I'm Too Popular for my own Good

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Goodness gracious, folks. Give a girl a bit of space! I know I'm fabulous company, witty, fun and energetic, but I can't come to every party. Sometimes, I need to stay home. I have to write!

I'm just being silly, of course.

My life and career certainly don't merit paparazzi level interest out there. But life has seemed to take an uptick on the social front here lately. I get tired just looking at my calendar. In fact, I just did something my younger self would be shocked to see: I cancelled a social engagement! Just looking at my weekend made me want to burst into tears, and that's not a recipe for fun.

I know, first world problems. I'm grateful to have them.

As we near the end of another calendar year, I'm struggling to keep my balance. There's the day job (teaching middle school), the children, the husband, the dog, the rest of my family, the books I want to read, the books I want to write, critique group, cons, promotion, blogging, exercise, doctor's appointments, house upkeep, GAH!

Today was a rough one at work, too. Lots of kids lashing out about their own issues and me catching the brunt. It can make a girl feel off kilter.

So, here's to breathing deep the fall air and long walks that clear the brain and still the frabjous heart. May we all find the peaceful center of our too-too-busy days.

Guest Post: I Left My Brains in San Francisco

It's my pleasure to host Karina Fabian, Author and fellow "Broad" from Broad Universe, and Becky Parker, narrator, the women behind the new audiobook release of I Left My Brains in San Francisco. I've asked them to talk about what "the fun part" of this project was for them. -SB

Want a chance at a free copy of the audio book?  click here. You can get the first three chapters for free, and a chance at winning the whole thing. You can get to the audio book itself here.

Zombie problem? Call Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator--but not this weekend.

On vacation at an exterminator’s convention, she's looking to relax, have fun, and enjoy a little romance. Too bad the zombies have a different idea. When they rise from their watery graves to take over the City by the Bay, it looks like it'll be a working vacation after all.

The Fun Part, according to the author, Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian, Author

I have so much fun with writing any Neeta Lyffe book. The humor is particularly cathartic because I can take much of the stupidity I see in everyday life (especially on Facebook) and take it to ridiculous extremes. It saves me from going nuclear on social media and is far more entertaining as well. 

For I Left My Brains in San Francisco, however, I think the best part was the Give Back Memorial Gardens and Fish Preserve. This combination artificial reef and cemetery allowed people (with enough money, of course) to “give back” to the earth by letting their dead bodies be dumped at sea to become fish food. Of course, it’s wasn’t just, “Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here to…” SPLASH! They were put on a beautifully decorated raft, set out to float where the birds got first choice, then scuba divers escort the body to its final resting place, a reef made of sunken artifacts of different religions. (Not that the religions of the world were too keen on it. The Catholic section has a broken Popemobile. But the Sacred Materialists have a yacht.)

Give Back is central to the story, so I got to incorporate a lot of its history and motive – and ulterior motive – into the story. Scuba divers give us a look at it from below sea level, and of course there are soggy zombies!

You may find the Give Back Memorial Gardens and Fish Preserve funny or sick or just a little weird. Any reaction is fine by me. It’s one of the many aspects that makes the whole book a fun ride of social satire, zombie slapstick, and high and low humor, with a more serious story line tying it all. It’s a great book to listen to, thanks to the narration and sound stylings of Becky Parker.

Karina Fabian is an award-winning fantasy, science fiction author writes comedic horror that will make you die laughing and come back for more. Check out her latest at http://fabianspace.com

The Fun Part, according to the narrator, Becky Parker

Becky Parker, narrator

I have a LOT of fun narrating and producing the Neeta Lyffe books because they are so well written, so hilarious, and so conducive to including sound effects. Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator was the first book I’ve ever narrated that caused me to have to do re-takes on the recording because I couldn’t stop laughing – it was so funny! When I mix in a sound effect to one of these books, it’s like joining in the game, like playing with a friend. I love collaborating with Karina in this way.

Creating the soundscapte for ILMBISF was the most challenging and fun I've done to date. The highlight for me was the creation of a song that is part of a plot point - that really took a lot of time, energy, creativity and work to build - but such fun!

Becky Parker Geist owns Pro Audio Voices, serving clients internationally with exceptional voiceover for audiobooks, advertising & animation. She loves creating audiobooks with sound effects! Married with 3 adult daughters, Becky lives in San Francisco and New York, working Off Broadway regularly.

Link to the music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jCwHhMmguQ

Find Karina at:

Website: http://fabianspace.com, http://zombiedeathextreme.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karina.fabian

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/KarinaFabian

Google +: https://plus.google.com/103660024891826015212

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10981939-karina-fabian

Find Becky at:

Website: https://twitter.com/audiovoices

Blog: http://proaudiovoices.com/blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/becky.geist

Twitter: https://twitter.com/audiovoices


Find I Left My Brains in San Francisco at:

Damnation Books: http://www.damnationbooks.com/book.php?isbn=9781615727643

Amazon: http://amzn.to/Nzm01L (paper) http://amzn.to/OBBmkL (Kindle)

More about it at http://zombiedeathextreme.com

#IWSG: The Joy of the New vs. Progress

Until a couple of years ago, I was a beginner of a writer. I don't mean by this that I've become some kind of expert. Not at all. What I mean is that I used to write only beginnings.

What I have become is a finisher. I no longer write the first fifteen pages of something, then let myself get distracted by something shiny and abandon that project for a new one. 

And that's good! Because I'm finishing things, I'm able to submit them, and some of them are getting published and I might get to be a "real" writer full-time-all-the-time someday.

Neil Gaiman-I have this picture as my desktop background

But there are trade offs. Here lately, joy has been one of the trade-offs. 

If I want to "cash in" (metaphorically or literally) on what success I've already had, then I need to continue to produce work of that sort, even if my heart or brain or soul wherever the words come from wants something else right now. I can be very disciplined and I have been, for months now. That's good--I'll have work in a few anthologies in the next few months and a new book in April. You can't argue with results. 

There's a joy in a new idea, though. In working with new characters, new worlds, new premises, new settings. When I feel like I've been in revisions and editing too too long, I get bogged down. I worry about burning out. I need a little of that "open to anything" juice to get my blood pumping again. 

Snoopy understands joy.

So, that's what I'm trying to balance: progress on the current WIPs, with enough "play" time to keep my love and joy in the words. All this on the one or two hours I can steal for writing around the day job and family life. 

I especially love prompt writing for this. Prompts seem to be everywhere right now, as the NaNoWriMo machine starts chugging its engines. I've had invitations to work on several different kinds of flash fiction prompts here lately. 

I think I may have found the one that will work for me right now though--it's a ten minute prompt. You get a sentence starter, and you're only supposed to write on it for ten minutes. Then stop. Just dip your toes in. Start the new thing, but don't let it take over. 

I've only done a couple and I already love it. I'm getting that charge I get out of something new, but still leaving myself time and energy to make progress on the work that might get me paid. 

What works for you? How do you balance finishing things with keeping the joy?

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This posting is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop. To check out other posts by writers in a variety of places in their careers, check out the participant list. This group is one of the most open and supportive groups of people I have ever been associated with. If you write, you should check them out!

I Fell Into Fall This Year, and I Can't Get Up!

I'm a teacher by day. So, this time of year is very busy for me. I tend to kind of disappear from all social life in mid-August and not resurface until the end of September.

This year, though, it was a bit different. I got sick.

Teachers hate missing school. It's hard to get a good substitute, and preparing lessons for a substitute to teach is WAY more difficult than simply teaching them yourself. If teachers should be sainted, as some claim, substitute teachers should at least be granted lifetime free coffee. It's a hard row to hoe, standing in for the teacher.

I would certainly never miss days this early in the school year by choice. Those first few weeks are essential for establishing patterns and relationships. But my body disagreed. I started with a sore throat. That turned to fever and chills, and by the end of it all, I missed eight school days in a row. That's at least six years in middle school time.

The days after being absent are a second exercise in futility, digging through email, voicemail, meeting minutes, miscommunications, misunderstandings (both purposeful and accidental) and excuses by the mile. I've just gotten through that part now. I missed eight school days and it took another eight to straighten out the mess.

So here I am, nearly at the end of September and wondering where the heck my month went. I want a do-over!

I won't be able to go back in time, so I guess the best I can do is set some goals for how to move forward.

Balls I dropped in September:

• Any attempt at physical fitness
• Organized meal plans for the family
• A variety of school paperwork
• Making more than the minimum daily word count
• Keeping up with laundry
• That "organize the garage" plan
• Correspondence
• Articles for GeekDad (I'm supposed to write two a month)
• Reading The Brothers Karamazov for book club
• yardwork
• finding the dining room table
• romance
• more than minimal personal hygiene
• several deadlines

Whew! How did I ever juggle all those? Which one do you think I should pick back up first? 

Curiosity Quills: August Releases Blog Tour

New books!  There's something so exciting about a new book. It's a world of possibilities, full of promise. And Curiosity Quills Press (the same press that brought you Going Through the Change: A Menopausal Superhero Novel by yours truly) just released some winners. I'm pleased to be a part of the August releases blog tour. I'll be reviewing these books in the next few weeks over on Goodreads and Amazon. But for now, let me just show you what we've got coming out.

The Accidental Superheroine by J.R. Rain and Kris Carey released on August 3, 2015.

BLURB: When newly-coined physicist Mira Verborgen sprung for a cushy internship at CERN, she did not expect to end up working side by side with sensitive European hottie, Giancarlo Colombo, or the sudden-onset case of butterflies whenever he’s around.

Nor did she expect the two of them to end up the inadvertent subjects of a megalomaniac Russian scientist’s deadly energy experiment. Instead of their budding relationship being cut short along with their material existence, the pair develops a startling mutation. A mutation that puts them in the crosshairs of Swiss, French, and American governments - not to mention the dastardly Dr. Gavrilov.

With CERN held hostage by Gavrilov and his rapidly-evolving superpowers, do Mira and Giancarlo have what it takes to own their mutation and protect the free world, before it’s too late?

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Archon's Queen by Matthew Cox released on August 10, 2015 and continues The Awakened series (begun with Prophet of the Badlands in April).

BLURB: Secrets, guilt, and shame―Annabelle Morgan has them all in droves. Fortunately, only one can kill her.

Anna’s gift, psionic control of electricity, tends to go haywire in moments of high emotion. One such episode leaves her homeless after her father’s “accidental” death. She ekes out a modest life as a thief and freelance enforcer until a close call with a murderous government agency makes her turn to Zoom―a powerful hallucinogenic street drug that numbs her mind so the monster cannot get out.

Her safety blanket becomes a devouring pit.

In 2413 London, Anna lives in the gutter, unable to even keep work as an exotic dancer and prostitute. After ignoring her only friend’s pleas for years, it takes a pimp telling her she is too addicted to be useful to realize just how lost she is.

When a young addition to her circle of vagrants attaches to her, Anna attempts to turn away from Zoom. A job from her old handler ends on shaky ground, but introduces her to Doctor James Mardling, a university professor looking for people just like her. He offers the one thing she has always longed for: dignity.

His price, however, may just be too much to pay.

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Homunculus & The Cat by Nathan Croft released on August 31, 2015.  

BLURB:  Homunculus and the Cat - Just a typical kitten saves the afterlife story, disguised as a book about death.

In a world where every culture’s mythology is real, Medusa’s sisters want revenge on Poseidon, Troy is under siege again, and the Yakuza want their homunculi (mythological artificial humans) back. Near Atlantis’ Chinatown, a kitten and her human campaign for homunculi rights. Against them are Japanese death gods, an underworld cult, and a fat Atlantean bureaucrat.

The main character dies (more than once) and a few underworlds’ way of death is threatened. Also with giant armored battle squids.

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So, clear your favorite device or your nightstand and get ready for some new great reads! It's going to be a great fall for curling up with a good book.

Yom Kippur

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I found this poem, written what feels like a lifetime ago, when I lived in another place, with another man, with other sins. Reading it makes me feel like I've come a long way in the years since. 

May you have an easy feast this year. 

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Yom Kippur, 2001

They might as well have hurled the stones at each other:

the intent was to wound.

A ceremony of forgiveness,

the secular Jew seeking the trappings of faith

to ease her troubled mind:

throw the rocks into the sea

and, with them, the things you need to let go.

She threw first,

a safe one, troubles at work,

nothing to do with him.

He started at a distance, too,

though not so far,

mother-anger.

It didn't take long and she was crying,

he was red with hard set jaws.

Anger and hurt,

his harsh words and her thin skin.

As suspicious of each other

as of strangers.

In the end,

she was alone. She wrote her fears into the sand,

and watched the sea wash them away,

wishing it were that easy.

Cover Reveal: Inconceivable! By: Tegan Wren

Fellow Curiosity Quills writer Tegan Wren's new novel, Inconceivable! comes out November 15, 2015. But today, I am happy to show you: the cover!

Isn't it a beaut?

It really captures a lot of the themes of the book. The silhouetted almost-kissing couple gives you the romance. The clock tower gives you the European setting. The newsprint gives you Hattie's career and the backdrop of the lovers' lives. So whether you should judge a book by its cover or not, this cover is a fitting one for the story. And I think Curiosity Quills has yet another winning cover!

I've read and reviewed this novel on Goodreads: 

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Hatty with the baby carriage." That's how it's supposed to go, right? So, what about when it doesn't? There's love, there's marriage, but there's no baby, despite the wanting and trying. And what if the husband is a crown prince?

Inconceivable! balances a light, romantic feel with the grittier realities of a couple in crisis over fertility. Since the groom in this story is a crown prince, the pressure is even more intense than for more ordinary folk. Wren's main character, Hatty, is now one of my favorite fictional people. Throughout the book, she felt very real in her reactions first to a courtship with a prince and the impact that had on her career and future plans, then with her struggles to become a mother. I was in suspense throughout, worried about what might happen next, what additional roadblocks and obstacles Hatty and John would have to overcome.

I loved reading a romantic story about royals that didn't end at the wedding, showing us that there's more to love than falling in it. There's also staying in it, even when troubles come. For better and for worse.

Here's the book blurb:

A popular, young royal couple can't produce an heir? INCONCEIVABLE!
When Ozarks native Hatty goes “whole hog” during karaoke, she catches the eye of Prince John. He isn’t what she expects the heir to a small European nation to be: he's affable, witty, and isn’t put off by her tell-it-like-it-is demeanor. Their flirtation should be short lived, but a force stronger than fate—Hatty’s newspaper editor—assigns her to cover the royals. After spending time together, she and John soon begin dating, and Hatty finds herself making headlines instead of writing them.

But challenges loom that are even more complicated than figuring out how to mesh Hatty's journalism career with life at Belvoir Palace. Hatty and John soon find themselves embroiled in an unusual sex scandal: they can't produce an heir. Tabloids dub Hatty a “Barren-ess,” and the royals become irate. Hatty politely tells them to shove it. But beneath her confident exterior, she struggles to cope with a heartbreak that invades her most intimate moments with John. Pressured to choose between invasive medical procedures and abandoning John’s claim to the throne, the couple feels trapped until a trip to Ethiopia shows them happy endings sometimes arrive long after saying “I do.”

And Tegan herself:

The best compliment Tegan Wren ever received came from her sixth grade teacher: “You always have a book in your hand!”

Guided by her love of the creative process, Tegan grew up acting in theatre productions and writing poetry, short stories, and plays. She turned her eye to writing about real life when she worked as a journalist, producing reports for various radio and television stations in medium and large markets in the Midwest and also filing some stories for a major national news network. Wren has both a Bachelor’s of Journalism and a Master of Arts in Communications. After completing her graduate degree, Tegan had the opportunity to teach journalism courses at a major state university. She absolutely loved training the next generation of journalists.

Tegan’s thankful that she’s had the opportunity to travel overseas, and uses those adventures to inform her writing. She also draws inspiration from her own struggles, joys, and life experiences. Tegan and her husband, Patrick, experienced infertility for five years before becoming parents through adoption.

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Here are the links, if you're interested in learning more about Tegan or her book: 

Amazon US    Amazon UK    Goodreads   Blog    Twitter    Facebook   Instagram