limit my contact with her...which I REALLY don't want to do. I told Rebecca today that as soon as I'm over this cold, I'm going to be fighting her to hold Alexis.

Rebecca came through the delivery amazingly, and she's now recovering well. I was so amazed at the birth that I have a whole new level of respect and love for my wife. She is truly an amazing human being...and together it looks like we've created a truly amazing "little" baby.

Writing stuff

Assuming the baby doesn't make an appearance in the next 12 hours, I should be finishing up a new short story. This will only be the 2nd piece of short fiction I've written this year, but I'm hoping to place it in a special edition of one of my favorite zines. After I get that sent off, I'm going to start working on the story I've been asked for for an anthology. I will say it's nice to be writing short fiction again.

On an editorial note, I'm in discussions with a publisher about the possibility of editing a new anthology...more on that as it's available...

October Recap

Here's what I was talking about last month...

The Diplomat's and Explorer's Handbook

My MileHiCon schedule

10/10/10

Book orders

Ready for the con

MileHiCon Day 1

666

MileHiCon Day 2

MileHiCon Day 3

My short fiction muse

E-book sale

E-book sale

Now through the end of November, Smashwords has two of my e-books on sale for 25% off the usual cover price. This deal is being made available only through my blog.

Seedlings on the Solar Winds use coupon code JM58Q at checkout

The Opium of the People use coupon code BK29K at checkout

My short fiction muse

I'm trying to find my short fiction muse. Over the last year, I've spent most of my writing time finishing up two novels and writing material for the Ephemeris RPG. I've actually only written one short story in that time, but I obviously need to write more.

While I was at MileHiCon, I was approached by an editor who wants me to contribute to an anthology that she's working on. In addition, I had another editor (who was not at the Con) tell me that he's holding a spot open for me in a very special issue of his magazine. This means that I need to write two short stories and soon. Most non-writers don't realize that there's actually a big difference in how you go about writing short fiction as opposed to novels, but there really is, and now I need to get that part of my brain back into shape and get it working.

I would love to make an appearance in this anthology and in this zine, so I'd better get to work. Of course, there's also the matter of the baby who should be making an appearance any time now...

MileHiCon Day 3

Sunday came up on quicker than any of us could have expected. We didn't really have much going on in the early part of the day, so we decided to do some of the kids stuff.

We started out with "Carving with the Pumpkin King." The girls got to do some great relief pumpkins (even thought it was really the adults doing all of the hard work). I've never really been a big Halloween person, but I have to admit that this was kind of fun. After carving, the girls had a "Ranger" meeting. This is kind of like a LARP game just for the kids. They go on missions throughout the con trying to solve problems in the hopes of protecting their kingdoms. I think it's a great little thing for the kids to do, and I'd love to see it expanded, although that could be hard on the parents.

My final panel was "Villains: An Author's Best Friend." We had some great panelists on this one: Hilari Bell, Rachel Caine, Gary Jonas, and Katherine Kurtz. Since there were two of the Guests of Honor on this one, we drew a pretty big crowd, and I think we all had a really good time...and hopefully we imparted a bit of wisdom along the way. We bounced around in the discussion from Hannibal Lecter to Lando Molari, and on to Hitler. We were kind of all over the place, but it was one of the best panels I've ever done.

After this was the closing ceremonies, and it was time to say "So long, and thanks for all the fish!"

Rebecca didn't feel all that well through the whole con, but we still had a great time. I think the ConCom outdid themselves this year, and this was one of the best MileHiCons I've ever been to. And I'm not just saying this because I know that Rose sometimes reads my blogs, but Rose really did a phenomenal job with the scheduling this year and deserves several hearty rounds of applause. Thanks, Rose!

I can't wait for MileHiCon 43, but for now, I'll just be waiting for the birth of our baby...

MileHiCon Day 2

Saturday was to be the crazy day for me, but unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be as crazy as I'd hoped it would be.

I had a 10 am reading with Dan Hoyt. Readings in the morning are always hard to get people to come to. A lot of people party late into the night (or is it early into the morning), and they're not ready for readings at 10 am. Nevertheless, we had about 8-10 people, and I read the first chapter of Red Moon Rising, and the whole time I was wishing that the book had been released so that I would have had copies.

After the reading, I had a signing, which didn't draw much of a crowd. Last year they moved the signings out of the dealer's room and into the atrium. I'm guessing that the logic was that people were more likely to see the writers in the atrium, but I've noticed a definite drop in sales since we've moved to the atrium. I think more people might see the authors, but in the dealers room, more people who want to spend money will see the writers, and I think that works better.

After that I did something called "Speed Date an Author," and no, I was not cheating on Rebecca. The idea behind this was that there was a room full of authors and readers or author-wannabes could come in and talk to us. They had three minutes to talk to us, then a bell went off, and they moved on to the next author. I think it was a great idea, and I had some great (but very short) conversations with a lot of people. I'm hoping that I was able to pass on some good advice to a few of the author wannabes, and I'm hoping I gained a few new readers. I think if they do this next year, they need to lengthen the time to five minutes and have better organization of the movement of the readers.

Later in the day I was on a panel called "DM Bootcamp." This was a panel with Doris Beetem, Laura Givens, and Daniel Peak. As you can probably guess from the title, this was a panel about running RPGs. We had a lot of fun on this panel, and I think we gave out some good information to a rather large crowd. There seems to be one token gaming panel every year, and this is the second year that I've been on it. One thing the large crowd made me realize is that there seems to be a lot of interest in gaming at the Con. I noticed a lot of people playing games throughout the Con, and maybe they need to embrace the gaming aspect a little more...maybe even bring in a gaming guest of honor...if money allows.

After this panel was what I'd really been looking forward to...I was going to run a new adventure of Ephemeris. Unfortunately, a lot of people were grabbing dinner before the masquerade started, and the belly dancers next to the gaming tables seemed to draw a lot of people's attention away from the games, and I couldn't get enough players, so we couldn't debut the new adventure. Since we couldn't play, I was able to watch my oldest in a sword fighting contest. She'd never done anything like this before, but she made it to the third round...where she was knocked out by an adult who teaches sword fighting. Still, we were all very proud of her!

The night ended with us attending the masquerade. There were a few good costumes this year, but not as many as usual.

Rebecca was having a lot of problems during the Con. She wasn't feeling good, and being 38 weeks pregnant, she was very uncomfortable. Still, we did manage to get a few photos taken, which I've posted on my Facebook page. I noticed a lot more cameras flashing around me this year than in years past, so I'm sure more horrible pics of me will show up somewhere in the near future.

I'll post about day 3 tomorrow...

666

This is my 666th blog post...just thought I'd point that out.

MileHiCon Day 1

Friday was the start of MileHiCon. We spent the first few hours getting checked into our room, and then the Con. After that we just hung around for a while talking to old friends we hadn't seen in a year or so.

My first panel was titled "Small Press & Ezines: Finding the new Markets." There's always at least one small press panel at MileHiCon, and I seem to almost always be on it, but that's ok. It's a fun topic. On this panel we had Betsy Dornbusch, Ron Sering, David Lee Summers, and James Van Pelt. It was a good panel, and we talked about a lot of different things, but like many panels, we only had 50 minutes, so we couldn't go into as much detail as we would have wanted. On James Van Pelt's blog http://jimvanpelt.livejournal.com/294443.html, he mentioned that he thought we may have glossed over the e-book versus print book numbers, and I would tend to agree with him. A lot of times for a small press author, a shift of 30 or 40% in either direction is actually only a few books. Looking back, I agree with Jim that I wish we would have gotten into that more.

Immediately after my panel were the opening ceremonies, which were lead by toastmaster Paolo Bacigalupi, and with a theme like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (this was MileHiCon 42, after all) we were in for a great time. The Con was set to be demolished in 48 hours by a Vogon Destructor Fleet.

We closed out the night by going to the Floatilla, which is handmade boats raced in the pool. Not the most exciting part of the weekend, but the kids seemed to enjoy it...at least until they got too tired to keep their eyes open.

I'll report on days two and three later...

Ready for the con

The oldest's fever has broken, and we also went to the Dr. for Rebecca today, and she said that it's not likely that she will go into labor this weekend, so it looks like we're ready for MileHiCon.

This will be the first year that we stay in the hotel, and the girls are really excited about it. I think it will be a good thing for Rebecca too, so she can retreat to the room if she gets too tired...which she usually is.

Hope to see some of you at the things I'm doing. Of course, if you see me Saturday night, I will probably be pretty worn out as I have quite the schedule for Saturday...but I'm happy with it. I think we've figured things out well enough that it shouldn't stress Rebecca too much...at least we're hoping...

Book orders

I've had a few people e-mail me about where to get my books before MileHiCon starts. I will be bringing a few copies of most of my works with me, but if you wanted to order something ahead of time, here are some links for you...

Seedlings on the Solar Winds

The Ephemeris Science Fiction Role Playing Game

The Opium of the People

Lowering One's Self Before Fate

A Problem in Translation an illustrated short story book

Future Syndicate an anthology that I edited

The Martian Wave Issue 1 a magazine that I edit

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 9 The best of Sam's Dot's webzine anthology that I also edit

10/10/10

Everywhere I look on the internet today people are talking about 10/10/10 and how significant it could be. It seems like over the last few years, I've been seeing a lot more of this, and the answer to 10/10/10 is the same as it was for all of the other significant dates we've seen of late...no, it has no significance. Numerology is just mumbo jumbo like most other mystical ideas.
First of all, not everyone on this little planet of ours uses the same calendar, so the date is actually different in some parts of the world.
Second of all, the calendar we currently use is pretty arbitrary. It was started on a certain day, which actually is not all that important in the orbit of the Earth around the sun.
There seems to be this growing need to believe that our lives are somehow connected to something mystical, and I really don't understand it. The simple fact that humanity evolved is pretty amazing in and of itself, and we don't need to attach mystical meanings to everything that happens. As a society, we should have evolved beyond that need long ago. That sort of need is based in the "reptilian" parts of our brain, and it's these parts of the brain that teach us to fear the "other," and also leads us blindly following leaders, even if they may be bad for us.
It's time for humanity to put mysticism aside, and actually move towards the future instead of tying ourselves to the past, a past that we should really not be taking pride in...

My MileHiCon schedule

Don't Panic! The MileHiCon 42 schedule is now out, and I'm going to be a busy boy. So, make sure you know where your towel is, grab yourself a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, and join me at any or all of the following:

Fri. 6 pm: Small Press & Ezines: Finding & Dealing with New Markets

Sat. 10 am: A reading of the 1st chapter of Red Moon Rising

Sat. 11 am: Book Signing

Sat. 12:30 pm: Speed Date an Author

Sat. 4 pm: DM Bootcamp

Sat. 5 pm: A game of Ephemeris in the gaming area

Sun. 4 pm: Villains: An Author's Best Friend

This looks like it will be a great con, so hope you can all make it!