A while back I wrote a short story for my good friend PG Holyfield. The Tales of the Children are set in the world of Caern, and supported the release of Patrick’s Murder at Avedon Hill.

Writing in another person’s universe was a really fun opportunity, and it was nice to get to play with genuine elves. I have always been of the opinion that elves (and the Fey) are not portrayed as dangerous enough.

This floaty, dreamy vision of elves never really flew with me, so when I got to write in Caern, I was determined to write about elves as I imagine them; sharp, deadly and a race you really, really do not want to annoy.

So what happens when humans do what humans do, and invade an elven island. Yep, they bring a whole world of hurt down upon themselves.

Can humans gain a foothold on the island of Kandriel? If Syliene, an elven warrior and priestess of Thei-Shan has anything to say about it, the answer is no.

Have a listen here

I have tech edited two wonderful books on Twitter by Tee Morris, but this is the first time I have helped choose stories for an anthology. I was very pleased to be invited to help chose from among the submissions for

The Kiwi Writers Challenge Collection 2009

Yes that deserves to be in big ole text. Kiwi Writers is a wonderful resource, and full of supportive people doing wonderful things. I was truly impressed with the quality of the writing. And you know… you can read it for free? Yes, free! But if you want to have a copy of this fine anthology, and who wouldn’t, then Kiwi Writers have made it nice and cheap on Lulu. Go have a look. It’s a wonderful thing, and I am very proud to have had a small part in it.

Suddenly realized that I haven’t blogged in awhile- and that isn’t because things aren’t happening. In fact it is because they are! There have been more nibbles writing wise, that are both sureal and exciting– and none I can talk about. One of them does involve my steampunk story. It has a new title, Books and Braun: Phoenix Rising. Yes, this is easily a series.

And here we come to the title of this post. San Jose is the city hosting World Fantasy- and I will be there. I will be meeting with publishers and my lovely agent Laurie. Also Edge Publishing will be there, and hopefully there will be stocks of Chasing the Bard and Digital Magic available to be bought. Also Dan Sawyer and Gail Carriger will be in attendance. (Gail is also having a party to release her fantastic new novel- Soulless) So let me know if you are going to be there.

You know, you work at something for 12 years, plugging along, enjoying what you are doing, but not expecting things to happen. I’ve just kept my head down doing what I love- and lately I’ve had to look up.

Ever since my wonderful agent sold the 2 book deal to Ace I have found new and wonderful things happening. Some possibilities I cannot tell anyone about, which just about kills me. But I can tell you about two.

Books and Braun is a steampunk tale of Wellington Books Esq. archivist for the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, and how his life is turned upside down by the demotion of agent Eliza D Braun; a feisty Colonial none too happy about being stuck in the Archives. Book and Braun soon find themselves investigating the death of Braun’s previous partner and steamy chaos ensues.

The other that I have just committed to is working a steampunk YA novel with Dan Sawyer.

Collaboration is a tricky business, but can also be a delight. Books and Braun is perhaps 80% done, but Dan and I won’t start writing the YA project until December. But I am excited.

Social networking and the wonders of the internet have bought me so many opportunities and have connected me with so many fabulous people. So hurrah for digital awesomeness.

If that is how Twitter makes you feel, then I have the solution.

Yes, All A Twitter is now available for purchase. My collaborator on many things, Tee Morris has written this great book on the hot social media application. Tee has written many technical books, including Podcasting for Dummies and his style is laid back and very palatable to even the most technologically challenged.

For me, Twitter is about staying connected to friends, family and fans all over the world. But I have to admit, when I first signed up I didn’t ‘get it’. A book like this would have really helped me through those awkard months of learning.

I also tech edited All A Twitter- using my librarian skills to make sure Tee was giving you the good oil. It’s a book that covers everything from setting up, building a network, proper ettiquette and everything in between. It is also funny- which is a nice thing to have in a tech book.

So pick up a copy. Or do what I am- suggest your local library purchase it.

Well if I thought it was all just a mad dream, here is evidence that I am not. From May 2009 edition of Locus confirmation that the Ace deal is a go.

So I sent the contract by fast plane to New York, and now I have a date of publication. Geist will be out November 2010 and its sequel the following year.

I can’t wait to get start on final edits. Geist 2 (still have to come up with a satisfactory name) is about 15,000 words done and it is a lot of fun to get back to this world.

So apart from that writing here’s my calendar of things to get done

• Finish podcasting Weather Child.
• Begin planning and then podcast Digital Magic
• Write, edit, produce and podcast Books and Braun
• Write and podcast a series of perhaps 10 episodes of short stories in the Geist universe.

It’s been one of those months- everything seems to be hanging on a knife edge, and it is not my preferred method of living I can tell you.

• Digital Magic (best novel- adult) and the podcast version of Chasing the Bard (best fan production) are up for Sir Julius Vogel Awards this year. This NZ version of the Hugos, just keeps getting bigger and better, so it really is an honour to be nominated.
• My wonderful agent Laurie is pitching Geist. This is the novel I am most proud of, with a main character I love and very much want to continue writing. It’s wide open to being a fun, exciting series. It’s on the desks of people I only ever dreamed of getting my stuff in front of. I am trying not to think about it or I might just chew my own fingernails off.
• The first of my guest chefs at Erotica a la Carte has landed. Susan Z’s A Heart of Hammered Brass is just wonderful. But the only problem is, listening to it *I* want to get back to writing for this series. I am thinking about pulling the whole thing together into a collection for podiobooks. I may also put my stories (or with permission the other chef’s stories) into some sort of e or print versions. For a project that I started just as a bit of fun, something to get me over my inability to write ‘saucy’ scenes, EalC has really developed a life of its own. The numbers are starting to match Chasing the Bard!
• Books and Braun is coming on a pace. It should be done by the end of April. I am very much enjoying writing Eliza D Braun, secret agent from the Colonies (Yes, New Zealand)
• I am in the tentative acceptance stage of getting an technical editing job. This would mean I can make up some of the money I sacrificed by doing one day a week less at my corporate librarian job, but will make use of the skills I developed there.

Someone who knows about living on the edge is friend and fellow podcaster JC Hutchins. He has two books coming out this year and the first one Personal Effect: Dark Art is an combination of novel and ARG. Looks spooky and well worth checking out. The video is pretty kick-ass too.

When I started out working on Erotica a la Carte and thinking how I would manage it I knew there was one issue. Weather Child.

A lot of podcasters make the mistake of working too damn hard- or piling their plates too high. So after doing Chasing the Bard I knew approximately how much work is involved in producing a podiobook on time. It’s hard. And even though Weather Child is a smaller production (mostly due to the lack of lots of kiwi accents) I knew it was going to take a lot of effort.

And yet I am loving doing EalC- so I came up with the idea of having guest chefs in the kitchen. Susan Z of Steampunk Spectacular, J D Sawyer of Antithesis and my main collaborator, Tee Morris, have all offered their talents to me.

This three month break away from EalC means I can concentrate on Weather Child, but also means that other people will have a shot at the fun I’ve been having.

Susan has already got the results from her post, but go to Erotica a la Carte and vote on Dan’s. I love so many parts of this community, and am very excited to be sharing EalC with some of the brightest, best people in it.

Well its been a while since I have been blogging so, let’s get into it.

First off Whispers at the Edge is on hiatus. I find I have just too many podcasting and writing projects that need to get done, and something had to give. I imagine it will be 3 months until I get back to it.

America was amazing fun. I got to spend some quality time with my favourite people who just happen to be my favourite podcasters. Chris Lester, Kitty Niciaian and Dan Sawyer, oh yeah and that guy Tee Morris. It was the first time I had met in person the San Francisco podcasting community, and it was an instant click. They are just fabulously talented, warm, wonderful people. I also got to see Scott Sigler and be there for his first book signing on the tour for Contagious. We got to hang out at a pub and I got made to feel bad. Two people approached me and said ‘if I’d know you were going to be here I would have bought my books for you to sign.’ If that was you, let me know – I have book plates to make up for it.

I got to have a very interesting conversation with my agent Laurie McLean, and came away feeling bouyed by the possibilities that the topsy turvey nature of the world may provide this year.

The Social Media Jungle in Vegas was a great chance to learn, and meet people in the sphere. And well with attending.

I got to see a lot more of Vegas than I had last time- including free tickets to O, the mesmerising Circe de Soleil show. Tee and I were able to take it in thanks to my fan Rachel Doughtery, who is one of the technicians behind the scenes at this amazing shows. It is an experience I will never forgot. It was also fun to to hang with her after. Vegas is somewhere that I will definitely be going back to. I never expected to like the town, but as crazy and weird as it is, I love it!

Books and Brawn, the steampunk CSI I am working on with Tee Morris is coming on at an amazing pace. It is a long time since I have collaborated with anyone, and I have forgotten how much fun it can be. We are on track for a late May release of this project.

And finally, Weather Child will be available from next week. This never before released novel, is set in New Zealand, and thus a first for the podcasting world. It can be found here

The wonderful Nobilis from Nobilis Erotica has finished the final episode of the Pieces Podcast. Eight writers an one crazy experiment. As Nobilis said, the result was far from perfect. Writers are usually solo creators for a reason! Plot, characterisation, style; all are very personal, and are best handled by one, or at the most two writers. So no, Pieces is not perfect, but as I tweeted ‘an image seen through a broken lense may not be perfect but it can still be beautiful.’

So why did I take part I hear my dear readers asking? I wanted to stretch myself as a writer- which seems to be a constant theme with me. I love a challenge. I think by trying something new, something scary that you learn a lot more than simply staying in your comfort zone. And Pieces.. and Erotica a la Carte are WAY outside my comfort zone.

So what did I learn? I learnt about my style which is something I have always found it hard to pin down. Held up against other people’s style I got to see it in contrast. It is no better, and no worse than anyone else’s… but it is mine.

So go check out the podcast, and let me know what you think.

Also I posted the second Erotica a la carte story- which, though still banned from the itunes directory (insert favourite swear word here) seems to be catching on. And as the indominatable Tee Morris said to me ‘this experiment of yours is turning out to be quite interesting’. I hope you think so Morris, I want you to write an episode while I am doing Weather Child. It is fun… but I am getting itchy feet.

Geist is done, out in the world like a young person, making its way as best it can, and now I need to start something new. One year turnaround for a novel is pretty good for me, but I can’t just sit there relaxing. So I am turning my attention to new projects. I am going to take my 10,000 word novelette and expand it into a novel. It will be a little saucy, but no more than Kushiel’s Dart for example… which I hear has done quite well. The title for this new novel is tentatively Magic and Gaslight. I already have my 10K, so if I get back on the 1,000 words a day minimum I should be set.

Wish me luck!