Why RT? Why Now?

It's September, and you know what that means...

Back to school?

Uh. Yeah but...

Sweater weather?

Yes...

Hot apple cider with a shot of Fireball?

Dude. Stop! I'm not making this post drunk, damn it. 

September means that RT registration will be going live any day. For those not in the know, RT is the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention. May 2014, a bunch of romance authors and readers will be invading the beautiful city of New Orleans. 

I'm sure as soon as you saw "New Orleans," a lot of you clicked on the link to the convention information. And then you balked. First off, the main hotel is sold out. Second, you clicked on registration and saw dollar signs flashing before your eyes. That's what happened to me the first time too. I mean, that's a lot of money to shell out, especially if you aren't possibly going to "make money" from the con. I get it. 

I also know you should go anyway. 

Take away the awesomeness of New Orleans and you should still go. (My first RT was in Columbus, OH, and I've gone every years since.)

No, RT isn't cheap, but of all the cons I've attended, it's the best one for meeting and talking to agents, publishers, and more authors than you can count. And the best part? Most of those people are happy to talk to you. We see "aspiring author" on a tag and you automatically become a sister or brother in arms. "Reader" or "book seller"? You are officially on my favorite people list (especially if you know who I am--that makes me get teary). 

Those people you meet? It's not just cool to meet them, it's professional networking. My first RT, I went as an aspiring author. Within a couple months, I submitted to a couple publishers I'd met there. A few months after that, I had contracts with both of them. Now, it doesn't always work that way. Entangled rejected a few of my manuscripts before I signed with them, but that connection at RT made me realize how badly I wanted to work with the company. So I learned more details about what they wanted and I kept subbing.

It's those connections that can make your career. 

I'm sure some of you are sitting there thinking, "But I don't write romance." 

Go anyway. 

Romance has so many sub-genres that one of them is sure to appeal to you. There's an urban fantasy/paranormal romance track, a steampunk track (I'll be spending a lot of time there), a historical track... the list goes on and on. There is a lot to learn that can apply to non-romance as easily as romance. In addition? Those contacts I mentioned? Not all of them are going to be romance-centric. The agents take other genres. Many of the publishers have non-romance lines. The authors? They run the gamut from romance only to romantic elements to the likes of James Rollins (2012) and John Scalzi (2013)! (Trust me, I fan-girled over Rollins and made an ass of myself in front of Scalzi--I would never forget them. Also...both great guys.)

Besides, where else could you have the opportunity to see EL James (50 Shades of Grey) face off with Andrew Shaffer (50 Shames of Earl Grey)? And yes, I'm still kicking myself that I missed that, however short it was. 

The question always comes back to "is it really worth the money?" I can't answer that for you, but for me, it's always been a resounding yes. The connections you can make and the amount you can learn can't be measured in dollars. But of all the cons I've attended, this remains the most worthwhile and the one that I've never questioned whether or not I'd attend. 

Plus, hello? New Orleans. Bourbon Street Bar Crawl. Enough said. 

Excerpt from Warrior of the Nile The Goddess Appears

Sharing an excerpt today from my newly released paranormal romance, set in Ancient Egypt. Here's the story, followed by the excerpt:

Egypt, 1500 BCE

Lady Tiya is bound to the service of the goddess Nephthys, who plans to sacrifice Tiya’s body to protect Egypt from an ancient terror. She embarks to meet her grim fate alone but for the hardened warrior Khenet, who is fated to die at her side. Tiya’s dreams of love and family now seem impossible, and Khenet, who is the last of his line, knows his culture will die with him. Struggling with the high cost of Nephthys’s demands, both resolve to remain loyal.

Neither expects the passion that flowers when Tiya’s quiet courage and ethereal beauty meet Khenet’s firm strength and resolve. On a boat down the Nile, their two lonely souls find in each other a reason to live. But time is short and trust elusive.

Without the willing sacrifice of Tiya and Khenet, a great evil will return to Egypt. How could the gods demand their deaths when they’ve only just begun to live?

This scene comes early in the novel, right after Tiya is designated to be the one to accompany Khenet and they meet the goddess for the first time, in her temple at Thebes:

Khenet felt a breeze swirl around him, emanating from the closed door. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the bronze pins holding the bolts on the door to the innermost sanctum slowly turning. As he watched, one fell to the floor with a crash, followed a moment later by the other. The door drifted open very slightly, light blazing through the narrow opening and at the sides.

“The goddess is present,” said the high priest, clutching his staff so hard his knuckles went white. “Everyone is dismissed and may leave the inner sanctum, except for Lady Tiya and Pharaoh’s representative.”

Tiya’s father came to brush a kiss on her cheek before rejoining his impatient young wife and her brother, and then they too left. Khenet saw that although Tiya didn’t gaze after them, she did hastily wipe away a tear.

Murmuring prayers of praise and thanksgiving, the other priests filed out of the room. Khenet approached and offered Tiya his help in leaving the dais. “Allow me.”

She rested her fingers on his hand just long enough to keep her balance before snatching her hand back.

Marching up the stairs to the door of the innermost sanctum, Tiya held herself tall and dignified. He restrained a sigh. If she’s as haughty and rude as all her kind, this will be a long journey. But the other woman was sure to drive me to distraction with her interminable weeping, should Nephthys have selected her.

The high priest regarded them solemnly. “We go to meet the goddess. Nephthys wishes to assess both her Daughter and the guardian.”

“I’m ready,” Khenet said, fists clenched.

Tiya just nodded.

After checking to see that everyone else had left the chamber, the priest walked to the partially open doors and flung the gilded panels wide open. Light streamed out and Khenet heard the buzzing of wasps, as if he were about to step into a hive of the angry creatures. Tiya shrank back a little, took a deep breath, and followed the priest.

Not knowing what he expected, having been in the innermost sanctum of a temple only once, as a boy swearing allegiance to Horus, Khenet sized up the room as he crossed the threshold. A ten foot tall statue of the goddess dominated the space, with her arms out to the sides, palms up, her proud face carved as if she were challenging anyone foolish enough to enter her domain. The sculptor had depicted Nephthys wearing a pleated sheath that barely covered her ample curves,

and the entire statue had been covered in gold, which gleamed in the unearthly light the goddess herself was providing. A rich collar of turquoise, coral and lapis lay across the statue’s chest, matching earrings affixed to the shell-like ears. The strong scent of the lotus threatened to choke Khenet.

“The goddess is present,” whispered the priest, going to his knees, arms crossed over his chest, head down.

Tiya muttered a little prayer and knelt, copying the man’s pose.

Khenet planted his feet well apart, in a fighter’s stance, and remained standing. I’m here in Pharaoh’s place and he wouldn’t kneel to any goddess. Besides, I swear no fealty to Nephthys.

“Humility and obeisance are the safe choices in the presence of the Great Ones.” Where the statue had been, Nephthys herself now stood on the pedestal in front of them, taller than Khenet, wrapped in black robes and gray mist. Her black wig was adorned with golden and emerald beads, crowned with an ebony headdress proclaiming her name in one stark cartouche. Flickers of red shimmered in the air surrounding her, bringing the heat of the desert furnace. His ears rang with a  muted buzzing sound as if a hive full of wasps flew all around the small sanctuary. Nephthys pointed her index finger at him, two great ruby rings on her hand winking like the fire she could summon at will.

Khenet felt sheer stubbornness sweep over him at her words. “I’m here on behalf of Pharaoh, Great One.” The hidden purple bead on his bracelet burned against

his skin, the small pain steadying him as he braced for punishment.

But Nephthys surprised him, throwing her head back and laughing. “I see Nat-re-Akhte has chosen his minion well. You are strong, well suited to accomplish the task I assigned to him.”

BUY LINKS: Amazon  for kindle and audiobook  Carina Press      Barnes & Noble

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New Releases

Egypt, 1500 BC

Lady Tiya is bound to the service of the goddess Nephthys, who plans to sacrifice Tiya's body to protect Egypt from an ancient terror. She embarks to meet her grim fate alone but for the hardened warrior Khenet, who is fated to die at her side. Tiya's dreams of love and family now seem impossible, and Khenet, who is the last of his line, knows his culture will die with him. Struggling with the high cost of Nephthys's demands, both resolve to remain loyal.

Neither expects the passion that flowers when Tiya's quiet courage and ethereal beauty meet Khenet's firm strength and resolve. On a boat down the Nile, their two lonely souls find in each other a reason to live. But time is short and trust elusive.

Without the willing sacrifice of Tiya and Khenet, a great evil will return to Egypt. How could the gods demand their deaths when they've only just begun to live?

Book two of The Gods of Egypt

Buy Link

...a unique vampire story with a kickass heroine and a handsome hero...a post apocalyptic wasteland dominated by a new evolutionary species...a villainous corporation out to rule the world...an exciting adventure into a possible future...

When gorgeous vampire Rye is left for dead in the post-apocalyptic wastelands, she’s at the mercy of the sexy man who saves her. With her life in the balance, she voraciously drinks his blood. And while it heals her, his blood also triggers her inherent carnal lust.

The moment Sevrin finds Rye naked in a ditch, he’s intrigued. After letting her gorge on his blood, he experiences strange, spellbinding sexual urges. Then he tastes the succulence of her lips and he’s lost to the need thrumming between them.

As Rye and Sevrin embark on a steamy journey, indulging in every need, they also race to stop a villainous corporation from developing a poison that could wipe out the remainder of mankind.

Buy Link

Link List

JK Rowling to write new Harry Potter-inspired film series based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

On fake Geek girls: Fake Geek Romance? 

9 Women Who Shaped Science Fiction

On the Bechdel test and other fictional assumptions

5 THINGS NOVELISTS CAN LEARN FROM SCREENWRITERS

Very NSFW, but awfully funny. "I want to see the stallion who mounts the world." Think Seeing A Little Male Nudity On TV Is Too Explicit? Then ... It's Time To Hear The Hard Truth.

Group Announcements

ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE, the new SF Romance from Veronica Scott, hit #24 on the Amazon SFR Best Seller list last week. 

Not So Buried Treasure

There is a romance about archaeological digs and finding treasurers. Some treasures we easily understand, hordes of gold and jewels, statues and art, tombs and mummies. Others are more difficult.

This past May, in the library of the University of Bologna in Italy, Professor Mauro Perani found ‘gold’ in among the shelves and of the 925 year old university. It was a book, a scroll actually. Upon analysis he would confirm that it is the world’s oldest complete Torah, Jewish Bible.

Professor Perani was cataloging a 30 Jewish manuscripts in the library when he noticed that a particular scroll, Scroll Number Two, had been classified as originating in the 17^th century. When he took a closer look he saw that the scroll included letters and symbols that had been banned by the 12^th century Jewish philosopher, Moses ben Maimon. Perani suspected the scroll was much older.

Carbon dating in Italy and the United States confirmed that the scroll was made between 1155 and 1225 C.E. While fragments of scrolls dating as far back at the 7^th and 8^th centuries have been found, this is the oldest complete Torah. The oldest previously known scroll dates back to the 13^th century. However, St. Petersburg does have a bible in a book form, not the traditional scroll that dates back to 1088.

The lamb skin scroll is perfectly preserved and measures 118 feet long and just over 2 feet wide. It is surmised that the University received the scroll from a Dominican monastery in the city following Napoleon’s orders to disband religious orders in the country. As for why the Dominican friars had the ancient Torah, there was close collaboration between Christians and Jewish scholars in the early Middle Ages. Bologna also has had a large Jewish community for quite some time and the university added Hebrew studies to their curriculum in the 15^th century.

Telling you about this wonderful treasure at this time is appropriate as our Jewish friends, colleagues and family celebrate their New Year, 5774. L’Shana Tova, for a good year, and may we all be written in the book of life for another year. 

On Being a Writer of Genre Fiction

The other night I was chatting on Instant Messenger with one of my writer friends (and critique partner). She and I have a lot in common as writers because we both started out writing literary fiction and non-fiction - and were moderately successful at it - and then both switched to writing genre fiction. We both write erotic romance and she's had a very successful urban fantasy trilogy while I'm making my way in fantasy and fantasy romance.

In this conversation, she mentioned that one of her friends from her "former" writing life had a memoir published with a university press and she was excited to go to the launch party and see all her old friends. Then she expressed trepidation, saying that she never knows quite what to say to them about what she's writing now, as if she's internalized some of the shame of writing genre, especially in SFF and Romance, which tend to be the most sneered at among the "genres" by lit fic types.

It's really hard to say, though, if it's us or them.

But I totally understood what she means. I miss my old community - more so because we moved away. I loved the comaraderie of it all, the sense of being admitted to the club. I told her that I look at the Newsletter from the foundation that gave me a fellowship for a two-week residency, back in the day. Doing that residency was huge for me. First, just passing the jury to be awarded the fellowship was enormously validating. But then - spending those two weeks being fed and catered to while I did nothing but write? That was the first time I felt like a REAL writer. Like was I was doing was important. My fellow residents and I joked that they treated us like we were curing cancer. (I should mention this particular residency included artists of all types - painters, musicians, writers, photographers, composers, you name it.)

That joke reflected our internal uncertainty that we didn't really deserve such support, even as we reveled in it, like foster children plucked off the street and mistakenly given a rich home. We kept waiting for them to discover the error and boot us out.

Miraculously, they never did.

Some writers make a virtual living of this itinerant lifestyle, going from residency to residency. Part of this to support themselves in the early days but also because, with rare exceptions, lit fic writers rarely make money any other way. They work as professors at universities and writing programs. Genre writers typically have non-writing related careers until they make it.

I know far, far more genre writers making a living on just writing than in the lit fic world. I enjoy the writing more, too. But, when I get that newsletter...

There's stuff like:

~ Fellows nominated for the 2013 Tony Award:

~ featured in a solo exhibition

~ has been appointed Artistic Director

~ was shortlisted for Salt Publishing’s International Scott Prize

~ had its US television broadcast premier on PBS’s Independent Lens series

~ The American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded...

I'm reading through this, looking for my buddies and thinking "and Jeffe Kennedy has the second book in her Covenant of Thorns series, Rogue's Possession, coming out on October 7!"

Somehow, it just doesn't have the same ring, you know?

At the same time, I know that these sorts of prestigious announcements are the coin of the arts realm. This is what they trade upon. In that world, reputation and resume are what get you more work. In genre? Sales figures.

What strikes me about all of this is, I'm still the same writer. In many, quantifiable ways that I can point to, I'm  much better writer than when I received that Fellowship. Certainly far more people read my work, I sell more books and, yes, make more money at it.


More than that, I work harder at my writing and produce far more than I ever did then. I feel like a working writer now. A real writer, in a totally different way.

I may not be curing cancer, but that's not my job. I'm a writer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeffe Kennedy is an award-winning author with a writing career that spans decades. Her fantasy BDSM romance, Petals and Thorns, originally published under the pen name Jennifer Paris, has won several reader awards. Sapphire, the first book in Facets of Passion has placed first in multiple romance contests and the follow-up books, Platinum and Ruby are climbing the charts. Her most recent works include three fiction series: the fantasy romance novels of A Covenant of Thorns, the contemporary BDSM novellas of the Facets of Passion, and the post-apocalyptic vampire erotica of the Blood Currency.

Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine coon cats, a border collie, plentiful free-range lizards and a Doctor of Oriental Medicine. Jeffe can be found online at her website: JeffeKennedy.com or every Sunday at the popular Word Whores blog.

She is represented by Pam van Hylckama Vlieg of Foreword Literary.

Oh, fudge!

Ask my co-workers, customers, family members and even casual acquaintances about their general experiences over the last two weeks, and they'll likely all say something along the lines of, "Has everyone been sipping crazy juice? Did someone forget to mention that we're long past the full moon?"

Yeah, it's been a rough two weeks.

And now...it's Friday the Thirteenth.

I certainly could have gone on today about the many myriad ways Friday the Thirteenth grips us by the lapels and gives us a good, urban-myth and superstition-driven shake. But I think we deserve better.

We deserve fudge.

For your baking pleasure, I am resurrecting my mum's fudge recipe. Go forth, and have a great Friday the Thirteenth, all! (And if you have any sure-fire recipes to help beat the bad-week and scary day blues, I'd love to hear about them!)



Now, before I get started I do want to give a warning – please DO NOT leave children unattended around this, or any other cooking fudge. When fudge is in its bubbly, liquid phase it can cause dreadful burns, mostly because its thickness causes it to cling when it lands on skin.

Marlene’s Traditional Fudge

• 2 Cups of sugar
• 1/4 Cup of water
• 4 Tablespoons of margarine (or butter)
• 2 Tablespoons of syrup (I use golden syrup. Lyle’s golden, specifically)
• 1 Can of condensed milk (the recipe calls for a 397g can, but I've used a 300g can of Eagle’s Brand condensed milk with great results)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

1) Dissolve sugar and water over medium heat.
2) Add margarine and syrup to sugar/water mix, stirring occasionally until dissolved.
3) Add the condensed milk. Stir often until it comes to a boil.
4) Continue to boil over low-medium heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring almost constantly. DO NOT leave to boil unattended!
5) Remove from heat.
6) Add vanilla essence after removing from heat. Stir until thickened.
7) Pour into greased pan. Cut into squares when cold.

This fudge can also be crumbled or shaved, and turned into toppings for other desserts!

(Recipe originally posted on my own blog on October 17th, 2012. Too damn good not to share again and again!)

***

Natasha is the author of the Lost Souls Series - available at Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Audible. Most days she can be found muttering about random topics over on Twitter.

Storyboarding

When I first tried Pinterest, I tried to use it in the same manner I saw others using it. That didn't last long. Collecting recipes, cleaning and household organization tips, and crafting ideas was so very not for me. I mean, there's nothing wrong with any of those things, but I know who I am and where my strengths lie. If I tried doing some of that stuff, my results would wind up like something from Pinterest Fails. It took a while but I finally found something to do with the site that is useful for me as a writer. I started making storyboards.

Images from story locations or that match the fictional setting. The closest I can find to what the characters look like in my head. Videos of songs from the story's writing playlist. Any sort of image that fits the story, the mood, the characters and settings. It's the digital version of clipping photos from magazines and pinning them to a corkboard on the wall by your writing desk or saving them in a folder. I've done that and much prefer the digital method.

As an example, I'll use the storyboard for my Magic Born series. There's a lot here from Deviant Art, which is a fantastic place to find images and many of them have the handy red and white pin button to make things easier. For this board, the images are a mix of magic, the futuristic setting, a few casting pics of the characters, and other things that are lifted directly from Trancehack or its work-in-progress follow-up. Plus a lot of music, because that's just how I write. I find this helpful because it's a good way to gather various things that inspire the story, things that help me immerse myself back into that particular world if I've been away from it to work on something else or just take a break. To be honest, I don't really know if this is something readers would like to see. If any potential readers did take a look at this board, I think it would give them a pretty good idea of what the book is like.

I follow some other writers who use either all or some of their boards as storyboards or inspiration boards. Juliana Haygert has all kinds of great stuff on various writing-related boards. Ana Blaze has some terrific boards for both her published and work-in-progress books. Stacy Gail has a number of what she calls "Building a Book" boards that I think do a great job of showcasing her inspiration. My newest favorite pinner is Barbara J. Hancock, whose boards for her forthcoming Gothic novellas make me want to read every one of them.

I've got some other storyboards, including one for my dream book that I haven't even started yet. And, okay, yes, I have a few other kinds of boards now. My eye candy board is a nice distraction when I'm stuck with a plot problem. Some pics of David Gandy were added the other night when I had to take a break from beating my head against the laptop screen over a manuscript. I'm starting to use Pinterest more for fun, but I do still think of it primarily as another writing tool. It may not work for every writer, but it is definitely working for me.

Have you tried Pinterest? Do you use it for fun, work, or both? Do you think that seeing an author's storyboard might interest you in a book?

Sonya Clark writes paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Her next release, Trancehack, will be out on October 28. Visit her website at www.sonyaclark.net and follow her on Pinterest.