Not sure why everyone’s so worried about Thor, he’s fine guys... pic.twitter.com/GTbprK1l0c
— Chris Hemsworth (@chrishemsworth) June 13, 2019
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Wow, what a week! Winning the Colorado Book Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy last weekend, then receiving the beautiful artwork for my story coming out in DreamForge next week, and now my very first book to be produced in audio has been released by Audible!  This release is especially exciting for me as I've been a dedicated audio reader for years now. I first joined Audible in 2009 - prior even to Amazon acquiring the company and streamlining the experience - back when it required hours of effort to download your purchase onto multiple blank CDs that you also had to purchase, and any hiccup in the download process meant wasted time and a wasted CD. I also used to get audio CDs from the library, but either way, I was pretty much limited to listening to books in the car. Soon after Amazon took over Audible, certain Kindles, Kindle tablets, and phone apps were able to play audio and I shifted to reading nearly 100% in audio. I now read while walking the dogs, working around the house, driving, when going to sleep, and anywhere else I want. So for me to see the Audible release of one of my own books is a pretty big career bingo square marked off!
The Scotland-based narrator for the book, Jim Harbourne, was fantastic to work with. He's not only a audio producer, but also a stage actor. In fact, earlier this spring he performed in a play in London and as I write this now, he's in a play in New York! I was very glad he auditioned for the book, and the range of voices and inflection he brought to the production of The Halfblood War audiobook really brings the book to life! If you enjoy audiobooks and epic fantasy, I hope you'll check it out. If you do and you like it, I'd love you to let me know by leaving a brief review! My short story "The Weight of Mountains" will be coming out June 1st in the new issue of DreamForge Magazine. DreamForge is a new, first-rate magazine with optimistic SFF and gorgeous artwork. Check out the very awesome art for my story by John Blumen below! Also very cool, they've given me a discount subscription code to pass on to folks who follow my social media, so if you're interested in subscribing, here you go: 15-25% off DreamForge  Still a bit stunned to say it... me. While Gods Sleep has won the 2019 Colorado Book Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy. The awards show was held at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities this past Saturday evening. It was a lovely venue and fun to see a number of my friends there. Many thanks again to all the hard-working staff, judges, and volunteers for Colorado Humanities and Center for the Book who make this wonderful event possible.  I've been busy lately and neglecting to blog, but here are a couple of photos from some recent events. I did a reading at the Colorado Book Award finalist series at BookBar in Denver in early April, reading from While Gods Sleep, which is one of three Science Fiction and Fantasy finalists this year. Only two more weeks until the awards!  I was also invited to be a panelist for Pikes Peak Library District's all-day Mountain of Authors event, which took place last weekend. It was a very well-organized, well-run, and fun event. If you're in the Colorado Springs area, I'd highly recommend putting it on your schedule for next year. More than 30 authors, plus the author panel, a publishing panel, and NYT bestselling author keynote speaker. Not the greatest photos from the event as I was participating, but I snagged a couple online.
 I am thrilled to share the news that my novel, While Gods Sleep, has been selected as a finalist for the 2019 Colorado Book Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy by Colorado Humanities and Center for the Book! 🎉 I'm in great company again this year and, weather permitting, I'll be attending the reading series for finalists in the mystery/thriller/science fiction and fantasy categories on April 5th at the Denver BookBar on Tennyson St. 7-9pm.   Today and tomorrow only A Borrowed Hell is free, as are the 3 books listed with it! Find links to all 4 books at this Amazon page. And watch Digital Fiction Publishing's website for more deals - they've been doing this with different books over the past few weekends! 4.6 out of 5 stars 27 customer reviews WINNER of the 2018 Colorado Book Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy! Lost in a barren alternative world, July Davish has two options: Confront his hellish past or be trapped there forever. While Gods Sleep has made it into the best-reviewed BookLife titles from January PW reviews! Check it out in BookLife news.   Wonderful news: While Gods Sleep received a very favorable review from Publishers Weekly last week! I'm doing a little Snoopy dance and you can celebrate with me because the book is on sale right now for $0.99 at Amazon  Well, here it is New Year's Eve again, and time to reflect on the memorable things that happened in my little sphere of existence during 2018. Professionally, it was a banner year. I had two new books released (or all three out of my three published novels if I squish in my Dec, 2017 re-release of my debut novel, A Borrowed Hell, by its new publisher). In March I learned that A Borrowed Hell was listed as a Colorado Humanities and Center for the Book finalist for the Colorado Book Awards. I also found out that month that I was accepted to the juried master writing class, Taos Toolbox. In April I was a faculty presenter at Pikes Peak Writers Conference, where I had a wonderful three days seeing friends, meeting new folks, teaching two workshops, and a co-moderating a short story roundtable. I believe it was sometime in May that I finally completed my final draft of my newest book and the hardest book I've written to date! In early June, A Borrowed Hell was chosen as the winner of the Colorado Book Award for the Science Fiction/Fantasy category for 2018. The last half of June was spent attending the Taos Toolbox 2-week residency workshop in beautiful Angel Fire, NM where I learned from instructors Walter Jon Williams and Nancy Kress, and guest instructors, George R. R. Martin(!), Carrie Vaughn, and Emily Mah Tippetts. Late July saw the release of my epic fantasy, The Halfblood War - the first book I ever wrote, and September was the release of a book I feel most represents where my writing is now and where it's going, While Gods Sleep. There were a few personal milestones over the year as well: my mother, a WWII veteran of the British Army, turned a very healthy 100-years-old in February (and she's still doing well as I write this). We made it through one of the worst Colorado droughts in recent history (where I learned there is a stage beyond extreme drought called "exceptional drought") and through one of the worst fires in Colorado recorded fire history that burned way too close to home and affected people we knew. Hubby and I didn't make our trip to WorldCon San Jose as planned, but he also survived - with no lasting injury - the chlorine gas inhalation that happened the day before we were supposed to leave. In Sept, I finally made the leap to a plant-based diet with very limited processed foods (plus backyard eggs and sometimes fish for now) and can feel the health effects and see the hoped-for weight loss well under way - yay. After losing two beloved animals in 2017 (our 20-year-old horse to founder and our 10-year-old dog to a fast-moving cancer), the search for a new dog is getting closer to fulfillment and the search for a gaited horse to be a companion to our Tennessee Walker came to an end. In December, just in time for Christmas, we got our paint Fox Trotter, Indigo, through a local horse rescue. All in all, a really great year with so much to be thankful for! On the reading front, I read 41 books this year according to Goodreads, plus a few beta and ARC books that didn't count as they're not yet released. Here's the summary, with my recommended, blew my mind, 5-star favorites highlighted below (though many more of these books were very enjoyable reads as well). Here's wishing everyone health, happiness, and good reading in 2019! Strange the Dreamer, Kraken (again), An Unkindness of Magicians, The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion, Spoonbenders, Flashforward, The Fifth Doll, The Land of Laughs, Paradox Bound, The Black Tides of Heaven, The City of Lost Fortunes, From the Teeth of Angels, Space Unicorn Blues, Nova, Never Let Me Go, Welcome to the Monkey House, The Stars My Destination, Collected Fictions, Casino Royale, The Library at Mount Char, Good Omens, Level Five, Bigfoot Loose and Finn Fancy Free, The Golem and the Jinni, Sandman Slim, Finding Ultra, Voice of the Whirlwind, Circe, Walking Through Fire, Alternate Routes, The Quantum Magician, North, Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr, The Changeling, Integration: Ghost Marines, Alice Payne Arrives, The Riddle Master of Hed, The Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind (again for the entire set).  |
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Currently Reading: Too much.
Urth of the New Sun - Gene Wolfe Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting - Robert McKee Recently Watched: Good Omens Chernobyl Breaking Bad (starting the series for the 1st time!) Read so far this year: Every Heart a Doorway Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword Fire and Bone Trail of Lightning Blackfish City The Handmaid's Tale Witchmark The Graveyard Book The Stone Sky The Halfblood War (author - reviewed audio files) The City of Brass (dnf) Dimension of Miracles Wool The Lathe of Heaven If you'd like to follow this blog, please click the RSS Feed below.
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