CONvergence Panels

The finalized scheduled for CONvergence (Bloomington, MN, July 2-5) is available for review. Here’s what I’ll be doing and when:

Thursday, July 2

11:30-12:30 PM: Southern-Fried Vampires — A discussion of the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris and the True Blood HBO series based on them.

Friday, July 3

9:30-10:30 AM: Writing Craft: Creatures and Character — Writing the human and inhuman in a believable way is tough. Should the story be from the point of view of the Vampire or their significant other? What makes people love or hate a character or creature?

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Writing Craft: World and the Creatures Within– How do you create a world with depth and reality apart from our own? Not just magic and tech but creatures and people that populate the place as well.

Saturday, July 4

9:30-10:30 AM: Honestly, It’s for Reference! — Do you feel ashamed stalking the hallways of Toys R Us for that elusive Star Wars figure? Do you display your action figure collection in your house? How do you justify these purchases and more importantly, how do you display and maintain them?

2:00-3:00 PM: Genre Blender — Blending genre elements or staying within the lines.

4:30-7:00 PM: Open Fiction Writing Workshop — Jeannie Holmes, author of supernatural suspense & urban fantasy, leads this workshop. This includes open writing exercises for beginner and advanced writers, closed critiques (for work submitted in advance — Deadline for advance submissions is May 31!), and a Q&A session. (Yes, there will be potty breaks. )

Sunday, July 5

12:30-1:30 PM: From Good to Great: Tips for Revising Your Story & Making it Shine — A good first draft can be a great story if you are able to look at your story and figure out the parts that don’t work. It can be hard to eliminate parts you are in love with but it is a necessary part of the writing process.

2:00-3:00 PM: Reading by Jeannie Holmes — Author Jeannie Holmes will present some of her work in an intimate setting. (What will I read? Hmm…I haven’t fully decided, but it will be fun and attendees will have an opportunity to walk away with really cool limited edition items.)

3:30-4:30 PM: Distractions and the Creative Process — Writing with a new child in the house, or just too many old ones. Keeping your focus where there are too many distractions to count.

RWA Cancellation 2009

It’s official. My plans to attend the Romance Writers of America National Conference have been canceled. I was looking forward to it, but there’s always next year. Right?

Plans for CONvergence and ThrillerFest in July remain unchanged, as well as plans for attending the Delta Blues Collection Launch Party (October 3, Ground Zero Blues Club, Clarksdale, MS) and Bouchercon (October 15-18, Indianapolis, IN).

That’s all the updating I have for now. Back to work. TTFN

Lifeless Eyes Tour 2009

J.K.: July is fast approaching, which means I’ll be returning to the road for the second leg of the “Lifeless Eyes Tour” to promote CRIMSON SWAN. First stop will be in Bloomington (Minneapolis/St. Paul), Minnesota and CONvergence. Here’s Melpomene the Muse of Tragedy with an update. Take it away, Mel!

Mel: Thank you, J. K., for that marvelous introduction…such as it was.

J. K.: What’s that supposed to mean?

Mel: You’ve could a done a better job of setting me up.

J. K.: I thought it was good.

Mel: Eh…

J. K.: Okay, fine. *sigh* Straight from ancient Greece and slicker than olive oil, please welcome Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy, with an important Lifeless Eyes Tour update. Hit it, Mel!

Mel: “Slicker than olive oil?” WTF, J. K.?

J. K.: It’s supposed to be funny.

Mel: Inspired by my sister, Thalia the Muse of Comedy, you ain’t.

J. K.: Will you just get on with it?

Mel: With what?

J. K.: The tour update!

Mel: Ask nicely.

J. K.: Aargh!

Mel: Close enough. *clears throat* As J. K. said, July is fast approaching and there have been some new developments in the Lifeless Eyes Tour agenda. First being a tentative schedule has been announced for CONvergence, as J. K. mentioned. Here is said schedule — keep in mind, all listings are subject to change — reflecting the panels in which J. K. will participate:

Thursday, July 2 -  Southern-Fried Vampires: A discussion of the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris and the True Blood HBO series based on them.

Friday, July 3 – Writing Craft: Creatures and Characters: Writing the human and inhuman in a believable way is tough. Should the story be from the point of view of the Vampire or their significant other? What makes people love or hate a character or creature?

Writing Craft: Worlds and the Creatures Within: How do you create a world with depth and reality apart from our own? Not just magic and tech but creatures and people that populate the place as well.

Saturday, July 4 – Honestly, It’s for Reference!: Do you feel ashamed stalking the hallways of Toys R Us for that elusive Star Wars figure? Do you display your action figure collection in your house? How do you justify these purchases and more importantly, how do you display and maintain them?

Genre Blender: Blending genre elements or staying within the lines.

Open Fiction Writing Workshop: Visit CONvergence Workshop News for more details.

Sunday, July 5 – Distractions and the Creative Process: Writing with a new child in the house, or just too many old ones. Keeping your focus where there are too many distractions to count.

Whew! Looks like you’re going to be super busy that weekend, J. K.

J. K.: Yep. Just the way I like it. The following week will find me in New York for the second leg of the Lifeless Eyes Tour and ThrillerFest 2009. Do we have info on TF’s schedule, Mel?

Mel: The schedule for ThrillerFest is being finalized. We should have an update on it shortly.

J. K.: Wonderful! Any further news?

Mel: The third leg of the tour — the Romance Writers of America National Conference — is looking a little shaky at this point. We may have to amputate this one, J. K., but we’ll know more by the end of the week if we can save it.

J. K.: You just had to draw out the medical/surgical references for that one, didn’t you?

Mel: You know me. I’ll milk a metaphor until nothing remains but the dried-out skeleton.

J. K.: You’re sick.

Mel: Am not.

J. K.: Are too.

Mel: Insulting your assigned Muse carries stiff penalties. I’d watch my step, if I were you, especially since you’re working on Book 2.

J. K.: Have I told you lately how much I hate you?

Mel: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Heard it before. Don’t really care.

Crimson Swan: The Musical

No, there isn’t a musical in the works for CRIMSON SWAN. It would be cool if there were. If Rob Zombie where the composer/director. West Side Story or CATS, it ain’t.

I’ve had several people ask why I listen to music while I write. Mostly it’s in the form of “How can you stand to listen to that stuff while you’re writing?” *shrug* It’s a habit that formed in high school. I used music to drown out the sound of the CB radio my dad kept on 24/7 in our living room. It’s not easy to multiply fractions or read about the War of 1812 with –

“Breaker one-nine. Catfish, ya got yer ears on?”
 
“Gofer Catfish. What’cha got, Snake-eye?”

“County mounty at mile marker twenty-three. Watch yer six. Come back.”
 
“Ten-four. Catfish, out.”

– blaring in the background. Somehow Metallica and GnR were easier to listen to and still be able to study.

Most of my writing has a music-inspired theme. CRIMSON SWAN was most definitely inspired by Drowning Pool’s “Bodies.” I think I played that song more than any other. In an effort to find more inspiration for Book 2, I’ve been running through dozens of songs and finally discovered the musical “theme” for CRIMSON SWAN’s sequel — Guns N’ Roses, “Welcome to the Jungle.” It was a toss up between GnR and Motley Crue’s “Dr. Feelgood” but “Jungle” won out this morning.

So if you’re curious about what I’m plotting, find a copy of “Welcome to the Jungle,” listen to it, and let your imagination run wild. You’ll probably be wrong, but that’s no excuse not to have fun or pay homage to one of the greatest bands of the 1980s.

Back to the “Jungle” for me. TTFN!