Post Pcon Post

Life Happens, PCon, Photo Moments, Writing Life,

Well, I it’s a week after PCon and I’m still recovering! My con report is up on Writing.ie with pictures by Kate Sheehy. Thanks to Elizabeth Murray for inviting us to play on her blog. 🙂 Make sure to visit and read all about it. (zombie fuelled mayhem, one way trips to Mars – what more do you want?)

In the meantime I have my edits back so may be dropping off the face of the earth (a little bit more than usual). So excited about the various changes. It’s getting so much closer!

I will be back soon, I promise.

Musical Musings on May Queen

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Almost time for rewrites again and I’m getting myself back into the mindset for May Queen, my YA fantasy coming out next year from Dial Books for Young Readers.

As I’ve said before , music is really import to me. A song can encapsulate a feeling, a moment, and distill it so that even a few bars can bring memories and emotions flooding back. A song helps me key myself back into characters, their flaws and their dreams. Continue reading Musical Musings on May Queen →

Almost P-Con

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It’s that time  of year again!

Pcon (Phoenix Convention) starts on Friday 4th and runs through to Sunday 6th. It’s always fun, entertaining and just a little bit mad. And chock full of great stuff.

Panels and details are here.

I’m on the following panels*:

Saturday:

11am: Books I wish I’d read before I was 18

Panellists will discuss books they’ve read as adults that they wish they’d read when they were younger.

Sunday:

10am: (Help me! Help me!) The art of reading

A discussion on an author’s considerations in planning a reading, tips on the event itself, and ideas on follow-up afterwards.

2pm: The Library of the future

(Libraryland and Writing life collide!)

4pm: Channels to market for the writer

The various routes authors have taken to publication

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So if you’re around, pop in. And if you pop in, please say hello! (I typed help three times there. Hope that’s not an omen). Take lots of photos (I’ll hide). And above all have fun.

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*And if I’m not in a panel room, check the bar! 😉

Writing.ie

Awesome authors, links and stuff, Writing Craft, Writing Life

I just wanted to do a quick post to let you know about the new writing site – Writing.ie

I’m really excited about this site which hopes to be a one stop shop for all things writerly in Ireland, and a wonderful resource for writers everywhere. As it grows, there’s going to be so much going on here, but even in its infancy, its a treasure trove of information, interviews and insights. As the founder, Vanessa O’Loughlin says in her introduction, the Irish are reknowned storytellers, so there is plenty to keep everyone interested.

Authors from all sorts of genres talk about their work, their lives and their methods in the Meet the Authors section, there are all sorts of goodies in the Writer’s Toolbox (including a glimpse into one of my infamous notebooks, if you dare!) and the fantastic 100 Tips from Top Authors.

Add to this Guest Blogs, a For Readers section, details on Courses and the Events Guide, I’m going to end up spending a lot of time here!

Presenting the TARDIS Wardrobe

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Well, here we go. Those of you on Twitter will probably have heard mention of the project to decorate my son’s room including his request – the TARDIS Wardrobe. So here is the long awaited blog post about it with all the pictures and some details on how it was done. There are some bits I’d like to change, nothing new there, but on the whole I think it looks great. Continue reading Presenting the TARDIS Wardrobe →

Lots to do

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So, I’ve been slacking off a lot of late and I’m hoping to get back into the swing of things from now on.

The plan is to get some new words every day. What I usually do is aim to write 500 a day and more if I can and track it. I’ve recenly started a new project involving magicians (untitled as yet) so I’m going to focus on that. I also have edits to do on 2 projects but no deadlines for them as such. So if I get stuck I’ll probably switch to rewriting. Or if a deadline emerges of course. But I really want to write something new at the moment.

So, here we go.

Oh, and I just spotted the actor Andrew Lee Potts from Primeval and Alice – just as I imagined Jack in May Queen. Like the living image! Uncanny.

Libraryland goes to Rome

Life Happens, Photo Moments, travels, ,

Or what I did in the first week of January 2011.

Below is a slideshow of pictures from the trip to Rome for the library conference, although not many of the conference itself. Librarians talking… not too thrilling there. But lots of photos of our various walks and tours, our wanderings around, of Christmas trees, lights, fireworks (we were there for the Epiphany which is a huge holiday there), Churches, crypts, a titulus (3rd century church) underneath the crypt and libraries. Lots of photos of libraries. Including the Vatican library from the outside. Continue reading Libraryland goes to Rome →

2010 and onwards

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(Yes, I’m late. Why does this surprise you?)

Well, it’s been quite a year. Let’s see if I can sum it up… er…

In January The Wolf’s Mate came out as an ebook, the novella tracking the further adventures of Jeren and Shan from The Wolf’s Sister sporting a gorgeous cover from Natalie Winters.

In February I finished the first draft of The Wolf’s Destiny.

March brought the Pheonix Convention or Pcon which is always awesome fun.

April and the awesome news that May Queen had sold to Dial Books for Young Readers. OMG the stress and excitement.  Then there was a blurr of contracts, rewrites, and a variety of things I’d never imagined.

In May Soul Fire came out in print. I was so busy I almost missed it. Poor neglected book. Paranormal Romance with sexy sidhe should never be neglected. If you missed it, you might like to go and look now. It also has a magnificent cover. I’ll wait.

Spent most of the summer writing Graffiti Angel and editing The Wolf’s Destiny. In July I went to the RNA conference in Greenwich which was incredibly fun! And just a bit glam!

Sad news reached me in August that my wonderful super-agent Colleen Lindsay was giving up agenting but luck was with me and the equally fantastic Suzie Townsend won the wrestling took me on and things have been going swimmingly since then. And I can still have random chats with Colleen about Dr. Who and mad cats whenever! 🙂

September… I think I lost September somewhere. Checked down the back of the sofa but no joy.

October means Octocon. George R. R. Martin was Guest of Honour. Met so many wonderful people! <3 to you all. I was also a Geek of the Week.  At the end of October we went to Ashford Castle for a Harry Potter night. It was awesome!

November was Wexworlds which was a winter wonderland edition as all the snow in the world decided to fall on Wexford that weekend. We met, among others, Eoin Colfer which made my son’s decade (a feat as he’s not quite a decade old)! It also brought rewrites on May Queen which are now all done.

December brought Songs of the Wolf to print, The Wolf’s Sister and The Wolf’s Mate collected together for the first time with another lovely Natalie Winters cover. My first and latest Samhain novella together. Pretty! And a freakin’ unbelievable amount of snow! I mostly hibernated. This also meant I got the second round of edits on May Queen finished early (Yay me!) and sent them back.

So what next? Well, we’ll have to see what 2011 brings. I’m off to Rome for a libraryland conference this week – will be sure to bring back photos. Many many photos. And tonnes of inspiration. I’ve started working on Forest King, the sequel to May Queen, and a number of other things (of course). Looking forward to the Pen dinner in February and PCon in March – anywhere writers gather really. RNA conference is in Caerleon this summer and as plans stand I’m definitely going. It’s only a ferry ride away. Ok, a ferry ride and a drive/train, but close enough. And this is the year we will knock May Queen into its final shape.

It’s shaping up to be an exciting year. Can’t wait.