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