INTERVIEW: Best-Selling Harlequin Romance Author Michele Dunaway

I've known Michele for awhile and in addition to being a good friend, she's a great writer who has been an invaluable resource to me in my own writing career. I was thrilled to be able to chat with her about her career and her thoughts, as a romance writer, on 50 Shades of Grey. For the Walrus Publishing article, click HERE.

Andrew Asberry: The Gateway Gothamite

 

As a fan of the Dark Knight Detective, one of my favorite websites is Batman-News.com. Great stuff and excellent reviews. Having said that, I was more than a little surprised to find that one of the writers for the site, Andrew Asberry, is a fellow St. Louis native. As such, I tracked him down, had a chat with him, and wrote up a piece for Walrus Publishing. Click HERE for all the creamy goodness that is the story of another follower of the Goddamned Batman.

A Minion's Excuse for Ignoring Auntie Heather

(Who would want to ignore Auntie Heather? She's delightful! Photo by Kurt Bali)

OK. So Heather Brewer, known by her thousands of minions as "Auntie Heather" is awesome. I don't think there's any denying it. She also hosted an event in St. Peters, Mo., Oct. 30 to promote her latest book and the second book of the Slayer Chronicles, Second Chance. It wasn't just a regular book promotion stop for me. Brewer, a resident of St. Louis, honestly moved me that night as she talked about being bullied as a child and her struggles to become an author, or what she thought at the time was an author. I was moved to tears on a number of occasions during her talk, as were many others. I was there to cover the event for Walrus Publishing and was going to make my deadline for once.

So, what happened?

Well...I lost my notes. Seriously.

Bad news: I'm an irresponsible man-child. Good news: I found the notes yesterday! Alright, it's been well past a month since the event, but the things she said are timeless and, hey! the book has only been out two months so it's still relevant. Yay, stretching my worthlessness into a plausible excuse!

Anyway, I'm going to start working on the story immediately and all of Auntie Heather's gloriousness will be passed on to you.

NaNoWriMo Time, Bitches!

November is National Novel Writing Month, known better as NaNoWriMo. I gave it a shot last year and by "gave it a shot" I mean I set up my page on their official site and proceeded to write not a single word.

This year, however, is different. Yesterday was Day 1 and I dropped 1,774 words. Yeah. Like a boss. I'm doing it this year, dammit. The tentative title is Hannibal Preston & the Adventures of the Six Gun Wizard. Probably won't stick, but who knows. And in case you noticed it's the name of this blog, there's a reason. I've been thinking about this novel for the past four years and I'm just now getting down to the process of writing it.

NaNoWriMo was a big factor in my hitting the laptop and finally telling the story, but another was attending a book signing by Heather Brewer this week. You can read about that event in the next week or two over at Walrus Publishing, but suffice it to say, it was inspiring. We share a very similar past and upbringing and something just clicked.

So I'm doing this. NaNoWriMo is the beginning. This novel is getting written. I have given myself a deadline of Jan. 1, 2015 to get it published. Gonna. Fucking. Happen.

Here's the opening of Hannibal Preston.

Hannibal held a wand in one hand, a smoking pistol in the other as a wizard lie dead at his feet.

Hannibal was fucked.

Perhaps “wizard” isn’t the most accurate description of the man on the floor with a brand new hole in his head just above the left eye. “Charlatan” would be a generous term. “Asshole” would be closer to the truth and more in line with the thoughts racing through Hannibal’s mind as he heard the rumble of the so-called magician’s loyal, albeit mislead, followers.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As Hannibal is barricading the door, preparing for the arrival of several pissed-off, recently-made-leaderless minions, we’ll go back to the beginning, a time before our protagonist was the recipient of the murderous rage of a small city. In the beginning, Hannibal was only loathed by a few. To their credit, though, they had years of practice.

G. Norman Lippert & the Son of Harry Potter

(St. Louisan G. Norman Lippert)

Do you miss Harry Potter? Miss the adventures he and his friends had on the grounds of Hogwarts facing Voldemort and his evil minions?

So did G. Norman Lippert. Only instead of pining away, he decided to do something about it. He decided to continue the Potter legacy by writing about The Chosen One's son, James. The extraordinary books, given the blessing by JK Rowling herself, can be downloaded for FREE at a number of sites. For the full story on Lippert and how this all came to be, check out my interview with him at Walrus Publishing.

Terry Brooks Marks 35 Years of Writing with New Shannara Trilogy

(Terry Brooks at Left Bank Books promoting his latest Shannara trilogy. Photo by Kurt Bali.)

Terry Brooks swung through St. Louis recently to promote his latest Shannara trilogy, Wards of Faerie, and I was there to review the event at Left Bank Books for Walrus Publishing. As usual, I'm a little late in getting this posted, but you can't rush talent. Or whatever it is I put down on a Web site. Anywhoodle, it was a blast to cover it and if you ever get the opportunity to listen to Terry speak about his books, do yourself a favor and do it. Great sense of humor and a true love and appreciation for his fans. For the entire write up, click HERE.

A Rare Titanic Family

 

Once again, the great folks at Left Bank Books hosted another great literary event, this time with Dr. Julie Williams, author of A Rare Titanic Family. The story focuses on her great uncle, Albert Caldwell, his wife Sylvia and their son Alden and their escape from the ill-fated Titanic. The book itself is a compelling read, but if you have the opportunity to see Dr. Williams promote it, do not hesitate. She's a natural showman and is a wealth of knowledge and humor. For the full story I wrote for Walrus Publishing, click HERE.

Dr. Deborah Harkness Brings the Magic to STL

(Dr. Deborah Harkness signs copies of her new book, Shadow of Night, at a recent visit to the Schlafly Branch of the St. Louis Library. Photo by Kurt Bali)

Had a lot of fun a week or so ago when I attended a panel hosted by Left Bank Books (which are always fun) featuring Dr. Deborah Harkness as the guest of honor. She was in St. Louis promoting her new book Shadow of Night, a sequel to A Discovery of Witches and the second book in the All Souls trilogy. Even though the audience was predominantly female, based on listening to her speak and what I've read of her books, Harkness should not be on the verboten list when it comes to male fans of the fantasy genre. I did a little write up for Walrus Publishing and if you would like to take a look, click HERE.

REVIEW: 'Dark Days' in St. Louis

 

Had a great opportunity to view a panel recently with four of today's best Young Adult authors: Veronica Roth, Aprilynne Pike, Dan Wells, and SJ Kincaid. Wrote up a piece on the experience for Walrus Publishing and they were kind enough to run it on their website. If you would like to read what some great writers have to say about the art of being a scribe, how to get into the business, or just some info on some great books, click HERE.

I am the Walrus! Or At Least Published at Walrus

(All four variant covers of issue No. 1 of Legends of the Dark Knight, autographed by Denny O'Neil. Yeah. Dig me.)

So I've been talking for almost a month about how I was going to write up my experience with legendary Batman writer Denny O'Neil (I know, he did other stuff, shut up) from his appearance at Project: Comic Con here in St. Louis June 9. I was honestly going to blog it and then I became involved in a relationship with locally-owned and operated Walrus Publishing, a group by and for St. Louis-area writers. It happened in STL, Denny's an STL native, so I waited so I could have the story published on their site. Everybody's happy.

To read the awesomeness that was Denny O'Neil, click HERE. I'm going to write some other stuff for Walrus as well, such as book reviews and literary event coverage. I'll post some info here, but be sure to check out the Walrus Publishing website by clicking on the link over to the right on this page. You won't regret it.