Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments
“Wagner’s music isn’t as bad as it sounds.” 
Just got home from the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD production of Siegfried. Greg is the Wagner fan. I confess, I’m meh on opera, but from the music to the singers, the performances were glorious. I don’t think I’ve ever heard or seen a more perfect Siegfried–the boy who doesn’t know fear–than Jay Hunter Morris, and Greg has 78s, LPs, CDs and DVDs of every production ever. Even better, off-stage Morris sounds just like Owen Wilson. Hee!
Posted 23 hours, 50 minutes ago at 11:08 pm. Add a comment
I missed the posting deadline for Six Sentence Sunday for the second week in a row. Bad blogger, that’s me. By way of apology, I thought I’d offer a slightly longer excerpt from “Burning Down the House” from Hellfire Lounge 3: Jinn Rummy which will be launched at Balticon, May 25-28. I promise to share the date, time and details as soon as I learn them. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy what happens after our poor protagonist Eddie Woodhouse sits in that big comfy chair:
“Do you have the bottle?” he asked.
A flash from the dance floor lit her eyes like an evil smile. She placed an empty absinthe bottle on the table.
“May your next transfer run as smoothly as the one from your bank.” The blare of the music muted the scrape of her scimitar nails along the glass. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather do this someplace more private?”
“No.” The jinni inside him lashed his face. He couldn’t hide the bulge of their shared skin or his flinch of pain.
The woman added teeth to her smile. “Your funeral. I trust you’ll be more careful where you stick your straw in the future.”
Her exit line raised a different kind of welt, but he didn’t care as long as she left. Nobody paid any attention to a fat man in a club full of beautiful people. More importantly, the security cams and warding spells focused on the tables would keep her from trying anything more than what he paid for. He’d never been a contender in the magical department, but he never thought he’d sink so low that he’d owe his life to the sorcerous paranoia of Ducky “Duc d’Or”.
Eddie’s teeth chattered against the glass as he closed his lips around the neck of the bottle and chanted the first of the thirty-one goetic evocations from The Secret Key of Solomon under his breath. The words didn’t always make sense, but he suspected the real spell lay in his mind’s desperate prayer: “Take this damned thing outta me and I’ll never do magic. I’ll never so much as make a wish. Never. Ever.”
The words burned his throat. Never. The jinni swelled inside his lungs until he thought his ribs would explode. Ever.
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What happens next? Well, you’ll just have to read the story–or come to the launch–to find out.
Posted 4 days, 9 hours ago at 1:51 pm. Add a comment
While I’ve been groveling–er, adjusting to The New Management, things have been popping on the news front. Hellebore and Rue has been named as a Goldie Award Finalist in Speculative Fiction, along with a collaboration between our editor Joselle Vanderhooft and Hellebore and Rue contributor and publisher Steve Berman. Which makes it a great time to plug Joselle’s freelance editorial services and fellow Hellebore editor Catherine Lundoff’s fiction and editorial projects. Speaking of Hellebore & Rue and Catherine, they’re both up for Lesbian Fiction Reader’s Choice Awards. Vote early and often.
Meanwhile, the world has been showing review love for The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity. The first is from Night Owl Sci-Fi, which mentions my story “Fixed” along side Elizabeth Bear’s, Anton Strout’s and April Steenburgh’s. (You should see my grin.) The second is from Janicu’s Book Blog on Live Journal, which gives you a little taste of every story in the collection. Obviously it’s time to update my review links. 
Posted 2 weeks ago at 9:34 am. Add a comment
Hellfire Lounge 3: Jinn Rummy
Balticon is less than four weeks away, and I’ll be participating in two (count ‘em, two!) launch parties for two amazing anthologies, The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity and Hellfire Lounge 3: Jinn Rummy. In honor of the occasions, this month’s Six Sentence Sundays will be devoted to the stories featured in those anthologies. Since you’ve already had several snippets from “Fixed”, let’s take a taste of “Burning Down the House”, my story in Hellfire Lounge 3. Enjoy!
Eddie Woodhouse lurched between the tables of the Sixth Circle Club, apologizing every ponderous step of the way. Carrying a full-grown jinni inside his skin was hell. Its spine-crushing weight was only the start. Despite the swelter of July in New York, his thermal fleece sweatsuit, the heat of the crowd and the flames jetting in the six upright iron cages evenly spaced along the club’s circular wall, it was all he could do to keep from shivering as he approached the sorceress waiting at the shadowed table furthest from the door.
Gritting his teeth, he eased his tripled girth into the wide-armed leather chair across from her. The puffy cushions clenched around him like a boxing glove around a fist.
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To read the rest, you’ll have to buy the book–and you can get it at Balticon. Hope to see you there.
Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago at 8:00 am. 10 comments
This isn't the bunny you want.
Squirrel Terrace has been acquired by Basement Cat–or Ninja Cat, as he prefers to be called. Later on, he may add Pirate Cat to his list of titles. His collar boasts tiny skulls and crossbones, but we’re waiting a few days to attach the jewelry. Right now he needs no adornment.
He came to the Vola Lawson Animal Shelter in Alexandria (the physical model for the Madeleine Humphrey Shelter in “Fixed”, though the characters are all products of my demented imaginaton) named Pumba. Puma’s more like it, and we’ll see whether he wants to make the change. He’s about ten months old and fascinated by ZhuZhu Pets (thanks for the tip, Martianmooncrab), very vocal, very playful, very affectionate, and very, very black.
I understand why a prospective pet owner would gravitate to a certain breed and seek out a reputable breeder to obtain it. As long as you love and care for the animals who share your life, I don’t think it matters whether your pets are purebred, shelter animals or a gift from the universe.
But if breed isn’t important to you, I highly recommend seeking your next animal companion from a reputable shelter like Vola Lawson. All the animals are examined by veterinarians and veterinary health professionals. They’re tested for all the big diseases, vaccinated, and where appropriate, neutered. When an animal is surrendered to the shelter, they take a history, and they follow it up with an assessment of their own. The information my not be as complete as that of a breeder who’s known the animal since birth, but it comes close. Plus, you’ll know how the animal reacts under stress. In addition, if they’re clever (translation: sneaky) like the folks at Vola Lawson, they hold educational programs and invite people to gt to know the animals on hand.
Pumba’s response to shelter life was to call to people when they came into the “Cat Room”. He called to me on April 9. Now he’s claiming our house as his own.
Posted 2 weeks, 6 days ago at 3:20 pm. Add a comment
RavenCon is this weekend! I can’t wait, and when you see the schedule they’ve given me, you’ll know why. And this is only the tip of their programming iceberg. Glen Cook and Matthew Stewart are the writer and artist guests of honor, respectively. This year the con hosts its first media guest, Battlestar Galactica’s Nicki Clyne. Not to mention an all-new Masquerade and a concert by Bella Morte, whose lead singer Andy Deane is also a writer and on the program.
And so am I:
Friday, April 14
4 p.m.
Space Cowboys and Fantasy Noir: From Shadowrun to the Garret Files to Priest, mixing genres can result in some interesting stories. What genres mix well?
John Betancourt Glen Cook, S. Reesa Herberth, Stuart Jaffe, Michelle Moore, Jean Marie Ward
5 p.m.
Creating a Timeline: How carefully should an author keep track of what happens, when, and where? What are some techniques to make this easier?
Day Al-Mohamed (m), Pamela K. Kinney, Bud Sparhawk, Jean Marie Ward, Robert E. Waters, Steve White
Saturday, April 15
2 p.m.
Broad Universe Rapid-Fire Reading: Tasty, bite-sized readings from the authors of Broad Universe, an international organization dedicated to promoting science fiction, fantasy and horror written by women.
Danielle Ackley McPhail, KT Pinto, Gail Z. Martin, Jean Marie Ward, Leona Wisoker (m)
3 p.m.
Design a Superhero: What makes a superhero great? Panelists describe what they think makes a memorable superhero.
Butch Allen, Billy Flynn, CJ Henderson, Patrick A. Vanner, Jean Marie Ward
5 p.m.
Modern Fairy Tales: Lost Girl, Grimm, and Once Upon a Time all bring fairy tales to the TV screen. What makes some shows work, and others not?
Butch Allen, Flynnstress, Warren Rochelle, Suzanne Rosin, Michelle D. Sonnier, Jean Marie Ward
Sunday, April 16
11 a.m.
Are Panels About Vampires Played Out? Every year, we have a panel asking if vampires are passé. Are panels asking if vampires are passé…passé?
Scott M. Baker, Keith R.A. DeCandido, KT Pinto, Jim Stratton, Jean Marie Ward, Robert E. Waters
2 p.m.
Military Science Fiction and Fantasy: Panelists discuss the various subgenres of military SF and fantasy, from Star Trek to Battlestar Galactica to Black Company.
Glen Cook, Mike McPhail, Tony Ruggerio, Janine K. Spendlove, Patrick A. Vanner, Jean Marie Ward (m)
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Posted 1 month, 1 week ago at 2:00 pm. Add a comment
Monday, April 9th, 2012 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments
Cat-assisted writer. (Photo by Greg Uchrin)
The iconic Duzell, born we don’t know, entered our lives in September 2006 and left as considerately as he did everything sometime around eleven this morning. He got me through some of the worst times of my life, always gentle, always the gentleman. I wasn’t ready for him to go. I don’t think I would’ve ever been ready. Sometimes you are blessed with a friend, human or animal, too good for just one life. I wish my sweet boy many such lives, all of them filled with the love he deserves.
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago at 6:39 pm. Add a comment
Our beloved Feline Overlord is ailing, and last weekend was devoted to him. But I’m back this week, with a little nonfiction in honor of RavenCon, where I’ll be next weekend–the story of my first RavenCon in 2007:
The email from RavenCon’s assistant director of programming was polite but not encouraging:
“Right now our guest list is full, but I will put you on our short list if a guest cancels…”
A lot of writers will take that as a hint. In other words: “Stay home, little girl, you’re not big enough/you’re the wrong genre to play in our sandbox.” But I’m evil and wise in the ways of science fiction/fantasy conventions. And I had a cunning plan.
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If you want to read more about my first RavenCon, you can find the full story here.
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago at 8:00 am. 6 comments
Here it is, your last Six Sentence Sunday entry for the month of “Fixed”, my story in The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity. And because I am evil, it is a cliffhanger. If you want to read more, well, you just have to buy the book. 
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“Just as I thought,” she said. “Prepare this animal for surgery. I need to operate immediately.”
His head shot upward. Backed against the steel bars, he couldn’t help seeing past her glamour. The lines scoring her forehead and bracketing the corners of her wide, lipsticked mouth floated like a painted veil over a pale, ageless face as perfect as a marble Madonna.
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Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago at 8:00 am. 8 comments
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Last week I fell down on the Six Sentence Sunday job. Hey, a girl and her sweetie get only one anniversary a year. But I’m back with a third selection from “Fixed”, my story in the fabulous anthology The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity
. Enjoy!
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Even the kittens shut up, pressing their bodies to the wet plastic floor of their cage. A chill brushed his spine, lifting fur that had just begun to relax. Jack’s ability to sense magic was no better than human. The difference was he knew it existed and taught himself to read the warning signs in other animals. This one was lit up in neon. He hunkered down and tried to think cat thoughts; the last thing he wanted was to attract any kind of magical attention.
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Posted 2 months ago at 8:00 am. 12 comments
