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
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
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This week’s Six Sentence Sunday offers offers the opening of a story you can read right now, “Billy’s Monster” from Hellfire Lounge 2: Rat Pack Redux. If you like your horror with a big helping of humor and fun, this is the book for you. I haven’t posted my usual information slug on the main page only because resizing the cover is giving me grief. The delay is killing me, too. In addition to great stories by C.J. Henderson, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, KT Pinto, Robert Waters and our fearless editor (and he has to be!) Rick Allen Leider, the book features a fabulous cover by Ben Fogletto and amazing interior art by Ed Coutts, Ben Fogletto, Denny Fincke, Jason Whitley and Paul London. (Face it, I’m all about the pictures. 
)
“Billy’s Monster”
Billy was six years old when he brought home a monster. It had sharp, pointed teeth all around its mouth like a possum. Two rows of three stubby horns each grew from its forehead. Its spotted feathers were as soft as bunny fur, and it churred when Billy rubbed its tummy and fingered the satiny leather of its wings.
Billy’s parents didn’t know what to make of it. But it wasn’t too big, and they never did see a creature better at catching the mice and other varmints around the farm.
Posted 4 months ago at 8:00 am. 11 comments
Sunday, February 13th, 2011 | Author: jmward14 | writing | No Comments
No sooner did I finish the story that kept me hunkered down in the writing cave all January, when another New! Shiny! request landed in my email box. So I’m going to play prairie dog and head back to the burrow until sometime this spring. But before I do, I wanted to catch everyone up on all the good stuff.
First, if you want to get a taste of the story that occupied my January, head over to Beyond the Veil, the Samhain Publishing paranormal writers blog, for a discussion of how I developed one of the names for that story, aka “Fixed”. Yes, there is a cat involved, and a shelter, and the cat winces a lot.
The next two items are personal appearances that might be of special interest to folks in the Washington DC area. On March 5, from 10 a.m. to about noon, I’ll be moderating a panel of comprising noted science fiction and fantasy authors Catherine Asaro, Mindy Klasky, Pamela Palmer, Diana Peterfreund, Rebecca York and special guest Colleen Gleason. The panel is part of an all-day seminar hosted by Washington Romance Writers at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Service Center, Bethesda, MD. It will continue after lunch with Colleen’s workshops on the hero’s journey and world-building. Click here for more information (including links to driving directions). This event is free and open to the public, and I know from personal experience, WRW always offers prizes, including books signed by the participating authors.
The spiffy logo belongs to SynDCon II, the Washington DC area’s premiere gaming convention, set for the Rockville Hilton (former home of Capclave), April 1-3. The convention will feature board games, role-playing games, miniature war games and a host of special events, including a writing workshop and panels targeted to the needs of gamer writers and developers. The cast of characters will include Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Vonnie Winslow Crist, Kelly A. Harmon, Diane Whiteside and me. I’ll post more details on the program as they become available.
Finally, I’m celebrating the release of “Person Demons”, my short story about a Tibetan-American sorceress practising her craft in America’s most romantic city, Alexandria, VA. The story appears in Hellebore & Rue, an anthology celebrating queer women magic users. It was was a big stretch for me on a number of levels. I’m one of those writers who follows characters around taking dictation, and I was very worried about getting it right when the lead character was so different from me. But some things are universal: love, hope–and devils manipulating people’s emotions for their own ends. I hope you’ll check out the anthology, if only for the cover, which is as lovely as any I’ve ever seen.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 1:21 pm. Add a comment
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 1 year, 6 months ago at 1:56 am. Add a comment
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments
All right. I admit it. I was a DragonCon Bunny.
The Press Room Gang: (from the left) Randi, Dorie, Dave (aka Silent Bob), me and Leigh.
You should be glad I didn’t look like this guy.
The Bunny who wasn’t me.
After seven panels (thank you
and Nancy!) and an autographing session (someone actually wanted me to sign her book—and I didn’t even know her!) it’s a small miracle I didn’t. Not that I would’ve cared too much. I had a blast as usual.
For me, DragonCon 2007 offered a wonderful combination of old friends and serendipitous discoveries. For example, I expected to have a great time when I learned Josepha Sherman was on the “Effective Tools for Making That First Sale” panel with me. But I never expected sharing a panel with a military SF writer like John Ringo would be such a hoot. If you’re ever a con where he’s speaking don’t walk, run to his panels. He’ll be the guy in the kilt. Word.
Star Roberts and the media liaison staff touched my heart by setting up a memorial to
in the Press Room. As Mel Boros said when we raised a glass of Apple Pie in her honor Sunday night, “Teri wasn’t the center of attention, but she was central.” And sorely missed.
On a much happier note, “the Press Room Gang” also included me in their costume nights. The Bunnies came out to play on Friday night. Saturday night, we transformed doctors and nurses (and somehow neglected to get photos). Sunday night, we were pirates. And good thing too—we probably couldn’t have gotten into the Pirate Gathering or the Secret Room Pirate Rave if we weren’t.
Dorie (right) and me Sunday night in the Hyatt Lobby.
Then there was the music. Emerald Rose and the Lost Boys set the perfect “Pre-Con” tone with their exuberant sets Thursday night. Voltaire is a DragonCon favorite for his Goth presence and gloriously geeky lyrics, but his shows always made me twitch. It’s hard to dance to a solo troubadour. This year, however, he brought a band and Friday night, as he promised, he rocked the house. Caught a little bit of Ghoultown and a whole lot of Lost Boys on Saturday night—and went away with even more CDs to load on my iPod.
Voltaire (center, in vest) rocked the Hyatt’s Centennial Ballroom Friday night, August 31.
The Sunday night Cruxshadows capped their current tour and was the last show for Rachel McDonnell, their awesome violinist. The show ran nearly two hours…and it wasn’t nearly long enough.
Rogue, lead singer for the Cruxshadows.
I didn’t spend as much time as I would’ve liked in the Art Show, which seemed smaller than it had in years past. Was it really? I don’t know. The Grand Hall at the Hyatt feels smaller than the Marriott Marquis’ Imperial Ballroom. But some things were definitely bigger—the smiles on everyone’s faces when we learned DragonCon regular Laura Reynolds won the 2007 Chesley Award for best 3-D work. WTG, Laura!
WTG, everyone involved—especially
(SFLit Track), Nancy Knight (Writing Track) and Cathy Bowden (Star Wars Track). My pictures, as many as there are on my Flickr page, just don’t do you justice. Can’t wait until next year!
Posted 4 years, 8 months ago at 10:25 pm. Add a comment
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments
Sorry to be so last minute about this, but better late than never. Especially since the DragonCon programming gods have been particularly kind, showering me with seven panels and an autograph session also featuring Chip Coffey, Elonka Dunin, Christopher Jones and Maggie Shayne. The schedule is:
Panels
* Those We Love to Hate, Villains in SF and fantasy; who are our favorites and why? Friday, August 31, 5:30 p.m., Greenbriar Conference Room, Hyatt Regency (SF/Fantasy Literature)
* I Love the Smell of Paper in the Morning, Print books vs. e-books…or should we even care? Friday, August 31, 7 p.m., Greenbriar Conference Room, Hyatt Regency (SF/Fantasy Literature)
* Effective tools for making that first sale, Saturday, September 1, 2:30 p.m, Manilla/Singapore Conference Room, Hyatt Regency (Writing)
* The Past is the Future, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and contemporaries; are they truly the basis for our current genre? Saturday, September 1, 4 p.m., Fairlie Conference Room, Hyatt Regency (SF/Fantasy Literature)
* Women in SF, Octavia Butler, Andre Norton, James Tiptree—is it any better now?Saturday, September 1, 5:30 p.m., Greenbriar Conference Room, Hyatt Regency (SF/Fantasy Literature)
* Wanted Alive…or Dead, Readership of sf is declining in favor of fantasy. Is it the cool factor?
Sunday, September 2, 11:30 a.m., Greenbriar Conference Room, Hyatt Regency (SF/Fantasy Literature)
* Non-fiction for SF and Fantasy, Sunday, September 2, 1 p.m., Manilla/Singapore Conference Room, Hyatt Regency (Writing)
Autograph Session
* Monday, September 3, 2:30 p.m., Imperial Ballroom, Atlanta Hilton
Hope to see you there. And yes, there will be chocolate at the signing. I’m a firm believer in candy bribes.
Cheers!
Posted 4 years, 8 months ago at 4:14 am. Add a comment
Sunday, August 19th, 2007 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments
As my late great Aunt Dolores used to say about old age, “There’s nothing golden about these years. They’re rusted clean through.”
In more ways than one. I feel like Lady Macbeth again. I can’t get the smell of blood off my hands, and I didn’t even have the pleasure of killing anyone first.
Spent most of the day in the ER. Mom suffered another would-be killer nosebleed. It’s been a hell of a month for her. Won’t bore you with the details, but she’s taken a sudden turn for the worse. It’s gotten so bad, even my stubborn little Iron Chipmunk concedes she needs help with just about everything. So, sometime between now and August 29, I need to set up 24/7 care.
In the meantime, thanks to my darling spouse person (who delivered a cable modem and pizza to Mom’s apartment this evening) I’ll be posting from my mom’s instead of my usual stand. Now if I can only figure out how to get the cat here without freaking him out. Greg’s a lot more flexible that way. *g*
Cheers,
Posted 4 years, 9 months ago at 1:19 am. Add a comment
Friday, July 27th, 2007 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments
Feeling a bit like Forrest Gump here. Saw my first Kabuki with Greg earlier this evening, and I’m still processing.
Not that the production wasn’t spectacular. The Japan-America Society of Washington, DC, celebrated its fiftieth anniversary by bringing in top Kabuki actor Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII and his troupe to perform Kanjincho (the first Kabuki play ever to be performed before the Emperor of Japan) and the comedy Migawari Zazen.
It was incredibly weird and wonderful. The orchestra (a flute, drums, shamisens and eerie sounding singers) sits on a bi-level, red-draped dais at the back or side of the stage. Aristocratic male characters wander around in pants two feet longer than their legs, necessitating an on-stage handler to keep their clothing in line. These koken, or “invisible” stagehands, remain on the stage for the duration. The costumes are over-the-top fabulous–so over the top the white make-up seems almost restrained.
But I couldn’t help it. Every time I looked at Kanzaburo as Togashi in Kanjincho, I kept expecting him to launch into The Mikado. The shamisens make me think of the Yoshido Brothers, which is a little more culturally relevant…but only a little.
I dearly wish someone had provided surtitles like they do at most operas. Not knowing any more than the scene outlines of the two stories left me very much at sea. Which meant my favorite moment in the evening happened at the end of Migawari Zazen, when Kanzaburo as the unfaithful husband who’s about to get creamed by his much bigger wife sputtered in English: “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Honey, it’s not what you think. Really, I was just at the Nationals’ game.”
The venue, DC’s Warner Theatre, was a trip in itself. It was built during the 1920s for vaudeville and silent movies. Harry Warner, one of the Warner Brothers, liked it so much he insisted on the family name going on the marquee. The last time I was there (when James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer played Othello) all the plaster reliefs had been painted white and were crumbling as I watched. I spent most of the production staring at what was left of the ceiling wondering which way to duck.
Now it’s a palace. Every relief has been lovingly restored and gold-leafed. There are heavily swagged velvet drapes and enormous, vintage chandeliers reflecting all that burnished gold. Seeing a movie at the Warner in its heyday must’ve been an event.
And next month it’s hosting Weird Al Yankovic. You know, that says a lot about this town.
Hugs and grins,
Jean Marie
Posted 4 years, 9 months ago at 2:13 am. Add a comment
Wednesday, September 6th, 2006 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments
Finally flopping around on dry land after a total immersion weekend at DragonCon, my favorite summer camp for wayward adults. And there were a lot of us this year. *g*
Got to meet LJ friends <quietselkie> (aka Nina Merrill) and <lilithsaintcrow>, and their friend Christina, a super photojournalist. Roomed with <qnotku>, <hundakleptsis> and Bree (their granddaughter unit). Hung a little with another wonderful photographer, Milow, whose photos will be form the bulk of Crescent Blues’ 2006 DragonCon feature. Shared one of my panels with FF&P’s Sue Kearney and another with Samhain author Rosemary Laurey. Also chatted briefly with FF&P list mates Mary and Marcia. Didn’t see any other FF&P listies or Samhellions. Of course, in a stew of around 35,000 wildly partying people, we could’ve just missed each other.
I’ll cover the con in more detail for Crescent Blues <crescentblues.com> in a month or so. For now, suffice it to say the con was big. As big as I’ve ever seen it. Registration lines were around the block in front of the Hyatt mid-day Saturday and Sunday. People reported four-hour waits for tickets. Crissy Brashear, Samhain’s publisher managed to get into the back door of the con hotel Saturday afternoon, saw the lines and headed out again.
Although Crissy didn’t make it, the pens, business cards and flyers she sent did–and were much appreciated. Qnotku spent four of her five Writing Track panels in her Samhain acquisitions editor persona, and interest was high. Especially after Tor editor <claireeddy> described the Hell of Unsolicited Manuscripts on towering, industrial strength shelving she and her staff have to sift through on a regular basis. Qnotku ran through all the Samhain business cards and wound up writing her contact info on every one.
In addition to my usual running around and taking pics for the upcoming Crescent Blues feature, I managed to sit on four panels in almost as many personas. In my Writing Track panels, I either played fledgling Samhain author or crusty Crescent Blues editor.
The odd panel out was Web Comics, where I was waaaaay out of my depth. My dh runs his own political cartoon web site <haildubyus.com>, but what do I know from web comics? So I did what any good little journalist would do. I appointed myself moderator and asked other people questions. Seemed to work too. J.P. (aka Xsarthis), editor of the subculture web site All Zombies Must Die <azmd.net>, didn’t ream me a new one. Of course, it helped that I’m almost as snarky as he is. Almost.
Speaking of the panels though, big thank yous need to go out to Ray Rappaport of the Comics Track and Nancy Knight of the Writing Track. It’s always a privilege working with the programming tracks at DragonCon. They frequently surprise you, but they never screw you. And they’re all volunteers–like everyone else working the con. Much appreciated, folks!
Since one good turn deserves another, I’m going to interrupt your regularly scheduled con report for a brief plug. Nancy and photographer David Horton have a new book out, Exposing America: Photographs from August 1, 1864 through July 31, 1866. During those two years, the U.S. imposed a revenue tax on all photos. As a result, they now have a philatelic interest as well as historical and photographic. Beautiful book and an amazing resource. Check it out at <soundholepublishing.com>.
Back from the break and you’re wondering who the heck I saw and what I did that was INTERESTING. Geez, Lili and qnotku, hundakleptsis and Xsarthis aren’t enough for you? Oh, all right.
The Brobdignagian Bards provided random filking in the Press Room Thursday night. Queen of Comic Fantasy Esther Friesner told fortunes by Hamster-mancy in the Green Room Saturday night. (Yes, you will have to read Crescent Blues to find out more. I am that evil. There will be visuals too.)
The Press Gang invited me to share in their group costuming event Saturday and Sunday, so “Madame Esther” wound up telling the fortune of “Miss Jeannie”, saloon girl. Of course telling “Miss Jeannie’s” fortune wasn’t nearly as bad as lacing her into the requisite corset. That dubious honor went to qnotku. I expect to hear about it for years. (No jpgs yet. I’m hoping Milow will send a couple. Alternately, I may scan one of the Press Room pics. Bree did a great job with the make-up.)
No, I didn’t get lost in the corset…this time.
Sunday night’s harem girl group was uber popular. Don’t think I’ve ever been stopped for so many photos–even when I wore The Dress in 2000. The true fangirl moment of the con happened while I was wearing that outfit too. I was at the table–with Shannon Butcher, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Roc editor Anne Sowards and friends–when Jim Butcher caught his first glimpse of the raw dub of the SciFi Channel show based on his Harry Dresden series.
You never saw anyone so happy in your life. For Jim, it was Christmas, Fourth of July and Halloween all rolled into one. I think Ed, one of the other writers at the table whose last name, alas, I never caught, said it best: “January is too long to wait.”
Kevin Sorbo at his solo panel on Friday. Because qnotku promised to beat me if I didn’t post a photo, bad though it might be.
(From left to right) Derek Ruthven, Lili, vampire expert Michelle Bellanger and bestselling author Susan Sizemore used the Goth Track panel “Vampire: the Eternal Archetype” to discuss the different roles vampires play in fiction–from “Other” to metaphor.
Tomak Baksik of NetherCraft Statuary created a life-sized Jabba the Hut for the Motor Lobby of the Hyatt. It quickly became a con landmark–and THE spot to find the con’s many lovely “Slave Leias”.
Qnotku’s granddaughter Bree as a saloon girl. Believe it or not, she’s only 14 and so pretty qnotku and hundakleptsis have to beat guys away with a stick.
The panel title was “I Am Woman–Hear Me Roar”, and they did. Panelists (from left to right): FF&P member Sue Kearney, Susan Goggins, Samhain author Rosemary Laurey, Writers Track chair Nancy Knight, Deb Dixon, Ace & Roc editor Anne Sowards, and Eric Griffin.
Milow (left) and Peggy Mitchell pause for a moment’s reflection in a Saturday evening Writers Track panel.
The old saloon never looked so good: Press Gang bud Dorie and her friend Scott before Saturday night’s Cruxshadows concert.
For the finale of Saturday night’s Cruxshadows concert, the band invited everyone in the standing-room only crowd onto the stage. A lot of them made it too. You can barely glimpse lead singer Rogue, in the white-splashed band shirt front and center on the stage.
Jim Butcher (left), Sherrilyn Kenyon and Ed at the Sunday night Goth Track panel “Down and Out with Harry Dresden”.
For those of you with an interest in blackmail, here’s the harem shot. Everyone but yours truly works media liaison–and more–in the DragonCon Press Room. Left to right: Randi, Dorie, Andrew, Leigh and (sigh) me.
Monday at the hotel room–This was the first and only time I could get the group to hold still. And they only gave in because they couldn’t fight me any more. Lili and Bree are the ones doing the sprawl on the bed. More or less upright (left to right): qnotku, hundakleptsis, quietselkie and Christina.
Posted 5 years, 8 months ago at 2:58 pm. Add a comment
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