Posts Tagged ‘Eating Authors’

I have a really blessed life. I don’t acknowledge that often enough, either to myself, my loved ones, or the wider world. And I should, because one of the things remembering how good I’ve got things does, is it reminds me to share that good fortune, spread it around both deliberately and unconsciously. Or in terms probably more familiar to the readers of this blog, to pay it forward. I’ll definitely be setting aside some time today to do more of that.

In the meantime, let me tell you about this week’s guest. R. S. A. Garcia published her first novel, Lex Talionis, back in February of this year to a starred review in Publishers Weekly and some inspiring praise from other authors. Beyond that though, I don’t have much to tell you about her other than she lives in Trinidad and likes dogs (and really, that last bit is all that I need to know). I’m happy to have her here, and looking forward to what she’s going to write next.

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Welcome to September (and if you’re in the US, Happy Labor Day). I finished my novel revisions yesterday so I’ll be spending the day doing absolutely nothing! Well, okay, that’s not true, I’ll do my morning workout and maybe go to the local zoo to have a chat with some otters but really, that’s it. For those of you without access to otters, I present the latest installment of EATING AUTHORS instead.

Our guest this week is Danielle Ackley-McPhail. She’s probably best known for her work editing the Bad-Ass Faeries series, and she’s something of a legend at conventions up and down the northeast for organizing the most impressive book launches any small press has ever seen.

In addition to editing and being a short story writer, Danielle is also a novelist, and it’s here that she shows off one of the most impressive talents any author can possess: tenacity. Danielle doesn’t know how to quit. As an example of this, I offer up her Eternal Wanderings trilogy, each book of which was originally released by a different small press. Not only have her fans followed her from publisher to publisher, in under a week they’ve already funded a Kickstarter project to pay for a new novella in the series. I encourage you to check it out because if she’s applying the same enthusiasm to her stretch goals as she does to her book launches you won’t want to miss it.

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Last updated August 7, 2021

Welcome to the last Monday in August, which this year also happens to be the first Monday after LonCon3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention. If you were among the record numbers who attended this year’s Worldcon, then dropping in here at EATING AUTHORS will allow you to catch your breath. As for the rest of you, please breathe normally.

Our guest this week is Michael A. Ventrella, a member of that highly specialized fraternity, F/SF authors who are also lawyers. And given the behavior of most authors I’ve met, having Michael’s number in your contacts list is probably a good idea as it’s only a matter of time before we’re all going to need an attorney. Until then, let’s focus on Michael’s work in the genre. His most recent book, Bloodsuckers, blends classic vampiric tropes with something truly horrific: politics. Vampire fiction has been overmined in recent years, so it’s particularly gratifying to have a refreshing take, regardless of your political affiliations.

In addition to writing both short stories and novels, Michael’s also built a treasure trove of interviews with other authors, putting them on the spot with seemingly innocent questions — hmmm, maybe it’s not so easy to separate out the lawyer from the author. You’ll find them on his website, alongside an impressive collection of writing resources. Just another example of a writer paying it forward.

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Not only is it yet another Monday, but it’s the Monday marking the final day of the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention (aka, LonCon3), which means it’s also the day after the Hugos. Congratulations to Ann Leckie, Charlie Stross, Mary Robinette Kowal, and John Chu for their respective fiction wins, and to Sofia Samatar, for being the latest recipient of the Campbell Award (may you wear your tiara with pride). And of course, kudos to the finalists as well. Speaking as a past Hugo-Loser, this is one of those times when that stuff about “it’s an honor just being nominated” actually rings true.

Also, a hearty congratulations to Kansas City, Missouri,which has won the privilege and pain of running the 74th Worldcon (to be known as MidAmeriCon II). Save the dates: August 17 – 21, 2016.

Phew! Okay, let’s get to today’s EATING AUTHORS guest. Appropriately enough, I first met Emmie Mears at a dinner party, at a convention no less. She self-identifies as an Urban Fantasy Author, a Geek, a Gamer, and an Explorer. Her debut novel, The Masked Songbird, comes out on September 1st from Harlequin.

Emmie is also one of the forces behind the Searching for Superwomen hub, an ever-evolving conversation on women and their many roles in Geek culture. But don’t take my word for it, click the link and check it out yourself.
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What is it with Mondays? They keep happening. I feel like the guy who in a moment of weak judgment puts a saucer of milk out on the porch and now finds that damn cat showing up like clockwork. Trust me when I tell you that I’d be quite content to skip a few Mondays here and there. But no, the calendar lobbyists are too powerful. Or something like that.

Since it is another Monday, let’s make the best of it. Here to help with that is Leona Wisoker, an author who knows the value of a strong cup of coffee — note to self: do not leave a cup of coffee out on the porch, it will only attract writers . Her (four books and counting) science fantasy series Children of the Desert has been published by Mercury Retrograde Press. Leona is also the force behind The Scribbling Lion, a consortium of sorts that promotes the music and fiction of Danny Birt, Tom Doyle, Jonah Knight, Gail Z. Martin, Devo Spice, and of course her own work as well.

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Welcome to the first Monday of August, or as I suspect I’ll be thinking of it, Revision Month. That’s right, the editorial letter for my forthcoming novel arrived recently. I’ve gone through the notes, produced notes of my own, and just two days ago sat down with my editor for a two hour meeting to make sure we were both on the same page (so to speak). My main writing goal for the next few weeks is to implement the changes, additions, deletions, and assorted line edits in the manuscript. Sounds like great fun, right?

Meanwhile though, it’s Monday, and this week that means we are graced with the presence of Judith Moffett, author, poet, academician, and translator, and she’s won awards, prizes, and grants scattered across all four areas of expertise. Limiting our focus to her prose fiction works, I can tell you that she won the first ever Theodore Sturgeon Award for her short story “Surviving,” and dis so in the same year that her first novel, Pennterra, came out. The following year, Judith took home the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. She’s since followed these with other short stories, novellae, and novels, including her Holy Ground trilogy (The Ragged World, published in 1991, followed by Time, Like an Ever-Rolling Stream in 1992, and concluding with The Bird Shaman, published in 2008).

Utterly unbeknownst to me, she’d been living in the greater Philadelphia area for decades. Alas, she recently moved out of state, making it considerably harder to camp out on her doorstep in the hope that some of her talent will rub off on me. Instead, I’ll have to settle for her musings on her most memorable meal.

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Hiya. I’m typing up these words on Sunday afternoon. Since Wednesday night I’ve been hanging with some two dozen speakers of the Klingon language in a hotel just south of the Philadelphia Airport. There has been little sleep but a great deal of linguistic silliness. It is fair to say I am exhausted. It’s also my birthday. By all rights, I should be taking a nap or eating cake (though probably not both at the same time). Instead, I’m here, typing this up, because you need to know about Harry Connolly, who will be the EATING AUTHOR guest when you read this on Monday. So, let’s get to it.

Harry’s the author of the Twenty Palaces series of first-person mystery/fantasy novels. I have to say, I haven’t been able to find out all that much more about him. He’s a mystery, or maybe a fantasy, or both which would be just a bit too perfect given his books. I’m pretty sure he lives in Seattle, that he once lived in Philadelphia, and that he has a son. But that’s it. Heck, I couldn’t even get a full color photo out of the man!

His latest book is Bad Little Girls Die Horrible Deaths: And Other Tales Of Dark Fantasy, but it won’t hold that special place for long because he’s currently working on a new series, The Great Way, which will debut with book one, The Way Into Chaos, in early September.

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