Local (and At Large) Signing

If you're in the Twin Cities area, please drop by on Saturday (May 7) to see me at Uncle Hugo's from 1:00 - 2:00 pm.

I'm going to say it again, though I can count how many times I mention this, and people still say, "Sorry! I don't live near you!!" -- Uncle Hugo's does book orders. What this means is, if you want a personalized, signed copy, you can contact them before Saturday and I will sign it FOR YOU and they will send it TO YOU no matter where you live.

Yes, even there!

Why consider placing a mail order? For several reasons. 1) It's nice to support independent, locally-owned, brick and mortar bookstores, generally. Specifically, Uncle Hugo's is one of the oldest science fiction/fantasy specialty bookstores in existence. AND they're always super-duper supportive of me and my work. 2) It will boost my sales at the bookstore and possibly get me on the LOCUS bestseller list. More importantly, it will encourage the fine folks at Uncle Hugo's to invite me back! 3) A signed book is kind of cool. It takes no more time to order from Uncles than it does to order from Amazon.com. 4) I'm not a big star. This means I will NOT be coming to your state any time in the foreseeable future, unless I win the lottery and decide to book the venues MYSELF. So, this is one way to actually get a signed book from me.

Have I convinced you? I hope so!

Shameless Selfless Promotion

Just so's ya know, I might talk smack about my fellow writers, but, at the end of the day, we're the same tribe, dig?

To that end, I'm pleased to announce that my friend and fellow writer, Kelly McCullough's newest series' first book is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. It's called Broken Blade. How shall I describe it? It's awesome, first off, but you should expect that from anything by Kelly. It fantasy, but it's noir, kind of like "Burn Notice" meets Thieves' World... only even better.

So, go bookmark it. I know you spent your money for new books on me yesterday, but you should consder buying it ASAP.

ALMOST #2 Launch!

Today is the official launch date of the second book in my vampire princess of St. Paul series, ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN.

The back cover copy says:

Craving the spotlight is in her blood.

Ever since high school student Anastasija Parker discovered she was vampire royalty, her life has been sort of crazy. The half-vampire- half-witch just wants some normalcy, and trying out for the spring musical seems like the perfect fix.

But when the ancient talisman that stands between vampire freedom and slavery to witches is stolen, Ana has to skip rehearsal and track down the dangerous artifact before someone uses it to make this year's curtain call her last...

And, you can read the first chapter here: www.tatehallaway.com

--- And this just in: an interview with the Booki3

Books and Ducks

I guess that "wild" birdseed really worked, eh?

This morning we woke up to these two visitors to our front yard. I took this picture through the front window, which is why it's a bit blurry. I didn't want to disturb the drake (though you can see how closely he's watching me, anyway.) They may be considering nesting near the nearby Iris Park fountain, though that hasn't been turned on for the season yet. Perhaps they're considering the little pond by the old folks home? Who knows. It's not very usual for us to see ducks in the neighborhood, though a couple (this pair) did stop by several times many years ago to our neighbor's yard, because I think she, too, like us had a mix high in cracked corn, which the ducks seem extraordinarily fond of.

Don't forget to buy ALMOST TO DIE FOR tomorrow, if you're so inclined! My big plan for this gray day is to get started on my next adult novel, PRECINCT 13. Wish me luck.

Interview with Amberkatze

Check out Amberkatze's Book Blog for an interview with me!

And don't forget! On Tuesday Almost Final Curtain officially goes on sale!

Also, I just heard some sort-of bad news from my agent. I turned in three proposals for new Ana books, which my editor had requested. HOWEVER, she's going to sit on her decision about whether to buy more based on how well the early sales of ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN are. The bad news about this is that it means the sales for #1 weren't strong enough to automatically greenlight the continuation of the series. So, if you want more books in the Ana series -- please, please consider buying the book within the first couple weeks of #2's release.

Having been burned by series ending prematurely before, at least I wrapped a tidy bow on #3. So, if that ends up being the last book, should feel intentional.

A Friend's New Book!

A very dear friend and awesome writer, Naomi Kritzer, has a new book out. It's an e-book collection of some of her short stories called: Gift of the Winter King and Other Stories. Currently, it's only available for the Kindle, but she has plans to put it into other e-formats in the near future. I've always been a huge fan of Naomi and her novels, like Fires of the Faithful and Turning the Storm among others, but Naomi is a phenomenal short story writer. You should check out this collection.

Calling All Minnesotan Artsy-Farts

I have always said that Minnesota is one of the most awesome places to be a writer because _so_ many people in this state are engaged in creative expression of one kind or another. Well, the Minnesota State Arts Board is conducting a survey with the intention of figuring out just how creative this state really is! If you are at all involved in the arts, please take a moment to fill out the MN Arts Count.

You do NOT need to be making money in the arts to fill this out. There's one question about how much of your living you make from your creative work, but ZERO is an option. Also, they don't expect you to have only one interest/talent. You can fill in up to six specialities.

It's also super-short. I think there's no more than six or seven questions total.

More about Me

Tracy S. Morris interviews me at her blog: http://tracysmorris.com/

I talk as both my personas, though I start out talking about my alter-ego's newest release.

In other exciting news, I'm just putting the finishing touches on the basically-final draft of Ana #3, which I will be sending off to my publisher on (or before) April 15 (tax day!)

Not to be confused with #2, ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN, which will be coming out in May. #3, ALMOST EVERTHING, will come out in February of 2012. We've got back cover copy for that already, so if you'd like a little teaser, here's what you can expect from #3:

Whoever said vacations were relaxing?

To say half-vampire, half-witch Ana Parker has boy trouble is putting it lightly—something her text messaging bill can attest to. Her rocker ex-boyfriend Nikolai is trying to heat things up again, and high school hockey star Mathew wants her to try out with him for the Renaissance Festival. At least her sort-of boyfriend Elias isn’t hounding her cell—considering the vampire knight is currently living in her basement.

Ever since her father banished Elias and Ana from the court of the Northern vampires, Ana has been trying to live a normal life. But when the Prince of the Southern Region vampires informs Ana that they’re on the brink of war and she accidentally offers up Elias as a peace offering, the princess knows that she’s going to need some help to get out of the situation.

With Ana’s boy drama meter hitting an all time high, summer in St. Paul is heating up for all the wrong reasons…

Revisions!

I am such a weirdo.

I think that pretty sums up everything you might need to know about me, but I was thinking specifically of the fact that, unlike almost every other writer I know, I ADORE the revision process. I think it's the sense of accomplishment I get while I'm going through each page. In front of me today is a big pile of paper. It's a completed (if somewhat flawed) story. I don't have to figure out how it's going to end any more. It's written. I may, in point of fact, need to utterly CHANGE the ending for the novel to actually be any good, but I have a spare, you know?

I like that feeling. A lot.

Even though I know that when I get through this round of revisions another one is on its heels (or waiting in the wings and other such metaphors) -- around and around until publication.

But, you know, I've taken my first stab at it. I hit something. Now I just have to make sure my aim is true and I hit home.

KFAI!

If you missed me last night, check out the "Write On Radio" show last night: http://www.kfai.org/node/35216. I'm actually the first guest for once so you don't have to wait!

I always feel really stupid doing these things, but my partner tells me I came off much smarter than I felt. I do rather focus on Resurrection Code as it's the most recent release, but the host and I get around to talking about vampires and even bring up Whedonistas! the other book project I was involved in through Mad Norwegian Press.

Also, since LJ is Down

I want to post a few pictures of my cute kid at a Hogwarts themed birthday party this weekend. Here's my little wizard on our porch.

Now, he's about to get bespelled by "Hermione" (really our friend Ava):

I went to the party dressed as Tonks. If you don't remember her, she's the Auror who falls in love with the werewolf, Remus Lupin, and who can change her hair color and other facial features. The costume for her was easy, since all I really had to do was spray my hair pink and find my old leather jacket. Coincidentally, the last time I wore that leather jacket we were in London. I found train tickets from Gatwick to Victoria Station in the pocket. Cool, huh?

Radio!

Sorry to be so shameless with my self-promotion, but I would like y'all to know that I'm going to be a guest tomorrow night (Tuesday, April 5) on the "Write On Radio" show on KFAI (90.3 FM Minneapolis/106.7 FM St. Paul) from 7:00 - 8:00 pm Central Time. If you're not local and want to listen as it's happenin', you can stream it at http://www.kfai.org/.

Even if you can't listen in, say, because you might be attending a reading/signing of fellow Wyrdsmith Douglas Hulick at B&N at the same time, you can check out the archives at http://www.kfai.org/archive the next morning. I'll try to remember to post a link here on Wednesday morning.

Date Night for the Vampire Princess

I won't tell you with who Ana is going on a date (because it's kind of a spoiler for Book #3), but they're headed out to Kurdish food. So I'm writing about Babani's Restaurant in downtown St. Paul:

Hmmm, now all of a sudden I'm hungry for lunch!

Uh... WHATever...

Sorry to be all about my alter-ego lately, but I (as her) am the featured "Big Idea" over at John Scalzi's enormously popular Whatever Blog. Ironically, I so deeply nervous about this post that I kind of hope no one reads it -- though that kind of defeats the whole point....

I am hoping to continue to blog (with pictures!) about the places around St. Paul that are featured in my Ana books. Just last night I wrote a brief scene that happened outside of this St. Paul landmark:

Places I'm Writing About -- Ax Man and Porky's

One of my seekrit agendas when I proposed the vampire princess of St. Paul books, was to feature various cool locations around St. Paul. Minneapolis has been written about extensively. When I was in college, I devoured Emma Bull's WAR FOR THE OAKS. The book was especially cool because I could drive past places where events in the novel took place. I've always wanted to do that with much much less celebrated St. Paul.

I live not far from Ax Man on University Avenue. Despite what my friend Ember used to think, they don't sell axes there -- not the wood chopping kind nor the musical variety. They just sell... weird stuff. It's actually very difficult to explain what you might find inside Ax Man. The University Avenue store, for instance has an iron lung and paper clips and tires and... weird stuff. It's whatever they get that's been remaindered or "surplus." In other words cool junk.

Unfortunately, Ana doesn't go IN to Ax Man in the current novel. It makes an appearance as a landmark to another University Avenue destination.... Porky's.

Stuff I'm Up To

First of all, Happy St. Patrick's day for those of you who celebrate it!

I thought I'd drop a quick note to remind all y'all of the various places you can catch me doing my publicity thing.

This weekend, Saturday, March 19 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm, I'll be teaching my "Mars Needs Writers" workshop at the Bloomington Art Fair's "Writer's Workshop."

On Tuedsay, March 22, in my guise as Lyda Morehouse, I will be the featured "Big Idea" author at John Scalzi's Whatever Blog.

Saturday, March 26 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm, again as Lyda, I'll be signing the newly released Resurrection Code at Uncle Hugo's. Uncle's is located at 2864 Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis, but, even if you're not local, it's not too late to put in a mail order with Don for a personalized, signed copy from me! Check out details about Uncles at: http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/!

Then in a bit of multiple personality shuffling, I will be both Lyda and Tate during an interview on KFAI's "Write On Radio" show on Tuesday, April 5 from 7:00 - 8:00 pm CDT. KFAI broadcasts at 90.3 FM Minneapolis/106.7 FM in St. Paul. If you want to listen in even though you are in another time zone, you can check out http://www.kfai.org/ for live, streaming options and/or their archives which are usually updated the very next day.

In case you can't make ANY of those other dates, I as Tate will also have a signing at Uncles on Saturday, May 7 from 1:00-2:00 pm.

Free Words Tuesday!

Mouse fiction over at my alternate personality's LJ: Mouse 6

Mouse Tuesday

I'm committing fiction over on my LJ.

As I'm one of those people who takes great comfort in working during stressful periods, I actually wrote this little section while waiting for the cardiologist to tell us what was going on with my partner's "failed" stress test.*

I was thinking about this as I wrote it, because mood affects writing. I suspect this scene would have be a lot scarier, if I wasn't already overloaded on that particular emotion. I don't buy into the myth that you have to be in the right "mood" to write, but I *do* think that where you are emotionally creeps into what you write.

See if you agree.

* Everything seems to be okay. We probably got a false positive reading, though we're scheduled to go back and take a "stress echo" today sometime just to make sure.

Kids and Writing (the Plus Side)

Just want to note that, while there are a lot of panels out there in the SF/F community about the struggle of writing with kids, there are some bonuses too. Mason is sitting across from me at the Coffee Grounds reading the advance review copy of ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN giggling. This is his third time through (and he tells me, it's not his favorite. He still likes ALMOST TO DIE FOR better.)

Also, last night as I was trying to write while watching TV (a bad idea, btw,) he poked his head in a couple of times to read over my shoulder. He kept asking me, excitedly, what was happening and what would be coming next.

I know that it's a little like having your mom like your writing, but it's still cool. And some days, it's enormously satisfying to live with one of my greatest fans.

Tuesday Fiction

My alter ego is posting new science fiction over at her LJ, as part of the continuing effort to get people excited about RESURRECTION CODE, which will be coming out from Mad Norwegian Press on March 15, 2011.