Hazard Yet Forward Halloween Blitz---Bwa-ha-ha

On August 8th I posted a blog for an anthology Hazard Yet Forward (HYF)that I was included in supporting Donna Munro my friend, fellow SHU alum, and writer as she battles cancer.  All proceeds from HYF go to support Donna and her family.

If you know Donna, then you know Halloween is the perfect day for a Halloween Blitz, and the good people at Inveterate Media Junkies (IMJ) have been wonderful and supportive to spread the word for this great cause.  Today I am spotlighted in Heidi Ruby Miller's Geek Girl Underground

Check it out at http://inveteratemediajunkies.com

Dog Star Books announces summer release of COG

I was so excited to learn that my alum and friend K. Ceres Wright's novel Cog was picked up by Dog Star Books (Raw Dog Press' new imprint) and will be in print in 2013.

Ceres is one of the best writers I know AND one of the best people.  I was lucky enough to get a preview copy of the cover by artist Bradley Sharp and just felt that I had to share it with all of you.  When one writer succeeds, we all succeed.  

Congrats Ceres and a big hug from your most Tricky of friends.

-T

POSTING DATE: Tuesday, October 30, 2012

BOOK: COG

AUTHOR:  K. Ceres Wright

ARTIST: Bradley Sharp

PUBLISHER: Dog Star Books

GENRE: Cyberpunk Science Fiction

TAG LINE: In a futuristic world where personalities can be downloaded at will, who's a girl to trust? 

RELEASE: Summer 2013

LINKS: Dog Star Books - http://dogstarbooks.blogspot.com

K. Ceres Wright – http://www.kcereswright.com

Bradley Sharp - http://brade-s.deviantart.com

Raw Dog Screaming Press: Dog Con 1 Review

This past weekend, I had the privilege of flying down to Baltimore to
attend Raw Dog Screaming Press’ (RDSP) first DogCon, an invite-only
convention to celebrate RDSP and to announce some of its plans for the upcoming year.

Michael A Arnzen's virtual book reading at DogCon

The dog-themed event included readings by Michael A Arnzen and D. Harlan Wilson, tarot readings, tattooing—yes tattooing—giveaways, and a DogCon chat session, a virtual dog pound if you will, that allowed the public to meet some of their
favorite Raw Dog authors, including Steven Archer, Dustin LaValley, John Lawson, Donna Lynch, Jason Jack Miller, Leland Pitts-Gonzalez, and Matthew Warner.

During the State of the Dog address, editor and co-founder Jennifer Barnes also announced Raw Dog will be expanding its claws and sinking its fangs into the realm of science fiction with the launch of its new imprint Dog Star Books.  Dog Star Books will bring readers' favorite sub-genres of Science Fiction Adventure under the imprint's unifying brand.

Leading this imprint will be Heidi Ruby Miller who is no stranger to the science fiction adventure genre.  A life-long fan of sci-fi, Heidi has written numerous stories and essays on science fiction.  During the State of the Dog, it was revealed that veteran authors such as Mike Resnick will be included in this launch as well as newcomers such as K. Ceres Wright, whose novel Cog will be published under the Dog Star name.


And so congratulations to RDSP in this upcoming year (and every year after).
This old dog keeps showing us it can learn new tricks.
Just remember not to pet its fur the wrong way.

Blog Hop

Blog Hops

The Next Big Thing – Week 16 

First off a special thanks to Heidi Ruby Miller who’s not Just A Girl (@Heidirubymiller on Twitter) but one hell of a writer and personal friend for tagging me.  Check out her post then, hop over and visit these other talented writers.  They are an awesome mix of genre and literary writers  

Natalie Duvall (@Natt444) -- Www.natalieduvall.com

What is the working title of your book?

ONLY HUMAN

Where did the idea come from for the book?

It started as a writing prompt: what would it be like for a dragon to have to live its life as a human? From there all sorts of social implications starting creeping in.  I really liked the concept of how something with complete power would cope (or not) when said power was removed.

What genre does your book fall under?

I would call it Urban Fantasy although it is light on the fantasy.  The fantasy mainly comes from world building of dragon society.  If I took out the dragons there wouldn’t be any other fantasy tropes in it—I guess that would make it...hmm an action/adventure coming of age story?

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

It’s taken me so long to get to a point where I am proud of this story I had to change that a few times!

  








David Boreanaz as Vincent/Shylock


  Zac Efron as Kevin

Meryl Streep as (voice of) Spectre

Laurence Fishburn as (voice of) Bison



What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Love is human and never dies.

When a dragon is wrongly convicted for the murder of his mother and sister after losing control over his emotions, he must, for his punishment, spend the rest of his days as the most vile and irrationally emotional creature--a human

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

That is yet to be determined

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Well I thought it was 6 months.  It turned out that what I thought was my final draft was my first draft—that took two years.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?   While not necessarily in my genre, the books I’ve read that remind me of this include: Glen Duncan’s THE LAST WEREWOLF, Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain, Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas, or Bart Yates’ The Brothers Bishop

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

I really fell in love with my main characters.  I loved the relationships they had with one another.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I wanted this to be a fast, fun thrill ride with a little sentimentality and gentleness to it but I wanted hints of literary tools to enhance it. They’re in there for people who are willing to look.  Tea was originally made from dragon scales. Dragon skeletons are made of cartilage.  If ONLY HUMAN were a song it’d be a rock ballad.  If it were a symbol, it’d be the double helix.

Remembering Matthew Shepard 14 years later

Matthew Shepard.

I’m guessing that you haven’t heard or thought of that name in a while.  I suspect some of you don’t even know who Matthew Shepard is--

--Who Matthew was.

Honestly, I can’t pretend that I knew him personally.  I can’t even guarantee if we knew each other that he’d have liked me.

Sadly the little I of know of Matthew goes something like this:

In the wee hours of October 7th in Laramie, WY, Matthew was taken by two men to a rural location (in the guise of giving him a ride home) tortured, abused and then left to die tied to a fence post.  Eighteen hours later he was found by a passerby, in a coma but still alive.  (Think about that for minute.  Better yet set an alarm on your cell phone for 18 hours just to get a feel for how long that is).  One report I read said Matthew's skull was fractured, his face covered in blood, except where his tears had run.  Matthew died 5 days later from his injuries.  The reason for the murder?  Matthew was gay.

And so as today, October 12, 2012, commemorates the 14^th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death, I want to take this moment to give my sincere thanks and appreciation to Matthew’s family and friends.  Thank you for all that you have done to protect the rest of us, the LGBT community.  I am eternally grateful for your efforts,  and I'm so sorry for the price you had to pay--the price you continue to pay--to make this country a less hateful place for me to live, someone you’ve never met.  It’s a small token but know that you have all of my condolences, all of my heart, all of my love.

Apple of my eye

Orchard tears, how they sting still

My forgotten son.

Coming Out Day

Well as the last few grains of October 11 wind down on National Coming Out day, I pause and reflect on the amazing changes that I’ve seen in equality in my time.

Marriage rights in Massachusetts. Positive role models in fiction like Burt Humbol from Glee or Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter. Real life role models--Ricky Martin, Orlando Cruz, Neil Patrick Harris (he’s a magician too J), Anderson Cooper.   Brokeback Mountain. The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  Advocates like Lady Gaga and Adam Levine, who aren’t gay but fight for equality.

My original draft of this blog changed gears here, pointing out how much more fighting lay ahead.  I pointed out that we have a presidential candidate who said he would support an amendment to define marriage in our Constitution--clearly ignoring the precedent that the only amendment to date that infringed a person’s rights was repealed years later…But I dropped the negativity. 

Well I am trying to.  Why? Because today is a day to celebrate.

And for those of you who don’t see what there is to celebrate, or maybe tinkered with the idea of coming out today but whose courage ultimately fell a little short, let me attempt to offer some encouragement.

There's always next year.  It gets better.  I know if I could go back and tell my 18 year old self, I'd never believe it.  But it's true.  It gets better.

Don't take my word for it.  Here are some people way more intelligent than me.