This week has not been good to most of my life, I’ll be honest. \u00a0I’m in the last week before my Remicade treatment, the weather is playing havoc with my allergies, and it seems like every one around me is sick at work. \u00a0The upshot? \u00a0A migraine. \u00a0Yeah, a migraine.<\/p>\n
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But despite that, I’m here, at the computer. \u00a0My words are nonfiction tonight (yep, I count blog posts as words, because dammit, I had to show up), but they are words, and this will be my 145th day in a row of writing. \u00a0Which is pretty damn cool. \u00a0Not sure what I’m going to do when I hit 150. \u00a0Maybe color my hair? \u00a0Something cool.<\/p>\n
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I’m almost done with\u00a0Into Thin Air<\/em>; I rewrote the ending to the last chapter last night, and now all I need to do is the epilogue. \u00a0Then it goes out to beta readers, and I start work on the next project. \u00a0Nope, not taking any time off. \u00a0Let’s be honest – I don’t want to break my streak. \u00a0And NaNo is fast approaching.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Something to keep your eyes open for – if you are heading to CapClave<\/a> in October, I’ll be there! \u00a0Right now, I’m on 4 panels on Saturday and Sunday, but I’ll be around on Friday if anyone wants to meet up. \u00a0My schedule now is:<\/p>\n 4 pm Saturday – Quoth the Raven<\/p>\n Panelists:<\/b>\u00a0Val Griswold-Ford<\/a>,\u00a0James Maxey<\/a>,\u00a0Tee Morris<\/a>,\u00a0James Morrow<\/a>\u00a0(M),\u00a0Steven H. Wilson<\/a> <\/p>\n 5 pm Saturday – The Evolution of Fantasy<\/p>\n Panelists:<\/b>\u00a0Scott H. Andrews<\/a>,\u00a0Val Griswold-Ford<\/a>,\u00a0Kathryn Morrow<\/a>\u00a0(M),\u00a0Michelle D. Sonnier<\/a>,\u00a0Lawrence Watt-Evans<\/a> <\/p>\n 12 pm Sunday – Magic’s Price<\/p>\n Panelists:<\/b>\u00a0Iver Cooper<\/a>,\u00a0Val Griswold-Ford<\/a>,\u00a0Michelle D. Sonnier<\/a>\u00a0(M),\u00a0Jim Stratton<\/a>,\u00a0Allen Wold<\/a> <\/p>\n 1 pm Sunday – Devourer of Books<\/p>\n Panelists:<\/b>\u00a0Judi Fleming<\/a>,\u00a0Val Griswold-Ford<\/a>,\u00a0Rahul Kanakia<\/a>,\u00a0Leona Wisoker<\/a>\u00a0(M) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This week has not been good to most of my life, I’ll be honest. \u00a0I’m in the last week before my Remicade treatment, the weather is playing havoc with my allergies, and it seems like every one around me is sick at work. \u00a0The upshot? \u00a0A migraine. \u00a0Yeah, a migraine. But despite that, I’m …<\/p>\n
\nForbidden Planet shows some strong similarities to Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Honor Harrington’s historical borrowings are easy to spot. But what if your influences and references are not as well known? How do you connect it for readers? Should you spell it out or hope someone catches your subtle references? What authors do this well?<\/p>\n
\nDark fantasy, Urban fantasy, and Tolkien fantasy are just a few examples of modern genre writing. Trends and tastes change over time. A Song of Ice and Fire brought gritty fantasy to the forefront. Is the reading public ready to move on? And to what?<\/p>\n
\nHow do magic users tap mystical powers, and since there are no free lunches what is the price? What authors create the most interesting magical systems? What do authors do when the magic user becomes too powerful?<\/p>\n
\nThe speed reader gets to the end faster and as a reader they can outread every author they follow. They need new books, or old books to explore. Where do they get and keep their choices? General discussion of being a fast reader.<\/p>\n