A Hazardous Occupation

Three years ago I left this journal, thinking I no longer needed it. But lately I find myself wanting a way to be more expressive than Facebook or Twitter allow. So I'm coming back.

Last week Gail Z. Martin (http://disquietingvisions.com/2012/12/11/big/) and L Jagi Lamplighter (arhyalon.livejournal.com/271022.html)tagged me on their blogs, as part of a chain of authors called THE NEXT BIG THING. Today it's my turn to reciprocate and to pass on the torch. I'm going to answer questions about my new project. Then I'm going to tag five wonderful authors who will tell you about their Next Big Thing.

What is the working title of your next book?
There Was A Crooked Man

Where did the idea come from for the book?
The original germ of the idea came from a character I was playing in a D&D game, but it grew into something concrete when I heard a fairly obscure country song called "A Different Kind of Knight". A verse in that song resonated with me, and vividly defined the character I was writing.

What genre does your book fall under?
It's a fantasy set in the Nebraska Territory during the Reconstruction years. It's not quite steampunk, but it's not quite weird western either. There's a gunslinger and magic and Native Americans and voodoo and elves and electricity...I suppose you could call it westernpunk.

If you found yourself in an elevator with a movie director you admire and had the chance to pitch your book to them, what would you say?
"Please make my book into a movie?????" *laughs* Seriously, I'd probably start with the seven-second pitch - "Saddle up, because there's magic and lost love and more electricity than is good for anyone." If I caught his attention, I'd share a few more details, hoping to spark his interest. And then I'd probably mention that I make awesome cookies and if he decided to make a movie from my book, he'd earn himself a lifetime supply of homemade chocolate chips. You think that'd work?

Every writer dreams of their book being turned in a movie or a TV show like Game of Thrones. If this happened to your work, which actors would you choose to play your characters?
The song I mentioned earlier was written and recorded by actor and singer Christian Kane, and honestly, I could see him playing the lead in "Crooked Man". He's got the right look and he's very talented.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Actually, it isn't finished yet.

What is a one-sentence synopsis of the book?
Sebastien De Vanagale spent fifteen years learning to wield the magical power he never asked to receive and searching for the daughter he lost, but now his past is catching up to him.

And here are the authors I'd like to introduce, and who you can follow when they answer the Next Big Thing questions...

Charlotte Babb, the author of Maven Fairy Godmother: Through the Veil, began writing when she could hold a piece of chalk and scribble her name – although she sometimes mistook “Chocolate” for “Charlotte” on the sign at the drug store ice cream counter. http://mavenfairygodmother.com/

Tera Fulbright is a short story author whose works can be found in anthologies such as Spells & Swashbucklers and Rum & Runestones. She is currently working on her first novel.
http://www.terafulbright.blogspot.com/

Linda Escalera Price is an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced across the country from LA to off-off-Broadway. She blogs with four other writers (fiction, short fiction, YA and screenwriting) at http://www.5writers.com.

1. When she asks if you want your checkout receipt, ask her a question that has nothing to do with your receipt.

2. After she answers the random question and asks you again if you'd like your receipt, look at her as if she's stupid and say, "Didn't I just say I did?"

3. Wait three weeks to come pick up your hold books, then pitch a fit because they've been sent back to the original library or moved on to the next person in line.

4. Tell the librarian you'd like to pay a fine, and when she asks for your library card, say, "Nobody ever told me I needed my library card to come here!"

5. Stomp out to your car to get your library card, then throw it at the librarian when you come back inside.

6. Ask the librarian to print you a list of all the books you checked out in the last year. Become indignant when she can't provide that information.

7. At five minutes to closing time, hand the librarian a list of short story titles with no authors' names, and insist that you need all of those for class the next day. Tell her it will be her fault if your teacher flunks you.

8. Use your paycheck as a bookmark, then leave it in the book when you return it. Call the library a few days later to ask where your check is. Be sure and forget the title and author of the book you were reading.

9. Ask to apply for a library card but bring no ID with you. Grouse that the library's policies are ridiculous.

10. Return a book dripping wet from being left outside in the rain. Refuse to pay for the damage, since "it's only a book."

11. When the librarian tells you you've got fines over the maximum amount and you must pay them before you can check out anything else, demand to know when the library started charging fines.

12. Insist that the librarian do whatever kooky thing you're demanding because your taxes pay her salary.

Wow, this is a weird feeling. I just turned down a signing opportunity because I didn't like the physical setup. I was invited to participate in the Carolina Renaissance Faire's third annual Literary Weekend, but they were putting us outside the front gates, where people walk past but do not buy. So I declined.

My first step on the road to divahood. Where's my feather boa, damn it?

We're home again. DragonCon was lots of fun. I was able to serve on some panels, and I shared a reading with Faith Hunter. I made some great professional connections, visited with several good friends and even cosplayed a character for the first time (Eva from 'Hell On Wheels'). We had a couple of amazing meals at a lovely new restaurant called White Oak Kitchen, and last night we capped our weekend by dancing at the Mechanical Masquerade to the tunes of Meagan Jean and the KFB.

I haven't decided if I'm going back next year, though. The Marriott is instituting a new policy for next year's reservations. A one-night non-refundable deposit will be charged the day you make your reservation, and reservations cannot be transferred to another person. In other words, if you make a reservation and then discover in January that you can't go, you're out 200.00, and your cancelled room can't go to another congoer. It will be returned to the regular rack rate, which 399.00 a night. I understand that the hotel has to look out for itself, but this seems a little extreme to me.

So I'm not worrying about it today. I had a super weekend, and I'm utterly exhausted.

#13 Finding bits of work I'd previously thought were lost forever

It's been a rough few days, with the computer having gotten sick. It isn't well yet, but I found something to be happy about today anyway. In searching for some research I'd done, I located the original map of the Nine Islands, the world of Mad Kestrel. I'd been hunting for that stupid thing for months, so when I ran across it, by complete accident, I wanted to dance for joy.

And another thing that made me happy...I discovered that Mad Kestrel is now available for the Kindle! How awesome! If you've been waiting for the e-version, your wait is over!

#11 Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!

I discovered NPR's news-based quiz show a few years ago, and now I can't miss it. Somehow they manage to find the humor in the daily grind that is our news. One of my professional dreams is to get famous enough to be a guest on the "Not My Job" portion of the show. Peter Sagall, Carl Casell, I love you guys!

#9 Riding with the top down

My husband drives a convertible. This afternoon I decided to get sushi for dinner (because cooking just was not happening) and he offered to drive because he had an errand to run. The sky was clear and I laid my head back against the seat and let the setting sun warm my face while the wind tossed my hair. It's a sort of serenity, that feeling of riding out in the open like that.

#7 Camelot

Go on, try it...sing "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood" and then tell me you aren't at least smiling just a little. Even better, play all the parts while you're alone in the house. Belt all the songs at the top of your lungs. Even the sad ones are fun.

Oh, thou most fragrant, aromatic joy, impugned,
abused, and often stormed against,
And yet containing all the blissfulness that in
a tiny cup could be condensed!
-- William A. Pricé

There aren't many kinds of coffee I don't at least like, although if I'm given a choice, I'll take coffees from Africa or Indonesia over all others. It's not particularly popular to like Starbucks, but I do. Any place that will give me a cup of the wonderful stuff is a friend to me. I guess I'm edging a little on this one, because coffee doesn't make me happy so much as content and calm and mildly blissful. Which is a little like happy, isn't it?