Until Midnight (& Sometimes Later)

Slightly late for International Talk Like a Pirate Day (Arrr!), I’m working on the last few touches to turn my favorite pirate outfit into a steampunk pirate in time for this weekend’s Baltimore Book Festival on Saturday (September 24th), where I’ll be doing a reading from my steampunk short story (with raffle) at 2pm and appearing as part of a Steampunk panel at 4pm.
If you make it to the festival, look for me in the Maryland Romance Writer’s tent–they’re sponsoring the steampunk events. Please stop by and say “hi!”.

We’re giving away a copy of In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk on Goodreads. It contains my first published story, “The Case of the Duchess’s Dog”–enter early and often!

In between editing tasks (yes, those of you waiting should be seeing results soon!), I’ve been updating my author pages on both amazon and goodreads. In order to share this blog in both those places, I added an RSS option for those of you who’d prefer that option.

In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Elektra Hammond and Neal Levin is now available in print on amazon.com.

In an Iron Cage contains the following stories: The Winter Court by Bernie Mojzes House of Automatons by James Chambers Drinking Down Death by Jeff Young Speaker For The Mayans by Brenda Cooper To Love And Hope by C.J. Henderson Little Girl With Pink Ribbons by Stuart Jaffe Scoundrel’s Magic by James Daniel Ross On The Wings Of An Angel by Danielle Ackley-McPhail The Trans-Siberian by A.C. Wise The First Flight of the Valhalla by Darren W. Pearce The Case of the Duchess’s Dog by Elektra Hammond That Voo Doo That You Do by Patrick Thomas Iron and Brass, Blood and Bone by Alma Alexander Greater Crater Gremlins by David Sherman

Also available for the kindle. Order early and often!

In An Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Elektra Hammond & Neal Levin

My steampunk story “The Case of the Duchess’s Dog” is in this anthology, which is now available, if you want the Kindle version.

Here is the full table of contents:
The Winter Court, by Bernie Mojzes
House of Automatons, by James Chambers
Drinking Down Death, by Jeff Young
Speaker For The Mayans, by Brenda Cooper
To Love And Hope, by C.J. Henderson
Little Girl With Pink Ribbons, by Stuart Jaffe
Scoundrel’s Magic, by James Daniel Ross
On The Wings Of An Angel, by Danielle Ackley-McPhail
The Trans-Siberian, by A.C. Wise
The First Flight of the Valhalla, by Darren W. Pearce
The Case of the Duchess’s Dog, by Elektra Hammond
That Voo Doo That You Do, by Patrick Thomas
Iron and Brass, Blood and Bone, by Alma Alexander
Greater Crater Gremlins, by David Sherman

You can also preorder the print version direct from Dark Quest Books here.

Despite the fact that In An Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk is delayed until sometime later in June, I got a call a few days before the June 4th Dorian’s Parlor that we were still on. Although we couldn’t “launch” the book, Dark Quest was going to hand out promotional materials, take preorders and do some giveaways to help build up buzz for the books.

Mike and I had been meaning to get to Dorian’s (a salon-style steampunk event) for some time, but things kept getting in the way. This time we finally made it! It was great meeting people and handing out postcards for the book. It was a bit loud, but a ton of fun. We’ll be back at Dorian’s in September, launching the book for real, with readings and books for sale. Should be a ton of fun!

Sometimes I’m just behind on everything.

Balticon was a whole new experience for me. I started attending Science Fiction Conventions in the early 1980s, when I was in graduate school, and I have always enjoyed them. Over the years I have attended panels, filk concerts, bardic circles, workshops, art shows, auctions, slide shows, GOH speeches, readings, open filks, and dead dogs. Key word: attended.

At Balticon that all changed. Mike and I (with help from Janina, Amber and Tree–thanks!) spent the weekend running a fan table for Darkovercon 34 [ 25 – 27 November 2011 in Timonium, MD ] , in a busy hallway right in the middle of things. We talked to a lot of nice folks, and met a ton of nice people.

I took a few breaks from the table–notably to attend several panels–where I sat on the other side of the table for the first time! I did two costuming panels: Faux Paws (Recreating Expensive Looks for Less) & Steampunk in Costuming; and was drafted onto a couple of literary panels: Dark Quest Books Presents and Steampunk. I also helped at the Dark Quest book launch on Sunday evening, and did my first reading.

Mike and I also managed to squeeze in the Masquerade, and a couple of concerts including a great FuMP show. And I proofread a magazine. We even got some sleep.

I’ve been working in the field for better than a dozen years, but now I really feel like a pro.

I’m here in the Delaware Room of the Corbit-Calloway Library in Odessa, where I’m hosting the first of 4 write-ins (Wednesdays 10am to 1pm). The Delaware Room houses a collection of books about the Delmarva Peninsula, including maps and artwork. They’ve also got some locally made pottery on display, and the room is furnished with Delaware-made pieces: a beautiful hardwood table and a lovely secretary among them. There’s a fireplace with a marble front, and several windows, making it a well-lit and cheery room.

The only downside is the scarcity of electrical outlets, but I’ve got that covered–I brought the Extension Cord of Doom–a skull-covered drawstring bag that lives in the car containing a twenty-five foot flexible extension cord and five outlet power strip.

All I need know are some writers. Oh well–back to writing for me!

It’s time to take a pause for research. As I run characters through a London residence (setting is an alternate Victorian London), I’m unclear on the proper layout. Fortunately, my mentor has pointed me at bunches of appropriate materials, so I’m currently going through Trevor Yorke’s Georgian & Regency Houses Explained. Then I’ll return to writing.