Catching up, sort of...

Oct. 19th, 2021 08:30 pm
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It has been an absolutely wild couple of weeks. New job is in Week 4 and it's okay? The people are reasonably nice and I'm learning a different part of the forest, kind of. Still stuck in QA Land, just the biz side of it this time, which does not fill me with delight and honestly, I'd rather be writing and publishing so it's been hard to switch gears. But it is what is and I've had worse gigs. Still wrangling insurance (new contracting co. will partially insure me, but not Jana, so I have to do stopgap again until I can get her on the ACA. Good times!).

So what else is going on, Catherine? I won a writing grant from Ladies of Horror Fiction! After I finish digging my way out from a few more contracted obligations, I'm planning on doing an expended version of my queer horror historical survey which originally ran in Nightmare Magazine's Queer Destroy Horror. :-D And my short story, "A Cry in the Night" is now a game scenario in the brand shiny new RPG World of Darkness: Ghost Hunters, which just came out from Onyx Path Publishing last week! And my novel Blood Moon got an Honorable Mention (finalist, essentially) in the Rainbow Awards yesterday!

I've also had a swell month as a publisher. Foxhunt by Rem Wigmore has been getting some great write-ups, including this one from Tor.com that includes it in a list of 5 essential solarpunk novels. And Obviously, Aliens by Jennie Goloboy is up for preorder now and will be out on 11/1. It's already getting some nice buzz too. The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper by A.J. Fitzwater also got a Rainbow Award Honorable Mention. :-D
 
And I did most of these events, except for my upcoming Gothic horror class and my next book club appearance. Still room for signups for both!
  • WROTE Podcast - October 9th. I'll be a guest and talking about small press publishing and Queen of Swords Press.
  • Columbia Heights Pride - October 9th, 11-5PM CST. Columbia Heights, MN. Queen of Swords Press will have a table and I and my staff will be around.
  • Writers Drinking Coffee Podcast - midOctober air date. Interview about my writing, Queen of Swords Press and more.
  • North Country Gaylaxians Book Club - October 11th, 7:30PM CST. Quatrefoil Library/online, Minneapolis. They talked about my novel, Blood Moon.
  • Twin Cities Book Festival - October 16th, 10-5PM. St. Paul, MN. Queen of Swords Press will be there! I'll also be on the Local Author Showcase, talking about Blood Moon.
  • Lambda Sci-Fi Book Club - Thursday, October 28th, 7:30PM EST. The Book Club is discussing Silver Moon and I'll be joining to chat with them online in the second half of the discussion.
  • Crimson Peaks and Menacing Mansions: Writing Gothic Horror - Saturday, October 30th, 9:30-11:30 PST. Online class at the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers. Writing Gothic horror! Tips, tricks and techniques.
Plus a few more things. I am...exhausted, but have miles to go before I sleep and all that. Stay tuned!

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BLOOD MOON is here! And sundry promo things

Mar. 24th, 2021 09:01 pm
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I have achieved new werewolf novel! Finally! Blood Moon is available everywhere and, of course, direct from Queen of Swords Press.  And as you may or may not know, I've been teaching book promotion workshops at the Rambo Academy and elsewhere, so I thought it might be worthwhile to post what I'm doing out here. This will be updated over the course of the next couple of weeks as things post or come to fruition. It also gives you an idea of what goes into promoting a small press title. Or, at least, what I/we put into it. Since this book comes down on the more paranormal romance end of the fantasy scale and the protagonists are a lesbian and a bi woman, I focused on venues pulling in the audiences most likely to be interested in it, rather than a more general approach like the one we took for Cinrak and other books. Blood Moon is also a Book 2, so it draws on the audience that read and liked Silver Moon.

Unless noted as "paid," all other publicity options were free or involved barter of some kind.
Total spent to date: $350

Graphics for ads and blog tour:
Author A.L. Lester designed a graphic that connected both Silver Moon and Blood Moon to encourage people to buy the books as a series. (Paid)

Announcements:
Queen of Swords Press Newsletter
Lambda Literary Newsletter (appeared in Most Anticipated LGBTQ Books of March)
Lesbian Review (paid ad and announcement)
SFWA New Release Newsletter (paid ad and announcement)
Cora Buhlert/Indie Author Showcase
Queer Sci Fi (Newsletter and Facebook group)
Women & Words (blog)
IHeartLesfic
The Lesbrary (paid ad campaign for April)
IngramSpark's New Release Catalogue (paid)

Reviews:
Out in Print Queer Book Reviews
JudeintheStars
Goodreads
Hannah's Bookshelf (North Manchester FM Radio show)
Several others forthcoming

Blog Posts and interviews:
The World Remains Mysterious (Cat Rambo's blog) - Magical Crones and Adventuring Mothers
My Writing Process - The Horror Tree
Interview, blog tour stop - Joyfully Jay Reviews
Interview, blog tour stop - Once & Books
"20 Random Facts About Becca and Erin," blog tour stop - Matt Doyle Media
"Music to Change By: A Playlist for Menopausal Werewolf Readers," blog tour stop - Valerie Ullmer, Romance Author
Interview, blog tour stop - Love Bytes: LGBTQ Book Reviews
Interview - The Ripple Effect (music blog, with occasional features of nonmusical types)
Upcoming in April - Nerds of A feather 6 Books Interview
Additional interviews being scheduled.

Blog Tour:
Other Worlds Ink - included announcements, plugs, excerpts, a giveaway, reviews and guest blog posts. (Paid). Total: 15 book blogs.

Events:
DreamHaven Books - author reading on Facebook Live
Rainbow Space Magic - I was on a panel, did a reading and Queen of Swords was a vendor - link goes to the YouTube videos.
The Story Hour - author reading.
Speculative Fiction Quick Reads - author reading.

I also have a bunch of things scheduled for April, but most of them are about me/Press visibility rather than this specific title, so direct lift will be harder to evaluate. But so far, Blood Moon has been out for a couple of weeks, has sold around 100 copies, been nominated for a Rainbow Award, requested for consideration for the American Library Association's Stonewall Book Awards, will be a featured book club read for a local book club later on this year and will be included in this year's Pride StoryBundle. Silver Moon was a slow burn book, in terms of sales, but is still far and away Queen of Swords Press best-selling book once it began to find its people, so I'm expecting a similar effect with Blood Moon. But then, we also just got an invite to do an r/Fantasy AMA in June so perhaps it will get out there faster than I think.

More to come as I have it! And we have our first vaccine shots scheduled for Saturday!
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Weekly Accountability Post, Part the 6th

Mar. 3rd, 2021 07:32 pm
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2 weeks into new contracting gig and people are being pleasant to me and saying nice things about my work; I had forgotten what that was like. At any rate, I'm having to ramp up and learn some new stuff, which is a bit painful at the moment because I'm also planning a book release and have been way behind on the blog posts and interviews I committed to. Here's where we're at:
  • I dusted the living room! I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was sorely needed.
  • Print revisions for Blood Moon are done and print preorder is available!
  • Talked to New Zealand artist Laya Rose about doing a cover for author Rem Wigmore's fab queer post-apocalyptic hopepunkish novel Foxhunt which Queen of Swords Press will be releasing this summer.
  • Drafted 3 interviews and 3 blog posts for the Blood Moon blog tour, plus one extra for Cat Rambo's blog. I need to do another interview for a heavy metal blog next (the editor likes my work :-). I have NEVER thought so much about why I write what I wrote and how I do it.
  • Finished tax organization and sent it off to our accountant..
  • Took an SEO for authors class with Cat Rambo and began applying some of it (Cat is an excellent teacher).
  • Had an interview posted at Horror Tree for Women in Horror Month.
  • Commissioned some ads from author A.L. Lester, who does some nice graphics.
  • Applied for several more events and got accepted for Outwrite DC and Flights of Foundry (as a vendor so far).
  • Wrapped up most of the Pride Month StoryBundle organizing. Melissa Scott and I are co-curating and it's going be an awesome lineup.
  • Watched more Black Sails, Space Sweepers (quite liked) and the first few episodes of Lupin (liked a lot!).
  • I'll be teaching Book Promo on a Budget on 3/7.
Onward! Off to go read more of the book I need to blurb.
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Weekly Accountability Post, Part the 5th

Feb. 17th, 2021 08:15 pm
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Just came from the kickoff meeting for my new contract so that's now a thing. A lot of this week was a wash from a productivity perspective - not much completed, several things stalled out. But here we go:
  • Edits completed for Blood Moon and print revisions almost done - just a couple of small tweaks left.
  • Accepted New Zealand author Rem Wigmore's Foxhunt and local agent and Minnesota writer Jennie Goloboy's comic roadtrip with aliens novel, Obviously, Aliens for Queen of Swords Press. Ideally, these will be the summer and winter books for this year.
  • Got most QoSP titles loaded up onto Google Play, thus adding a platform for potential sales.
  • Gave up on getting a PPP Loan for Jana.
  • Got utterly mired in tax organization and didn't finish.
  • Recognized that I wasn't using Media Bistro for anything and canceled it, but did sign up for an SEO for authors class with Car Rambo.
  • Finished an interview post for Women in Horror Month at Horror Tree - it should go up in the next few days.
  • Finished most of a blog post for Nerds of a Feather and some other sundry Blood Moon publicity.
  • Applied for several events.
  • Did some cleaning and organizing and required reading.
  • Oh, and taught a class! In Flagrante Delicto went well and was a lot of fun. I'll be teaching Book Promo on a Budget on 3/7.
New job officially starts tomorrow with a 3 hour meeting. I have dealt with a bunch of technology-related stuff - I have to have an ergonomic keyboard and mouse and the ones we have live in the main office, but I'll need to be up in the attic most of the time so additional keyboard and mouse en route. I still have a TON more to do so we'll see what I can dent in the coming days. Much love to everyone down south dealing with the cold and freezing inside - may it pass quickly and you get better things very soon.
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Playlist!

Jan. 9th, 2021 09:10 am
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I have built my first playlist! My new novel, BLOOD MOON, comes out on 3/15/21 and it's all about menopausal werewolves, coming out at midlife, dealing with addiction and transformational change and community building, hence "Music to Change By." Hope it provides some welcome distraction!

Music to Change By Playlist:
Emmy Lou Harris - Bad Moon Rising
Shakira - She Wolf
BETTY - Wolfwoman
David Bowie - Changes
Heather Alexander (Alexander James Adams)- Wolfen One
Garmarna – Varulven
Hedningarna – Räven
Hedningarna - Vargtimmen
Maddy Prior - Great Silkie of Sules Skerry
Ruth Barrett - A Shapeshifting Song

Preorder link for ebooks (print coming soon!)

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BLOOD MOON is up for preorder!

Jan. 6th, 2021 07:56 pm
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And I'd post the cover here, but I can almost never get images to load up out here, part of why I don't post as much on this blog as I used. Anyway, stuff is going on, I'm planning things, I'm trying to cope with stuff like everyone else. Interesting year so far, what?

Anyway, Blood Moon, the sequel to Silver Moon is up for preorder! Right now, that's just the ebook. I should have print preorders up in a week or so and the actual book will be out 3/15/21 from Queen of Swords Press.
I recommend reading Silver Moon first, if you haven't already. This is very definitely a Book 2. I'm planning a release at DreamHaven and other fun stuff so please stay tuned!

Also, by some miracle, Queen of Swords Press has made it to a 4th birthday! Big shoutout to everyone who's supported us so far! You all rock! And please tell your friends! More news coming soon!


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What am I up to?

Dec. 28th, 2020 08:52 pm
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Always an exciting question. The main thing since finishing up my CPPM Certification has been getting Blood Moon ready. I sent it off for edits, it came back right before Christmas, I sat down and began cranking through edits, then on Christmas Eve, ran across a continuity problem that I had missed twice and my editor has missed once. Frantic scrambling ensured, but I got it fixed, finished and loaded up. The official cover reveal and preorder (ebook) links will be coming on 1/1/21. Print preorder will be shortly thereafter. ARCs will be available and the beast launches upon the world on 3/15/21. At which point, I will have 1,200,000 words in print, which is pretty cool. I do like this book and I really hope that the people who've been patiently asking about it for years feel the same way.

Other Me (Emily L. Byrne) sold two reprints to an excellent podcast, which was lovely. And Queen of Swords Press title The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper by A.J. Fitzwater is on three reviewer's Best of 2020 lists (Maria Haskins of Strange Horizons, Paul Weimer of Tor.com and the Skiffy and Fanty Show and author Nathan Burgoine who reviews short queer fiction on his blog) and is on the recommended reading list for the Ursa Major Awards (major award for anthropomorphic fiction). I have an extension on my new story to February, programming invites from Arisia and Capricon, classes lined up and all sorts of other things going on.

The holidays were reasonably pleasant. After more day job shenanigans, I was down for two days with a migraine, but better on Christmas, which I spent doing edits and cooking and watching Bridgerton with Jana. We went for the 8 hour blitz and I enjoyed some of it quite a bit, some of in smaller doses than I got and some of it not at all. Saturday, I got takeout from the Midtown Global Market and then we headed out to Hopkins to enjoy a firepit night with friends and eat pie, which was delightful. Apart from that, it's been all work, with a break to watch Wonder Woman 1984, about which I had much the same reactions that I had to Bridgerton. I'm hoping to clear the decks to get started on a grant proposal and some SEO certification stuff next week. I still have a day job at the moment, but am getting prepped to jump either to something else or off into thin air and hope that I can string together enough to keep us solvent. More bulletins as events warrant. Year in review post coming soon!

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In which I do not post about larger events...

Oct. 27th, 2020 12:54 pm
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largely because I do that elsewhere and by the time I'm posting about it out here, something else is happening. Yes, we voted. Yes, we filled out our census surveys. I applied to be an election judge, but all the localish positions were filled and they pushed those applications to next year. Yes, we're wearing masks, washing hands, etc., and avoiding in person rock concerts, biker rallies and Orange Dictator rallies. Apart from that, freaked out and burned out and kind of numb. PM Certification class continues apace and is going reasonably well. My novel draft is nearly done and the book will be coming out in March, dammit. Day job is continuing to be Magic 8 Ball so I'm pushing the budget to get stuff done immediately rather than waiting. Still doing 2 benefits a week for local things, still going to my weekly online dance class and seeing the occasional friend. So over all, hanging in.

My Gothic horror class, "Crimson Peaks and Menacing Mansions," sold out this weekend so I had a full house. People were very enthusiastic and engaged. We were able to help a hearing-impaired writer friend take the class and participate too, which was lovely; she did all the hard work of lip-reading on Zoom, but between notes beforehand and followup materials, she felt like she got a lot out of it, which was very cool. My next Cat Rambo class will be "In Flagrante Delicto: Writing Effective Sex Scenes" on November 22. This is should be a fun one too, with lots of opportunity for discussion.

I also appeared on a steampunk panel with some local author pals on Saturday for CONvergence online. A good time was had by all and I'll post when the recording goes up. In other news, Queen of Swords press author A.J. Fitzwater will be appearing at WORD Christchurch book festival this week and The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper is one of the titles that we currently have on sale this week. Hoping A.J.'s panel and other events will be recorded too! Apart from that, Queen of Swords Press will be a vendor at WomenVenture's Women Mean Business event on 11/13. WomenVenture is a local nonprofit that works with women who want to or do already own businesses and assists with training, loans and other support. I took one of their week-long trainings when I started the press and try to fit in some of their workshops on the regular. They only select 25 vendors (and we have a mug/book package in the auction) so pleased to be accepted again (we were at the 2017 one too).

Back to the grindstone. Tuesday nights are all about dance class, then PM class right afterwards so it's exciting. Novel update news coming soooonnnnn.

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Catching up on the October whirlwind

Oct. 19th, 2020 08:14 pm
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This last weekend was the double header of MultiverseCon and the Twin Cities Book Festival. The latter was more of a "mention we have a dealer's table and a sale going on" while the former involved watch parties for our pre-recorded panels, doing a Kaffeeklatsch, going to a bunch of other things and running some speed mentoring sessions. The panels will go up at Multiverse's YouTube channel soon so everyone gets to play! It was a fun time and it was good to see some friends and meet some new folks. TC Book Fest was pretty dead from a vendor standpoint; they are going to keep plugging the exhibitors for a few more weeks so hopefully that'll pick up a bit. Queen of Swords Press is also a vendor at Geek Girl Con through the rest of the month so hey, book sale!

Coming up this Saturday (10/24), I'll be on a steampunk panel for CONvergence Online with Abra Staffin-Wiebe, Michael Merriam and Tyler Tork. Everybody else will be reading their own work and I'll be reading from Alex Acks's stories and talking about publishing steampunk. (And if you're at MileHiCon this weekend, look for Alex there too!). And on Sunday, October 25th, I'm teaching "Crimson Peaks and Menacing Mansions: Writing Gothic Horror" at the Academy Rambo; there are still some slots open if you're interested or know someone who is.

Other than that, I've been doing wacky things like going on a 3 mile hike at the Minnesota Arboretum with a friend, going on walks around the neighborhood with another friend, watching Ripper Street, which I have just discovered, and The Frankenstein Chronicles, reading submissions, working on projects and doing my class homework. So far, so good. Also, an announcement for those of you who have been patiently waiting for me to talk about the sequel to Silver Moon, an ANNOUNCEMENT:
        Blood Moon is a couple of thousand words from completion (of this draft). Artist Terry Roy has already created a spiffy front cover design. My plan is to finish it this month, spend November and December doing rewrites, edits and writing publicity material so that I can get it out the door for a March release. It takes a couple of months to get books out through channels where they'll get notices, hence the delay. But soooonnnn!

Onward and upward! More updates soon.
 

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What I'm up to this weekend...

Mar. 1st, 2019 01:15 pm
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Or, at least in the near future.

I've got a new guest blog up today, this one on author Karelia Stetz-Waters' blog, on the topic of writing good sex scenes. This an appetizer for my online class, In Flagrante Delicto, which I'll be teaching on 3/31 (assuming people sign up) at Cat Rambo's Academy for Wayward Writers, so if you like my post, the class may be for you. I'll also be offering a class on editing anthologies on 4/6. And we are doing our financial planning for the replacement and attic redo this summer so if you're thinking of taking a class, now would be an excellent time. See also: buying books.

Speaking of books, I'm in the process of pulling together the latest Queen of Swords Press title, Wireless and More Steam-Powered Adventures by Alex Acks. Wireless is a sequel to Acks's Murder on the Titania and features more Ramos and Simms stories. They're both rollicking good reads and I highly recommend them! The cover reveal will be coming soon, along with preorder links, and the release date will be midApril (probably the 10th, but perhaps a week later), hopefully in time for ClexaCon and almost certainly in time for UntitledTown in Green Bay.

I'm also doing a talk on running a small press at DreamHaven Books on 3/21, "Running a Small Press: It's an Adventure!"  This will be a sequel to the talk I did in 2017 on getting started in small press publishing. There'll be time for Q&A, hopefully amusing anecdotes and some munchies, as well as QoSP books for sale. I'm also hoping to open up for book queries for 2020 for a bit in April and May, since i have a part-time assistant who i doing great work and can help me manage things. Fingers crossed.

Apart from all of this, I'm working on stuff. Blood Moon, the next menopausal werewolves novel, is moving along at a reasonably brisk pace. I hope to have a draft done by end of April, maybe sooner. I'm into that phase of pantsing where I know how it needs to end and that helps move things along. I've also sent in a pitch for an interesting project, am polishing up an essay for submission and will be getting some other things out the door this weekend while tackling my invite projects. I'm also looking forward to the Huldufolk Art Show on Saturday and Theatre Unbound's production of "Iphigenia and Other Daughters" on Saturday night (the same playwright's Fringe production, "Blood Noctourne" about Elizabeth Bathory was amazing). I'm also doing catch up on all my missed meetings and meetups from Snowpocalypse February. Should be fun.








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