Philippa Ballantine - Author

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

Blog

I’m going to build a room that echoes

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.

You always take the Weather with you

Weather Child, my latest podiobook offering is now out in the wild. This is a very personal story for me, including many characters and stories based on my family. It is set the alternate history, where New Zealand is home to magicians- magicians that rely on a symbiote called a seraphim to give them their magic. Yet some one is planning to use the Awakened for their own purposes.

This is the book New York publishing houses said Americans wouldn’t be interested in reading, set as it is in New Zealand. Let’s see if that is true.  New chapters drop every Sunday.

Loves to be loved

It feels a little strange to say this… but I have a fan page. On Facebook. Someone sent me a message asking, I tweeted how weird and cool it was that someone asked, and next thing you know the lovely Scott Roche had created one. 

Anyway it has photos, discussion boards and I will post news and generally keep in touch with people over there. So if you love FaceBook then go check it out. If not, well we will still have this blog won’t we.

Friends will be friends

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 tide is high

After a conversation with my agent and various other wonderful creative types in San Francisco a few days ago, I have realised that things are changing in a major way in the publishing business. The negative gear change in the economy is scary, but it is also bringing possibilities. When the old order falls, new ones have a chance to breathe- like a tree falling in the crowded forest give seedlings below light for the first time.

The internet and its possibilities has been nibbling on the edges of the big publishers for years, and while some have tried to make changes and adapt, many have not. Houghton Mifflin’s recent stop on acquiring books is a pretty big indicator that there is a lot of struggle going on behind the scenes in the publishing business.

So the arrival of Scott Sigler on the New York Times Bestseller Lists is I feel a marker in the timeline of change. Scott is, if you don’t know it a great guy, the first person ever to pick me up at San Francisco airport without knowing me. Now I am very used to meeting people from the internet, but back then- I admit I was a little nervous. Scott however was just happy and kind and pleased to meet me. He set the tone for all these other trips.

So now he’s made it. The guy who first podcast a never before published novel is on the most prestigious list in publishing. It is a great beginning for 2009 for him- and heck for all podcast novelists.

To Scott I say- congratulations. You’ve been working so hard in a bumpy year to get here- bask in it for a spell mate. (As a nice side effect I’ll be able to dine out on that whole rubbing-vodka-into-your-head thing now)

Things are changing for us all, so let’s get ready to ride that wave!

We’ll drink a cup of kindness yet…

Been a tumult this year, but a productive one.

  • I recorded Chasing the Bard and posted it to a better reception that I had anticipated.
  • I started recording Erotica a la Carte and have found it to be a fun and challenging experience
  • I began work on a short story, which became a novella (which got interest, but because I wanted more I had to decline with regret), which is now on its way to being a novel
  • I attended DragonCon
  • I had a successful launch of my novel Digital Magic, and a heck of a lot of fun with the Double Trouble Promotion with Tee Morris.
  • My novel got to #53 on Amazon.com charts
  • I had a lot of fun with voicework; including Metamor City, Codename:Starkeeper, Murder at Avedon Hill, and of course Morevi.
  • I participated in a fun and challenging collaboration with other podcast authors in the Pieces Podcast
  • I got my novel Geist edited and now in the hands of my agent

So what’s ahead in 2009??

  • Sell some more novels- but that is the in the hands of my agent and the fates
  • Weather Child- my New Zealand novel which has never been published anywhere before will be available as a podcast novel Feb 6th 2009.
  • Erotica a la Carte will continue and I plan on having fun with guest chefs in the kitchen while Weather Child is running
  • Working on a podcast only collaboration with Tee Morris. Steampunky goodness that may even make some money.
  • Digital Magic will be available as a podiobook in the latter half of the year.
  • I will be at Balticon to meet those other podcast novelists that I have missed meeting up until now
  • I will in in San Francisco to meet Chris Lester and J D Sawyer, both of whom I respect and admire.
  • I will be attending the CES in Las Vegas and I expect to learn a lot more on the social media side of things
  • Both Digital Magic and Chasing the Bard are up for Sir Julius Vogel Awards in May- and I don’t mind saying I want to win one!
  • I hope to have Erotica a la Carte, Chasing the Bard and Weather Child up for some Parsecs in September
  • I will finish my new steampunk erotica novel Magic by Gaslight
  • I’ll be trying to earn at least 10% of my income by writing, so plenty of schemes for making money are needed 
  • I’ll be training a new literary cat (or two)
  • Plenty of personal life changes that need to be made, but hopefully that won’t affect my writing
  • Changes are also in the wind for Whispers at the Edge
  • I hope to get to DragonCon again this year depending on finances

Whew, when I write it all done it seems a lot. I just want it to be a happy, productive year. 2008 has been a little bumpy with deaths, emotional turmoil and confusion but I hope for better things ahead. My wish is the same for you and yours.

Love

Pip