…you find a copy of your book at the Brooklyn Public Library.
I’ve been going to Necon — more formally known as the Northeastern Writers Conference; informally known as Camp Necon — since the year 2000, missing only one year in between. And if there’s one thing I remember from the start, it’s that their website was outdated even then. But not anymore! Thanks to Matt Bechtel and Sara Calia, Necon now has a brand-spanking-new and much more user-friendly website, just in time for Necon 34!
Did I mention I will be one of the Guests of Honor at Necon 34? Well, I will be! The other Guests of Honor will be New York Times bestselling author Michael Koryta and actress/director/author Amber Benson. By fabulous coincidence, the Artist Guest of Honor will be Erik Mohr, who designed the amazing cover to my novella Chasing the Dragon. Acting as Toastmaster will be the inimitable critic and author Jack Haringa. I thought he was dead!
So, are you coming? Of course you’re coming! You can register via the Necon website I linked to above.
Also, here’s another bit of very cool Necon news. Bram Stoker Award-winning author Elizabeth Massie, a Necon regular, has set up the Bob Booth Necon Memorial Fund, which will help make Necon attendance possible for those who might not be able go due to financial constraints. If you’re able to, please donate to the cause here.
A blogger calling herself Grimlock, whom I had the pleasure of meeting briefly at Readercon last year, has posted an in-depth review of my 2010 book, Chasing the Dragon. It’s always nice to see new reviews of a book that’s been out for a few years now, because as an author you never know if anyone is paying attention to your older stuff unless they tell you. So this was a very pleasant surprise! It’s also a smashing review. Here’s a snippet:
Well, huzzah!
Chasing the Dragon got almost unanimous good reviews from critics and readers alike — it was even nominated for two prestigious literary awards, the Shirley Jackson Award and the International Thriller Writers Award — but sales haven’t been all that great. As Grimlock mentions in her review, it’s a slim volume and easy to overlook on a bookstore shelf. So I guess what I’m saying is, if you liked Dying Is My Business but haven’t read any of my earlier books, Chasing the Dragon is the one to start with. You can find links to places to buy it here.
One of my favorite book websites on the Internet is All Things Urban Fantasy. I even did a Top 10 list for them back when Dying Is My Business was released. Every week they run a feature called Cover Art Coverage, in which they examine the covers of forthcoming urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and occasionally horror novels and weigh in with their opinions. (I’ll admit to loving the terrible covers as much as — or sometimes even more than — the good ones!) (I’ll also admit to hoping that one day they will invite me to be a guest Cover Art Coverage judge!)
Last year, All Things Urban Fantasy, or ATUF to the cool kids, gave unanimous thumbs up to Dying Is My Business‘s cover art. (You can see here.) So how did they rate the cover art for the sequel, Die and Stay Dead, in their most recent Cover Art Coverage? Well, one of the judges, Julia, calls the art “gorgeous,” but the other two, Libbie and Kristina, seem to feel a bit more meh about it. Although Libbie does say it has “a nice creepy feel to it,” which is cool. Click through to read the whole thing.
So what do you think of Die and Stay Dead‘s cover art, which you can see if you click over? Do you agree with the good folks at ATUF, or do you have your own opinion? (Imagine that, someone on the Internet with opinions!) Sound off, folks!
