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

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

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