Awards

Editing and proofing and conferences OH MY!

Busy, busy as usual with me, but time for a quick catch up post.

I’ve learned a new skill…well at least the basics…InDesign! I helped my darling husband, Tee Morris out with some ebook design for the Ministry Protocol. He however did the more complicated print design. It’s interesting the two different approaches. Print is set in stone, with ebook you have to keep it relatively simple, just to take into consideration the different hardware people will be using to read them.

We just got the proof of the print copy, and I’m in the process with Tee of checking it over. It’ll need a couple of tweaks, then another proof, but after that we should be good to go. It is going to be a very pretty book though from this first round!

We also got the second round of edits for Dawn’s Early Light, and it’s exciting to see the book take shape into something awesome. I really want to get this out into people’s hands. Don’t forget you can totally pre-order it.

Also I am editing Weather Child, and totally handing it over to Tee Tate my go-to freelance editor today. The cover image is being shot by the damned talented Alex White, and I hope to get it out for all your Christmas buying needs.

But we did manage to have some fun this month. Tee and I both attended Authors After Dark in Savannah. It is a wonderful convention for a writer to attend, because you get a lot of quality time with readers. We took a group of charming readers out to lunch at the Pirate House. Wonderful place and wonderful company. We also got to hang out with Delilah S Dawson, Leanna Renee Hieber some of our authors from Ministry Protocol. So all in all a great weekend! Next year it is in Charlotte and I highly recommend it.

Not done yet!

Oh yes, and we won an award. Tales from the Archives won a Parsec award for best anthology/magazine. This makes for three Parsecs in total for the podcast, and three Parsecs between Tee and I (one each, and then one together). It makes for a nice round number. Thanks to Kregg Steppe who picked up the award for us since it was presented at DragonCon.

Think that is the last of it…but I’ll try and keep more atop it.

Cat in the snow…

It’s the untold joys and disappointments of the writing lifestyle that I have to get used to. Sometimes you are a cat lying in the sun, sometimes you are dumped in the snow. Sometimes both happen in one day..

On one hand. Got to see the new cover for Dawn’s Early Light. It’s awesome, and come May 29th we’ll be revealing it. Yay!

On the other, trying to get a handle on a new series that I am putting together and finding a home for it. Boo!

On a second hand. The Janus Affair won the Steampunk Chronicles Reader’s Choice Award for Best Fiction. Yay!

On another. Trying to find a home for the book I love set in New Zealand that seems to be a hard sell to America. Boo!

And so on…and so on…

I have to keep reminding myself that in a regular job there are ups and downs to. I am still living the dream of making a living off writing, but I would caution writers hoping to do the same, you’re going to have days like these.

However, on the plus side, I am developing a new historical fantasy series, a new YA series, and a new high fantasy series. At this stage it is up to the point of seeing which one publishers like the look of.

In the meantime, plenty of new short stories coming out, so if you are in the mood for supporting my independent projects, check out Imagine That! Studios offering.

Now, I am off to wrestle with a whole new fantasy world, magic system, and a batch of screaming sisters. Hopefully there are no more cats-dumped-in-the-snow moments…

Welcome 2013!

It’s a little late, but I’ve been assessing 2012, and planning 2013 so that takes some time.

2012 was my best year yet as far as financial rewards for writing, but there were some goals that I didn’t reach. I’m not going to get depressed about that, but it comes time to set new ones for the year ahead.

In 2012 Tee and I worked not only on novels, but on getting our own self-publishing business, Imagine That! Studios, as a nice side income stream working for us. ITS is about producing new short fiction, as well as being a way to have our independent novels out there in the wild. It did about seven times better than 2011, but I know 2013 can be even better. I started the year by releasing a project I’d been working on for awhile The Little Clockwork Mermaid, but look for more from ITS in future months.

In 2012 the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences became a Locus Bestseller, and I won a Parsec for the Precarious Child. This year means a new round of awards open up for us. First up is the Sir Julius Vogel Award, which has a special place in my heart because it recognises New Zealand fiction writers. Wrayth, the Janus Affair, and Hunter and Fox are all open to be nominated, the more nominations the better. So if you think any of these deserve to be on the list, please go nominate! Later on there are the Parsecs and the Airship Awards…so we shall see…

And just got word today that the omnibus edition of Geist, Spectyr and Wrayth is shipping. So if you’d like a hardback edition with an awesome cover, then please order away. I am very excited because this is my very first omnibus anything.

As for what I am working on currently…well now is the time to be producing three chapter and synopsis for new series. I have ideas for two. The first whose working title is the Knack, is set in 1920s with a fun new heroine and a dark conspiracy in the heart of England. I’m enjoying pulling together the plot with Scrivener, and making all the character sketches. The second idea I will be constructing a submission package for in February is set in America just after the civil war.

So I am messing about with history again, though I am not ruling out a return to epic fantasy after the saga of Sorcha, Merrick, Raed and the Rossin finish.

Also ahead in 2013 we have the release of several things in the summer. Harbinger, Kindred and Wings, and the clockwork fairytale anthology I am in are all coming out fairly close to each other.

Tee and I are also working on Ministry projects to span the slight gap between book two and three. Look for a Kickstarter in March for a print anthology. We have some exciting authors lined up to write for us, and we think our readers and listeners will be excited too.

Once again though, I would like to thank those readers and listeners for supporting me. You make it possible for me to keep doing what I am doing, and I’m going to work even harder in 2013 to keep bringing you stories.

What a week…

As you probably- or possibly- know I got married last week to my co-author Tee Morris. You’d think that would be enough of a week…

But then we went to Comic Con. See my post for all about that. (Tor.com wrote up this review of the panel I was on Winter is Here)

Then we started to hear whispers about the Airship Awards. Now, after a convention those volunteers who organise it, are usually pretty beat. So when we looked into who had won and found nothing, we weren’t that surprised.

Then the Steampunk Scholar himself, said that we’d won. He was there presenting, but still we managed to hold in the excitement. Then the Airship Ambassador confirmed it.

Yes, Tee and I are now award winning steampunk authors!

The other nominees included The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (Pyr), Camera Obscura (Angry Robots), and The Half-Made World (Tor). All heavy hitters, all amazing books..so we are beyond ecstatic!

Previous winners of this award include Phil & Kaja Foglio, Alan Moore, and Abney Park. This is an award voted on by the attendees of Steamcon, and that matters a great deal to us. We’ve always said Phoenix Rising is a romp, and we want to make people smile.

Now we feel like we’ve done our job…and that’s a great feeling.

Oh yes, and as part of applying for my change of status here in America I found out I don’t have leprosy! So all in all, a fantastic week!!!

Awards and colleagues

As the award and con season rolls on, I am once more caught up in the excitement. The Parsec Awards hasÂ again short-listed Erotica a la Carte in its Best Anthology category. Although I won’t be at DragonCon this year, I am chuffed to know that my little experimental cast is up there with the likes of Escape Pod and Variant Frequencies.

And then there are the Sir Julius Vogel awards which are special to me, as they show just how amazing the range of talent we have in this tiny country is. Weather Child is up for an award and I admit another of those spectacular trophies would be sweet. If you are planning on attending Au Contraire or are a member of SFFANZ then you can vote here.

Both Tee Morris and I will be at Au Contraire, as well as attending AussieCon– which is also WorldCon. Exciting times.

But then I know things are heating up in the South Pacific. One sure sign of it is the unveiling of SpecFicNZ at Au Contraire. (Check out the event page here) A group of people devoted to genre writing- utter bliss that I could not have imagined five years ago.

Genre is now alive and well, and we are busting into New York and getting contracts.

In addition to my 2 book deal with Ace/Penguin and another 2 book deal with Eos/HarperCollin for the book I co-authored with Tee, there are a lot of excellent writers in New Zealand who are breaking into New York

So in the interests of bringing attention to my colleagues and fellow kiwis here’s a list. If you know of anymore to add, please do so in the comments.

Nalini Singh– New York Times best seller in paranormal romance.
Russell Kirkpartick – epic fantasy author, first published by Voyager/HarperCollins he is published all over the world.
Helen Lowe – her epic fantasy series starts coming out with Eos/HarperCollins in October 2010.
Mary Victoria – epic fantasy published by HarperCollins.
Elizabeth Knox– award winning, historical/YA fantasy writer
Lyn McConchie – multiple award winner, and has co-authored books with Andre Norton.

Out of a tiny country that’s not too bad. And that’s not including Australians living here, or New Zealanders living in Australia. Or indeed all those learning the craft and coming up.

After compiling this list I am feeling positively optimistic. So talley-ho New Zealand! I am so damn proud of you all!