Philippa Ballantine - Author

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

Appearances

The Library of Congress and ME!

When you study to be a librarian, you end up using a lot of resources from the two motherships of librarians; the British Library, and the Library of Congress.

So being invited to talk there is beyond exciting for me. I’ll be discussing women in steampunk and fantasy which is a topic I find fascinating. They are more than just corsets and chain-mail bikinis. I plan on delving into my heroines, both characters, and writers, so it will be quite a fun journey.

I hope if you are within the DC area, I will see you there.

 

Pip at the Library of Congress

Capclave schedule

This is a brand new convention for me, but Capclave is nice local one. Here’s where you can find me …oh and that GRR Martin guy (but we don’t share any panels)  😉

Friday

6-7 pm Buy My Book

Self promotion and you. Nervous about talking about your books and stories? There are some things you should do and avoid when talking about your writing.

Room: Rockville/Potomac

7-8 pm Author table

Room: Author’s Hallway

 

8-9 pm Producing Your own Anthology

This panel talks a bit about the business of putting together an anthology of original fiction or even collected essays. Where do you go from the idea? What options are available? Print? eBook? Audio? How do you work with others, especially when it comes to the editorial process? Hear from the panelists tips and tricks on getting along with others and the tools needed to put together a terrific anthology, and the pros and cons on working with friends.

Room Rockville/Potomac

Saturday

10-11 am Moving Beyond the Small Press 

A look at how small presses in the age of the eReaders – where anyone can be a publisher – have their limits, and what to do when you’ve hit them. There is also the additional pressure of performing on a higher level. Listen to panelists describe what to do when you have plateaued with your own independent publisher, and what lies ahead if or when you step up to corporate publishers.

Room: Salon A

1-2 pm Reading 

Room: Frederick

5-6pm White Out

LeGuin complained that many Earthsea covers whitewashed the characters (as did the SciFi movie). The worlds of many fantasy/SF novels seem to be overwhelmingly white and European. Why do writers (and cover artists) do this? How can we bring diversity into our genres? Is it getting better? Are non-white authors and hero(ines) still rarities?

Room: Salon A

7.30pm Mass Signing 

Room: Salon A, B and CDE

Gauntlets and confessions

I’ve mentioned the strange isolation of writing before, and how amazing it is to me that something I pounded out on my keyboard has given people joy or wonder.

Sorcha's GauntletSo that amazement is even greater when someone goes to all the trouble of making something for me. The lovely Wendy contacted me about producing some gauntlets for me. At first they started off as Sive’s but through a process of evolution which Wendy wrote about here, they became Sorcha’s.

She decorated them with beautiful beads and stones, and I am utterly in awe of her talent. My beloved great-aunt Ruth was a wonderful knitter, and bless her heart, she did try to teach me. I just know she would ohhhhh and ahhhh over these creations.

Strangely, in photos they come out far more blue than they actually are. In reality they are much closer to purple.

detail of Gauntlets

More details of the Gauntlets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So…very excited. Thank you Wendy, you made me smile, and you made me in awe of your abilities. I shall wear these with pride at my next convention.

Speaking of conventions—we’ve had some news on that front too. If you check out the appearances page, you will be able to see what I have planned for the foreseeable future. The end of the year is still foggy, but I am trying to keep my schedule to a manageable…if slightly hectic…one con a month.

So the two new conventions confirmed where I (and Tee Morris) will be attending are Up in the Aether in Detroit, and later in the year OctopodiCon in (not that strangely) Oaklahoma. These are both new cities and new states for me so I am looking forward to meeting some new listeners and readers that I haven’t been able to reach before.

We are sorry not to be attending Balticon this year, as it is our go to convention, but we should be back next year. However, we highly recommend going this year—especially if you are a fan of podcast fiction. Balticon is like a family reunion of those folk, and I hear they are flying in from all over the country to be there.

So there we are; approaching something like organized for 2013. However, in the next couple of months there will be more developments on a couple of projects I’m working on. So hang onto your hats—2013 is going to be another blazing fast year!

In the mouth of DragonCon

So my husband Tee Morris and I got back from DragonCon yesterday, and I have pretty much been asleep all day today.

It was 2008 since we were last year, and oh my the convention which was already huge has exploded…all over Atlanta. The convention is now over five offical hotels and is in the region of 50,000 attendees.

This year, as an official guest I was on panels, and did four signings (two at book shops in the dealer room, and the other two at the Pyr booth). This meant hoofing it around four of the five hotels, dodging photographers taking pictures of cos-players, and trying to get through the press of people. It was honestly more like the feeling of New York Comic Con than the DragonCon I remember.

That being said, it was still a fun event…just very, very tiring. Tee and I recorded a Shared Desk episode on the way home in the car, but needless to say, DragonCon is quite an event.

However, one of the highlights was definitely winning a Parsec Award for my story The Precarious Child, which was part of Season One of the Tales from the Archives. Tee had two stories, as did Grant Stone and Jack Mangan—so it was amazing to win the Short Fiction, Small Cast Parsec.

Then later on, PC Haring of Cybrosis fame, won for his story The Seven, in the Short Fiction, Large Cast category. So very, very pleased with the win for Tales from the Archives—a project Tee and I have loved doing, and are very proud of too!

So after getting a boost from all the fellow writers and readers and listeners at DragonCon, I am back to the grindstone, and should have book Three of the Ministry done and dusted shortly. Kindred and Wings, the sequel to Hunter and Fox is on the final approach, so still much to do. However, events like this are certainly part of the enjoyable aspects of being a writer. Thanks to all those who voted for the Ministry…you all really made my year!

New Town; New Orleans

Authors After Dark is a unique event. It’s all about romance, horror and fantasy writers getting together with genuine time with readers, bloggers and book clubs.

It is also our very first romance convention. I’ve never been to NOLA, or Louisiana so I am really excited.

For those not attending the convention (it is kept to a strictly limited size) there is an open book signing from 2-4 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon Street, New Orleans. Both Tee Morris and I will be there, so please come along if you want anything signed.

As for the rest of the convention, here’s where you will find me.

Thursday:
-Author Etiquette panel
-Blogger: New Authors
-Book Club: Meet and Greet

Friday:
-Reader Responsibility: How to keep your fav authors on the shelves
-Gaslight/Victorian/Steampunk
-Multiple Viewpoints

It’s going to be a great chance to mix with bloggers, book clubs, readers and other authors. In addition, I love seeing new parts of America—so hope to see you there!