New Reads I Recommend

What with lots of good stuff going on in my world, I thought it only right to share news of others. In particular, friends o'mine. So here's some of the new books just waiting for you to give them a whirl --

Aching to draw cool fantasy pictures but don't know how? Then check out FANTASY ART TEMPLATES by my friend Jean Marie Ward and illustrator Rafi Adrian Zulkarnain. "The author-illustrator team provides templates for more than 50 fantasy types, including wizards, male and female warriors, elves and fairies, giants, pirates, mythical gods, angels and devils, dragons, griffins, ogres, ghouls, goblins, sirens, and many others. Generic templates capture each prototype fantasy figure in a series of action poses that designers can adapt to portray famous characters or invent new ones."


Today sees the launch of BURNED, the eighth book in the wildly popular HOUSE OF NIGHT Series by P.C. Cast and her daughter, Kristin Cast. This series is hitting the top of the New York Times and USA Today lists and has the most dedicated group of fen (plural of fan) imaginable. They so love their HoN!

 

   

 And on May 4th author Jeri Smith-Ready's debut Young Adult novel (SHADE) will hit the bookstores! I had the joy of reading the first draft of this novel and it's great. A strong heroine paired with a unique story premise and you've got good reading. Jeri's already known for her fantasy novels and her WVMP vampire series. SHADE will introduce her talents to a whole new group of readers.

A New Release by Ilona Andrews!!

More than once I've raved about Ilona Andrews' books (in particular the Kate Daniel's Series) and this time I get to tout their newest baby! Ilona and her spouse/co-author Gordon, are launching a new series this week. I've already read the first book (ON THE EDGE) and thoroughly enjoyed it. These authors know how to create real characters, set a page-turning pace and they world build with the best of them. I particularly like the fact they use a rural setting and the magic rocks!

To celebrate their new book launch, the Andrews have teamed up with BittenByBooks.com to give away some really nifty prizes (see above). So drop by that site and Ilona and Gordon's blog to enter the contests and to learn more about these gifted writers. Even Ferret Fred and his gal pal like the book!

TimeGate 2009

While other author buddies are at Balticon this weekend, I'm staying in Atlanta for our local time travel convention - TimeGate. TimeGate showcases Dr. Who, StarGate and other time travel media. Check out their guest list -- it's way good. I never got hooked on StarGate, but I'm a Dr. Who fan from the 1980's so besides doing a guest gig, it's fun to listen to sit in on the panels.

I've coerced other authors to join me in the fun. In specific, Gillian Summers (the writing duo of Michelle Roper and Berta Platas) who pen really cool young adult books published by Flux. Bes sure to check them out.

So if you're in Atlanta this weekend, drop by. My schedule is as follows:

Friday, May 22
6:00 pm -- Guest Reception in the Consuite
8:00 pm -- Jasper Fforde Panel (Panel Room 1)

Saturday, May 23
12 noon -- Reading in the Consuite (The reading will include some bits from MADMAN'S DANCE (Time Rovers - Book 2) and a taste of my new young adult DEMON TRAPPERS novel. Maybe you can help me title the book!)

2:00 pm -- Fantasy Literature (Panel Room 2)

9:00 pm - TimeGate Cabaret (Panel Rooms 1 & 2) wherein guests and attendees perform various skits, music, etc. to benefit the Red Cross and the Fulton County Animal Shelter. I am taking part in Michelle & Berta's THE HAUNTED CHICKEN TRUCK OF LAKE LANIER radio show. Knowing these two, it'll be a hoot.

Sunday, May 24
5:00 pm -- Y.A. Literature (Panel Room 2)
6:00 pm -- Paranormal Romance Literature (Panel Room 1)

Jana On The Air

Besides slaving away on the Work In Progress, I've been out and about interviewing! I thought it was high time I posted those links so you can listen in. I love doing podcasts and radio interviews because they're just SO MUCH FUN.

The first comes via Edge Publishing and Marie Bilodeau. Marie is vivacious French Canadian lady who interviewed me in the dealer's room at World Fantasy last October in Calgary. It's a rollicking interview, so be sure to check it out here.

I also was interviewed for Gail Martin's The Ghost in the Machine podcast. Gail was great fun and as you can see by her webpage, she interviews lots of cool folks.

And as mentioned in an earlier posting, I was on Fran Stewart's Mystery Matters podcast on Voice America. Here's the link to the archive.

And now back to the little demons and their exploits. These wee guys are fun! Well, only because they don't really exist. I can't imagine what life would be like with Biblio-Fiends running amok.

Mystery Matters Interview

As a nice balance to the euphoria I've been experiencing (see yesterday's post) I'm now back into my routine. As in: trudge into the Super Target at 8:47 a.m., buy food, retreat home. I did a lot of grinning in the process, which made the employees nervous, but other than that it's a normal day here. I've found that zooming over and buying sustenance at an early hour allows you to pretty much have the store to yourself, with the exception of those stocking the shelves. Once home, I logged in to watch the stock market and see if I'm making any money. Today I am. Other days I don't. Such is life.

Tomorrow, however, will be great fun. At 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time I will be on the Mystery Matters: Where Murder is an Open Book podcast with Fran Stewart. Fran writes cozy mysteries and we've known each other for a long time. In fact, I interviewed her for one of my podcasts a few years back.

If you wish to send interview questions (and you know you do): mysterymatters@earthlink.net

To listen to the interview, click here - select channel home page on the left of the screen to turn on the Internet radio.

Fran kindly supplied the following details:

Mystery Matters airs live Friday mornings at 10 Eastern/ 7 Pacific.
The one-hour interview is re-broadcast 12 hours later.
All shows are archived on her host web page for 24/7 access and MP3 downloads

She also hosts a blog about what happens behind-the-scenes of a radio show: http://.mystery-matters.blogspot.com

If you want to learn more about Fran and her books, here's the link.

This is your opportunity to ask why it is I alphabetize my spices and how I come up with those really complex mysteries. There will no stock tips, however. I don't need the guilt when you lose your shirt.