Less Than Four Months Away

EPICon 2010 New Orleans is less than four months away. We have so much planned for you. Holly Jacobs, Deidre Knight, Debra Dixon, C. T. Adams, and Deborah LeBlanc are the keynote and special speakers ready to give us the ins and outs of building a buzz, selling your way to the top, or even how to make that WIP the best it can be.

We've signed, Maria Allaire, M. A., a forensic anthropologist to show you how the cops go from skeleton to a solved murder. Think Bones the TV show, but real. And, yes, she brings real bones and some not so real, so you can describe a crime scene with enough finesse your reader will swear they are at the scene. Don't worry, she doesn't pass around the real thing.

Someone I know personally, Nicholas A. Genovese, Jr, will walk us through the frightening world of the IRS and what they want from writers. (No, not our blood.)

We have a full list of EPIC members booked to WOW you with their expertise. Go to the schedule and check out the topics. For me to list them all here would make a terribly long(er) post. http://www.epic-conference.com/schedule.html

Thursday night, March 4, we will have a mixer with finger food and a cash bar, so everyone can get to know each other and let their hair down.

On Friday night, March 5, we've set up an old fashion river boat cruise with dinner, drinks and dancing. At this time it is $59 a person, but we are searching for sponsors to help reduce or offset that price. I'll keep everyone posted on this.

On Saturday, March 6, there will be a full day of book signings by C. T. Adams, Debra Dixon, Holly Jacobs, Deidre Knight and Deborah LeBlanc.

Then on Saturday night, what we've all been waiting for, the Awards Banquet and Ceremony.

Now, come on, haven't I enticed you to sign up for all the fun? I can't wait to meet everyone.

Look at this!!

Isn't it cool when you go to a site and find your book's cover art looking back at you? LOL
http://nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/

Down Time

I'd thought I'd wait before starting another book. Fugue Macabre: Ghost Dance was released November 5th, 2008. Fugue Macabre: Bone Dance was released Sunday, October 25m 2009(www.sapphirebluepublishing.com), and Misty Dreams will be released by The Wild Rose Press (www.thewildrosepress.com) November 20th.

Ghost Dance is the first book of the Fugue Macabre trilogy, Bone Dance the second. The last book of the trilogy will be Fire Dance.

Now I've done something I swore I'd never do again. I signed up for NaNo. The last time I did NaNo I was brain dead for a month afterward. But I can honestly say because of NaNo I wrote a book that got me published.

Why do I think this may be a bad time to do NaNo? Well, besides the fact that I sure wish they'd pick a different month to do this thing, I'm up to my neck in EPICon 2010 plans, and I'm trying to help my hubby prepare the house to put on the market in early spring of 2010.

A reason why this may be a great time to do NaNo? Okay, when I'm deep into my writing I forget to eat. I'm trying to diet. Doc is giving me hell about my weight (I had a heart attack in February 2008, then another one in February of 2009). Before February of 2010 I'd like to be slimmer (and heart attack free) and have at least a first draft of a new novel written.

So, tomorrow it starts. Any bets? Will I make it?

Fugue Macabre: Bone Dance Release!

Fugue Mabacre: Bone Dance released October 26, 2009.
Available from www.sapphirebluepublising.com www.amazon.com

Just So You Know

I think I'm getting ill. Every joint and muscle in my body hurts. My throat is getting soar. I've got a low grade fever. So if you don't hear from me for a few days, you'll understand.

Begging

I'm sure you know by now I'm the Chair for EPICon 2010. Hard not to know when I've written about it so much.

If you're not sure what EPIC is all about, I'll try to explain. We are a non-profit organization hell bent on making life easier for electronically published authors and getting the good word out there that we are "real" authors with great novels, short stories, and novellas you'd love to read. Once a year we have a conference to celebrate our best and brightest and award them with EPIC awards for their hard work and good writing.

For the year of 2010 we've chosen the city of New Orleans to hold our yearly bash. The hotel has been booked...The Sheraton New Orleans. The speakers have been booked...C. T. Adams, Deidre Knight, Holly Jacobs, Debra Dixon to name a few.

Now? I have to fill the goody bags. Hint, hint. Do you have pens, pencils, note pads, badges, candy, toys, keychains, books (yes we'll accept print books. We're not snobs.), etc. you'd like to donate? We ask that you not send bookmarks because the last couple of years they were not a popular item and ended up having to be recycled.

If you'd like to help fill the goody bags, contact me at cjparker20@aol.com

Troubled

Someone I called a friend said something to me the other day that knocked the breath out of me. It was evident that she was upset about something, so, I asked what was wrong and if there was anything I could do to help. She looked at me, shook her head and said, "It's a black thing, you wouldn't understand."

Okay. Why does there have to be black things, white things, or yellow with purple pokadots things? Why not just a human thing? We keep saying we want to get along. We want to live together peacefully, but then we come up with brick walls to separate us.

My friend doesn't understand why I'm upset now. I'm tempted to tell her it's a "I'm your friend and you hurt my feelings thing, you wouldn't understand."