NEW RELEASES- Kegin and Renegades lovers pay heed!

NOW AVAILABLE IN PRINT! TYGERS, book one in the Renegade's Series is available in print for the first time from Under The Moon.










NOW AVAILABLE IN E-BOOK! It's a brand new book in the Kegin universe, MATCHMAKER'S MISERY, available from Phaze!

Eve wants a man who is seen by Keen nobility as an unsuitable mate for a re-bred. Pilar is pursued by a man who wants position -- until he meets her. After her near-brush with death at her first mating, Eve doesn't ever want a man in her life. If Kegin had matchmakers, the women would quit!

VA Schools Need an Education!

I've always said that I preferred MA schools to VA ones. The special ed people (not the teachers, who are exemplary in both states but the office dweebs in SPED in VA) are a nightmare, compared to MA, for instance. Just one of many complaints I had, while we were in VA.

But, I have a new one that takes the cake, sent to me by a friend who is still a teacher in VA.

According to my friend, the teachers were administering a standardized test that was to test "history," history being used in the general to mean geography, culture...all the social studies subclasses, on grade level. Now, on one hand, that's pretty cool. I don't know if this was a city-standardized test or state or school-administered to test their teachers against each other, but... MA standardized testing does math, reading, vocabulary...science, at the upper levels. I've never heard of a standardized test for social studies, so I found that of note...a plus, until I heard the rest.

One of the other teachers on the floor came up with a problem. Her students insisted that the correct answer to a question wasn't ON the test. The question was: "Most of the rivers in VA flow which direction?" with a multiple choice set of directions the rivers might flow. The students insisted (and are correct) that most of the rivers flow west to east, which wasn't a choice.

Said teacher got a proctor and went off in search of the testing specialist, who informed the classroom teacher that she was incorrect and the correct answer was north to south. Knowing that was wrong, the teacher produced a textbook proving her case, at which point the following (more or less) occurred.

S: "Water flows from high ground to low...north to south."

T: "You're correct that water flows from high ground to low, but that high ground is the mountains to the west, and the low ground is the ocean to the east."

S: "It flows north to south, high to low. The children must be able to pick the right answer out of those given, and that would be north to south."

T: "You do realize that compass points and high ground have nothing to do with each other, right?"

Blank stare.

T: "So...what you're saying is that the people in Egypt are happily watching the Nile run from the Mediterranean Sea back down into the center of Africa?" (the opposite of the direction it runs, since the Nile is one of the notable major rivers that runs south to north)

Why are you screwing with me stare.

Apparently, according to my friend, the poor teacher involved proceeded to repeat this head-banging experience with six other teachers. The first FOUR of them fully believed that north was uphill and south downhill, and obviously the rivers SHOULD run north to south as a result of that.

Finally, she talked to my friend and another teacher, who both thankfully not only have brains (because the evidence of speech and vital signs prove the other five had brains) but also have the ability to logically follow a simple scientific principal to its end results. Ah...maybe that's why they teach social studies? They don't understand science?

Those two understood the problem perfectly, though it probably won't help the VA students with a woefully incorrect standardized test question. Dare I suggest that, in VA, you get a better grade if you get the same wrong answer that 60% of VA teachers get? (NOTE: Tongue in cheek and admission that eight teachers is a lousy cross-section sample with a huge standard deviation. I taught statistics.)

Clue to VA teachers... Standing in front of a mountain and holding up a map does not make the top of the mountain north nor the base south. If rain falls on top of said mountain, a portion is going to flow in each direction, and where it goes at the base will be based on grade of the land and other topographical elements.

It's yet another case of the teachers needing an education. And here I thought NOTHING could top the one teacher in MA who didn't know simple Roman Numerals, because she taught second grade, and the kids didn't learn them until fourth. Um...didn't SHE learn them in fourth?

Brenna

Author's Guild Sticking their Heads in Uncomfortable Orifices Again?

Several friends in the last few days have sent me messages from Author's Guild and/or news stories from Publisher's Weekly about the message from AG concerning the fact that the Amazon Kindle 2 will read e-books to you. I can sum up my reaction in one question...

Would anyone be offended, if I called this man an idiot?

Oh, you want more definition on my reaction. Since several people have asked me to make this one a blog post, I will happily do so.

First of all, Amazon isn't EXPLOITING anyone's e-book rights. Books don't magically appear on Kindle. They are placed there by authors or publishers, and the distribution of books is a publisher's purview, if you're working with a publisher. If you don't want Kindle books, you need to discuss that with the publisher beforehand, but if they do it, expect to make a choice of not signing the contract or of accepting that it will be distributed there.

And, I've been able to have an e-book read to me by no less than three programs I can name (ReadPlease, Adobe Acrobat, and MSReader) for YEARS (at least 4 years). This is not a new development to Kindle. Nor is it somehow news that it's possible. Unless the book is a secured format, this was always possible for e-books.

Take note. It hasn't killed audio sales yet. Know why?

I can give several reasons. The people buying audio books are purchasing them for the voice actors (not the tinny computer voices, good as some of them are, and the errors in pronunciation computers make in reading), for ease of using them in Mack trucks, etc. None of these things have been effectively overcome by computer text-to-speech/voice yet.

While I have been busy making a big deal out of the fact that you can text-to-speech many e-books (not all), and they are much cheaper than recorded audio books, it hasn't caught on yet. It won't, until computer can match or exceed what they already get for quality and ease of use, and it can't yet.

If it DOES take off, it will simply mean that people who need audio books will have a much wider choice of reading material, unsecured e-book formats that may never have professional voice actors doing "real" audio books of them. And those publishers who don't want this to happen will simply have to invest in DRM that stops text-to-speech, as they already can.

This isn't the time to start negotiating your e-book rights? Snort. I'm sorry. For them (the ever-wise voices of AG), it's NEVER the time. The doom-saying these people do is fairly amazing to me. We haven't seen this sort of uproar since Gutenberg unveiled his great machine. And it's no more helpful now.

Oh, and his footnote is even more ridiculous. Blind people USE computers. Perhaps not the Kindle, but text-to-speech as a computer software is not new, and there are all sorts of accessories and software to make computers accessible to the blind. Rolling eyes.

IMO, telling the blind that they cannot use perfectly legal text-to-speech programs to read their e-books to them IS infringing on their rights to access (legally) books they bought for their own enjoyment. I'm sorry. As an author, if a blind reader wanted to enjoy my books, why would I balk at them using such a program? As long as they aren't pirating the copies (audio or e...and Kindle won't allow that), why should it be any of my business how someone "reads"/accesses a book he/she bought? It shouldn't be Author's Guild's business either.

These people should join the 21st Century for a few days.

INTERNET RADIO SHOW

http://www.internetvoicesradio.com/CrazyTuesday.htm
Tuesday, 3 Feb 2009, 10 am-noon EST

Don't forget to join Brenna--along with Rowena Cherry, Mark Terence Chapman, Kellyann Zuzulo, Emily Bryan, Lillian Cauldwell and Sara Taney Humphreys--on Crazy Tuesday. We'll be talking about HEROS. What is heroic? What isn't? How do these great authors write their respective heroes?

AWARD news!

Predators and Editors are announcing their yearly polling results. Not all of the results are up yet, but guess who won a Top Ten slot? "Comfort Food" took the #9 Horror Short Story of 2008.







And, lest I forget, LAST CHANCE FOR LOVE (which was nominated for the Best Sci Fi book of 2008 at Love Romances and More) took Runner-Up in that award!

NEW RELEASE and art!

I adore my cover for Renegades Run (Renegades series book two--available now in e-book and coming in print in April). Sam is just a doll at capturing my vision for a book!

While I'm at it, take a look at this! I made the badge for the DoPT, and Sam turned it into this piece of internal art!

The Randalls are back in the follow-up to TYGERS. In a world where the type of power Katie and Kyle possessed is now commonplace, psi-gifted are urged to serve the government. The Supreme Court has ruled that forcing compliance is unconstitutional. Thus, major powers like our old friends are free to live in peace as long as they don't use their powers for illegal gain.

Jonas Paige was sent into service at ten, when his family decided that they didn't want a freak in the house. Now, he is given what sounds like a simple assignment. He has to get close to Sarah Randall, the weakest member of the great family, to get the others to come into service. No one has managed infiltrate them so far, but Jonas is the best. Is Jonas willing to accept that his bosses are using a threat to Sarah to ease his way in?

New Voices deadline extended

Due to technical difficulties, the New Voices Young Writer's contest will be extended to this coming Friday, Jan 16th, 2009!

New Voices is currently in it's 4th year. It's a free writing contest for middle school and high school students, which awards prizes and offers feedback from professional authors, editors, publishers, teachers and librarians.

You can learn more about this contest at the EPIC site.

EPICon UPDATE

EPICon Returns to Las Vegas

It's been eight years since EPICon, the e-publishing industry's yearly convention, hosted by The Electronically Published Internet Connection, has turned its sights on Sin City. It's not the typical "entertainment" industry you'd think of when The Entertainment Capitol of the World comes to mind, but fiction publishing, especially in indie press, is all about a rich reader experience.

EPIC is the epicenter of that world for more than 700 authors and industry professionals, and EPICon has always been open to both members and non-members of this fast-growing, international organization. In its tenth year, EPICon is home to not only the formal business meeting for the group but also class tracks in writing, publishing and promotion, the presentation of the New Voices, EPPIE and ARIANA/QUASAR awards and the gala EPPIE banquet with this year's emcee, long-time stage performer Daniel J. Reitz Sr.

This year's convention will be held at the Monte Lago Village Resort (www.montelagovillage.com) in beautiful and picturesque Henderson, NV, located just 17 miles off the Las Vegas strip. Monte Lago is a Tuscan village setting, complete with cobblestone streets, fountains, shopping and activities for all ages.

The convention keynote this year will be Penny C. Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., a publicist and bestselling author herself. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns around.

In addition to the industry portions of the convention, there is a class track especially for young writers. Since the addition of New Voices--the four-year-old middle and high school writing contest EPIC runs--to the EPICon fold, EPIC President Carol MacLeod and New Voices Chair Debi Sullivan have worked to increase young author participation in the convention itself.

And avid readers in the Las Vegas/Henderson area can look forward to two separate book signings arranged for authors attending the conference. The first will be for sensual and erotic authors only and is tentatively scheduled for the Erotic Heritage Museum on Wednesday, March 4, 2009. The second is a multi-genre signing tentatively scheduled to be held at Cheesecake and Crime on Friday, March 6, 2009. More information will be released on both signings as it becomes available.

Though the economy is troublesome and prices are soaring, EPICon remains one of the best deals in convention travel. Airfare to Las Vegas is notably inexpensive, and the convention itself enjoys some of the best rates you'll find for a multi-day experience. From the $35 day-trip price for the teen writers through the full conference package, which includes six of the seven meals for the more than two days of convention time, that clocks in at $225, you won't find a comparable deal anywhere. There are even ala carte deals that entice the attendee to bring along the family for only $170 per person for the full meal package.

Even staying at Monte Lago is reasonably-priced. EPICon's room deals clock in studio rooms for as little as $139. Two and three-bedroom suites, some with full kitchens, are available in the $249-$449 per night price range.
For more information on attending EPICon, visit the conference site at (www.epic-conference.com). But don't delay too long! Registration for EPICon closes Feb 15th.

Back to School blues

How was your back to school situation? I know some people were snowed in and didn't end up with kids back to school today. Here's my morning, in a nutshell. And people wonder why I say I need the break of them being gone, after a long vacation? Grinning madly. I DO love my kids.

Our roads are an ice rink situation. We had an ice storm last night. School is in, MA being MA, so I braved my kids to school on ice. But... We'll skip me putting my oldest's hood back on her coat, because she couldn't figure out where the snaps were, hidden beneath a decorative flap...and we'll skip me threatening both girls into blow-drying their hair in ten degree weather...

I was speeding the older two through getting ready, because Monday means chorus practice for the older two...one of four chorus days between three kids that I keep track of. I mentioned THREE TIMES that we were hurrying for chorus.

Tamer, smart enough to realize that the kids were (to pardon the pun, considering the state of the roads) skating on thin ice with me, grabbed the boy and ran him through 'where is practice'... Where is your coat? Where are your gloves? Where is your back pack? Ooops... No back pack. Knowing I'd lose my patience, if he waited to the last minute to start looking, Tamer informed boy that he had 15 minutes to find said pack.

When ten minutes passed without success, I unlocked the vehicles for him to check them...no pack. Tamer and I started scouting the house. No pack. Frustrated, I asked BOY what in the world he did with it. At that point, he postulated that he'd left it at the elementary school, while he was picking up the youngest on the last day before break (a HALF day, due to a blizzard). I told him I'd call the elementary school to see if anyone turned it in, and I loaded the older two in the van, just in time to half-slide them to chorus practice.

Only...huh... The administration was there, but only one student in sight in a 50 or so person chorus? Not right. While I was musing, the boy suggested they'd delayed school. No, not possible. We have an electronic alert system that calls each parent and teacher, in case of delay or cancellation...or early dismissal.

Then the oldest pipes up with: "There is no chorus today."
Mom: "What? Why didn't you mention that?"
Kid: "I...uh... I thought he knew." (passing the buck to the younger sibling...politics in motion)
Mom: "Your brother was sick before school let out. How would he KNOW anything about it?"
Kid: "Well, there won't be chorus, until Mr. T runs auditions again."
Mom: "Again? He's done that."
Kid: "For kids who are new. He doesn't let anyone join mid-season. Once we do the winter concerts, he does auditions for the new kids who want to join for the spring concerts."
Mom: "And how long does this last?" (working on re-writing my daily schedule to accommodate)
Kid: "I don't know. Two or three weeks, maybe."

I looked at the clock and realized the kids were a full half hour early for a regular school day. If I drove them home, we'd end up out of the car for 5 minutes then back in. The heck with that. "Okay. We're going up the hill to look for the back pack. If it's not there, he didn't leave it there...or the teachers saw it and took it in to lost and found. If we don't find it, I'll call later."

Up we went, and sure enough, there was the pack...outside. It had lived through two blizzards and an ice storm. It was completely crusted in ice. But, everything inside seemed to have survived. I dropped them back off at school, with orders to beat the ice off the pack, BEFORE it could melt and wet everything inside... "But don't beat it on the school building." It doesn't hurt to point these things out to kids, you know. "You never told me not to eat the daisies. You never told me not to put my head through the chair legs." Yeah, I know what the movie is all about.

So, I headed home...and came across my oldest's best friend...coatless and gloveless (as usual), picking her way over the ice toward the school. I stopped and offered her a ride. I have permission from her mother to give her rides, because the kid is going to catch pneumonia, otherwise.

All of the sudden, I realized she was not carrying a diorama for English class. The only reason (beside the ice) that I drove the oldest was that she had her diorama and accompanying book report to carry in.

Mom: "Don't you have a diorama?"
Kid: "I haven't started it yet."
Mom: "Isn't it due today?"
Kid: "Yeah. I'll bring it in tomorrow."
Mom: (biting my tongue, because it's not MY kid) "Sure. A lot of kids will probably bring it tomorrow. They always forget when something is due the day after vacation." (but they lose half a score for it...but hey!...I'm giving her benefit of the doubt that she forgot)
Kid: "Yep. A lot of people will forget, so she won't know I didn't do it."

I dropped her off then went home to my least troublesome and youngest child...who was ready early...with everything, up to the school on time...no problems.

TWO new releases and more news

It's a bright new year, and I'm starting it with not one but TWO new releases from UTM!

First up... THREE WISHES, the second installment in the Urban Grimms.

Meet Ellie D'Arcy, an orphaned college-student, stuck living with her step-mother and step-sister. She's got nowhere else to go, until she inherits her trust fund at age 25, so she has to put up with Tina and Maria's tempers until then. Or does she? Little known to Ellie, she's due another birthright, a magical one. Unfortunately, three fairy godfathers can wreck a lot of havoc on a person's life.

And, a straight-genre horror collection of zombies from myself, Terri Pray and TL Ryder, titled UNDEAD EMBRACE.

Within these pages you won't find a single 'Brains' uttered from undead lips. Crawl into the mind of one zombie and find out what her preferred choice of food truly is. Do you dare to find out just deeply the love of a mother might run? Find out just what happens when the wrong spice is used during the preparation of a Thanksgiving meal. And - just how can Zombies be of use during a long, boring road trip when you have two young children in the car?

As if that's not news enough, I learned I'm a nominee for Love Romance Cafe's Best of 2008. The nomination went to LAST CHANCE FOR LOVE for Best Sci Fi/Fantasy book for 2008.

Upcoming events?

Jan 15th- CATCH ME, IF YOU CAN (Urban Grimms 1) releases in print. EVIL OVERLORDS' UNION 1 releases in print. (Remember that all e-book releases from UTM release in print about three months later! If you want the print books, hang tight; they're coming!) And...I'll be joining the IWOFA authors in the Romance Reviews Today chat room from 9-11 pm.

Jan 31st- RENEGADES RUN (Renegades book 2) will be releasing in e-book from UTM!