Off To MARcon!

We're off  this weekend to see our friends at MARcon. It's been two years since we've attended the convention, so we're excited to visit and catch up.

For a "gift" for those attending the con (and anyone else who happens across this page), I thought I'd share a short short story I penned just today. I wrote it alongside some students at an after-school program where I tutored this past semester. See if you can guess what was in the photo I had for the 15 minute writing prompt. 

Belly Flop

How could I say no? To say no would have hurt Aunt Maribelle's feelings and she had already been through so much this summer what with the chemo treatment and all. So, I said yes--yes, I'd go with Uncle Jeff to that fancy pool club that his boss had given him a couple of summer passes to in reward for all of his hard work. 

Don't get me wrong. Uncle Jeff is a great guy. He's a good employee and a great husband to my mom's sister. This past year had been tough for both of them after my aunt received her cancer diagnosis. If anyone deserved a break from the stress, it was my favorite Uncle Jeff.

The thought that I might run into some of the snooty rich kids from school didn't occur to me until  we arrived at the gates to the pool club. Oh no! That cute guy who 'd been in my science class was there--and so were half the cheerleading squad and the football team. Suddenly, I felt inadequate in my hand-me-down bathing suit with my faded and ragged beach towel on my arm.

But my embarrassment over my outfit was nothing compared to the sheer horror I felt when Uncle Jeff decided he couldn't wait to get into that cool water. I forgot to tell you that Uncle Jeff is more than a great guy--hes a great big guy. He's huge with a capital H.

Also, once Uncle Jeff gets an idea into his head, there's no turning him back. He will carry through with his plan no matter what. 

"Race you to the middle," Uncle Jeff yelled above the roar of the crowd. And then he took off.  For a large person, he's surprisingly fast on his feet.

"No, wait! It's too crowded. Don't go there yet. It's full of people, Uncle Jeff! Nooo!!"

It was too late. He'd already dove into the shallow end of the pool and displaced more than half the water and terrorized more than half the pool-goers in a split second of belly flopping. My face turned redder  than a third degree sunburn.

I thought I'd never live this stunt down.

But the rest of our swim turned out better than expected. The traumatized moms and dads and kids seemed to take belly flop in stride. Soon I relaxed and enjoyed myself and forgot my embarrassment over Uncle Jeff 's enthusiastic splash.

You know, even your craziest relatives love you. They invite you to the pool. We gotta cut them some slack now and then and let them be their crazy selves. Uncle Jeff taught me that.

See you at Cleveland Concoction

We'll be a Cleveland Concoction this coming week... Will you be there?

 

My talented hubby AJ Matthews and I will be talking about writing, publishing, editing and, of course, science fiction at Cleveland Concoction at the lovely Airport Sheraton. We hope to see all our friends and make a lot of new friends over the weekend, so please, if you're in the area, come on down.

I know I haven't updated my blogs much lately, but The Bernie Blog editing and helping out with the campaign has taken a lot of my energy. I'm hoping by summer things will settle down a bit. One thing I've been amiss about is talking about our upcoming fiction release, the first in my husband's and my young adult science fiction BloodDark series coming in August from Desert Breeze Publishing. The first title is Olivia's Escape.

Not Quite an "Iron Author" from DetCon1

We're home from the NASFic, aka DetCon1, and still trying to mentally and physically recoup. My husband Adrian took some great photos and put them up on Facebook for all to see. (Click here to see his photos.) I wanted to make sure that anyone who sat in on the "Copyediting--don't fear the editor" panel on Sunday and came looking for my testimonial page knew they'd found the right place. Just head to the top of the page and hit the link that says "editorial services". (No, this blog has not been copyedited. I'm tired. So there!)

We had a lot of fun in Detroit, met some nice folk, and got a couple invites to area conventions to talk about writing, publishing, whatever. Adrian sold two of his world famous bookends in the art show, so all-in-all, not a bad showing.

I thought I'd share a bit of the flash fiction I wrote in the "Iron Author Detroit" contest I participated in Sunday morning. (Yes, it was early on the last day of the con--not the best timing for a contest.) The winner was the fabulous author Lucy A. Snyder, so I don't feel too bad for losing to her at all. However, I do wonder about the sanity of the audience members who came up with the "prompts" we used to write a short story in five minutes. My example below will show you why I have some reservations on their mental stability, as these three words actually made sense or at least more sense than the last three sets of prompts. Enjoy! ;)

Prompts: a Watermelon, a Triceratops, and a Lost Shoe (the secret ingredient)

"Wherever could it be?"

Lilah looked at the trail behind her. No shoe. It must have fallen off after she had forded the stream, after she had eaten some of the delicious wild watermelon, but she was pretty sure she was still wearing it when she scrambled over the sharp rocks near the waterfalls.

"I knew this was a mistake. I knew I should have never listen to Marc (the panel MC). This is beautiful country, but really... What's so special about it?"

She sighed and plopped down on a boulder. That hiking shoe had cost hundreds. She'd never be able to afford another pair anytime soon.

"Why did I believe, Marc?"

Then she heard the sound far-off... Oh, my God! A triceratops was grazing in the meadow below where she sat.

"The Lost World!" she cried. This is why Marc had told her to come here.

I was writing with pen on legal paper since I didn't bring a laptop. I'm not sure the story would have been much longer or better written using a keyboard, but I certainly could have read it with less problems. Deciphering my horrible handwriting a day later is a challenge and a half! 

Feel free to leave a comment below, especially if we met at DetCon1, and feel free to like me on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc., at the links on the right side of the page. It was great getting to know you, but now I need to catch up on my sleep. Zzzzz... :)

See you at DetCon1

We'll be seeing you at DetCon1 in Detroit this weekend. It should be a lot of fun and draw a lot of folks, as it's this years N. American Sci-Fi con (since World Con is in London). I'm on two hard science panels (really!) and one editing panel and taking the "Iron Author" challenge. I've never attempted to write flash fiction under pressure in  front of a live audience before, so this should be quite... different! ;)  Be sure to say hello if you see us!  Now at All Romance eBooks, the latest in my Kindred Vampires series for eXtasy Books:   The Vampire Next Door By: Celine Chatillon | Other books by Celine Chatillon Published By: eXtasy Books ISBN # 9781771118644 Word Count: 52832 Available in: Adobe Acrobat, Palm DOC/iSolo, Microsoft Reader, Hiebook, HTML, Mobipocket (.prc), Mobipocket (.mobi), Rocket, Epub Read More

See you at Archon

We're off to Archon tomorrow morning. My first panel is at the noon hour, so I hope there will be some folks able to get off work early enough to keep us on the panel company! But seriously, I'm looking forward to seeing the many folks that I only get to see in person once a year. So, please come by and shake my hand and chat when you spot me in the halls. If I'm running in the halls--well, I'm probably late for a panel or I drank too much bottled water, so you might want to wait and shake my hand later. ;)

I will have promo bookmarks and brochures to pass out. Dig my cover design (still in the preliminary stages) above for the upcoming sequel to my romantic-comedy Loving Who, the aptly named Leaving Who. My handsome and talented artist/author hubby, AJ Matthews, created it.

To quote the great Matt Smith: "Fezes are cool." And so are my readers. See you soon!

Archon Hear a Who!

 In case you didn’t grow up reading Dr. Seuss like I did, Horton Hears a Who is a story about a very large elephant who hears a very, very, very tiny civilization living on a dust mote resting on top of a wildflower. Horton tries to convince his friends that these tiny beings in fact exist, but they don’t believe him because they can’t see or hear the microscopic people who inhabit Whoville. Horton doesn’t give up, and in spite of physical pressure and ridicule to give up his belief and destroy the wildflower, he perseveres until the tiny Whovillians make themselves known to all by shouting, “We are here! We are here! We are here!”

David Tennant as the 10th Doctor with the TARDIS

At a “First Friday” event I attended recently at the St. Louis Science Center’s Omnimax theater, a full-house of over five hundred fans watched a double bill of new series Doctor Who episodes featuring nanotechnology. The line to get into the theater snaked throughout the Science Center and out the door. All five hundred plus tickets were distributed—they even had to turn fans away they said because of the fire code. Many attendees came dressed in Who inspired costumes and T-shirts. Many said this was the first time they had realized there were so many fellow fans in the St. Louis area who enjoyed the same TV show they did. Many stated they had never heard of the St. Louis regional science-fiction convention Archon, but they’d attend Archon if they knew other Doctor Who fans and programming would be there.

Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor

But what’s a classic children’s tale got to do with being a Doctor Who fan and a regional science fiction convention? Hang in there, and I’ll try to tie in the analogy the best that I can.

Archon isn’t the largest annual sci-fi convention in the US, but it has been around the block for quite a few years now—thirty-six years to be exact. It has hosted literary, artist, performing/filking and media guests. For purposes of this blog I’ll concentrate on Archon’s media guests. The fans have turned out in large numbers to see and hear these media guests give talks and presentations. The fans have waited in long lines for autographs and photographs. The fans have generally had a good time at Archon discussing and sharing their love of a particular media guest and/or the movie/TV series franchise he/she represents. In recent times Archon has hosted media guests such as multi-talented voice actor Billy West (Futurama) as well as the gang of Cinematic Titanic, featuring many of the original cast of the cult favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000.  (This year’s media guest just added to the bottom of the list: Gil Gerard. You remember him from the 1970s TV show Buck Rogers, don’t you?)

Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor with Amy Pond

With so many wonderful media guests in its past, a sci-fi buff might assume that Archon is not against inviting media guests to their convention, right? But it has come to my attention recently that Archon does not seem interested in hosting a media guest connected to the worldwide phenomenon known as Doctor Who. Why is this the case? I haven’t a clue, but perhaps you and your like-minded friends can help us find out why Archon doesn’t jump on this opportunity to cash in on the popularity of the world’s longest running science fiction TV franchise. 

Our wedding cake shaped like a TARDIS

I use the term worldwide phenomenon on purpose, for in spite of its origins at the BBC,the television series now plays on BBC America as well as on various PBS stations throughout the US. Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures have broken the chains of being cult TV shows from Great Britain to become American sci-fi favorites with regular viewers in the many millions on a weekly basis. The DVDs, audio plays, books, graphic novels and other related products can be found in Best Buy as well as your local comic book stores. You could even say it’s given the Star Trek franchise a run for its money.

Producer and writer Steven Moffat

I’m painting this picture so even if you’re not familiar with the series that you will still see how a media guest from the Doctor Who universe would appeal to many science fiction fans and not just a tiny handful living on a dust mote resting atop of a wildflower. Many Who fans would be willing to travel to the St. Louis area and pay the Archon membership fees to see these Doctor Who media guests. More memberships to the convention sold—more money for Archon to host even bigger and better conventions in the future. A win-win situation.

Here’s where the Horton Hears a Who analogy comes into play: It has come to my attention that several Doctor Who connected media guests have actually expressed an interest in attending Archon. Even better, these actors, producers and writers of the series were willing to come for free if their travel expenses were covered, and they’d be willing to travel from within the United States, since they’d already be in the US working on other projects.

Yes, that’s right. Who media guests expressed a desire to attend Archon and were willing to do so for the price of a domestic airline ticket. Increased sales of Archon memberships to fans who’d love to see a Doctor Who media guest would surely cover the price of an airline ticket, right?

The names of Doctor Who media guests who have voiced an interest in attending Archon? Hold onto your hats, folks: 

John Barrowman as Captain Jack

John Barrowman, Steven Moffat, and Alex Kingston. 

Are you able to peel yourself off the floor now?

Alex Kingston as Riversong

Yes, Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood fame, the current producer/head writer of Doctor Who, and the vivacious Riversong who played a pivotal role in last season’s story arc all wanted to travel to St. Louis and meet the fans here in the middle of the country. But, somehow, they were turned away or simply ignored by Archon representatives.

Fortunately for fans with lots of money and vacation time, Barrowman and Moffat recently attended Comic-Con in San Diego, and many of the Torchwood crew will be at Dragon Con in Atlanta later this year. These mega-sized sci-fi conventions will benefit from the crowds Who media guests will draw. Alas, those of us who can’t afford to attend far away mega-cons are out of luck.

My novel about Doctor Who fans who meet a mysterious stranger...

Here’s the call to action: If the BBC is  still willing to send a Doctor Who media guest to Archon in the future, would you be interested in attending and supporting the con with your membership? If you are, please consider joining with the local Who fan club, the St Louis CIA, in signing a petition, sending an email, or letter to the Archon committee expressing your support for Doctor Who media guests. This link takes you to Archon's contacts info page. Please be polite and to the point in your communications. If you have any other ideas on how to bring Who media guests to Archon, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

The original Star Trek fans were able to bring their beloved program back on the air back in the late 60s, so perhaps a letter writing campaign can demonstrate to the Archon powers-that-be that we aren’t invisible, dust-mote-dwelling denizens. We are many, and we have supporters like Horton who aren’t afraid of helping us to make our voices heard.

Let’s shout together as Doctor Who fans, “We are here! We are here! We are here!”

Voyages Around the Time Line!

Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog, but I really have a good excuse this month. I’ve been traveling around the timeline.... Literally! No kidding. I even have some photos to prove it.



Before I forget, I’ll be traveling into the future the weekend of October 2-4 to Archon, a science-fiction convention in Collinsville, Illinois. I always enjoy meeting readers, fans and other interesting people at Archon, so be sure to drop in on one of the panels I’ll be on and introduce yourself. I hope to have some copies of my fantasy-screwball comedy, time-traveling novel, LOVING WHO, with me to sign and sell. (Keep your fingers crossed the publisher gets them to me in time.)



Other time periods I’ve experienced this past month include the pre-Civil War period in the “northernmost Confederate-sympathizing city” of Hannibal, Missouri. My husband, Adrian, and I even met and shook hands with Mark Twain “himself”. He’s looking great for his age. What a witty man—marvelously entertaining! Other sites of interest in the Hannibal area included eating at Lulabelle’s, a former bordello (it was in operation up until the 1950s) and touring not one, but two caves. Check out Hannibal for scenic views of the Mississippi and small town life as it was not so many decades ago.



During Labor Day weekend, we visited two historic forts across the Mississippi—Fort De Chatres and Fort Kaskaskia. The first is a French fort built in the early 18th century that was eventually demolished by the British after the French and Indian War. It is partially reconstructed and stands as a testament to a long ago time when other powers ruled this part of the world. Just a few miles down the road stands the remains of Fort Kaskaskia, where Lewis and Clark recruited a dozen men to go on their Voyage of Discovery in 1804. The cemetery of the lost city of Kaskaskia lies nearby, a testament to the power of the river to completely wipe out Illinois’ first capital city in the later half of the 19th century.



From the pre-Civil War period/early colonial era, we jumped back to the late 17th/early 18th century and the Spanish Main as we traveled to the St. Louis Pirate Fest up in Wentzville, Missouri. Yo-ho-ho and a nice pickled egg, me mateys! Pirate Fest has lots of fun entertainment from guys in short pants and more earrings than a jewelry store along with great music groups, such as "3 Pints Gone" and "Queen’s Gambit". We enjoyed food like “bangers and mash” and “jugged fish” while watching the pirates duke it out with the “French” of “Port Royal”. A family-friendly event, Pirate Fest is the last three weekends in September each year. Plan to come aboard!



We hovered around the 18th century and then plunged the next weekend into the 1750s to experience the intense drama of the French and Indian War at Koh-koh-mah, a historic reenactment near Kokomo, Indiana. Primitive camping with plenty of wood smoke permeating your clothes and hair--ah! It was enjoyable weekend in spite of the fact there were no showers or flush toilets. But, hey! This is 250 years ago… You just put on more layers of clothes to cover your funk. I enjoyed wearing long skirts up until Sunday afternoon when a short rain shower broke, drenching the reenacting field and muddying the hem of my nice gown.



But there’s no crying in reenactment—there’s just mud and dust and grime and smoke and lots of fun discussing the lifestyle of the French, British and Native Americans of the era. Adrian had a great time portraying a 78th Frasier Highlander shooting his musket at those pesky French persons who tried to take over the fictional fort. In the end, the British prevailed. (Historically speaking, twenty years down the road, these very same Frasier Highlander soldiers would go on to exact a sort of Scottish vengeance against their English cousins during the American Revolution.) The saddest thing to come out of the French and Indian War, however, is that it soured relations among the English speakers and the Native Americans who had formerly been their allies. The tribes who aligned themselves to the two European superpowers essentially signed away any goodwill they once shared with the white frontier peoples. Many reenactors demonstrated Native American arts and crafts and social/family life at Koh-koh-mah. Without “living historians” how would we know about their rich culture?



Another time travel stop we made this past month (alas, I didn’t have my camera!) was the Wilson’s Creek Battlefield near Springfield, Missouri. Site of one of the bloodiest battles of the early Civil War period, today it lies in a remote, quiet pasture of rolling hills and a bubbling creek… Hard to believe about 3,000 men lost their lives there on an August morning in 1861.

It’s fun being a time-traveler. I plan on using some of the great research I’ve done this past month in a future story or novel. I’d start writing it now if only I had the time--or a time machine!