Sunday, December 30, 2007

From Dune to Medusa, to Fellowships

Hello,

I managed 2,000K this week. I only wrote for one night, for a few hours--last night. I haven't gone to bed yet. I did redo one chapter and got it all spiffed up, then wrote a new chapter, which turned out to be so wicked. I love it. Medusa is so bad and so twisted. I think the readers will love how this chapter ends. It's nasty and twisted.

So, with my wife Tam's help, I sent out 37 advanced reader copies of The Golden Cord to reviewers this week. There are more to go out, but it was a great start. Also, I haven't sent to that many newspapers yet. I also changed my book release party to May 10, not May 3, as the release date for The Golden Cord is now April 16. It used to be earlier. Anyway, Five Star says to wait 3 weeks before scheduling any book events, so that's what I'm doing.

I also managed to read the last 300 and something pages of the Sandworms of Dune book. It's the final book of the Dune series and it ended well. My review is on Amazon.com. I don't like Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson's writing style overly much, but they did well with these two books compared to their previous efforts.

I'm also reading Fellowship Fantastic, the anthology that I have the lead story in. I bought 20 copies from the publisher and I'm so excited to read the stories in it. You can get an autographed one on my website. www.paulgenesse.com. A great review came in from the net. Check it out at http://otter.covblogs.com/archives/cat_fantasy.html

I have only one shift this week, tonight, then I'm off for a few days. I'll be doing the next Writers' Symposium Ezine and writing more of Medusa's Daughter. I'm up to 46,000+ words and things are good. I just need to write more!!

Take good care, happy new year and I hope you're well.

Paul Genesse, Author

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

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
(Five Star Books, April 2008)

Monday, December 24, 2007

Q & A with author and poet JoSelle Vanderhooft

Hello There,

I’ve been getting to know JoSelle Vanderhooft, an exceptional poet and writer. I reviewed her novel—very briefly in a recent post. She wrote, The Tale of the Miller’s Daughter www.papaveria.com/md.html , which I loved. The publisher might be out of copies, so contact JoSelle personally at http://www.joselle-vanderhooft.com.

JoSelle and I just interviewed each other about writing in a series of back and forth emails where we alternated asking questions. The whole thing came out great. Below you’ll find out lots some of our thoughts about writing the creative process.

Q from Paul: Could you ever stop writing, or is it a need that has to be fed?

Joselle’s Answer: Honestly, I don't think it is something I could avoid doing while remaining healthy. A few years ago, due to a number of factors (including a severe bout of depression) I stopped writing for about two years. And they were, categorically speaking, the worst years of my life so far. I think “need” is the correct term to define it. In a number of ways, story is integral to healthy human living, whether you're the recipient of story (reading it or listening, say) or the teller. It's one of the earliest things we, as a species, figured out, right after fire, the wheel and hunting, and with good reason: it sustains us, refines us and makes us human. I could no more stop writing than I could stop being human.

Q from JoSelle: Your bio on Popcorn Press said you decided to write at age 4 or so. Tell me a bit about how you came to that decision at such a very young age.

Paul’s Answer: Before I could speak I was arranging my toys and creating stories about what was happening to them. I would play out the story, imitating who knows what, but creating stories none-the-less. Even before I could speak, I made it clear that I loved books and stories. My mom reports that I told her in my four year old voice--very matter of factly--that I was going to be a writer. She of course recoiled in horror and started giving me career suggestions. In the end, I became a nurse--probably to work off a karmic debt--but also to do something that involved helping people. I love meeting people and it so happens that writing and nursing have allowed me to meet some amazing people. I'll never quit being a nurse and I'll always write in some form or another.
JoSelle: Haha now I want to know what the games were! I did that with my toys, too.


Q from Paul: When you're writing poetry or fiction, do the words just flow most of the time, or do you have to pry them out of your head with a crowbar?

That often depends on the piece, and whether or not it is poetry or prose. Let's start with poems first. Last year, I wrote five collections (yes, really!) and most of the time the words flowed pretty well. This year, maybe because I've had other things to do, they haven't so well. I've also been writing a fairly challenging collection about father/daughter relationships, and perhaps the subject matter (and the fact I'm not really working in the pre-established plots of fairytales as I was last year) has made the wordflow a bit... well, stickier. Like molasses sometimes! When you emailed, I was working on a poem called "The Vampire's Daughter," a daughter's recollections of her father, who was the world's last great vampire stage and screen actor. It's written in iambic pentameter, as a dialogue between a reporter and the daughter, and I'm going to strangle it soon if it doesn't start being easier to write :). Fiction's a bit different. It tends to just go slower for me because the rules are a little different than they are in poetry, and getting the cadence of the language correct while doing everything I need to do with plot and character can be quite challenging. Ok, now one for you!And I'm gonna be boring and turn your question back to you.

Q from JoSelle: How does writing work for you? When does it come easy and when does it come hard? And when doesn't it come at all - if you'll forgive me paraphrasing Meat Loaf's "Anything for Love." :D

Paul’s Answer: Ah, Meatloaf. "I would do anything for love, but I won't do that . . . ." I think that's a line from the Meatloaf song you mentioned.

Well, I would do ANYTHING to let the words flow fast. Sometimes they come like a raging river, but most of the time they're very slow to appear on the page. When I wrote my first novel, and series, words came so fast. I wrote 550,000 words in less than three years. It turned out to be three fat novels, that turned into five shorter novels. Now, they're known as The Iron Dragon Series, book one being: The Golden Cord, coming out in April of 2008.

In those heady days, when I didn't realize so many things about writing, I could bang out 35 pages in one night. I would just go and go until I couldn't see straight anymore. I tended to write a lot of crap that needed to be rewritten and edited heavily, but at least it was down on paper. You can't edit nothing. I miss those days. I was more pure then and less encumbered with worry about the writing itself.

Now, I'm much more methodical and plodding--or should I say--plotting. I outline. I stew over it. I make sure I have a good hook and a chapter ending disaster that makes people keep reading. Things come hard now, most of the time. I think if I had less going on in other aspects I of my life I would write faster, but I have too many distractions. Finding a balance is huge for me. Tonight I did okay. I got going and let it flow. I wrote one chapter for my current novel (Chapter 19), Medusa's Daughter and revised another (Chapter 18) but then it was 7:00 AM and I was getting tired from being up all night. I even started chapter 20, but had to quit as my brain was mushy and I couldn’t keep going.

I think writing comes hard for me when I have too much going on. It comes easy when I can forget about the stress outside my writing room and focus on what's inside my little brain trying to get out.

Okay, next question for you:

Q from Paul: What inspires you? Personal experiences? Books? Poems? Art? What gets your juices flowing to write poems, stories, books?

Answer from JoSelle: A little bit of all of those, actually! I'm very inspired by the classics, particularly drama - I did get one of my degrees in theatre studies, after all, and I'd even planned on being a literary manager at a theatre. Ahh, but that feels like several lifetimes ago! Shakespeare is a perennial source of inspiration, as is John Webster, John Ford, Ben Johnson - basically anyone with "John" in his or her name. ;) But actually, I find that almost anything can be an inspiration. A dream, the cover of a book, something funny my cat did, an interesting conversation with a friend, the smell of my favorite perfume. I try to be as open to the world as I can be, and to as many experiences as I can have. And now for you,Q from JoSelle: You've discussed how Golden Cord came about a little in the last question, but I'm very curious how the book went from a project to publication. When did you get the idea for the novel/series and how did it progress?

A from Paul: This is good question. And a long answer, though I’ll be brief here. My website has a section titled: Writers’ Resources and an essay on how I got published. That describes how it all went down. Check it out for the long answer. The short answer is this: I dreamed the dream of getting published. I lived it. I wanted it. I learned what it would take. I went to conventions. I went to writing seminars. I spoke with writers who sold professionally and with writing teachers. I wrote a lot of words, over half a million. Then poof! I became an overnight success SIX YEARS later. In the end, I had developed the skill to get published and gained the contacts required to get published. Then it happened. Now I’ve sold nine short stories, six to DAW Books and three to smaller presses and one novel so far.

The other part of the question is about how I got the idea for the novel and how did it progress. That happened when I was flying over the Grand Canyon. I was looking at the massive mesas below me and I was thinking about how entire groups of animals—deer and mountain lions—are so isolated and cut off from everything—according to a documentary I saw. I also remembered an article in National Geographic from back in the 90’s about these massive plateaus in Venzuela, called Tepuis. If you’ve seen Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world, you’ve seen the Tepuis.

So, the Grand Canyon’s geography and Venzuela’s Tepuis gave me the idea for the world. That’s when I thought of Ae’leron—a world of massive plateaus surrounded by an ocean of mist and cloud—inspired by plane rides when I could look out and see the clouds going to the horizon, but there was no evidence of the ground below. In Ae’leron, no one knows what’s below the mist and winged creatures prey upon the folk who try to survive on the plateaus. Death comes from above and yes, there are dragons—not that many. You really have worry about the griffins. Flights of griffins are like prides of lions, but they come from above and kill without warning. The story and plot of the books came as I started to create a story that could take place in the world. The one line description of the novel and even the series is this:

To stop the dragon king, a young hunter must leave behind the woman he loves, give up all of hope of survival, as he is forced to guide his most hated enemies to the lair of the beast that threatens to enslave their world.

The Golden Cord, Book One of the Iron Dragon Series comes out in April of 2008. Please email me to pre-order a signed copy.

Okay, thanks for reading. JoSelle and I thank you for your time and we hope you found our little Q & A interesting. Stay tuned and good luck writing.

Paul Genesse

www.paulgenesse.com

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Holiday Letter 2007

Dear Friends & Family,

Tammy and I wish you the very best. We hope you have a great holiday season and a wonderful new year. We’ve had a busy 12 months filled with lots of new things. Tammy is temping
more as a dental hygienist, serving as the librarian/archivist for the Murray Concert Band, and volunteering at the hospital where I work helping people find their way. She is doing great and wants to wish you all well. Please email her at tgenesse(fourtwo)(at)hotmail.com to get in touch and see what she’s up to when she’s not organizing or working on crossword puzzles.

My year has been pretty eventful. I’m still working full-time as a nurse in a cardiac unit—though my unit moved from the 100 year old hospital where we were, to the brand new Intermountain Medical Center, which is 20 minutes closer to my house. Life is good and I love the new place, but most of all, I love the people I work with.

The big news is that my first novel, The Golden Cord, Book One of the Iron Dragon
Series is coming out in hardcover in April 2008. I’ve finally broken into publishing and
I’ve sold nine short stories in the past year and a half, in addition to the novel. I’m really, really looking forward to going on a book tour in early to mid May of 2008. The tour is going to be an opportunity to come and visit all of you! I can’t wait! I’ll also be speaking at schools, so if you have any contacts in middle or high schools let me know.

Also, you’re all invited to a big book release party at our house on May 3, 2008. It will be the grand opening of our basement, which is being finished right now. The basement will be an art gallery featuring all the cool fantasy art I’ve collected over the years.

That’s the brief update for 2007. Visit www.paulgenesse.com for more details and links to my blog, or join me on Facebook. Tammy and I wish you all the very best and hope to see you all soon!

Happy Holidays!

Paul & Tammy Genesse

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Red Hot Poker

Hello,

I managed to get a little writing done today. I finished chapter 19, and reworked chapter 18 of Medusa’s Daughter. It’s going slow, though I’m hoping to have a good writing day tomorrow.

One thing that helped me move forward was some fan email I got from Sweden. The person had read chapter one of Medusa’s Daughter on my website and really liked it. That gave me a kick in the pants to keep writing, thank you, Sanna.

Overall, I’ve been weak, lately, and haven’t had the focus to stay with the writing for long periods of time. It used to be easier to sit and write for several hours straight, but that was before DirecTV, TiVo, Google, and all the other distractions—like blogging, or Facebook.

I need to find the mental fortitude to just ignore all that other crap and write. I’m up to page 162 in the novel, but I wish I was much further along. I need to start setting writing goals on my days off from the hospital. I used to just plow ahead, but now I’m being more careful, so I don’t have to rewrite whole sections of the book later.

What I’m learning is that my outline was pretty good for the initial stages, but as I’m getting into the middle part it’s not as detailed as it should be. There are a lot of things that need to be changed, and I’m changing them, but then I have to sit and stew and figure out the best way to move forward. I could just write filler chapters, but I want to write chapters that really kick ass. They have to have a great hook and a big disaster at the end. Until I have those things, I just don’t want to write the damn chapter. So I don’t. I watch a movie or find some other thing to distract myself.

Also, characters keep doing things that I didn’t expect and that can be problematic. See my post titled “Off the Reservation.”

Anyway, despite my bitching it’s going okay. The process is becoming a little painful and I just have to fight through it.

I must learn to allow things to unfold and move ahead. I’m also worried about the book being long enough. I need to hit at least 80,000 words and with the outline I have now, I’m doubting I’ll hit that (I'm at 42,000 words now). I can always add stuff later, but I’d rather not have to rewrite lots of stuff to accomplish that. I guess I’ll see what happens.

There’s some insight to my twisted little brain. Writing can be fun, when it’s not a red hot poker being shoved into your ear. Wait! Maybe I need the poker to be applied to my backside to get me writing faster?

Good thing I just remembered that artists have to suffer for their art. I feel tons better. [grin and a wink]

Paul Genesse

www.paulgenesse.com

Sunday, December 16, 2007

The Tale of the Miller's Daughter



Hello,


I’ve recently had the pleasure of reading The Tale of the Miller’s Daughter, a short novel by JoSelle Vanderhooft. It’s an excellent piece of fiction that retells the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin; but gives it a new spin sure to please. The work (65 pages total) is written as an epic poem and builds momentum like an avalanche.

I love the use of language, which is so clever and beautiful. JoSelle Vanderhooft’s roots as an acclaimed poetess are obvious and she creates very evocative turns of phrase that you won’t forget anytime soon. I was most impressed with the tension of the piece, that kept building and building and got me inside the mind of the main character so expertly that I really understood her. I can also see why Vanderhooft has been nominated for awards.

I first read JoSelle’s work in a collection of her poems titled: The Minotaur’s Last Letter to His Mother. The first line of that is: I eat their sons to hurt you.

Great, eh? I love that poem. The language is so powerful and hooked me right from the start. Her work has a strength on the surface and the themes buried within add a whole new level of complexity. The main theme of the Miller’s Daughter not having a real identity, or a name for that matter, is a driving force of the work. Check out the first two opening lines:

I was never named and never asked a thing.
I am only a girl, and for me that must ever be enough.

You feel for the main character, the miller’s daughter, right away and she is fascinating.
Vanderhooft had me from the start and I’m so happy to have discovered her work. It’s great when you find a writer that you really love.

I recently found out that the publisher is out of the book right now, papaveria.com/md.html, but you can get an autographed copy for $12 (which includes shipping) by emailing the author: JoSelle Vanderhooft upstart.crow@gmail.com.

Have a great day and be glad that you have a name.


Paul Genesse

http://www.paulgenesse.com/

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2008)

Monday, December 10, 2007

Off the Reservation

Sometimes a character you're writing about goes off the reservation. I don’t mean to be politically incorrect here with that turn of phrase. That’s just the phrase that works best. Last week (and this week) the main male character in Medusa’s Daughter, decided he should do something crazy.

The twenty-five page single spaced outline wasn’t good enough for Nikander. I thought I had it all figured out, but then he decided he was going to kill the main villain in chapter 16. Now, don’t get me wrong. Medusa deserves it in a bad way. But, it really wasn’t in the outline until much later—think chapter 26!

The good news is that Nikander knew the story needed to go in this direction and he went for it. The problem for me is that I feel a little lost now. I have three new chapters to deal with. They’re good chapters (I’m so humble, yes), but it made me pause and have to really think for a while. Which is good and I believe the novel needed to go in this direction. Still, it gave me the deer in the headlights look for a while.

My point here is that despite my anal, structured, over planning nature, I can be flexible—and so should you. I’m still advocating doing some extensive planning, via the Snowflake method. Go to:

http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php

for a complete description of the Snowflake Method and to sign up for Randy Ingermanson’s ezine, which is quite valuable—and free.

Have fun writing and when your main character decides to do something you didn’t expect, think about it for a while, very carefully, and then decide if it’s a good idea for the story. Sometimes, it’s going to be a great idea. Then you have to trust your character and let them take you like 10,000 words off the reservation.

Happy Holidays!

Paul Genesse

www.paulgenesse.com
Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2008)

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Blue Kingdoms: Shades and Specters


My Review of Blue Kingdoms: Shades and Specters

Between twilight and dawn, half-glimpsed things lurk in the swirling sea mist, long dead things that have clawed their way out of the darkest abyss, things that were better left entombed.

In this second volume of Blue Kingdoms Stories, you’ll find a host of specters, ghosts, monsters, and more . . . guaranteed to shiver your timbers.

Sail the Azure Sea with a ghoulish crew of tale-spinners who have crafted some scary stories to terrify and delight. Below I’ve written short reviews of the twelve stories.

For those of you who read my first Blue Kingdoms story, “The Pirate Witch,” and wanted more, you should enjoy “The Queen’s Ransom.” It’s the sequel to “The Pirate Witch,” in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms and features Maeve Tierney, the infamous Pirate Witch herself. If you haven’t read the first one, the second one still makes sense. You get to see that going after your dead ex-husbands treasure is not the best idea—especially when you had a hand in his death. My plan is to use these two stories as the beginning of a novel about Maeve. It’ll be called The Pirate Witch. The third story will be coming out next year and will complete this story arc.

Black Spots by Jean Rabe is a great story. I think it’s the best one in the anthology.
Jean has created an excellent tale that works on all levels. H.P. Lovecraft would be very proud.

The Beacon by Marc Tassin. I loved this story. The characters and the setting were great. I don’t want to give anything away, but Marc is one excellent teller of scary tales.

Book of Life by Dean Leggett—the premise is spooky and who doesn’t want to read about a sentient book? Keep in mind, you want to read about The Book of Life, not read it. Trust me.

Accidental Vengeance by Kelly Swails. I love ghost stories, especially ones involving children. Kelly delivered a heartfelt tale about what happens when a good girl summons a bad one.

Laid To Rest by Kathleen Watness is a grim adventure story with all the good stuff. It features a kick-ass and take names heroine determined to fulfill her duty to a comrade in arms, a diabolical villain of terrible power and plenty of sword-fighting that you won’t want to miss. Bring on the sequel.

The Adventure of the Repose Island Plague Ship, by Jason Mical explores the Blue Kingdoms from a very interesting point of view. The first line is: We vampires hate sea travel. (Yep, it’s a great first line and the story delivers in unexpected ways.)

The Wreckers by Robert E. Vardeman explores piracy close to the coast, when rum was never so important for survival.

Raven’s Wake by Lorelei Shannon is a very scary story and reminds me of a place called Ravenloft—perhaps you’ve heard of it?

Night of the Living Island, by James. M. Ward was a fun story, and features an island you’ll only visit once . . .

The Monster of Mogahnee Bay, by Brandie Tarvin features a noble heroine who ends up with a problem she can’t solve on her own.

The Court of the Blood Red Queen, by Stephen D. Sullivan is all action, all the time. There’s some serious carnage and the story shows what happens when a group of well-armed mariners tangle with someone they probably shouldn’t have. I read the expanded/uncut story in Blue Kingdoms: Zombies, Werewolves, and Unicorns. Let’s just say that the body count is high. Very high.

Get an autographed copy of Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms and Blue Kingdoms: Shades and Specters on my website in the "Works" section.
Thanks for your support!

Paul Genesse

www.paulgenesse.com

Battlestar Galactica: Razor


Hello,
****
My favorite show on TV came back for a little teaser on Saturday. I watched the two hour Battlestar Galactica: Razor last night on the Sci-Fi channel. Wow, I loved it. The show told the story of the Battlestar Pegasus after the attack on humanity by they Cylons. It also tells about a missing chapter after the Pegasus found the Galactica and the colonial fleet. It was so tense and was told in flashback with scenes from before and after the meeting with Galactica. It has all the great cast members from the usual show, plus the excellent cast on Pagasus.
****
Some interesting things were revealed and it makes me want to see the new season so bad. I
think it comes out in March! I wish it were sooner. I pre-ordered the DVD (of Battlestar Galactica: Razor), and it should come soon. It's the extended edition and has a lot of extra scenes. The show felt a little rushed to me, and I think with the extended scenes it'll be even better. Admiral Kane is the toughest female character I've ever seen on TV. Not following her orders is a very bad idea.
****
Good Hunting! And Frak the Cylons!
****
Paul Genesse, Author
****
****
Author of The Queen's Ranson
in Blue Kingdoms: Shades and Specters
get an autographed copy on my website
****
Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2008)

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Beowulf Movie Review


Read my movie review below. I just wanted to post this picture. Do you see the blood in the air?

Paul

Beowulf Movie Review



Beowulf movie review
(no spoilers, just a few teasers)

Pride is the curse. Don’t forget it. King Hrothgar did. Beowulf did. Will you?

I saw the new Beowulf movie tonight in 3D with my buddy Patrick. Wow, what an amazing experience. The movie was so smart and well done. The director, Robert Zemeckis, and the writer (I believe he is not alone in writing this adaptation) Neil Gaiman, did fabulous jobs.

I love the original poem and have read it several times. This movie version was different, but so great. It was visually stunning, exciting, and seeing it in 3D was excellent. Go see it in 3D for sure. I heard that if you go to an IMAX theater you get goggles, whereas I wore plastic glasses—not too bad. Either way, pay the extra price, which for me was $1.50 extra (total $9.00) for a night showing. I heard IMAX was like $12.50. I think it would probably be worth it.

The plot is very similar to the poem, with some iconic scenes right off the ancient pages, but it combines the Grendel story with the Fafnir story (about Beowulf fighting a dragon), and makes it cohesive. They also left in some old English language, which was great to hear. It added a flavor that made the movie feel like it was paying homage to the original poem.

Survival is ruthless. That tagline from the movie is so good. Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mother was great. Did I mention she is totally hot?

Here’s three reasons to watch the movie in a theater:

The story has lasted for so long because it’s great.
The movie is wildly entertaining and beautiful.
Angelina Jolie is hot. Even as a motion-captured cartoon like image.

Remember one last thing when you watch the movie for added enjoyment:
Pride is the Curse.

Paul Genesse, Author

http://www.paulgenesse.com/

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2008)

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Gangster Writers


Yep, even writers are in gangs. Mean gangs. So mean we'll actually throw the book at you. I'm not talking little paperbacks. I'm talking epic hardbacks over a thousand pages long! Books that can maim or kill.

So, I'm flashing the gang sign for our crew, Wordfellas. I could tell you what it meant, but then I'd have to edit the crap out of you until you begged for mercy. Your manuscript would bleed so red your shoes would change color. My critiques are so critical every story you wrote in the future would be shorter. Wordfellas FO-ev-a.

Okay, so that's Brad "Bowler" Beaulieu and I at the big author signing on Friday night. It went great and I got to meet up with a cool agent (Jenny Rappaport and her cool husband, Chris), lots of writers (like famous sci-fi author Robert Sawyer and fantasy author Tim Waggoner), and a major publisher, Betsy W0llheim of DAW Books. Everyone loved the cover of The Golden Cord. I handed out over-sized promo cards.

Brad and I had a good time hanging with Wordfellas members: Anton "Fish" Strout, Patrick "Tracer" Tracy, and Pat "Fuzz" Rothfuss. It was such a great time and I can't wait for next year. We met so many great people and got to hang with new and old friends. I'm so thankful for all the fun people I've been able to meet at World Fantasy. It's a great convention and next year it's in Calgary, Alberta. I can't wait.

Now it's time to get busy and finish my next book. Medusa's Daughter has to be finished.

Good luck to all of you out there!

Best wishes,

Paul "Paul-E" (NY accent) Genesse

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2008)

Author of The Queen's Ransom
Blue Kingdoms, Shades and Specters
Walkabout Publishing (available now at
www.paulgenesse.com)

Thursday, November 1, 2007

World Fantasy Convention 2007

Hello,

There are writers everywhere. I'm in Saratoga Springs, New York. It's in upstate New York, near Albany. It's very wooded and beautiful. The town is lovely and the buildings very old. Descending upon the town are hundreds of writers, editors, publishers, and agents--so I fit right in.

I had a great night and hung out with old friends and met lots of new ones. It was fantastic. I'm looking forward to the next couple of days, where I can hang out and have a good time.

It's just great to meet all the people in the industry and rub elbows with the big guys. I actually shook hands with my hero, George R.R. Martin, writer of the Song and Ice and Fire series. I love those books! He's a cool guy and it was great to meet him.

More later, bye for now.

Paul Genesse

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2008)

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Shades & Specters



Hello,

The ghost has promised to let me go. No, not the one in my machine that makes me write. The one at the 100 year old hospital where I work. The ghost has been with me for the full ten years that I've worked there, but I say goodbye on October 28. That's my last shift at the old hospital.

On October 29, I'll be at the brand new Intermountain Medical Center (IMC). It's an amazing place and is twenty minutes closer to home. The 40 minute commute goes down to 20 minutes. IMC opens this coming Monday. I'm going to be the supervisor on my floor on the last night at the old hospital, then I'm going to be the first night shift supervisor on Cardiac 3 at the new hospital. I can't wait.

I'm heavily involved with getting my new unit up and running. Extra hours, extra stress, but it's all worth it. In the past month I've practically lived at the new place, training the staff and getting things ready. Life has been crazy, but I've managed to do a few other things . . . .

The writing news is good. The first issue of the Writers' Symposium Ezine came out on October first. It took a lot of work, but I'm proud of the debut. The next one will come out in January sometime. Thank you all for reading it and sending it along to your friends.

I've also been working on Medusa's Daughter and have written a few new chapters. It's coming along, though not as fast as I'd like.

The other news: I finalized my story, "The Queen's Ransom," working with my editors, Stephen Sullivan and Jean Rabe, to sharpen it up to a fine point. The anthology, Blue Kingdoms, Shades and Specters is coming out in less than a week, on Halloween. It features stories from several authors, including my own spooky tale. It's the sequel to "The Pirate Witch," and continues the story of Maeve Tierney, and chronicles her bid to recover the Queen's Ransom treasure. She has a bad feeling from the start and her little voice keeps telling her not to go there. But pirates love booty, and Maeve has to make one last score, then she can quit piracy forever . . .

Autographed copies of the first story, and the sequel in Shades and Specters will be available soon on my website and from the publisher.

Here's the text on the back.

Half-glimpsed things lurk in the mists that hang above the sea, between twilight and dawn. Things long dead have clawed their way into these pages, things that were better left entombed.

In this second volume of Blue Kingdoms stories you'll find a host of specters, ghosts, monsters and more, guaranteed to send shivers through your timbers.

Happy Halloween!

Paul Genesse

http://www.paulgenesse.com/

Author of The Golden Cord

Book One of the Iron Dragon Series

Five Star Books, April 2008

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Writers' Symposium Ezine

Hello,

It's been a busy week and I've been working on the Writers' Symposium Ezine. Each issue is dedicated to “Helping Writers Write,” and will be released quarterly via email, or it can be viewed on the web at www.paulgenesse.com/WritersSymposium. Each issue will feature articles, tips, and resources that will help people improve their writing, or let them know about good books.

Sign up by sending email to:
WritersSymposium@paulgenesse.com

The Writers’ Symposium is made up of twenty professional writers, game designers, and editors listed at the end of the issue. Combined we have sold several dozen books and short stories to major publishers, primarily in the fantasy and science fiction genre.

The Writers’ Symposium has its origins back in the 1990’s when it was founded by editor and author Jean Rabe—famous for her Dragonlance novels. She started giving seminars on writing at the Gen Con Game Fair in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Gen Con has moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, but Jean and her crew are still there.

Many writers have helped her present the panels over the years and the seminars are almost always packed with people who want to learn more about writing. I was one of those writers who wanted to break in. By following Jean’s advice I’ve sold eight short stories and my first novel is coming out in hardcover in April of 2008. This first issue is dedicated to Jean, a fantastic person and a great writer.

The first is made up of articles titled:

From the Editor
Feature Article: Creating Characters and a link to an online article
Bio on Jean Rabe—The Founder of the Writers’ Symposium
Feature Article: Writers’ Groups by Don Bingle
List of Current Writers’ Symposium Members & Contact Info
Final Thought and link to the Writers’ Symposium Blog


Paul Genesse,
Coordinating Editor of the Writers' Symposium Ezine

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

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
(Five Star Books, April 2008)

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Dragons are cool


Hello All,


Who knew that dragons are big at FedEx Kinkos? I went in to get some promo material printed up and ended up meeting some fantasy fans. I had the cover of my book and the original print with me. I needed some things printed up in various forms. The staff went wild over the art, which I love so much as well. Of course, I handed out promo cards and chatted with people. I love talking about fantasy and I met a guy who loves George R.R. Martin's books as much as I do. There were several people there who were just so nice to me.

So, I also had a print of the cover made (to hang on my wall of course) and when I went back to pick it up three of the staff came over and told me how much they loved it. A couple of them had even visited my website and one guy, Alan, had read the prologue of The Golden Cord. He loved it and quoted lines to me as he loved the language I used. That was very uplifting. He's excited about the book to come out and I'm probably going to get him an advanced reader copy. It was a great experience and charged me up to write.
Then I went to get the print framed at Michael's, and the staff there were so cool as well. We picked out a great frame (by great I mean $480 great--and that was after the $150 off sale they had going). Of course I picked out the most expensive frame imagineable. I guess I have good taste. Damn! Oh well, but it's going to look so good.
In the end I think it's fair to say that dragons are cool.
Paul Genesse
Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books, April 2008

Mountain Con Video news

Hello,

Here's a link to a video from a local news station about Mountain Con. It's kind of funny and let me tell you, meeting the guy who played Darth Vader was cool. I found out that he didn't know they had dubbed in James Earl Jones' voice in until after the movie came out. That's Hollywood.

Here's the link to the video.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=1846965


Paul Genesse

www.paulgenesse.com

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books, April 2008

Monday, September 24, 2007

Mountain Con 2007

Hello,

Mountain Con was great. www.mountaincon.org

The organizers did a fabulous job. Carl Stark, Rex Rouvierre, Paul Roesberry, George, Julie and lots of others did an excellent job. It was a gathering of science-fiction and fantasy fans, plus a bunch of stars from Star Trek, Star Wars and various science-fiction TV shows—plus a gathering of authors. We had a good time and I loved getting to know some of the other local authors: Ken Rand, Eric James Stone, Dan Willis, Karen Webb, JoSelle Vanderhooft, Howard Tayler http://www.schlockmercenary.com/
, Julie Frost, and the author guest of honor from Montana: Diana Pharaoh Francis. She’s fabulous and a really fun person. We had dinner on Saturday and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I spent most of my time on panels about writing. Friday was my slowest day, as I just had a reading. I read three scenes from The Golden Cord. I read some tense and scary scenes. Then my mentor, Ken Rand read a couple of scenes, one from his upcoming book Pax Dakota. Very cool alternate history that supposes that the Dakota Indians won and established their own country in the Dakotas. The book takes place in the 1800’s and is a very original fantasy with an excellent twist.

Here’s my crazy schedule with a few comments:


Paul’s Saturday Mountain Con Schedule

9:00-10:00 Dune Book Discussion—we discussed the bestselling sci-fi book of all time. It was a lot of fun, but kind of early . . .

12:00-1:00 Universe Building Panel—we discussed how to create a world from the ground up. I have a handout on this one that covers geography. Check my site under Writers’ Resources.

1:00-2:00 I listened to Diana Francis, the author guest of honor speak. She was great.

3:00-4:00 Edit Yourself Panel—we discussed how to make that mediocre first draft into sellable work.

4:00-7:00 Dinner Break. I went out with Di and her family, plus Patrick Tracy, and Liz—a new friend I met at my signing last week. Life was good. I had a steak salad. Mmmm, it was naughty and perfect.

5:00 Creating Characters. This was a good panel, but I couldn’t make it, as I was having dinner with Di. I did provide a nice handout, which you can find on my website in Writers’ Resources. It lists six ways to create characters from scratch.

7:00-8:00 The Writing Life Panel—this turned out to be a great panel and we all had an excellent time.

8:00 Masquerade—costumes, skits and filking. (Filking is singing. Filkers sing about all things related to fandom. My favorite was the Star Trek Red Shirt Song, lamenting the fact that the Red Shirt on Star Trek always got killed!! It was hilarious!!


Paul’s Sunday Mountain Con Schedule


10:00-11:00 How to Get Published Panel—we were tired, but lots of good information came out of this one.

11:00-12:00 Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy Panel—this one dovetailed from the last one and was fun.

12:00-1:00 Create A World Contest (Panel)—I helped create a shared world that will be used for the short story contest that Mountain Con and CONduit are having. It was quite fun. I’ll have write more on this one later.

1:00-2:00 Universe Building: Anthropology of Fantasy Panel—I’m posting a handout on my website soon. Very good stuff from a friend, Sara Klein.

2:00-3:00 Lunch Break (After four straight hours of panels I was so hungry and tired.)

3:00 Historical Representation of Dragons Panel (Patrick Tracy was on this one with me and we discussed one of our favorite subject: Dragons!)

4:00-5:00 Blogs for Business Panel (Yep, blogs really help business).

I said my goodbye and we (Tam & I) dragged our butts home. It was a really fun and enjoyable weekend. Tammy helped out a lot and was there on Friday and Sunday.

When I wasn’t on panels I was at my table handing out free promo stuff for my novel and stories. I met tons of cool people and made a lot of new friends. I just love meeting new people.

Now I must crash, but sleep is elusive . . .

Paul Genesse

www.paulgenesse.com

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books, April 2008

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Mountain-Con III

Live Long and Prosper,

I've been at a great local convention this weekend: Mountain-Con III. Check out http://www.mountaincon.org/ for more. I've been on many panels on writing and have been having a great time. Lots of media guests are there and some cool writers. I've had a great time hanging out with Diana Francis, a cool writer and a good person. I have a table and I've been with Ken Rand. He's a high quality guy with vast knowledge on writing. Check out his book, The 10% Solution. It's an excellent book on writing.

I love seeing my new friends and old friends. It's so much fun. I'm back tomorrow for five or six hours of panels. Good stuff!

Bye for now,

Paul Genesse

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books ( April 2008)

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!


Ahoy!

In case you missed it, today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day! My friend Ida sent me these pictures and I had to post them! Arrrren't they cute?

So, mateys, keep the wind in yer sails today and remember all yer favorite phrases. Search online for the good stuff.

Anchors away!

Paul






Sunday, September 16, 2007

My first Barnes & Noble Signing

Hello,

My first major book signing in Salt Lake City went great. On Friday, September 14, I was at the largest Barnes & Noble in town, the Sugarhouse branch. I was there from 6-9 PM and spoke in the café from 6:30-7:00, which was also very fun. I was a little nervous, but a bunch of old friends and new friends showed up. I just love my friends and my wife Tam really helped out a lot. The best thing about doing the signing was having a good excuse to see friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I miss them and my secret plan for my writing career is to use my book tours/signings to get together and see old friends—and to make new ones of course.

I hung out at my table near the front door and met lots of book lovers. The meerkat named Little Bhoki, from my meerkat mafia story, The Mob, featured in the Furry Fantastic anthology was there. Little Bhoki loves watching people, so I brought him along. I also had free booty including: chocolate nuggets in a treasure chest, promo cards with the cover of my first novel The Golden Cord, and cards with the Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms cover on it. I was signing copies of the Pirate book with my Pirate Witch story in it, and sold quite a few. Thank you all who got one. My stock is nearly out, but I have a few autographed copies left that can be purchased on my website. Remember, getting booty is good. [grin]

So, I read the first page and a half of the Pirate Witch story in the café and read the back of the book excerpt of The Golden Cord. It all turned out great and the media relations person asked me to come back when my novel comes out in April. I can’t wait. The store manager was great to me also.

I’ll be a guest at a local convention next weekend, Mountain-Con. Check out http://mountaincon.org/x/page/ for more information. It’s going to be great.
I’ll be on a bunch of panels and will be doing a reading at 4:00 on Friday September 21.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported me. I truly appreciate you all.


Love,


Paul Genesse

www.paulgenesse.com

Author of The Pirate Witch
In Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2007)


Sunday, September 9, 2007

Kitty and the City

This is Cassie, the main cat character in my story: Kitty and the City
Cassie is very cute and considers herself a fashionista.



Hello,

It’s been a good week. I finished the first draft (5,100 words/26 pages) of my story for the Catopolis anthology coming out from DAW Books in a year or more. It’s edited by Janet Deaver-Pack, a great lady who I really love. Right now I’m calling my story, Kitty and the City. It’s like Sex and the City with cats. Fun times. I sent it off to my writer friend and Sex and the City fan, Kelly Swails to check out. She’ll give me her input then I’ll rewrite the story and get the final draft ready.

The other news is that the copyedited manuscript of The Golden Cord came this week, on Friday afternoon. I love what the copyeditor did and she caught a number of small mistakes in the manuscript. Bless her forever! I could tell that a few mistakes are from my editor when he accepted changes on the last draft. Sometimes when you accept a change a new error is created. Like with the last line, which was missing a very important word.

Anyway, I’ve been working on The Golden Cord and will send it back to the copyeditor later today. It’s so great to almost be done with that.

The other news is that Tam and I went to the local Greek Festival. It was amazing. The food was good and the authentic Greek dancing by a local troop was very entertaining.

The most fun of the weekend was going to the hamster races. Yep, HAMSTER RACES!
At the local Pet Co about twenty hamsters, three chinchillas, and a few gerbils got together for the annual event. They race in their hamster balls along a straight track, going four at a time. Single elimination, so it’s quite tense, especially for the little kids who toil all year training their hamsters for this event . . .

Last years winner, Bubba, won again, successfully defending his title. We thought Mini might take it, but Bubba edged her out by about one body length.

By the way, next week, Friday September 14 is my first major book signing in Salt Lake City. It’s at the Sugarhouse branch from 6-9 PM. I’m speaking from 6:30-7:00 and I’d love to see any locals who can be there.

Well, that’s my news. I hope you are all well.

Friday, August 31, 2007

The Golden Cord's cover

Hello,

Here it is, the official cover of The Golden Cord. I love how it came out and am so excited to finally see it. The cover designer, Ed Vincent, did a great job and the art is fabulous--the work of Ciruelo Cabral. I was just stunned when I first saw it, but since it's my first book I guess that's to be expected.

I just ordered a bunch of promo materials from Vistaprint.com for my signing coming up on September 14 at the biggest Barnes and Noble here in Salt Lake--really the store is in Sugarhouse. Please come and visit me. I'll be there from 6PM to 9PM with a few other local authors.

Life is good and if I'm proof that things can come true if you just dare to dream.

Paul Genesse

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

Fellowship Fantastic


Here's the cover of Fellowship Fantastic from DAW Books, edited by Kerrie Hughes and Martin H. Greenberg, featuring my short story, Almost Brothers. It comes out January 2008. My story happens to be the lead story in the book! (insert sound of me cheering here)
When I first saw the back cover I said, "Why is my name first?" Then it hit me when I saw it first in the title listings. Wow. I'm still in shock a little.

I'm so excited about this anthology and am so pleased that my story was chosen to be first. It's my third published short story, I have five more coming out over the next year and a half, and I feel like it's some of my strongest work. I had some great help with it, but I worked really hard on this story.

Anyway, the cool thing about this book for me is that I'm in there with some amazing writers that I've been reading since I was a kid. I've been reading Alan Dean Fosters's books since I was a twelve. Also, Nina Kiriki Hoffman is a World Fantasy Award winner and I love her work. Then there are also several up and coming writers like Brad Beaulieu, Chris T. Pierson, Steven Schend and Don Bingle. Russell Davis is a great writer as well, and I'm feel very blessed to have my story in such good company. There are also stories by Jody Lyn Nye, Brenda Cooper, Fiona Patton, S. Andrew Swann, and Alexander B. Potter.

The back of the book says it best: "The true strength of a story lies in its characters and in both the ties that bind them together and the events that drive them apart. Perhaps the most famous example of this in fantasy is The Fellowship of the Ring. But such fellowships are key to many fantasy and science fiction stories.

Now thirteen top tale-spinners offer their own unique looks at fellowships from: a girl who finds her best friend through a portal to another world . . . to four special families linked by blood and magical talent . . . to two youths ripped away from all they know and faced with a terrifying fate that they can only survive together (that last line is about my story) . . . to a man who must pay the price for leaving his childhood comrade to face death alone . . . to a group of urban mages playing the “True Game” for high stakes indeed . . .

There are memorable tales of those brought together by necessity, by friendship, by family bonds, and by twists of fate, joined—willingly or not—in fellowship that can change their futures and their worlds."

Cool description, eh?

So, I read the first 13 pages of Almost Brothers at Gen Con and it was a very emotional experience. I almost cried while reading it--I teared up a few times. I had forgotten how brutal I was to the characters in the story and reading it out loud to twenty-something people brought out my emotions."

Even when I was reading the proof pages the other day as the final check before publication I got emotional. I think this story just brings out things because of the harshness. Being brutal to your characters is a good idea in fiction. It makes the reader keep going and obviously, it makes the writer cry. Sniff.

Be well and good luck with your own writing.

Paul Genesse

www.paulgenesse.com

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2008)



Monday, August 27, 2007




Below is a review featured in the Romantic Times Book reviews for Pandora's Closet, an anthology featuring stories by several friends of mine, namely Kelly Swails', who wrote a fabulous story. She read it at Gen Con last week and many people in the audience cried. One even had to run out of the room. I just love Kelly and I'm so proud of her. She wrote a really great story, please check it out. There are so many excellent stories in this book. I've read most of them now and just loved them. Read the review:

Fantasy, Anthology

Pandora's Closet

Martin H. Greenberg & Jean Rabe Editors


Three Stars


Readers can stretch their imagination with this collection of 19 original stories. Established

authors as well as newcomers explore the surprising properties of items you might find in an enchanted closet. Each eerie tale builds anticipation for the next in this enjoyable book.


Summary: A pair of glasses once owned by John Lennon opens up the imagination in "Revolution: Number 9," by Judi Rohrig. Cursed clothing creates problems in "The Ring," by Timothy Zahn, and "Cursory Review," by Donald J. Bingle, while ghostly inhabitants wreak havoc in "Ancestral Armor," by John Helfers, "Jack's Mantle," by Joe Masdon, and "Irresistible," by Yvonne Coats.


More than one love story has a happy ending thanks to magical clothes in "The Travails of Princess Stephe," by Jane Lindskold, "Loincloth," by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta, "What Quig Found," by Christopher T. Person, and "Off the Rack" by Elizabeth A. Vaughan.
Meanwhile, magic spells go awry in "A Clean Getaway," by Keith R.A.DeCandido, and "Seamless," by Michael A. Stackpole.


Finally, Kelly Swails' "Cake and Candy" is a touching exploration of a connection to the hereafter. (DAW, Aug., 320 pages, 7.99)

Review by Gail Pruszkowski featured in the Romantic Times Book Reviews

Imaginary Friend Story


Hello,

It's been a good week. I made my deadline and managed to finish my short story for the Imaginary Friends anthology for DAW Books. I sent it off to my editor tonight, before I went to work. It turned out to be 9,500 words, about 33 pages double spaced. It's called, "Greg and Eli." It's about a six year old boy named Greg and his imaginary friend, Eli. There is quite a bit of autobiographical stuff in the story, but I've changed quite a few things to be sure. The reality of my childhood was worse in some ways to what happens to Greg, but better in others. Its a tough story, with lots of bad things happening to a little kid.

Anyway, my goal was to make the reader cry at the end. I read it to Tammy, my wife, and she cried. So I'm one for one so far. The story turned out well, but it needed a good rewrite after my friends Pat and Brad read it and gave me suggestions. I had such a short deadline (about two weeks to write it) that I had to push it out quick, in about two weeks, but I think it came out pretty well.

I had three short story deadlines this month and I'm happy to say that I met them all. Now I'm going to write another short story--this one for the Catopolis anthology--and it should be pretty funny. Then I can focus on my current novel, Medusa's Daughter.

The next big thing for me is a signing at the biggest Barnes & Noble in Salt Lake, the Sugarhouse branch, on Friday September 14, from 6:00 PM to 9:oo PM. It's going to be great and I'm going to be doing some pre-promotion for my novel, The Golden Cord.

Then on September 21-23, I'll be a guest at Mountain-Con III, a convention here in Salt Lake. I'm doing a bunch of panels and it's going to be so fun.

Well, life is good for me--though I feel very behind with my reading list--not to mention my novel. Writing all the short stories has slowed me down, but I've sold eight short stories now, five to major publishers and three to a small press publisher.

I'm looking forward to this coming week and I hope you're all doing great.

Paul

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

My Gen Con Author Signing

Linda Baker, Paul Genesse, & Brad Beaulieu
at our Author's Alley Book Signing at Gen Con 2007


Hello,

I'm back from Indianapolis and Gen Con 2007. I had a great time with my Writers' Symposium friends. My book signing went well and I sold out of all my Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms books, so that was great. I should have got a few more books from the publisher, doh! My signing was with my great friends Brad Beaulieu and Linda Baker. We had a good time and met some cool people who came by to see us. Then my editor and fellow writer, John Helfers asked Brad and I to stay an extra hour and hang out with him. We stayed for a full two hours and kept busy with folks coming by--though I was out of books to sell.

My author reading went well later that night. I read from my short story, Almost Brothers, which is featured in the DAW anthology Fellowship Fantastic edited by Kerrie Hughes, coming out January 2008. I can't wait. I'm in the book with some great authors, like Alan Dean Foster, who I've loved for so many years. It's great being in a book with authors that I've grown up reading.

I met a lot of great people at Gen Con and it was my best Gen Con ever. I've been going for ten years now and just love Gen Con. Getting to see my friends is the best part. There just wasn't enough time to visit everyone long enough!

I'm just so happy that a bunch of my friends are breaking into writing. Kelly Swails got in with her short story Cake and Candy in the Pandora's Closet anthology, which also features Anton Strout. Anton has his first novel coming out soon and I can't wait to read it. Brad's story in the Man vs. Machine anthology is amazing and his career is starting to take off.

I of course bought lots of great books, some amazing art prints, and some other cool stuff. Gen Con just goes by so fast.

I really enjoyed being on the Writers' Symposium panels, which I think I was on seven? It was a good time. I attended the panels for years and now being on them is cool.

It was great meeting a ton of new friends and I'm looking forward to seeing them all again. The Writer's Symposium Ezine is about to get off the ground as well.

Well, I need to get back to writing a story due at the end of the week, then I'm off to work at the hospital tonight. Life is good and I hope all of you are doing great.

Best wishes,

Paul Genesse

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2008)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Gen Con Indy 2007

Hello,

I'm at a convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. It's called Gen Con and is attended by about 25,000 fans of science-fiction and fantasy. Every game that involves boards, cards, computers, role-playing, and miniatures is here. Plus a ton of artists, game designers, fans and of course, writers.

Gen Con is a big writing convention and has a strong writing track for beginning writers. I'm giving six seminars, (perhaps more) on writing. I'm also doing a signing and a reading.

The best part is meeting with three of my editors, John Helfers, Kerrie Hughes, and Jean Rabe. I was just out with Kerrie and John. They are so cool. Earlier tonight, Jean threw a party for me and Anton Strout. Anton and I had just sold our first novel and they wanted to celebrate. It was so fabulous. I got to hang out with about 18 of my writing buddies and we had a wonderful time. I was surprised with a gift bag full of great stuff and I'm so thankful for the people who have mentored me along.

Life is good and the convention hasn't even started yet. Tomorrow at 8:00 AM it gets going full force. I have two panels tomorrow, then four on Saturday. I'll probably get asked to do some on Friday as well, but we'll see. It was cool to see my name in the Gen Con program book.

I'm still a little fish, but it's fun to have arrived in the place I am. I got to speak with two of the writers who have stories in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms, Kathy Watness and Marc Tassin, tonight. I really liked their stories and they are Gen Con goers who have been coming to this con for years, just like me. Coming to Gen Con made it happen for me and I'm really excited about the next four days.

Wish me luck!

Best wishes,

Paul Genesse

www.paulgenesse.com
Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Releasing in hardcover April 2008

Author of The Pirate Witch
Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms
available now on my website
or from the publisher at
www.popcornpress.com

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Imaginary Friends Anthology


Hello,

Well, just when I thought I couldn't get any busier, I've been invited as of August 7, to do a short story for an anthology called Imaginary Friends, from DAW Books, editors John Helfers and John Marco. The kicker is that the deadline is August 25. I'm going to have to get going fast to make this one, but I'm going to do it. I have Gen Con next week, August 15-19, but I'll make time and get it done somehow.

The description for the anthology is this: Many people have had them as a child--or perhaps even into their teen years or adulthood. This collection about those "real" imaginary friends would run the gamut from light and funny children's tales to dark fantasy and horror. The "friend" could be a ghost, a pet, a machine, something existing completely in the mind of the protagonist, maybe even a twisted take on something like a snowman, who only comes alive when a certain person is nearby.

So, my task is to get going and get a lot done in the next two weeks. I need a rough draft done soon. I have a rough story outline at this point, but the story is far from done. I've been prepping for the convention I'm going to in a few days. I'm on six panels on writing, and will be doing a signing and a reading. I'll be hanging out with three of my editors as well as a bunch of writing buddies, plus meeting the publisher of my Pirate Witch story. It's going to be great, but I need to write the Imaginary Friend story!!! So far, my idea involves a set of twin boys, hence the picture above. I don't want to write any more, but suffice it to say that something terrible might happen . . .

If any of you have had imaginary friends, send along your memories of them.

Oh, here's a writing update: I got two critiques back on my newest story, The Queen's Ransom. The second one came from my buddy Brad tonight. I've got to implement the corrections, but it's looking good. Then I have to send off the story tomorrow. The deadline is August 15, so I'm okay. Three deadlines in August. August 1 was my God Pays story for the Dimension Next Door anthology, then August 15 for The Queen's Ransom, now August 25 for Imaginary Friends. Ouch! Wish me luck.

Best wishes,

Paul Genesse

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

Sunday, August 5, 2007

The Queen's Ransom





Hello,


I was trapped on a desert island infested with scorpions and roaches. That's why I haven't blogged for two weeks. In truth, I wrote a short story that takes place on the afore mentioned island where the creepy crawlies live.


I just finished the rough draft of the sequel to my Pirate Witch story. I'm calling it, The Queen's Ransom. It starts out where the first one leaves off. It's about 29 pages, just over 8,000 words--the same size as the first one. It will be coming out in Specters of the Blue Kingdoms, around October of 2007.


Three fourths of The Queen's Ransom were done this week, after outlining and getting it started last week. I haven't been that productive, but things happen. The deadline is August 15, so I've got time to get it to my first readers, Brad and Patrick for a critique.


I just read the first 93 pages of Brad's novel, The Winds of Khalakovo. It kicks ass and I can't wait to read more. Patrick just finished his novella, Dayhunter and I love the first chapter. I have to read it now and finally have time. Pat sent it in to a writing contest and I hope the editor loves it. Check out Pat and Brad's blogs on my blogroll for more--Brad's link is obvious, and Pat's is Wolfhawkwind.


Life is good and I was just able to hang out with my old friend Jason Wilson, who was in town for a statistics convention. He's getting his PhD and after hearing his presentation for the conference I know he is one of the smartest people I've ever met. He's hard core and both of us like to do things at full throttle. When we jump in, we jump head first and don't look back.


Passion is a good thing and when I die I want people to say that I had great passion for whatever I did. For me, writing is about harnessing your inner passion and bringing words on a page alive for the reader. Good writing is hard to quantify, but if the characters come alive, you've done well.


Peace and happy writing,


Paul Genesse


Author of The Pirate Witch

in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms



Author of The Golden Cord

Book One of the Iron Dragon Series

Five Star Books, April 2008

Saturday, July 21, 2007

The End of Harry Potter





(No spoilers here, sorry)
Hello,


It's Harry Potter weekend and I hope the book ends well. Lots of people are reading it now. The interesting news I read online was about research related to the reading habits of kids. A lot of people have said that Harry Potter has gotten kids to read more. I guess the truth is that kids are not reading more. The rates of reading are actually down nationwide. The real question is what would the rates be if Harry Potter had not come along?


I just hope that the end of the Harry Potter books will not be a huge blow to the book business. I guess time will tell, but I wonder what you all think? Will kids (or adults) read less now that the series is over?


Paul




Author of The Pirate Witch
in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms


Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2008)

Friday, July 20, 2007

Pirate Game!




Ahoy,


Tonight was a great night in the Blue Kingdoms. I DM'd a game at a local hobby shop (Cross Class Adventures). We played Dungeons and Dragons in the Blue Kingdoms for the second time at that hobby shop. It was so much fun and the players and I were having such a jolly good time. It was crazy mayhem and there were a bunch of new players there.

Swashbuckling adventure is exciting and in the end most of the crew ended up joining the enemy captain, Scarlett Rose. She was very persuasive: double rum rations per day, equal shares for all crew, and did I mention that she is half siren? She used magic and charmed all but two of the players. The two who resisted escaped--while all of their friends joined her--the enemy captain.

Some of the characters we played are featured in my Pirate Witch story: Lem and Cod. Both are salty sea dogs in their fifties. They are a riot, but Gar, the Al-Kibar (dog-headed humanoid)was the howling main event--literally.

I love the Blue Kingdoms and it's a great place for D and D.


Best wishes,

Paul Genesse



Author of The Pirate Witch

in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms

Monday, July 16, 2007

The Dimension Next Door Story

Chichen-Itza
A Mayan Pyramid in the Yucatan.
My newest short story is set in Central America near a pyramid like Chichen-Itza.
Hello,

I've just returned to the blogosphere after aliens abducted me. Don't worry, they were nice, but don't drink the green liquid. Trust me.

Anyway, I've neglected my blog for a while. I've been busy writing stories and novels and haven't made blogging a big priority. Plus, I wanted to leave the cover art for my novel on the blog for a while.

What have I been doing? Writing a story for the Dimension Next Door anthology for DAW Books--deadline: August 1. The story is almost done. Draft one is completed and just needs a rewrite. My friend Brad gave me a great critique on Sunday and I'm going to fix the problems and tweak the story a little this week--then send it off to the editor: Kerrie Hughes. I think she's going to love it.

The story is about Nina, a linguistic archaeologist who specializes in Mayan epigraphs. She's dying of cancer. Most of the story takes place in the year 2012, on December 21. That is the day that the Mayan calender ends. It's the day the world is supposed to end. Nina finds out the truth and witnesses an event that you only see once . . .

My next project is to write the sequel to my Pirate Witch story. It's due on August 15. A very short deadline. Then I've got a short story for the Catopolis anthology, deadline: November 1.

I also need to finish my novel, Medusa's Daughter. I'm hoping to finish it by November 1, 2007. I've got so much work to do!! But it's fun! I love writing.

I hope you're all doing well and let me tell you: deadlines are good. When the date is looming, you get the work done. After all, as my friend Pat and I often say: diamonds form when put under great pressure . . .

Best wishes!

Paul Genesse

Author of The Pirate Witch
in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms
Order an autographed copy at
www.paulgenesse.com

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Releasing April 2008 from Five Star Books

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Cover Art

Cover Art
for my first novel
The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series



Here it is. The cover art for, The Golden Cord, Book One of the Iron Dragon Series. The artist, Ciruelo Cabral painted it. I first saw this image, Moon Dragon, in Ciruelo's 2007 Dragon's Calender. From the moment I saw it, I thought it would be a great cover for The Golden Cord. Then I had to convince my publisher to use it--which wasn't very difficult. The book jacket designer, Ed Vincent is now working on the cover design (text and such). I'm looking forward to seeing that.


I'll post it as soon as I get it. For some reason I've delayed posting this art. I don't know why, but now seems like a good time for its debut.

Let me know what you think of the cover and have a great day.

Paul Genesse

Author of The Pirate Witch
in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms
http://www.popcornpress.com/

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Medusa's Daughter--93 pages and counting . . .



Medusa


Angelina Jolie would be perfect to play Medusa,
in the movie version of my novel, Medusa's Daughter. Check out the other actors and actresses that I've cast for the movie on my website in the casting news section.
A guy can dream, can't he?

Keep in mind that the mythological Medusa was not the snake haired monster, like we saw in the movie Clash of the Titans. She was beautiful and did not have snakes for hair. No one could look at her, or they'd die. That was her curse.


Okay, enough of the myth lesson, but read more about the mythological medusa online or check out the book, Medusa, Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon by Stephen R. Wilk. It's a thorough look at the myth and how it's changed over the years.

Well, as you can see I'm still a writer. Big shocker, eh? These days off have been very productive and I've regained some confidence in my ability to crank out the pages. I've managed to write 7,000 words of Medusa's Daughter--which was three and half chapters. The chapters are pretty short and I haven't finished chapter ten yet, but I've got it going really well and I've mapped out the last half. It's a critical chapter in the book when the main characters, Nerissa and Nikander have a very important interaction . . .

So, I'm up to page 93 in Medusa's Daughter, so that feels good. I've written about 26 double spaced pages in the past few days, plus I've edited chapter six, which I wrote last week. I've written a lot more than that in the past, like 40 pages in one day, but that was back when I just went for it and didn't worry about what how it turned out. Now I'm slower, but the work comes out better in so many ways. The book is coming along great and I think it's going to be fantastic once I'm done. I just wish I'd been more motivated to get this done a while back, but other books and writing promotion got in the way. Now it's back to work! (Insert whip-cracking noise here)

I also worked on the story outline for my Dimension Next Door story. I've got the main outline and really figured out some major plot points. I think it's going to be great. I think I'll work next week on Medusa's Daughter, then I'll stop and work on The Dimension Next Door story. The deadline for it is August 1. I want to get it to the editor before that.

Figuring out how to do promotion and work on writing has been troubling me, but I'll find a balance at some point. Next week I need to plow ahead with Medusa's Daughter, then do a little promotion--sending some books to reviewers. I also need to send out a group email update about my pirate story, but I'm waiting for my buddy, Jordan to help with my website first, so people can buy it there. He's a busy guy, but I know he'll get to it soon.

I've also heard from the head guy at Mountain Con, Carl Stark. He's a cool guy and said his people loved my panel ideas. I'll end up with a bunch of them for sure and I'm looking forward to that.

Well, I hope you are all well and I encourage you to set goals and keep them with your writing. My goal is to finish a solid draft of Medusa's Daughter by November 1, 2007. I also have two short stories, perhaps three, to write. I know I'll make it all work. Working full time makes it challenging, but there are ways as long as you stay motivated.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Have a great week!

Paul Genesse, Author

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
Releasing April, 2008