BaltiCon Schedule, 2 new anthologies, & a general update
Posted by janinekspendlove in News and Updates on May 14th, 2012
Ok, just a quick-ish update before I hit the rack.
As I’m sure you may or may not have picked up on I’m crazy busy at the moment, so you get this update in list form:
1- In celebration of being asked to be a Guest of Honor at a convention for the first time, I’ll be giving away free kindle copies of War of the Seasons: The Human on May 30th and 31st, the two days leading up to ConCarolinas. (as a reminder, kindle versions of WotS: The Human are always free to amazon prime members).
2- I’ll be offline/traveling out of the country for the next week or so, but I’ll be back just in time for BaltiCon (schedule posted below)
3- In case you haven’t heard, I’ve got a new short story anthology coming out next month at Origins Game Fair. It’s titled Time Traveled Tales and in addition to yours truly, also features stories from some of my very favorite people (and authors) Aaron Allston, Donald J. Bingle, Sarah Hans, R. T. Kaelin, Jean Rabe (also the editor), Steve Saus, Michael A. Stackpole, Bryan Young, and Timothy Zahn.
You can read a great post about it on Aaron Allston’s blog (OH MY GOSH I’VE GOT MY VERY OWN TAG ON HIS BLOG! Must not fangirl… too much.) Toche Station also posted about it here (holy cow I’ve got ANOTHER tag! WOOOO!).
4- I’ve got another anthology coming out. This one is non-fiction and is about world building. In addition to myself, Bryan Young, Steve Saus, and many others contributed essays about the different aspects of world building. Bryan posted about it (and the previous anthology, Time Traveled Tales) on his website here. BTW, you can pre-order Bryan’s newest book, Operation Montauk here – trust me you’ll be glad you did. This story was a BLAST!
5- My BaltiCon schedule is ready:
Autographing: D. H. Aire, Paulette Jaxton and Janine K. Spendlove
Friday at 6:00 pm in Maryland Foyer
D. H. Aire, Paulette Jaxton and Janine K. Spendlove signing at the Autograph Table in the Maryland foyer.
Speakers: D.H. Aire; Paulette Jaxton; Janine K. Spendlove
SE-9a. Friday Face Time: Meet the Guests — Mix and Mingle
Friday at 9:00 pm in Con-Suite
Mix and mingle with the Guests of Honor and Balticon 46 Program Participants.
Moderator: Con Chair
Speakers: Jody Lynn Nye (Guest of Honor)
C-2. Costuming the Young Fan
Saturday at 9:00 am in Salon D
C-2. Costuming for the pint size is fun! Those little bodies don’t use much yardage! We’ll discuss how to make a tiny costume that looks like the real deal, mostly, yet won’t break the bank. Turn your tiny tike into a superhero, a fairy princess, a Jedi or anything in between..
Moderator: Pavlina
Speakers: Nancy Frey; Janine K. Spendlove; Jacalyn (Lady Ozma) Stanley; Ming (Cookie) Diaz
C-5. Just Dandy: The Importance of Accessories in Steampunk
Saturday at 1:00 pm in Salon D
Finding the perfect accessories is vital to having the perfect steampunk costume: Find out the best places to get these accessories and tips and tricks to making your own.
Moderator: Elektra Hammond
Speakers: Janine K. Spendlove; Jared Axelrod; Doc Coleman; Rebecca K. Davis
R-43. Readers Ask Why
Saturday at 5:00 pm in Salon A
Starting Panel is: Moderator: Catherine A. Asaro; Panelists: John G. Hemry, John C. Wright, Danny Birt, Steven H. Wilson Panelists swapping in: Andrew Fox, Chuck Gannon, Nathan O. Lowell, Janine K. Spendlove;
A changing panel of authors is on the hot seat as their fans ask why their characters behave as they do, why the author chose this sort of magic instead of another, why the world a book is set in has certain dominant properties/elements. Once a panelist (or moderator) answers a question, they’ll swap seats with a panelist waiting in the first row to replace them. Audience members who take more than 30 seconds to ask their question will get buzzed and must sit down and shut up with their question unanswered! Oh! And panelists who take more than 2.5 minutes to answer a question must take the moderator role and can only answer another question after all the panelists at the table when they took the moderator seat have swapped out. Oh! And one more thing: Panelists who write SF/Fantasy/Horror under more than one name can swap in again under their other pen name if they — literally — wear a different hat.
Moderator: Catherine A. Asaro
Speakers: John C. Wright; Steve Wilson; Janine K. Spendlove; John Hemry (Jack Campbell); Charles Edward Gannon; Danny Birt; Nathan O. Lowell; Andrew Fox
R-47. Alternate History — Changing the Real World
Saturday at 7:00 pm in Chase
Panelists discuss what’s necessary to write alternate history that is believable.
Moderator: Carl Cipra
Speakers: John Hemry (Jack Campbell); D.H. Aire; Chris Evans; Janine K. Spendlove
R-50. A Ritual of Passage for Modern Western Civilization
Sunday at 9:00 am in Salon D
Look to SF and Fantasy for sources: Heinlein’s Tunnel in the Sky is a good example of a story that tells us how to turn kids into grownups at puberty or early adolescence. Bring maturity into the teen culture, and ground the ritual in the larger culture. Do we want young adult literature to, without preaching at them, encourage young people to become responsible adults.
Moderator: Tyler Waldman
Speakers: Janine K. Spendlove; Paul D. Lagasse; Judi Fleming; Christine Norris
Readings: Colin Earl, Darrel Schweitzer, Janine K. Spendlove and Patrick Thomas
Sunday at 10:00 am in Pimlico
Darrel Schweitzer, Janine K. Spendlove and Patrick Thomas reading from their works. Please note that the authors are listed in alphabetical order, NOT in reading order. They’ll determine reading order amongst themselves.
Speakers: Janine K. Spendlove; Darrell Schweitzer; Patrick Thomas
C-8. The Warriors Creed
Sunday at 11:00 am in Salon D
Ever wondered how to make that super cool Stormtrooper armour? What about some cool anime armor? Chain mail? We’ve got you covered. From vacuum forming to fun foam and everything in between — we’ll give you overviews of the techniques and see examples of all.
Moderator: Karen L. Dick
Speakers: Janine K. Spendlove; Heidi Hooper; Lisa Adler-Golden; Jason McClain; William H. Kennedy
R-15. Young Adult Fiction
Sunday at 8:00 pm in Belmont
Is YA Science Fiction Failing to Educate While It Entertains? Should it be aspiring to do so?
Moderator: Lane Jagi Lamplighter Wrignt.
Speakers: Ruth Lampi; Janine K. Spendlove; Michael A. Ventrella; Maria V, Snyder
T-1. Fessing Up to the Adult Themes in YA Literature
Sunday at 9:00 pm in Parlor 3041
Young adult literature is growing up, tackling such hard issues as good and evil, abuse, abandonment, grief and loss. And then there’s sex. Is there a line that shouldn’t be crossed or is no subject taboo for today’s teens? A roundtable of teens and YA authors discuss these topics and taks squestions and comments from the audience.
Moderator: Jean Marie Ward;
Speakers: Sarah Taylor; Janine K. Spendlove; Mike D’Ambrosio; Daniel Hack; Sarah Sexton
Lastly, need a copy of my books? As it happens you can buy them here.
Checking in…
Posted by janinekspendlove in News and Updates on May 6th, 2012
HOW IS IT MAY ALREADY???
So, life has been hectic. Aside from loads of travel (which I do for both of my careers, Marine and Author) we also moved this month, and things have just been crazy (I’m hopelessly behind on my email).
April Update… Here goes!
WRITING: The Audio book for the human is done & I found a distributor! WEEEE! Now If I could only find the time to actually DO all the things I need to do for it.
I honestly haven’t done anything else re: writing. I simply haven’t had the time – my Marine & family needs (along with the move) have sucked up most of my available time. Honestly, if running wasn’t currently a part of my job I don’t know when I’d find the time to do it!
Hobbies: What are hobbies? 
-Running- One race this month – the GW Parkway classic. It was lovely, and while I didn’t PR, I still had a good race. Ron posted fully about it on his blog RonRunsDisney.com. (We ran another race this weekend and it was a brutal 1/2 marathon. Don’t know if I’ll be able to walk properly tomorrow). As far as my training, I’ve honestly been slacking. I’m lucky if I get two runs in a week & it shows! I need to get better about that. Marathon training officially kicks off on the 15th – WOOHOO!
-Books read (something it seems I now only have time to do while I travel): I read the sequel to a friend’s book about nerdy, not good looking, not svelte/thin/muscular vampires that are the good guys. It was hilarious, super fast & fun, and I highly recommend it. Plus it’s called A Hard Day’s Knight, and reference to a Beatle’s song? WIN. Back in Black – so fun!
I finally read His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire, Book 1). You guys, IT”S AMAZING! It’s the napoleonic wars retold, only with an air force of DRAGON RIDERS! I’ve not been this excited about a book series since The Hunger Games! Also, apparently Peter Jackson optioned the movie rights!!!
Health: So far so good – I’m just super sore from this weekend’s race. Tomorrow will be hard to walk! Ron managed to throw his back out though & had to miss a race (American Oddesey) 
He’s thankfully doing much better now, though, and was able to run today finally.
Travel: RavenCon in Baltimore, Jacksonville, NC, & Waynesville, NC. Oh, AND WE MOVED. I HATE HATE HATE MOVING. A lot. But I love living in the city now. 
Capitol Hill is a GREAT place to live!
Local Events: 2 local races – YAY! Ron and I are making a commitment to only run local races while we live in DC (aside from Disney races), because given that there are SO MANY good local races we really don’t need to go far to run! Also, given that RavenCon was in Richmond, we’ll consider that local-ish.
Personal:
RON IS NOW 39!!!
Upcoming…
-ConCarolinas (Jun)
-33rd BDay (Jun)
-Birthday 15K Race (Jun)
-California (Jun)
-Utah (Jul)
And that’s enough for now…
P.S.
If you haven’t seen The Avengers yet, GO SEE IT NOW!
Lastly, need a copy of my books? As it happens you can buy them here.
RavenCon wrap up
Posted by janinekspendlove in News and Updates on April 23rd, 2012
Last weekend I was a guest at RavenCon for the second time – the first time being a few years ago where I was a costuming guest. It was wonderful to come back to RavenCon, and the best part was how many people remembered me from my costuming days. I was touched.
I was on several fun panels this time around too – and of course I forgot to write down the ones I was on, so I’ll do my best to remember them here (though I’m certain I’ll forget one): trends in costuming (moderated by the always entertaining James Fulbright) was a lot of fun – I think we decided that fairy tales were the next big costuming wave to come, that steam punk was on its downslide, and that Doctor Who was in it’s heyday.
Another great panel I was on was Professional Self-Publishing. I learned so much from my fellow panelists, and hopefully changed some minds/attitudes about self-publishing along the way… and given that I received this email shortly after returning from RavenCon, I know that we changed at least one mind.
Thank you for introducing your beautiful book at RavenCon this last weekend! Wowza!
I USED TO BE one of those “annoyed with the lo quality of self-pubed material” readers but I am absolutely blown away with the craftsmanship that went into creating War of the Seasons.
You and your work have made it OK for us readers to start exploring the newer reading materials that are coming out. I see you and your work as a trailblazer and a Quality Standards Setter for the future.
I had the opportunity to learn a lot from you this weekend, and thanks for turning my expectations around.
Another fun panel I was on was the Military Sci-Fi panel (that one is ALWAYS fun!) – looks like there’s a definite audience (at least among women) for my Pride & Prejudice in Space retelling. Woohoo!
One thing I’ve learned that no matter how many times you give a panel it’s always different and you always learn something new. In addition to the wonderful panelists I had the opportunity to be on panels with at past conventions, I made some new friends this time, and these guys are definitely worth checking out (in no particular order): John Betancourt, Jean Marie Ward, Stuart Jaffee, Elizabeth Campbell, Mike McPhail (not a “new” friend exactly but still newish), & Monica Marier. And yes, my “to read” stack is now much higher! (Also, I know I’ve left people off this list because of my horrid memory, so please if we met at RavenCon LET ME KNOW! I want to link back to you on here.)
Now onto pics:
Roadtrip! Time to go to Richmond! Curse you DC traffic… (YAY HOV lane!)
Ran into the CapClave gang first thing and let me tell you, I can’t wait for this convention (yup, I’m a guest)! Here’s the youngling modeling Darth Dodo.
2nd panel with James Fulbright – I believe this one was Macroblogging in the Microblogging world.
Anyone want a book signed?
Now these were impressive. Made by HCSteam.net
The best part about conventions is seeing people you never get to see. Hello Rach!
This made my heart soar… I promise I did not pay the Youngling to do this!
I LOVE geeks… the entry way into two of the panel rooms.
I also had the opportunity to be one of the costume contest judges. The entries were all so very impressive!
I adored this mini-top hat – made out of a Styrofoam cup!
These two are relatively new to costuming and the amount of detail that went into their dresses was stunning!
Only 6 weeks old and already entering costume contests.
I loved this dress – USO girl at prom. She had 48 stars on her train – nice attention to detail!
Our best in show – a Clockwork Android from Doctor Who. Her costume was PERFECT. She even made the mask!
The Costume Contest’s MC, PodCasting’s Rich Sigfrit, getting schooled by the little sister of a contestant.
Fun side fact, but Rich and I attended our very first sci-fi convention ever, together (along with Will, for whom The Human is dedicated) back in 2003. Yes, I am dressed as a Jedi. A Hippie Jedi.
Later that evening the charity auction (benefitting breast cancer cure research) went and I think my books went for like $45? Which is AWESOME (for the charity of course)! Here they are being modeled by the lovely and talented author Tera Fulbright.
The next morning we had a knitting circle, and now I MUST MAKE THIS SCARF FOR MYSELF!
Also, I really enjoyed just chilling and everyone talking about how/why they got into knitting. For me it was to have something crafty/creative to do during my downtime in Iraq. I think on my second deployment I knitted something like 8 Harry Potter sweater vests? Here they are…
And to go off on another tangent, I will say that this shot of me & my husband as Lily Evans and James Potter is one of my fav pics of the two of us ever.
We did a whole photoshoot back in 2008 which you can see here and here.
As always, Ron’s con-badge had a very interesting name…
And totally randomly, I need this framed and in my office:
And since this is a writer’s blog, here are a couple handy link/blog posts I’ve come across or had pointed my way:
-3,000 book sales for a self-published author and counting.
-The importance of an Alpha reader (sometimes called a 1st reader or a Beta)
Lastly, need a copy of my books? As it happens you can buy them here.
