I recently ran a free book day promotion for my novelette A Wrecking Bar, a Chocolate Bar, and a Ka Offering for Na-Nefer-Ka-Ptah to get some reviews and ratings on Amazon and Goodreads. I posted notices several places, including some forums, Tumblr, and Facebook. One of the FB pages I run has almost 1,200 likes/subscriptions, and it’s reasonably on-topic for this story. It’s a great place for me to post … Continue reading →
Here’s the front cover for my novelette. I wanted something cute and fun, reminiscent of anime/chibi style. Britt “Ram” Williams, of K2Color, did a spectacular job! The only disadvantage I’ve seen so far is that people who aren’t familiar with anime (and recent SF and fantasy) assume it’s a children’s story. But they’re not my primary audience. What do you think?
Continue reading →In part 3, we finished our discussion of what you might find at a typical literary con. Now it’s time to plan our visit! In previous posts, I mentioned that conventions promote themselves by going to other cons. They throw room parties, leave flyers, and sell memberships. Volunteers who work at one con may help with others too. Con committees and staff network with other cons, and they always have. … Continue reading →
I’ve decided to add recommendations for anime series I’ve watched (got to do something during my lunch at work). They won’t be full reviews, just some quick impressions to pique your interest. The first one is a collection of 4 series in the Space Opera genre. It starts with Crest of the Stars, followed by Banner of the Stars (I, II, & III). The series features young Jinto on his … Continue reading →
In part 2, we talked about things you might find at a typical con. Time for more. A further mention of the literature track programming: Many, many SF and Fantasy fans are curious about writing, how their favorite books get written, and what it’s like to be an author. And, of course, many people wish they had a book published. That makes writing panels popular. At some cons, you can … Continue reading →
We had an introduction to SFF cons in part 01, now I’ll talk about things you might find at a ‘typical’ con. Cons usually feature several Guests of Honor (GOH‘s). One or more authors top the list, but cons will invite GOH’s to support their other tracks as well. These often include science, literature, art, computing, game design, music (filk), and fandom. The GOH’s help bring a focus to the … Continue reading →
If you write science fiction, fantasy, or other ‘speculative’ fiction, science fiction conventions are a great way to promote your stories, improve your skills, and network with other authors. They can be difficult to find, but are well worth the effort. I’m not talking about the huge for-profit media cons you see in the news. They’re organized around a mass-market fandom- mainstream comics, anime, tv series, or movie franchises. They … Continue reading →
I’ll be taking a free online course from the University of Manchester Egyptology program: Warfare and Weapons in Ancient Egypt, taught by Joyce Tyldesley, Ph.D. It will be interesting in its own right, and it’ll be a great source material on some stories I have in the works.
Continue reading →Penguicon is my favorite convention. For those of you who have only heard of media SF cons (meet the stars of your favorite show!) or comic cons (meet stars, cosplay), volunteer-run SF/Fantasy cons are an entirely different experience, and I haven’t heard of any other conventions quite like Penguicon. It started out as a hybrid SF/Fantasy and Linux/Open-Source convention, but it’s expanded since then. I will write more about it … Continue reading →
Note: this site is now called Habitica.com In Part #1, we began our personal habit quest by setting up our tasks on HabitRPG. Now it’s time to attack those tasks and reap our rewards. But you may be asking yourself: “Will this silly thing actually help me?”
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