All posts by Toni L. P. Kelner

By any other title…

Recent developments on the paperback reprint of Without Mercy–there’s not going to be a paperback reprint of Without Mercy.

No, no gnashing of teeth or beating of breasts is required. It turns out that when my book was presented in the Cover Meeting at Berkley, it was mentioned that they’d recently published a book entitled Without Mercy, and it would have confused issues mightily to add another. So that means my book needed a new title. So, with a triumphal fanfare, let me announce the May 2009 release of…

Curse of the Kissing Cousins

I mean to spread this news far and wide, because I don’t want readers who read Without Mercy to go out and buy Curse of the Kissing Cousins and get irritated. (It will be somewhere on the cover, but I tend to miss those important details myself.)

I’m curious to see if people will prefer the original title or the new one. Me? I like both, but it does seem appropriate to start fresh at Berkley with a new title. Now I can’t wait to see the cover that they come up with to go with it.

Per crimen ad astra

Recently Google Alerts alerted me to a most startling development. My story “How Stella Got Her Grave Back”, published in Many Bloody Returns, has been recommended for a Nebula Award for Best Short Story. As their website says, the Nebulas are annual awards presented by Science Fiction Writers and Fantasy Writers of America to celebrate excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing.

Now I hasten to add that this is NOT a Nebula nomination. The SFWA has an amazingly thorough process for nominating stories. Any story recommended by one member makes it to the list of recommended stories. (That’s where my story is now.) But a story must be recommended by at least nine more members to make it onto the preliminary ballot, and only the top five vote winners from the preliminary ballot make it onto the final ballot. It’s the stories on the final ballot that are considered Nebula nominees. Obviously, I’m a long way from that.

Still, my story has been recommended for a Nebula, and I’m just tickled to death.You see, I started out trying to write fantasy and science fiction, and frankly, I was terrible at it. For whatever reason, I’m better with mysteries, and since I didn’t want to mess with a good thing, since I realized that I’ve pretty much stuck with writing mysteries. And I’ve got no complaints. I’m having a great time, and I’ve been really happy to be part of the mystery community.  But there’s always been a piece of my heart that belonged to fantasy and science fiction. So I was delighted when Locus reviewed Many Bloody Returns, and danced the dance of joy when we made the Locus bestseller list.

Now comes this Nebula recommendation…  I don’t have any idea that I’ll make it to the preliminary ballot, let alone to the final ballot, but having my story listed on the Nebula site is enough for me.

After a long, mysterious trip, I’ve managed to find my way to the stars.

Countdown to True Blood

I want to announce publicly that I am not obsessed with True Blood. Okay, maybe I’ve been marking the days off on my calendar until the September 7 premier, but that’s totally reasonable because show is based on the book Dead Until Dark by my pal Charlaine Harris. Yeah, some dude named Alan Ball is involved and some other Oscar winner is starring in it, but the important part to me is…

based on Dead Until Dark by my pal Charlaine Harris!

So of course I’m pretty excited. After all, I’ve been a huge fan of Sookie Stackhouse since the beginning. In fact, I’ve been a fan since before the beginning. I read Dead Until Dark in manuscript. (Yes, that is me mentioned in the dedication to the book.) I loved it immediately–the voice, the characters, the setting, the action, the world, the sex, the mystery–it has everything. Charlaine being one of my favorite people on earth doesn’t hurt, either.

But that doesn’t mean I’m obsessed. Okay, sure after over twenty years without cable in my home, I had it installed primarily so we can watch True Blood. We have been watching other stuff, I swear. The Discovery Channel and BBC America and of course, the HBO specials heralding the making of True Blood. That’s not being obsessive.

Admittedly, I did annoy my daughter Valerie. Yesterday, I said, “Hey, you know what next Sunday is, right?”

“I sure do!” Valerie said. “I can’t wait!”

“Me, either. That’s when True Blood starts!”

“Anything else?” she replied frostily.

“Well, it’s a month before Wolfsbane and Mistletoe hits the shelves. That’s the anthology I co-edited with Charlaine Harris. But True Blood starts this week!”

“Anything else?”

“Um….”

“It’s my BIRTHDAY!!!!”

“I knew that. How about a vampire birthday party this year?”

“Dad!!!!”

I tried to explain that she has had nine other birthdays, whereas this is the first episode of True Blood, but she didn’t buy it. You know, maybe I am obsessed…

And now, a Four Star Day!

One of the most agonizing waits facing any author is the endless wait for the first review of a new release. Will reviewers love it? Like it? Hate it? Worse still, will they ignore it? As of today, my torment is over for Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, the forthcoming urban fantasy anthology I co-edited with the luminous Charlaine Harris.

In the October 2008 issue, Romantic Times BOOKreviews gave us four stars (out of a possible 4 and a half) and had this to say:

Christmas, Santa and werewolves lead to some highly hair-raising tales in this holiday anthology. The expertise of 15 wolfishly inspired authors is dished up into a combination of stories that run the gamut from funny to downright creepy. There’s a little something for every taste–literally!

The wait has ended in the best possible way.

A Five Star Day!

They call it Customer Appreciation Day, but don’t let that fool you.  Gale/Cengage’s annual party is just as much fun for their authors as it is for their customers. Which is why I drove five hours through torrential rain on Thursday, so I could be in Waterville, Maine bright and early Friday morning. Even with the weather and the traffic, it was well worth the trip.

Gale/Cengage is the parent company of both Five Star, a publisher of fiction for the library market, and Thorndike, the biggest large print publisher in the US. Now Five Star published my novel Without Mercy, and Thorndike published two of my Laura Fleming books in large print (with plans to bring out more), so I have purely mercenary reasons to be fond of the company. But between the way the treat authors daily, and the extra treat of Customer Appreciation Day, I just love this place.

The agenda was a rich one. First came a chance to visit with other writers and Thorndike customers. I met L.L. Barlett and Maris Soule, and visited with old friends Kate Flora and Sibylle Barrasso. I also met Kate’s brother, who is a librarian in Maine, as well as a short story writer. Then editorial manager Mary Smith welcomed us, and explained the plan for the day.

Next there was a focus group with editor Tiffany Schofield, Mary, and other Five Star mystery authors to go over the author handbook and share promotional ideas. I cannot tell you how much I adore the whole concept of having an author handbook. It covers everything from formatting your manuscript, to the publication process, to the list of the review venues to which Five Star sends ARCs.

Then came a tour of the building. We met people in all the departments, and could ask questions about everything. I particularly enjoyed seeing marketing, because I grabbed a copy of the catalog with Without Mercy on the cover; and admiring the shelves of books that had been chosen for large print, because they had copies of one of my books there. I admit I’m self-centered.

 

Me Being Self-Centered

(photo courtesy of Kate Flora)

 

After that, we went outside, where a tent had been set up in the parking lot, and chowed down on lobster. Though in my case it was chowing down on chicken. Even after over twenty years in New England, I just can’t bring myself to eat anything that looks like a lobster. I did join in on the process in my own way–I got sprayed as somebody ripped into a lobster. I’ll be nice and NOT mention the culprit, but I will say that the same Gale/Cengage employee once sprayed Tess Gerritson in the face, so I felt honored. The blueberry pie was less dampening, but very good.

 

Some of the Lobsters I Could Not Eat

(photo courtesy of Kate Flora)

 

Entertainment was next. Tiffany and Hazel (whose last name I cannot remember) performed a song about the uncertainy of waiting for a good review for a particular magazine known for NOT giving good reviews. Since we were sworn to secrecy, I cannot say which magazine the song was about. (But it starts with the letter “K.”)

 

Hazel and Tiffany

 

Finally, it was time for the commercials.  Each writer had five minutes to either read from a book, or just talk. (Since Without Mercy starts with a fairly profanity-laden chapter, I elected to talk about the book’s inspirations.) This could have been tedious, but all the authors were entertaining, or awkward, but Tiffany kept us moving and made sure to display each author’s book as he or she came to the platform. It was a lot of fun, and certainly added to my reading list.

That ended the official program, but some of us couldn’t resist stopping at a nearby saloon for drinks and conversation before heading off. I think most people were as reluctant to end the day as I was. Even knowing that I had a long drive back home, I hated to go. I’d had that much fun.

And here’s the best parts of the day. My focus group included Sibylle, whose first book is scheduled as a Five Star release for later this month. When we walked into the board room for the meeting, there on a shelf was a copy of Dark Waters–the first honest-to-God copy of the book she’d seen. Sibylle said later that she nearly cried. To be honest, I was close to tears myself. Being there for that alone made it a five star day for me.

 

The Happy Author

A weekend at Camp Necon

Just got back from Necon, the warmest and fuzziest horror convention you’ll ever attend. I’ve always heard that mystery writers are so friendly because we release all our violent tendencies in our fictional homicides, but apparently the authorial and artistic mayhem committed by horror practitioners is even more cathartic. This was one laid-back, friendly group. The beer probably helped.

Though this was Necon 28, it was a new convention for me. I don’t write horror, and haven’t read a lot recently, but my friend and co-editor Charlaine Harris was one of the guests of honor and my editor Ginjer Buchanan is a regular camper. I say “camper” because the convention is affectionately known as Camp Necon. Instead of being held at the usual bland hotel, Necon takes place at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. (Usually, they take over a dorm or two, but this year, we were at the college’s conference center.) And in addition to a robust selection of panels, dealer’s room, and art show, we had:

  • A saugie roast. A saugie is a local type of hot dog, and believe you me, it’s a Rhode Island delicacy. I think I ate enough of them to make up for the blood loss caused by tiny Rhode Island vampires, also known as mosquitos.
  • A Hawaiian shirt contest. It took me a while to find a Hawaiian shirt of my own-apparently they are not a big item in Boston-but when I did locate the perfect selection, it came with matching flip flops. Unfortunately I couldn’t compete, because I helped judge the contest. I understand it was the first year a Hawaiian shirt won the Hawaiian shirt contest.
  • A miniature golf tournament at Fantasy Land, which I came nowhere near winning, despite getting a hole in one. I also got to ride a wonderful sea dragon on the merry-go-round, once somebody helped me get my foot over the wings. (Thanks John, and I SO hope nobody had a camera handy at that moment.)
  • A softball game, which I single-handedly saved. It was I who supplied the bottle opener for the beer.
  • Other sporting events such as poker, croquet, and darts. The Brits won the darts medals, naturally. Yes, there were medals.
  • A talent show, which included singing, dancing, ranting, magic, and several hours of laughs. If they ever make a CD of that song about murdering mermaids, I want a copy.
  • A roast of a longtime Necon camper, and even though I didn’t know him or anything about him, I still laughed my tail end off.  Even without beer.

I got to meet some really talented and interesting people (Laura Anne Gilman, Carole Whitney, James, and Mad), renew acquaintances with others (Chris Golden, Morven Westfield, John Douglas, and online friend Nate Kenyon) and share cans of Off with total strangers. I came home with a wonderful picture of a pirate werewolf (I’m not making this up-http://skeeryvilletown.blogspot.com/) and a list of authors to read that includes Michael Marshall Smith, Tom Sniegoski, Hal Bodner, and Elizabeth Massie. 

Despite the itching from the mosquito bites, I am one happy camper.

Many Bloody Covers

Apparently the German edition of Many Bloody Returns, due out in October, has changed.  Here’s the new cover, with the new title:

Speaking of Many Bloody Returns, I’ve got a picture of the cover of the trade paperback, too. It’s coming out in Feburary 2009.

There may be some odd cultural reason why they switched the illustrated vampire to looking left in Germany, when he looks to the right in the US. I’d say it was a mirror image, but it is a vampire…

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!  I feel as if I’m in the middle of the American Revolution even now.  I’ve been watching the HBO miniseries John Adams on DVD, which starts in the 1700’s, and I just finished reading Diana Gabaldon’s A Breath of Snow and Ashes, which is set during the beginning of the Revolution.

Now if I can just defeat the tyranny of typos…  I’ve got the galley proofs for Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, the Christmas werewolf anthology I co-edited with the scintillating Charlaine Harris, and I’m going through them with an eagle eye.  The book is due out October 7.

Big Print News!

Big news.  Well, big print, anyway.  The large print edition of Without Mercy is slated for release by Wheeler on December 10, 2008.

Negotiations are still ongoing, but it looks as if Wheeler will be reprinting some of the Laura Fleming mysteries in large print editions, too.