Faeries, FOGcon and panel discussions on writing

A trip down memory lane - faerie style.








And you can still read my fractured faerie tale, "Troll Games" at Flashquake.

FOGcon here I come. I just got my panel assignments for March 12, 2011 at FOGcon in San Francisco. The theme for this year's Friends of Genre reader convention is The City in SF/F.


My City Goes to 1011 (Saturday, 1:30-2:45 P.M.)

Can an online community be considered a city? Why or why not? If so, how
does one define the community boundaries? If not, what are the
differences?


Let's Build a City (Saturday 8:00-9:15 P.M.)

Right before your very eyes (and with your vigorous suggestions from the
audience!) our panelists will create a city out of nothing but the room's
imagination. Will it sit in the crater of an active volcano? Will it have
different districts for people to live in based on their culinary
preferences? Come and find out...


I'll also be moderating the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading (RFR) with BU members Mary Holland, Pheobe Wray, Valerie Frankel, Julie Andrews, Corie Ralston and Danielle LeFevre from 10:30 - 11:45 Saturday morning.


This evening, I'll be on a library panel on Style of Writing in Sebastopol sponsored by the Redwood Writers. If you're local, come out and hear what my fellow panelists and I have to say about the various kinds of writing one might pursue and why. What makes one form harder than another? Is it just a matter of preference?

Some mid-week science fiction treats

2011 is the year that I turn out more stories than ever before. Watch my smoke! Doug had a great post last week about NY resolutions and writing. It mad a lot of sense. My friend, Brenda Cooper posted a link to this most excellent post on writing discipline that applies to everything really. It's a blog entry by Johanna Harness about time vs. energy and how doing the things you love gives you energy and putting those things on your hate-to-do list by adding unreasonable restrictions and schedules and musts turns them into energy suckers and makes them less likely to get done. I thought it was great and think you'll benefit too.

I'm working on a science fiction/horror piece that should be finished by end of week. There be monsters! Oh, wait, they're intelligent.

This will also be the year of flash fiction. It's all about instant gratification, my friend. I love ticking things off a list and finishing things. Flash is easier to finish without getting bogged down.

For those who live here in Wine Country, I'll be discussing writing style at the Sebastopol library as part of a Redwood Writers panel on Feb. 7th from 6-8pm.

I'm looking into adding another staff member to Science Fiction and Other ODDysseys to cover movies from press screenings in LA. They're almost never in San Francisco, or I'd be doing a lot more of them. Expect great things!

I can't wait for the new season of Being Human - the original one. Why does the SyFy channel have to redo it with the same exact characters and script? They even dress the same! Here's an about video by the U.S. cast.

i09 has an article interviewing the cast comparing the US and UK versions.

I also found this disturbing bit of Dicktopia there. A robotic head of Philip K Dick speaks. The original went AWOL in 2006. This one was built by Hanson Robotics.

I watched the first episode of the new Primeval series (that's season on this side of the pond). I'm really not sure I'm all that thrilled. It's really more of the same: Prehistoric creatures landing in modern day England, military high-handedness, an unbelievable romance and a mysterious individual watching and conspiring. And a mole. The only truly exciting characters are the dinosaurs. I think I need to more developed characters, tension and drama. Otherwise the plot just gets stale.

And even in Dr. Who, Londoners eventually get that we're not alone. So how can they be so daft when it comes to all these dinosaurs popping up all over the place? Only the ARC (Anomaly Research Centre) changes, not society. And there are never any cops. Of course, I could say the same for Sanctuary. At least where police are concerned.

Here's another new webseries, Overturn.

You can read the synopsis at overturnseries.com.

I was recently reminded of this hilarious video. Someone I know (I'm not naming names) bought a new toilet for his wife for Christmas. Really.

Book signing pics and SF writer news

Had a great time signing books with Alice Henderson at the Comic Book Box on Saturday. One young lady who bought a copy of Awesome Lavratt recognized it from one of her friends' shelves. Awesome! ;)



And here we are getting killer promo ideas from Kathy Bottarini, the book store owner.





Facebook friends to the rescue. I'm too tired to blog, but apparently am never too tired to hang out on Facebook. Here's news from my SF/F author friends there:

Alma Alexander posted an essay at Storytellersunplugged.

Gareth Powell has news on his upcoming book, Silversands.

Robert Sawyer's imprint of Red Deer Press is set to launch this nifty volume, Distant Early Warnings: Canada's Best Science Fiction.

I'm putting together a list of all my myriad writerly social networking sites for a post on the Redwood Writers Blog. Look for that probably next week.



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Two gigs this week and more social networking mania

For those of you in or around Sonoma County, I'll be at the Comic Book Box in Rohnert Park on Saturday from noon to 4PM.

On June 27th, the Comic Book Box, 1451 Southwest Blvd #103, Rohnert Park, CA 94928, will be having a CREATURE FEATURES event! The Producer of WATCH HORROR FILMS, KEEP AMERICA STRONG, a journey into Creature Features, Tom Wyrsch, will be here to show classic interviews by Bob Wilkins and John Stanley! Ann Wilkes the author of the SF book, AWESOME LAVRATT and Alice Henderson author of VORACIOUS will also be on hand! For more information call 707-792-0100!

If you're in the East Bay, I'll be in San Ramon on Thursday.

Date: 7/2/2009
Start Time: 7:00 PM
Description:
Memorable stories begin with intriguing ideas. But where do writers get these ideas? Science fiction author Ann Wilkes will take you on an odyssey of "what ifs" to generate unique scenarios on the spot which she will help you grow into viable story lines. Bring your imagination and notebooks.

Celebrate Summer Reading with us!

Library: San Ramon Libraries - San Ramon
Contact Number: 925-973-2850
Presenter: Ann Wilkes

I really am a social networking junkie. I don't stop with MySpace, Facebook and Live Journal. So, I've had to start a list of all the social networking sites I'm on. There are 15 LinkedIn writing related groups that I'm on, six Book Blogs groups (Ning), Book Place, Book Marketing Network, Goodreads and two groups Goodreads groups. Then there are Yahoo groups. I haven't visited the sf forums in months.

And still, I refuse to Tweet. ;) But, for those who do, my friends over at Oxford University Press asked if I'd share this with my readers: Set Phasers on Tweet: A Star Trek Snowclone Blizzard on Twitter

I convinced my hubby to join Facebook last night. He just returned from a trip to Mississippi to participate in the Gathering Hearts Poverty Tour. He spoke on the labor abuses that are going on in California, what he's calling part time slavery. Now he has another way to get the word out.

On the submitting front: I have already received 2 rejections from the 9 stories I sent out this month. Sent one back out already. It's all a numbers game, like job hunting. Well, talent helps, too.


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Kicking chicks out of the nest

As most of my readers know, I'm a member of Broad Universe. Just now, over at Broad Universe, we're having a mailing party. This is a week-long submission party. We try to get as many of our stories sent off as we can during that week. Of course, it's all honor system and no prizes, but peer pressure can be a good thing! :)

This evening, I sent out three reprints. The shocking thing was being able to find three paying markets that take them. I spent the majority of this evening reformatting each of the stories to the specific guidelines of the mags in question. At least most submissions these days don't SASEs and trips to the post office. Fingers are crossed, as well as toes. I also sent out a review copy of Awesome Lavratt today. And had two offers of books for me to review. I don't think I'll ever have to buy another book. Of course, I will, though. Starving authors and all. We have to support each other.

So, I didn't get any writing done. Hopefully Thursday evening will be for writing. That's the plan now.

I watched Dead Like Me, Life After Death on Saturday. It was delicious. But, mind you, I'm a die-hard Dead Like Me fan. The series and the movie have several winning elements: dark humor, a cynical narrator, and absurd supernatural circumstances. The movie brought back most of the original cast with the exception of Daisy. Sarah Wynter plays Daisy in the movie. The other notable exception was Rube. The movie opens with our favorite grim reapers meeting their new boss outside of the remains of the waffle house Rube used as their meeting place. Rube had "found his lights" and moved on. Or so the suave, rich replacement said. He's played by Henry Ian Cusick - the guy who played Desmond on Lost.

I'll be joining Tom Wyrsch, producer of Watch Horror Films, Keep America Strong (a journey into Creature Features) and Alice Henderson, author of Voracious on Saturday, June 27th at the Comic Book Box in Rohnert Park. If you're local, please stop by for this Creature Features event from 1PM to 4PM.

Here's the particulars:

Comic Book Box
1451 Southwest Blvd #103
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
707-792-0100





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Being funny on purpose

I joined Toastmasters back in 2002 or so, to hone my public speaking skills for those book tours I knew would come. Conceit? No, determination. Which, of course, is the positive side of stubborn.

Anyhow, after taking a few years off, I'm one speech away from my ATM-B certificate. The last project I had to complete was delivering a humorous speech. It's the one I saved for last. I've delivered plenty of humorous speeches. But they didn't have to be funny. Humor wasn't the point...wasn't a mandate.

So, I finally wrote a speech on Saturday. Tossed the whole thing Saturday night and wrote a different one Sunday...for delivery tonight! I'm never at a loss for words in front of a crowd. I'm a ham, in fact. But make me tailor a speech according to rules and make me include this or that and I falter. It's just not my style.

So, I think I've finally got it. Of course, I have to deliver it at a restaurant in a noisy room our group is sharing with another group... But I can't wait.

And the book tours I knew would come are here! I'm planning my first one now. If anyone knows of a venue or an organization that would benefit from a presentation by a SF author, drop me a line. I especially love talking at schools. All contacts welcome (within the Bay Area, though, for now).

The new back cover of Awesome Lavratt is going to be great!