Real Life

More Books! Plus, #ConFusionMI Schedule!

By Me, Real Life, Scientifiction / By /

We finally announced my next books last week (yay!) — that’s right, it’s romantic comedy time! This is my favorite genre and I’m looking forward to writing books that hopefully bring you guys as much joy as they bring me. Here’s the announcement from Publishers Marketplace:


While there’s a bit of a wait, take heart that we’ll be releasing the two books of this duology relatively close together AND are already plotting and planning the next standalone book.

If you’re in the Detroit area, you should come check out Subterranean Press’s home convention ConFusion this weekend. I’m honored to be there as a special guest of my SubPress fam. Here’s my schedule:

  • Guest of Honor Dinner Thursday 7:00PM St. Clair Join our Guests of Honor for a Thursday night dinner. This event requires pre-registration. Seanan McGuire, Gwenda Bond, Kameron Hurley, Bogi Takács, Brandon O’Brien, Dr. Julie Lesnik
  • Career Strategy for Authors Friday 3:00PM Charlevoix There are as many ways to have a writing career as there are writers. But it isn’t always clear what a writer can or should be doing to achieve their specific career goals, or even how to *decide* what you want your career to look like. Join us as we talk about building and adjusting your career strategy and what you can do to maximize your chances of success. Steve Buchheit (m), Elsa Sjunneson, Corry L. Lee, Gwenda Bond
  • Opening Ceremonies Friday 7:00PM Ballroom C&D Welcome to How to Train Your ConFusion! Please join our Conchair, Lithie Dubois, and our Guests of Honor, Kameron Hurley, Julie Lesnik, Brandon O’Brien, and Bogi Takács, along with our Subterranean Press Special Guests, Seanan McGuire, and Gwenda Bond! Hear about all of the exciting stuff you can expect from them, from us, and this weekend. Lithie Dubois (m), Seanan McGuire, Gwenda Bond, Kameron Hurley, Bogi Takács, Brandon O’Brien, Dr. Julie Lesnik Mass
  • Autographing Session Saturday 3:00PM St. Clair
  • The Art of Writing Non-Linear Narratives Saturday 4:00PM Charlevoix Time travel, alternate realities – what makes a good non-linear story? How is an airtight plot balanced against suspension of disbelief? E.D.E. Bell (m), Jason Sanford, Gwenda Bond, Kameron Hurley
  • Reading: Gwenda Bond Sunday 12:00PM Leelanaw Readings by Subterranean Press Special Guest Gwenda Bond.
  • Closing Ceremonies Sunday 3:00PM Ballroom C&D Come say goodbye to our Guests of Honor and Subterranean Special Guests, and learn which 2021 Guests of Honor announcements we will be sharing with you! Lithie Dubois (m), Seanan McGuire, Gwenda Bond, Kameron Hurley, Bogi Takács, Brandon O’Brien, Dr. Julie Lesnik

More Books! Plus, #ConFusionMI Schedule! Read More »

Last Events of the Year Known as 2019 (& a Peak Ahead)

Real Life, Scientifiction / By /
Hi, all! Sorry, long time no post! Last events of the year are coming up, both close to home!
  • This Saturday, Nov. 16, I’ll be at the Kentucky Book Fair and Christopher will also be there for all your dual-signing Supernormal Sleuthing Service needs.
  • Then, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 6:30 p.m., I’ll be in conversation with Alix Harrow about her outrageously wonderful debut, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington. You can call the store ahead of time if you’re far away and want personalized books for holidays; they ship. 
  • Looking ahead, if you’re in the Detroit area or headed to ConFusion in January, I’ll be a special guest of Subterranean Press (work fam!), along with Seanan McGuire! The entire line-up is fab and it’s sure to be a great time, as always.

Last Events of the Year Known as 2019 (& a Peak Ahead) Read More »

NYCC Schedule!

Real Life / By /

nycc-logo2Hi there! If you’re interested in what else has been up, you can check out September’s tinyletters: one and two. Or sign up to get them in your inbox at tinyletter.com/gwenda.

In the meantime, will you be at NYCC? ME TOO! Here’s where you can find me:

Friday, 10/7

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Panel – BookCon @ NYCC Panel Room – 1st Floor

Expanding Worlds: How Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels Imagine the World–For Better or Worse: From hyper-drive star ships to swords and sorcery to lustful vampires, science fiction and fantasy novels imagine worlds with infinite possibilities. But frequently, these worlds are remarkably similar to our own. Come hear bestselling science-fiction and fantasy authors discuss their imagined worlds and the impact of the collective SFF brain on the “real” world. Authors Rysa Walker (The Delphi Effect, Timebound), Gwenda Bond (Girl In the Shadows), Amy A. Bartol (Kricket series, Secondborn series), J.D. Horn (Witching Savannah series), and Alys Arden (The Casquette Girls) will debate and discuss, led by Senior Editor Jason Kirk of 47North and Skyscape.

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM: Autographing – BookCon @ NYCC Autographing Area – 6th Floor

Books will be for sale from Word, and I’m also happy to sign anything you bring me!

I’ll be around Saturday too, but just swanning around seeing people. Hope to see some of you there!

NYCC Schedule! Read More »

Where I’ll Be At NTTBF & Charitable Auction Info!

Lois Lane, Real Life / By /

RT was a blast, even if our hotel in Vegas had a smoky cesspool vibe. You can read a little more about that in my tinyletter #3 (or sign up to get future weekly letters in your inbox — I was determined not to miss one so soon in) (if you’re like tinywha?, I decided to move my newsletter to a less formal weekly letter with just links to news at the end). But my travels are only just beginning. Next up is…North Texas Teen Book Festival at the Irving Convention Center this Saturday.

Just as at RT, there SHOULD be early copies of Double Down available, eep!

Here’s where you can find me at NTTBF:

  • 9 a.m. GB1: Where’s My Super Suit? It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…superhero books! With: Gwenda Bond, Faith Erin Hicks, Jeramey Kraatz, Margaret Stohl, moderated by Mandy Curtis
  • 11 a.m. MR7: Do You Believe in Magic? Maybe it’s real life, maybe it’s magical realism. With: Kathi Appelt, Gwenda Bond, Natalie Lloyd, Samantha Mabry, Jessica Taylor, moderated by Donalyn Miller
  • Noon GB5: “Cause This is Thriller, Thriller Night” You’ll be on the edge of your seat with these thrilling reads. With: Gwenda Bond, Ally Carter, Janet Fox, Jennifer Latham, Brendan Reichs, Teresa Toten, moderated by Diane Ramsay
  • 2 p.m. MR3: Superhero Origins : Discover the true story about adapting comic books into novels. With: Gwenda Bond, Margaret Stohl, moderated by Jeramey Kraatz
  • 3:30 p.m. Signing with everybody!

Writing for Charity Refugee Benefit Auction

The amazing Shannon Hale and Mette Harrison put together a giant online charity auction and here’s the lowdown: “Authors Shannon Hale and Mette Ivie Harrison have mobilized book people to donate items for an epic online auction. You will find one of a kind offers, critiques, art, books, personalized visits, and unique events from our generous helpers. Due to a generous donor who is covering our administrative costs, EVERY CENT will go to Lifting Hands International, a charity that gets life-saving supplies directly to refugee camps. Go bid!”

You can see all the items up for grabs here. I’m donating an up to one hour Skype session (could be in person if you’re within an hour or so of Lexington, Ky) for a bookclub, library or classroom along with up to 20 signed copies of Lois Lane: Fallout. This would normally cost about $400, but you can start the bidding at $100 and contribute to a great cause!

And next week I’ll be back to post my YALLWest schedule and remind you Double Down is out imminently, then collapse. Haha! Kidding. I’ll have collapsed way before then.

Where I’ll Be At NTTBF & Charitable Auction Info! Read More »

Heres and Theres (+ a Little Supergirl Rant)

Lois Lane, Nattering, Real Life / By /

Time for another weekly update.

Hey, I learned how to do this and can now get my feet into footlocks in both sides.

 

Today’s new feat! Ow!

A photo posted by Gwenda Bond (@gwendabond) on

 

Someday I will manage to climb all the way to the top. First, apparently, I’m going to be doing more tricep push-ups. I can’t believe these are words that came out of my fingers, but they must be true. If you want to fly, you have to train and feel the pain.

Or something.

Definitely this morning’s class was a reminder I’m not supposed to sit at my desk for 10 or 11 hour blocks straight, because that way lies writer elbow flare-up.

Related: I finished up copyedits on Girl in the Shadows, and whew, the crushing relief that I’m actually really proud of this book and I so hope you guys like it too. This is going to be a big year for Cirque American things. I should be able to show you the gorgeous perfect cover very very soon. Maybe even sometime this week. We’ll see! And then there’s still more news after that.

Speaking of news (you see I’m all segue-ways today), I’ve officially launched the redesign process for Blackwood and The Woken Gods. So new shiny, preferred editions will be coming your way soon. Please to not continue pirating them like crazy in the meantime (I know none of you would ever, just grumble-mentioning).

Tomorrow morning — weather cooperating — I’m headed out to visit the secret lair of Subterranean Press and then it’s on to ConFusion for the weekend. (If you want to feel like you’re there, follow us on twitter where lots of live-tweeting will be happening.) I’m also doing a few programming things and here they are:

  • Saturday 10:00 AM Relating to Young Adult
    A lot of time is spent discussing how Young Adult and Adult interface, losing sight, perhaps, of the more important link between Middle Grade and Young Adult. What expectations are Middle Grade readers bringing into Young Adult? How do those expectations reflect the fiction they find as they move up a reading level? Can Middle Grade explain the glut of dystopias in Young Adult? Jenny Thurman, Courtney Allison Moulton, Merrie Haskell (M), Susan Dennard, Gwenda Bond
  • Saturday 4:00 PM Autograph Session 1
  • Sunday 12:00 PM The Business of Rejection
    Writing is a business built around rejection. Almost every writer in the industry has experienced it at some point, and many experience it constantly. Come learn how working writers deal with rejection, move past it, and embrace it for what it is. Amy Sundberg, Kameron Hurley, Greg van Eekhout, Dave Robison (M), Gwenda Bond

I’ll bring a handful of Lois swag with me, so grab me if you want some.

*

Thing the last…

supergirl-melissa-benoistDear Supergirl the Show:

This comes from a place of love.

Melissa Benoist is a delight, the rest of your cast is great, and I’m still very much enjoying the show overall. The writers have pulled off some delicious surprises and, more than that, you’ve gotten the feeling right. Buuuuut let’s stop with the rampant nonsense of insulting Lois Lane — with no one defending her — every time her name comes up. By continuing to do this, you tacitly acknowledge her prominence and importance as a character, only to then kick sand in her face and on her legacy.

This is made worse by the fact that she has no presence on the show to counteract these swipes. Clark gets to text his cousin; there’s no reason Lois wouldn’t have sent her a gift or a note too (if not directly, then via James or Clark). There’s also no reason James wouldn’t or shouldn’t come to her defense. They have a long history of mutual respect and friendship in the comics. And there’s no reason to go with the least interesting incarnation of the Lane sisters’ relationship, where they snipe at or about each other without the sense of underlying caring to go with it. Honestly, much as I adore Cat Grant and find her funny and a constant surprise who is one of my favorite things on the show, if her grudge against Lois was more based in a feeling of legitimate professional competition — with respect underneath the personal aspects — I’d find it much more interesting. But I could deal with that. It was Lucy’s joining the dismissive bashing of her sister last night that has me writing this now.

Make the characters more complicated in this regard, please. Fix this lapse in your otherwise burgeoning feminist show cred.

The Superman mythos has, at its best, always featured strong women and been welcoming to women readers and viewers. Lois Lane is an icon for a reason. It may seem she’s untouchable and everyone knows she’s fabulous and so such swipes don’t matter: but they do. Lois Lane is still routinely slammed (including in my mentions from time to time — my superpower is muting faster than a speeding bullet) by people who are threatened by the character’s existence and importance, even after 78 years. The Lois we love doesn’t match these comments. She isn’t an obnoxious glory hound who cares more about herself than the story. So why can’t the Supergirl show just find a simple way to acknowledge Lois Lane is a kick-ass reporter and a hero in her own right, and move on from this pattern? It can. Please do. I promise there will still be plenty of conflict left over.

And it will make a lot of us tremendously happy.

Love,

Your humble viewer

Heres and Theres (+ a Little Supergirl Rant) Read More »

My Year in Review 2015 + News for 2016

2 Comments / Adventures, Nattering, Real Life, Uncategorized / By /

LoisLanefinalcoverI hardly even know where to start with this year — a busy, crazy, very good year. And a year that pushed me to a big decision I’d put off for a long time (more on that toward the end — no skipping!).

I started 2015 writing the first of the free Lois Lane prequel stories (now available for your kindle), and then it was full steam ahead into the release of Fallout. While all that was happening — including the release — I was hard at work on the sequel, Double Down.

Things like this happened:

And I did a ton of interviews; some of my favorites are linked here and here. I also got to go on tour with four of my favorite ladies in the universe. dangerousladies

Here’s hoping we can reprise Dangerous Ladies this year at some point. And you might find a little easter egg reference to it hidden in Double Down. I also went to some fabulous events and heard from a lot of readers, and was completely humbled by the reactions and support. Over the summer, I concentrated on writing the first draft of the companion novel to Girl on a Wire, which is titled Girl in the Shadows (I will have a cover to show you extremely soon!).

On the personal side, things were so busy and I was doing so much writing and publicity for Lois (while still going to my day job) that I started to have horrible back issues that ended up being a rib out of alignment. This took a couple of months of physical therapy to fix. In June, our beloved Emma the Dog went in for what was meant to be a routine, benign tumor removal only for us to be informed that she had malignant cancer, a giant tumor in her liver, and might only make it a few weeks, a month or two at most. This was also the day we got the offer on our middle grade book, because life is funny that way.

Somewhere in here, I realized that it was not actually normal to feel incredibly anxious ALL THE TIME. Finally, after nearly having a full-blown panic attack while we were in Atlanta for DragonCon and Decatur Book Festival (you probably didn’t know if you were there, I am good at covering), I went to my doctor and asked for anxiety meds. To say I should have done it far, far sooner is an understatement. We also celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary in Atlanta. Best decision I ever made (the marriage, not celebrating in Atlanta;).

IMG_1331

All these stories make up a happy ending to this year. I discovered aerial silks, which I’d probably have remained too chicken to try without the anxiety meds, and the local fitness center I go to for aerial yoga and et cetera is now one of my favorite FAVORITE places. Also, I managed to finish another book without anything like the usual body woes. Magic. Me at my very first class:

IMG_1447 Emma the Dog started doing very well on a prednisone regimen and continues to do so. Just last week, she indulged in chocolate intended for a publishing house. (She recovered overnight and went desperately seeking more chocolate only to be DENIED.) IMG_1766

We finally got to tell y’all about the middle grade right before Thanksgiving. Writing this together completely creatively revitalized me at a time I was feeling burned out. It’s just so much fun, and I hope everyone else thinks so too.

announcement

So, to recap writing-wise: I wrote two Lois short stories, Lois Lane: Double Down (92,000 words) and Girl in the Shadows (105,000 words) and co-revised Welcome to Hotel Monster (about 77,000 words) this year. While still also going to my day job of some seventeen years, which I have really hesitated to leave, though I’ve considered whether it was time for the past couple of years. I enjoy it. It makes a difference in the world. I have gotten to work with some amazing people. It was never dull.

But…it’s time. Some of you already know this, and I gave notice last week. Yes, I’m FINALLY taking the plunge and becoming a stay-at-home writer type. I’m SO excited to have more balance and to be able to focus more and really take advantage of the opportunities I’m lucky enough to have right now. My last day in the office will be next Wednesday. I’ll be snagging some insurance on kynect and working from home. I have a lot of projects I’m excited for, including a comics thing that I can’t wait to tell y’all about, and I’m playing around with a new novel idea or two. There’s a lot of travel coming up in 2016, plus two book releases plus the one I can’t divulge yet. Plus another middle grade to write! I’m also working on getting updated, redesigned editions of Blackwood and The Woken Gods out in e-book during the first couple of months this year.

I think, however, even with so much going on, that I’d still have been too scared to make the leap if it wasn’t for another opportunity that popped up at just the right time. I’m going to be working for Subterranean Press as their social media consultant starting in January. Oh, what fun we will have together on the twitters and the Facebook! Bill and Yanni are two of the most wonderful people in publishing, and I’m a long-time fan of theirs and the work they do. I’m THRILLED to get to be a part of it. Subterranean_press_logo

This also means I’ll be at ConFusion in Michigan at the end of January. And allll of this means that 2016 is going to be my year of embracing risks and twirling around in the air and who knows what it will bring, what life will look like by this time next year, and exactly what I’ll have written by then? Not me.

That’s the most exciting part. This is going to be fun.

(Also: buy my books. For everyone you know.)

My Year in Review 2015 + News for 2016 Read More »

She Lives + Cincy Event This Weekend!

Lois Lane, Nattering, Real Life / By /

My usual oops for disappearing. This time it was to finish up my draft of Girl in the Shadows, which — hooray! — I did and turned in yesterday. On to the next deadlines! The rest of the year is all revising and proposals and such, I believe: my favorite.

LoisLanefinalcoverBut first! I’ll be at Books by the Banks in Cincinnati tomorrow. If you’re in the area, don’t miss out. It’s a great time, a truly excellent festival, with so many fantastic writers under one roof signing books and meeting readers and doing fun panels and events. I’ll be part of the Teen Scene VIP Meet and Greet at 11 a.m., and otherwise around at my table where I’ll happily sign your books and present you with Lois Lane swag. Come say hi. An excellent place to pick up early holiday gifts as well.

I know I have not yet awarded the TWO advance copies of Double Down that were part of my bonus contest, but I promise I will do so as soon as I’m back home on Sunday. I do ye olde fashioned paper slips for entries and draw, a process which I will document. Thanks for entering. I suppose we need to start cooking up a good preorder campaign for next spring too. *twirls fingers*

What have I been up to when I haven’t been feverishly writing? Working on secret projects and possible projects and other writing-related stuff, of course. But for the first time in a long time — a long long long loooong time — I decided to try something for fun and give myself permission not to be good at it. Which is to say I started going to the fabulous Bella Forza studio here in town, taking intro to aerial silks.

Yesterday was my first aerial yoga class, and I’m having so much fun. Even though I’m bad at these things! I like the people there (both the instructors and the other people in the classes) a metric ton. I was talking to someone who started with the same idea yesterday, of just trying with no expectation of rocking it, and she was talking about how she can now hold herself up on the silks for a few seconds and that’s soooo much better than when she started. And we agreed there is a real pleasure in having your goal be to get stronger and have fun, and to know that you will still be completely mediocre. So, silks and related activities, I’m becoming a big fan. Also very proud of the impressive bruise I managed to give myself last week. What an athlete I must be! Ahem, wink.

Among the other good things of yesterday was this incredible, adorable fan art of Lois and Clark in Fallout. These illustrations are just perfection. So definitely go ogle and heart them. I do. Thank you so much to the wonderfully talented Amelia. You made my day.

Back soon with contest winners and other natterings.

She Lives + Cincy Event This Weekend! Read More »

What a Weekend, What a Year

Adventures, Nattering, Real Life / By /

What a weekend! From the crowded cosplay halls of Dragon*Con to the airy (and occasionally broiling) square at Decatur Book Festival and back again (and again). I talked comics and fantasy and Lois Lane and YA humor and circus things on panels and afterward, signed a lot of books and met so many wonderful readers, and, as always, saw too many friends and met too many new people to name them all. 

There’s a nice Daily Dragon recap by Brynna Owens of the Creating a Safe Space for Female Readers panel that featured Laurenn McCubbin and myself on Friday.

And I think people enjoyed the sneak peek (er, listen) to part of Double Down — again, I thank you guys who braved the Dragon Con parade insanity to get to the Hyatt basement.

The humor panel at Decatur was fun, as a humor panel should be.

We decided to go full dance party at the DBF party, and Terra made it happen.

And Truth or Dare at the hands of Kimberly Jones and Vania Stoyanova with Libba Bray, Terra Elan McVoy, Becky Goldstein Albertalli, David Arnold, Adam Silvera and Andrew Smith is already legend. Its songs and videos and dramatic readings are being immortalized all over Facebook and Twitter Valhalla, as they should be.


So many thanks to the wonderful DBF organizers and volunteers and Little Shop of Stories for being awesome, and to Bev Kodak and her YA lit track team at Dragon Con for the same (plus, the lovely comics track organizers!). Book people are the best people, and I’m so glad I get to live this bookish life with all of you.

The night we arrived in Atlanta, Christopher and I went up to the rotating restaurant on top of our hotel for dinner to celebrate our anniversary. And I remembered visiting it with Diana Gill almost exactly a year ago for a drink, and talking to her about how I thought I was making the right career choices, but how can you ever know? This was a few days before Girl on a Wire came out (the restaurant has a view of the building that’s the scene of Jules’ last building walk in the book) and a few days after Lois Lane: Fallout had been announced. Sitting up there, remembering that, and reflecting on the last twelve months… What a year this has been. And so Christopher and I had a toast and set goals for this coming one.

IMG_1331

I’m going to go out on a limb and say I think it’ll be good too.

What a Weekend, What a Year Read More »

Newsy + Upcoming Events

Lois Lane, Real Life / By /

double down coverThis is a semi-long post, but only because it needed to be. Forewarned!

Double Down 

So, of course, you guys already had the preliminary skinny on Double Down. But this week brought a little more excitement — including the official official announcement (publicity contact info for media can be found at that link), which got some very nice coverage. A sampling:

And more. I’m linking to these because, well, wow, this is PRETTY FREAKING COOL, NGL, I want people to be excited about the book! I am! But I also want to give some kudos to my fabulous, super-hard-working publicist on the Lois Lane series: April Roberts. April, you rock. (You can and should follow her on twitter at that handle, but the @switchpresspub handle is the best for book stuff — also a good place to follow for things in the next section of this post.)

Also, brand new interview with the Superman Super Site. Check it out.

More Excitement

Anyway! Yay! Other excitements of this week included the mail bringing some swag and some ARCs (*falls over, breathes into bag*). You might be able to score any of these things at some point online, through my newsletter (sign up at the top of the page), or — especially easy — if you’re at any of my upcoming events.

(The bookmarks are very cool and I am obsessed with the stickers.) And ARCs, so early! Ack! 

(They are so soft and nice! Yes, I am a nerd.)

Upcoming Events: Next week!Dragoncon

A reminder of my DragonCon schedule:

  • A Safe Space For Female Readers
    Description: A discussion about embracing and expanding female readership in Comics.
    Time: Friday 1 p.m. Location: Hanover F – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
    Panelists: Gwenda M Bond, Laurenn McCubbin
  • Gateway to Comics
    Time: Friday 2:30 p.m. Location:  (Hanover F)
    Panelists: Gwenda Bond, Chandra Free, Josh R. Trujillo
  • YA Urban and Contemporary Fantasy
    Description: Fantasy isn’t just dragons and knights – come see how contemporary characters and places feature in young adult fantasy!
    Time: Friday 4 p.m. Location: A707 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
    Panelists: Delilah S. Dawson, Gwenda M Bond, Zac Brewer, Christi J. Whitney, Cinda Williams Chima, A. J. Hartley
  • Reading: Gwenda Bond
    Time: Saturday 11:30 a.m. Location: Marietta – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

The reading will be fun! I’ll probably read for less than 10 minutes from Double Down, do a short reading with Christopher Rowe from something still secrety and then take questions, sign things, and give away books. In fact, I will give away at least one of these gorgeous Double Down ARCs, so you should definitely come. And to the other things!

I’ll be around some at DragonCon at other times too (we’re staying over there the whole weekend), and I love meeting readers and Lois Lane fans so do not hesitate to introduce yourself. Come get things! I will also have some What Would Lois Lane Do? bracelets with me, in addition to the bookmarks and stickers, and I’ll be donating a copy of Fallout and an ARC of Double Down to the charity auction too.

decatur-book-festival_1I’m also going to be doing events Saturday and Sunday at Decatur Book Festival (can’t wait). My Decatur Book Festival schedule:

  • Keeping Your Sense of Humor in YA: When the going gets tough, what’s a girl to do? YA authors Gwenda Bond and Hollis Gillespie share feisty female protagonists who are always capable of keeping their wits and sense of humor about them.
    Time: Saturday 4 p.m.
    Location: Teen Stage
    Panelists: Gwenda Bond and Hollis Gillespie, moderated by Justin Colussy-Estes

Signing after, with books available for purchase, and swag for the taking. And:

  • YA Truth or Dare: Popular YA authors are pitted against one another in a lively game of Truth or Dare!
    Time: Sunday 4 p.m.
    Location: Teen Stage
    Panelists: Becky Albertalli, David Arnold, Gwenda Bond, Libba Bray, Terra Elan McVoy, and Andrew Smith, introduced by Kimberly Jones

Miscellany

And last but not least a smattering of random things…

You made it through the entire post. *tosses confetti*

Newsy + Upcoming Events Read More »

Upcoming Events – Highlands Festival

Adventures, Girl on a Wire, Real Life / By /

VHF-2014ThemeI've been experiencing a minor swarm of deadlines since we got back from Lisbon (oh, what a gorgeous city–it was fabulous), and so scarce around these parts. But I did want to drop a post to say if you're in or around the Abingdon, Virginia, area, well, I will be too Sunday through Tuesday, Aug. 3-5, for the Virginia Highlands Festival's Creative Writing Days. You should come out to some events and say hi.

I've never been to the festival before, and I can't wait. Whee!

Here's where you can catch me there:

  • Sunday, 3-4:30 p.m. – "Words and Music: Classical Music Sunday": Readings by three of the Writers’ Day participants: poet Rita Quillen and fantasy writers Charles Vess and Gwenda Bond will alternate with classical music performed by Keith Hungate, violinist, and James Spraker, pianist. (Books will be available and so will we to sign afterward.)
  • Monday, 8 a.m.-5 pm. – Writers' Day (follow the link to see the full schedule of fab stuff, get locale info, and register):

    – 1:15-2:45 p.m. workshop with me, "How Do We Change the World?" Capturing reality can seem challenging enough, so let’s discuss some ways to approach work that departs from it. Whether you’re a beginning writer or just looking to try out something new, we’ll talk about how to get started writing fiction and fantasy stories. (This will be fun: promise.)

    – 3 p.m. Gwenda Bond and Charles Vess, combined workshop: Our combined workshop will be a continuation of what Charles is exploring in his previous session, “What Does That Word Look Like Anyway?” Only this time, the audience will experience Gwenda reading from one of her stories as Charles draws what he sees there.  Before and after we can discuss the effect that a vivid descriptive passage can have on the reader, and how just a few well-chosen words can pull the reader into a writer’s world and keep them wanting more. (Ed. note: How excited am I about this particular session? Charles is basically my hero, and so that's how excited.)

  • Tuesday, 11 a.m.-noon – Creative Writing Youth/Teen Workshop with me, at the Washington County, Va., public library: As always, the public library wants to get readers excited about books and provide an opportunity to encourage young writers. This program is for middle and high school students, but all ages are welcome. Refreshments will be provided. (Refreshments, y'all. Just saying.)

And, yes, I'll definitely be giving a preview of Girl on a Wire (aka the circus book) in my readings. So…y'all come! If not for me, then for Charles Vess. Because HE IS AMAZING, as we all know.

More soon — including, oh *whistles innocently* about Secret Project. SOON.

Upcoming Events – Highlands Festival Read More »

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