Stacia Kane

I really, really hate to say this but…on Friday I emailed the organizers of Dragon*con to cancel my appearance.

We had some scheduling issues here that made it look like I wasn’t going to be able to go, but I was hope hope hoping, so I didn’t say anything or cancel. Then that stupid hurricane happened and flights were being canceled left right and center. I was supposed to fly standby and it was very clear to me–thanks to the airline rep I spoke to–that I had the proverbial snowball’s chance at making it at any point in the next week, really, much less Sun-Mon-Tues (my original plan), because of all the storm-stranded people who took precedence.

And at some point you start to wonder if the universe isn’t trying to tell you something, really.

So I don’t get to go. And I’m really just…I’m so sorry, and I’m so sad. Dragon*con is the highlight of my year, seriously, and I feel completely sick about this.

Fingers crossed for next year. I’m just…I can’t apologize enough, and I’m just devastated about this.

Tomorrow I’ll do the nail post. I had an idea for them this week that didn’t work out, which I tried to cover with another idea which just looked silly, so I’m in basic dark silver mode at the moment.

But I’d meant to post last week just a quick little update, so here it is:

1. SACRIFICIAL MAGIC=February 2012. No exact date yet, but Feb it is.

2. Working on some really fun extra stuff, too.

3. Am finishing Book 5, while editing SACRIFICIAL MAGIC and working when I can on New Project and whatever else I can fit in there. Book 5 and SM’s edits are due at the end of this month(!) Plus, we are moving this summer. Barring something unforeseen we will be moving back to England, probably either mid-May or mid-June. So as you can imagine, things are crazy crazy crazy here. Forgive me if I’m not around much.

4. I will be at Frolicon this weekend, talking about writing, so if anyone is going, look for me and say hi!

So…I’m not going to RT. I’m staying here. And sulking about it.

Staying home seemed like a good idea at the time, really. RT is expensive, and LA is far and I’d have to fly and I hate doing that. I hate it a lot.

But I also do love LA, and my friends are there, so now I’m feeling like a big blah, and I want to be having fun with my pals too.

So last night on Twitter I came up with something all we shut-ins can do. SULKATHON 2011, where we prove we can have our own damn fun all by our damn selves.

How to participate? It’s easy. Just use the Sulkathon hashtag (which has been shortened to #SK11, which I happen to think works out pretty cool). Then do something on Twitter or on your blog or whatever, and post the link with the tag (or do a chat with the tag if you like).

I have a few authors agreeing to play along; they’re doing chats and giveaways. I plan to give away some books myself, too. I know my lovely friend Yasmine Galenorn is doing a giveaway on Friday, I believe.

I’m putting together a schedule now. This is a really, really loose thing; I don’t have the time, honestly, to set up a really full schedule, and besides, we need lots of time for sulking and bitching about our dull shut-in status.

So. If you are an author who wants to play, leave me a comment and let me know what you’d like to do. If you’re a reader/blogger and want to do a post on your blog about something book/reader/whatever related, let me know. I’ll keep updating this post with info.

Here’s what I have so far:

Today, 4/6: Sulking until 8 pm. At 8 pm or so (schedules are loose at Sulkathon, because really, who cares? It’s all worthless anyway) we’ll do some chatting on Twitter, perhaps, about why being at home drinking by ourselves and writing in our jammies is so much better than having fun with other human beings. I may also give away a signed book or something.

That’ll go on for an hour or so, at least with me there. I’ll come back around 11 for another hour of chatting and drinking cheap beer before I get to work for the night. And who knows, maybe I’ll do another giveaway.

Tomorrow, 4/7: Some readers have indicated they’d like to give themselves manicures/pedicures. If you’re one of them, set up a time in comments, if you like, and I’ll amend the post to reflect it. The rest of us may continue to sulk, with some whining about being left out thrown in for flavor.

Once again we’ll converge on Twitter for the evening; L.A. Whitt/Lauren Gallagher has promised to do a giveaway, so we’ll see if she’s up for doing it then.

Remember, you don’t have to do a chat, and you don’t *have* to be on Twitter. If you want to do a blog post or something–preferably a sulky one, but we shut-in losers aren’t picky–and have it included, just let me know.

Yasmine’s giveaway is on Friday, I believe, and BronwynK has a giveaway happening at her blog on that day, too. I’ll update as I have more info. Friday night also seems like perhaps a good night for the corset party, in which we all put on corsets and post pictures of them.

I’d love to do some panel-type chats, as well. Perhaps on the downsides of being a writer? That could fit the theme. Any ideas are welcome. Again, leave them in comments and I’ll update here as I can, and don’t be afraid to use the #SK11 hashtag (it’s been pointed out that if you look at it fast, that looks like SKULL. Also very cool).

So come sulk with us, this week until Sunday. Do a blog post, do a giveaway, start a chat topic, whatever you like, and let me know it’s happening, and I’ll post it here.

Let’s at least try to have some fun, huh?

UPDATES:

Michele Lee has posted some funny images on her site in honor of Sulkathon.

Erotic romance fantasy author Mima is giving away some backlist books on Twitter; check this post for details.

…I know there are more but I can’t find them.

In work work work, oh yes. I plan to have Downside 4 finished by the beginning of next week, hopefully sooner. I’d actually expected to have it done already, but a plot twist came out of nowhere and necessitated some more words and some changes. This is a really twisty one, which is fun; I’m hoping everyone thinks it’s fun, at least. BFF Cori is enjoying it, so I’m trying to reassure myself with that, because she wouldn’t like it if it was awful.

I got an email this morning letting me know that A GLIMPSE OF DARKNESS, the story-in-the-round from the Suvudu blog (me, Lara Adrian, Harry Connolly, Kelly Meding, Lucy Snyder) is up for Kindle pre-order on Amazon now.

Which reminds me, BE A SEX-WRITING STRUMPET has been out on Kindle for a while now and still has zero reviews, even though it’s been selling. Won’t someone please give it a little love? *whine whine*

And one other little link, to an interview with me done by Apex Magazine. The interview is here. I was given the questions a couple of months ago, and was frankly rather stunned by that first one, but after some discussion, myself, my editor, and my publicist decided it must have just been badly worded, because the interviewer seemed so nice and friendly, and had been quite enthusiastic about the series when speaking to my publicist. Fool me once, shame on me; I’ve certainly learned my lesson in that. I’ve never before had an experience like that, where I take considerable time away from my writing to do what I think is a nice thing, and have it turned on me so roundly; I haven’t been set up like that, and I don’t care to have it happen again.

This isn’t about the review, of course; you all know how strongly I feel everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and to the expression of that opinion. I’m not remotely bothered by hers. I am, however, bothered by the fact that I was blindsided like that, and that I answered those questions with a view towards helping someone out, being nice to them, and giving them the benefit of the doubt, only to find out that there was an agenda there. This has happened to me once before, you may remember; I did a podcast interview with several other people (including my friend Jackie Kessler; this is also how I met Simon Wood, who is a really cool guy) about the Harlequin Horizons thing, and found out after it aired that the host’s questions weren’t as innocent as they seemed, and that he turned around and reamed Jackie, Simon, and I because we were “elitists.”

But again. A lesson learned is a lesson learned. Next time I get an interview that starts with a question that makes me feel slapped, I’ll cancel the interview instead of assuming the interviewer didn’t mean to be so harsh; clearly she did mean to be just that harsh, and clearly there is a degree of amusement there in being that way to my face and making it appear as if I don’t understand what’s happening.

The only reason I’m mentioning this at all is because I often get interview requests through the site, and I try to accommodate them; in fact, I’ve never turned down an interview request, or a guest blog request, I don’t think. Unfortunately I’m not going to be able to be so open with them anymore, especially if I don’t know you.

So from now on, if you want an interview with me, please submit your questions along with the request, and let me know what if anything will be appearing along side it (a review, a discussion, whatever). If you have submitted such a request in the last couple of months and haven’t yet gotten a reply, please re-submit. I’m trying to catch up on emails but with the book in the final stretch I’ve barely had time for anything else; I’ve been doing around 5k per day, plus edits etc.

The good news is I’m pretty pleased with how it’s shaping up, and I’m hoping you all will be too, since your opinions are the important ones.

And here’s a snippet! A snippet which will hopefully make you smile, in which Chess and Terrible are about to do some nocturnal investigating for her latest case. Remember it’s just a tiny snippet!:

Her car rattled and bumped its way over every little rock and patch of uneven ground, banging Terrible’s head on the ceiling once. “Shoulda brung my car.”

“No we shouldn’t have, and you know why we didn’t.”

He sighed. Heavily. “’Stoo small.”

“Every car is too small for you.” Her smile this time was genuine.

“Mine ain’t.”

Instead of answering, she slid the car up to the door and shoved it into Park. “Come on.”

(BTW, I’m not sharing this story to brag or anything, I just think it’s really cool and I’m quite pleased about it.)

A few days ago I was somewhere online, can’t remember where, and had someone tell me he couldn’t figure out why I would bother or even care how much the stuff cost, because that’s not my problem. Which, whatever. I love the idea that I’m not supposed to care how much stuff I’m selling costs. Oh, really? Okay! How about if I raise the price of everything to $100? Hey, if they want it, they’ll pay it, right? Sigh.

Anyway. yesterday I got a Facebook message from a reader who’d had a slight problem with her order. She sent me the order number and asked if I had any suggestions or could do anything about it.

I forwarded the message to Matthew. Remember, Matthew is my personal representative at Southern Promo. And that’s another reason I went with them.

Not too long after that, I got another message from the reader. Before she sent me the message she’d given Southern Promo a call, since you can do that. She’d left a message, thinking no one would get back to her.

Guess what? The OWNER of the company called her back, and took care of her issue.

Would that happen at Zazzle?

Like I said, my point isn’t to brag about look how cool I am or anything or pull some kind of stereotypical overbearing mother act (“Look how much I suffer and sacrifice for you!”). It’s to let you guys know that Southern Promo really offers great service, and they really believe my readers are as important as I do.

So if you’ve maybe been on the fence about ordering…that’s something to think about.

Also, the Market has a Facebook page now, that you can “Like” if you want to. I’m not sure what “liking” actually does, but it would still be cool if you would and I would appreciate it and all that stuff. (You can also “Like” the items in the store.)

Tomorrow I’m heading downtown for Karen Marie Moning’s FEVERCON, and I’m really looking forward to it. Karen and her readers have all been amazingly good to me and really enthusiastic about the Downside books, so it’ll be great to meet them in person and hang out a bit. So if you’re going, make sure you say hello! I’ll be at the ball tomorrow night (though not in costume) and at the breakfast and signing Sunday morning. I hope I see some of you there!

Here is my panel schedule for Dragon*Con 2010:

Title: Surprise! You’re Dead
Description: Death, ghosts, and the afterlife in fantasy fiction.
Time: Fri 08:30 pm (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Love Rots
Description: Zombies in erotica and romance.
Time: Sat 10:00 pm (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Out of the Coffin
Description: Open vs. hidden worlds in supernatural fiction.
Time: Sun 05:30 pm (Length: 1 Hour)

I know, I know, what a wild schedule, right? Sigh. Anyway. Since that schedule leaves my days completely free, and since there is nothing I hate more than wandering around a con feeling superfluous, I was thinking–well, I was thinking of it before too–of perhaps planning some kind of meet-up in one of the bars, maybe Saturday afternoon? Or any day, really. So if anyone is going to the con and wants to do that, let me know.

Also. I have, as you know, been putting a lot of thought into the t-shirts lately, which I’m happy to do and am really enjoying. But here’s my problem, and it’s one of choice, basically.

If I order the shirts and resell them, I can keep the cost down to about $12 or so. But, ordering them myself and reselling them means that I have to pay for all of the shirts up front, so I can really only afford to do one design, one style, one color. No babydolls, no color except black, no long-sleeve t-shirts, and only one design. Like the Chuck’s shirt would be the only one available for a while, until I make enough money off of them that I can afford to order some with a different design. But it will still be only one color one style of shirt. So a better price, but not much selection at all.

On the other hand, if I go with someplace like Zazzle, the shirts would be more expensive (Zazzle is cheaper than Cafe Press, but it’s still in the $18+ range) but I’d be able to upload three or four different designs to choose from, and of course you could pick what style of shirt you want, and what color. So if you don’t want to wear black you could get a blue one or a red one or whatever. If you want long sleeves you can get them. That sort of thing. The idea of being able to offer some variety really appeals, but I honestly feel weird about the shirts costing so much. That just seems like an outrageous price to me, even though everyone keeps telling me it isn’t. The object of this is to have fun, after all, and I don’t want to price the fun out of everyone’s budget, because that’s not fun at all.

My husband and I were thinking this morning that we could also do some limited edition runs on occasion. Those would come directly from us, but would be, well, limited, and once they were gone they’d be gone. So you’d have the basic designs on Zazzle but then some extra stuff a few times a year or whatever.

Am I overthinking this? I know I probably am. My husband says I am. And I’m sure most of you wish I’d shut up and just do something already instead of whining and asking questions all the damn time. But I just want to make sure everyone gets what they want, and at a price they can afford.

So if you do have any thoughts, feel free to share them, either here or through email or on Twitter or whatever. And I promise I’ll make a decision and stop my incessant flip-flopping and questions very soon. And if you’re going to Dragon*Con and would like to come to a meet-up, let me know that too, and what day and time might work best for you.

I’ll be back tomorrow with Part 2 of How Babies Are Made.

Can you believe it? I can’t; it’s been a hell of a week or so. First I was ill last week from the stress and all, which we’ll discuss more in a minute. Then just as I started to feel better I had to drive to Orlando to hang out at the RWA convention for a couple of days, which we will also discuss in a minute. I got so little sleep and drank so much vodka that I wasn’t sure I was going to make the drive home on Sunday (not because I was drunk, but because I was hungover and exhausted). But I did finally, and I’ve gotten a bit of sleep now, and that’s good.

However, I won’t be around much next week. On Friday we’re heading down to Miami to spend Birthday Week with my BFF. (It’s Birthday Week not because I think my birthday is so damn special it needs a whole week, but because it is in fact a week of birthdays; my Princess is the 8th, I’m the 11th, and BFF’s son is the 16th, although we’ll be back before then.) So I may show up to do my annual birthday Delurk post, but I may not, and really, you guys don’t care that much about that post, I don’t think. It doesn’t really entertain anyone but me.

But speaking of Delurking (for those who are new to the blog–and I know there’s a LOT of you–usually on my birthday I ask my blog lurkers to say hi, even if they never post another word), if you have recently sent me an email or Facebook message, or have joined the Downside Army, I *will* be replying. I just haven’t had a chance yet with all of the illness and travel and fun stuff like that.

Which brings me to the stress thing. Someone tweeted to me a link to their review of CITY OF GHOSTS last night and said something like “I’m sure it’s no surprise, I loved it.” Which is of course lovely to hear, but the thing is, it’s always a surprise. Always. I never expect people to like my work. I certainly don’t expect them to love it. I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response the series has gotten, and by the emails and comments and messages and everything else. And I know I keep saying this, but I keep saying it because you guys keep talking about the books! It bowls me over every single goddamn time. Seriously. Read the rest of this entry »

But before we get to why and how and all of that, a few links!

Today I’m doing a guest blog post at The Witchy Chicks and talking about the magic system in the Downside books and what inspired it. Which is actually a subject I haven’t covered anywhere else, so if you’re at all interested in that, head on over there!

And, we have some new reviews. First is this embarrassingly glowing review from Barnes & Noble’s Paul Goat Allen, on the B&N Explorations blog. Paul’s been a professional book reviewer and heavily involved in genre fiction–especially sf/f–for over twenty years, so he really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to UF. Which is why this made me all blushy and shy:

This is an ambitious novel, a novel that shuns the formulaic pitfalls and conventionality of other bestselling paranormal fantasy sagas. This is Stacia Kane at the top of her game—it is a writer evolved, a storyteller matured, an imagination fully unleashed upon the world…Dark, stylish, and wildly original…

Then there’s this one from the Fiction Vixen, which contains one of my absolute favorite lines:

I think most people will say they like it when an author takes risks, goes for something different and writes outside the box. After reading Unholy Ghosts, I have to wonder if Stacia Kane is aware there is a box. Really, Unholy Ghosts pushes the limits in what we’re seeing in Urban Fantasy today…[it's] one of the best Urban Fantasy stories I’ve read this year. It’s rich with details, the suspense is heart stopping at times, and the world building is fabulously unique. Don’t let my rant about the drug use deter you from reading this book, you would be missing out if you did… Stacia Kane has taken some risks with smashing results.

Also, my friends Caitlin Kittredge and Jackie Kessler have a new book coming out very soon, and they’re having a huge super-special pre-order contest for it! Go check it out, and pre-order SHADES OF GREY today!

I’ll be back Monday or Tuesday–since I don’t usually blog on Mondays anymore–with my superspiffy idea that I had that I think would be bunches of fun for readers and am really hoping someone tries. Plus whatever other stuff I can think of to talk about. And as always, if there’s something you want to know, or want me to blog about, let me know, either in comments or through email!

Oops! There was one more thing I wanted to mention. I’m considering entering a the Blogathon at the end of July; it would entail blogging every half hour for 24 hours to raise money for charity (in my case I’d be blogging for RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, which is the US’s biggest anti-sexual assault organizations.

Anyway, you collect sponsors to raise money, so I’m wondering, would anyone be interested in sponsoring me if I do it? I’m waiting to hear back from them as to whether I’d be able to blog here or not; you’re not supposed to use Blogathon to promote yourself in any way, and because my blog is connected to my website which is of course designed to promote my work, I’m just waiting for the okay from them. I know it’s probably okay but I don’t want to assume, you know? So if you’d be interested let me know.

Have a great weekend!

1. You all know my pal Jackie Kessler, right? Remember her excellent Jezebel books, the HELL series? Which were total sexy fun. Anyway, Jackie’s releasing a NEW Jezzie story on her blog, in installments! FREE SUCCUBUS STORY! It starts here. You don’t want to miss it!

2. I am guest blogging today over at Marta Acosta’s Vampire Wire, about how I created Chess Putnam and giving a little more insight into what kind of character she is and yes, into her addiction. Come read it and comment! One lucky commenter wins a copy of UNHOLY GHOSTS! (But you’re still going to go buy it, right?)

I actually find I’m discussing the drug use in the book quite a bit these days, and there’s a reason for that, same as the reason why I uploaded the first five chapters of the book here.

Yes, of course I want you to read it and decide you can’t wait to read more, and rush to buy the book on Tuesday or pre-order it now, which you are of course perfectly welcome to do. But I also want to make it clear exactly what the book is, and what you’ll find inside. I don’t want there to be any surprises. The back cover copy tells you very clearly that the book is about a drug addict. That is true. She is. Drugs are used in the book(s), quite a bit. If that’s a problem for you don’t buy the book, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. I don’t want you to buy a book you’re not going to like, or that will upset you or make you uncomfortable! I want you to be happy with it, and enjoy it. So please do be aware. The back cover copy isn’t lying to you. It’s there to tell you what you’ll find inside the book. You should pay attention to it, and that goes for all books, really.

One more thing. Remember how I was going to do a little thank-you giveaway, where if you buy UG I’ll send you the first three chapters of UNHOLY MAGIC? Yeah, I figured what the heck. Why go through all that trouble, for both you and me? Instead I’m just going to go ahead and load those first three chapters onto the site, probably next Friday or Saturday. If you are absolutely dying to get the chapters earlier, go ahead and email me anyway, with your overflowing heartwarming praise for UNHOLY GHOSTS, and I’ll send you the chapters. But it’s not necessary. I want to give you guys a sneak peek, so that’s what I’m going to do.

So come hang out with me at Marta’s!

Oh, and tomorrow I’ll be doing an interview at Wicked Lil Pixie’s blog, so make sure you come by and say hello, because I’m giving away a book there too!

Well, okay, not show you because I have no pictures. But I can tell you about it, in quick little bites.

First, though, some news! I got word yesterday morning that UNHOLY GHOSTS has already gone for a second printing!! Hopefully this means people are preordering it and hearing about it and getting excited about it–well, yeah, obviously it does but you know what I mean–which is extremely exciting. So have you preordered your copy yet? Because, you know, you wouldn’t want to get to the store and not be able to take one home, would you? Especially not when next week I’m going to talk about some special giftie thingies we’re doing for those who buy the book, either preorder or at the store. You don’t want to miss out! (Um, at least I hope you don’t.)

I’m going to be posting a lot of excerpts here, and I’ll be all over the internet with interviews and all that good stuff. Can you believe we only have three weeks until release day?

Anyway. As you all know I’ve been all over the Northeast in the last week and a half, starting here in GA and heading up to MA to see Caitlin. I rented a car for the drive, and I have to give huge credit to Hertz, because that car was awesome. It was one of those Chevy XXRs, the ones that look kinda like PT Cruisers? Really fun to drive and I got the satellite radio with it, which was awesome. They have stand-up comedy stations; I listened to those a LOT and had a blast. (See, I’d reserved the cheapest economy car, but my location didn’t have one, so I got the XXR and the satellite for free. Plus, they were great when I turned the car back in just a tad later than I was supposed to. Anyway. Go Hertz!)
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