Jean Marie Ward

fiction, nonfiction and all points in between

Dragons & Fairies & Book Signing, Oh My!

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments

Is Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity too crazy for you…or not insane enough?

What you need is a large dose of bacon-loving dragons and bad-assed fairies. To get it, join me for Tea with the Authors at Constellation Books, 303 Main Street, Reisterstown, MD 21136, this Saturday, October 30, from 3-5 p.m.

The event also features my partners-in-crime–er, fantasy–er, fellow writers Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Vonnie Winslow Crist, Kelly A. Harmon and Robert E. Waters. The spotlighted books will be Dragon’s Lure (which includes my short story “Lord Bai’s Discovery”) and Bad-Assed Fairies 3: Halfling’s Court.

There will be tea, cookies, costumes, readings and lots of fun. Hope to see you there!

Posted 2 years, 6 months ago at 1:56 am.

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A New Short Story & Balticon Reminder

Friday, May 28th, 2010 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments

I took a page out of S.J. Willing’s book today and posted a short short story for my Samhain blog. Consider it a free pass into the weirder corners of my mind. It’s "All About the Flies". Really. ;-)

Also want to remind everyone that I’ll be heading out to Hunt Valley, Maryland, for Balticon early tomorrow–er, today.  Hope you’ll join me, especially for my five panels.  The Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading and the Legendary Triple Launch will have cooookieeeees.  And the Triple Launch will have Dragon’s Lure, where you can make the acquaintance of the Estimable Lord Bai.

Posted 2 years, 11 months ago at 12:19 am.

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My 2010 Balticon Schedule

Monday, May 24th, 2010 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments

Memorial Day and Balticon—the two go together like fun and three-day weekends. Balticon is the premier Maryland regional science fiction and fantasy convention, which this year runs from May 28-31 at the Marriott Hunt Valley Inn. Tanya Huff will be the Writer Guest of Honor, but that’s only the beginning, folks: Gail Carriger, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Laura Anne Gilman, Gail Z. Martin, Jeri Smith-Ready, Maria Snyder… and, well, me.
This year I snagged five fabulous panels. Hope to see you there.

Friday, 7 p.m.
Are You Sure You Want to Go There? Writing about the darker things in life: Rape. Torture. Childhood trauma. Sex with Dwarves. Sometimes it’s done for a laugh. Sometimes it is done for an emotional response. Sometimes, we ask ourselves “What was THAT all about?!” So why not ask the pros who do it? When is shock essential to the story, and when is it sensational? Find out if authors add in moments of terror and extreme situations in order to surprise an audience, or as an alternative to group therapy. Jennifer Andrea, Allison Duncan, Chris Lester, Tee Morris (moderator) and Jean Marie Ward.

Friday, 10 p.m.
Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading – Seven Broad Universe authors resent tasty, bite-sized readings of their work that will leave you hungry for more. Danielle Ackley McPhail, Roxanne Bland (moderator), Elaine Corvidae, Kelly A. Harmon, Gail Z. Martin, Roberta Rogow and Jean Marie Ward.

Saturday, 11:30 a.m.
The Many Faces of Fantasy or the Road to Victory – Peter Beagle once divided fantasy into High and Low categories. One web site lists more than 20 sub-genres. Let’s discuss some examples of these. Can we say that Frodo Baggins and Vicky Nelson are characters from the same genre? What is urban fantasy? Is it the same as contemporary fantasy? Elwin Cotman(m), Tanya Huff, Misty Massey, Darrell Schweitzer, Jean Marie Ward

Sunday, 6 p.m.
Creating Three Dimensional Characters – When writing an adventure or a story, having characters that the readers can get into is half the battle. If the readers or players become intrigued by the characters, then the rest of the story will fall into place. Join our writers as they discuss creating compelling characters. Gail Carriger, C.J. Henderson, Kory Kaese (moderator), Bernie Mojses, and Jean Marie Ward.

Sunday, 7 p.m.
The Legendary Triple Launch – Bad-Ass Faeries 3: In All Their Glory, Dragon’s Lure, and New Blood. Faeries, dragons and vampires; a little bit of something for everyone. See writers in costume try to read their works. There will be too many of us to name. And yes, I will be wearing wings. Be afraid, be very afraid.

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Posted 2 years, 12 months ago at 11:52 pm.

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Coming Soon to a Balticon Near You

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments

Normally I wait until I’ve got my schedule in my hand to do a long Balticon promo post, but I think this merits a special post. Danielle Ackley-McPhail—writer, editor and hostess of some of the wildest con parties around—will be launching not one, not two, but three anthologies at Balticon from 7-9 p.m., Sunday May 30, at the Hunt Valley Marriott outside Baltimore, Maryland.

On the surface dragons, fairies and vampires might not seem to have a lot in common, but as Dani says, fiction readers never grow tired of them. “Each of these anthologies takes one of those legends and gives the reader what they want…and so much more.”

Since one of my favorite short stories, “Lord Bai’s Discovery”, is included in Dragon’s Lure, I must heartily agree. :-)

As always with Dani’s parties, there will be scads of writers, great refreshments and marvelous prizes, including a hand-sculpted dragon box by acclaimed artist Linda Saboe. There will also be readings by the anthology contributors including Dani, Linda, Elaine Corvidae, Keith R.A. DeCandido, John Grant, Kelly Harmon, C.J. Henderson, Brian Koscienski, Jeffrey Lymon, L. Jagi Lamplighter, Terri Osborne, Chris Pisano and me, Me, ME!

Well, to be honest, I won’t be reading three times. But I do plan to read “Lord Bai’s Discovery”. Hope to see you there. In the meantime, if you want to learn more, check out Dani’s launch page.

Posted 3 years ago at 12:43 am.

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