Surprise! PARALLEL WORLDS Anthology!

If you thought Fear the Stars was the only Christopher Husberg release this year, think again!

I've also got a short story coming out in the Parallel Worlds: The Heroes Within anthology!

Parallel Worlds is an awesome collection put together by the phenomenal writers L.J. Hachmeister and R.R. Virdi, and as you can see from the cover, it includes stories from a number of exceptional authors, including Jody Lynn Nye, Christopher Rucchio, D.J. Butler, and a new,  never-before-seen Dresden Files story from Jim Butcher.

It's going to be awesome.

I'm excited about my entry into the anthology. It is NOT a Chaos Queen story (or a story related to any of the other projects I've been teasing--this is something completely different and new), but sort of an epistolary post-apocalyptic existential crisis story with monsters. So, if that sounds up your alley, or any of the above authors strike your fancy, pre-order the anthology (it'll be officially available 8 October of this year).

Pre-orders are actually going quite well so far--we're already at #1 for Fantasy and SF Anthologies, and #541 of all books sold on Amazon. So, that's neat. (Also, right now it's only available in ebook format, but we're working on a print version if that's what you'd prefer. Stay tuned for more news on that.)

Anyway, cool news! Order the anthology!

Book Launch Day for WITCHY EYE!

Happy book launch day to brilliant author and friend Dave Butler! Everyone, and I mean EEEVVEERRYYYOONNEEE, should check out his latest novel WITCHY EYE. I've already talked about it on my blog, but basically it's a flintlock fantasy set in Jacksonian America with deep, meticulous world building and awesome characters. If that strikes your fancy (and, honestly, whose fancy WOULDN'T it strike?), you should check out the book. Like, now!

The BYU Symposium on Books for Young Readers

Thursday and Friday of last week I had the opportunity to attend the BYU Symposium on Books for Young Readers--an annual symposium put on by BYU for teachers, librarians, parents, and anyone else who wants to attend.

It wasn't too shabby.  Being a writer, of course, I wasn't the ideal attendee for the symposium, but ultimately it was worth it.  And I must say I'm surprised at the ease with which writing/book events in Utah can obtain top-notch writers and guest speakers.  At this particular event I was impressed to find Brandon Mull (author of the NYT-bestselling series Fablehaven series) and Laurie Halse Anderson (author of the popular--but controversial--Speak, and a number of other very interesting YA novels), as well as a number of other National Book Award finalists and others.

The structure of the symposium was different than the general structure I'm used to from local conventions such as LTUE and CONduit--instead of a variety of panels and classes and activities, the entire symposium consisted, for the most part, of lectures.  There were some smaller break-out sessions with individual authors on Friday, and some signings, and one or two other presentations, but other than that it was one person speaking in front of a large number of people for an hour or so, a break, and then listening to another person speak for an hour or so.  So, for me, that structure wasn't exactly ideal.  Luckily the speakers (usually the guest authors/illustrators) were interesting and entertaining, for the most part.  But I have to say I prefer the structure of the convention/conference format more, I think.  I'm not sure whether I'll attend next year--I suppose it depends on who is coming!

Also, an interesting side note:  I didn't expect 95% of the symposium attendees to be female.  Of course, it makes sense when I think about it--computing librarians, teachers, parents who are free during the day, and the population of Provo all together will equate to a very large female majority.

Anyway.  The symposium was . . . okay.  Nothing special, but not terrible (and, looking back on it, so is this description of it . . . its fitting, right?).

More to come (on other things) later . . .