Music Monday: We're all a little unsteady...

I am almost positive that I've posted this one before, but it is speaking to me, my situation, and even my characters right now. You can't really ignore those kinds of convergences, now can you? So on this last day of Camp NanoWriMo for this year I think that if we are all a little unsteady we can support each other...right? (Lyrics are in the video.)

Music Monday: Twin Flames

I'm very into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, so when I saw that this actress was also a singer I was HOOKED. But the concept of the song is very familiar too...Sath and Gin, Hack and Elys, Maggie and Henri, Lex and Em...even Taeben and Gin. As much as I say I'm NOT a romance writer, it always ends up there in the end, somehow. Enjoy.

Twin Flamesby Christina Chong
We we were told we met before thisThen I knew it from the first kissAnd all that I felt when you touched me againFeeling you through me don't want this to endLost all focusLeft me soullessBlinded by the lightTwin flamesTwo heartsCan burn outIn any second andTwin flamesTwo heartsCan implodeLive in the embers andOh oh, oh oh, oh ohTwin flamesTwo heartsOn fireWe're burning togetherNo holds barred now I'm addictedI left my mark on you with my lipstickThe fear of me losing you not in my bedI wake in the night all alone in my headLost all focusLeft me breathlessBlinded by the lightTwin flamesTwo heartsCan burn outIn any second andTwin flamesTwo heartsCan implodeLive in the embers andOh oh, oh oh, oh ohTwin flamesTwo heartsOn fireWe're burning togetherWe burn, we're burning togetherWe burn, we burn, we're burning togetherWe burn, we burn, we're burning togetherWe burn, we burn, we're burning togetherWe burn, we burn, we're burning togetherWe burn, we burn, we're burning togetherTwin FlamesTwo heartsOn fireWe're burning together

Music Monday: This Weekend, I Cosplayed my Hero

This past weekend was my first trip to ConGregate, and it will not be my last. What a great group of people, good panel discussions, and just an all around good time. Many, many thanks to the Con staff for that weekend away from the chaos that is my life right now. They have a tradition that everyone wears Hawaiian shirts on Friday, both in memory of a specific member of their con family but also for those lost in Sci-Fi/Fantasy fandoms over the past year. So quite accidentally I ended up cosplaying one of my personal heroes, my friend and adopted sibling, Robby Richardson. 

All I needed was a turkey on my head and some Elvis glasses, right? For Music Monday, please enjoy this Jimmy Buffett tune that always makes me think of good times and friends from the "Baby Rich" era of my life. I miss you, Baloo. Thanks for the inspiration.

Music Monday: Dance, Monkey

So...It's going to be a long few months, and right now I have run out of bandwidth to explain further. This song is representative of one of my new video obsessions - West Coast Swing. This keeps me sane, at least for now. Camp Nano continues, ConGregate 9 is coming up this weekend, and I am holding on with all I've got. Enjoy.

Music Monday: Tattooed Camp Nano?

I know it's July. I understand that Camp Nano started two days ago. I am aware that I'm editing this month and I'm already behind. But I'm still living in May, for a variety of reasons--one of which is Eurovision. When there's a lot of awful in your everyday, Eurovision is a blast of happy, over-saturated, European musical goodness. This was the winner this year, Loreen from Sweden, and she won the year that hubs and I watched the finals on my tiny tablet screen in a HOT hotel in Maisons-Laffitte just outside of Paris on our belated honeymoon. (That sentence was almost as long as the days felt in that hotel that did not believe summer had started and wouldn't turn on the AC.)

So you enjoy Loreen in the comfort of your air conditioned whereveryouare, and I will go back to my virtual tent at Camp to get back to writing...at least until the bell rings for teatime and then singing on the virtual porch, that is. 

Music Monday: I ran...

This has always been one of my favorite songs,  and I can't beat an epic remake when I'm staring down another Camp Nanowrimo month. Enjoy. Watch this space for more Nano tidbits and other bits...once I can slow down enough to blog about them! 

June Newsletter! Better One, or Better Two...?

Hey, y'all. Listen, I have a question for you. Have you been to the eye doctor recently/ever? You know how you have to tell the doctor which lens helps you see best, with the tried and true, "better one...or better two?"

Well, today you get to do that for me. I need some feedback. I'm looking at changing the font on the front of Red to make it more interesting and less...well, drippy. The font that I thought looked like FIRE actually looks more like MOLTEN LAVA and that isn't the vibe I'm going for here. So....

Better ONE or better TWO:

  

Let me know what you think. I can see pros and cons for both.

In the meantime, I will be starting on the edits for Hero in July for Camp NaNoWriMo, and working more on the failed Kindle Vella project, "The Outpost." More on that later.

I had a FANTASTIC weekend at Con Carolinas after an equally fantastic one at the Author Event at GARF. While you're thinking on which font is better, have a look through some photos from those two events.

Remember, my next event is Congregate in July...I hope to see you there!

  

This pose is becoming a tradition...Kaylee Frye at 50 Cosplay and Saucy Vala Cosplay

The ConCarolinas Corner Setup

GARF Day Two Cosplay: An Author, a la 1994

Your Intrepid Authors in the Wild

Look, y'all, it's my sister!

Life in a Southern...Canopy.

The Booth at GARF...the Hot and Sweaty Booth...

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Music Monday: Of High School Memories and Age Related Concerns

When I was in high school, a MILLION years ago, I was actively involved in my church's youth program. Kinda hard NOT to be, when one is the eldest daughter of the minister, right? Anyway, we were constantly raising money for one trip or another, and one of those fundraisers came in the form of a talent show (and maybe spaghetti dinner? I can't remember). My good friend and resident Duckie (IYKYK Pretty in Pink), Sean, and I did a rendition of "Just You Wait" from My Fair Lady, and then Sean, another friend, and our MYF (again, IYKYK) leader (who is now in the Virginia State Legislature) did a skit that involved the SC state dance, the Shag. Shag is in the Swing family, I think. 
So, I heard this song on telly recently and had to add it to my summer playlist. I've forgotten the steps in the TEN MINUTES AND I WILL NOT BE TAKING QUESTIONS since that talent show, but I still remember it fondly when this song comes on. Enjoy (lyrics are in captions).
PS - because my brain is about half British at this point, you can imagine how CAREFUL I had to be to write a blog post about this dance style. Giggles abundant. 

Appearances Update: MULTIVERSE!

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

Music Monday: It's coming...Nano is coming...

I may have posted this one already, but if I did it deserves a repeat. When I was a kid taking piano lessons, this song was OF COURSE in my repertoire as it was for every kid. But this version...it speaks to me of a storm brewing, a conflict coming, a reunion just on the verge of happening. It makes me want to write, and that is my favorite kind of music...especially on the cusp of another Nano month in July. Enjoy. 

(No lyrics this week because this is just instrumental.)

Music Monday: Don't Dream, Con is Over

This weekend was amazing! I spent my time with a table and some authors at ConCarolinas in Charlotte, NC and got to see faces I only see now and again and hug a lot of necks (more on that later). It is never long enough, and I'm reflecting on why this morning with the help of a little Crowded House (I mean, 80s music...GenX, y'all). Enjoy...I'm going to need more coffee.

(lyrics are in the CC)

Music Monday: Memorials to Better Days

It's Memorial Day here in the US, and my mind is drawn to the service people in my life that aren't with us any longer, even though none of them died during active combat. I am thankful to them for their dedication to the safety and security of others and for their willingness to serve.

I may have shared this song before. To me, this is one of the best things to come out of the pandanini of the last three and a half years, and I think it speaks to anyone in a tough spot that needs a little encouragement. I know that I can imagine many of my characters when I hear it: Gin and Sath in the time traps, Tairn, Elys, and Hack in Eh'soi's dungeon. Em and Lex just...being Em and Lex.

We will all find better days. (lyrics are in the video)

Music Monday: Of Booms, Shakes, and Funnel Fries

I am back from a glorious* weekend at the Georgia Renaissance Festival! This was a new experience for me...for the first time, I joined other amazing authors to sign/sell books at GARF instead of following a large dog around all day. 

I was looking for something that could convey the music that we were treated to at our tables on Saturday and Sunday, but how do you combine majestic trumpets, thundering drums, Italian pipes, and violins? Well, you don't...at least I don't. So I thought that I would instead treat you to this gem I heard on the television as it was on in the background of a mad editing session. (Thank goodness for Shazam!)

This song IS the 20 years I've been affiliated with the Georgia Renaissance Festival. It is me sitting in the car on day one, afraid to go in with my greyhounds. It is me putting on my Wild Hunt cosplay and searching for oathbreakers with the rest of the Hounds. It is the quiet just before FIRE IN THE HOLE and after, in the parking lot, when the car door is closed and the A/C is blasting. 

Enjoy. The lyrics are in the captions.

*by glorious, I of course mean exhausting, hot, muggy, and in a few cases painful...and 100% worth it.

It's here!!! Launch Day!!!

I'm so pleased to announce that Storm has joined Rift in the World of Arcstone series. From the back cover:

YOU'RE ONLY AS REAL AS YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE.

Welcome to Arcstone. Game loading, please wait...
Madelyne Laurent is Em, an elven warrior in the massively multiplayer online game, Arcstone. She’s made it safely back to the real world, but what does that even mean now that her father decided to stay in the game world? And who is Alex, really - is he Lex or someone altogether different and more sinister? In this Nanowrimo 2021-winning novel, Nancy E. Dunne takes us back through the monitor to the world of Arcstone, a world on the brink of a catastrophic storm. Em’s objective is clear until she again looks up into the Tyreanan Sky and treads the boards of the docks by that massive typhoon. Old longings resurface and this time it is up to more than just Em to figure out what is real...and more importantly, who?

Grab your eBook or paperback copy today, or meet me at an upcoming event to get a signed copy. I'd love to hear what you think!

Music Monday: Right Outta Nowhere

Once upon a time, I was an interpreter who moved to a new state and, while dreaming of being a writer, hadn't gone in that direction. Yet.
Once upon a time, I was a fledgling writer who had published some fairly entertaining stories about my dogs but hadn't yet tried to write in the genre where my heart lives and thrives. Yet.
Once upon a time, I was a newlywed--again--who was moving to a new country and was utterly terrified and excited in equal measure. Okay, that part isn't really true, I was just terrified. But I remembered this song by an artist introduced to me back in those first days as an interpreter here in SC. 
This weekend I'm going to a brand new event, and while I'm not MOVING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY terrified, I'm pretty apprehensive. But this time, I revisited this song that my friend Katy introduced me to and found...hope. I found freedom. I hope you will too.
Leap...and the net will appear.

Right Outta Nowhereby Christine Kane
Midwest morning October snowfallShe packed her ChevorletAnd brushed her fear awayShe got a great big dreamAnd a history of playin' smallAnd everybody seems to thinkShe'll be back by Christmas dayWell, She hit that highwayWith every bit of faith she could summonWhen courage finally comes you never see it comin'
Right out of nowhereOpen your heart, that changes everythingYou're goin' somewhereAnd all you need to knowIs that you're free to go
Summer night the soft smell of seashoreAnd all the deadheads dancing out on the beachHe's got a 10-year tanAnd his own little junk store he saysSome people got a lot to prove and that's the way I used to beI'm just an old hippy with a half dozen PhDsSome choices hold you downSome chances set you free
Right out of nowhereOpen your heart, that changes everythingYou're goin' somewhere.And all you need to know...Is that you're free to go
And you dreamAnd the way will be clearAnd you prayAnd the angels will hearLead and the net will appear
Right out of nowhereBelieve in everythingYou're going somewhere And all you need to know Is that you're free Right outta nowhere You open your heart And have faith in everything You're going somewhere And all you need to know Is that you're free to go