Spring Round Up

I was going to title this "Spring Catch-up".  Oops.  Guess I shouldn't start a blog in the middle of a lunar eclipse...unless I really wanted to talk about condiments.

Nope, the only spice here is the variety of things I want to share.  First, for those of you in the Washington, DC, area, I hope you've got your tickets to Awesome Con this weekend, because it's going to be, well, awesome!

The fun starts before the con with an attempt to break the current Guinness record for the most superhero costumes in a single place.  If you want to be part of the action, bring your costumed self to the Capitol Reflecting Pool Friday April 18 at noon.  The con itself runs through the weekend at the DC Convention Center, and boasts a fabulous line-up of media and literary guests, including bleeding chunks from--er, a sizable number of cast members from The Walking Dead, friend of Beyond the Veil Gail Z. Martin, and me.

This will be my first Awesome Con, so my schedule is pretty light:

5:15-6:15 p.m., Friday, April 18
Part Time Writer, Full Time World

11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., Saturday, April 19
Writing Fantasy

Which means for once I'll have time to hang out at the Silence in the Library Publishing booth and maybe even (cue the shock) see a panel or two.  It's been ages since I've been able to indulge my inner fan girl at a con, so I'm really looking forward to this.

Meanwhile, I'm delighted to announce that Hellfire Lounge 4: Reflections of Evil is now a real live book actually available for purchase.  All of us associated with the anthology are cheering.  We've been waiting over a year for the book to see print, and it's finally happened.  Kudos to editor R. Allen Leider for shepherding the book through a very scary change in publishers.

As you might guess from the title, HF4 is all about mirrors, including the most famous one of all.  It features stories by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, John L. French, C.J. Henderson, Paul Kupperberg, our fearless editor R. Allen Leider, KT Pinto, J. Brad Stahl, Patrick Thomas, Robert E. Waters, and me.  There's also a certain amount of smoke, and in the case of my story, a lot of fire.

Yep, Eddie and Ducky are at it again in "Glass Transit".  "Burning Down the House" (in Hellfire Lounge 3: Jinn Rummy) left our (anti)heroes sealed in a magic bottle.  Naturally, being sorcerers, they come up with A CUNNING PLAN to escape.  Equally naturally, being Eddie and Ducky, things go south from there--specifically south to Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937.  If you like things that go boom, this is definitely the story for you.

I've posted an excerpt here.  The excerpt also gives you a peek at some of the wonderful interior art done by Ed Coutts.  It's always a thrill to have Ed illustrate your work, because he reads every story he illustrates.  I love the expression he gives my Eddie.  That's our boy all over.

There's lots more going on in my little corner of the world, but the most important thing involves one of my co-contributors to HF4, C.J. Henderson.  You think you know all about the Dance Like a Monkey anthology project at Indiegogo?  We'll you ain't seen nothing yet.  As proof, I offer this video from another HF4 writer, Patrick Thomas.  And remember, you've still got two weeks to get yourself a piece of the best literary bargain around.  What are you waiting for?


Till next time!

Jean Marie Ward