Come Chat With Me at Lady Aibell Press' Grand Opening Chat July 1, 2006

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A Story Reprint, Life and All That Jazz

I got an e-mail from the editor of Speculative Fiction Centre ( http://www.speculativefictioncentre.com/ ) that my horror story, "Game of Hell" was reissued in their Spring issue. This story had first appeared in their Winter issue when it premiered December 31, 2005. The story also did pretty good on the Preditors and Editors poll for 2005. And the editor let me know that it'll also be in SFC's second annual anthology, Horizons, coming out around mid-November 2006. So please check out the website, read "Game of Hell", and do read the other great stories in the Spring issue. They're great ones, free to read, and what better to do on a hot summer day then stay inside in the air conditioning and read, right?
Between that, and the acceptance of "Soul Seduction" for Forbidden Love's Bad Boys issue it has been nice these last couple weeks. I'm also working on a short story about a weregoat--more a fantasy then horror, plus got another idea for a story last night at the Virginia Writer's Club meeting, thsanks to an exercise we were doing.
Of course, I'm doing more than writing, I'm reading an advance copy of Lori Handeland's upcoming Night Creatures novel, Midnight Moon that comes out in August for a RomanceDivas.Com review. And I'm also been reading Charlaine Harris' Definitely Dead that I checked out from the library. I'll be doing more checking books out of the library and reading--right now they have reading programs for children, young adults and adults, where you read so many books and enter for chance to win prizes. The children's program also gives them opportunity to help earn dog and cat food for the Chesterfield County Animal Shelter, a very worthy cause.I've done this for the past couple summers when they added the adult program. If your library has something like this, do it. Especially have your kids join and do this. Reading is good for the mind and this would show them that reading books for pleasure is cool, not like all year when they had to for school. That they can choose what they want to read. I had done this for my son when he was a kid and teen, and he really enjoyed doing it.
One last thing, a short review of Night Watch, which just came out on DVD. I rented it as it had never came to Richmond, and not only me, but my husband enjoyed it. In fact, I plan to buy it for our own DVD collection now.
It's a Russian film, the first of a trilogy, but there was great English dubbing, pretty flawless. A pretty good storyline, about how those of the Light and those of the Dark got together thousands of years before and made a treaty to stop warring. Those of the Light become Night Watch, to keep eyes on creatures of the night (vampires, sorcerers, etc..) while the those of the Dark become Day Watch. This first film, like the first book in a trilogy is about the Night Watch and about one man, Anton, who is recruited into them as he had the ability to see them when they come to stop a witch he paid to kill the unborn child in his wife's stomach (the witch told him it was her lover's), marking him as an other. There was also a prophesy, about an other who would have to choose between the side of Light or the side of the Dark. And that he would choose the Dark. There's no doubt that it's the young boy of twelve years that we meet next in a school room. He is called by a vampire to come to her and her vampire lover, so they can feed on his blood. The Night Watch intervenes, and among them is the man who stops the vampires, with him killing the lover.
I won't tell the whole story and ruin it for you. Instead, go ahead and rent the DVD, watch the film and the special features. The special effects were well done--I especially loved the scene when a shapeshifter seamlessly morphs into a tiger. The storyline wasn't super best it could be, but still it was good. I promised, you won't be bored. There is violence though, and blood, and when the boy is threatened by the vampires can be scary, so this is not something small children should watch, I would say that maybe 11/12-year-olds and up to teens will be fine with this to watch it.
My rating: 4 1/2 dragons (something I'll use from now on reviewing books and movies).

My Story of Love, Sex, a Fairy Curse and a Bad Boy Fey Accepted

My darkly erotic fantasy, "Soul Seduction" has been accepted by Under the Moon, an imprint of Final Sword Productions. It will be in their first issue of the print journal, Forbidden Love, which will be about bad boys. And Branigan Darkman, my Unseelie Slaugh Sidhe, aka The Love Talker, is definitely the ultimate bad boy. There's even talk of pre-orders to be taken some time before the issue comes out, so check back here at at my blog, my website, Fantastic Dreams or at their website at Under the Moon .

Blurb: Unrepentant, cursed by the Fairy Queen of the Seelie Court to be imprisoned alone, forever in a human city park for trifling with her daughter, Branigan Darkman finds a chance for companionship in one human, Alicia Turner.

Alicia has always felt compelled to come to the city park her father has taken her once to play in. At first she doesn't know why, then she meets Bran and by her blood taken by him her soul becomes his. And not long after, her heart.

And enjoy this unedited excerpt from my story:

Ten years flew by; a drop in the bucket of a fey’s life. Endless throngs of people came to and left the park. Each day at noon and each night at midnight, I sent out my call to Alicia, trying to draw her back. But it seemed her soul was stronger than my magic.
Finally though, I had won. Our connection had proved stronger than her soul and force of will.
Alicia stood next to the fairy ring at midnight, her head sunk down between her shoulders in broken submission.
“I’m here, Bran.” A wealth of pain colored her voice.
I magicked myself from my place and appeared next to her. “Alicia.” The light of the full moon lit up the area. I saw she had grown older, a few lines painting her face. Tiredness filled her eyes, fading them from the sparkle that I remembered.
I sniffed the air about her. “You’re still pure, I see. Good.”
“I tried to give myself to several guys that I dated, but something wouldn’t let me.” She reached up with her hand and touched the side of my face. “It was you I kept seeing and I just couldn’t do it. You cursed me as much as that fairy queen cursed you to this park.”
I lifted her up into my arms and stepped into the circle. We vanished from human sight and entered my home. My prison.
Once inside, I loosened my hold and her body slid slowly to the ground against mine. I molded her against me, letting her feel the hardness between my thighs. With a click of my fingers, the room lit up with a million tiny lights that glittered like stars. I moved away and stalked over to an extra-large bed that dominated the room. I sat down on the edge and with a smile, gestured to Alicia.
“Join me.”
Her hands knotted together, she swept her eyes around the room, lighting momentarily on the armoire, the table with two chairs and the Roman bath.
I laughed, sounding bitter. “As you can see, I have all the amenities of home and comfort. Queen Anu did give me that, at least.”
I stood up and went over to Alicia, trying to draw her toward the bed. “Now, I have the companionship that I’ve been denied all these years.” She stood in my arms and I bent my head, whispering into her ear. “Let me show you why they call me the Love Talker. Let’s talk about the sensuality of the flesh, mortal and immortal.” I kissed her. “Let’s talk about the eternal dance of passion. How I will relieve you of your innocence and show you such erotic things you can’t even begin to imagine.”
I captured her mouth. Soft like velvet, I drank in her unique, sexy taste. I moaned.
It had been so long. . .

An anthology of darkly erotic stories of love - twelve tales that span the full range of the fantasy, paranormal and futurisic romance genres. The trade paperback book will feature interior illustrations as well as a full color cover.
Featured Stories:
To Teach an Ancient God by Pamela K. Kinney
Shadow Lover by Pamela K. Kinney
Burning Bright by Lucy Snyder
Eternal by Sara Lunsford
Stunt Double by Clare O’Brien
Time Out of Mind by Clare O’Brien
The Blood Charm by Patricia Kirby (novella)
The Mapby Barbara Peña (novella)
The Summoning by Erin MacCay
The Transmigration Spell by Leslie Brown
The Woeful Tale of Fionna Maclean by Angeline Hawkes-Craig
Memories of Lilac by Glenda Woodrum

I saw this up at Coyote Moon Publications:
http://www.coyotemoonpublications.com/?q=node/18 ,
so I am assuming that soon this will be out for sale. Though my two stories are erotic dark fantasies, both will be under Pamela K. Kinney and not Sapphire Phelan. Actually, the erotic stuff in these two stories aren't that in your face, not like my current and upcoming stories.
I can tell you "To Teach an Ancient God" is the story of Persphone and Hades updated, and "Shadow Lover" is about a member of the Fairy Court who's also a shadow.
Just keep an eye on the link above and this blog and my website when the anthology does come out. I think the cover art is gorgeous, so fantastical! And I feel honored being included with the other super authors. It'll be a super collection of great stories.

Winner of Chat Contest and More

Hope everyone is having a good Monday morning and congrads to Maithe Ortiz--she won a copy of Crimson Promise from the contest I had during the CataNetwork Readers Chat June 11th!
My next chat will be with Romance Designs, at their Beach Party Summer Chat on Wednesday, June 14th at 10PM EST. The link for the chat is http://romancedesigns.com/chatroom.cfm I'll be there for the first hour, and the prize I'm giving away is a pdf copy of my erotic fantasy story, Wedded Magic by LoveYouDivine.Com.
And at Fantasci 5, July 29, 2006 at the table where I'll be signing my chapbook, Beyond the Four Walls and CDs of Crimson Promise, I'll be having a contest. I'll be giving away a basket containing a PDF copy of Wedded Magic on CD, a medieval style tankard, a bottle of sparkling apple cider and some other little tibits.

Talking about Fantasci 5, I want to mention to writers and potential writers, check out your local conventions. This is a great way to meet your fan base, or get more fans even, and for those trying to become writers, you can take writing workshops and go to panels with writers on them, where you can find out what they do to write, promote their books, etc.... Conventions are a great source for any writer, whether science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance and mystery. So check out one today.
And to promote a great upcoming convention for next year, try Ravencon 2007, to be held at the Doubletree Inn at the Richmond Airport in Richmond, Virginia. The website link is http://ravencon.com . Keep an eye on the website for information on our author guest of honor and more.

Busting Down That Writer's Block!

Oh my goodness! More than two postings this week! But I decided I needed to write something worth while, other than promoting my upcoming chats and books.
Today's subject is getting past that writer's block. Most of the time I can pull a story idea out of my head like a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat. I don't know why, or even how, but writing down stories has never been hard for me. The only time I had a dang writer's block was when I worked for Ukrops in one of their supermarkets, in the bakery. And the only reason I can figure out is why, is I would work one day at closing, be there the next morning super early in the morning, the next day work in mid-afternoon, etc.... That I didn't havea set schedule. Whatever the case, those seven years with Ukrops had blocked the voices in my head. I'm not complaining about working for Ukrops--they're a great company to work for and I worked with cool co-workers--but still, it gave me the only writer's block I ever had. When I quit in November 1997, I began writing again.
But for many out there, it's not that simple. Maybe if I'd tried the exercises below the seven-year writer's block would have been broken. So for those who want some ways to combat the blaock, try them.
Here are some simple ways to fight writer's block:
(1) Take a break for a few days or a week and do something else not related to writing at all. Watch a movie on DVD or video--shoot, I've gotten many great story ideas of some character or somehting in a film! Come back after that break--that may be all you needed.
(2) Leave the story or novel that has you stumped and start on another story or novella or even the beginning of another novel, until finally you've been away enough to go back and resume working on it.
(3) Try playing a game, taking five different words out of the dictionary and see what you can write up in 1,000 words or less with them. You can do this in a writer's group too, with other writers.
(4) Keep assorted things by your computer on the desk.Like pictures, statues, stuffed animals, and things like that. You'll be surprised what cool ideas they can give you.
(5) Every day--even if it's not your story or novel--write down one line. It doesn't have to be about a story, maybe actually what scares you deep down inside, even the writer's block. Sometimes, it doesn't have to be about publication, and not because it's your best story, but what's hovering in your mind that you need to set free. That one line will get you writing and free up the clutter in your mind. Just doing some kind of writing will loosen the writing juices, get them flowing, and before long you'll find yourself writing beyond that one line as a germ of an idea takes off and when you finally halt, discovered that you had wrote an entire short story, novella, maybe even a novel. As for those other one lines you wrote, store them in a file and they'll be there for you to go over later, and one of them will set fire to your mind and you'll add on to that one line, making another story.
(6) Write down in a journal or notebook, the scariest tales inside all of us wanting to be told. The ones that terrify us. After all, before you can write what you want to write, you got to sweep away those stories hidden in the abandoned, dark corners of your mind to make space. I bet before long. good, fresh stories will come flowing from your brain to your fingertips typing on the keyboard to the monitor in front of you.
Sometimes that writer's block may be your brain telling you that you're writing the wrong story. It wouldn't be a bad story, just not the one that needs to be told at that moment. Try some of the suggestions I've given, one of them will give you that spurt of creativity you've been searching for.
Now get writing!

Beyond the Four Walls and My Upcoming Chats and Appearances

Hello, and hope everyone is doing fine. Today's post will be short and sweet--just telling about my chapbook of four ghost stories published by Naked Snake Press ( http://nakedsnakepress.com ). All four stories in Beyond the Four Walls are set in the tradional form, no gore, but more on atmosphere. I wanted to capture for the reader that if you dare to peek out of the side of your eye you just might catch something darting around the corner scared feeling. I think a more unsettled feeling that'll last when you go to sleep in your bed then pages of ripped bodies and splashing blood will ever do. Right now you can get it at http://www.nakedsnakepress.com/CATALOG.html, and also at http://www.lulu.com/content/269636 , both in print and electronic form, and at Project Pulp in print only: http://projectpulp.com/item_detail.asp?bookID=803213894 . Hopefully soon it'll be for sale at Shocklines.com, too. So check it out if you like ghost stories.
BLURB: Ghosts haunt more than houses and aren’t always bound by four walls as proven by the four stories in Beyond the Four Walls. In “Spectre Dreams and Visitations”, Sherry buys an old book of ghost stories at a yard sale for some good reading and finds that it results in something far more than she can handle or even wants. And haunting proves to be a dusty business for one reporter staying the last night of a reputedly haunted movie theater before its demolition in “Gray Dust.” “Hard Drive Haunting” reveals to a young woman that surfing the Internet does even more terrifying damage to her life than a computer virus to her computer. And in the last ghostly tale, “Call in the Night”, a woman finds that the call she’s been receiving each night is definitely more than a wrong number.

I'll be part of a chat with fellow Chippewa Publishing romance authors on Sunday, June 11, 2006. My chat time will be Noon to 1PM. EST at the CataNetwork listgroup. The link the chat is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CataNetwork-Readers/ . The chat for all of the Chippewa Publishing romance authors begins at 10AM EST and goes on all day.And I'll also be at the Romance Designs Beach Party Summer Chat on June 14, 2006 10PM EST. The link for that chat is http://romancedesigns.com/chatroom.cfm . I most likely be there just for the first hour, but I will be giving away to a winner the PDF copy of my erotic medieval fantasy, "Wedded Magic" published by LoveYouDivine.Com . Both erotic e-books are under my pen name, Sapphire Phelan.

And you can catch me live at these upcoming conventions. I’ll be doing panels, signing my books and CDs and doing readings.

Fantasci (July 29, 2006): Chesapeake Central Library, 298 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, Virginia 23322 (757) 382-6591. Right now the library does not have a website up for this year’s convention, usually not until July, but keep an eye on
http://www.chesapeake.lib.va.us/cl/clhome.htm for it.

Horrorfind Weekend, to be at the Hunt Valley Marriott in Hunt Valley, Maryland August 11-13, 2006. Check their official website for details on the con itself: http://www.horrorfindweekend.com/state/maryland/ )

Ravencon 2007--April 20-22, 2007, to be held at the Doubletree Inn at the Richmond Airport. Check the official website at http://ravencon.com for updates.

I am currently researching and writing a Ghosts of Richmond book on true ghost stories of Richmond, Virginia, and the surrounding Counties and Tri-Cities area. If you live in Richmond or its surrounding counties and areas, and had an experience or experiences, please email me at PamelaKKinney@comcast.net about it. If you wish to tell, but remain anonymous, I can put you down as observer and not use your name. Thank you. I'll be taking stories until November 2006.

Crimson Promise, Charles de Lint And Writers Beware

Above is the cover of my erotic paranormal, Crimson Promise
from Chippewa Publishing (http://www.chippewapublishing.com ) . It's only in e-book form, but I've gotten two great reviews on it so far, one from Pretty-Scary.net and from Coffee Time Romance. So if you like vampires, science fiction , hot sex and romance, please check it out. And check out Chippewa Publishing--they're a super publishing company! They had just accepted an erotic scifi of mine, Iridescent Invasion. So expect to see that from them in the future.
And now, I'm going to talk about couple things. One is about the author signing I've just gotten back from at a local genre bookstore in my town, Creatures and Crooks Book Shoppe (http://cncbooks.com ). The author in question was Charles de Lint. A super author, he does great urban fantasy, fantasy
and horror ( http://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/ ). I have some of his books, but only search for and found Wolf Moon that I bought from Creatures and Crooks about three months ago. Wolf Moon takes a great werewolf tale, sprinkling it with super fantasy, mixing in an evil harper (the werewolf is the good guy) and made one hell of a good book from start to finish. I also picked up The Dreaming Place, though wished I could have gotten his new hardback, Widdershins, too. Oh well, next time. He read from Widdershins and then answered some questions from his fans, and then proceeded to sign books. Creatures and Crooks usually doesn't open on Sundays, but did so for his signing, and got a really great turn out.
And now for the second thing. A little writer advice. Mainly, these would be websites to bookmark as needful warning sites for authors. Places where you can check if that publisher is really honest, or on agents, etc... Writing is like the rest of your life, you have to be in the know to stay safe. It's more than writing that story that has to be written.
So here's the list of websites to bookmark for yourself:
Preditors and Editors: http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/
Anne Crispin's and Victoria Strauss's Writers Beware Blog: http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2006/04/victoria-strauss-20-worst-come-home.html
http://copyscape.com/
http://windpub.com/literary.scams/
SFF.Publishing Scams: http://webnews.sff.net/read?cmd=xover&group=sff.publishing.scams&from=-10
Writer Beware: http://www.sfwa.org/beware/
Writers Whispers and Warnings: http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewforum.php?f=14

I hope I helped anybody with these links listed. I know that I'd liked to be warned about scams and things when I first started writing and publishing my stories.
And so now, I sign off, and say, keep writing, and check out all the links I've posted today.