Pirate Game!

Hello,

I ran a pirate game set in the world of the Blue Kingdoms. It was a Dungeons and Dragons game held at a local hobby shop, Cross Class Adventures owned by Lucas and Kendra Garcia. They are great people and let me hold the game. There were about nine players--playing characters aboard the buccaneer ship Crosswind--which is a ship mentioned in my Pirate Witch story.

The game went great and I think everyone had a fun time. It was cool to see all the swashbuckling adventure and crazy mayhem. The players were all excellent and got into the spirit of the game, playing the characters with gusto and skill.

I look forward to DMing a game in the future set in the Blue Kingdoms---because pirates are fun.

Bye for now.

Paul

Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms anthology reviewed

The stories in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms are fun to read. The author’s came up with some exciting tales that keep you asking for more. There are also three really cool poems by Lester Smith, who is the President of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. Now, here’s a little description of the stories to give you a taste of the swashbuckling adventures.

The Accidental Pirates by Marc Tassin is reminiscent of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. It’s a fun story that makes you laugh out loud. I couldn’t help but smile and loved the plot twists and creative solutions to the most vexing problems. How does a slow ship with a suspect captain and only a few pirates, break into a heavily guarded fortress? The answer will surprise you.

Treasure by Jean Rabe is very creative. Jean has come up with one of her most unique characters. Green William will not be forgotten and the tale is very clever indeed. I’ll not spoil it here, just give it a read.

In my own story, The Pirate Witch, Maeve Tierney learns how wrong she was in marrying the infamous pirate, Bull Tierney, because he did what all pirates do, he went after someone else’s booty . . .

The Coins of Darkun, by Robert E. Vardeman is pretty scary. What would make a captain cut off the magical figurehead of his own ship? Read it and find out.

J. Robert King wrote the The Dreaded Pirate Fuzzytail, but don't let the title fool you. This is the story of the pirate ship, Reaper, the most feard ship in all of the Azure Sea. When Captain Wade Sutherland of the Avenging Angel is hired to find Reaper and sink her, he doesn't realize what he's getting himself into. Be afraid because Reaper is a ghost ship.

Cyren’s Eyes by Kathleen Watness is a fascinating story with the “stranger in a strange land theme.” Who is the mysterious main character and where has he come from? Find out in her engrossing tale that brings out the transitory nature of the Blue Kingdoms. This is one of my favorite stories in the book.

Battle with the Gray Ghost by Jim Ward is a combination of a Harry Potter and Master and Commander. It’s like the famous nautical novels by Patrick O’Brien (the author of the Master and Commander book) have been crossed with a Harry Potter book. I really enjoyed it and many readers will want to read his Halcyon Blythe Midshipman Wizard novels.

Just My Luck by Brandie Tarvin is pretty funny with characters so crazy and unique you’ll probably laugh out loud. It makes you wonder how unlucky a pirate can really be.

Judgment by Lorelei Shannon is a rollicking tale that features Amazon like dog headed pirate women, the Al-Kabar, who romp over the sea and kick so much ass you’ll howl for more. I loved it and I can see why the author had such a great time writing it.

Return of the Black Seraph by Kelly Swails shows you that avenging angels are not to be messed with. The God of Wrath has to have his own champions, doesn’t’ he?

Captain of the Red Coral by Dean Leggett is my favorite story in the book. I loved this tale and thought it was extremely well written--with a great twist at the end. The bite of one of the snake-like Corilla is bad news indeed.

Haunted Isle by Steve Winter is tense, gritty and real. The point of view character was great and the story was very well written. I have great respect for his talent as a writer.

The Adventures of Keva the Freemariner and the Notorious Pirate-Hunters by Jason Mical tells the story of Lord Stockton, hired to get rid of Keva the pirate once and for all!

Shipmates by Stephen D. Sullivan is great story to end the anthology. It has it all, cool battles, heroic characters and lots of pirates. The main character is a ruthless anti-hero put in a tough situation. Stephen helped create the world and has a great grasp of what the Blue Kingdoms are all about. Pirates. Lots of pirates.

Paul Genesse, Author/Pirate

ConDuit Convention Book Signing

Hello,

The pirates were out in force at the ConDuit convention in Salt LakeCity this past weekend. Many people were dressed as buccaneers. Most of them stopped by to say hello at my book signing. I even ran into the Dreaded Pirate Roberts #7,352--hey, that's what his T-shirt said! He bought a book and wished me well. The convention was a lot of funand the salt water taffy (made from imported water from the Blue Kingdoms) went over well. Too bad it was all stolen during one of mypanels! Just kidding. [grin]

Arrrr!

The ConDuit convention here in Salt Lake City went great. It's a small convention, but was very productive for me and allowed me practice my book promotion strategies. I networked with fans and authors, hung posters, did a reading, a signing, and was on four panels.Everyone noticed the promo posters-the ConDuit staff let me put up a big 16x25 poster right beside the door into the dealer's room.

A dealer, Hastur Games, let me hang a poster at their booth as well, plus they let me display a few books on the table and sold some for me. Everyone appeared to love the book cover and checked out the posters.

It was my first ConDuit in two years, and my first as a published author, so few people knew me. I did manage to sell a few books during the signing, and had drawings for a book at three of the panels and at my reading. I also gave out about 180 bookmarks.

I also gave a copy of Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms to a reviewer, Rex Rouviere, known as T-Rex on his online radio show on http://www.iscifi.tv/. He said he would review our book. Check out the link below to listen to a pod cast containing an interview with Alan Dean Foster, who Rex interviewed a few weeks ago. He told me that after I said I was so excited to be in the same anthology as Alan Dean Foster. My story, Almost Brothers is going in the Fellowship Fantastic anthology from DAW Books, which also features a story by Mr. Foster. It comes out in January of 2008. So, the interview with Mr. Foster is at the 28 minute mark of the show. There's some funny fanboy skits, sci-fi news and such on the show, run by fans.

Listen to the Alan Dean Foster interview by going to:http://www.iscifi.tv/podcast/

Rex offered to interview me before my novel comes out next year. He also said to refer authors I knew to him, to be interviewed on the show.So, all of you authors should get in touch with him if you're interested in doing an interview. Email Rex Rouviere and mention that I sent you his way.

Rex is a big gamer, (D&D), and he plays D&D online and much more. He helps run Mountain Con, a local fan convention here in Salt Lake City that gets some of the stars to come out-like Richard Hatch from Battlestar Galactica and lots of Star Trek actors. Visit the main ISCIFI site at http://www.iscifi.tv/ or visit http://mountaincon.org/ for information on that con.

Best wishes,

Paul Genesse, Author

Website: http://www.paulgenesse.com/

Blog: http://paulgenesse.blogspot.com/

Author of The Pirate Witch

in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms

www.popcornpress.com

Author of The Golden Cord

Book One of the Iron Dragon Series

(Five Star Books, April 2008)

Pirates of the Caribbean 3

Is the pirate world over?

Ahoy Pirate Fans,

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean , At Worlds End on Thursday, May 24 at a special screening at my local theater. It was a fun movie, though quite long and somewhat convoluted. The first one is still my favorite of the three, but I do give this one three and a half out of five stars. The acting is great, the characters are fun, and the special effects are amazing. There's plenty of drama and action to go around. There's plenty of CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow and we all wanted to see Johnny Depp being Jack.

The first movie was five stars, the second one was four stars, and this one was slightly less, so I'll give it three and a half stars. The biggest stumbling block is that this is an epic story and it's hard to wrap up. As a writer who has written a five book fantasy series, (The Iron Dragon Series), I know how hard it is to wrap up all the threads.

Even though the story is a little hard to follow at times, with all the pirates bluffing each other, it's an engrossing movie. We all wanted to find out what was going to happen, and were glued to the screen. The tension was kept high and the ending did not disappoint me. The twist was indeed a twist for me.

If any of you haven't seen it, please stay until the end of the credits. There is a pivotal scene at the very end that you must see. So, make sure you have an empty bladder, plenty of snacks, and something to drink for the movie. It's a long haul, but worth it if you're a pirate fan.

The best thing about the movies for me is the characters. The main ones and the secondary ones are top notch. I love Jack, Elizabeth, and Will so much, and I think that most of us do. That is the success of the film series. We all love them so much we'll sit there for three hours to see what is going to happen to them. The writers and directors of the series did a great job of making us love them. It turned out to be a little too complicated, but I'm glad I saw it.

The big question might have been answered in the title of the film: is the world over? Will we see Jack again? Or have we seen the end of the pirate world?

Either way, it was a fun ride and I'm glad I went on it.

Paul Genesse, Author of

The Pirate Witch

in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms

www.popcornpress.com

I'm Feeling It

Hello,

Well, the pressure is off and now I can work on a new project. The Golden Cord is in to the editor and I've been working on Medusa's Daughter. I'm liking it and am ready to make strides forward. I worked on chapters, one, four, and five. Chapter five isn't done yet, but it will be soon.

I'm feeling that urge to write and have managed to crank out a few pages. Medusa's Daughter is percolating in my mind and I'm excited to work on it. Also coming up will be a convention (ConDuit), this coming weekend. I've got a reading and four panels, which should be lots of fun.

Mostly, I just want to work on my new book. I need to get rolling on it again. Good luck with your own projects and when you have the feeling to write, go for it.

Paul Genesse

Author of The Pirate Witch in
the Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms anthology
www.popcornpress.com

Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms Released!

Avast My Hearties! The Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms anthology featuring my tale about Maeve Tierney, The Pirate Witch has been released. Get yours on the Popcorn Press website, www.popcornpress.com, or email me and get a signed copy. E-books are also available from Popcorn Press. It has some great stories and will fill that void once you've seen Pirates of the Caribbean 3, or will satisfy you until you can see it.

I can't wait to see that movie, and reading the stories in this book make me want to see it even more. I really liked Jean Rabe's story, Treasure. It's a good one and features a character named Green William. You won't soon forget him, or the vast array of sea dogs in this book. Join the Yahoo group dedicated to this new world at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bluekingdoms/ or if you've got a Yahoo account you can send an email to

www.bluekingdoms.com.

Anchors away!

Paul Genesse

ConDuit Convention

Hello,

Well, the time for my local sci-fi/fantasy convention has come. On May 25-27 I'll be attending ConDuit here in Salt Lake City,http://www.conduit.sfcon.org/ . It's going to be lots of fun as I'm doing a reading of The Pirate Witch from the Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms anthology (www.popcornpress.com), and will be on four panels. I'm excited to be part of my local convention and hope to meet lots of local fantasy fans. I've been to the convention a few times before, but have never been on a panel there or done a reading. I'm also hoping to do a signing. We'll see what happens.

Read my "News" section on my website for more specifics.

If you've never been to a convention of this type, this is a small one, but has lots of fun stuff. There's a big anime room, dealers area, miniature games, role-playing games, board games, and lots of other stuff going on.

Support your local conventions and check them out.

Paul Genesse

Author of The Pirate Witch
in the Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms anthology
www.popcornpress.com

I sent in the manuscript

Hello My Friends,

Last night I sent in the final manuscript of The Golden Cord to my editor. It felt really good to finally send it in. Today I had a very light feeling. The weight has been lifted and I'm very pleased to be past this hurdle.

I've been working toward this for a long time and now I can focus on other things for a little while. I need to get back to Medusa's Daughter, my novel set in ancient Greece. I wrote a chapter last month, but nothing since--as I've been working on The Golden Cord.

It's back to work on Medusa's Daughter or may I turned to stone and then cracked into little pieces . . .

Paul Genesse

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Releasing, April 2008

Spider-Man 3

I just saw Spider-Man 3 and really enjoyed it. I loved the first two movies and this one did not disappoint me. Peter Parker is such a great character and there is so much in him that I admire. Knowing who he really is, a really good man, makes it so sad when the black suit (Venom—as I believe it was called in the comic books) takes over. We get to see the dark side of Peter and of Spider-Man.

Characterization in writing is so important. We all have a duality in our nature and this movie explored the dark and light in a way that I hope makes masses of people think. The world is not black and white, but shades of gray. One of the supposed villains in the movie, Sandman, is just a man who wants to help his daughter. The Green Goblin wants to avenge his father and punish a murderer, Spider-Man. These characters have a dark nature to them, but they are just like Spider-Man in a lot of ways. Even he is fallible and can make mistakes or let his dark side take over.

We are all that way, whether we admit it or not—which is why I think people like characters who have dual natures. Pure white or pure black characters don’t make sense. They’re not real or believable. They seem fake, not true.

There are characters in novels called villains, and they are considered evil. Really, they are antagonists, while the main character is the protagonist. When I read George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire books I hated Jaime Lannister—the obvious villain. Then in a later book I got to see Jaime’s point of view. I was so mad that Martin wrote from his POV. I put the book down when I saw that fact and refused to read it at first. Then I started reading and had a revelation. Jaime is not a bad guy. When you see things from his POV and find out the truth of certain events you understand so much—and realize it’s all a matter of POV.

We are all the hero of our own story. Good or evil, black or white, it doesn’t matter. In the end I think most people are just shades of gray—though I prefer my Spider-Man in red and blue.

Have fun out there and if you are a writer, think hard about characterization.

Paul

The Deadline

Hello,

On May 18 I'm sending my editor the manuscript. The Golden Cord, Book One of the Iron Dragon series and a lot of ancillary material will be turned in--via email--Thank God. I didn't know how much other stuff I would have to do, but it's all coming together.

This week I polished off the front flap copy, back cover excerpt, author bio, catalog copy, acknowledgements, dedication, and author check-sheet (a document for the publisher with lots of stuff about the book plus some of what's on the previous list).

The other big thing was rewriting the first page once I received comments from a few excellent critiquers: Brad Beaulieu and Patrick Tracy. Re-doing the first page was a daunting thing for me, but it came out great and I'm really pleased. Page one has to sell the book and the one I had before had to be improved. My editor asked for a change and though I didn't want to face it, he was right. I'm so blessed to have such a great editor.

Now I'm just waiting for a blurb to finish the whole packet. Jean Rabe, a bestselling fantasy author who has read the book is sending it along. I can't wait.

I've met such great people since I got into writing about seven years ago. The journey has been long and if any of you decide to become writers I think you'll really like the other people who also do this crazy thing. Other writers are the only ones who know what it's like. They feel your pain and know what you're going through.

The people around me have given me such amazing support and I am truly thankful. Writing the acknowledgements brought up all sorts of memories about the people who have helped me along the way.

Thank you all so much for being supportive and good luck writing!

Paul

My first book cover!

Hello!

It's been a great week, but today is extra special. I just confirmed that Ciruelo Cabral's art will grace the cover of my first novel, The Golden Cord. I'm so excited! His painting, Moon Dragon will be on the cover. It's a big deal for me.

The art director will have a high quality electronic image very soon to work with, and then the book jacket design will be done.

This is so cool. I'll post an image at some point, but you can see in Ciruelo's 2007 Dragons calendar.

Nurse Takes Care of Dragon

Hi,

Today I had my author photo shoot at the Wayman studio in Riverton, Utah. The photographer, Paul Wayman and his son, Karl, are really good people. They did a great job with my photos. I've seen most of them already, one of the miracles of digital imaging. The photo we chose should go well on the back cover book jacket--after they touch it up of course. . . .

We also took a bunch of photos of dragon miniatures (they're actually quite big), and they're going to create some interesting press photos of me with the dragons. I'll send the photos to newspapers and magazines with some headline like: Nurse takes care of dragon, or Nurse takes a stab at dragon, Nurse gives dragon a shot.

The image features me in my nurse outfit--no white miniskirt or hat--just me in my dark blue pants and dark blue polo with a stethoscope and a really big syringe. The image of the dragon will be blown up and added later--they took some great shots of the dragon miniatures.

Anyway, generating press is a good thing and I'm doing my best to get a media grabbing campaign together. Well, the photos were fun, it's just too bad about my gigantic ears . . .

Ten Year Wedding Anniversary

Hello,

Ten years ago today Tammy and I got married. May 3, 1997, we said "I do" in Phoenix, Arizona. I got her a heart-shaped gold locket and a heart-shaped silver box to keep it in--both engraved of course. We had a good day, shared a lovely meal, and enjoyed ourselves.

Tam's been good to me, putting up with nearly all of my obsessions, such as writing, and being supportive all along the way. We've been together for 12 years after meeting in Doctor Markle's Pathophysiology class back in 1995. I sat down next to her on the first day of class.

As most of you know, life is not a Hollywood movie, but I still love her after all these years and we've done pretty well--despite her dislike of travel--and my need to see new places. We'll work it out in the end. Good luck to you all in your own relationships!

Paul