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Saturday, December 6, 2014

IT'S DECEMBER! How'd that happen?

It's been a busy year and that made it just fly by. Now it's December and I've got just one more event left for the year. Where better to wrap it up than Las Vegas.

That's right, three of the Wyked Women who Write are heading to Vegas on December 13th for a book signing at Barnes and Noble Henderson.  Can't hardly wait to be back with the friends I found there during CombatCon 2014.

So as a recap of the year... here's just a few pics.

Debuted the new books.

Got to feel up Adrian Paul's chest at DarkCon 2014


Took the new books to the Glendale Chocolate Festival and Tucson Festival of books
 
 
Admired a Man in Blue at Phoenix Comic-Con
 
 
Studied up on various combat arts at CombatCon 2014 in Vegas
 
Had lunch with Loki and Thor at San Diego Comic-Con
 
 
Then there was HawaiiCon, or otherwise known as Comic-Con on the Beach
 
 
I'm short-changing you all just a little bit as far as where I was with the photos. I was also at LepreCon, CopperCon, TusCon41 and Tucson Comic-Con, this year.
 
Now to put together next year's schedule. I'm already confirmed for several of the above events in 2015, so keep an eye out on the schedule and for new release(s) in 2015.
 
Hope to see some of you in Henderson (Las Vegas) on Dec 13th.
 
Love ya'all.
 
 

Monday, September 22, 2014

Comic-Con in Paradise

As an author, we travel to many Cons throughout the year. Some local, some a great distance, and some at a great expense, so they'd better be worth it.   HawaiiCon 2014 was worth it!
It starts with the wonderful views from the hotel. As this is a Destination Con, you need to plan in a few extra days to enjoy what the island offers, before the Con even begins. This was a beachfront hotel, even from the most distant corner of the hotel...

Though you can see the main part of the hotel is directly over the pool area...
With the beach only steps away from the pool, separated by the beautiful gardens...

 
This Comic-Con arranges a number of events outside the panel rooms, from scuba diving with the stars, boat excursions, to helicopter flights over the Big Island. At times you came so close to the canyon walls you could almost reach out and touch them...
 
 
But the pilot took us to locations on the island only reachable by air...

 
To see waterfalls that fell so far you couldn't capture them in just one photo...

 
Or to black sand beaches where waterfalls met the sea...

 
But this landscape reflects the wondrous and terrifying beauty of our planet so many of us take for granted. Here new land is born. 

 
But back to HawaiiCon...  In one section of the hotel is the conference center. This is the beautiful courtyard, surrounded by ballrooms, meeting room and places just to relax in the tropical breezes of the island. All is quiet as registration begins and staffers post panel schedules. As calm and quiet as this all appears, it's only minutes before the throngs of people start to appear. And they do...
 
 
For a new Con, it was expected to draw in a modest number of people. After all, it's on an island in the middle of the pacific. There's going to be a lot of locals attending and a few brave souls who braved airports, TSA and luggage fees to get here.  I don't think they were ready for nearly 700 people to show up. Even so, it was well organized and not even a puff of smoke to be seen from the undoubted numerous fires they were running to put out.
 
Opening ceremonies was held in the large ballroom, to a packed house. Never seen that before. King-size Kudos to the organizers and attendees. The Hawaiian ceremony at kickoff was unique and special, again, unexpected.
 
As an author I can honestly say that we dread being the first official panel of any Con. You know, that panel at 5pm on Friday... worse if it starts on Thursday. You really only expect to see... hmmmm... 4 people.
 
I was the lucky recipient of "FIRST PANEL". I planned it out, great topic, game and prizes. I was going to discuss how "Women are NOT Wrecking Science Fiction". I got there, laid out the prizes, my books and name tent on the table, then watched as people trickled in... then more people... and more people.
 
Afraid it was fluke I took this picture before I started the panel, and they kept coming in, until the room was full. It was a rocking room full of wonderful people. LOVE you all. We had a great discussion on Women in Science Fiction, played "Who's your Favorite". Everyone who played got a prize, then I gave away the grand prize of 2 books. The first woman of Science Fiction, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. And the funniest woman in Science Fiction, Gini Koch and vol. 1 of her Kitty Kat series-Touched by an Alien.
 

 
 
Panels were great. I spoke on 3 and moderated 2 more, attended others, like Richard Hatch and Walter Koenig, but of course there were costumes galore. I met Alice in Wonderland...
 
 
And she met an adorable Bat Girl...

 
My best costume went to Capt. Hook and Tinkerbell. What a great father/daughter combo. Major daddy points for this guy.

 
All the costumes were great. Some I'd have smothered in, being a hot spell in Hawaii this particular weekend, but it didn't stop the Cosplayers at all. Just wish my camera memory card didn't fill up. My bad, forgot to delete old photos and didn't have the cable I needed to upload them to my computer.




 
And for those expecting the Luau performance, I managed to grab some video, before my camera cut me off. It was a great group who performed all types of Polynesian dance,  not just Hawaiian. I'd let you see it, but Blogger isn't letting me download the file... too big.  I'll try to post it on Facebook.
 
 
So, in conclusion... FABULOUS COMIC-CON. Plan for this one in your future.
 
 
And the winner of my "Whose Your Favorite Woman Science Fiction Author" contest is....
 
 
E.L. F.
 
Contact me with shipping into for your HawaiiCon 2014 Swag Bag.


Monday, September 1, 2014

It's September! OH, NO!

Not that it really matters today. Temps are expected to be 110 degrees, but we KNOW we'll see lower temperatures coming. At least a little lower. I tell people we have two seasons here, hot and hotter. Thank God I'm an author, and not a landscaper or other outside professional.

So, what does September mean to me as I sit in front of my keyboard...

3/4ths of the year is gone and I'm feeling a bit unproductive. Yes, I've written a lot this year and have several projects in the fire, but they weren't screaming at me to devote every waking hour to their lives. Until SDCC. During the drive I was chatting a premise out with my BFF Gini Koch and her PA Joseph Gaxiola.  I retold a 'true story' I'd heard way back when I was in the military and how I wanted to make it into a SF story.

Sometimes ideas just needs to be said out loud, because the next thing she asked was 'what's that noise' was coming from the back of the car. It was me on my laptop. Characters and voices were shouting out the story and I've been rocking the first draft.

There's still appearances to make.
Sept 12-14 I'm at HawaiiCon (Comicon on the Beach).
TusCon Oct 31- Nov 2 in Tucson.
Tucson Comicon Nov 7- 9th.
Then on December 11th we go to Las Vegas, my BFFs Gini Koch and Sharon Skinner for the B&N Wyked Women who Write Booksigning at the Henderson Barnes and Nobel on December 13th.
With all this, it doesn't look like my annual retreat will happen this year, so I better make the best of my Hawaii trip.

Then preplanning for 2015.
While I have to spend every minute I can writing, I also have to attend the many Cons that take place, and there are so many. However, I do have a life outside of writing.  Really I do.  I have to have my other knee replaced in February, finally. And I have to plan a military reunion for April. As the Phx resident where our reunions take place (we were all stationed at Gila Bend), I've done the planning in prior reunions and will continue to do so unless someone else volunteers. That's not a hint to my GBAFAF followers. I love doing it.

So, while I say writing is not my only activity, it doesn't ever leave my brain. I'm always thinking 'what's next?' and when can I politely return to my keyboard, because the characters can get you a bit schizophrenic if you ignore them too long. Right now they're screaming at me to get back to where I left them lingering over their scene, while another part of my brain is screaming that I have a rocking panel set up for HawaiiCon and I'm not ready for it.

I have research to do, but maybe my friends can help me out with that. I'm compiling a list of the BEST Women Science Fiction Authors, your favorites. Tell me who makes YOUR list and win a prize. That's right... Follow the blog, enter your BEST of the Best and I'll do a drawing for a winner. Deadline is Sept 17th.

I'll announce the winner when I get back from Hawaii.







Sunday, August 3, 2014

I went, I saw, and Comic-Con Still Kicked my Butt

Yes, it's a week since San Diego hosted the world's best Geek Fest, Comic-Con International.

I went over with Gini Koch and Joseph Gaxiola, and commenced to step into this weird and wonderful world of costumes, movies, books, comics and everything else. I had so much fun, some of it is only a blur, so forgive me if I'm not putting out my usual attempts at witty banter, but let me share some pictures of the array of CosPlayers.

Where to start...  Well, I just LOVE the kids. They are so young, but so into it. You have to give them extra points for their youthful excitement. And the parents kudos for encouraging them.



 
From the comic and Disney realm we had everyone you can imagine...
 
 

 
 
 
From SteamPunk to Apocolyptic, to the Future...



Got to throw in the army of aliens, starting with these...



Yeah, the Klingons figured out time travel and joined up with a pirate

Yeah, this is YaYa from Hero's of Cosplay
 




Then, while passing through the 'greenhouse' section of the top floor, I stopped in from of the large tubes of cold air being blasted into the room. A minute later a Doctor stopped in front of me, then a second one, then a third. It grew to 6 doctors, none of them working as a group, which made it all the more funny. As I got my camera out, two of the doctors had to leave, but here's the others...

However, two guys stood out for me. I had the pleasure of chatting with them for quite a while and the one insisted he just didn't see the resemblance between him and his character. Is he CosPlaying, or is he real?
You decide...
 
So that's was the photo fun of Comic-Con.  Now I have to let my Swag Bag winner know they'll be receiving a fun bag of goodies from this Comic-Con.  Maybe next year it will be you...





 

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

There be Aliens Out There



That's what NASA is hoping to find in the next 20 years, with the launch of their new satellite. What form of confirmation will it be? Distant images of planets with the right atmospheres to encourage some type of life forms, or something grander, like an actual signal or some sort.

Of course some people believe we've had contact for decades, maybe centuries, maybe eons of time. They might even live among us. Scientists are split about contact... either it will happen, it never will happen, or "Please, God, save us from any aliens who do find us".

We Science Fiction authors certainly play with the literary possibilities. I'm probably in the 'Yes, it will happen, but not in our lifetimes' and the 'Oh, Shit!' camps. Asked about it on panels, two big question come into my mind: Why would they want to contact us?

First, if they're listening to us at all, they're hearing some of the first broadcasts we put out into the ether, so they're hearing a lot of "To the moon, Alice. To the moon" and "Ricky". Not too sure how that message would translate. Then there's all the news broadcast depicting our violence on ourselves, leaving them asking: Gee, if they're that mean to each other, how would we treat them?

Then there's the question of: Why would they want to come here?

If they're able to get here, they'd be a lot further advanced than us, so what motives are behind their visit. Seems like a long way to come just to say 'Howdy!' Judging by our radio signals, we're discouraging any 'peaceful' reason, unless they're super brave. That leaves a darker motive to consider, that we have something they want.

Our natural resources of water, oxygen, minerals and ores. Or our physical resources, millions of slaves, because that would be considered the natural order of things. Our whole planet?

If the motives are dark, they'd probably be better off terraforming the entire planet and wiping us out in the process, because humans just aren't a very nice species to deal with, yet. I say that hoping that as we get older, we get wiser and gentler. However, keeping that primal mean streak might be what saves us from evil alien overlords. There will always be part of us that will conspire against the yokes of slavery, dragging the rest of humanity with us.

Now CONTEST TIME.

We've explored where my mind goes, what do you think?  Answer me this by the July 31, 2014 and you'll be entered into a contest to win a prize. Don't know what that is yet, but I'm going to be at San Diego ComiCon International all next week. So one lucky winner is going to get whatever special prize I bring back. It'll have to be a surprise, just like the aliens.

 

What form will first contact take?

Send your answers in the comments below, or to my email address, tlsmith@tlsmithbooks.com

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Boiling Hot in Phoenix

Yes, summer has arrived, bringing triple digits, but also some pretty damn good Cons. If you've read my prior postings, you've seen there's a decent line up for the year and it's still in flux with new opportunities, so stay posted.

Here's a recap of what I've done since the Tucson Festival of Books:

I released my Slice of Sci-Fi article You and the Horse You Rode in On, featuring some pretty cool guests authors, like:
Ben Bova
L.E. Modesitt
Gini Koch
Weston Oches
Bruce Davis
 
Check it out at:  http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2014/05/12/ask-5-friends-packing-for-a-new-world/

LepreCon 2014 was May 8-11. I did a blur of panels, loving them all. It was great seeing so many friendly faces, meeting new people and missing those who couldn't make it this year. There were great authors, fascinating artists, fab costumes and a great array of dealers.

Then came Phoenix Comicon 2014.  Last year was 55k in attendance. This year 77k! The Guest line-up was pretty phenomenal, with Stan Lee, Nathan Fillion, John Barrowman, and soooooo many others that my fingers would wear out typing them.  Of course our - Wyked Women who Write - were totally represented. The wonderful Gini Koch, Jordan Summers, Marsheila Rockwell, Sharon Skinner and Tina (T.M.) Williams. While scattered about a bit, we were all there.
Joseph manning Gini's table while she was off at panels

And the gorgeous Jordan Summers was a total hit.

Across from us were Weston Oches, Yvonne Navarro and David Lee Summers. This made for a busy stretch through Author Row, as they brought their latest releases for the Phoenix Comicon attendees.
Sorry if it's a bit blurry. Sometimes my phone doesn't want to focus,
no matter how many times I take the shot.

Not only was the guest lineup better, so were the costumes. Phoenix has definitely hit the CosPlay map. I managed a few pictures to share, but did spend most my time helping my friends with their tables, so by the time I got my camera up on the phone, they'd already passed us by.
Everyone knows I love a man in uniform.

And a well-dressed dog too.

And then there's our men in blue..

Then there's the AfterCon get-togethers. If you've ever rolled with Gini Koch, you know that includes food and drinks. We hit up Hanny's a few times. They're open late and have great drinks and food. Then the big dinner at District, who hand out the cotton candy after dinner.
Sometimes I have to fight Gini for my share.


Exhausted from what is becoming one of the best Comicons in the country, I only got a two day's rest before I had to pack my little truck again and head for CombatCon 2014 in Las Vegas.
14 years old but looks and acts like she's only 4.

At Combat Con 2014, at the Riviera Hotel, they have these fabulous Skyboxes that overlook the exhibition floor. They sectioned off areas for different lessons and tournaments. You could watch from the floor, or from above, making for a pretty cool spot to have lunch and a show. There are a great mix of battle presentation hosted by real stuntmen and martial artists. I found them very helpful for character development.

So, now it's nearly July. I get a few weeks rest before heading off with Gini Koch to San Diego Comicon, along with Joseph. I promise to take a real camera and bring back better pictures.

After that will be an appearance at CopperCon 2014, then a brand new con for me.... HawaiiCon 2014, yes, Comicon on the Beach. I so can't wait and will probably do a whole blog on that one all by itself. At the end of October will be TusCon 2014 and a week later, Tucson Comicon 2014.

Then, while I'm still working out the details for December, most, if not all the Wyked Women who Write, Gini Koch, Marsheila Rockwell, Jordan Summers, Sharon Skinner, Tina Williams, and ME, are going to the Henderson Barnes and Noble for a group book signing. Henderson, as in LAS VEGAS, baby!

Watch out Vegas. This one you all have to keep an eye out for. I might not be posting pictures of this one, since "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas". So you better be there to catch any incriminating moments.


Friday, May 30, 2014

Springing into Summer

While many of our friends were holed up or digging out of their winter and terrible swinging spring, we have more of the usual here in Arizona, sunny with a chance of breezes. Being originally from the mid-west, I sympathize with all my friends in other parts of the country.

So don't hate on me as I go into some recaps for this year.

January first saw the release of my two novellas, Defending Hippotigris and Scent of Treachery.




Just in time for DarkCon 2014. Had a great time with so many of my friends, and got to feel up the GOH, Adrian Paul from Highlander.



In March we braved the cool, breezy 80's at the Tucson Festival of Books. I was side-by-side with my besties, Gini Koch and Marsheila Rockwell, and a whole crew of writers from our Phoenix crew.

It was my first time there and loved it. Got an excellent location and met so many new readers. Including a sweetheart of a young man, Matt, who bought books for his girlfriend Jennifer. Books live on after flowers die. Heard from Jennifer about a week later. She loved her books and agreed she had a pretty darn good boyfriend.

Met lots of other authors too, in particular, Ben Bova, a Science Fiction icon. I got up the nerve to ask him to contribute to my column "Ask 5 Friends" on www.sliceofscifi.com  Worst he could say was no, right? But he didn't. He agreed to be one of my "Friends" (danced back to my booth on cloud nine). So, keep an eye out for the release of You and the Horse You Rode in on, possibly late May. My other four "Friends" are L.E. Modesitt (Yes, I got him too), Gini Koch, Weston Ochse and Dr. Bruce Davis.

With TFoB such a success, I'm signed up for next year and headed home to write for a few undistracted weeks before the summer events get started. I need to get another novella written and finish up another novel for my agent, while she shops the ones already in her hot little hands.

As for summer events, LepreCon takes place over Mother's Day weekend, our local SciFi/Fantasy. I'll be on a variety of panels covering the many aspects of writing, craft and business. From Product Branding to Writing Smut.

In June I'll be at the Phoenix Comic-Con. I'm still working on my street creds to earn panel but I'll be there, thanks to my wonderful friends Marsheila Rockwell and Jordan Summers. Come see us in booth 2428. My books will also be available at Mysterious Galaxy, just a few booths away. Maybe Nathan Fillion, Stan Lee, Richard Dean Anderson, and John Barrowman will cruise by our booth and I'll be able to snag an impromptu photo op. Yeah, I know, I already have a picture with Capt. Jack, but he's so cute I just want to give him another hug.



Barely recovering from all those gorgeous men, I'll be heading to Las Vegas for CombatCon. Besides Richard Hatch of Battlestar Galactica and Colin Cunningham from Falling Skies (more hottie photo-ops), there will be all kinds martial arts presentations, as this conference is dedicated to the theatrical aspects of combat. Any conference that needs a check-room for weapons...  Hey, carrying that 14th century sword around is hard work and where you going to prop it during lunch?

Beside learning some new moves for my characters, I'll be hosting several panels on writing, such as Girls with Guns. I'll also be there with a friend, T.M. Williams representing Wicked Women Who Write. Funny, we started that up as a local social/support group of authors who frequented the same conferences. Shows how things can take on a life of their own

In July I'll head off to the Mecca of all SciFi Cons, San Diego/International ComicCon. Even 'street cred' doesn't get you on the floor there, but I'm going to learn the 'hows and wheres', for when I do earn my spot in the ranks. I have a fabulous guru, Gini Koch.

In August I'll be avoiding our hottest months, where we often hit 115+ degrees, by staying inside to write, with the exception on CopperCon, but that's not confirmed yet. I'll have no excuse for not getting LOTS of writing done, which I'll need. To make up for the week off when I head to HAWAIICON. Yeah, Hawaii and SciFi, ComiCon right(write) on the beach!

What a way to wrap up the summer, right?  Maybe some of you will be joining me in Vegas or Hawaii. Check out www.combatcon.com    and    www.hawaiicon.com   for details.

Chat with you next with Con updates.  And more pictures of Hotties!