This nine minute interview with William Kenower of Author magazine took place in late June 2013 in Seattle, Washington.
Category Archives: appearances
COLD STEEL events (readings/signings)(Spiritwalker Monday 6)
To support the release of the third and final volume of the Spiritwalker Trilogy I will be at the following bookstores/events:
Borderlands Books, San Francisco, CA: Thursday June 27 at 7 pm
with Katharine Kerr who will also have a new book out.
Mysterious Galaxy San Diego, Saturday June 29 at 2 pm
with Andy Duncan and Clarion students (should be fun AND educational).
New York CIty: NYRSF reading Tuesday July 2 (with E. C. Ambrose) at 7 pm
University Bookstore, Seattle, WA: Monday July 8 at 7 pm
Powells Beaverton, Portland OR: Tuesday July 9 at 7 pm
With Lilith Saintcrow!
All events will include reading from Cold Steel, from my forthcoming YA fantasy, and maybe even from the epic fantasy trilogy I’m currently working on, or possibly I will read a short story instead although that might necessitate you believing I can actually write a short story. Which I can. I totally can.
PLUS Q&A (you have to bring the Qs).
AND I will either have print copies of The Secret Journal of Beatrice Hassi Barahal available (art by the awesome Julie Dillon!!!!) OR if it is not yet finished I will have a rough version with some of the illustrations to display and a place to sign up with your email/address to get notification when the print and e-book versions are ready for purchase.
Please know that I would love to see you. Yes, you! Especially YOU!
And your friends, family, or indeed any passers-by you can snag off the street. If I’m not coming to a city near you, send friends or family who do live in the area. The more the merrier. If enough people come I will sing OR demonstrate how to paddle an outrigger canoe and punch sharks.
I plan to attend the Sirens Conference in Oregon in October (it’s a wonderful small conference — come if you can!) but besides that the events listed above will be my only appearances in public venues/conventions this year (as far as I know).
A note on bookstore events: I’m signing at four well regarded and valued independent bookstores. You may bring personal books from home for me to sign. It is not required to buy (for example) Cold Steel or any book from the bookstore but it is always a strong show of support for independent bookstores if you can and do buy a copy of my newest book or, indeed, any book while you’re there (whether or not it is one of mine).
If you’re not able to make the event, I do always sign stock at each bookstore so you can order a signed copy afterward. If you contact any of the bookstores IN ADVANCE you can reserve a book and get it signed to you at the event (by me! not some random book signing gnome).
Possibly my only bookstore signing this year: July 28
Just one more reminder:
I will be signing with Lynn Flewelling at Mysterious Galaxy Redondo Beach on
Saturday 28 July, 2:30 pm.
I will be reading from Cold Steel.
I will also have a very few copies of the paper pamphlet of the Cold Fire bonus chapter 31.5 (you know which one if you’ve read the book).
I would be delighted to see you there if you live in the area. If you don’t live in the area, you can still get a signed copy of the book (personalized to you or anyone else, if you wish, although that is not required) through Mysterious Galaxy if you order ahead of time. They’ll then have me sign it while I’m in the store.
ALSO: I’m basically on hiatus from posting until I have completed the revisions for Cold Steel. I probably will reappear online at the end of August in time for the release of the mass market paperback (and lower ebook priced) edition of Cold Fire. I do intend to maintain a light presence on Twitter and Facebook and, to a lesser extent, on tumblr. If you’re on tumblr, feel free to ask me questions there. Actually, feel free to ask me questions here, too. Like: Is your daughter bugging you to write a YA series with her? Why, yes, she is! We even have a concept, as one does these days. A HIGH CONCEPT. Now all we need is a plot.
Book sign/reading from Cold Steel in L.A. in July
I’ll post this twice more as the time grows closer, but I want to announce that I will be doing a book signing together with the wonderful fantasy writer Lynn Flewelling on
SATURDAY JULY 28 at 2:30 pm
at Mysterious Galaxy Redondo Beach (Los Angeles)
I will read from COLD STEEL. I might even let the audience vote on which of several short excerpts they want me to read from . . . Rory getting naked? Bee telling off powerful men? Cat punching, well, anything?
Also, I will have hard copy pamphlets of the bonus chapter 31.5 from COLD FIRE available (I’m not charging for them).
As always with this kind of signing, you can bring your books from home for me to sign, and that is perfectly fine, but it is also courteous (and useful!) to make a purchase (of some kind, not necessarily my books) from Mysterious Galaxy, the hosting indie bookstore, because they have to sell books to stay in business in order to host signings and readings like this one.
Also, if you cannot attend the signing, you can place an order beforehand and get a signed (and personalized, if you wish) copy of any of my books which they have in stock, which they will then ship to you afterward.
I would love to see you all there.
Just as an FYI: I plan to attend the Sirens Conference in mid October (near Portland, Oregon), and may do a signing at Powells at that time. I also plan to attend World Fantasy Convention in Toronto, Canada in early November.
Progress Report: 1 June 2012
It seems I live by the principle of my eyes being bigger than my stomach.
In online terms that means I either make great plans for getting offline so I can work incessantly, and then check Twitter every 15 minutes
OR
conversely, determine to institute a fabulous program of blogging every day in a manner witty, wise, informative, profound, or edgy. You know. Like people do, who do that. Those people evidently will never include me in their number.
1) I’m still waiting to get my editorial comments on COLD STEEL from my editor, but this should not be construed in any way except that she has a number of manuscripts on her desk and has to tackle them in order of priority of publication schedule. I expect to hear from her soon.
2) Comments from beta readers are coming in, and I’m quite pleased on the whole. There are a couple of scenes I need to expand on, toward the end, but I knew that so this just confirms what I knew, and that is always pleasant. The reason the scenes got scanted is because by the time I was pushing to the finish of the novel I was so exhausted from the 14 months of wrestling with it and the sheer number of false starts and detours and wrong ways I had to correct that I just wanted to get to The End and then worry about revisions later. So that’s what I did.
3) When I mentioned to one of my beta readers that I felt bad that my readers were going to have to wait so long and patiently before it was published, she pointed out that I also have to wait: To talk about it. And since there are some scenes, and lines, and details, and Stuff that I really love, be assured that (for those of you looking forward to Cold Steel) that I am SUFFERING RIGHT ALONG WITH YOU. Kind of.
4) Next week I have a guest post going up on Monday (June 4) at A Dribble of Ink on diversity. I hope you’ll pop over and join the discussion, if one gets going.
AND
I am doing a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Thursday June 7 at 8 pm CST (Central Standard Time) which is, uh, omg, like 3 pm my time. You know, I need to figure that out. ANYWAY, if you feel so inclined, please pop over. I’ll announce it again on Twitter and Facebook and here on Wednesday. By the way, Elizabeth Bear is doing an AMA on Tuesday June 5 at 7 pm CST. Also, my sons are concerned that because it is Reddit, no one will ask me any questions, so prove them wrong!
AND
I also answered seven questions about beta readers for Donna Hanson’s blog series on beta readers/reading. I don’t have a date for that going up yet, however.
WFC, a signing & meetup in San Diego, Cold Steel
I’m going to be in San Diego next week for World Fantasy Convention (Oct 27 – 30).
#1 If you’re in the area, I will be at the Open House at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in San Diego on Wed 26 Oct from 630 – 830 pm.
This open house is not a WFC convention event. Anyone can attend, & bring books to be signed (do check the policy for how many books you can bring into the store since there will be a number of authors attending and they need to expedite the process). As always, it helps independent bookstores to survive in a difficult economy if you buy a book there as well, but it is not required.
I will have copies of the paper pamphlet version of the Bonus Chapter from COLD FIRE to sign and give away. (Also at the WFC autographing session, mentioned below, and the meetup.)
#2 I am also scheduling a meetup at 3:30 pm on Friday 28 October. Meet outside the Sunshine Deli on the grounds of the WFC hotel, the Town and Country. This is an informal meetup for whomever shows up, and I don’t expect there to be more than a couple people, so it’s really a chance to visit (as compared to the open house at Mysterious Galaxy, which will be crowded). I’ll answer questions, maybe read a snippet from Cold Steel, and we’ll talk writing and books (I’ll sign books if you bring them). This is not a convention event; if you’re in the area and want to come by, just do so (no badge necessary).
#3 My WFC Schedule:
I have one panel: 1 pm Friday 28 October: The Crystal Ceiling: Women in Fantasy, with Charlaine Harris, Malinda Lo, Nancy Kilpatrick, & Jane Kindred. I’m not scheduled for a reading.
Like all authors, I’ll be attending the autographing on Friday night from 8 – 10 pm.
#4 As many if not all of you already know, Cold Fire was released last month in trade paperback and ebook (together with the bonus chapter), and Cold Magic is now available in mass market paperback and somewhat less expensive ebook.
A generous reader (from Spain!) has sent me a downloadable mobi version of the Bonus Chapter (done by her spouse) which I will make available soon, but it won’t be until next month just because of my schedule.
I haven’t forgotten about the Rory short story. It’s about 3/4rds done and will be announced here and on Twitter and Facebook when it’s complete.
I’m still at work on Cold Steel, and I will update about progress here when I have more to tell.
Also, a general thank you to my readers for your kind comments here, in email, and on Twitter & Facebook. I genuinely love hearing from you all. Writing is an oddly isolated and isolating activity, and I think it can seem at times that one is writing into a huge silence. Social media has begun to change that: There are good and bad sides to this: Online provides a terrible distraction when one is procrastinating or discouraged, but against that it is possible to interact more widely and all the way around the world. I think that is the coolest thing of all.
News & Appearances (San Diego)
First, a question: How many of you subscribe to author (email or online) newsletters? Do you like them? Think they’re useful? Have other thoughts on them? If you’re a writer who has one, how is it working for you?
News
1) The bonus chapter for COLD FIRE is available on the Extras page on this site (on my WordPress site, for those reading this on livejournal).
2) I will be attending World Fantasy Convention in San Diego October 27 – 30 this year.
Additionally, I will be part of the Open House (signing) at Mysterious Galaxy Books (San Diego) on Wednesday 26 October from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. You do not have to be a member of the convention to attend. I will have paper-pamphlet copies of the bonus chapter at that event AND at WFC, which I am more than willing to sign and hand over to you.
IF you don’t live in the area or can’t attend, AND you want a signed copy of COLD FIRE (with the bonus chapter included) OR any of my other books, for that matter, I believe you can preorder such a thing through Mysterious Galaxy and they’ll have me sign it there.
Because I’ll be at WFC, I can sign books in the dealers’ room there as well, so you could theoretically contact Borderlands Books or Larry Smith, Bookseller with the same request. They both do mail order.
3) I am working on COLD STEEL. It’s been an extremely difficult book to write, but I am pressing forward in my stubborn way although not without a fair degree of whining to certain of my compatriots who are patient enough to listen.
4) I’m actually fairly close to being done with the Rory short story. Keep bugging me about it. That helps. Or at least it makes me feel even more guilty than I usually do. If I get a reading slot at WFC, I will consider debuting the story there.