Happy birthday, CRY WOLF!

One year ago today, CRY WOLF was published by Carina Press, and I thought I would celebrate by reminiscing about my writing process. To all who have read it, thank you. To those who haven't yet, I hope you'll give it a try! Let's throw confetti around. Grab some imaginary cake and pull up a chair. CRY WOLF only officially turns 1 once!

Some fun facts about CRY WOLF:

• The story of CRY WOLF was inspired by the Beast of Bray Road — a real urban legend (or a real monster? Hmmm…) in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Eyewitnesses began reporting sightings of a werewolf-like creature in the 1980s, and sightings continue until this day. Being a diehard fan of “The X-Files,” these sightings took root in my mind and led to all kinds of fun ideas. Books have been written about the creature, and a really bad B-movie called “The Beast of Bray Road” took the case in a new and very exploitatively weird direction. Now, I like bad movies, but this movie was just bad. Which leads me to...

• CRY WOLF was originally set in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, and Andrea and Sean were investigating the Beast of Bray Road. When I walked into my local Blockbuster one day in 2005 and spotted the DVD cover for “The Beast of Bray Road,” I grasped it off the shelf, hurried home to watch it (an hour and a half of my life I’ll never get back), and fell into a deep depression for about a week because my manuscript was finished and I was afraid people would associate and prematurely judge my story based on the movie — despite the fact the stories were nothing alike. This prompted a major rewrite, in which I set the story in the fictional town of Woodbine, S.C. instead. 

• I chose the town’s name Woodbine when I saw a sign for a city with that name while driving from Florida to Georgia. I wanted a town that started with “W” in order to create a moniker that alliterated with Werewolf. Thus, the Woodbine Werewolf was born. 

• The original manuscript for CRY WOLF was titled CRYPTID and was a straight-up horror novel. The romance between Sean and Andrea was very lowkey — in fact, they never once kissed! A response from an agent’s assistant provided me with the feedback that she really liked my story and my writing voice, but horror was a tough genre to sell. She said I had a great voice for romance, she loved the idea of Sean and Andrea as the focal point, and she advised taking the manuscript in that direction, as paranormal romances were very hot at the time. As an avid romance reader, I took this info as positive feedback and ran with it. The rest, as they say, is history.

• I don’t typically write my stories with actors in mind for the parts, but being the movie and television fanatic I am, inevitably I realize afterward that certain actors have provided inspiration for the way my characters look or act. With CRY WOLF, my inspirations are quite obvious, now that I think about it. Actors Sean Patrick Flanery and Jensen Ackles both inspired the character of Sean. See, I even chose Sean’s name for a reason! I've been a huge SPF fan since I first saw "Powder," and I’d watched SPF’s movies “Lone Hero” and “The Boondock Saints” more than a few times each the summer I was finishing my story. I was also obsessed with Jensen’s character Alec on “Dark Angel” at the time I was writing CRY WOLF. Yes, this was pre-“Supernatural” days. Another fun fact: Sean and Jensen later starred together in the awesome indie flick "Ten Inch Hero." I've also been fortunate enough to meet both Jensen Ackles (when he was on "Days of Our Lives" - yes, I've been obsessed with him for quite a long time) and Sean Patrick Flanery (at Dragoncon 2011). I almost told Sean that he had inspired the character in my then-soon-to-be-released book, but instead, I turned into a blabbering idiot and could barely pronounce my name. He was nice enough not to make fun of me. Sigh. Plus, SPF is so awesome, he also responded to my tweet once! Look, I have proof!

Actresses Emily Blunt and Erica Durance each inspired the character of Andrea. When I was finishing the first draft of CRY WOLF, it was the same year Erica joined “Smallville” as Lois Lane. During rewrites I had just seen Emily’s performance in “Wind Chill” and found myself giving Andrea some of the same personality traits as Emily’s character in that film. Another (yes, another) fun fact? Jensen Ackles and Erica Durance starred on "Smallville" together for a season before Jensen left to do "Supernatural." Now, if we could just arrange for Emily to make a movie with Erica, Sean or Jensen, I could start a new game: six degrees of CRY WOLF. Hmmm.

• The book was set around Halloween because it’s my favorite holiday, second only to Christmas, of course! I have many fond memories of watching old black-and-white “creature features” with my dad around Halloween when I was a wee lass. Yeah, that probably inspired me to write CRY WOLF, too. Obviously, I'm a very weird individual.

• I've probably written a total of five different drafts of CRY WOLF over the years. It was rejected more than 30 times before Carina Press decided to give it a shot. I'm living proof that persistence and determination can pay off.

AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST:

• The most common questions I get asked by email are “Is Reed going to get his own book?” and “Are Meg and Trey going to get their own book?” The answer to each is, yes, hopefully. I have plans to go there. With more monsters, too!

Fun Fridays: Q&A with audiobook narrator Elizabeth Wiley!

Today I have a very special guest on my blog to help celebrate the upcoming 1-year birthday of CRY WOLF - none other than Elizabeth Wiley, CRY WOLF's audiobook narrator! I have to admit: I love audiobooks and was thrilled when Audible and Carina Press released an audiobook version of my book! I also freely admit to being a Nervous Nelly before hearing it, worried how the narrator would sound, but Elizabeth's narration quickly put me at ease. I'm honored Elizabeth found time in her busy schedule to chat with me.

Elizabeth Wiley

Elizabeth Wiley is a voiceover artist, seasoned actor, dialect coach, and theatre professor at the College of William & Mary. Elizabeth has brought to life numerous women from history in The Idea of America, Colonial Williamsburg/Pearson’s virtual learning curriculum; she gives voice to Lady Macbeth in Paul Meier’s eTextbook Speaking Shakespeare, and her voice travels the world, modeling US-English on Rosetta Stone e-learning products. She believes that her 25-plus-year journey in the performing arts was all along leading to audiobook narration, now her passion and focus! Check out her website at www.alwayswiley.com.

Angela: First of all, I just want to thank you for the amazing job you did narrating CRY WOLF for Audible. I’ve had a subscription to Audible for years and, in my opinion, you’re one of the best narrators I’ve heard on the site. I consider myself to be very lucky to have snagged you. It seems CRY WOLF was your first narrating job for Audible? How did you get the job?

Elizabeth: Thank you, Angela - that's pretty high praise! I'm so glad you liked what I did with your creation. It's my responsibility to serve the writer and her work. I try to pay heed to every clue an author gives me about the characters and their world, and then to tell the story from the inside, riding out the experience with the characters, through their eyes.

Cry Wolf was not only my first gig for Audible, but my first audiobook! (I think that's pretty cool that you and I had our "firsts" together.) How did I get into it? A few years back, Scott Brick hosted a "Share The Experience" Contest for aspiring narrators. At the time, I was expanding into voiceover work and really wanted to get into audiobook narration. I entered the contest with a passage from A Hatful of Sky, a YA novel by Terry Pratchett, and ended up tying for third place. Scott's judges were a good handful of the top audiobook producer/publishers that he's worked with, so that was a fabulous boost. I then registered for one of Pat Fraley's "Billion Dollar Read" audiobook workshops - this one was in New York, and Pat had Scott Brick and Katy Kellgren teaching with him. Best investment. So worth it. And then, it's all about pounding the virtual pavement, sending demos, following through on connections, and being gently persistent. I am so grateful to Mike Charzuk at Audible for giving me my first gig (yours!).

Angela: What is the process for narrating a book? For example, do you have to read it beforehand numerous times before you get to the studio or do you go into the studio and just start reading? (If you had to read CRY WOLF numerous times, I’m very, very sorry.)

Elizabeth: (LOL!) I would dread going into the studio cold, without reading the book first. You can be sure that about two-thirds of the way through, you'd find out something essential about a character's speech or tone that you hadn't incorporated up to that point. My preparation is to read a book once through thoroughly, annotating as I go. So that research means: making character notes, looking up pronunciations when needed, finding references for places, names, colloquialisms or expressions that I may need to clarify, etc. Oh - and highlighting all the characters using different colors. My first two books I used paper copies, but now I read off my iPad and use an annotation App, which not only makes for silent page turning, but is very green!

Angela: Here’s a CRY WOLF-specific question in honor of the book's sort-of birthday. Do you remember: Which character in CRY WOLF was your favorite to find a voice for? (FYI: I loved your representation of Charlie, the animal control officer :).

Elizabeth: Yes, I'll admit Charlie was fun. I relish voicing the characters who are 'characters' - because of age, or dialect, or quirkiness. It was a good challenge to try to find the dialect or degree of southern for your characters, based on their background and life experience. I love that.

Angela: How long does it take, on average, to record an audiobook?

Elizabeth: Well, I recorded Cry Wolf at Audible's studios in Newark with an engineer, so that 9-hour book took three days to record, 6 hours a day. That's the ideal. Mostly, though, since I live in Williamsburg, Virginia, I am recording from my home studio and sending the sound files to the audiobook publisher for proofing and mastering. That takes a lot longer, since I am being my own engineer, doing the initial edits myself, and so on. And I am NOT an audio engineer! It's been a steep learning curve, and I am learning more every day, but still a long way from that 2:1 ratio (2 hours in the studio per 1 finished hour of audiobook). It probably takes me more like ten days to do a book from my studio. But hey, you always gotta have something to work toward, right?

Angela: What’s the hardest part of narrating a story?

Elizabeth: The editing! In addition to the technical challenges, I find that I get overly nit-picky in editing my own work.

Angela: You’re listed for several audiobooks on Audible now, so it seems you’ve gained a good bit of experience doing it. What advice would you give to anyone interested in reading books for Audible?

Elizabeth: If you already have acting experience and training, great. If not, that's where you need to start. Do a lot of listening to a variety of narrators -- that's a big part of your research, as you hear what works and discover your own preferences. Practice reading aloud for extended periods of time. If you've read aloud numerous book series to your kids, then good on ya! Take a workshop from a well-reputed coach. As I mentioned, Pat Fraley is terrific, and there are others out there too. That's where you begin to build a network of people in the business - other narrators, coaches, authors, publishers, producers. Go to the annual Audiobook Publishers Association Conference where you can attend valuable sessions and meet other folks in the business. Join online discussion groups on LinkedIn and Facebook, for example. I could go on and on, but that's good for a start, eh?

Angela: Let’s get to know Elizabeth, the person. I know you’ve done a lot of acting throughout the years. What’s been your favorite acting experience?

Elizabeth: I've been acting and teaching acting and voice at the college level for more years than I care to admit! My performing experience ranges from musical theatre to Shakespeare and everything in between. But I can pinpoint two shows that were the most gratifying for me, and they both were 3-person plays. One was Harold Pinter's Old Times, which I did at the Jungle Theatre in Minneapolis, and the other was a production of Copenhagen by Michael Frayn that was produced here in Virginia. Both are very intense plays with complicated relationships and deliciously intriguing stories. The kind of plays where audience members needed to go have a drink afterward so they could continue to wrestle with what they had just seen.

Angela: What types of books do you like to read?

Elizabeth: I have been fortunate in that I've really enjoyed all the books I've narrated. I do tend to lean toward historical fiction, though, given the choice.

Angela: What’s the last great book you read that you’d recommend?

Elizabeth: Lately I'm so busy with narrating (happily) that all my reading/listening for pleasure occurs while I'm driving or working out. I always have an audiobook going! (Currently listening to Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, narrated by Eduardo Ballerini.) When I think of hard copy books I've read relatively recently, Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell -- a mystery that toys with the question of Shakespearean authorship, jumping back and forth from 1613 to 2004 -- really appealed to the actor and professor in me.

Angela: What’s your favorite movie?

Elizabeth: This marvelous little gem of a French film made in 1966 - The King of Hearts (Le Roi de Cœur).

Angela: Hobbies?

Elizabeth: I love making music. I am often discovered humming without even realizing I'm doing it. It drives my family crazy. ("Are you really singing K's cell phone ring tone?") But I did make a music CD a few years ago to satisfy that itch. The CD is called Voice of the Goddess and features 4 female singer/songwriters. If blog readers feel so inclined to look it up on iTunes, check out my rendition of "Witches' Reel," a haunting chant from 16th century Scotland. Perfect for this time of year!

Angela: Elizabeth, you are an awesomely talented and well-rounded person. Thank you again for agreeing to be my guest today!

Elizabeth: Thanks so much for asking me to be a guest on your blog, Angela. Happy Birthday to Cry Wolf and congrats!

Fun Friday Q&A: Reed Coleman of CRY WOLF!

I’ve been totally remiss in posting Q&As to my blog, especially in October because — can you believe it? — CRY WOLF was published almost 1 year ago on Oct. 31, 2011. Wow! Time flies.

In honor of CRY WOLF’s birthday (of sorts), I thought I’d devote the rest of October’s Fun Fridays to the book, leading up to a special post on Halloween. Next week I hope to have a fun and special guest participating, but this week, I thought it would be neat — and slightly schitzo — to interview one of the characters I created. Nope. I didn't choose either of the two main characters. I thought it would be fun to get feedback from Reed Coleman, a character I have probably gotten the most emails about regarding this book. That said, let me pull up my chair to his imaginary one and grill the kid.

Angela: Welcome to my blog, Reed. I’m glad to be sort of talking to you, even if it’s only in my head, which means I should probably be on medication, but still. For those who don’t know you — and shame on them — let’s give a brief bio. You work part-time after high school for my book’s hero, Sean Hunter, at the local newspaper. You’re thinking about going into journalism as a career. When Andrea Lockhart comes to Woodbine, S.C., to search for the town’s rumored werewolf for a Halloween article she's writing, you are excited to assist her investigation and become her enamored sidekick.

Reed: Yeah, Andrea’s totally awesome. She hires me to help her get photos for the magazine she writes for. I think she realizes my family could really use the money.

Angela: It’s a tabloid magazine, kind of along the lines of the National Enquirer. Doesn’t that bother you?

Reed: Of course not! I love to read it. It’s very entertaining. And Andrea is a very good reporter. She went to college with Sean. They’re the best journalists I know. Besides, she’s the coolest thing to happen to Woodbine in ages. It gets kind of boring around here.

Angela: Andrea describes you as looking like a young Jake Gyllenhaal with glasses, but with plenty of potential for future studliness.

Reed: (Blushing) Uh, thanks. She’s pretty hot herself.

Angela: Here’s a fun fact. I think Jake Gyllenhaal is kind of nerdy. Seriously, I don’t think he’s all that attractive, but my niece thinks he’s one of the hottest guys on the planet. I threw in that description of you as a shout-out to her. She really likes you now.

Reed: Is she single?

Angela: I can't even comprehend the idea of my 22-year-old niece dating a character inside my head. Yeah, that's one for Jerry Springer. But you’ve made one or two fans from my readers. You know, I’ve gotten emails from people asking if you’ll get your own book. What do you think about that?

Reed: Awesome! Let’s do it!

Angela: I thought I’d give you enough time to outgrow your awkwardness, grow up a little, and grow into that stud Andrea figured you’d become. Tell me about your ideal woman.

Reed: Andrea is pretty awesome. I could go for someone like her.

Angela: She’s old enough to be your…older sister.

Reed: So?

Angela: Okay, tell me this. Are you still interested in journalism as a career?

Reed: Maybe, but I really think I want to go into cryptozoology. I think there are a lot of mysterious creatures out there waiting to be discovered.

Angela: You’ve already dealt with werewolves. What other creatures do you want to find?

Reed: Bigfoot! And lake monsters. I really hope to go to Loch Ness someday and search for Nessie. That would be cool!

Angela: I like Nessie, too. Maybe we could do something with that.

Reed: Can Andrea come?

Angela: No, Andrea is too old for you, and she’s taken. Well, maybe she could come. For a few scenes. Maybe. And Sean, too.

Reed: That would be so awesome! Let’s do it. Scotland, here we come!

Angela: Whoa, kid. Calm down. You’ve still got a little growing up to do. And I can’t afford airfare to Scotland yet. I’m still a struggling writer.

Reed: (Ignoring the point) There might be some other cryptids we could search for — the Jersey Devil, zombies, the Mongolian Death Worm. We could travel all over the world!

Angela: You’ve put a lot of thought into this. Or I have. But mainly you.

Reed: There were a lot of animals thought to be myths before they were discovered. The kangaroo, platypus, pandas, okapi and the giant squid, to name a few— 

Angela: That's more than a few. And did you say Mongolian Death Worm earlier? What the—?

Reed: We just need someone willing to take the time to search for them and prove whether they exist or not! I could totally be that person.

Angela: Tell that to the cast of Finding Bigfoot on Animal Planet. I love that show, but they never find anything. Ever.

Reed: It just takes time, that’s all.

Angela: We’ll leave it at that, and I’ll thank you for taking time to talk to me again. It’s been a while since we’ve chatted. You’re a good kid.

Reed: OK, but don’t forget about Scotland. Or we could go somewhere else. Or we could stay in Woodbine, because there are still rumors of a werewolf. Sightings still persist to this day.

Angela: Good to know, kid. Good to know.

CRY WOLF makes a fun Halloween read and is available from Carina Press in ebook and audiobook format. Aside from CarinaPress.com, it can be purchased at Amazon.com, Audible.com or BarnesandNoble.com.

My Dragoncon 2012 fangirl experiences - Plus, a coupon code for Carina Press!

I'm back from DragonCon in Atlanta, and although I am sore, exhausted and a little bummed that it's over, I'm happy to share my experiences. Let me just say that while you can experience DragonCon in a day (which I've done twice now), I think you could go for all four days and still not do everything you wanted. Next year, fingers crossed, I'll go for multiple days.

Before I launch into my fangirl diary, I want to share that several Carina Press authors got together and bought an ad in the DragonCon program. Better yet, there's a DragonCon promo code in the ad that I'm going to share here. Get an extra 15% off at CarinaPress.com! Use promo code DRAGONCON2012 at checkout. Expires Sept 30, 2012, 4:59 p.m. EDT. One-time use only. Not to be used with other offers or coupons. To see our ad, click on the image at right. The titles featured are CRY WOLF by me (contemporary with a hint of paranormal), STEAM AND SORCERY by Cindy Spencer Pape (Steampunk), DEMON'S CROSSING by Eleri Stone (paranormal/fantasy), WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM by Veronica Scott (sci-fi/fantasy), THE FALLEN QUEEN by Jane Kindred (paranormal/fantasy), ROGUE'S PAWN by Jeffe Kennedy (fantasy), THE BLOODGATE WARRIOR by Joely Sue Burkhart (paranormal/fantasy), GAMBIT by Kim Knox (sci-fi/fantasy), MONSTER IN MY CLOSET by RL Naquin (fantasy), and KISS OF DEATH by Seleste Delaney (paranormal).  Not all titles listed are Carina books, but the authors all have books with Carina Press, which is where the coupon is valid. Show some love and give one of these books a try!

First of all, while I had three writing panels on my schedule, I have to confess I didn't make it to a single one. I was having too much fun being a groupie. Yes, I admit it. I love the celebrities that come to DragonCon. It's the one place I can totally fangirl out over lots of people I'd never have the chance to meet otherwise.

Me and Joe Manganiello

I started my day by trying to make Stan Lee's panel, but I was stuck in  registration line hell forever, so I went straight to the Hilton, picked up tickets for a photo opp with Ian Somerhalder (Vampire Diaries, Lost) and then headed over to do a photo with Joe Manganiello (True Blood). I met Joe last year at DragonCon and vowed to get a picture with him simply because he's taller than my own 6'2" and not many celebs are. OK, and because he's hot. Whew, he's hot. And I touched him. And he touched me. Unfortunately, the touching only involved wrapping our arms around each other for a photo, but still. I'll take what I can get. I think my picture with Joe is the only one I've ever taken with a celeb where I didn't feel extraordinarily self conscious because of my colossal size. I actually felt normal with him, which is further proof we should marry. But I digress.

Me and Ian Somerhalder

Then it was back to meet Ian and grab a photo with him. His line was so long, they had us packed in a room like sardines. I met some interesting people in line. A girl dressed like -- I think -- Rainbow Brite chatted with me for the hour we stood waiting. Yes, the worst part about DragonCon are the darn lines. Almost worse than Disney on a holiday. But I finally met Ian, he gave me a big hug, and he said, "What's up Superwoman?" which totally thrilled me until I remembered I was wearing a t-shirt with the Superman logo on it. Yes, his charisma rendered me braindead for a few seconds. I only wish he were taller because I felt like Ginormica hugging him back. But I still love him. LOVE him.

Most of the guys from "The Vampire Diaries" were there. I ran into Joseph Morgan in the hall as he was walking to wherever. I tried to chat him up, but he must have been in a hurry. Klaus, his dad, his brothers, they were all there. Jeremy had to cancel his signing, but I lucked out and met him by accident while I was in Atlanta, and he was extremely nice and funny and didn't seem to mind I had stopped him to chat.

After meeting Ian I rushed over to catch the Gillan Anderson (X-Files) panel because The X-Files is possibly my all-time favorite show. In college, I wrote a paper on Agent Scully and her epic awesomeness that earned me an A in my most difficult class. For that alone, I still want to hug Gillian Anderson. She literally helped me graduate. She told some funny stories about the strangest X-Files fan she's ever met -- a woman who claimed to be an alien who also claimed she could pick up objects with her um, private parts, and fling them across the room -- and confirmed that X-Files creator Chris Carter is writing a script for a third movie (but Fox has to give approval to greenlight it). 

Then it was back to meet up with my two friends who drove in late (slackers), and we went to the Walk of Fame, which is where the celebs sign autographs. I immediately zeroed in on Dean Cain, because when I started college as a journalism student, "Lois and Clark" The New Adventures of Superman," was a favorite and helped reconfirm that I wanted to be a reporter. It's true. Jack and Jennifer from "Days of Our Lives" and Lois and Clark are to blame for my choice of profession. I've always been impressionable like that, and I am the biggest Superman fan ever. So I dragged my friends Daniel and James over to his line so they could take my picture with Dean, but then I saw he was charging $40 to take a picture with him. Darn. I opted not to do a picture, but I got his autograph. When I went up to him, I reverted to being a schoolgirl again and asked for a hug. He happily grabbed me up in one -- Dean is a big guy too -- and squeezed real hard. Or maybe I squeezed real hard. Or does it even matter? We hugged. And then I blubbered that I was a newspaper reporter, in parts thanks to him, and he said, "Get out of here! Really?" And then he asked me a bunch of questions about newspapers today and how much they've changed since he played a reporter. And we talked about how weird it is to imagine Lois and Clark not working for a newspaper and working for an online outlet instead, and then he stood and hugged me again, and thanked me for telling him that! I think he gave me the coolest autograph ever. And I have two witnesses that Dean Cain hugged and chatted with me. No picture though. I kind of regret that now. Oh well.

After that I had planned to get to "The Walking Dead" panel, but I was told Gillian Anderson would soon be signing autographs and she was on a tight schedule. So I popped over to wait, yet again, in another line. When I finally got up to her, she politely thanked me for coming and I blabbered, starstruck, that I thanked her for coming and that she helped me graduate. I'm pretty sure she thought I was whacko, but she was polite.

After that, my friends and I met up again to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe, and I fangirled over all the Elvis stuff there. I think someone had flipped my FANGIRL button that morning, so I was fangirling over everything. We separated again, and I went back to the Walk of Fame because my No. 3 target for the day was actress Felicia Day. Who? Oh, you poor dears. Felicia is kind of my role model. She is known for starring on Buffy, Eureka and a hilarious guest appearance on Supernatural, but among many things, she is a Gamer Queen and one of the most famous web personalities alive. She co-founded Geek and Sundry, which is a Youtube channel, and the Vaginal Fantasy Hangout book club, which is both hilarious and awesome. Go watch one and see. They chat about romance fantasy books they read, in a side-splitting fashion. They were all at DragonCon doing a panel, but of course, I missed it.



To my surprise, the entire cast of The Guild was there, and so was Felicia. I got in line, and I was literally the last person in line (and it was a massive, massive line) before they capped it. I chatted with the nicest Felicia Day fangirl in front of me for the longest time about what a great role model she is, and Felicia's personal assistant came over to talk to us and she was super awesome too. I felt bad because I couldn't afford the entire Guild's cast autographs, but I told them I loved them, and Sandeep Parikh said, "You know what's free? High fives!" And the entire cast high-fived me as I made my way to Felicia. So much fun. She was happy to take a picture with me for free, and I think she could fit in my pocket, she's so tiny. And nice. Felicia Day is the nicest gal. Period.

Anyway, I mingled around after that, taking pictures of cosplayers (people in costume), and then headed to check out the premiere of Felicia's new movie, Rock Jocks. Again, a long line in the Atlanta heat, but I made some new friends in that line. I've never been so glad to sit for two hours in my life. The movie was funny. Kind of too much bad language for my taste, but really funny.

I left after the movie, and I'm recovering today. New goal: Save money and go for multiple days next year. Maybe then I can actually make it to a writing workshop or panel. You know, cause I'm a writer and should have done that...

Fun Fridays: Dragoncon!! And why everyone should go at least once

It’s Labor Day weekend in the U.S., and for a lot of fabulous, geeky folks (yes, that’s me), that means one thing: DragonCon!!!!

What is DragonCon, you ask? Oh, you poor things. Let me educate you on the wonders of this fantastic and awesome convention. DragonCon is billed as the Southeast’s — and possibly the universe’s — largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film! But that description doesn’t even do it justice, y’all. I’m serious. It doesn’t.

I heard about DragonCon several years ago, wanted to go, but could never scrounge up the time or money to make it. Last year I buckled down and went to Atlanta on Friday, but for only one day. I’m a poor, struggling writer, after all.

And WOW.

So much fun.

SO MUCH FUN!

First of all, there’s something going on 24 hours a day for the four days of the convention. For us literary bookworms, there are writing workshops with authors such as Sherrilyn Kenyon and Charlaine Harris, writing workshops with top agents and editors, workshops and panels on every topic from paranormal romance to steampunk, screenwriting and fantasy and horror.

For us fandom geeks, there are celebrities from almost every TV show we love — Buffy, The X-Files, Once Upon a Time, Dr. Who, The Walking Dead, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, Battlestar Galactica, True Blood, and on and on —and celebrities from the world of comic books — Stan Lee, y’all. Stan Lee!

There’s nothing like sitting in a massive room with hundreds of other fans and the stars from your favorite shows or movies. The camaraderie that flows at DragonCon is wonderful. I felt like I was among my people. At least for a day.

But the best thing, by far, about DragonCon are the attendees.

A lot of people go to DragonCon just to photograph the attendees — thousands of whom show up in costume. I’m talking Hollywood professional costumes.

My fondest memories from last year’s con were of riding on an elevator with two zombies on one side and a stormtrooper on the other, and we all chatted about our love for all things Joss Whedon because actor Nicholas Brendan had just brushed past us and passed through our little crowd in the lobby. I don’t know who those zombies and that stormtrooper were, but for a few minutes, they were my best friends.

That’s the power of DragonCon.

And yes, I’ll be making the trip again this year, and again, only for one day — Sunday. Yes, of course, I’ll report on here afterwards. With pictures!

In the meantime, here are some of my memories from last year’s con to give you an inkling of how much fun it was.

Fun Fridays: Q&A with author Pamela Hearon!

For my Fun Friday Q&A guest today I have a very special guest and fabulous friend to feature  — author Pamela Hearon, whose Harlequin SuperRomance debut Out of the Depths released last week. I can vouch for Pamela's fabulous-ness because she and I have been critique partners for many years and she has never once told me to my face (or in an email) that I am weird, although when I pointed this out to her, she said, "I love weird—that’s why we get each others’ stuff!" which only made me heart her more.


As her CP, I can also vouch for what a great story Out of the Depths is, and I can warn you to be on the lookout for her upcoming books as well because they're all great reads. What is Out of the Depths about, you ask?

Kyndal Rawlings thought she'd learned her lesson when Chance Brennan left her to pursue his Ivy League dreams. Yet here she is, in Kentucky, falling for him all over again. Maybe it's being stranded in a cave with him…the same place they first became lovers.

Or maybe there's still something between them.

Not that anything will change—even after four tense days of depending on each other for their very survival. Chance needs a certain kind of woman to help him with his career. And Kyndal will never be that kind. But something has changed. Something that will force them to decide what they really want.

Maybe growing up in Kentucky didn’t have any impact on Pamela Hearon’s writing, but she has her own theories and believes otherwise. A lifetime of those sultry Southern nights surely infused her blood with a special heat—the kind that transforms simple love stories into tales of romance and desire and gives even the most unlikely couples their Happily Ever After.

She let me pick her brain for a while, and we talked about her new book, what she has planned next and advice for aspiring authors.

Angela: I have to start off by saying I really loved reading Out of the Depths. What inspired this story?

Pamela: Years ago—actually while I was in high school—some friends and I found a cave and went exploring. Memories of that experience have stayed with me ever since. I was trying to come up with a fresh, new setting for a story, and that one popped into my mind. The story evolved out of the setting, which I realize is a very strange way of doing things. Then as I wrote the story, the passageways in the cave became symbolic of the passageways of the heart, and the adventure of falling in love.

Angela: Why did you choose Kentucky as your setting? And inquiring minds want to know — is the cave featured in the book a real location? Cause I kinda wanna go visit it now. :)

Pamela: Kentucky is my home state and will forever be the place of my heart. We’re always told to write what we know, and I know Kentucky intimately. The cave in the book is much larger than the one my friends and I explored—or at least the section we explored. I always imagined many more passageways yet to be discovered if we’d had the time.

Angela: I already know the answer to this question, but I'll ask it anyway. Are you planning any other books featuring characters found in Out of the Depths?

Pamela: Yummy Rick Warren gets his own story next, and Chance, Kyndal, and Sheriff Buck Blaine make cameo appearances in that story as well.

Angela: What advice would you give to aspiring authors who haven’t been published yet?

Pamela: Does it sound too corny to say you have to believe it will happen and keep plugging away at it? As a daily affirmation, I actually cut book covers of other peoples’ books out of magazines, covered their titles and name with my own, glued it on a sheet of paper and taped it to my bathroom mirror. That paper stared me in the face each morning and was one of the last images in my brain before I went to bed. It kept reminding me to not give up—it was going to happen.

Writing is a craft as well as an art, and just like with everything else, the more you practice, the better you get. Keep practicing.

Angela: So tell us, what can readers expect from you next?

Pamela: My second Harlequin SuperRomance The Summer Place, with Rick Warren starring as the hero, will appear on shelves April 2013.

Let’s get to know Pam the person with these questions:

Q: Are you a member of any TV show/film/book fandoms?
Pamela: Officially? No. But I am a rabid fan of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. I devour the books as soon as they’re released. My autographed copy of The Scottish Prisoner has a front-facing, prominent place on my bookshelf. Favorite TV shows—Friends, Damages, Game of Thrones, Homeland, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and The Newsroom.

Q: What’s the last book you read for fun?
Pamela: I just finished Killing Floor by Lee Childs two days ago. I can’t really say it was “fun,” but it was fast paced and quite entertaining.

Q: If you could spend one day as any fictional character, which one and why?
Pamela: I didn’t even have to think about this one. I would choose Claire Frasier from the Outlander series. Why? A day with Jamie Frasier—‘nuff said. :)

Q: Celebrity crush?
Pamela: Augh—busted! Okay, I’ll admit that I’ve Googled images of Chris Hemsworth—maybe more than once (a day)! (say—maybe he’ll play Jamie Frasier in the film version).

Q: Hobbies?
Pamela: I have a huge perennial flower garden where I spend a great deal of time. I love being outdoors. I use the time to think about plots and characters, so I’m writing even when I’m weeding. (weeding and writing)

We also have a motorhome, and I love traveling in it. It’s great to take my “stuff” with me—bedroom, kitchen, computer, and of course, Casey the Cat. 

Angela: I'd like to thank Pam for being my Q&A guest today. Now go buy her book. It's a great read.

Visit Pamela on her website (www.pamelahearon.com), on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pamelahearon), and the second Monday of every month at her group blog—Everybody Needs a Little Romance (http://everybodyneedsalittleromance.com). 

Why writers deserve their own personality disorder

It has been a crazy whoa-where-did-the-time-go couple of weeks, and yes, I suck at blogging. For future reference, if I say I’m going to blog on (fill in the blank), you can probably just add an extra week or two to that estimate. And if I say I’m going to blog about a certain something — yeah, I’ll probably forget about it.

Cut me a break, people. I survive on five hours of sleep most nights to feed this habit called writing.

My latest manuscript has been finished and is now sitting in the inbox (i.e. slushpile) of my editor for consideration. I tweaked it to death, hit SEND, and then suffered a moment of pure mental anguish. OMG, did I just hit send? Nooooooo! Maybe I should have read it one more time! Was it ready? I think it was ready. Buried my head in my hands. God, I hope it was ready.

Add this to the many quirks I have as a writer, and it kind of amazes me I’m not doped up on meds somewhere in a padded cell, babbling about the pretty wallpaper.

For example, I missed my calling in life to be independently wealthy, which means I’m chained to a cubicle in a 10-to-6 job Mondays through Fridays (give or take a little). I also spend part of my time in that position writing and part of that time designing and doing layout on ads, advertorials and magazines. One day this week — which one is a blur (insert maniacal laugh) — I was in the middle of throwing together an ad for a local Chamber of Commerce when I realized I was also talking to myself — yes, out loud — about the characters in my latest book. You know, like, having a conversation with myself and them.

Ha ha ha he.

The great thing about the Internet is that I’ve friended lots of other writers who assure me this behavior is not uncommon, which brings me back to the title of this post. Writers create fictional characters in their heads, spend tons and tons of time developing them, talking to them, talking to themselves…and this is okay?

We spend far too many hours thinking about ways to torture the characters we create and love because we need "conflict." Let's be honest — we're also paid to be liars, if we're paid at all. Many of us spend years and years writing away with no paycheck in sight and starving ourselves because we refuse to do anything else. Please explain that to me. I do it myself, and I don't understand! We work by ourselves in front of a glowy-square thing with, if we're lucky, a cat or dog hanging off the chair beside us to bounce feedback off of. Most of us are caffeine addicts because inspiration has a habit of striking when we should be sleeping, which leaves us looking like jacked-up junkies because we've had too many sodas/coffees/espressos in one day to ever sleep again. Plus, we’re not writing so that we can just read back to ourselves and giggle like little schoolgirls. Oh, no ma'am. We want you to read our masterpieces (which, let's face it, are never really masterpieces). Yes, you! And you over there, hiding behind the trees like a scared little girl. We want everyone to read it! The more attention we get, the more successful we feel, which is all kinds of ironic since most of us aren’t comfortable with that attention at all. Which, you guessed it, makes us Fifty Shades of crazy.

Sad thing is, I could go on and on and on adding to that list, but I won't because I'm so darn tired right now. There's no denying there's something wrong with all of us, so I wonder why we don’t have our own personality disorder classified in psychiatry? Or maybe we do. I don’t know. 

Maybe we're stuck in medical dictionaries right there beside Schizoid personality disorder. "Writers." I'm guessing they don't know what the hell to do with us either.



That said, my most favorite people are writers, and the world owes a lot of gratitude to them. Without writers there would have been no "Wizard of Oz," "Lord of the Rings" or even the Bible. 


That's why I don't mind being lumped in with the lot -- not at all. :-)