Appearances Update: MULTIVERSE!

(I'm a teensy bit excited...) Come see me in Atlanta!!

Upcoming Appearances, 2023

At 742 North, Rock Hill, Fall 2022

So I sat down the other day and looked at my travel calendar for this year. Whew! There is a lot coming up, and I can't wait to get started.

(I have submitted applications to DragonCon and will submit to Multiverse, both in Atlanta, and if I'm successful this time, y'all will be the first to hear about it!)

First is the Atlanta Steampunk Expo, where I will be signing copies of Strid (and my other books, too), February 10-12 at the Atlanta Marriott Northeast/Emory Area. My table will be in the Decatur Exchange - come see me!

After that, I will be running up the road to hang out with one of my favorite groups of authors at 742 North's Springtime Blooms event from 10-6 on March 4th. I will have all of my books there and would love to see you if you happen to be in the Rock Hill, SC, area. 

April and May are the Georgia Renaissance Festival, and I'm hoping to get together a signing event one weekend there now that I don't really have a dog that can work with the Hounds. I'm sure that I will be traveling down there with my vaudeville partner, Anne, even if I am without hound...you can take the girl out of the rennies, but you can't take the Rennie out of the...no, that sounded better in my head. Never mind. Moving on.

April is also Camp Nanowrimo, and while that isn't an appearance, it's something that I love dearly. The second round will be in July, so if you don't hear from me during those two months, I'm likely writing.

The second book in the World of Arcstone series, Storm, is set to launch on the 15th of May, just in time to take it to the next event on the list (if I get space in Author's Alley).

The first weekend in June is ConCarolinas at the Hilton Charlotte University Place. I really consider this my home faire, and I've been an author guest there since 2020. I will definitely be an author guest and on panels, and I'm hoping for space in the juried Author's Alley to sell/sign copies of my books. The Kaylee cosplay will be returning, and I'm thinking maybe something Stargate or Star Trek related? We'll see.

July sees me heading up the road to Winston-Salem, NC, for Congregate 9. I had to bow out of Congregate 8 last year, and I'm feeling so lucky and thankful that they are having me back this year. I will be in Author Alley there at the Downtown Marriott.

August will be Back to the DayJob™️ for the most part. September 8-9, I will be setting up at the Upstate Renaissance Faire in Greer, SC, and hoping that we do NOT have weather like last year. I'm excited to decorate my tent and figure out which piece of my Rennie garb will work best for sitting in a chair and signing books. That faire is fantastic, complete with a dragon. Come visit if you're nearby!

September is also my professional development month - and I will return to the Broadleaf Writer's Association annual conference in Decatur, GA. This event always recharges my batteries and prepares me to tackle my next WIP.

November is a busy month, as I'm tentatively planning the launch of the next book in the Guardians of Orana series, Hero. It will also bring another chance to participate in the Time Traveling Authors event at the Carolina Renaissance Festival. More on that event later in the year, and next year I've already been invited to the Dahlonega Literary Festival, which I believe is in March of 2024.

I hope to see you at one or more of these events, so I can ask, "what kind of books do you like to read?" 

Upcoming Event: ConCarolinas 2022

In Author's Alley, ConCarolinas '21

So, this weekend is ConCarolinas in Charlotte, and while I'm a bit disappointed to not be invited to be in Author's Alley, I'm hoping for a timeslot at the Featured Author table and I will be speaking (or dying of impostor syndrome, one or the other) on four panels throughout the con weekend and one of them is about Star Trek. 

Y'all, I'm trying not to lose my EVER LOVING MIND because... Star Trek. I think we can all agree that one will be a full on struggle between what I know (having watched ST all my life) and impostor syndrome. It should at least be entertaining, right?

I will also have copies of Red with me for either the Featured Author table or to sell out of my hotel room (I'm just kidding.) (Maybe.), so come find me and grab a signed copy. I'm not bringing all of my stock this time since I'm not going to be set up for the weekend, so it will probably just be Red and Strid.

Come see me! Have Geeky Fun! Do all the things! And if you see an aging Kaylee from Firefly cosplayer hiding in doorways, just point me in the direction of the lifts and mind ya bidness. Shiny.

Music Monday: T minus 7 days and counting...

...until I'm officially on my summer break from the DayJob™. 

One Camp Nano is in the books and there is another coming up in a month and a half. There is one more appearance for us at the Georgia Renaissance Festival for Bryn's Rennie Retirement Weekend (more on that over on Our Daily Bryn). ConCarolinas is the first of June and ConGregate is in July. I'm feeling like I'm going to be gone a lot this summer, but it is mostly doing book stuff so that's always good. I was reminded of this song by a blog post and it figured in prominently in my recent nano, so I thought I'd share. Enjoy.

Gone, Gone, Gone

by Phil Philips

When life leaves you high and dry

I'll be at your door tonight

If you need help, if you need help

I'll shut down the city lights

I'll lie, cheat, I'll beg, and bribe

To make you well, to make you well

When enemies are at your door

I'll carry you away from war

If you need help, if you need help

Your hope dangling by a string

I'll share in your suffering

To make you well, to make you well

Give me reasons to believe

That you would do the same for me

And I would do it for you, for you

Baby, I'm not moving on

I'll love you long after you're gone

For you, for you

You will never sleep alone

I'll love you long after you're gone

And long after you're gone, gone, gone

When you fall like a statue

I'm gon' be there to catch you

Put you on your feet, you on your feet

And if your well is empty

Not a thing will prevent me

Tell me what you need

What do you need?

I surrender honestly

You've always done the same for me

So, I would do it for you, for you

Baby, I'm not movin' on

I'll love you long after you're gone

For you, for you

You will never sleep alone

I'll love you long after you're gone

And long after you're gone, gone, gone

You're my backbone

You're my cornerstone

You're my crutch when my legs stop moving

You're my headstart

You're my rugged heart

You're the pulse that I've always needed

Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating

Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating

Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating

Like a drum, my heart never stops beating

For you, for you

Baby, I'm not moving on

I'll love you long after you're gone

For you, for you

You will never sleep alone

I'll love you long after you're gone

For you, for you

Baby, I'm not movin' on

I'll love you long after you're gone

For you, for you

You will never sleep alone

I'll love you long, long after you're gone

Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating

Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating

Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating

Like a drum, my heart never stops beating for you

And long after you're gone, gone, gone

I'll love you long after you're gone, gone, gone

Music Monday: Maps...to the Future

I'm still in recovery mode from ConCarolinas this past weekend. What a great experience! What that means is that my Music Monday post is late...and this song is very appropriate to how I'm feeling after that experience. "This is the way back home..." This weekend was the way back home to who I am when I'm not stressed out, when I'm a writer, when I can chat with someone in my second language...it was good for my soul, and while I had my doubts I really proud of myself for going. 

I was on a panel about the songs we use in our writing, and this one also speaks to me about my Orana Chronicles characters and their journeys...especially one very special Clawsharp. No spoilers, though...at least not yet.

So please enjoy Ireland's Eurovision entry for 2021 (did you really think I'd be over that so soon? Please, ask my roommates from this weekend how many times I mentioned watching the Fire Saga movie or just a rerun of Eurovision!), Maps by Lesley Roy.

Maps

by Lesley Roy

I'm gonna let down all the armor

Let out the power that I've been hiding

Not afraid of the monsters, of the nightmares

That I've been fighting

Easy to run, harder to stay

Finding colours in the grey

Thought I was done, but I got it wrong

I fell twice, I'm twice as strong

I've been searching all the wrong places

I've been trying too many faces

Only one way to go

This is the way back home

I've been searching all the wrong places

I've been trying too many faces

Only one way to go

This is the way back home

I had to take all of the long ways

All of the wrong ways

'Cause I couldn't see

All the signs, all the mistakes

Pointing one way to get back to me

Easy to run, harder to stay

Finding colours in the grey

Thought I was done, but I got it wrong

I fell twice, I'm twice as strong

I've been searching all the wrong places

I've been trying too many faces

Only one way to go

This is the way back home

I've been searching all the wrong places

I've been trying too many faces

Only one way to go

This is the way back home

My soul is a map, my heart is a compass

I am the road

There's only one way to go

This is the way back home

My soul is a map, my heart is a compass

I am the road

There's only one way to go

This is the way back home

I've been searching all the wrong places

I've been trying too many faces

Only one way to go

This is the way back home

I've been searching all the wrong places

I've been trying too many faces (I've been trying)

Only one way to go

This is the way back home

Notes from Exile: Her-storically Speaking: Meet the Women of War!

So, at one point during Week Nine, I did a thing...please enjoy me bringing the awkward with a panel of fabulous female authors! (Premiered on the ConCarolinas channel, powered by ConTinual.)