2008 World Science Fiction Convention (Denvention 3)

Originally posted HERE

I often get so busy that my blogs become a huge info dump of my month. This time, I’ll just blog about my week. I got back from the 2008 World Science Fiction Convention (Denvention 3) safe and sound. The WorldCon was much smaller than the last one I went to in LA, 2006, but it was still fun. The ConSuite was extremely large. Lots of food and people. I met agents, authors, publishers, etc. I got some great pictures with Robert Silverberg, Lois McMaster Bujold, Connie Willis, Gay and Joe Haldeman, Carol Berg and others. Click on the Author's links to view the picture. To see more WorldCon pictures go to the “Photos / Videos” of my website (www.paraworlds.com) or to my MySpace page. I’ll probably post some of them here in the future.

On Friday, I spoke on a panel called “Publicity: Who's Job is it Anyway?” The panelists were Joy Ward, Roy Gray, Astrid Anderson Bear, Matthew Peterson, Ben Bova (who didn’t show up) and Pierce Watters. I’m including a video of the panel below. Enjoy!

WorldCon, Here I Come!

I'm just about to leave for the World Science Fiction Convention in Denver, Colorado, but I thought I'd post a blog about the press release and newsletters I just sent. If you're not on my newsletter group... you best hop on board! Here's the newsletter:

http://www.paraworlds.com/newsletter/2008-08.php

Here's the press release. Basically, I'm speaking at the WorldCon in room 506 on Friday at 4 PM about publicity with Ben Bova and some others. It should be fun!

http://www.paraworlds.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=377#377

I'm sort of bummed because I wasn't able to find a roommate for the WorldCon this year. That means I'll be paying full price for my hotel. Oh, well. I've been invited to a couple of parties already, so I'm excited.

Fever, Camping, Squeaky the Frog, Comic Con, Newspaper

Originally posted HERE

Life is still busy, but I thought I'd post what's been going on lately. I just got over a week long fever. I rarely get sick, so it was frustrating. I also just got back from a 5-day camping trip with my family. I played a joke on my boys this morning. Yesterday they caught a bunch of tadpoles. After they went to bed I found a frog (I named him "Squeaky" because his croak was more of a cute little squeak). Well, I hid all of my boy's tadpoles, and in the morning I told them that the tadpoles ate each other (which they do) and only one survived. I then showed them Squeaky. You should have seen their eyes!

On another note, I got invited to be the guest author at a comic book convention (Tri-county Comic Con) in Florida. They'll fly me down and pay for my stay there. It should be fun. I had to miss the last comic convention I got invited to because of my North Carolina book tour. I've never actually been to a comic book convention, so I'm excited.

Last but not least, here's a great article in the Daily Herald (a large newspaper in Utah) about one of my school visits I did in American Fork.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/274370/

Honorable Mention at the Hollywood Book Festival!

Originally posted HERE

I had a fever for nearly a week (got up to 104 degrees), and it just ended today (I hope). Yeah, I probably should have gone to the doctor, but I had other things I had to do instead (like take my family to Sedona for a vacation). I've never been sick for so long before, so I'm glad it's over.

I just discovered that my fantasy book, Paraworld Zero, got another honorable mention this week (that's four now!). This latest one came from the Hollywood Book Festival in the "Teenage" category. Have you heard the phrase "Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride?" I feel like my book is "Always an honorable mention, but never a winner..." It's nice to be honored, but it would be nicer to... well, you know... win!

I'm going to enter my audiobook into a couple of contests next month. I really think it has a chance at winning. I won't find out until next year, of course. That's the problem with writing contests: they take forever! I entered these book contests over 6 months ago. Out of the 6 contests I entered, I received honorable mentions in 4 of them, didn't place at all in 1 of them, and am still waiting on the results on the last one. Not bad, really. I shouldn't be complaining.

http://www.hollywoodbookfestival.com/winners.htm

Dropped my publisher, Sony Reader, Audiobook, NY

Originally posted HERE

Wow! A lot of things happened in June.

1. I cancelled my contract with Windstorm Creative. Yep. It's true. Things just weren't working out with distribution (lots of orders were not getting fulfilled), I didn't get paid, and I didn't get my complementary books. It was time for me to leave and find a new publisher that could handle large book orders. Several publishers said they'd get back with me in July or August, including publishers in India, Estonia, and Canada. Several agents are looking at my book as well. No contracts have been signed yet. I'm a little frustrated with the whole deal, but I'm crossing my fingers that a big publisher will pick me up. My book was a bestseller and placed in several contests, after all.

2. I signed a contract with Sony for the eBook rights. Paraworld Zero will be on Sony's website and their Sony Reader soon. I just sent them the files today. Two other eBook companies have approached me.

3. I finished the audiobook of Paraworld Zero! It has about 100 character voices in it and is very professional. For the next two weeks, I'm selling the MP3-CD's for only $5 and the DVD-MP3 for $8. I'm shipping them for $1.50. Believe me, I'll never do this again, so buy them while they're hot. The price is going up to $30 next month. To participate, go to http://ParaWorlds.com/sample/ (ignore the coupons and prices on that page) and use the following codes when you check out: newsletter08cd for the $5 CD and newsletter08dvd for the $8 DVD.

4. Since Paraworld Zero got an honorable mention at the New York Book Festival, I decided to fly over to New York and sign books at the festival. It was fun, frustrating (my flight was delayed), but exciting. I'd never been to New York before. I couldn't believe how green it was.

Paraworld Zero gets another Honorable Mention, Sony eBook Reader, Audiobook

I feel like the "Honorable Mention King!" Paraworld Zero just got its third honorable mention in the past 30 days. This time from the New York Book Festival. I'll actually be at the festival on Saturday. I'll be signing books and I might be speaking. If anyone is going to be there, stop by my booth and say hi!

Also, Sony sent me a contract last week for my book to go on their Sony eBook Reader and website. I assume that will be available soon.

And.... The audiobook will be finished this week!!! Pre-order the audiobook right now to get it half off. http://www.paraworlds.com/sample/

Status on Jared's Surgery

Originally posted HERE

My baby, Jared, had four procedures done at the hospital yesterday. When they tried to take the breathing tube out, he wouldn't breath, so they had to keep him there all day. He was going to stay overnight, but he finally decided to breathe on his own.

He's home now but is in a lot of pain. They did surgery on his "manly area" (ouch) and worked on his ears and throat. Since he was already under, they decided to put tubes in his ears at the last minute. He's a little trooper. Last time he had these types of procedures, he was in pain for two months (He recovered faster from his heart surgery than the other surgeries). Anyway, I'm glad to have him home.

I should also mention that this month Jared has finally started to eat a little (he's 19 months old). He can now sit up from a laying-down position (with a lot of effort), although he doesn't roll over yet. And when we hold him up, he tries to walk... if he's motivated enough. It's very cute. He's in hypergrowth! I hope his surgery doesn't put an end to all of that. A year ago he was drinking from a bottle (finally) but after the last surgery on his "manly area," he never drank again from a bottle and refused to eat until just recently. He has a feeding tube in his stomach, for those of you who don't know.

We've also discovered that he'll need heart surgery again in the next year or two. That means they'll crack open his ribs again. Arrg. It sounds like he'll need several more heart surgeries until his heart stops growing. He's not out of the woods yet.