Rosemary Jones

Come and join the book club

2012-01-17T20:36:00.001-08:00

People often ask me how I happened to end up writing various adventures set in the Forgotten Realms. Lost a contest, met some neat friends, and received Ed Greenwood's blessing to mess up his graveyard is the long story cut short.

For more on the process, drop into the Wizards of the Coast book club this month as they discuss City of the Dead. I'll be there, playing virtual hostess and answering as many questions as I can about the creation of that particular story.

See you there. Watch out for the shrubbery and keep a sharp eye on those tombstones....

And now an end, sweet spy

2012-01-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

Bid farewell to Rucas Sarfael and the nefarious plots of Neverwinter ... at least for now. Part IV of Cold Steel and Secrets is out. A crown is found....and lost. And perhaps found again. Secrets revealed, villains unmasked, and one last swordfight before the sun sets.

YES! We have the technology to sign your e-book

2011-12-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

As folks who follow this blog know, I love to make bookplates for my novels and have been cheerfully mailing them around the world for a few years.

But my latest adventure in the Forgotten Realms is all digital -- Cold Steel And Secrets -- and it seems odd to send out something to paste on the cover of an e-reader. A bit like sending out a sticker for the bookcase rather than the book.

Well, technology to the rescue. Or at least a nifty little website called Kindlegraph. You can click here and request a digital inscription for Cold Steel And Secrets, City of the Dead, or Cobalt City Timeslip.*

Enjoy.

*You do need a Twitter account apparently to make this happen.

Foreshadows in 2012

2011-12-22T09:49:00.000-08:00

Foreshadows ships with stories, pictures, and music: a fascinating collaborative project that I'm very glad the rest of the world can finally see!

More dire doings in Neverwinter

2011-12-18T03:10:00.000-08:00

A mysterious box, the walking dead, and a grisly murder....The four-part Neverwinter novella continues as the rebels find the lost Crown of Neverwinter in their grasp. But the rebels are betrayed and Rucas Sarfael finds himself caught between his duty and his heart.

The third part of Cold Steel And Secrets releases this week -- and the stakes just got higher for all involved. Enjoy!

Wayward Carnival At The End Of The World

2011-12-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

My publisher Timid Pirate is partying like it is the end of the world -- or the perfect time to celebrate the release of two new anthologies. On Dec. 17 at 7 p.m., the Pirate crew is taking over the new Wayward Coffeehouse (65th and Roosevelt in Seattle) to celebrate Cobalt City Dark Carnival and Finding Home: Community in Apocalyptic Worlds.

If you're a Seattle writer, you may already be familiar with the cozy Wayward in either its pre-apocalypse venue in Greenwood or its new shiny, rose-from-the-ashes rebirth on Roosevelt. If not, it's time you discovered this hangout for NaNoWriMo enthusiasts, Brown Coats, and other terrific creative folks. And it is the perfect place to enjoy a new slew of superhero stories set in Cobalt City or explore a fascinating visions of "what happens next."

There will be a crew of Timid Pirate authors and editors there, possible door prizes (I've promised flying monkeys to whoever brings the most friends), and more. See you at the party!

More from Cobalt City:

2011-12-12T20:27:00.000-08:00

Cobalt City stories range from the absurd to the spooky. Here's what is available now.

NaNoReMo: how many novels will you read this month?

2011-11-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

The piles of books by my desk, by my bed, and in the rest of my apartment are legendary. One of my cousins once said staying with me was like camping out at the New York Public Library.

These days my Kindle also holds a huge stash of fiction, including eight books checked out from my local library this week (thanks for enabling the addiction, Mr. Bezos!).

Between now and Thanksgiving, I'm making a determined effort to reduce the piles. Because, despite predictions of friends, I'd rather not die in the next earthquake crushed by an avalanche of 19th century to 21st century fiction.

But, wait, say my friends, aren't you NaNoWriMoing this year? Well, yes, I am. Like past years, I may not finish a novel in a month, but it's a great way to kick off a project.

Another great way to polish the writing, hone the craft, and perfect the plot is to read. Good stuff, bad stuff, old stuff, new stuff. Doesn't matter. Writing fiction is like any art: you have to practice. Like ballet dancers warming up at the barre, reading a story or a novel starts the creative muscles stretching. You think: "Hm, that's not how I'd tell this tale." Or "I like that transition." Or (as happens to me so often) "Why did the muses bless that writer with such a wonderful flow of words? I must tell the world about them! And go forth and collect all their books until they overflow my bookshelves and threaten to crush me in the next earthquake."

Yes, it is dangerous to read -- at least if you want to live in a reasonably tidy space -- but it's inspiring too. So enjoy November. I'll be here, wri moing, re moing, and having a wonderful time.

Neverwinter novella launched!

2011-10-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Back in the spring, Wizards of the Coast asked me to write a true cliffhanger: a four-part serial where every part ends with the hero in more trouble than the last part.

Because of my love of old movies, radio dramas, and pulp fiction, I jumped at the chance. So, starting today, you can join the fun: Cold Steel & Secrets is now available from an e-book seller near you!

Here's what happening today:

Sent by the spymaster of Neverwinter to investigate a group of rebels, Rucas Sarfael finds a worthy adversary in the beautiful fencing master Elyne. Matching wits and blades with the rebel leader, Rucas strives to prove himself and rise in the rebel ranks in part 1 of this four-part novella set in the renowned city of Neverwinter.

Keep reading and come back in November for even more plot twists, mayhem, and darker secrets concerning power plays by the powerful.

Win a free copy of HERO

2011-09-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

Dragon Moon Press is giving away two copies of When The Hero Comes Home on Goodreads.You have from now until October 31 to enter your name for this drawing. You'll find a little something for everyone in this collection written by some of fantasy and science fiction's top names (Jay Lake, Jim Hines, Ed Greenwood and more!).

Somewhere smack in the middle, you'll even find a story called "Ashes of the Bonfire Queen" by yours truly. And be on the look out for a great dark fantasy tale by my friend Erik Scott de Bie.

New trailer for THE HERO COMES HOME

2011-08-24T09:26:00.001-07:00

No definite date yet, but there may be a reading or two from the Northwest contributors this in October.

Back to the Realms this Fall

2011-08-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

As announced at GenCon, "Cold Steel & Secrets" will mark my return to the Forgotten Realms in 2011. The new e-novella takes the adventure to Neverwinter, where spies, swordmasters, and zombies make life more than a little complicated.

Also expected this fall is an omnibus edition of the Waterdeep novels including City of the Dead.

Keep an eye of the Wizards of the Coast homepage for more information!

Collaborative writing experiments in Cobalt City

2011-07-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

I tried something a little different last Saturday: a real-time collaborative writing adventure. Five authors, all hooked through Google Docs, whacking at the same story at the same time.

It reminded me of theatrical improv. In this case, somebody tossed out a line like "Can I have a holographic dragon?" and somebody else responded by suddenly making that dragon appear (in words....no actual dragons or holograms were harmed during this morning exercise).

To keep the chaos controlled, there was a ringmaster who set up some basic plot points and asked people to hit them from specific character perspectives. I found myself gravitating towards transitions: as others set up individual scenes, I popped into the beginnings and end to create hooks into the next piece of action.

When we talk about shared world writing, we don't mean this type of sharing. But like improv theater, it was a nice mind-stretching exercise that left me considering ways to wrestle a multitude of characters through a plethora of plot points. Ways that included transitions, serial commas, and, perhaps, a holographic dragon.

When The Hero Comes Home

2011-06-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

Theme anthologies like this one always present an interesting challenge. Do you create something brand new to fit the editor's requirements? Do you go rummaging around in the files for something old to see if it fits?

For my story in When The Hero Comes Home, I started out thinking about something completely new. I'd been reading a lot of Howard Pyle when the first e-mail from the editors arrived and the soldier going "tramp, tramp, tramp" up the road kept echoing through my head. But that tale didn't quite have the feel that I wanted. Although bits are written and filed away for future reference.

Instead, as the deadline drew nearer and this writer's thoughts grew darker -- usually around 2 a.m. for me -- I remembered another story beginning that I had, one I'd always liked, that stated "She spun widdershins three times and spat in the coal dust."

What I liked then, and now, was that "widdershins" is one of those lovely old words that you encounter in fairytales. "Coal dust," however, belongs to a whole different category. So why both in the same sentence? What about a world where magic and technology warred, and sometimes a hero ended up scraping spells in coal dust as she tried to run away from her mistakes?

By the time I was done, it was a completely different story that I originally envisioned but the "Ashes of the Bonfire Queen" fit the theme in the way that I wanted. A number of other authors tackled the same question about what happens when heroes go home and came up with completely different answers. And that's always the interesting part of being involved in a project like this.

As for the other soldier, the one going "tramp, tramp, tramp" up the road, she's been filed away for another day. Because somebody will ask me for a story and it will be the right road for that hero.

Anthologies are coming...anthologies are coming....

2011-05-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

The flutter of pages as the anthologies fly into a bookstore near you grows thunderously loud.

Arriving this summer are When The Hero Comes Home from Dragon Moon Press, which features a number of well-known fantasy authors (Ed Greenwood, Jay Lake, Jim Hines), and edited by Dragon Moon's Gabrielle Harbowy and Ed Greenwood.

Also due this summer is Foreshadows: The Ghosts of Zero. Bringing together storytellers, artists, and musicians, this mammoth project is from The Very Us Artists and Blindsided Books.

Later in the year, as the leaves start to fall and the shadows lengthen, look for Dark Carnival from Timid Pirate Publishing.

All three contain very different stories by me and, no, I can't say which one that I like best. So you'll have to buy them all and let me know!

New shared world project is not a secret

2011-05-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Steven E. Schend is masterminding a new anthology of novellas based on a very different fantasy world. When he asked me if I was willing to contribute, I waved my hands, jumped up and down, and said "Oh yes!" Because other authors lined up for this interesting gig include the Ed Greenwood, Jaleigh Johnson, and J.M. Martin.

Schend, a very popular author/editor himself, is giving fans a chance to be part of the birthing process (hmm, that sounded better in my head than on the page). Also, for a few lucky early "angels" (as they have long called them in the theater world), you can even secure a lock of Ed Greenwood's beard (got your attention now, don't I?).

Want to learn more? Well here you go:

Fluffy bunnies: tweets at midnight

2011-04-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my friend Erik Scott de Bie defended the reputation of shared world writers everywhere. Good fantasy, he argued, does not require an original world -- it requires original writers.

As my imperfect memory recalls it, he stated that any world could engender fantastic fiction if the right people wrote it with style, talent, and verve (something Mr. de Bie regularly displays in his own work, shared world and other). In short, he could create Erik's Fluffy Bunny Deathworld and wonderful stories could come out of that.

Well! I happen to agree. Good writing can occur in shared worlds -- and a shared world of dark demonic rabbits...I loved the idea.

Since then, the bunnies have popped up in various conversations and few tweets (look for the hashtag #fluffybunnydeathworld). There's no publisher set yet -- although one is considering the idea -- and Erik's already scared me in the midafternoon with musings on rabbit nightmares.

There's several projects cooking on my computer, all shared world fiction, and the bunnies are pretty far down the list. But if you like the idea, or have a suggestion, just use the hashtag #fluffybunnydeathworld. And look for some midnight tweets from me on the subject over the next year.

Who knows? By 2012, our readers may be sliding down the rabbit hole to some new and fantastical adventures.

New series out from Phoebe inspired by a road trip

2011-03-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

Every year, I hit the road with a group of friends. Mostly it is an excuse to chatter, play board games, and eat out. Last summer, we rented a bed-and-breakfast in Port Angeles, and quickly realized that we were at the gateway to Twilight country. None of us are huge fans of the series, but we are all lifelong Northwest residents amused that this rather remote corner should become famous for something other than logging.

"Let's go see Forks," said my friend Phoebe one sunny afternoon. So we abandoned the ongoing card game and took to the road between Port Angeles and Forks. While driving there and back, we started chatting about how hard it would be to be a "real" vampire (as opposed to one that sparkles and can walk outside in sunlight). And what if you didn't have a bunch of good looking vampire dudes to give you instructions....and, really, is dating outside your species such a good idea? What if somebody woke up hungry in the middle of the night and there you were...the perfect snack?

With writers, such ideas turn into books...and, for Phoebe, very funny ones. Although this video promo does emphasize the problem side of taking up a career as a vampire.

Who lives in a superhero city?

2011-03-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

Timid Pirate asked me to contribute a story to the Cobalt City neighborhoods project. This is a series of free fiction downloads introducing the various neighborhoods of a city populated by superheroes and their mad villain counterparts.

My contribution Location, Location, Location tells a little more about a building that I plunked into Cobalt City last year. An active club for the adventurers in the 1940s (Claws of the Dragon Queen), this grand old Parkside mansion is now abandoned...or is it? Follow intrepid location scout Berry Fields as she searches for the perfect place to film a blockbuster.

I love excursions into a fantasy world like Cobalt City where my characters are the "little people" who cope quite realistically with the fact that "strange goings on" is another term for normal. Don't you always wonder who lives in a superhero city and what they think when the latest caped wonder or mystery man goes racing past?

Even more fun for me (and slightly terrifying for a certain Timid Pirate), this story serves as part of my "master plan" for future stories set in Cobalt City. More to come...

Next up: Timeslipping in the Night Kitchen

2011-02-13T11:51:00.000-08:00

The Timid Pirate authors are invading Seattle's Night Kitchen on Feb. 17, 8 p.m.. There will be drinking, reading, and a few interesting announcements coming from this mild-mannered publisher who metamorphs into the masked champion of cape-and-cowl fiction, biopunk, and other unlimited adventure (and the wild-eyed fictioneers who write this stuff).

Come along and join the party!

More speaking engagements in February: MWA dinner

2011-02-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

My sometimes cohort-in-crime Phoebe Matthews and I will be speaking at the Northwest chapter of Mystery Writers of America on February 12. It's a bit of a blast to the past for us. MWA was one of the first "pro" writing groups that we attended long, long ago in the 20th century.

At those dinners, I met such science fiction idols as Poul Anderson and Julian May as well as a number of our NW versions of Castle. Yes, all male mystery writers are tall, suave, and look a lot like Nathan Fillion (she said, with a wink).

So, we eagerly accepted this invitation to talk about the changing nature of publishing and how it is impacting working writers like ourselves. Can't wait to see who will be there!

Phoebe's next urban fantasy series will be out from Dark Quest. Check out the stunning cover here.

Readings in February: alcohol and gaming

2011-01-27T17:18:00.000-08:00

Why do I love working with a small, hungry, and terrifically cool small press? Because they are not afraid to put some energy into promoting their authors.

The Timid Pirate crew launches a new promotional tour and we're not just talking your grandma's bookstore (although if Granny would like us at a bookstore near her, let me know and I'll pass it to the publisher!).

In February, look for Cobalt City's superhero fiction and wildly fun set of authors at the Night Kitchen in downtown Seattle, probably in mid-February. More to come!

Don't like parking downtown? The head for Everett and the AFK Tavern for beer, readings, and little gaming on Sunday, Feb. 20. The reading on the 20th will be followed by a short game of Mutants and Masterminds set in Cobalt City afterward. The game will be masterminded by Cobalt City creator Nathan Crowder, so be ready for thrills, chills, and potential mayhem.

Cobalt City news: new audio drama starts in 2011

2010-12-31T10:46:00.000-08:00

My TIMID PIRATE friends are busy preparing a whole new brand of shared world fiction for 2011: an audio drama voiced by a very interesting collection of Seattle talents. We got a taste back in October when a rough cut of the first few minutes was aired at the Cobalt City Timeslip release party.

A bit more Cobalt City drama was shared with friends at a Winter Solstice party. Who knew that certain local authors were Orson Welles* at heart?

The first podcast, scripted by Cobalt City creator Nathan Crowder, launches tomorrow. If you want to learn more about this and some other exciting projects (which I can't reveal yet), sign up for the Timid Pirate newsletter. They promise to keep the newsletter volume to a minimum and they will give you a gift too: a free ebook version of Cobalt City Christmas.

*in his twenties, Orson was the original Shadow

Christmas freebie for superhero fans

2010-12-10T20:29:00.000-08:00

My publisher, Timid Pirate, is currently offering an ebook edition of Cobalt City Christmas for free. Just sign up for their mailing list (which will keep you up-to-date on 2011 offerings).

If you are a writer, be sure to check the submissions page for their next anthology.

Full details available at www.timidpirate.com.

Junker's Fancy keeps flying

2010-12-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

Zero Gravity, the anthology of space adventures from Pill Hill, is available now in a hardcover edition as well as a trade paperback. The anthology starts off my short story "Junker's Fancy." It has picked some reviews around the web.

ResiAlien called it "a winsome tale" while Future Fire added it was "a strong opening, quickly pulling the reader into the far reaches of the solar system." And Sci-Fi & Fantasy Reviews accurately observed that this story "proves that scifi does not have to revolve around technology."

And, in 2011, The Baryon Review added "In this volume, I was able to remember the joy of instant gratification. Rosemary Jones opens the anthology with Junker's Fancy wherein collecting space salvage becomes a rescue mission."

Dreaming of Waterdeep now available

2010-11-22T17:32:00.000-08:00

Dreaming of Waterdeep

You can download my latest Forgotten Realms story from the Dragon: just click on the link above.

The story looks lovely, with a very appropriate and gorgeous illustration by Warren Mahy. Publication of this tale marks a great ending to a year that began with a short story published in the Wizards of the Coast anthology Realms of the Dead. Enjoy!

Radioactive mouse and Cobalt City Christmas

2010-11-19T15:23:00.000-08:00

On the very week that they are hunting radioactive bunnies and mice in my home state, my publisher sent me the notice that Cobalt City Christmas is once again available for purchase. And if you're wondering how the two are related, just let us say that my heroes find out nuking your Christmas goose is a very bad idea.

For those following my Cobalt City adventures, last year's Christmas tale was my first foray into this particular shared world. A city where superheroes and supervillains battle in all the usual ways, but also take time off to go to parties, shop for gifts in a mall, and prepare a holiday feast for friends. They might even decorate their table with swan napkins, and then be ready to turn such napkins into secret weapons when the feast starts fighting back.

It's all in a holiday at Cobalt City. And who is to say that it is all fiction? After all, there is apparently one glowing mouse living nearby.

******
My publisher, Timid Pirate, recently put out a selection of nifty gifties for pirates and their friends. I have to admit that I'm very taken with the grog stein. How many publishers do you know with a grog stein?

New (old) story coming in the Dragon

2010-11-03T17:09:00.001-07:00

This week on the content page of the Dragon popped up this little note:

Fiction: Dreaming of Waterdeep

By Rosemary Jones

Gustin Bone thought he would die without ever escaping the narrow confines of his uncle's farm, until three colorful strangers stumbled out of the forest.

Written almost a year ago, this story wandered about the corridors of my publisher (I always visualize these things like looking lost puppies) seeking an appropriate online home. Finally adopted into the November issue, it is a peek into the magical childhood of Gustin Bone (wizard and sometimes hero of City of the Dead). Enjoy!

BBC Book Poll: Have you read more than six?

2010-11-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

My friend Erik Scott de Bie picked up this BBC poll which claimed that most people had read six or less of the titles listed below. I've certainly read more than that ... as had Erik .. and we're encouraging you to strike a blow for American literacy by showing what you've read.

While I can't say I have had too many !!EGADS!! moments (except with Dune), I did notice that many of the BBC picks have been dramatized for stage, screen, or TV. If I have something in red, I've seen a show based on it. If it is red and bold, I've read the book AND seen the show.

Want to see what I'm reading now? Add me as a friend on Goodreads.

Happy listing!
Rosemary

INSTRUCTIONS IF YOU DO THIS POLL:

■Copy this into your NOTES.

■Bold those books you've read in their entirety

■italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or read an excerpt.

■Type " !!! EGADS !!!! " next to ones you hated the TV miniseries

■Tag other book nerds.

■Tweet me as well so I can see your responses.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien

2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (speaking of EGADS!!, that was me and book 3 in this series, but yes, I even saw the Golden Compass movie. Subtle Knife is my favorite in the trilogy).

4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling

6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (this is one of those odd books where I can tell you the entire plot but I swear I never read it or saw the movie. It's just so part of our culture, it's hard to escape references).

7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne (one of my favorite Milne works is his dramatic adaptation of Wind in the Willows. Elsewhere I have written about his brilliant fractured fairytale Once On A Time)

8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell

9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis

10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë (own at least two movie adaptations of this as well as a beautifully illustrated hardcover)

11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller (like To Kill A Mockingbird, I kept running across so many references in high school and college that I never had a desire to read the book. Too many spoilers, I guess).

12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks

14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier (to this day, one of my favorite opening lines. It's not nearly as romantic as you think it is. Just read the first chapter again. Really want to be creeped out? Try My Cousin Rachel by du Maurier).

15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger

16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres

20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy (I love the opera, which is rarely performed due to the cost and huge cast needed. But see it if you get a chance!)

21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling

23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling

24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling

25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy

27. Middlemarch, George Eliot

28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving

29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck (although I prefer East of Eden and his translation of Morte d'Arthur)

30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis (and Through the Looking Glass, and Sylvia and Bruno)

31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson

32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez

33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett

34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson (as mentioned earlier in this blog, I own four different editions because I can't decide which illustrator I like best. Kidnapped is probably my favorite RLS, but his short stories are amazing too.)

37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute

38. Persuasion, Jane Austen

39. Dune, Frank Herbert

40. Emma, Jane Austen

41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery

42. Watership Down, Richard Adams

43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald (I've always liked his short stories better than Gatsby)

44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas (my favorite Dumas, although I have read Three Musketeers and think the movie adaptions of the Musketeers have fared better than any of Monte Cristo)

45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh

46. Animal Farm, George Orwell

47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy

49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian

50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher (I own about eight of her novels but re-read them often, but could never finish Shell Seekers. Maybe next year!)

51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck

53. The Stand, Stephen King

54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth

56. The BFG, Roald Dahl

57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome

58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer

60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman

62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden

63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough

65. Mort, Terry Pratchett

66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton (River of Adventure and related volumes, the Five Investigators, and a bunch of other Blyton filled up my childhood. Never read this one though).

67. The Magus, John Fowles

68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (own a first edition that is, now, signed by both authors. Stalked them through a few events to accomplish this!)

69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett

70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding

71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind

72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell

73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett

74. Matilda, Roald Dahl

75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding

76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt

77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins

78. Ulysses, James Joyce

79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens (first time I read this was on the Trans Siberian Express -- Beijing to Berlin -- it lasted through Mongolia and Siberia and left me in awe of Dickens' ability to create secondary characters)

80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson

81. The Twits, Roald Dahl

82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith

83. Holes, Louis Sachar

84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake (the British miniseries is strange, surreal, and made me want to re-read Peake)

85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson

87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (most recently banned in Seattle public school system for being unfair to Native Americans. Apparently the fact that it was dystopian science fiction that equally trashes all others didn't count).

88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons

89. Magician, Raymond E Feist

90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac

91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo

92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel (I heard her lecture once on the advantages of being an author: she was allowed into caves currently closed by the French government. One of those moments when I thought that this was a career choice that I'd like to have. Although I wasn't willing to chew hide for research -- something Auel did during her extensive research).

93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett

94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

95. Katherine, Anya Seton

96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer

97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez

98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson

99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot (I think Cabot is a great YA writer, although this is my least favorite of her books. Try The Mediator series for fun YA urban fantasy)

100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

Yes, we still have bookplates here

2010-10-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

I am creating special bookplates for Cobalt City Timeslip, Zero Gravity, and Close Encounters of the Urban Kind as well as continuing to make them for City of the Dead and Crypt of the Moaning Diamond. Same rules apply, if you have written about these publications anywhere (on your blog, comments on a bookstore page, etc), just send me the link and your address. I will send out a signed bookplate to paste in the front of your copy. Think of it as a virtual booksigning!

Party like it is 1949...or 1970...or....Saturday!

2010-10-07T16:12:00.000-07:00

The authors, the editor, and the publisher of Cobalt City Timeslip gather Saturday, Oct. 9, at the Wayward Coffeehouse in Seattle.

Readings, jokes, funny hats, and other frivolity promised. The treats and the coffee at the Wayward always are worth a visit (this is one of Seattle's best hangouts for NaNoWriMo writers).

Drop in to meet the Cobalt City's ever-growing gang of superhero fictioneers. Take home a signed book.

Cobalt City Timeslip Release Extravaganza
October 9, starting at 7 pm
Wayward Coffeehouse
8570 Greenwood Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103

The media speaks about Cobalt City Timeslip:

"Rosemary Jones’s Claws of the Dragon Queen is a pitch-perfect noir adventure, smartly done and subtly nuanced." Books I Read

"...the stories in Cobalt City Timeslip succeed in taking advantage of the prose format to do things with the superhero genre that would be difficult to do in a comic book format." Seattle Geekly

Almost time to do the Timeslip

2010-09-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

It's just a jump...to Cobalt City's fabled past. The latest Timid Pirates anthology, Cobalt City Timeslip, officially releases in October. We (the authors) and they (the publishers) will be partying at the Wayward Coffee House on October 9. Panda hats may or may not be involved.

I indulged my inner dame in my homage to great pulp stories of the 1930s and 1940s. My tale comes at the very end of that era, 1949, the year when Perry Como croons about enchanted evenings on the jukebox and one of Cobalt City's most mysterious superheroes faces "The Claws of the Dragon Queen." Trenchcoats, smoking guns, and a deadly beauty in a red silk dress: who wouldn't want to write that story!

After having such a good time writing this one, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Wrecker of Engines and his femme fatale foes return for another adventure in 2011.

Hardcover edition of Zero Gravity available

2010-09-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

Zero Gravity was one of five books selected by Pill Hill Press to come out in a limited edition hardcover. The book will be printed on gray or blue cloth and will have a dust jacket.

The limited edition of Zero Gravity will be available until December 31st and can only be purchased through the Pill Hill Press bookstore.

My short story Junker's Fancy opens this anthology. If you'd like a special "Junker" bookplate to go with the book and signed by me, just drop me an line. Be sure to say "I want the Zero Gravity bookplate" (I have more than one bookplate) and include your mailing address. My e-mail is right at the top of this blog!

Pick your style and change it when you have to

2010-08-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

An interesting discussion popped up on Seattle Writergrrls (a Yahoo group you should follow, whether you're a grrl or not). A list member asked whether she should go with the Chicago Manual of Style or the AP Stylebook for a website. Her company was letting this be her choice.

And we all replied "Pick what you love and then develop your corporate website style from there."

Which isn't the most definitive answer. But it's a fair one.

Having started out with the AP Stylebook, I like it very much. I think it is a bit quicker and simpler for fast content creation -- just like writing for a newspaper without your end product being as useful as a fish-and-chips wrapper.

If your major output is articles for newspapers, news websites, and other media outlets, you may be asked to conform to the AP Stylebook. So it is good to know the AP Stylebook basics.

The Chicago Manual of Style is an amazing resource and perfect for those academic moments that invade all writers' days, when you desire to debate the deeper meaning of very obscure grammar lore. Don't laugh! I once shared a cubicle wall with an editor who adored getting her new CMOS in the post and then checking her favorite rules for possible changes and updates. Also CMOS defends the Oxford comma. AP does not. If you are a serial comma lover, you have to go CMOS. The same editor once threatened to appear at a Halloween party as a serial comma. I threatened to come as the serial comma killer.

If your major output is books, either fiction or nonfiction, your editor probably will send you a note about following the rules of CMOS. Most likely, she's asking for those serial commas, among other things.

Not sure which stylebook that you will truly love? In these amazing days of instant communication, you can follow both AP Stylebook and CMOS on Twitter -- go to my Twitter and check the "grammar geeks" list -- and get a feel for both. Also, more seriously, check their websites.

Also, if you need a chuckle in your day, do follow Fake AP Stylebook on Twitter. Because it will make you giggle. You can find it on my grammar geek list too!

Think you can live life as a writer without a stylebook? Sorry, can't be done. At some point, you must conform to styles as well as the basic rules of grammar. Doing so makes your writing fit into a publishable model, whether on a corporate website or in a New York Times bestselling novel.

Yes, editors will beat your writing into their style if they have to. But the more work that you do for them, the happier they will be. And all writers know happy editors are best editors!

Finally, don't worry about changing styles: this does not mean the ruin of your deathless prose.

I routinely have to rewrite a piece to fit AP, CMOS, or a corporate style. It's important to remember that style, unlike certain grammar rules, is flexible. Yes the Oxford comma is nifty, but some sentences work just as well without (despite what my friend the Masked Serial Comma says). And putting in a comma or taking one out is not an enormous chore.

So embrace the stylebook. Have more than one on your shelf. It's just one more terrific tool in your writer's toolbox.

Dramedy, dungeons, and dragons: oh, my!

2010-08-17T16:38:00.001-07:00

I love chatting about books, writing, editing, the publishing process, e-books, and the entire crazy business these days. The last few days have been filled with that type of talk, including coffee with fellow Wizards of the Coast writers here in Seattle, and an online interview that the author called "Dramedy, Dungeons, and Dragons."

Because of the interview with Tracy, I was reminded of my very first book sale: an exciting and rather tough assignment that included my editor leaving the publishing business to raise llamas. "Does this happen to you often?" asked Tracy. I had to admit only one of my editors has ever quit to raise Peruvian pack animals.

But I grew up in family with a fair amount of writing credits. Along the line, I did absorb the idea that selling of your work isn't always under your control (the character and quality of your writing is very much under your control or should be!). Strange circumstances can cause your editors and your publishers to kill a project just as quickly as the desire to flee to the hills with woolly mammals.

So, in this same week, when another writing friend posted about how depressed he was about a pair of rejection letters, I wrote back that rejections often have little to do with the writing quality and much to do with life's peculiar circumstances. His response: "are you determined to rain on my pity parade?"

Well, yes.

Because the editors can quit, you can lose contests, the projects can limp into dismal ends, entire publishing companies can disappear (I just got a letter from one that is shutting down in 2011), but eventually your writing will find a home. The writing life isn't a tragedy, or a comedy, but often a dramedy. And it's still the best show in town.

Zero Gravity now available

2010-08-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

My copy of Zero Gravity, a new anthology of deep space adventure, arrived tonight and it looks wonderful. While the amazing cover would work for any of the stories, I found myself thinking: "Yep, that's probably Zach's hunter, hanging out there in space."

See, Zach was chasing space pirates when an attack on his ship left him hanging dead in space. Then a Junker, a gal making her living by salvaging lost ships, drops a towline on his hull. Can they make it back to the station before his air runs out or the pirates attack again? Maybe. Got to read the story to find out.

The idea of the Junkers, a group of people making a sparse living by picking up old satellites and other space debris, has been knocking around in the back of my head for years. It's nice that the first story about the Junkers found a very appropriate home here.

Zero Gravity contains a number of exciting tales edited by Alva J. Roberts. If you like deep space adventures, you'll enjoy this collection from Pill Hill.

Back to Cobalt City this fall!

2010-08-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

Last year, I was invited to Cobalt City for Christmas. An amazing place, full of superheroes and heroines, femme fatales and masked villains. Now I'm more than pleased to announce that even more authors and friends are donning the cape and cowl to add new legends to the mythos.

Look for us in Cobalt City Timeslip, coming later this fall. This is Cobalt City through the ages and lets me play in a decade that I adore, the 1940s. A masked crime fighter meets a quintet of deadly lovelies in Claws of the Dragon Queen.

See you there!

More anthology news: Zero Gravity

2010-07-14T13:14:00.001-07:00

Since I just got the proofs from the publisher, it seems safe to reveal that my next short story will be out in the Pill Hill anthology Zero Gravity.

Of course, besides checking if my name is spelled right on the Table of Contents (yes, you should always check this even if you're a Smith or Jones), I ran my eye through the authors listed to see if I recognized anyone. Murray Leeder! A fellow Wizards of the Coast scribe. Interestingly, we bookend the anthology: I have the first story and he has the last. The folks in-between are a fascinating collection of new and well-seasoned writers (after the TOC, I always read the author bios).

Zero Gravity is a high adventure space fiction anthology that looks like the perfect home for my story "Junker's Fancy" about a gal who makes her living salvaging dead space ships. Until she finds one with a live pilot trapped inside....

Go ahead, tell me again!

2010-07-06T20:09:00.001-07:00

Best note ever from an editor: "You were right, it reads better this way."

There were plenty of other notes where we were still not in total agreement, but all the requested changes were doable (to a degree). Most clarified the story. And, where I didn't feel that the word choice worked, I rewrote the entire sentence from a different angle.

Editing, as opposed to writing, is a collaborative art. It's impossible to edit yourself. It's amazing to have an good editor. And, very,very sweet to hear: "You were right."

#PRtips for #Authors on Twitter

2010-06-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

If you follow me on Twitter, most of my posts revolve around the arts in Seattle, with occasional digressions into D&D chatter and posts about writing. One regular theme is the #PRtips. These are my thoughts about ways to be more successful in promotions. Or, at least, how to avoid serious mistakes.

I'm a public relations professional and spend a good part of my day writing releases and other communications for my company. At the same time, because I keep one foot in journalism covering Seattle theater, I am on the receiving end of dozens of press releases each month. I regularly chat with other PR professionals and journalists.

So, when the thought strikes, I publish PR tips that I think would be useful for authors or others inspired by the events in my life.

For example, today I did my first Skype interview with a major TV news network. The final interview probably will end up on the network's website, rather than in a broadcast, but it was still a great opportunity. And it led to some #PRtips on Twitter about my first encounter with interviewing via Skype.

Some "Skype" thoughts that popped up after the interview:

Go for the higher end microphone plugged into the computer rather than rely on the built-in mike: one of my fellow staffers recommended using her mike (she uses Skype regularly for business) and the interviewer did comment on how good the sound was.
Create a quiet area for your interview: I work in a very busy and open office. People pop into my cubicle on a regular basis. For the interview, I moved the laptop and me into a conference room with door that I could close. No distractions makes it easier to concentrate on the interviewer's questions.
Check out the camera angle before connecting! Where my laptop usually sits on my desk creates a view of me that even my mother couldn't love. So I shifted the laptop and its built-in webcam until the view made me look more like me! The interviewer still asked me to do a little adjustment -- and he was the one with the experience -- but not much. Remember that an interview isn't like a chat with Grandma. It's your one and only chance to make a good first impression with the interviewer and their audience.

I have some more PR tips, based on a lecture given to a group of nonprofit arts groups, posted in my pages. If you have a PR question, feel free to drop me a line or post a comment here.

Crypticon reading moves from Friday to Saturday

2010-06-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

The organizers at Crypticon have moved my reading from Friday night to Saturday afternoon. If you haven't heard about this convention yet, it's the Northwest's major gathering for horror fans -- and this will be my first appearance there!

So look for me in the Reading Rooms on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Also check out my friends Jennifer Brozek (she is reading 6:30 p.m. on Friday and will be womanning the Apex dealer table with copies of Close Encounters of the Urban Kind), Nathan Crowder (6:30 p.m. on Saturday), and Erik Scott de Bie (probably Saturday).

Close Encounter of the Vehicular Kind

In other reading news, despite having my car hit by a hit-and-run driver on Saturday (an experience that I could have done without!), Nathan and I made it on time to the reading at Third Place Books on June 12. I truly appreciated the sympathy hugs from my fellow authors and the terrific audience that turned out on a sunny Saturday.

You can order signed copies of Close Encounters from Third Place, but there weren't many left, so don't wait too long!

More anthology news: Foreshadows

2010-05-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

In an very exciting marriage of words and music, Jeff LaSala created an anthology of cyberpunk fiction inspired by original music. The book-and-CD (you get the stories and the songs) will be published as Foreshadows: The Ghosts of Zero.

Invited to join the talented crew contributing to this book by the editor, I just finished a tale of libraries, and those who serve the books, in a far future Seattle.

Want to keep track of the project and see who else is involved? Follow them on Facebook.

Anthology updates: awards, limited editions

2010-05-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

Cobalt City Christmas always was meant to be a limited time offer. Timid Pirates will be taking down their Lulu store at the end of May. If you want this fun little collection by Northwest writers about superheroes struggling with their holiday plans, order it now.

Meanwhile Close Encounters of the Urban Kind (Apex) keeps chugging along. The collection is up for a Stoker award. Several of the authors, including me, will be reading at Third Place Books on June 12.

I'm working on three more anthology submissions for 2010/11. More news coming when publication dates are set.

Oddball titles resurfacing in my life

2010-05-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

With the new bookshelves finally delivered (ordered in February, arrived in May), I can dig into the boxes of oddball paperbacks and other books sitting in my storeroom. These are the tattered old loves that I can't bear to throw away.

Of course, loading up the bookcases proceeds slowly. Last night, The Tightrope Walker by Dorothy Gilman distracted me. She's best known for her Mrs. Polifax mysteries, but she wrote several interesting little stand-alone books in 1970s and 1980s, often with references to ESP and other psychic powers. If she was writing these today, they would be the "cozy" equivalent of urban fantasies.

Like everyone who discovered Tightrope young, I completely believed that the "book within the book" was real -- at least until some major plot developments occurred. I still find Gilman's characters funny, touching, and worth worrying about. Which is why the books remain unshelved and I was up late reading last night!

If you follow me on GoodReads, be prepared for some oddities popping up over the next few weeks. Who knows what is lurking down in the bottom of those boxes....

Dear Frank: you will always be on my shelf!

2010-05-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

In a weird conjunction of strange, the news of Frank Frazetta's death came out today, along with my posting over at Wizards' author's roundtable about my favorite underappreciated Edgar Rice Burroughs novel.

I discovered Edgar in my aunt's basement, a row of Tarzan paperbacks lined up on a windowsill. Over my formative years, every time I ventured into a used bookstore or junk shop, I'd go looking for more of these adventures. Invariably, I'd find these wonderful tattered and torn paperbacks with these amazing covers. Eventually I figured out that the artist who just "got it" in so many ways was Frank Frazetta.

My pick for underappreciated ERB: The Mucker, a big sprawling serial adventure that makes any Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster seem like a restrained Chekhovian drama. After all the Mucker, as our hero is known, starts out as drunken gangster, prize fighting in Chicago, ends up Shanghaied for parts unknown, sunk by pirates, stranded on a tropical island, fights for survival in the jungle, and, naturally, is smitten with a spunky heiress. And that's just part of the plot. Go a little further and read the Return of the Mucker and you'll get a Mexican revolution tossed on top of all the rest.

Why did I fall in love with this crazy story? Well, there's Frazetta's cover for the first book, that guy fighting off deranged samurai (oh, right, forgot to tell you about those) with his gal slung over his shoulder. Then there's his cover for the second book, with the Mucker taking down a horse as well as a bandit with one punch.

And that's just two of Frazetta's amazing ERB covers. His Dejah Thoris will always be the most incomparable of all, his Tarzan the wildest in the jungle, and all the rest of his images the pictures that my mind shows me first when reading Burroughs.

Tonight I'm brewing up a cup of tea and retreating to my big comfy chair. By me will be a stack of Ace paperbacks, all with Frazetta's signature covers. Thanks for all the dreams, Frank!

It is what it is

2010-05-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend re-reading one of my favorite Milne novels, Once on A Time. As you might guess from the title, it's a fairy tale. But it's a bit more than that. The characters, as silly and outlandish as any found in Bros. Grimm, also suffer from real emotions, inner turmoil, and just a hint of diabolical. Nothing particularly bad happens: even a major war injury is boiled down to a pair of missing whiskers.

Milne's introduction reveals to his readers that he never quite decided whether this fairy tale was written for adults or children. He concludes as any wise author must: "I am still finding it difficult to explain just what sort of book it is. Perhaps no explanation is necessary. Read in it what you like; read it to whomever you like; be of what age you like; it can only fall into one of the two classes. Either you will enjoy it, or you won't. It is that sort of book."

A recent Australian review of City of the Dead got me thinking about what "sort of book" I had written. The reviewer, although quite kind and insightful, feels that City fails as a horror novel. Now, even though I set the plot in a graveyard, and populated with more than one ghost, I never meant City to be a horror story. Or even a truly dark fantasy. Rather, during my ruminations on who exactly would be working in a magical graveyard in a very fantastical city, I started writing a girl who needed to decide where to go with her life, and the wizard that she keeps tripping over. At the end, the book is what it is. But what it isn't is horror.

Talking shop with Erik Scott de Bie

2010-04-26T13:25:00.001-07:00

What happens when a bunch of authors follow each other around Seattle, doing readings about the aliens behind urban legends in perfectly splendid coffee houses and bookstores? Well, a little shop talk before and after each event. Definitely. Since we haven't figured out how to bug the Wayward or other places, you can't just listen in. Oh...wait...we are writers. You can....if we just type up the questions and post them on our blogs.

Here's my e-version of a chat with Erik Scott de Bie, fellow Forgotten Realms author and contributor to Close Encounters of the Urban Kind . If you ever come to reading with both of us, he's the tallest one. Always.

You can also catch my answers to Nathan Crowder's questions over here. And Nathan's answers to Erik here. Again, if you come to one of our readings, Nathan's also taller than me and may be wearing a top hat.

I'm the gal with glasses yanking down the microphone after these two finishing scaring everyone silly. Really, 5' 5" is not short!!

And, yes, we all will be coming to a bookstore near you soon on June 12 -- if you happen to live near Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park.

---

OK, let's get the major questions aside first: how tall are you and how do you pronounce your last name? At least, this what everyone asks me after we do a reading together!

I am 6 foot 6.6 inches tall (yes, my height is the mark of the beast). And the little phrase I give people to remember my last name is "de Bie or not de Bie--that is the question!" (I would also have accepted "de Bie iz de Bomb" but please not Erik Debbie, or worse, "Debbie Erik--is she there?")

How did a sunny California guy who doesn't drink coffee end up in rainy caffeine-obsessed Seattle?

Like all great stories, that one is about a girl--specifically, my wife, who came up here for her masters in Music History from UW.

Your story in Close Encounters of the Urban Kind feels very personal, perhaps because you decided to write in first person. How much of Erik is in the narrator?

Heh. You mean, how much of an arrogant "King of the Country Road" was I back in high school? I think the "hero" of Racing Lights is the guy I *wanted to be* in high school: cool, rebellious, sort of a jerk with a sensitive side, a hot girlfriend, and a really fast car. But like all things we think we want, it doesn't necessarily pan out the way we think it's going to. (Which is rather close to the theme of said story.)

There are a lot of details in the story that I lifted from growing up in a small town in the valley: the relations between the white kids and the hispanic kids, the bleak vastness of the California night, what kids will do for fun when they've got no other options. Also, the setting is pretty much exactly my hometown.

So, really, somebody wrote to you and asked if Racing Lights was about the type of drag racing that was more drag than cars? Is there even such a thing?

I did indeed get this question, which I think was inspired by: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuPaul's_Drag_Race

I learn something new every day!

Speaking of which, last time we walked through a bookstore, you surprised me by pointing at a stack of Richelle Mead books (Georgina Kincaid series) and saying "That's my favorite paranormal romance author." Then I thought that there's always a strong current of romance, often doomed, in your fantasies. What up?

Way to sneak in the shout out there (not that best-selling Richelle really needs it)! I do rather like paranormal romance, though I'd *never* admit it publicly. So don't tell anyone! (shh!)

As for use of romantic themes in my writing, well, three reasons:

1) Romance, love, sex, etc., are real things that everyone deals with in one form or another, and it would breach the reader's suspension of disbelief to gloss over it entirely. As a guy, I find it hard to stick with a story that has no romantic component, because the characters--no matter how cool their special effects mumbo jumbo--start to feel flat to me. (For instance, in Pitch Black, Riddick *had* to have a thing with the scientist girl, because otherwise he would have been just a random psychopath--physically excellent, sure, but completely boring.)

2) Because we all struggle to meet romantic goals (#1), it's an avenue for helping my audience connect with my characters--how many of us stick with a book/movie/TV series just to see if the hero and heroine end up together at the end? (Again, the example of Riddick--without those connections he forges to other characters, what is he? A very effective robot.) It makes stories stronger, and makes them memorable. Sure, one might think Romeo and Juliet is inane, but gosh darn it, you remember it.

3) Finally, it just makes sense. My characters are hot. They attract each other's attention, and, well, see #1.

As for why it often seems doomed, it's really a function of the format of my books thus far--they're all stand-alones, written specifically without the explanation that you'll ever see these characters again. I want to have my characters go out at the top of their game, when they are most passionate and most awesome. It's like the Romeo and Juliet thing--people fall so deeply in love then end up consumed by it.

And there are plenty of other ways I want to handle romance between characters--I just need more space to do it. Like a trilogy, say.

What's your process for getting a story started? Characters first or plot?

It can go either way, but generally I start with characters--or, more specifically, characters in one particular scene. Duelists fighting atop a clock-tower. A dark avenger sweeping out into a courtyard full of archers. Sometimes I know who the characters are, and sometimes I don't.

When is the next Erik Scott de Bie coming out?

Well, we should all hope there's only one of me, but if you mean when's my next publication? I have several things currently in the pot, and at least one novel that hasn't yet been announced. Think next year! Check my blog for announcements: eriksdb.livejournal.com

On the non-literary end, I keep coming out with D&D game design stuff. I just finished writing my third of a sourcebook you should be seeing early 2011, as well as a few articles that will show up on D&D Insider.

And, finally, where can people find out more about your writing?

Zing! Check my blog's orientation: http://eriksdb.livejournal.com/111227.html

The cosmic balance continues: royalty checks and car repairs

2010-04-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

Having had numerous titles published over the years, every now and then, one of my old nonfiction books or articles will throw out a royalty check. These are lovely little surprises in the mail but they never make me rich. For some reason, my car has developed a sixth sense about these checks. With a day or so of an unexpected writing pay-off, it will develop an itch to go to garage.

Sure enough, on Sunday, as I'm cheerfully tootling along a major bridge with no easy exits, my check engine light starts flashing. Gritting my teeth (I'm easily frightened by such things), I continued to my favorite local farmer's market, picked up my tomato plants, and did the only repair that I know for this problem. I tightened the gas cap -- seriously, the mid-1990s Chevy Cavalier is very fussy about its gas cap. A little loose and the light comes on.

I restarted the car and found the engine light still lit. So I cut short my errands and headed home, driving slowly on ground streets, and thinking "Well I have triple A, I can always use the cell phone for a cab..." and other delightful musings. The car, of course, ran fine. No smoke, no funny noises, nothing seemed wrong.

With no sign of any more trouble than the bothersome light glowing like a baleful warning on the dashboard, I slid into my regular parking space. In the morning, I called my friendly mechanic and scheduled an appointment for later this week. Luckily, being a bus commuter, I don't use the car much during the week and my mechanic is only a few blocks away.

Then, today, a small royalty check arrived. I'm cheered by the fact that the check is for less than $100. That portends a fairly cheap fix for the car. Because I also have found in the cosmic balance always seems to be that royalty check equals cost of repair.

However, still unanswered is the ultimate question: how does my car know?

Close Encounters reading at University Book Store

2010-04-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

We had a gaggle of authors from Close Encounters of the Urban Kind at University Book Store and an enthusiastic audience for tales of drag racing with aliens, strange happenings at the 1945 Chicago World Series, an autopsy film nobody wants to see, and much more.

If you missed the reading, you can still pick up signed copies of Close Encounters of the Urban Kind from University Book Store, along with my other books including City of the Dead. Not in Seattle? They do mail order. Just call or check their website.

We have another event coming in June at Third Place Books too!

The Twitter review of our reading: creepy cool!

2010-04-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

The nice folks at Seattle Geekly posted the following review of our Saturday night reading:

"Listened to @erikscottdebie @natecrowder and now @rosemaryjones at Wayward. Creepy, cool stories!"

They got all three authors' Twitter feeds and a three-word review into one tweet. Now that's an impressive economical use of words.

While I like the chance to express myself in long form, I do love following writers and others on Twitter. If you catch my feed, it's mostly about my passion for Seattle theater. But I do try to drop a few writing links and D&D tweets into the mix. You can find me at http://www.twitter.com/rosemaryjones.

Great alien spook stories at the Wayward

2010-04-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

The Close Encounters crew (Nathan Crowder, Erik Scott de Bie, editor Jennifer Brozek, and me) had a terrific time at the Wayward last night. Great turnout for the reading and amazing coffee! I strongly recommend the Muad'dib Latte.

The creators of Seattle Geekly, Shannon Flowers and Matt Hammond, stopped by. If you are looking for a geekly thing to do, visit their website or subscribe to their podcast.

Big thanks to the lovely Wayward staff for support and calendar listing. Musicians or authors interested in finding a venue in the Greenwood should contact them at wayward at waywardcoffee dot com.

If you missed our collective tales of a hunting party gone very wrong, drag racing aliens, cursed baseball teams, and an alien autopsy movie that you so do not want to see, you can catch us at the University Book Store on April 15. Better yet, we are adding two more authors to the crew, Mark Henry and Alma Alexander, for even more thrills and chills.

Two readings in April for Close Encounters

2010-04-04T21:01:00.001-07:00

Just got home from a fabulous Norwescon. I'm leaving my notes on publishing, vampire books, and young adult series up at the blog for anyone who needs them.

Saturday night concluded with a Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading, including Jennifer Brozek previewing a piece from Close Encounters of the Urban Kind. This new anthology features a number of Northwest authors, including a new short story from me.

Several of us will be getting together on April 10 at 8 pm at the Wayward Coffeehouse and then, on April 15 at 7 pm, an even bigger group will be reading at University Book Store.

Come for the authors, stay for the alien abductions!

Off to Norwescon: but talks posted here!

2010-03-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

I'm off to be a speaker at Norwescon in a multitude of panels. You can find my schedule here and, if you look under the "Pages" in the right column, you will also find copies of all my notes. This is to save me from having to kill multiple trees making photocopies.

If you are reading this after Norwescon and you have a question about something discussed, do feel free to drop me a line. Or just post a comment here.

Too many movie memories to pick just one

2010-03-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

I'm in complete agreement with James at the Wizards' book club. Naming just one favorite movie can cause a massive hole in your brain.

Even more frightening: looking at the long list provided by other authors (who mostly cheated and named more than one), I only found a single title that I had not seen. The Russian Stalker named by Athans. And I'm googling it right now to see if I can get a copy.

Nobody asked about my favorite places to watch movies and that's a shame. Because there are still so many great old theaters left in Seattle. I am a regular visitor to the Harvard Exit (wonderful balcony and a ghost), the Egyptian (best espresso in a cinema), the Uptown (close to many great restaurants and now two used bookstores!), the Admiral (West Seattle's favorite discount house), and more. Ballard's Bay is one of my favorite place for family films. Last winter, I was there for Where the Wild Things Are, a movie that still haunts me.

If you are a movie buff and live in Seattle, there's always something beyond the latest blockbuster to see. Our Northwest Film Forum, our year-round theater for the Seattle International Film Festival, various community houses and events (friends keep raving about Central Cinema although I haven't made any of their shows yet), and more.

We even have a regular showings of silent films in the very grand gold-and-white Paramount Theatre, complete with live musical accompaniment on the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ (one of only three working movie house organs from the silent era). The theme this spring is the South Seas.

Norwescon 33: only two weeks away

2010-03-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

The participants' list is up on the website and if you can't find a single person who sounds interesting: well, you need to go back to bed. Myself, I'm looking at a THRILLING line-up of professionals in all fields related to science fiction and fantasy. Can't wait to meet as many as possible.

My schedule is now set and you can find me at the following panels, readings, and signings. My comments on each below. You can read the Norwescon program panel description if you click on this link.

Norwescon takes place from April 1 through 4 at Double Tree Hotel, Sea Tac, WA.

APRIL 2

Friday, 11:00 a.m., Cascade 6
Independent and Small Press Publishing
After many years of being the web editor for Book Publishers Northwest, I've seen them all: the big ones, the little ones, the successful ones, and the truly crazy wonderful ones (ask me about the pony picture book lady and her traveling pony show).

The line-up:
Caren Gussoff (M), Rosemary Jones, Rose O'Keefe, Mary Robinette Kowal

Friday, 1:00 p.m., Evergreen 1
Are Vampires Just for Tweens?
My answer is: of course not! I'll be bringing lists of my favorite vampire fiction including some Russian vampires that I truly adore.

Line-up:
Julie McGalliard (M), Rosemary Jones, J. Grace McKelvy, Adrian Phoenix, Jaye Wells

Friday, 3:00 p.m., Cascade 6
Is Electronic Publishing the Future?
Move over Gutenberg, the e-book started the new revolution in publishing and the rest of the world has finally caught on. I'll be expanding on the "why this is a good thing" and "no, the printed book isn't disappearing tomorrow" theme. You can read some of my thoughts about this at Red Room too.

Line-up
L.J. Bothell, Ben Dobyns, Rosemary Jones, Jak Koke

APRIL 3

Saturday, 10:30 - 11:00 a.m., Cascade 3
Reading: Rosemary Jones
Dusty Bones, A graveyard adventure in Waterdeep

I don't do readings often. The tale comes from Realms of the Dead. Expect surprises. Maybe a celebrity mystery guest.

Line-up:
Rosemary Jones (oh, that's me!!)

Saturday, 1:00 p.m., Cascade 4
That Was a Great YA Series! Mmm. What Next?

First: check out Mantchev's Eyes Like Stars. I'm intrigued to hear what she has to say. Besides, wind me up and let me talk about YA authors and I'll go for hours. There are so many amazing books being published right now!

Line-up:
Lisa Mantchev (M), Spencer Ellsworth, Rosemary Jones

Saturday, 2:00 p.m., Evergreen 3 and 4
Autograph Session #3

Rarer than hen's teeth are books autographed by me. I don't do signings -- well, not normally. April is a weird month with a signing at Norwescon for the Wizards' novels and, later, two coming up for Apex anthology Close Encounters of the Urban Kind (April 10 and April 15). But after that, who knows where next I will appear [cue the spooky music and somebody saying "The Shadow knows...."]

Saturday, 10:00 p.m., TBA
Reading: Broad Universe

Party! The women of Broad Universe are a fantastic bunch of online friends who I get to meet in real time and space. Or as real as Norwescon gets. Drop in to hear what they have to say. Expect surprises. Expect great writing. Expect a very good time.

Line-up:
Keeps growing

Gypsy seduction and poor men blessed

2010-03-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

Over at Wizards' book club, they asked us authors what we would sing if they handed us a karaoke microphone.

Since I assumed this was a magical, fabled karaoke, I responded with songs that I thought probably wouldn't be found on any playlist outside of my mind. Which keeps me safe from having to perform in public should I ever be foolish enough to be in the same room as a karaoke machine.

The first was the Habanera from Carmen. That ode to love's fickle ways defines my favorite character in opera. She puts it quite bluntly to the town and to the eventually smitten hero: if you love me, watch out!

I don't think there is a recording out there that quite captures the soul of this song the way that Stephanie Blythe did when she sang it at Seattle Opera several years ago. Sadly, far too many of the audience members spent their time commenting on her waistline and not her vocal pyrotechnics. Nothing, absolutely nothing, in this libretto says that the gypsy needs to be skinny (although the Met went that route with their recent broadcast). Blythe proved that a woman can indeed seduce with a song...now if only she would release a recording of Carmen!

The other song, "Dives and Lazarus," comes from June Tabor's collaboration with the Oyster Band (also known these days as the Oysterband). Tabor's voice smokes through rendition of a traditional ballad of a poor man who comes to beg at a rich man's door. After getting the boot from the rich Dives, the wretched Lazarus makes it heaven. Dives, as might be expected, heads the other direction and finds himself the beggar in much warmer supernatural region.

This and multiple other goodies can be found on Freedom and Rain, one of my best albums for songs about pain, love, curses, and the sad fates of Scottish girls who fall in love with English men ("Susie Clelland").

Deadlines are in my blood: and I love it!

2010-03-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

I'm a third-generation writer/jounalist and I believe in deadlines. If somebody doesn't hand me a contract with a deadline, I'll create a deadline for myself.

For me, a deadline inspires creation (as well as terror, binge eating, and whimpering).

This does not mean that all jobs are finished well ahead of the deadline. I'm used to dancing up to the very edge of my deadline. Famously, I once ripped open an express mail box at the Post Office, made three red pen corrections, and then resealed the box to the bemusement of the counter staff. Luckily, with electronic submissions more the norm, I no longer change my mind in public at the last possible minute. What I do at home in my bunny slippers....well, that's between me and the computer.

Still, I love deadlines. Deadlines cause all the brain cells to sit up and gibber at the approaching behemoth and then take lemming leaps off the cliff of the ordinary into brilliance. Or die. That's why it's called a deadline.

You can find out other strange things that Forgotten Realms authors like (such as trips to the dentist) at the Wizards' community page.

New interview up at "Make-Believe Monday"

2010-03-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

I'm always willing to blog tour: it's the next best thing to a Star Trek teleporter! Transferring myself from here to there in one quick electronic exchange is fun. This week, I visited the Make-Believe Monday column of writer Debra Parmley (A Desperate Journey).

If you have questions about writing, reading, or why I'm still waiting for my jet pack in the 21st century, drop me an e-mail and invite me to your blog for chat.

Mutiple hats needed: Shared World, Dance PR, and Third Place Book Signing

2010-03-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

My scheduling fairy decided that I can do it all this weekend. All of these events will be great fun, but I'm going to switching hats so much, I will be lucky to remember my name by Sunday.

FRIDAY NIGHT
Dinner with a bunch of merry writers and game designers. Time to slap on my shared world fiction hat!

SATURDAY AM
Rosie Gaynor of Seattle Dances organized a free public relations for local dance companies, with a little help from her friends and some cool sponsorship from Encore (the folks that create all those programs that you handed as you walk into a theater around here! Also the publishers of CityArts). The focus of my comments will be how arts groups can use social media and other free Internet resources to create greater awareness of their performances. This will be me wearing my professional PR hat.

SATURDAY 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Northwest authors are descending Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park to celebrate Small Press Month and writing in general. Fifteen authors are expected. I'll be there to MC the event, but they will have copies of City of the Dead on hand for signing. So if you'd like an author signed copy, be sure to let the store know: 206-366-3333. They would be happy to hold a copy for you or ship it out!

If you want to see what an amazing variety of publishing is happening in our corner of the world, do come! There will be cookies, although cookies rarely last long around so many writers and readers. As for me, shared world fiction novelist or professional PR guru or book nerd hat? Probably book nerd: I love this store and always end up buying an armful here!

SUNDAY
Anyone notice that Seattle's largest comic book convention is happening this weekend? Sadly, Sunday is the only day that I can make it. So I might miss Spock (seriously, Leonard Nimoy is expected), but I'm hoping to see the local talent like Roberta Gregory, a fellow member of Broad Universe, and visitors like David Malki of Wondermark, my favorite steampunk online comic.

No hat, just me, wandering around and enjoying the view!

Pursuing happiness

2010-03-09T18:09:00.000-08:00

When Wizards asked me whether I wanted happiness or intelligence, I asked for both. I'd like to be smart enough to recognize happiness and enjoy it where I find it. Whether writing a new book or watching the plum trees blossoming down the street.

It seems simple, but sometimes it can be the toughest formula: finding that balance that makes life enjoyable. Writing is one of those activities that does make me happy, whether blogging here or working on a new story. So I'll just keep typing.

Oh, and reading those answers over at the Wizards Community, because the author opinions there always make me smile.

Making dragons out of leaves and twigs

2010-03-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

The question asked was: what is your favorite dragon? The first and simplest answer was "topiary" although I had to elaborate and list a few more dragons I enjoy.

The topiary dragon started out as a bit of action in the City of the Dead and continued to grow like a well-trimmed shrub. Creatures tend to take over my books when I'm not paying strict attention: City was also overrun with clever cats sliding in and out of the Carver house.

Topiary seemed a natural addition to a magical graveyard. Many early examples were carved from yew trees, traditionally associated with sorrow and death. Of course, in the Forgotten Realms, topiary doesn't necessarily stay rooted in one place. So the gentleman admiring this rearing creation of living shrubbery should maybe move back a step or two.

The blurry line between YA and adult

2010-03-04T17:12:00.000-08:00

A funny discussion started earlier this week at Broad Universe about pigeonholing fiction and trying to find the right way to describe your work.

One gal mentioned that when she says that she writes fantasy, most folks assume that she means YA (young adult) or essentially Harry Potter adventures. That's not all what she writes, but when she says "No, it's adult fantasy" that conveys the wrong message too.

Myself, I often fall back on the term "sword-and-sorcery" popular back in the 20th century. Although in my last novel, City of the Dead, only one of the supporting characters uses a sword. My heroine fights her way out of trouble with a well-aimed brick and a wicker shopping basket.

My books also straddle that blurry line between YA and fantasy published for adults. In the bookstores, you will usually find my novels shelved with the other Forgotten Realms books in the "regular" section of the store labeled science fiction/fantasy. But on Amazon and other online stores, you find both the paper and the e-book versions labeled as "Young Adult."

Labels rarely concern me. For years, as a reader, I wander happily between the sections of bookstores. I'm never worried about where I found a book, just whether or not the story sounded good. But once, when leading a fantasy-loving cousin through the delights of the University Book Store in Seattle, she stopped cold outside the children's section. "How can you buy a book shelved there?" she hissed after I grabbed the latest Philip Reeve. "Ummm, it's a book that I want to read," I replied.

She still won't buy "juvenile" books: she thinks its embarrassing. Too bad, she's missing a lot of great fantasy. Including Harry Potter.

So, in conclusion, whether you are writing or reading, don't worry about the labels. Do what you will enjoy. And the story will find a home.

Trickster heroes still enchant

2010-02-28T17:52:00.000-08:00

When the question rolled around to favorite academic papers, Bruce Cordell and Jak Koke revealed their scientific side. Erik Scott de Bie combined scholarship with swordplay. Richard Byer's examined Blue Oyster Cult’s Cultosaurus Erectus as another form of science fiction.

I always liked writing papers for school. I was good at it (once I learned to type so teachers didn't have to decipher my scrawl). I'm sure I wrote serious papers on serious topics. But the one immediately popped into my mind upon being asked the question was a paper on the trickster hero starting with Odysseus and ending with Han Solo.

Because of that paper, years later, when I ended up sitting next to Caldecott Award winning artist Gerald McDermott at a luncheon for booksellers and authors, I could chat about Anansi and Coyote. And I still have a signed copy of McDermott's Coyote in my collection.

Trickster heroes are heroes who depend on their brains to get out of their problems. If living in the D&D world, they'd roll high on "fast talk" when needed. Whether Coyote, Odysseus, Raven, Br'er Rabbit, or, yes, Han Solo, these heroes are charming rogues. They may be the heroes of their own tales or sidekicks to more conventional heroes. Either way, they always spice up a story.

(And doesn't vxdigital's gorgeous close-up of a Yosemite coyote make you understand why Coyote became the trickster of the American Southwest?)

Word games we play

2010-02-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

Words power writers. Without them, life becomes a blank screen. But as much as words are our friends, they can also be frustratingly tricky little devils. Far too often, the wrong words appear. Some words just wear out their welcome.

At the Wizards Community, the Forgotten Realms authors discuss the words that we hate. But, and this is pointed out by Christopher Rowe, no words truly are loathsome. As much as I hate overusing "really" and shudder when a meeting begins with the statement "let's review the vision statement," the day may well come when I stand in dire need of a "really" to emphasize the moment or even a "vision statement."

However, if you are an aspiring writer, pay attention to Lisa Smedman's admonishment to use your words correctly. Myself, I'm ready to commit mayhem the next time that I read about Toyota's problems with their breaks. The brakes may be broke, but that is no reason to take a break from the correct usage of a word.

Nobody asked about the words that we love. Myself, I adore the half forgotten words, the oddities that once spiced up the English language but now languish between the covers of antiquarian books. In my dream library, I would own a complete, 20-volume OED. I used to visit one in my college library on a regular basis just to search for weird words. Currently, I must content myself with an enormous Webster's Dictionary (1951, unabridged, purchased quite cheap at a library sale). Now if I could only find a good dictionary stand for it!

The villains that matter: and why reading is important

2010-02-22T17:10:00.000-08:00

Over at Wizards today, we're chatting about our favorite villains. What charms me is how many of the classics slipped into the discussion. There's Irene Adler (The Woman), although her status as villain must remain something of a question. A bad girl, yes, but one that Mr. Holmes was willing to give grudging respect. As is Ed Greenwood.

Then there's Richard Baker's reference to Beau Geste, not necessarily a book that everyone has on their shelf. Well, I do and one of sequels, Beau Sabreur. P.C. Wren's novels were the original "defend your honor" by running off and joining the Foreign Legion. You might not have read the books, although they are worth hunting down, but you've probably seen at least one movie adaptation of the first novel. The most famous would be the 1939 version with Gary Cooper: yes, I've seen that and also the Doug McClure remake and the 1980s British mini-series. Give me a good Foreign Legion story and I'm there. I also recommend the 1939 Four Feathers (based on the 1902 novel). Korda gave this tale of redemption in the sand all the color panache and derring do that his movies were capable of. If you are a huge fan of Heath Ledger, check out the 2002 version, although the reworking of the story to be more politically correct leaves it a bit limp.

For some reason, when the question of villains came up, I thought immediately of Long John Silver. Not that other villains haven't made an impression on me. Almost all those listed by the other authors had me nodding and going "yes." But I was thinking about pirates that day, and to me, the absolute model of a pirate villain is the charming but deceptive Long John Silver. I think there's a good bit of his genetic make-up (conscious or unconscious) in everyone's favorite Captain Jack Sparrow.

If you're meeting Long John Silver for the very first time, try R.L. Stevenson's beautiful Treasure Island. How crazy am I about this book? Well, I own four copies including the N.C. Wyeth Scribner classic shown here. Why four? Because all have different illustrations and all show the pirates in ways that I adore.

I've also walked the coast around Monterey, where Stevenson first told this tale to a boy. There's still magic among those windswept shores, a far journey for the always frail but adventurous Scottish storywriter, weaving a tale of pirates as he waited for his lady love and his final journey to Samoa. For cinematic versions, Robert Newton as Long John Silver in the 1950s Disney film is still my absolute favorite.

Now, as you read through this long post, you might wonder why we bother with these musty old tales and century-old or more stories. Well, first of all, they are cracking good stories and one should never miss the opportunity to read a good story.

But, second, it's important to know the history of your villains and your monsters. Otherwise, you end up like poor Kayla, the hapless fan who wrote to the LatinoReview.com recently accusing Universal of ripping off Stephanie Meyer's Twilight and "uglifying" werewolves in their just released Wolfman movie.

Of course, as us students of the fantastical know, the Universal movie is a remake, loosely, of their 1941 Wolf Man movie (a bit older than Ms. Meyer and the unlucky Kayla). The mockery of Kayla's letter has been shot around the world and think how much she would have been spared if she'd just typed werewolf into Google before she sent out her complaint.

However, to avoid such mistakes and make yourself as educated as a bunch of FR authors in a chat room, sit yourself down with a good stack of werewolf novels: The Howling, Wolfen, Angela Carter's Bloody Chamber, Blood & Chocolate, or The Silver Wolf, to name just a recent few. Or some of my favorite werewolf movies like Company of Wolves, the French Brotherhood of the Wolf, or the amusing if wildly weird Underworld films. Now there's sexy good-looking werewolves and vampires for you! And once you're done with that homework, search for pirates, search for ghosts, or search for dragons in places far beyond your ordinary bookshelves (how did we miss the glorious Smaug? or his ancestor Fafner?) and then you will have plenty of villains for your own list.

Roll them bones: and then weep

2010-02-20T17:23:00.000-08:00

If you don't play D&D, you may not realize that life, death, and various states between depend upon the roll of the dice. Most importantly the 20-sided dice peculiar to the game. According to Wikipedia, such dice produce "uniform distribution of random percentages" and "can closely approximate the real probability distributions of the events they simulate."

In other words, what happens is not the whim of the dice gods but clear and simple math. HA! As any number of Forgotten Realms authors can tell you, the dice have their moods. There are days that they dislike you, there are days that they hate you, and there are days that they chortle together in their little velvet bag while plotting your defeat.

Doubt what I'm saying? Check the answers of these veterans of the dice's malevolence when asked this simple question "Do your dice hate you?"

Forgotten Realms authors: carnivores and caffeine addicts

2010-02-19T21:54:00.000-08:00

The majority of Wizards of the Coast authors and editors stand revealed as either carnivores or caffeine fiends this week. I definitely fall into the latter category: when my coffee pot broke recently and rewarded me one morning with cold water, whimpering was heard throughout the land.

Bruce Cordell bravely offers to voyage through the world without his iPhone, but, judging from his Twitter posts and other offerings on the web, I bet that going cold turkey on smartphones wouldn't last long.

I don't own any type of smartphone (I like my phones to be phones and my computers to be computers). But I am a bit addicted to online communications. I enjoy chatting away with friends from New York to Seattle online. Or catching bits of their daily routine or random thoughts through sites like Twitter.

But nothing is as good as meeting for a cup of coffee out in the real world!

That moment of silence: punctuated by a scream

2010-02-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

First thing that you have to understand about me is that I'm easily traumatized by my imagination. Back in junior high, one of my English teachers loved the Hammer horror films and used them to "teach" the classics. Scared me into a week of nightmares and almost permanent insomnia through high school. Probably these days, kids are protected from things like Vincent Price in The Pit and the Pendulum.

There was also a recording of Dracula played by a different teacher at Halloween. Fifth grade, as I recall. The bit where he is crawling up the wall....ugh! I wouldn't look out my bedroom window for a month!

So when it comes to the real horror movies of the last twenty years: I most likely haven't seen them. Blood, guts, people being hacked to bits, no thank you! Every now and then, however, I'm talked into a ghost story. I love ghost stories. I find them fascinating after spending part of my childhood in Scotland, a land populated by ghosts (at least according to our neighbors). Whether or not ghosts exist, I've certainly walked through places that felt haunted.

My favorite recent ghost story of the movie variety was The Others. I saw it with my friend Michael, a true horror aficionado who writes essays on slasher films. Guess which one of us screamed like a banshee when a door slowly swung open....to reveal.....an empty room.

After I removed my fingernails from the ceiling tiles and checked to make sure that Michael hadn't passed out due to lack of oxygen after his shriek, it got me thinking about the scariness of silence. Of how nothing can be so much more frightening than body parts and blood. So when Wizards asked about the scariest scene seen, it was that moment in The Others that immediately came to mind. You will have to supply your own scream.

The monsters we love

2010-02-13T11:54:00.000-08:00

At the Wizards' version of the Algonquin Round Table, the discussion turned to favorite monsters: the kind that you love to find complicating your adventures.

I have a sneaking fondness for kobolds, pretty much the first annoying critter that any adventurer runs into underground during your basic dungeon crawl. But sometimes you need to send your adventurers out into the wild woods and one of the best critters that I've encountered there was an invention of my friend Nathan Crowder: the arboreal kraken.

That's the nice thing about the Forgotten Realms and 4E D&D, there's always room for one more nasty creature.

Can you know too much - probably not

2010-02-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

Personally, I do not believe that there is such a thing as too much knowledge as they asked today at Wizards.com. Which is why I have spent time researching such subjects as swan napkins, graveyards, and medieval sappers using pigs as incendiary devices. It certainly keeps my local librarian happy and busy!

Erin Evans suggests that you cannot pursue a college degree in "useless trivia" but, like so many writers, she admits to her fair share of silly knowledge. And I bet it comes in handy for her day job as Eberron editor. I also have to agree with Jenna Helland: there's nothing like a sextant! Especially if you plan to write nautical fiction.

Nevertheless, I will admit that my vast knowledge of weird science fiction/fantasy TV and even odder movies might be excessive. Give me dragons flying through the sky (Reign of Fire, Dragonslayer, and on and on) or dinosaurs AND wormholes (Primeval!!) or even strange adaptions of Arabian fairy tales (Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie, ahhhhh), I will be there. It doesn't even have to be the most recent stuff, as you can tell from the Tony Curtis reference. Black-and-white movies are just fine with me. Silent films -- especially if accompanied by live music -- are a treat. Almost every science fiction show with a British accent ( Dr. Who today and yesterday, and even the brief pilot on Fox) has passed through my DVD player. Tonight, I'm checking out Ink, a new independent film with a definite fantastical bent.

It is obvious: well, maybe

2010-02-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

Today, the folks at Wizards asked what was obvious to anyone who knew us. Myself, that was easy: I'm a passionate reader and book collector. I often speak about the influences of other works on my writing as well as my own ever-growing collection of books. I even co-authored a series of books about collecting children's books: basically a great excuse to go shopping. This weekend, I ordered another three bookcases (total additional shelf space: 60" x 82") for my place. With these additional shelves, I'm hoping to finally unbox all my books.

I did have a "d'oh" moment reading through another author's answers. Jak Koke mentioned that he's known as the editor/publisher of Per Aspera. Well, yes, and I actually met Jak a few years back at some book shows and publishing meetings. But I didn't make the connection until today.

And I'm charmed to learn that Richard Baker is diehard baseball fan, willing to stick with his Phillies through the bad times as well as good. Myself, I grew up with the Mariners -- yes, some day, our day will come. My ancestors: serious Cubs fans. Obviously, a winning team is not necessary for us to sing "Take me out to the ballpark..."

Answering the three-word question: hero or villain

2010-02-06T21:59:00.000-08:00

The third question from the friendly folks at Wizards was: hero or villain?

Which was tougher to answer than you might think. After all, are they asking about my personal preferences, what I like to write, or how I would characterize my closest friends? Or my editor?

I decided they were asking about how I would characterize myself: hopefully hero. Although I've always wanted a closet full of designer black duds with cool accessories -- which plops me squarely in the villain category. Unless you go with Emma Peel look or, perhaps, Batgirl.

I particularly like Christopher Rowe's elegant answer to this conundrum, a quote from Much Ado About Nothing.

Invitations to dinner based on unexpected talents of Forgotten Realms authors

2010-02-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

I'll confess that I actually climbed through scaffolding to visit the Algonquin Hotel, scene of the famed Round Table filled with authors, quips, and cocktails in the 1920s. Sadly, those halcyon days of cheap drinks and fast talk are gone.

But I can cheerfully participate in an online discussion of much wit at Wizard's community page. Today's topic is unexpected talents. If I was planning a dinner party, I'd have to include Elaine Cunningham (for pies), Erik Scott de Bie (for cocktails), and Jaleigh Johnson (for juggling). Myself, I will guarantee enough food to feed fifty, even if it is only five or six who sit down to the table. I always overcook for large parties!

So mentally put on your slinkiest flapper dress or your sharpest suit, and wander over to WOTC's virtual Round Table for little author chit-chat.

The other FR authors will live longer when the zombies attack

2010-02-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

Looking over the answers from my fellow Forgotten Realms authors on what they will do when* the zombies attack, I think I'm crawling out from under the bed and heading in the direction of James P. Davis or Ed Greenwood. If it's summer, probably north toward Ed and his zombie-eating bears. If winter, I'm going south to find James (the bears will be hibernating).

If you're wondering where to run when the zombies apocalypse arrives, check out the amusing, entertaining, and rather enlightening answers from the Forgotten Realms authors at the Wizards Community.

*James P. Davis says to use "when" and not "if" in this scenario. And when you want to add zombies to your life, check out this Monster Manual.

Nathan Crowder gives away a book - for free!

2010-01-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

Last fall, I was invited by writer and Cobalt City creator Nathan Crowder to contribute to his Cobalt City Christmas anthology. I've been a fan of Crowder's series of novels surrounding superheroes and villains, as well as the related Manuel de la Vega mystery series.

Now Crowder is gone into the digital age with his books, even offering one for free! You can read his reasoning here. With more and more e-book readers becoming available, his reasoning for giving away books (try one, it's free, come on, what can it hurt?) seems sound to me. After all, it's how junkies are made.

So if you're looking for a mystery with Mexican masked vigilante and a man-panda sidekick, you can now read Greetings from Buena Rosa for free. Can't think of a better deal than that.

New Interview at Paper Dragon Ink

2010-01-04T17:39:00.000-08:00

The folks at Paper Dragon Ink asked some quite thought provoking questions in a recent online interview. Like "what would you do when the zombies came?" Having to answer honestly, as myself and not one of my heroines, "hide under the bed" seemed the most truthful choice.

The toughest question was coming up with one piece of art/literature/theater that everyone should experience. Couldn't do it. I have so many experiences that have contributed to being a happier person (experiences, as social scientists have discovered, do make you happier than things!).

But it's a good question. I think if I had to boil it down to one thing, I'd say "travel" -- even if that means just changing your route to and from home on a weekly basis. I played tourist this past holiday weekend in my own city and found that as much fun and as enriching as any visits elsewhere.

2009: A Year of Short Fiction, Most Being Published In 2010

2009-12-30T15:23:00.000-08:00

After finishing the final edits on City of the Dead way back at the beginning of 2009, the rest of the year seemed devoted to short fiction. With the vagaries of publishing, the story written last was published first and the rest are coming with 2010.

The final story written, but first out the gate, was "A Very Panda Christmas" in Cobalt City Christmas. This short was basically written between Halloween and Thanksgiving, and deals with the trials and tribulations of making a Christmas dinner fit for superheroes. The story currently occupies a very warm corner of my storyteller heart: mostly because I'd never considered writing a Christmas story before. Now I want to do more.

Next out and written earlier this year, "Dusty Bones" is a return to Waterdeep's graveyard and my favorite gravedigging family, the Carvers. This was a chance to spend a little more time with Leaplow Carver, a rough-and-tumble character who thinks more with his fists than his wits. Although he's capable of doing much more. The story will appear in Realms of the Dead.

A truly interesting stretch for me as a writer was "Two Out, Windigo" which will appear in the Apex horror anthology Close Encounters of the Urban Kind (April 2010). I very deliberately time tripped back to the 1940s, and the style of writers from that era. This story started in the summer and had a complete re-write in late November. Now I'm just waiting for final edits.

There's a few more stories floating out there and when they land in their final resting place, I'll post details year. I love that 2009 finished up a decade much as it began. I secured my first fiction sale with short story "The Takers" in the Phobos anthology Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown in 2002. From there, it was short fiction and novels for Wizards of the Coast and, now, more short fiction for other publishers.

Patience, practice, and a little shared world fiction helped Caine's career

2009-12-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

I'm a huge fan of Rachel Caine's series, both Weather Warden and Morganville. So I thought I'd share this terrific online interview with Caine in Author Magazine. She got her start with shared world fiction and, since then, her career has grown to include multiple original series.

And she holds down a full-time job!

What I particularly love about this interview is her discussion of the importance of patience. It's a virtue rarely lauded and one that is crucial to a happy writing career.

Guest blogging around the web and more

2009-12-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

The nice people at SeattleActor.com just added my Examiner theater column to their website: so if you're visiting from there, hello and welcome!! Mostly this website is devoted to my fiction forays. You can find the weekly theater reviews and interviews at the Examiner. There's more than 90 articles there so far. I have a mad goal of making 100 before the end of the year.

For those visiting from WOTC's Tweet yesterday, I am still writing and enjoying shared world fiction these days. Some of my mildly deeper thoughts about the joys of venturing into the unmapped corners of the Forgotten Realms and others can be found in John Ottinger's Grasping The Wind.

Swan Napkins: A Brief History

2009-12-09T01:19:00.000-08:00

Nathan Crowder is reading from Cobalt City Christmas at 8 p.m. on December 12 at the Wayward.

I wrote one of the stories contained in this fine anthology of cape, cowl, and Christmas cheer. A major plot point in my tale, quite by accident, is swan napkins. The Egyptian magician, Doctor Shadow, festoons the dinner table with these. He uses telekinetic manipulation of the material and a little sorcery to make the perfect swan napkin.

Anyone who has attempted to fold a swan napkin without the aid of magic knows that these require either Martha Stewart's supervision or a little spray starch to pull off.

The Victorians used to fold the napkin while still damp, a practice condemned in one book of manners since "the napkin must be damp at the folding, it is not always dry when shaken out. Nothing is so unhealthy as a damp napkin; it causes agony to a delicate and nervous lady, a man with the rose-cold, a person with neuralgia or rheumatism, and is offensive to every one."

Not wanting to cause agony to your guests, you may want to try the spray starch or enlist Martha's aid.

A very elaborate swan napkin can be seen in the Book of Dinner Serviettes (1873). The anonymous author advices the following to create the swan napkin shown above:

Crimp up on end of the damask in the manner of a fan [as shown left]; then fold under the other end to meet the bottom of it; then take the left side of the Serviette, and roll inwards to the centre of the fan; repeat this on the right-hand side; turn the Serviette over, and bend into the shape the part forming the head and neck of the swan; this completes the Serviette.

If you do manage to fold a swan napkin for your next dinner party, send me a photo. I'd love to see it!

Catch a little cheer in Cobalt City Christmas

2009-12-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

Find out what happens when a superhero's sidekick, who happens to be a man-panda, decides to prepare a Dickensian feast for his friends. It's all going quite well, except for a small trip to the nuclear reactor to defrost the fowl in my latest story "A Very Panda Christmas, Everyone!"

My tale is one of several set in the "Cape-and-Cowl" universe of Nathan Crowder's Cobalt City. For Christmas, Mr. Crowder kindly invited several of Seattle's more fantastical writers to play in his sandbox. The result is a little Yule treat for readers who love men who fly and women in spandex.

This is going to be a limited edition, so order now if you're looking for a little superhero fun in your stocking.

Obsessed Reader Loves City of the Dead

2009-11-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

A lively Live Journal reviewer with the wonderful nom de plume Obsessed Reader just posted a review of City of The Dead:

This is a gorgeous little standalone girls' own picaresque, equal parts Gormenghast, Discworld and the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. It's a delicious romp with a refreshingly flawed but gutsy heroine.

Well, as the author puts it, "hee" indeed! I will admit to a certain obsession with the Haunted Mansion, having visited in it in both California and Florida. The California mansion remains my favorite, probably because I happened to go through it during a rare torrential downpour and thunderstorm at Disneyland. There's nothing like a crack of real lighting as you're going through the door and realize that you and your companion are the only people left in the line. We got to ride through twice.

The Little White Dog is back for Christmas!

2009-11-19T04:50:00.000-08:00

Want the world famous "Little White Dog" bookplate to jazz up your copy of Crypt of the Moaning Diamond? It's back!! Makes a great addition to a gift too!

These free signed bookplates are available to readers who have posted comments about Crypt somewhere on the web. It can be an Amazon.com review, a post on your blog, a comment on GoodReads, or anything else you want as long as other people can see it. What you say doesn't matter.

Gift inscriptions also available. Let me know the recipient's name. Just be sure to give me enough time to get to the post office and have it mailed.

E-mail your bookplate request and the link to your comment to rosemarynovels at aol.com for your own signed copy. Don't forget to include an address!

I send the bookplates via first class mail anywhere in the world that the U.S. Post Office will deliver. There is also a bookplate available for City of the Dead, and I'm happy to send both out at the same time.

Special thanks to Matt Holmes for the cute dog drawing!

NaNoWriMo: let the night witches fly!

2009-11-01T08:33:00.000-08:00

Sometime last summer, Nathan Crowder and I began a conversation about the "night witches," the Soviet women who flew combat missions during World War II. We both find their history intriguing and discussed the endless possibilities for a novel.

Nathan wanted to do something historical, a departure from his urban fantasy/mystery novels. I was inclined to the more fantastical, something that weaved Russian mythology and folklore into this piece of aviation history.

So last summer we both pledged to start a novel about the night witches. To give ourselves a deadline, and little motivating competition, we both signed up for NaNoWriMo. You can follow our adventures at the NaNoWriMo website. Find my story "Night Witch" here and Nathan's "Flight of the Black Swan" here.

Want to learn more about the real flyers?

There's a number of articles on the web, including the Wiki article linked above. But for a great read, try A Dance with Death by Anna Noggle. Packed with interviews with the women who flew mission after mission, and returned home alive while many of their companions perished, this book captures the passion, the fear, and the courage of the women who flew to save their country.

Look for some Forgotten Realms authors in this Apex anthology

2009-10-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

This new anthology from Apex will include stories from fellow Forgotten Realms authors Erik Scott de Bie and Richard Lee Byers, among others!

Close Encounters of the Urban Kind is due out in June 2010.

Two Out, Wendigo is a bit of a homage to one of my favorite mid-century writers Mary Roberts Rinehart.

Signed books available at University Book Store Bellevue

2009-10-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

Big, big thanks to the organizers of the Emerald City Writer Conference Book Fair. Got to the table to find stacks of City of the Dead AND Crypt of the Moaning Diamond. Although City is my newer book, it was Crypt's female fighter cover that attracted the most attention.

Everyone loved it (I do too!) and copies of both books went out the door.

I signed what was left and those books will be available at the Bellevue branch of the University Book Store. Give them a call at 888-335-7323 -- they ship anywhere. But don't wait too long. There were not that many copies left!

Signing at the ECWC Bookfair, Oct. 10, 4:30 p.m.

2009-10-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

The Emerald City Writer Conference Book Fair takes place on October 10, 2009 at the Bellevue Hilton. I will be signing copies of City of the Dead and Crypt of the Moaning Diamond.

The event runs from 4:30-6:00 pm in the Skyview Ballroom and includes signing opportunities with more than fifty best selling and award winning authors including Cherry Adair, Susan Anderson, Claire Delacroix, Robert Dugoni, Yasmine Galenorn, Lisa Jackson, Susan Mallery, Bob Mayer, Katie MacAlister, Jane Porter, Christine Warren and many more. This is a free event and open to the public.

The Bellevue Hilton is located at 300 112th Avenue SE in Bellevue, Washington. Their phone number is 425-455-1300.

Getting ready for a book signing at Emerald City Writers Conference

2009-09-28T16:04:00.001-07:00

You might not be expecting to find a Forgotten Realms novelist at the Emerald City Writers Conference -- as the conference is organized by the local chapter of RWA (Romance Writers of America). But I'll be there at the Book Fair, happily signing copies of City of the Dead and Crypt of the Moaning Diamond, on October 10.

Over the years, the lines between genres have grown fuzzier and fuzzier. These days, many of the "romance" writers are focusing on and talking about fantasy, science fiction, and, of course, vampires. Blame it on Twilight, Buffy, or Anne Rice, but paranormal is hot, hot, and hot for the publishers, the editors, and the writers in this field. I find many readers also perfectly willing to read multiple genres.

At the EWC Book Fair, you can find cross-over stars like Yasmine Galenorn. Or authors like my friend Phoebe Matthews, whose Mudflat Series is far more urban fantasy than romance (although her hero is one CUTE blonde barbarian).

So I'm packing my bags for Bellevue, making sure that I have extra business cards in the purse, and looking forward to spending a long weekend with the ladies of EWC in October. This year's conference is sold out, but you might be able to attend the Book Fair. Check the website for more information.

Got a question about the Realms: ask at Loremaster.org

2009-09-09T22:34:00.000-07:00

Matt James has created a "perpetual interview" with the authors and game designers who play in the Forgotten Realms.

Got a question for the Realms' creator Ed Greenwood? Or for me about writing for Wizards? Just follow Matt's directions and your question will be mailed to the author of your choice, answered, and then posted on the loremaster.org site.

It's a lot of fun to pick other authors' brains. I've been e-mailing my oddball questions to the other WOTC authors for years. Round up your questions and fire them off!

Signed copies of Crypt and City available from University Book Store

2009-09-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

Some nice readers have e-mailed me that they enjoyed City of the Dead so much that they are now looking for a copy of Crypt of the Moaning Diamond (my first Forgotten Realms novel). Please believe no author ever gets tired of e-mails like that!

Crypt is still in print. If your local bookstore doesn't have a copy, they can probably order it for you. If you'd like a signed copy of the book, one of my favorite Seattle bookstores still has a few copies left on their shelves. Call University Book Store at 1-800-335-READ.

If you're in Seattle, be sure to drop by the Ave branch of the store to check out their comprehensive science fiction/fantasy selection on the second floor. I'm not sure how Duane packs so much into so few shelves (I suspect quantum physics or basic sorcery), but the selection of great titles is amazing. Also, as almost every Northwest and passing author does signings for the store, it's easy to add to your collection of signed books there.

I've attended readings there for amazing authors from everyone's favorite actor with a big chin, Bruce Campbell, to writing legends like Terry Pratchett. I missed Carlos Ruiz Zafon when he visited, but was able to pick up a signed copy of The Angel's Game from the store.

City of the Dead in Fantasy Magazine contest

2009-08-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

Robinson sent me a note yesterday pointing out that City of the Dead is in a Fantasy Magazine contest for the top 20 books that "you think most likely to hook someone who doesn’t usually read fantasy."

Which is very nice, as I hope people can enjoy this book from all angles: both as fantastic magical journey through Waterdeep's graveyard and as an adventure story.

Thank you, Robinson, for nominating City of the Dead and sending the link. I spotted more than a dozen favorite authors on the "first picks" list, so I feel like I'm in excellent company, even if City of the Dead never gets past that first round.

Actually, just being listed between Diana Wynne Jones and Robert Jordan makes me feel a little giddy.

City of the Dead reviewed around the world

2009-07-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

The reviews are starting to arrive for City of the Dead.

"If you're a fan of fantasy fiction and have, know, are, or have ever been a teen girl, this should be on your shelf. If you like a fun story masterfully told, that goes double."
Nathan Crowder, author of the Manual de la Vega mysteries, on Amazon.com

"The City of the Dead holds more fun than a clan of mischievous kobolds poking sticks at a Gold Dragon's bum whilst clamouring in uncharacteristically plucky fashion 'you're not that tough bullion boy!' A great addition to the Forgotten Realms library!"
Paul Billinghurst, "Shadowaxe" (The Dark Fortress, UK) on Amazon.co.uk

"Rosemary Jones is rapidly becoming a writer to seek out...Her tale of an ordinary young woman seeking her family's best interests is exciting and out of the ordinary and I highly recommend City of the Dead to both long-time Forgotten Realms fans and newcomers alike."
John Ottinger, Grasping the Wind

"None of the descriptions I've read about Rosemary Jones' book City of the Dead really do it justice or prepare you for the story within. While some, like the back of the book cover, are technically correct, they just don't impart the lighthearted yet multi-layered feel of the book."
W. Robinson Mason, World of Hadanus

"Worth reading if you like magic and heroes and want the white knight to be female. And believable."
Doris, Goodreads.com

And a great "I'm not sure what this book is, but I like it" review at Barnes & Noble.

"Like plenty of other books where pure brute force and show of arms saves the day, this book does not have it so...well, entirely. There is action, don't get me wrong, but the story itself does not require it in heavy doses. I enjoyed this book quite well, and I recommend it for a short thrill. Also, the writing is superb compared to most other Forgotten Realms books."
Sekhemkhet, Barnes & Noble

*****

If you spot a review, good or bad, and think I should see it, just post the link here.

*****

Standing in the aisles at University Book Store

2009-07-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

Erik and I had a great time reading, kidding around (he's a very good sport!), and signing copies of our Forgotten Realms novels at the University Book Store on July 8. Lots of folks showed up, most of the chairs were full and there were even a few lurking in the aisles. After the event wrapped at 8 pm, there was still more chatting on the sidewalk and then over to one of the Ave's many eateries for some late dinner.

If you didn't make the event but would like a signed copy of the book, you can still get one from their science fiction section. Warning: Duane has one of the greatest collections in Seattle of both recently published and old favorites. So browsing will cost you -- I spent over $35 in the first ten minutes of being in the store!

Check out University Book Store at: www.bookstore.washington.edu

It's definitely worth a trip if you're in Seattle! They do mail order too.

Signing at University Bookstore July 8: Two Realms Authors, One Event

2009-06-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time (as all good tales begin), Erik Scott de Bie and Rosemary Jones entered a Wizards of the Coast contest . . . and promptly lost.

But something in our wildly different styles (dark fantasy and swashbuckling silly) appealed to the Wizard editors.

Now, we are both stalking through Waterdeep. If you like it dark and full of intrigue, try Erik's DOWNSHADOW. Want something spooky and sassy? That's CITY OF THE DEAD (by me!).

Come meet both authors and learn how we ended up writing fantasy for Wizards of the Coast, our suggestions for launching your writing career (or your suggestions for us!), chit-chat, and other silly stuff. Erik claims that there may be other revelry afterwards on his blog.

How we lost a contest and ended up in Waterdeep!

Erik Scott de Bie and Rosemary Jones
JULY 8, 2009: 7 p.m.
University Book Store
4326 University Way NE
Seattle , WA 98105

Yes, there is a free bookplate for City of the Dead

2009-06-10T19:36:00.001-07:00

Those who received the Crypt of the Moaning Diamond bookplate know that my bookplates come with more than an author's scrawling signature. There's an appropriate motto for the book and a little original illustration. I will mail the new City of the Dead bookplates to anywhere in the world that the post office delivers.

The catch? You knew there was a catch, right? You have to write something about the City of the Dead -- it doesn't have to be long (a sentence is fine) -- but it does have to be viewable on the web. Say whatever you want. Then send me the link and you've earned a bookplate. See, it's a lot easier than racing through a graveyard with a werewolf following you!

If you missed the Crypt of the Moaning Diamond bookplate and would like to add that your collection, the same rules apply. Just write something about the book and send me the link with your bookplate request!

The new City of the Dead bookplate is available now. Just e-mail the link to your comment to rosemarynovels at aol.com for your own signed copy. Don't forget to include an address!

For those who want to learn more about the history of bookplates and the image in this post, check this article. Frankly, I think George's cherub* looks like something that you might encounter at the better class of graveyard.

*This is not the image that you will receive on your bookplate.

UPDATE 2012

Yes, signatures and funny inscriptions continue for the e-books! Go here on Kindlegraph.com to request an inscription.

And the winners are....

2009-06-04T21:17:00.001-07:00

I received more than forty entries for City of Dead. Each entry was printed out and added to one of three groups: Candlekeep, My Space, and Blog. All were combined for the grand prize of two books.

Now all I needed was an impartial person to pick the names out of a bag. What would be better than a fellow writer?

Meeting at a secret location in Seattle, which oddly resembled a doughnut shop, Erik Scott de Bie, author of Downshadow, bravely plunged his hand into the bag four times, pausing for dramatic effect as I fumbled with the camera. He drew the following names.

Drumroll.....and the winners are:

Mike Drozdowski: City of the Dead and Realms of Dragons II
Tim Cassibo: City of the Dead [Castlekeep entry]
Christopher Heard: City of the Dead [Blog entry]
John Bragna: City of Dead [My Space entry]

Thank you again to everyone who entered! Because you entered you automatically qualify for a free bookplate for City of the Dead. If you want a bookplate sent to you, just e-mail me at rosemarynovels at aol.com.

Drawing closed, come back June 5

2009-06-03T06:21:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone who entered the drawing for City of the Dead. The winners will be announced June 5.

Until then, walk carefully past the tomb doors and watch out for the shrubbery!

A bookplate will be mailed to anyone who entered in the contest. Once again, this bookplate is an author exclusive, with a great illustration and a fun admonishment for readers. And it's signed. And free! I pay the postage.

Didn't enter the contest? Still want the free bookplate? Post a comment about City of the Dead somewhere on the web, such as a Amazon.com review or GoodReads comment or blog post, and send the link to rosemarynovels at aol.com. Doesn't matter what you say but do say something. I ship the bookplates anywhere in the world that the U.S. Post Office delivers.

City of the Dead is almost here: and I'm giving away a free book

2009-05-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

Found this blog? Want a copy of City of the Dead? I'm giving away a copy to someone who reads this page.

How do you enter the drawing? Easy. Post a comment here on why you want a copy. I'll randomly draw a name and mail a free, signed copy to that person.

Don't post names, addresses, or personal information. I'll contact you if you win for the mailing address. Just tell me why you want to go exploring in the City of the Dead with Sophraea Carver and Gustin Bone.

UPDATED INFORMATION ON DRAWING

I'll be giving away four copies total: you can enter once here, once at my MySpace page, and once at Candlekeep to increase your chances. But one entry only at each place and you must follow the rules as posted on those places. The rules here say put a comment to enter your name -- in case you were wondering, it's a bit different at the other two spots and, yes, you have to hunt this out for yourself (think of it as a little adventuring!).

I'll separate out the Candlekeep, My Space, and blog entries into three little hats and one person from each group will win a book. If one person wins more than once, I'll go to the next person and so on. So three books will be given away to three individuals. Confused? Don't be. Books will be flying out the door.

Fellow author Erik Scott de Bie will draw the winners out of a hat. Erik and I also will sign Realms of Dragons II, which will be included in the fourth drawing (everyone will go into that hat) and one person will get both City and Realms of Dragons II.

Have fun! You have until June 2 to post your comments. I do reserve the right to delete any comments deemed inappropriate.

Back at Swan Lake again

2009-04-14T23:20:00.000-07:00

I went back to Swan Lake this week. Which inspired a review at the Examiner.com. I'd seen this production when it premiered back in 2003. At the time, my writer's group was experimenting with ways to update fairy tales. So, naturally, I picked the Black Swan's story.

So there you go. One art event, two different styles of writing. Still only one Rosemary.

I'm #5 in Paper Ephemera

2008-12-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

Today I did what authors shouldn't do. I checked my ranking on Amazon.com. As usual, the overall ranking was humbling. But I find that in the sublists, I've actually cracked the top 10 in one category: Paper Ephemera.

Encyclopedia of Collectible Children's Books was sitting at the #5 spot today. Who knows how high or how low it will go tomorrow. But for today, I'm going around feeling euphoric about ephemera.

You can check out the rankings and other information about the Encyclopedia at Amazon.com.