Not to make light of a serious situation, but a lot of us are practicing social distancing and staying home from events, while under self- or official quarantine. For introverts and book-lovers, the silver lining is getting to curl up at home and binge. The truth is, I was already planning an online paperback sale, to unload extra stock cluttering up my house. So what better time for books than when we need to self-entertain at home?
Quarantine Sale!
I don’t post about every review, obviously, but Publishers Weekly is kind of a big wheel in the industry. A couple of weeks ago they published a review of Shard & Shield, a bit late for its mid-2019 release but I’m not complaining; there’s always time to join a series!
And I was delighted to find some very flattering comments, such as, “satisfying, high-stakes fantasy…with tightly plotted action sequences and taut suspense” and “multidimensional characters make consistently believable choices…. high fantasy fans will find plenty to enjoy in this fast-paced adventure.” Yay! Thank you!
Another review of Shard & Shield
Okay, I didn’t realize the full extent of how hilarious that title was until I came back to it. But it’s accurate.
In August of 2004, I checked into a tiny motel in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Each of the dozen rooms was decorated with a different theme, and mine was Coca-Cola.
I was in Hot Springs for three weeks of Bailey & Bailey chicken training workshops. (This is a sort of litmus test — if you work in modern animal training, you probably responded with, “Oh! Wow, cool, what an opportunity!” If you don’t, you probably responded with, “…Wut?” Because this is the author blog and not the training blog, I’ll keep it short and say that Bob Bailey and his late wife Marian were, with Keller Breland and B.F. Skinner, some of the most important researchers and practical administrators of modern behavior science. The chicken training workshops were legendary, and I owe a huge debt of training success to their teaching.)
Why The Shard of Elan owes its existence to trained chickens
Good news! That story I promised for gifting season (and we’re still within the 12 days of Christmas, so still in gifting season!) is here!
[Edit: Oops. When I wrote this post, that part about gifting season was true. But since apparently I flubbed publishing this post, it’s, um, less true now. Yep, I just found this post still unpublished, so, well, better late than never, right? At least subscribers still got the news!]
“Art & Artifice” is a novelette set in the time of Shard & Shield, taking place after Shianan and Ariana have brought back the Shard of Elan but before the protective shield has been erected. They are assigned to investigate and stop a series of Ryuven raids on a farming village.
Art & Artifice, a new story
“When are you going to do a kids’ book?” I kept hearing. “About clicker training, but written for kids?”
In my day job in animal behavior, I’d written two training books which have done very well, but nothing for kids, and there is not a lot of material out there for young trainers.
I thought a clicker training book for kids was a great idea. Clicker training is not only good training, it’s available to people who are not big, strong, or dexterous enough to use traditional coercive techniques, and I am in full support of teaching young minds to use positive reinforcement and thoughtful planning instead of force or punishment to get what they want. However, I couldn’t figure out how I should do it.
A New Clicker Training Book, For Kids
If you’ve been with me for a while, you know that Giftmas is when we raise funds for the Edmonton Food Bank. (No, I don’t live in Edmonton. No, I don’t even live in Canada. But look, Canada would help me out, too.) Giftmas is organized each year by Rhonda Parrish, my editor of many anthologies, and each year it’s a fun way to tour some writers’ sites, do good by putting food on the table, and win cool stuff.
There are three parts to this post: What’s in it for charity, what’s in it for you, and a tease for a Christmas gift from me.
It’s Giftmas Time Again! 2019
Spotted online: If they don’t want a book, do they really deserve a gift at all? Well, I’ll allow that other gifts can be nice, too, but this is a great time of year to introduce friends to your favorites and to find new favorites for yourself —… 12 Days of Fantasy & Sci-Fi Christmas Deals
Okay, internet, we need to talk. Was no one going to tell me we have Star Wars back?
I mean, you were all going on and on and on about The Mandalorian‘s Baby Yoda (or baby whatever-it-is-that-Yoda-is) and so I thought that was the primary attraction to the show. But no. I mean, no shade to Baby Yoda, but there are so many good things going on that someone might have mentioned.
The Mandalorian
“The Face of Herod.” That actually sounds like a title, doesn’t it? But I guess it would have to be a mystery, as we don’t have any idea what King Herod looked like.
The Face of Herod
It’s that time of year when we writers must consider whether to join the annual Short Story Challenge. Unlike NaNoWriMo or Inktober or other creative challenges, the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge is a contest, with prizes. And it’s a challenge with a twist: All stories are written… The NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge is Coming
