Midwest Book Review – 5 Stars

Murder at Avedon Hill was reviewed by the Midwest Book Review. You can see the details of the review in the comments section of the Amazon book page.

Winter Update

Hey everyone. It’s been a while, and I’ve got no real news to share about the podcast, other than to say I’ve got audio for two stories to edit and get out to you. When that will happen, I’m not sure, and I won’t make a promise I won’t keep, so let’s just say I’ll do my best to get it out before you forget who I am.

I’d like to say I’ve made great progress on my next novel, but that wouldn’t be true. I have had some personal setbacks that have left me… unfocused, let’s just say. Or, I could say I’m just focused on what’s most important to me, which is my two young daughters code-named Wallflower and Cannonball. They mean the world to me, and sometimes that means not making the time to be creative. And other than feeling guilty for not getting new things out to you guys, it’s worth every minute of it.

Now, that’s not to say I haven’t kept busy with things that might interest you. In November we held the first annual TuacaCon. Head on over to the official website and you’ll find some fun videos from the evening and some created either before or after the event. The evening also included a reading from yours truly, a superhero (or super-villain, rather) short story called Dr. Mercury: Queen of Hearts.

(more…)

Appearance: Gail Z. Martin’s Ghost and the Machine Podcast

Last month I was interviewed by host Gail Z. Martin (Chronicles of the Necromancer, Fallen Kings Cycle) on her “Ghost and the Machine” Podcast. We talked about podcasting and why it is so important to today’s authors.

TuacaCon was a Blast

I’m going to be posting some videos here from the evening, and I’m already thinking about how to improve things for next year (Yes, there will be a next year). Here’s Part 1 of a skit that Jack Mangan originally created for his Deadpan podcast. I added some video elements and played it as part of the evening’s events.

TuacaCon

Saturday evening I am coordinating and co-hosting a virtual convention called TuacaCon. It is an excuse to get together with a lot of friends, both in person and virtually, and show off some of their great talents. There will be readings, interviews, music, and hopefully a surprise or two.

Here’s a quick promo for the event:

October Update

A quick update for those of you that like these sorts of things:   

October has been a busy month, as all months are it seems. I am working on a new writing project, which right now means a lot of research, because it takes place in our world and not a world of my creation. More on that on the upcoming Listener Feedback show.

Mur Lafferty released an interview I did with her for I Should Be Writing. Anyone that has followed my podcast knows how much I respect Mur and what she has done over the last five years, and it was an honor to be on her show.

On November 13th we’ll be having some online fun. Some podcasters are going to get together, virtually, for an evening of readings, music, and hopefully some comedy as well. We’re calling it TuacaCon, in honor of the liqueur many of us know and love called Tuaca. Please visit the Facebook event site for more information, and we hope to roll out the TuacaCon website soon.

Tales of the Children – Ep. #6 – Ruby’s Child – Philip Carroll

Tales of the Children – A Land of Caern short story podcast anthology presented by P.G. Holyfield

Today we have the Tales of the Children short story “Ruby’s Child,” by Philip Carroll. This episode was produced by Philip and Flying Island Press, with the narration provided by Vivid Muse from the Into the Blender podcast.

(more…)

Tales of the Children – Ep. #5 – Love and Fire – Philippa Ballantine

Tales of the Children – A Land of Caern short story podcast anthology presented by P.G. Holyfield

Today we have the Tales of the Children short story “Love and Fire,” by Philippa J. Ballantine

I hope you enjoy the story, check back next week for my next Listener Feedback episode. Please call The Caern Line at 704-315-5884 and ask questions/leave comments.

(more…)

New Feeds…

-

–

–

–

–

–

–

I finally got around to adding new feeds to iTunes and Feedburner to give listeners two options:

First, if you are only interested in content pertaining to Tales of the Children (and there will be many episodes released over the next few months), here’s the feed for you:

Subscribe in a reader

–

–

–

–

And if you want to subscribe to the site’s Master Feed, where you will receive all content:

Subscribe in a reader

And on a personal note: the site recently went over 1,000,000 file downloads since I started releasing content in 2006. Thanks to everyone that has been on board since the beginning, and to those that have joined us along the way. The ride has been wonderful, and we’re really just getting started.

Dragon*Con 2010

Dragon*Con is next weekend. This will be my fifth straight year attending, and the fourth doing panels on the Podcasting track. Here are the panels I will be on, plus a couple of events I’ll be attending. I hope you can come out and join us crazy podcasters in Atlanta!

• Thursday, Sept. 2nd, 7:30 pm – Star Party 2010 – This is a special event the day before Dragon*Con officially begins, a charity event for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The event will be hosted by renowned astronomers and hosts of AstronomyCast, Pamela Gay and Fraser Cain with special appearance by musician George Hrab. (I’m just attending. I’ll be the one looking for extra drink tickets ).
• Friday, Sept. 3rd, 1:00 pm – Podcasting Track Kick-off Panel – I’m honored to be part of the kick-off panel for the track; my primary goal is to remain calm while being at a table with Tom Merritt, Veronica Belmont, Bobby Blackwolf, Len Peralta, and Brian Ibbott. (Did I mention Veronica Belmont?)
• Saturday, Sept. 4th, 10:00 am – Podcast Authors Roundtable – with Scott Sigler, Gail Z. Martin, Michael A. Stackpole, Christiana Ellis, and Gabrielle Harbowy
• Saturday, Sept. 4th, 4:00 pm – 5th Annual Parsec Awards – I’ll be attending and presenting two awards. Gabrielle Harbowy’s Tales of the Children story “Swimming Lessons” is up for the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form), and The Dead Robots’ Society is up for Best Podcast about Speculative Fiction Content Creation.
• Sunday, Sept. 5th, 2:30 pm – Dead Robots’ Society Live!
• Sunday, Sept. 5th, 7:00 pm – Geek Radio Weekly Live! – I’ll be in attendance, but have been known to crash the party…

As always, it is sure to be a blast. If you are attending, please stop me and say hi (and yes, I’ll have books for sale if you have been waiting to buy it at D*C!!).

Reading from Balticon 44

Here is the audio from my reading at Balticon 44. Tee Morris joined me for an impromptu audio drama reading of Chapter 13 from Murder at Avedon Hill. If you have not listened to the podcast novel, there aren’t really any big spoilers here. It was fun, we didn’t take it too seriously, and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Enjoy!

Promo for The Leviathan Chronicles finale follows the reading.

New e-Zine: Check it Out!

Scott Roche, one-time assistant producer of the Murder at Avedon Hill podcast, and others have started up a new e-Zine that will have both e-book and audio components. It’s pretty exciting if you ask me, so go check it out!

Flying Island Press
EMBARGOED UNTIL 7/3/10
Press Contact – Scott Roche
sroche@flyingislandpress.com
(336) 462-9676

Enjoy Your Sci-fi and Fantasy How and Where You Want

Beginning July 4th, science fiction and fantasy fans will be given a
new place where they can discover authors and stories they’ll be able
to enjoy wherever they go. Flagship, the new e-zine by publisher
Flying Island Press, will soon be releasing these stories in formats
for the Kindle, the iPad and iPhone, and other electronic readers.

Flying Island Press also recognizes the increasing popularity of
podcasts and other forms of audio fiction. So, in addition to the
e-zine, an audio version will be available to listen to on any MP3
player. Stories they release will be available both in text and in
audio, allowing the consumer to choose their preferred version.

Zach Ricks, managing editor for Flagship, had this to say. “I wanted
to hearken back to what some have called the Golden Age of Science
Fiction.” It’s his hope that “FlagShip will be a place for
optimistic, entertaining fiction.”

Each issue will cost $1.99 for the text version or the audio version
or get both for just $2.99.

Issues will be available starting July 4th, 2010 at
http://flyingislandpress.com/flagship