No Opening, Opening Weekend

I hear the rest of you sweltered in the US over the weekend. Not us. Friday's weather was so miserable, I had to have the lights on all day, wore two sweaters and socks. It only rained in town, but up at the summit of Pine Mountain there was a raging blizzard.

Because of all the ice and snow, we weren't open to the public. I hope this weekend will be better.

Laura from the Daily Dodo has a book out, 100 Blog Prompts. Available on Amazon and Amazon UK.

Thank you to Tara Tyler for the Kreative and Versatile Blogger awards. An awesome blogging friend, and a poet who often tugs at my emotions. Maybe she'll publish those one day. Yes?

And thanks to Trudy Schoenborn for the Versatile Blogger award, too -- an awesome in-person crit partner, friend, and writer. I try to channel her ability to twist and turn. An amazing talent.

Thank you Allan Douglas for the One Lovely Blog award. We're on a few Triberr tribes, but I met Allan before that. Perhaps on Twitter. He's been a great supporter since I released my free reads last year. A most valued friend.

And much gratitude to Alex J. Cavanaugh for honoring me with the You Rock award. I surely wasn't expecting that. I'm indebted to Alex for showing me the ropes of this blogging business and how to make a splash when launching a book. He's a great guy, a great friend, and a great writer who made me bawl more than any 'girl' book ever did. That takes talent. Another very valued friend.

You can't go wrong networking with any of these folks. You can only go right.

Writing News ...                             

 I want to say a sincere thank you to all of you for your support in launching The Backworlds. Amazon finally price matched over the holiday weekend, so the downloads are flying. It's also now on iTunes, B&N, Kobo, and Diesel.

Reviews are coming in, all glowing so far. :D Most exciting, I've started receiving fan mail via email and Twitter. I have to say fan mail is awesome. Sales of Semper Audacia pick up. My mailing list grows. Folks following the website via email grows.  None of this would have happened without all of you and what you did to help me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Christine Rains! You're to blame for me dusting off an old short story and rewriting it. Deadline for submission is this week ... like I needed another project. But the story and call for submission were so well matched, I couldn't resist. Almost done ...

I continue editing Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge. I'm no longer hating every word, just a few here and there. Sometimes the best fix for figuring out why I'm not loving my work is critiquing someone else's. Oh yeah! That's what I need, too. Funny how that works. In a good way. Anyway, it's on schedule for release at end of July.

I also wrote a tentative first chapter for a novella series to run between releases of Backworlds novels. This subseries will be stories from the Foreworlds, to flesh out my universe more completely. I also wrote a tentative first chapter for Boomtown Craze (and did test covers for both), which will be the sequel after Stopover. I'll include both first chapters at the end of Stopover.

Writing continues on The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear. I set a deadline with my editor. That will be out this fall as planned. Not sure I can get The Augmentation of Hetty Locklear out by the end of this year, but I'll give it my best shot.

This will be my only post this week. I'll be working on all the projects laid out above. I'll back next Monday.

So tell me, what are you up to these days? How are your projects coming along?

Don't Go in the Woods and Weighted

This week's blog tour schedule:

Monday: Siana Wineland's jabbering about characterization. She's a very warm and supportive person, and a wonderful writer.

Tuesday: Toby Neal's. The topic is creativity.

Wednesday: Raine Thomas's Write as Raine Thomas with an excerpt from The Backworlds.

Thursday: Lynda Young's W.I.P It for a discussion on networking.

Friday: Julie Flander's What Else is Possible? for a little essay on my lack of wilderness skills.

It's Memorial Day weekend here in the US. The official opening of PMO. Yay. And I'm taking Monday off. Yes, you heard that right. I'm taking a day off and no touring next week. So, I may take my time popping on next week. Yeah, really.


Ciara Knight reveals the cover of her latest today. Weighted.

Weighted is a young adult post-apocalyptic with paranormal elements. It is a prequel novelette to The Neumarian Chronicles, and will be released August 2012. Book I, Escapement, will be released in 2013.

The Great War of 2185 is over, but my nightmare has just begun. I am being held captive in the Queen’s ship awaiting interrogation. My only possible ally is the princess, but I’m unsure if she is really my friend or a trap set by the Queen to fool me into sharing the secret of my gift. A gift I keep hidden even from myself.  It swirls inside my body begging for release, but it is the one thing the Queen can never discover. Will I have the strength to keep the secret? I’ll know the answer soon. If the stories are true about the interrogators, I’ll either be dead or a traitor to my people by morning.

Link to add Weighted to Goodreads shelf: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13647847-weighted

Congrats to Ciara. It's a gorgeous cover, and I love the title.

Come meet me at Julie Flander's What Else is Possible? where I talk about my lack of wilderness skills. City gals should not wander about the woods. Ever! And especially not in the dark.

I've been following Julie's journey since her early days in the blogosphere. She's such a lovely person, and an excellent writer. She writes nonfiction as well as fiction, and I just know I'll be hosting her blog tour one of these days. I'm really glad I bumped into Julie.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Networking Beyond the Internet

Monday: Siana Wineland's jabbering about characterization. She's a very warm and supportive person, and a wonderful writer.

Tuesday: Toby Neal's. The topic is creativity.

Wednesday: Raine Thomas's Write as Raine Thomas with an excerpt from The Backworlds.

Thursday: Lynda Young's W.I.P It for a discussion on networking.

Friday: Julie Flander's What Else is Possible? for a little essay on my lack of wilderness skills.

More photos from the Cascades. Click on a photo to enlarge. First: Along the Rogue River after the gorge. Second: Mt. Thieson. Third: Sky-reaching trees.

Join me today at Lynda Young's W.I.P It for a discussion on networking beyond the internet. Platform happens outside cyberspace, too. Lynda was one of my earliest blogging buddies, and she just announced one of her short stories was accepted in an anthology Make Believe. I've been privileged to read several of her stories. She's an awesome writer. So I knew we'd be celebrating her publications. I'm sure there are many more to come. Congrats, Lynda. Here's the beautiful cover:

Leecher, Leecher

Monday: Siana Wineland's jabbering about characterization. She's a very warm and supportive person, and a wonderful writer.

Tuesday: Toby Neal's. The topic is creativity.

Wednesday: Raine Thomas's Write as Raine Thomas with an excerpt from The Backworlds.

Thursday: Lynda Young's W.I.P It for a discussion on networking.

Friday: Julie Flander's What Else is Possible? for a little essay on my lack of wilderness skills.


Rogue River Gorge in the Cascades offered some breathtaking sights.

 The last is a living stump. Anything weird fascinates me. Thank goodness Oregon excels at weird. Clicking on any photo will enlarge.

Join me at Raine Thomas's
Check out her books while you're there. Raine is a fantastic writer.

Magic of Moonrise

It's a full week of blog touring.

Monday: Siana Wineland's jabbering about characterization. She's a very warm and supportive person, and a wonderful writer.

Tuesday: Toby Neal's. The topic is creativity.

Wednesday: Raine Thomas's Write as Raine Thomas with an excerpt from The Backworlds.

Thursday: Lynda Young's W.I.P It for a discussion on networking.

Friday: Julie Flander's What Else is Possible? for a little essay on my lack of wilderness skills.


More photos from the Oregon Vortex. Inside the House of Mystery ... ooo. According to our lovely tour guide, the anomalies are in constant flux. I bought their booklet of scientific data to study in more detail. It was a fun place to visit. See Monday for more photos. Click on any photo for a larger view.

Meet me over at Toby Neal's. . Toby is a huge talent. Her novel Blood Orchids is a hit, and she lives in stunning Hawaii.

The Backworlds is now available on iTunes and B&N for free. Check the sidebar or The Backworlds tab for links.

Words Sparked Like Stars

It's a full week of blog touring.

Monday: Siana Wineland's jabbering about characterization. She's a very warm and supportive person, and a wonderful writer.

Tuesday: Toby Neal's. The topic is creativity.

Wednesday: Raine Thomas's Write as Raine Thomas with an excerpt from The Backworlds.

Thursday: Lynda Young's W.I.P It for a discussion on networking.

Friday: Julie Flander's What Else is Possible? for a little essay on my lack of wilderness skills.

The Renaissance Faire turned out to be a bust. We thought the website had lied, because we couldn't find any festival, but then it turned out it's next year. Thanks to the very kind waiter in Medford for helping us out. But it wasn't a complete waste of time. We went 30 miles north to visit the Oregon Vortex and House of Mystery. That was worth the trip 3 1/2 hours southwest, and the scenery was spectacular through the Cascades, as always.

The men seem to get shorter on the right and taller on the left. Click on any photo for a larger view.

Join me today at Siana Wineland's .

Search for Other Earths

Today I'm visiting Derek Flynn at Rant with Occasional Music. Topic: Kepler and the search for other worlds. Besides being a writer, Derek is also a talented musician with his first album recently released. Check out his latest music video.

Wednesday I was at Allan Douglas's blog, The Write Stuff, talking about one of my greatest inspirations for The Backworlds, and one of my all-time favorite space operas. I met Allan awhile ago, and he has been a great supporter and fan. Quite fantastic. And he'd also a great writer.

Monday I'll be over at Siana Wineland's writing on characterization. She's a very warm and supportive person, and a wonderful writer.

Stop by and see us.

Happy weekend all. I'm off to Southern Oregon this weekend for a Renaissance Festival. Research for my fall release, and some fun.

Ran into my buds, the Gangsta cows, last Saturday. It was good to see them.

You Can't Take the Sky From Me

Today I'm at Allan Douglas's blog, The Write Stuff, talking about one of my greatest inspirations for The Backworlds, and one of my all-time favorite space operas. I met Allan awhile ago, and he has been a great supporter and fan. Quite fantastic. And he'd also a great writer.

 Yesterday I discussed strategies in launching a series at Nick Daw's. Have some ideas on marketing? Pop over and let's discuss.

Friday I'll be visiting Derek Flynn at Rant with Occasional Music. Topic: Kepler. Besides being a writer, Derek is also a talented musician with his first album recently released. Check out his latest music video.

I ran across this recently in my internet travels, a LEGO Serenity/Firefly playset. Awesome. You can find out more about it HERE.

Come see me at Allan's.

Got a look at Venus on Saturday. Venus has phases like the moon. Anything between us and the Sun has phases. Anything behind us, doesn't.

The Advantages in Creating a Series and First Loves

Meet me today at Nick Daw's Writing Blog. I'm thrilled to be inside Nick's writing world. The topic is strategies for launching a series. Nick just released The Fesitval on Lyris Five. Congrats to Nick.

Friday I visited Misha Gericke's My First Book. I can tell you she writes a fabulous story, and is a great crit partner. I look forward to celebrating her future publications. She puts out a fabulous blog, too. The discussion was on character. It's something I had to work on, and I talk about what helped me.

Wednesday I'll be taking over Allan Douglas's The Write Stuff, talking about the space opera that inspired The Backworlds most.

Stop by and see us.

It's First Loves Blogfest day. Hosted by the indominable Ninja, Alex J. Cavanaugh. We're posting our first loves--movie, book, music, person.

Way back when, before time was invented ... I fell in love. :)

My grandmother used to take my sister, cousin, and I to the movies every year for our birthdays. Were all only a day a part. Now the Husband Unit joins that birthday lineup. He and I are only a day apart, too. Back to the topic at hand though ... The first film I recall sparking my full imagination was the Aristocats. I would colorform (do they still make those?) and color books dreaming up more stories for these cats. 

I was an avid reader from early on. Loved Dr. Seuss and all of those wonderful picture books. The first book that lit the writing spark, that made me want to try to create my own stories, was Anne of Green Gables. My other grandmother gave me a hardbound copy. Which I still have. One of my treasures. The photo is what the book I have looks like.

Don't cringe, Alex, but my first music love was Bobby Sherman. I used to beg my parents to let me stay up and watch his show. The grandmother who gave me Anne also gave me a Bobby album. It was second grade, for my 1st Communion. I still have that scratched up piece of vinyl somewhere. In a close second was David Cassidy.

The first person was a boy named Keven in my 1st grade class. We were separated by gender for lunch, but I did my damnedest every lineup for lunch to get as close to him as possible. Every year in grade school, I went out of my way to give him a mushy Valentine ... even if he wasn't in my class. Hmm, glad those stalker tendencies didn't continue. :)

Saturday night was a great night for astronomizing. Skies were clear, but hazy. It was warmer than usual. No snow remained on Pine Mountain, which is odd for mid May, and I didn't have to wear my thermals. Strange indeed. I managed to dig the telescope out of the garage. Orson Bradbury is now at his summer abode--the room under the 24" telescope. Both Orson and I were happy to be back out under a starry sky.

Come discuss marketing strategies over at Nick's. Divulge your first loves. Who and what were they?

Evolution of Character

Today you'll find me at Misha Gericke's My First Book. I can tell you she writes a fabulous story, and is a great crit partner. I look forward to celebrating her future publications. She puts out a fabulous blog, too.

 Wednesday I visited Rachel Morgan's. The topic was bioenginnering. Rachel kindly taught me the trick of using Powerpoint to create better titles on my book covers. I love how we all share here in the blogosphere.

Monday I'll be at Nick Daw's Writing Blog. I'm thrilled to be inside Nick's writing world. The topic will be on strategies for launching a series.

Stop by and see us.

Training for another summer up at Pine Mountain Observatory is this weekend. Only two more weeks until we open. Woot!

Thank you Friends!

C. Lee McKenzie is very kindly featuring me at TheWriteGame today. Stop by and see us. :)

I want to thank all of you for helping in making The Backworlds launch so visible this week. I have to say, it was incredibly awesome and flattering.

More than I can say, I appreciate your support. Any time any of you need mine, you have it. Any time you want to rent space on this blog, you're welcome.

I also hit 5,000 Twitter followers this week. I remember when I was hoping to just get 100.

But nothing beats the power of the blogosphere.

New Humanity

 Today I' m at Rachel Morgan's. The topic is bioenginnering. I'm indebted to Rachel for teaching me the trick about using Powerpoint to create better titles on my book covers. I love how we all share here in the blogosphere.

Yesterday I visited Rick Gualtieri's blog, The Poptart Manifesto, discussing the colonization of space. Rick is a prolific author, and a good one. Pop by. :)

Friday I'll be at Misha Gericke's My First Book. I can tell you she writes a fabulous story, and is a great crit partner. I look forward to celebrating her future publications. She puts out a fabulous blog, too. 



Stop by and see us.

The lovely and talented Rek of Chronicle of Dreams made an awesome video for The Backworlds as a surprise. Awesome, Rek! I love it!.



And here's something for a little fun. The Space Opera title Generator.

The Colonization of Space as I see it

 Today I' m at Rick Gualtieri's blog, The Poptart Manifesto, discussing the colonization of space. Rick is a prolific author, and a good one. Pop by. :)

Yesterday, I was at Frances Pauli's Speculative Friction talking about what a space opera is.

Tomorrow, I'll be at Rachel Morgan's. The topic is bioenginnering.

Stop by and see us.

It's The Backworlds, Baby!

I'm starting off this bash with a post on Frances Pauli's blog, Speculative Friction. Discussing the space opera today. I met Frances several years ago on Goodreads. Her first book had just come out, Roarke, which is outstanding. She's been prolific ever since. Check out her books on her website. If you've never read anything by her, you're missing out. One of her stories will be in the Wandering Weeds: Tales of Rabid Vegetation with The Tumbas, by me, due out later this year. She was one of the talented editors who put the anthology together.

Tomorrow I'll be at  Rick Gualtieri's blog, The Poptart Manifesto talking about colonizing space. He's an amazing writer. Do you know Rick?

Thank you for stopping by to celebrate the launch of my first series. The Backworlds is the first book in the series of the same name. It is space opera, set entirely in outer space. One of my visions of humanity's future.

The Backworlds
 After the war with Earth, bioengineered humans scatter across the Backworlds. Competition is fierce and pickings are scant. Scant enough that Craze’s father decides to hoard his fortune by destroying his son. Cut off from family and friends, with little money, and even less knowledge of the worlds beyond his own, Craze heads into an uncertain future. Boarding the transport to Elstwhere, he vows to make his father regret this day.

The Backworlds is a free read and is currently available in all ebook formats from both Smashwords and Feedbooks. It's also available from Amazon / AmazonUK / AmazonDE / AmazonFR / AmazonES / AmazonIT for 99 cents.

It will be free there soon and up on Barnes & Noble, iTunes, elsewhere for free. Stay tuned to this blog, my website, or sign up for my newsletter to find out the day it does go free on Amazon and becomes available at those other outlets.

Thank you to my fellow partiers for helping me make a small splash in cyperspace this week. And, thank you to my talented editor, Leigh T. Moore, for guiding The Backworlds to be even better. Any typos are my sole responsibility.


And thanks to these fabulous authors for renting me space on their blogs over the next few weeks.

 Mon.                May 7              Frances Pauli               Speculative Friction

            space opera                              http://francespauli.blogspot.com/

Tues.                May 8              Rick Gualtieri              The Poptart Manifesto

            colonizing space                      http://www.poptartmanifesto.com/

Wed.               May 9              Rachel Morgan            Rachel Morgan Writes

            bio engineering                        http://www.rachel-morgan.com/

Fri.                   May 11            Misha Gericke             My Fist Book

            character                                  http://sylmion.blogspot.com/

Mon.                May 14            Nick Daws                  Nick Daw’s Writing Blog

            launching a series strategies    http://www.mywritingblog.com/

Wed.               May 16            Allan Douglas             The Write Stuff

            Serenity/Firefly                       http://www.allandouglas.com/blog/

Fri.                   May 18            Derek Flynn                Rant, With Occasional Music

            Kepler                                     http://derekflynn.wordpress.com/

Mon.                May 21            Siana Wineland           Siana’s Place

            Characterization                      http://www.sianawineland.com/

Tues.                May 22            Toby Neal                   Toby Neal

            Creativity                                http://www.tobyneal.net/

Wed.               May 23            Raine Thomas             Write as Raine Thomas

            Excerpt                                    http://rainethomas.com/blog/

Thurs               May 24            Lynda R. Young         W.I.P. It

            Networking                             http://lyndaryoung.blogspot.com/

  Fri.                   May 25            Julie Flanders              What Else is Possible?

            Adventures Outdoors             http://julieflanders.blogspot.com/

Mon.                June 4              Catherine Stine           Idea City

            Bioengineering                        http://catherinestine.blogspot.com/

Wed.               June 6              JL Campbell                The Character Depot

            space opera                              http://thecharacterdepot.blogspot.com/

Fri.                   June 8              Greta van der Rol       Greta van der Rol

            Pine Mtn. Obervatory             http://gretavanderrol.net/
Mon.                June 11            Libby Heily                 Libby Heily
            Getting Free on Amazon & Mailing lists  http://libbyheily.blogspot.com/ 

In celebration, you all get a free copy of The Backworlds. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Ambitions and Payoffs

Insecure Writers Support Group meets the first Wednesday of every month. Hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Sign up and join us.

Have you heard I'm launching the first story in my new series next week? Only a few days left. You can still sign up to help HERE.

I was really nervous about taking that step and asking for help. I really didn't expect 50 people to sign up and be so supportive. You all rock on a big, huge, awesome scale. And another 18 awesome folks will host me on their blogs in the coming weeks. So no break after AtoZ for me. Maybe I can take a few days later in June. Probably not. I'll be getting ready to get the sequel published.

Then comes series two. I worry about getting that all done before the end of the year. I'm sure I will get it's first story out this fall. Not so sure about the novel. It'll be a lot of work to take the first draft to polished draft. I'll do my best.

It's exciting, but kind of crazy.

I was in the local papers a lot the past few weeks. I gave the presentation at Central Oregon Writers Guild's meeting last Thursday night. If your ears were ringing, it's because I mentioned a number of you as examples of creating successful platforms. I taught author's platform and building a blog. About 30ish folks showed up. A few drove long distances just to see me. So, they said. That was very flattering. The presentation went really well. I'd had lots of people asking me about blogging the last few months, so I asked to take over a meeting and share my knowledge.

Several people said they saw me in their paper. Cool.

Then Google alerts sent this to my inbox the other day, saying Plantgirl is recommended Nook reading. Cool again. HERE

It's anthills in my push to make a splash in the writing world. But they're nice. Keep on pushing. Keep on working. Payoffs eventually come. Small ones will lead to bigger ones. All we have to do is keep working and not give up.

Have you made any splashes lately?

PS, I'm taking the rest of this week off from blogging. I will be around visiting all of you, and I will be loading up posts and writing posts for The Backworlds Tour. Just going to stay quiet until next Monday. You can find the Tour Schedule HERE.