Philippa Ballantine - Author

Award-winning Author of fantasy, science fiction, and steampunk

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Endless Possibilities Blog Tour 2014

endless-possibilities-blog-tour

When I lived back in New Zealand and started down the path of writing, I felt very alone. Things have changed back in New Zealand, they now have a speculative fiction group (SpecFicNZ), but I moved just before that happened (typical for me!). However I learned that writing doesn’t have to be a lonely job with a supportive writing group in your corner. I was delighted to find a local writing group here in Manassas, VA.

Write by the Rail is a great group of people that share the trials, the joys, and delights particular to the writing life. We have regular meetings where people talk about a range of writing related subjects, along with weekly meetings at local coffee shops which are a bit more casual.

This blogtour is our first one as a group, and we’re going to be cross-posting every Tuesday and Thursday on each others sites. My posts are going to focus on Ministry Protocol, spreading lots of samples all over. The others involved are Nick Kelly, Tamela J. Ritter, Katherine Gotthardt, Dan Verner, Cindy Brookshire, Patricia Daly-Lipe, Jan Rayl, Kristie Feltenberger Gillespie, Angela Bryce, Shay Seaborne, Mary Rosenthol, Nancy S. Kyme, Linda S. Johnston, Tee Morris, and Stacia Kelly. So you are going to get an interesting peek inside a local writing group, and maybe that will encourage you to come visit (if you are in the area), find out if there is one close to you, or maybe even start your own.

You might be surprised by the talent that is all about you- and after all, company can be a wonderful thing.

Writers lend a hand

In the first few months of 2011 many parts of the world were struck by devastation; my home country New Zealand, and then Japan. Both of these places are hotspots of seismic activity, and both nations have sent support to the other.

The images on the news have tapered off, but there are still thousands of people dealing with the after-effects of the devastation. Often such huge events can leave us, scattered all over the world, feeling helpless. But if we all did just a few small things it would make a huge difference.

In the community of writers there are people who have decided to step up and do something.

First of all is the Tales for Canterbury. An anthology of short stories by national and international authors. The complete list is available here and is a veritable embarrassment of riches. There will even be a short story by me in there. This is a never before seen story, and the only non genre short I have ever written. It’s called the Straw Garden and is a bit like Weather Child, intensely personal.

Pre-orders are available now, with ebook and paper versions available.

The second effort is Genre for Japan. There are some ridiculously cool offerings on the site. My contribution is not up yet, but I’ll let you know when it is. Here’s a sample of what you can bid on right now, for all those George RR Martin fans out there…

Don’t forget to check the complete list, there are offerings for both writers and readers to bid on.

Remember it feels good to do good and together we can do incredible things.

A rare event

One of the other great pieces of news to come out of Balticon was the news of an emerging paying market- and one buried in podosphere goodness. I had a chance to chat with Scott Roche about Flagship the new ezine.  Scott and the team have great plans and I am looking forward to seeing how they proceed into the future.

But for now, this is a paying market that gives you a chance to not only have your words in print, but also in audio.

Here’s the official word.

Beginning July 4th, science fiction and fantasy fans will be given a new place where they can discover authors and stories they’ll be able to enjoy wherever they go.  Flagship, the new e-zine by publisher Flying Island Press, will soon be releasing short stories every other month in formats for the Kindle, the iPad and iPhone, and other electronic readers.

Flying Island Press also recognizes the increasing popularity of podcasts and other forms of audio fiction.  So, in addition to the e-zine, an audio version will be available to listen to on any MP3 player.  Stories they release will be available both in text and in audio, allowing the consumer to choose their preferred version.

Zach Ricks, managing editor for Flagship, had this to say.  “I wanted to hearken back to what some have called the Golden Age of Science Fiction.”  It’s his hope that “FlagShip will be a place for optimistic, entertaining fiction.”

Each issue will cost $1.99 for the text version or the audio version or get both for just $2.99.

Issues will be available starting July 4th, 2010 at http://flyingislandpress.com/flagship

Ready for the Boom

Most of my readers will know by now that this year began very badly for Tee Morris. He is now facing raising his daughter, affecitonately known as SonicBoom by himself after the death of her mother.

Many donated to the ChipIn fund which helped with the immediate expenses surrounding Natalie’s death, and even left a portion over to begin a trust fund. However, as those of you with kids know, raising them is not cheap – let alone sending them to college!

So I thought ‘hey maybe I’ll auction off a few things I have here’ (Mainly the Weather Child original manuscript) – and it kinda snowballed from there. The Boom Effect auction is now hitting 70 auction lots, and I know there are more to come.

People have done some amazing craft projects, donated rare and beautiful things, and been very creative with what services they are offering.

I just want to highlight a couple of things for writers and podcasters since I presume that is who reads this blog most.

Writers

Podcasters

And those are just a tiny sample of the amazing things people are donating to help Sonic Boom into the future. Check out the lots here.

The auction will be hosted by Podcasting’s Rich Sigfrit at 10am EST 27th February 2010 live on ustream.

If you’re a podcaster- the promo for the event is here.

You can also find us on Facebook as an event, follow us on twitter or subscribe to the RSS feed as more auctions are still being added.

This is a great way for us to come together as a community. We’re going to give a little girl options, and one day she’s going to look back and be amazed at what the podcasting/social media community did.

And how much fun we had doing it. 🙂

Mystify, you mystify me…

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.