So, You Want to Get an Agent

Well, I'd also like to fly to Mars. Both events have approximately the same likelihood of happening.

However, if you are determined to track down and capture the elusive agent, Query Tracker is the best place on the net to get the most up-to-date information on agents, plus super search functions to find just the right agent.

Check it out at QueryTracker.net

There is a companion forum filled with writers sharing information, helping each other write the very best query letter possible, and provide support for your sagging ego when you receive rejections like machine gun bullets.

Patrick, the site developer, is a very nice person, too.

Seven Adventures of Cadida

Read The Toasted Scimitar interview where I blather on about my writing and talk a bit about Cadida!

Seven Adventures is now available from The Genre Mall.
150 pages
18 interior black and white illustrations.
$10.60 + $3.00 handling.

Cadida's in trouble again. But then, when is Cadida not in trouble?

First, she gets captured by raiders and thrown into a cave to be sacrificed to a demon, which turns out to be a djinn named Bascoda, a rather clumsy genie who adopts Cadida as his mistress. Cadida manages to escape despite Bascoda's "help," but later returns to the cave to see if anyone else had been captured. She finds instead of a prisoner a rather lonely and pathetic demon who needs a new home. Then Baakir, a fire-breathing, talking, flying horse tells Cadida that his beloved Barika has been captured by pirates. Baakir is only somewhat helpful because he is not yet fully in control of his magic. Oops.

Oh, yes, there's much more . . . but you'll just have to turn the pages and find out what kind of trouble this bored little rich young lady can get into.

2008 Retrospective

This was an excellent year for writing production. Not so great for acceptances. Thing is, I changed my focus from short stories to books. Much slower to sell (or next to impossible).

I only have one published short story (well, almost published). It will be on the Stories for Children website in January. Titled "Lemons."

I did hear from J that Wondrous Web Worlds 8 is being put together. My story, "Final Exam," will be included in the anthology. Originally published in The Fifth Di... I took this story and another with the same main character and expanded it into a book titled "First Duty" which was published by Sam's Dot Publishing in June. It's available at The Genre Mall.

Also from Sam's Dot, my Aladdinesque tales of a girl and her genie is just about to hit the streets. Titled "The Seven Adventures of Cadida," it will be available soon from The Genre Mall. Link coming soon. The first two stories are available as chapbooks at The Genre Mall.

Otherwise, I sent a ton of queries to agents for the first two books in a series I'm writing. The series is titled "The Witches of Galdorheim." Book 1: Bad Spelling and Book 2: Midnight Oil. I have a couple of fulls out to agents and crossing fingers to get some positive responses.

And, I'm shopping another YA fantasy titled "Quest for the Simurgh" to publishers. Slow going to get responses from publishers. All I can do is twiddle thumbs and wait.

The upshot? Lots of words written, reviewed, and edited. Very few submissions accepted. Maybe I should go back to short stories. I sold a lot of those.

Chrihanakudwanzsaturneid

Tis the season, as they say. Season for what?

Christmas: A conversion of the mid-winter Saturnalia Festival. St. Patrick was big on keeping the frolicking holidays, but bending them to his own purpose. Historical records seem to place the actual birth of Jesus in March or April.

Hanakkuh: Festival of Lights for those of the Judaic persuasion. Probably irritated by the Christians trying to usurp this general time period. The Jews should really try to keep their holiday separate from Christmas, so as to not besmirch their own observance. Anyone want a hanakkuh bush?

Kwanzaa: Created in 1966, Kwanzaa was made up by a California guy to highlight African-American culture. Cool thought, but I'd just as soon we'd say: "What? Obama is black? Wow, I didn't know that." Keeping separate ensures separateness.

Saturnalia: The Romans liked mid-winter to celebrate something, so Saturn got the festival. This one was usurped for the Christmas myth. Don't get all twisted. Christmas is not a celebration for Jesus. It's a way to get the Pagans to sign up.

Eid ul-Adha: This is the Moslem day of celebration of Abraham not killing his son. Well, he would have killed his son, but God said intent was okay. This Moslem day is celebrated anywhere from late October to January. I think it's December 8th in 2008, so we missed it.

So, whatever you celebrate around this time of year, enjoy, be happy, don't drink too much.

Review: Glory Rose and the Gloaming

Glory Rose and the Gloaming
by S.M. Brandsma
275 pages
Available at Amazon

This is a very enjoyable first installment in a series about the adventures of a half-fairy girl, Glory Rose.

Set in the magical time when the young Arthur is not yet King, Brandsma deftly weaves in myth and folklore in what she calls the Ensorcelled Realm. Some of the standard mythological characters live up to their advertising: trolls and stupid and ugly, and fairies are as you would expect them to be. Brandsma takes off from the old tales to make giants and dragons good guys, which pleases me no end. So, don’t expect the same old tired magical creatures. Brandsma wisely varied from the trite retelling.

The villain, a creature of hell, is not a myth I recognize. I love when I find something in a myth-based fantasy, taken from well off the beaten path. Bassarab (or Basarab) turns out to be the family name of a certain Vlad Draculea. I’m a fan of Vlad and I missed this dynasty name in my own research. Kudos to Brandsma for mixing things up a little more.

As for writing, Glory Rose is an easy read for its young adult target audience. I believe that kids as young as ten will love the stories, the many great personalities, and the action revolving around Glory’s role as the Chosen One.

Brandsma is also an adept artist and the clever line drawings at the beginning of each chapter are a delight.

I’m looking forward to "Glory Rose and the Book of Shadows." The first chapter of the second book in the series is excerpted at the end of "Glory Rose and the Gloaming."

One last thought. Gloaming is not a familiar word and, while it is explained in the book, it doesn’t give any immediate wow factor when searching for something to read. Fortunately, Brandsma’s cover art dragon takes care of that.

Authonomy

HarperCollins started a website for authors and wannabe authors to review books and upload parts of their own books for review.

http://www.authonomy.com/

Join for free and read and review published and unpublished works. There's an off-chance that your unpublished work might even be reviewed by a HarperCollins editor. How's that for an enticement?

I uploaded a few of the stories from "Tales of a Texas Boy" (available at Amazon). Drop by to read a bit and vote for me.

http://www.authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=4202

19,369

This has been a great sales month on Amazon for the Large Print edition of "Tales of a Texas Boy." I follow rankings on Amazon using TitleZ. It's an addictive tracking site. If you've got a book for sale on Amazon, you know about rankings.

This month I got my best ever ranking: 19,369. That's damned good! Tales also keeps hitting the Best Sellers list under Large Print Fiction. One sterling moment (fame is fleeting, you know), two different LP editions of Tales were on the LP bestsellers list at the same time. Whoa! That was a cool moment.

Just had to brag a moment or two. It's not like I sell thousands of books (shoot, 10s of books would be nice), but November has been very good to me. I hope December keeps up the good sales. Helps keep my nose above the holiday blues line.

Don't forget to sign up for a freebie!

Even better: buy my books. I recommend the 7x10 LP edition for $9.95. Handy trim size and the print is REALLY BIG!

Christmas Book Giveaway

Just in time for Christmas! Add a comment to this post to signup for the drawing. If you already have my email, you can send your entry by email, too. I'll need to be able to contact you if you win. Drawing ends 12/1. I hope to have all the books available to mail out by December 10th. In your comment, specify which book you'd like:

The Seven Adventures of Cadida: Aladinnesque tales suitable for the 7-12 year-old bunch. Several interior b/w illustrations. Approximately 150 pages.

First Duty: My YA science fiction.

Tales of a Texas Boy: Still going strong after a 1-1/2 years in print. I've got an 8.x5x11" Large Print edition.

Mystery book: I formatted and printed up a private reserve book of a tween fantasy. Since I'm querying this one, it's a secret. Approximately 245 pages of rollicking good fun. Appropriate for the 9-14 year-old fantasy lover.

Check my website for cover art and information on the books.

Glory Rose and the Gloaming

I'm looking forward to reading this book and wrapping it up as a present for my granddaughters. The illos are unbelievable! S. M. Brandsma is a writer living in my town, Eugene, OR. I love to see success for all writers, but especially those who are neighbors.

I'll post a review after I get the book, but it may not be in time for you to snag your copy from Amazon.

S.M. Brandsma's website.

Buy the book through Amazon at Glory Rose and the Gloaming.

The Seven Adventures of Cadida

Coming soon from Sam's Dot Publishing!

The Seven Adventures of Cadida

A series of seven tales about a girl and her recalcitrant djinn. This is for young 'uns. My reports are that six-year-olds love to have it read to them and 'get it'. Kids 10 and up can read it on their own. Adults enjoy the over-the-head references that the kids don't understand.

Meet Cadida, a poor little rich girl, captured for ransom by the mountain raiders, only to be selected as "mistress" to Bascoda the Djinn. It follows their adventures together as the meet flying horses, dragons, pirates, evil genies, cave demons, and lots of other mythical and real characters. Set in the pre-Islamic middle-east, the tales call on some of the creatures known to the mythology, and some real folks in a different setting. Cadida learns to handle her life without expecting some handsome sheik to rescue her. She kicks butt and takes names. Fun for all ages. Eat your heart out, Disney. My gal is tougher than yours.

Check my website page to preview the cover art and to read loglines for all the stories.

http://marvadasef.com/cadida.aspx

New Story for Your Reading Pleasure

I've posted another short story on the ISSUU database site. I do love the look of the flash pages that appear to be real pages which you can flip through. This is my third story on ISSUU.

So, enjoy "Jonathan Swift Finds Nemo," an alternate history of just how Jules Verne got his idea for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Here's the flippy version, or go to the story page direct at: Jonathan Swift Finds Nemo.

Get your own - Open publication

See my other stories on ISSUU at:

Fish Story

If You Could See Her

A New Place in Town

The Deepening was an on-line magazine, but had to stop due to health problems. The owner, D. L. Keur is re-opening The Deepening as a venue for Independent and small publishers to feature their works.

Check it out at The Deepening.

I'll post links to the latest articles when possible.

See Jude Gove's "Artisan's of Time" series.

Check out Nan Hawthorne's "An Involuntary King."

Read more about Jack Dixon's book "The Pict."

First Duty Now in Kindle

My YA science fiction novella, First Duty, is now available on Amazon in Kindle format.

First Duty - Kindle Edition

Of course, if you don't happen to own a Kindle reader, you can buy the trade paperback of First Duty from The Genre Mall. The print edition was published by Sam's Dot Publishing - a great place to find all of your science fiction, fantasy, and horror reading.

If You Could See Her - on ISSUU Site

I'm posting stories which were already published here and there on the ISSUU site. Here's the mini-viewer. Yeah, you can't read it, but you can click on the link at the bottom to open it on a larger screen. I've also published a story titled "Fish Story" on ISSUU. Find it here.

Get your own - Open publication

Why Am I Even Thinking About This?

NANOWRIMO: Write 50K in one month. This is an enforced exercise on writing. Don't dwell, don't think, don't edit. Just write like a sumbitch to get to 50K words. I got 50K in 2006, but only 35K in 2007. I've got an outline going with lots of fun stuff. Enough for the magic 50K? No clue as yet. I think I'll do this just to get a jump start on the next segment of the adventures of Katya, the arctic witch. I'm querying the first two books as a single volume. It could be two short books or one long one. I'm going with the double-book just because I've not got good response on the first (which was last year's Nano). The agents are congenital idiots, of course. Just kidding, dear agents.

This series is funny, full of accurate real world info, full of funny stuff, full of great cultural references. What can I say? Agents look at a query and say "no" before they have a clue about the book. So, I will forge ahead. I will find a publisher for the wonderful world of Katya. The third part will get a head start during November.

Here's the basics so far:

Katya decides to go to Stonehenge for her winter abroad. Yeah, witches from the arctic island of Galdorheim take winter instead of summer. They can't get off the damned island unless they do. The teen witch heads for Stonehenge via Scotland and gets hung up in the Highlands with a variety of Scottish legendary characters. I'd say more, but I've not worked out all the details yet.

The first two books are "Bad Spelling" and "Midnight Oil." The series is titled "The Witches of Galdorheim."

Nebula Nominee Mary Turzillo Interview

Mary Turzillo's story, "Pride," was nominated for a Nebula. The Nebula awards are awarded yearly for Best of several categories, including novels, novellas, stories, screenplays, etc. It's a major award in the Science Fiction community.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Mary for the Nebula Interviews page of the SFF.

About the Award

The Nebula Awards ® are voted on, and presented by,active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Founded as the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1965 by Damon Knight, the organization began with a charter membership of 78 writers; it now has over 1,500 members, among them many of the leading writers of science fiction and fantasy. Click here for more.

See also:
There's a Dragon in My Soup - Part 1
There's a Dragon in My Soup - Part 2

In Memorium: Darren Patrick Perkins

My nephew, Darren (age 30) was killed on October 6th in a single-car accident. Today is the Celebration of Life. I made my own card for his parents and included this quote.

"Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I, and you are you: whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone: wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effort, without the ghost of a shadow on it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same that it ever was: there is absolutely unbroken continuity. What is this death but a gateway? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near just around the corner. All is well."
Henry Scott Holland

"First Duty" Review

Reviewed by Ed Cox for Beyond Centauri issue 22

Beyond Centauri is a magazine of fantasy, science fiction, and ewww-gross for younger readers [for readers of all ages], published quarterly on the 1st day of January, April, July, and October. Beyond Centauri publishes short stories, poems, illustrations, puzzles, articles, and movie reviews.

FIRST DUTY

by Marva Dasef

Dilemma is an important part of storytelling. There must be a problem for characters to first discover, then explore, and finally overcome. From historical fiction to tales of the far future, the dilemma, the quandary, the catch-22, is always present. With her science fiction novel First Duty, Marva Dasef weighs in with a dilemma that might just change the rule of the universe.

Nyra is a recent graduate of the Space Service. She is eager to prove her worth within an interstellar police force that is controlled by the mighty government-cum-corporation IncPlan. Nyra’s service begins in a baptism of fire when her first mission is to guard the transfer of the infamous criminal Caspar. Caspar is the head of a rebellion fighting against IncPlan, and he is just about the most wanted man in the universe. But when he escapes from custody, Nyra’s troubles begin, and not in the way she expects.

Dasef has researched her novel well, and the plot and landscape are developed and presented clearly. Earth’s population had spread to colonise a multitude of other planets. On occasion, human physiology has been adapted to survive in differing atmospheres, and this ensures the side characters who enter the story are interesting and often unique. Space Service’s primary function is to police the huge gulfs of space between the human colonies, and to ensure that IncPlan’s law is followed to the letter, without question. The universe is safe under IncPlan’s rule, but nothing is ever as it seems.

When Nyra next meets Caspar, it is as his hostage. She comes to learn that he is far from the savage criminal IncPlan has drawn him to be. Caspar is a gentleman, a man of morals, fighting what he claims is the good fight against the injustices of the hierarchy. Nyra is intrigued by Caspar, but not convinced by his reason, and she’s willing to play along for now. However, when certain facts arise concerning IncPlan, and her family, Nyra’s beliefs and loyalties are shaken up. But where does her first duty lie? To the pursuit of truth? Or to the laws of her masters which she has sworn to enforce?

Although First Duty has depth and detail, Dasef ensures that her first duty is to entertainment, as this kind of science fiction demands. The plot and characters have their dilemmas and intricacies, but this tale never forgets to have fun. Dasef has created a universe here, a future for an ever-changing human race that’s just begging to be filled with more stories.

The Winners Are (drum roll)

First place draw was for Lorrie Struiff. She chose a large print edition of "Tales of a Texas Boy."

Lorrie Unites-Struiff lives in West Mifflin, near Pittsburgh PA. She has published short stories in various genres, but her favorite is humor. Lorrie is now working on a paranormal novella titled Gypsy Crystal.

Second place draw was for Ruby Blotzer. She chose "First Duty."

Ruby is a SAH Mom that loves to read, write, and just hanging with her kids. I write lots of poetry and fan fics. Mostly though, she wants to be a full time writer. You can read a bit of her work on

http://memoirsofafallenangel.blogspot.com/

and just her general opinion on the world around us at http://rapidhotdog.blogspot.com/

CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH BOOK WINNERS!

Book Drawing Complete!

The two winners have been notified. When I hear back from them, I'll post a little bio of each. Hey, how cool! Both are writers. Hmm. Maybe all the entrants are writers. I think I know a lot of authors.

Anyway, to those who entered, I'll be sending an email to confirm that you're a big, fat loser. That wasn't nice. How about winner-impaired?

If either of the winners chooses to not participate, I've got all the little pieces of papers saved and will draw another.