Scythe Does Matter: Death is What Happens While You're Making Other Plans--An agoraphobic Minion of Death falls for her next "assignment". (m/f) Humorous Contemporary Paranormal Romance
Shift Happens: A Change is as Good as a Quest--An anthropologist finds cave paintings, secret cures, and a hot boyfriend when he teams with the spirit world to take down a delusional drug lord. (m/m)
Available Now
Gym Dandy: A gay tale of seduction, denial, and sweat. (m/m) MLR Press
Techno Thrall, a futuristic erotic novella. (m/f) Lyrical Press
Lust in Translation, published in the charitable anthology I Do (m/m) MLR Press
Tart & Soul: young hookers in love. (m/m) Torquere Press
Be Prepared, published in the charitable anthology Coming Together: with Pride (m/m) Phaze
For more info: http://www.stormgrant.com/
- Location:Toronto
Canada Day!
Exhausted from attending/participating in Pat Brown's launch of LA Heat last night. Will post more later.
- Location:Toronto (was London, Ontario)
Thanks,
~ g.
- Location:Toronto
Happy Pride everyone. I'm beat.
- Location:Toronto
I spent 14 hours yesterday helping out at the ManLoveRomance booth. Laura Baumbach and Judi and Pat Brown are terrific people, which is great in general, but especially if you're going to spent 14 busy hours in a 10x10 booth together. I had scads of fun but was so whipped by the end of the day I took a cab home.
Back today, from noon to... well, anytime up to 10:00 when tear-down begins.
Here's a couple of shots of the booth... oh, look. My books are front and centre. ;-D
- Location:Toronto
Drop by and meeting Laura Baumbach, Lee Rowan, Pat Brown, and me!
Booth #13 somewhere near Isabella and Yonge.
Other events of note (meaning my friends are involved!)
Jeffery Round reads from his latest release, Death in Key West, at Saturday at 7:00
John Miller reads from A Sharp Intake of Breath on Sunday at 3:00
Both are part of a series of author readings called "Proud Voices" which will be held at the James Canning Stage on Gloucester, just in from Yonge.
Most of these books are available at Glad Day Books on Yonge just north of Wellesley. Support your indie bookstore!
See you there! HAPPY PRIDE!
CORRECTION: We're not just the MLR Press booth, we're the ManLoveRomance booth, an collective of authors who band together in order to participate in terrific events like Toronto Pride!
- Location:Toronto
It was also an interesting test: does promo actually do anything? And so I watched GYM DANDY slowly edge down the Amazon rankings, until it was very low indeed...
And then today it POPPED back up on the gay bestsellers list. Wow!
I only have one thing to say about that... Thanks for buying my book!
In other news, after 7 years of pain and 4 years of doctors, we have a difintive diagnosis for why my wrist hurts: In addition to arthritis and cysts which aren't the main source of the problem, I have a torn ligament in my hand. I must now wait nearly a year to see an orthopaedic specialist. The grumpy news is that I wanted my wrist X-rayed years ago, but they had to do my neck and arm first. The good news is it's all paid for by OHIP. And so I carry on with anti-inflammatories, expensive (but tasty!) glucosimine, and the lovely neoprene wrist brace. Yay?
With regard to today's reading at Indigo... it didn't go well, although each author sold a couple of books. The thing I hadn't realized, is that even though the manager at Indigo had ordered the readers' books too late to get them in the store for the signing, it was still good news that they'd ordered in dozens of copies of each author's books from the publishers and they'd now be in the Indigo system. That's good, right? And even better was I got to spend time with RM Vaughan and Allen Stratton, and of course with Jeffrey Round.
- Location:Toronto
My reading at Indigo went swimmingly today. I wasn't nervous at all. Jeff and John were excellent as well.
I had over 30 people there, gals from my RWA group, people from my Toastmasters group, real life friends, and office colleagues. The crowd drew people so some patrons wandered by and sat down. I sold 15 books and left a few more behind to be shelved. (I sell at Indigo on consignment.)
I've got one more reading next week in London, Ontario. Anyone in the neighbourhood?
Also, here's a submission call from Greg Herren. I original met and sold to Greg via a submission call, although it didn't quite work out through no fault of ours. Greg gave me a terrific cover quote GYM DANDY, for which I'm extremely grateful.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Blood Sacraments
Editor: Todd Gregory
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Publication Date: October 2010
Length: 2500-10,000 words
Payment: $50, on publication
Deadline: October 1, 2009
LOOKING FOR: Gay erotic tales of the vampire, by new or established writers. Think sensuality and eroticism, rather than hard-core porn. Don’t be afraid to step outside of the box and create a new mythos for your story. Strong writing, plot, and character development is more important than the erotic content; we are looking for stories to engage the mind as well as the nether bits. Reprints are okay, but original stories will be given priority.
GUIDELINES: Stories must all be double-spaced in either Times, Times New Roman, or Courier 12 point fonts. Each page must be consecutively numbered in the lower right hand corner. Header line must appear on each page with the name of the story, the author’s name, and an email address. First page of story must also have all contact information for author: name, address, email address, and phone number. Submissions must be mailed to: Todd Gregory, c/o Greg Herren, 5500 Prytania Street #215, New Orleans, LA 70115. Questions can be emailed to gregwrites@gmail.com. Electronic submissions will not be accepted, will be deleted unread, and will not be responded to. All submissions will be recycled unless return envelope with adequate postage is provided. Any failure to follow stated guidelines will result in automatic rejection.
- Location:Toronto
--My niece is pregnant! I'm going to be
--The launch of my friend Jeffrey Round's new book, Death in Key West, was last night. It was a class act, as is he. Held in a private art gallery, with live music, and professionally catered, it was terrific. Death in Key West is the second book in a fun, gay mystery series, the first one being The P'town Murders. Buy 'em. You won't be sorry.
--Remember Samhain's shifter call? Only three stories were selected, and one was from my pal Robie Madison. Check out The Man of Her Dreams, now available from Samhain.
--I'll be reading from my debut novel, GYM DANDY, tomorrow at the Yonge & Eglinton Indigo. I invited 100 people from all my walks of life, from my Toastmasters Group and my RWA Group to my husband's coworkers and my own. Oh, yeah. And some friends. ;-D People I don't even know are telling me they're coming. We're definitely going to need more chairs!
- Location:Toronto
Back in February, I left a copy of GYM DANDY with the manager of the Yonge & Eglinton Indigo to decide if they would carry it on consignment. Their response was, "Not only will we carry it, but we'd like you to do a signing around Pride week."
Fast forward 4 months later, and due to a lot of hard work by Jeffrey Round and a little hard work by me, the simple signing has turned into a week-long event with some terrific authors of gay fiction reading at lunchtime every day (but Tuesday). I know I'm especially looking forward to meeting Caro Soles.
Wish us luck!
( I did up a brochure: )
- Location:Toronto
( Read more... )But then I think, until dogs can speak for themselves, I'm going to continue to champion them. Maybe something got through to her, but I doubt it. She'll probably spend the day telling people about this horrible bitch who attacked her in the park for no good reason. Huh.
- Location:Toronto
An unsolicited catalogue dropped into my in-basket today. It offers lectures on DVD or CD or audio download. Since I walk everywhere, I've become crazy about audio books, both fiction and non-fiction.
These look like university level courses, but they're expensive. For instance Dante’s Divine Comedy is 24-30 minute lectures (12 hours), but it's US$130 before taxes. I bought a wonderfully illustrated hard copy, but reading it and hearing it analyzed would be two very different pieces of pizza, right? I'd like to take that one as background for my Grim Reaper novel, but...
Some of the sale courses are more in US$35 to US$50 range. There's a link that says all courses go on sale once a year, so I guess I can just keep an eye on that one.
Is anyone familiar with the company? Tried any of their courses?
Thank you.
- Location:Toronto
I like shows with humour in them, like Buffy, or Boston Legal. Supernatural is as dark as I like, but it's well balanced with humour. True Blood is a little dark, but hey, I also loved OZ and Dexter.
I love Castle for its quirky characters. I loved Farscape and Firefly for their swashbuckly-ness, and didn't watch Battlestar Galactica because it looked too bleak. And yet I watch Dollhouse.
Favourite shows ever? Buffy/Angel/Firefly, Highlander, Due South... and yet The Sentinel was probably my most fannish show. I watched it for the guys. I loved Stargate Atlantis, but couldn't get into SG-1.
So... what should I watch next? Suggestions?
- Location:Toronto
Torquere Press is launching a new Pulp Fiction line. The editors are looking for novels of 50,000 to 70,000 words " with true pulp novel / penny-dreadful themes.. Sci-Fi, western, mystery, even beach blanket parties and desert-island castaways - bring it on... We're looking for campy, over the top themes, but framed with solid writing and solid characterization.
************
Dorchester is also behind another innovative contest for unpublished writers. Authors ages 18 and older are invited to participate in America’s Next Best Celler, a literary challenge that pairs the emergent cellular generation with the traditional publishing model. The contest will award a guaranteed publishing contract with Dorchester. America’s Next Best Celler utilizes Textnovel’s unique business model that allows authors and readers to create, read and share serialized fiction via today’s most popular and ubiquitous technologies. The site encourages readers to subscribe to developing works of fiction which are disseminated in chapter-length installments via cell phones and email over a period of time. Subscribers offer direct feedback to authors and vote for their favorite serials.
Dorchester is seeking contest entries in any of the following romantic sub-genres: historical, paranormal, urban fantasy, high fantasy, futuristic, romantic suspense or humorous contemporary. For complete contest details, including rules and regulations, please visit http://www.dorchest
Dorchester Publishing is now accepting submissions via email. Find all the guidelines at http://www.dorchest
************
Leisure Books is partnering with Rue Morgue magazine in association with horror fiction web site ChiZine, to present “Fresh Blood,” a new writing contest specifically for unpublished horror authors. The winner will receive a contract for publication in Leisure’s 2011 lineup, as well as a contract from ChiZine Publications for a limited-edition hardcover release, also in 2011.
Leisure is looking for finished horror novel manuscripts, either supernatural or non-supernatural, of 80,000–90,000 words. A panel of experts, including Leisure Executive Editor Don D’Auria and editors at ChiZine, will judge entries. The finalists will be announced in November 2009.
Entries should be sent to Submissions@
************
- Location:Toronto
And yet, if you read around his grumpy-coloured glasses, there's some interesting stuff here.
http://deanwesleysmith.com/index.php/200
Sure the agent works for the writer, in the same way your doctor or your professor works for you. The employee/employer relationship as an anology is inexact.
The comments to his post are rather rah rah, but I'd be inclined to say, hey, wait a minute. Sure, I can (and have) sold my own book, but chances are, a good agent can do it better. Of the deals listed in Publishers Weekly, how many are self-negotiated? (And maybe that's because self-negotiated deals don't get written up.) I'd like to get an agent--a good agent--before I write them off as unnecessary.
What do you think?
- Location:Toronto
Attendees congratulated me on being interesting and funny. People couldn't believe I'd never read before. (In fact, I've never spoken in public before other than the occasional panel at a fannish convention.) I had practiced a lot, and also listened to a lot of professionally recorded audio books, so I didn't just read... I performed!
I even did well with the Q&A session. At first nobody asked me anything, but then one fellow started asking about slash and I got a lot of questions after that: What's fanfiction? What's slash? What's e-publishing? I did get the "how do you write about sex between men?" question, but I had prepared. And fellow reader/organizer Jeff Round added that he'd been at a Master Class panel at the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival</a></a> in New Orleans a few weeks ago. People were talking about the new phenomenon of all these women writing gay fiction and did the speaker know of any women who wrote men well? "Storm Grant", he'd replied. Yay! (I was probably not the only one named, but Jeff was too tactful to say I was one of dozens.)
There were about 35 people there for the readings. Less than April, but that was okay. A smaller crowd was just fine for my first public appearance. I sold a few books and was asked to sign most of them. The store owner asked me to leave a few more behind because he was almost out of his current stock.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
erastes's and alex_beecroft's books were front and centre on Glad Day's shelves, face out. Go, us!I also mingled, chatting with a number of people. For some reason I felt very comfortable just walking up to people and talking; usually that sort of thing is nerve racking and I just don't do it. Other than the singer, I was the only woman there, so just me, my husband, and around 35 gay men.
I had the honor of meeting journalist Micheal Rowe, the reporter that just broke the story on the Huffington Post about the radio talk show that mocked transgendered children. He said he'd seen me around and remembered me from Ad Astra, the Toronto sci-fi convention held each spring. I remember him because he always dresses in business casual, even when others are in Klingon attire. Perhaps that's why he noticed me, too.
I met another charming journalist who went out of his way to put me at ease, named James Dubro. He has written a number true-crime novels and currently writes for Toronto's gay newspaper, Xtra.
Now that I have one successful reading under my belt, I think I'll be less nervous. The only thing I did wrong was I completely forgot to use the mic, but that was okay because I can project my voice very well. It's probably from years of bad-dog ownership. ;-D
Next up:
~ A reading/signing at Indigo bookstore (Yonge & Eglinton), Thursday June 25, noon to 2:00.
~ I volunteered to work the MLR Press booth at Pride on June 27/28. I believe Pat Brown will be joining Laura Baumbach, Judi and me.
~ I'm reading at a the Seven Night Club in London, Ontario, on June 30. I get to road trip down with Jeff Round and finally meet Caro Soles.
(http://www.booktour.com/author/storm_gra
Then I'm taking an unpaid leave from mid-July to Labour Day. I can't wait to give writing full time a test drive!
- Location:Toronto
Thanks!
- Location:Toronto
- Mood:{{{nervous}}}
Local writer pal Jeff Round invited me to read at his next salon, being held at Toronto's Glad Day bookstore, on the evening of June 6th: http://www.proustandcompany.com/
I have 10 minutes to read, along with 2 other authors, followed by a group Q&A.
I'm thinking of just starting at the beginning of the book and reading 10 minutes worth. Do you think that will engage the audience? Maybe make them want to buy the book?
Or, if anyone out there has read it, is there a particular scene that stays in your mind? The first awkward kiss? The sad alley scene? The birthday party?
Any other advice or shared experience about readings or signings would be great.
Thank you in advance.
- Location:Toronto
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