Today I begin the snippeting of the final book in the Balanced Sword trilogy, Phoenix Rising; we start with a summary of the prior two books. The first chapter will be up next week! Previously in The Balanced Sword Phoenix Rising Kyri Victoria Vantage lost her parents to unknown attackers some years before; even the Justiciars of Myrionar, God of Justice and Vengeance, the patron deity of her country Evanwyl, were unable to discover the identity of the assailants. But she has moved on, and her brother Rion has become a Justiciar [ Continue reading... ]
Guest Post: Joyce Reynolds-Ward and “Writing on the Move”
December 10, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Here's the first of my guest posts, by author Joyce Reynolds-Ward about the challenges of writing while in the midst of the chaos of moving from one home to another! Writing on the Move 2015 was supposed to be an ambitious writing year for me. I was going to put out three books as well as write a bunch of short stories and essays both for distribution on my own and to circulate to markets. 2015 was also the year that the husband and I moved most of our household goods to a house nearly 350 miles away, as well as relocating my [ Continue reading... ]
On World Fantasy Con and the World Fantasy Awards…
November 11, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Following WFC 2015, it was announced that henceforth the World Fantasy Awards would not be represented by a bust of horror legend Howard Phillips Lovecraft, commonly abbreviated to Lovecraft or HPL. Personally, I felt this was the right decision. Even if you don't agree with those who began the movement based on feeling that it was inappropriate to use a known (and admitted) racist as the symbol of one of the most prestigious awards in the SF/F community, the simple fact is that HPL sucked as a selection to represent the World Fantasy [ Continue reading... ]
Convention Report: World Fantasy Con 2015
November 11, 2015 By 2 Comments
World Fantasy Convention was held at least once previously in Saratoga Springs, in (if I recall correctly) 2007. I was there for a short period of time (mainly the mass signing) but was new to this sort of convention and limited in time, so I really didn't have much chance to really be part of the experience. This time, I purchased my membership early, and Kathleen enabled me to attend all four days of the convention (though for various reasons not nearly all of the hours therein). I'm going to get the negatives (that I observed) out of the [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: Wizards of the Coast
November 5, 2015 By 1 Comment
As I have mentioned elsewhere, I was a major presence online in the Usenet gaming communities rec.games.frp.* for many years (going back to the late 1980s). One day, in 1991, I was contacted by a person going by the name of Mavra, whose real name I later learned was Peter Adkison. He said he was part of a new RPG company and was looking for people to take a look at an early draft of their first planned product, and I was the sort of gamer he was looking for. Little did I realize how important a first contact I had just made. I of course [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: Nancy Drew
November 3, 2015 By 1 Comment
I have previously mentioned two of the strongest influences in my life that gave me a strong assumption of the essential strength and equality of female characters to male – specifically, the Oz series (in which the most prominent characters are almost always girls/women), and the Little House books told from the point of view of Laura Ingalls (later Laura Ingalls Wilder). But there was a third such influence: Nancy Drew. Dating all the way back to 1930, Nancy Drew in all her incarnations has been a young amateur sleuth, child of a [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: Chapter 5
October 29, 2015 By Leave a Comment
We conclude the battle we started this week. As a side note, the paragraphs that begin this chapter, and some others scattered through the chapter, are the oldest untouched pieces of prose I have ever posted; they are unchanged from the first draft of this work (originally called "Psionic!") written in 1978. -------- Chapter 5. Varan: Red fire-hammers slammed into the makeshift barricade. Being made of E-steel torn from the bulkheads behind us, it only gave a little, but even that little [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: Chapter 4
October 27, 2015 By Leave a Comment
I'm trying to pump out a lot of writing to catch up with things missed last year when Kathy was very sick, so that's why I'm posting snippets. In the case of Demons of the Past, I am going to take you through the first actually dangerous event of the book... which starts now! Chapter 4. Varan: The red target shimmered and exploded just a split-second before the blue. I was, unfortunately, blue. "And that," Diorre said gleefully, tossing back her red-gold hair, "makes it even, Navy Commander Varan." I tried to look [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: Chapter 3
October 22, 2015 By Leave a Comment
I'll post a couple more of these. Now when we left off, Our Hero had decided to think on a particular personal conundrum a bit... ----- Chapter 3. Varan: "And that makes it three for three," I said with some satisfaction. Diorre burst out laughing. "Okay, Sash, I'm well and truly beaten. Couldn't you have let me win just one?" "I might have, if it hadn't been for the 'wussy Navy boy' bit. The pride of the service required I put a Guard in her place." "Very impressive," a clear [ Continue reading... ]
Teaser Chapter: Demons of the Past, Chapter 2
October 20, 2015 By Leave a Comment
I posted the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Demons of the Past a while ago. As I'm in the middle of a crunch period and don't have much time to write other columns of interest (and one I DO want to write will be very long), I'll continue with a couple more sample chapters. Like The Stuff of Legend, Demons of the Past is with my agent Marisa Corvisiero and, hopefully, will get a bite soon. If you haven't read those prior chapters, go take a look before reading this one! ----- Chapter 2. Jearsen: She looked [ Continue reading... ]
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