2015

  The over-the-top red necklace is (mostly) done, even though I might play around with the clasp a bit more. It and I came to a compromise on its name: Dragonfire Cameo. I talk about the genesis of this piece here. It’s for sale here on my SaatchiArt page. In keeping with my life’s apparent current…

Read More Dragonfire Cameo necklace

Just because someone graduated from a well-known MFA literary writing program, doesn’t mean they can write coherent and convincing science-fiction and fantasy.

In my 40 years of reading the stuff, it usually means they can’t.*

We do these authors a disservice by hyping them with huge advances and gonzo marketing, instead of sending them off to Clarion, Viable Paradise, or some of the MFA programs actually geared toward speculative fiction.

* Usually, they claim they love SFF and read a lot of it. Which doesn’t explain the number of stupid and/or lazy tropes they use in their own work.

Just a teaser shot of a beadwork project I’ve basically been rebuilding ever since I first made it in 2012. I’ll do a larger post when this one is actually done (it’s missing clasp details and the rest of the red dangles, so far.) And here’s the finished piece.

Read More Dragonfire necklace, redux

Oh, looky, yet another vanity publisher cuts and runs toward bankruptcy, rather than 1) changing its ways or 2) paying its authors. Australia’s JoJo Publishing was recently profiled in a television program detailing the company’s duplicitous practices. Here’s an article about their attempts at strategic liquidation. And here is the AbsoluteWrite.com thread about them (read…

Read More Case study: JoJo Publishing (Australia)

…submitting an erotic romance short story to a new publisher, on a lark, and having it contracted as an expanded 12,000-word novella three days later. And having the characters suddenly wake up and start *talking* to me about actual plot elements beyond the bedroom. …realizing that a ten-year-old painting has the perfect theme to fit…

Read More Happiness is…

  It’s not too late! Stop by Bitten By Romance to visit with Edward Hoornaert on our last stop for the Tour of the (science fiction romance) Universe. He’s also on Amazon. Why should you do this? Because romance has come a long way from the really awkward, laughable days of the 1980s ‘New Romance’,…

Read More Tour of the Universe, day 25

K.C. Klein’s Amazon bio says it better than I can: ‘KC Klein is the author of Dark Future, a sexy futuristic time-travel. She became serious about writing three years ago and was as surprised as anyone when her stories took a turn toward dark and snarky…’ Follow the button above to see what KC writes…

Read More Tour of the Universe, day 23

Well, my turn has finally rolled around in Bitten By Romance’s Tour of the Universe. I actually had to go check my notes for what I wrote about…oh, yeah, heh heh. The Sonta. I hope you enjoy the article. If you want to know more, follow the Author’s Notes on the left side of this blog.…

Read More Tour of the Universe, day 22

  After all my talk about researching publishers, there’s one detail I’ve forgotten to add to my ‘Filigree’s Rule’ cautions: at some point, we have to pick a publisher, get together a submission, and hit ‘send’ or drop a box in the post. Otherwise, we’re hobby writers, which is not a bad thing. But it generally doesn’t…

Read More Taking the plunge

See the button above? Follow it to connect with Shelley Munro at Bitten By Romance’s fabulous Tour of the Universe. Shelley joins a bunch of other crazy people showing off their science fiction romance settings. (Because sometimes contemporary just doesn’t do it, and you can actually have too much of fantasy dragons, elves, vampires, etc.…

Read More Tour of the Universe, day 20

Welcome back! If you follow the button above, you’ll land at the Bitten By Romance site and the third week of our Tour of the (science fiction romance) Universe. Veronica Scott is today’s guest. Stop by to read more about the deceptive beauty of a jungle planet…and enter a giveaway for a $25 Amazon gift…

Read More Tour of the Universe, day 18

  Shona Husk gives us the guest post this Saturday at Bitten By Romance’s Tour of the Universe. Follow the button above to stop by, read, comment, and learn. You might win prizes later. You’ll certainly come away with new ideas about science fiction romance. As before, we are skipping Sunday. We’ll be back on…

Read More Tour of the Universe, day 17

Over on the Bitten By Romance site today, we are featuring A.R. DeClerk for the next stop in our celebration of science fiction romance, its unusual settings, and rich backstories. If you’re bored by contemporary romance, cardboard billionaires, and predictable places, try a little science fiction sizzle! Oh, and we will be drawing prizes from…

Read More Tour of the Universe, day 16