Jean Marie Ward

fiction, nonfiction and all points in between

The Library of Congress, a signing with Nora, and DragonCon–oh my!

Saturday, April 10th, 2010 | Author: jmward14 | Blog | No Comments

RavenCon isn’t the only thing on my calendar this month. Monday, April 12, barely hours after I return from Richmond, I’ll be reading at the Library of Congress in downtown Washington, D.C. The Library of Congress! You can’t see it, but I’m grinning so hard my cheeks are aching.

The reading resulted from a collaboration between the library’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Forum and Broad Universe, an international organization dedicated to exploring and promoting the work of women writers in science fiction, fantasy and horror. It will take the form of a four-person Rapid Fire Reading featuring Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Sarah Avery, fellow BtV blogger Christine Norris and me. You’ve already seen the poster I prepped when the reading was announced. Now you can read the bios, too, in the hand-out I’ll be using as our program.

But that’s not the only reason I may expire of excitement. I’ve been added to the roster of major authors (like Charlaine Harris!) signing with Nora Roberts at Turn the Page Bookstore Café in Boonsboro, Maryland, on Friday, April 16. My name and web site link seem to wander around the page, but the confirmation of my presence is right there at the bottom of the page: the buy link for Fantasy Art Templates.

I signed With Nine You Get Vanyr at the Turn the Page spring mega-signing in 2007. Nora and the top names sell hundreds of books, and even small fry like me sell in the dozens. This time, there are some new rules. For example, the writers can only sign books purchased at the event. Trust me, that’s a relief. Yes, you sign that much.

Finally, it’s official. I’m on the guest list at DragonCon. Atlanta, here I come. I can’t wait.

Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago at 12:10 am.

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High Noon…in Calgary?

Saturday, April 4th, 2009 | Author: jmward14 | Uncategorized | No Comments

The remains of a location shoot for Nora Roberts' High Noon on St. Stephen St., Calgary, Alberta.  (Photo by Jean Marie Ward)

The remains of a location shoot for Nora Roberts' High Noon on St. Stephen St., Calgary, Alberta. (Photo by Jean Marie Ward)

My trip to Calgary last fall for the World Fantasy Con coincided with a photo shoot for a Lifetime Nora Roberts movie. The question was, which one?  None of the titles listed on her web site took place in Baltimore (which is where a production assistant said the movie was set), much less Calgary. Turns out the movie was High Noon. The book takes place in Savannah, but hey, this is Hollywood–or at least its Canadian equivalent.
It’s incredibly cool to see streets I walked, bars I drank in and places I visited on my TV. The scene before the 10:20 p.m. commercial break was set in the storefront shown in the picture (which was dressed as photo studio). But the biggest giggle so far has been the hero’s bar. It’s called Swifty’s in the script, but behind the bar you can see the real name emblazoned on the mirror: James Joyce. Ah, the memories…

Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 9:28 pm.

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