News & Notes

July 2008

She walks, she talks!

My two-year term on the Board of Directors of Novelists, Inc. has proven to be a lot more time-consuming than I expected (and I have had cause to apologize to all of my editors and most of my friends). But with the light at the end of the tunnel ("only" 6 more months!) I'm starting to catch up on my overdue obligations (including updating this website). I'm also starting to accept speaking gigs again. To see if I'm coming to a venue near you, check out the Going Public page.

Stars

Short fiction!

I've posted another short story "freebie!" on the Short Fiction page. I've also got several new short stories coming out this year, listed on that page.

Stars

Rejection, Romance, & Royalties:
The Wacky World of a Working Writer

This is a collection of my various articles and essays on the craft and profession of writing. Whether you want to be a writer or just wonder what it's like to be a writer, you may find the book fun, interesting, and possibly horrific. I've posted the cover, some excerpts, and a bookstore link on the Non-Fiction page.

Esther Diamond is back!

DAW Books, a major fantasy house, has acquired the "Manhattan Magic" series featuring actress Esther Diamond and Manhattan mage Maximillian Zadok. More information coming soon, including the new (and, this time, for real!) release date of book #2 in the series, Doppelgangster.

I'll (very) soon post some excerpts of the book on the Manhattan Magic page.

Some booksellers erroneously listed Doppelgangsters as a December 2006 release from Luna Books. It appears that all those listings are finally all gone.

How did I think up Esther and Max?

Check out the Where Do You Get Those Crazy Ideas? page for the answer.

When is The Palace of Heaven due out? (Fourth book in "The Chronicles of Sirkara," after The Destroyer Goddess)

It's scheduled for late 2009. As/when concrete news of this and other books unfolds, I'll post to this website various excerpts, release dates, covers, and so on.

And, yes, I have changed the originally-planned order of books 4 and 5 of this series. Arena will now be the fifth book. I realized one day that the series are makes more sense this way.

What's new on this site in 2008?

Check out the new Books & Films page of this website, if you're looking for something good to read (or to watch)!

"Good" means: I'm reading it now or have read/watched it lately, and I like or liked it. Yes, this is a rather narrow definition of "good," but I make no apologies for it.

What was new on this site during 2007?

A Book By Its Cover: This page consists of a five-part series of articles I wrote a few years ago on book covers and the cover process. Now with illustrations (which the original print version of the article did not have)!

Links: Fun stuff. Nothing really writing related (the writing-related stuff is still mostly on the also recently-updated Writer's Resources page).

Where Do You Get Those Crazy Ideas? Pretty much what it sounds like. I and other writers post about what inspired some of our work.

New short story link posted on the Short Fiction page, to my only-ever "literary smut" piece, "The Purple Rose of Romance."

New section on the Writer's Resources page: "Some online posts and pieces I recommend reading."

Updates and new links posted to various other pages, including: FAQs; Going Public: Bio; Manhattan Magic; Non-Fiction.

For Laura Leone readers!

Although I don't have any new romance novels in production, I did write one that you probably haven't read: A "romantica" novel (i.e. erotica romance) called Nights of Fire, published under the pseudonym Leonie Daniels and available electronically from Ellora's Cave.

Also on the Laura Leone page of this site is a link to "Homicidal Honeymoon," a romantic-comedy short story that I wrote a few years ago for Murder Most Romantic; and a link to Fictionwise.com, where you can buy "Galatea," a never-before published paranormal-romance that's now available electronically.

In future months, you may (or may not) be able to find info on the "Leone" page of this website about additional paperback reissues of some more Laura Leone books. Or not... (It depends on how much time I have to clean up very old word processing files.)

Miscellaneous News!

I've delivered various short stories to several new sf/f short fiction anthologies, to be released 2008-2009.

July 2008
She walks, she talks! My two-year term on the Board of Directors of Novelists, Inc. has proven to be a lot more time-consuming than I expected (and I have had cause to apologize to all of my editors and most of my friends). But with the light at the end of the tunnel ("only" 6 more months!) I'm starting to catch up on my overdue obligations (including updating this website). I'm also starting to accept speaking gigs again. To see if I'm coming to a venue near you, check out the Going Public page. Short fiction! I've posted another short story "freebie!" on the Short Fiction page. I've also got several new short stories coming out this year, listed on that page.
Rejection, Romance, & Royalties: The Wacky World of a Working Writer This is a collection of my various articles and essays on the craft and profession of writing. Whether you want to be a writer or just wonder what it's like to be a writer, you may find the book fun, interesting, and possibly horrific. I've posted the cover, some excerpts, and a bookstore link on the Non-Fiction page.

Esther Diamond is back! DAW Books, a major fantasy house, has acquired the "Manhattan Magic" series featuring actress Esther Diamond and Manhattan mage Maximillian Zadok. More information coming soon, including the new (and, this time, for real!) release date of book #2 in the series, Doppelgangster. I'll (very) soon post some excerpts of the book on the Manhattan Magic page. Some booksellers erroneously listed Doppelgangsters as a December 2006 release from Luna Books. It appears that all those listings are finally all gone. How did I think up Esther and Max? Check out the Where Do You Get Those Crazy Ideas? page for the answer. *When is The Palace of Heaven* due out?** (Fourth book in "The Chronicles of Sirkara," after The Destroyer Goddess) It's scheduled for late 2009. As/when concrete news of this and other books unfolds, I'll post to this website various excerpts, release dates, covers, and so on. And, yes, I have changed the originally-planned order of books 4 and 5 of this series. Arena will now be the fifth book. I realized one day that the series are makes more sense this way.

What's new on this site in 2008?
Check out the new Books & Films page of this website, if you're looking for something good to read (or to watch)! "Good" means: I'm reading it now or have read/watched it lately, and I like or liked it. Yes, this is a rather narrow definition of "good," but I make no apologies for it.

What was new on this site during 2007? A Book By Its Cover: This page consists of a five-part series of articles I wrote a few years ago on book covers and the cover process. Now with illustrations (which the original print version of the article did not have)! Links: Fun stuff. Nothing really writing related (the writing-related stuff is still mostly on the also recently-updated Writer's Resources page). Where Do You Get Those Crazy Ideas? Pretty much what it sounds like. I and other writers post about what inspired some of our work. New short story link posted on the Short Fiction page, to my only-ever "literary smut" piece, "The Purple Rose of Romance." New section on the Writer's Resources page: "Some online posts and pieces I recommend reading." Updates and new links posted to various other pages, including: FAQs; Going Public: Bio; Manhattan Magic; Non-Fiction.

For Laura Leone readers! Although I don't have any new romance novels in production, I did write one that you probably haven't read: A "romantica" novel (i.e. erotica romance) called Nights of Fire, published under the pseudonym Leonie Daniels and available electronically from Ellora's Cave. Also on the Laura Leone page of this site is a link to "Homicidal Honeymoon," a romantic-comedy short story that I wrote a few years ago for Murder Most Romantic; and a link to Fictionwise.com, where you can buy "Galatea," a never-before published paranormal-romance that's now available electronically. In future months, you may (or may not) be able to find info on the "Leone" page of this website about additional paperback reissues of some more Laura Leone books. Or not... (It depends on how much time I have to clean up very old word processing files.)

Miscellaneous News!
I've delivered various short stories to several new sf/f short fiction anthologies, to be released 2008-2009.