Category: news

Dragon Con or Bust

Posted on August 25, 2018 by - news

Well, the time is upon me.

In three days, I leave for the land of awesome, that is to say, Dragon Con. Most of you know that this is my first time and like any first, I’m full of fluttery anticipation, yet at the same time, stamping down on a whole lot of trepidation. It’s big. There’s lots of people. The crowds will be of epic proportions. You know, all the chaos is that a 5 day nerd convention full of 80,000 people.

Yeah, let that sink in.

80,000 people.

Yikes.

And while it may be like running the gauntlet and my tired old body hasn’t recovered from the jet lag from being in the UK, I’m still ready to embrace the crazy. It helps that I have lots of author friends also going, and we all plan to be propping up a bar in a hotel at the end of each day. It’s what we call Author Therapy 101. But if you’re around, or if you’re tempting to come even for a day, come look me up. I’ve offered to take any member of my Fan Club out for a drink, or several if they come hunt me down. I extend that offer to you, too.

This is where you can find me:

Title: The Plot Thickens: Mystery & Suspense in UF
Time: Fri 01:00 pm Location: Chastain 1-2 – Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: Often a mix of genres, Urban Fantasy tends to typically contain an element of mystery and/or suspense. Our panel discusses why they feel this component necessary to the stories they wish to tell.

Title: Open vs. Closed: Worldbuilding in Urban Fantasy
Time: Sat 05:30 pm Location: Chastain I-J – Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: In Urban Fantasy, the supernatural is either known to the human world or hidden from it, & our panelists will discuss which approach they use & why.

Title: Guardians or Adversaries? Angels in Urban Fantasy
Time: Sun 10:00 am Location: Chastain 1-2 – Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: Our authors explore the fascinating concept of angels on Earth, discussing their roles in the human world.

Title: Magic, Psychics, and Superpowers–oh My!
Time: Sun 07:00 pm Location: Embassy EF – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: There is magic, then there are superpowers and mutants. What is genetic–and is it still fantasy, or is it really science?

 

With that said, wish me luck, and as always . . . see you on the other side.

xo Shawnee

 

Back from the Dead

Posted on June 8, 2018 by - news

*whispers* Hello, yes, it’s really me.

I know. I’m as shocked as you are.

Where the hell have you been?

I’m glad you asked. I think the appropriate answer is everywhere.

Since October, I’ve  . . .

  • Become a USA Today Bestselling Author
  • Written 2 books (more on that)
  • Re-vamped this website
  • Attended a half dozen cons and book events
  • Written some ’80s short stories

And that’s just off the top of my head. No rest for the wicked, right?

So I haven’t been active on this blog, but you might’ve seen me around on Facebook or gotten my newsletter every two weeks. There aren’t enough hours in the day for everything, but hey, I’m trying.

What’s going on now?

I’m finishing off edits on The Shaded Veil, the first book in my ’80s epic fantasy mash up. It’ll be available in the Shades of Fae boxset come July 10th and you can grab it there until mid-October at which point it will come out of the set. It will be releasing as a stand alone in early 2019 once the next book in that series is ready to go. There will be three books in total in the Shaded Veil trilogy. I’m having a blast writing them so I’m eager to get back to that series once the Shining Ones is done.

Speaking of, I’m back on Destroyer next week. It’s already partially written, but I’m almost afraid to go back for fear that I’ll throw it all out. But I won’t. I know everyone is waiting for the end and it’s coming. Destroyer will be out before the end of the year. I’m hoping for October so fingers crossed. It’s later than I would’ve wanted by about a year, but I had to shuffle around due to other commitments. Life gets infinitely easier once this book goes off to the publisher next week.

And yes, I haven’t mentioned Love Like Blood and the Night Kind series. Some people have looked for it outside of the original box set it was in. It’s not available yet, but I’m hoping for sometime next year if I can get Dorian’s story written since he’s the first book in that series. I’m not good at juggling series unfortunately – I have a tendency to get world contamination – but I’m shooting for 4 books next year. Wish me luck.

Other than that, all is well at Chez Small. We survived the flooding so thank you for all your concern and prayers. We were lucky – some of our neighbors weren’t. The neighborhood still looks like a warzone, but everyone is doing what they can to get back to normal. Climate change is real, folks. The year we’ve had so far in Virginia is bringing that home. It’s been like living in a disaster movie, but humankind endures. That sums it up nicely.

I’m also desperate for a dog. I’ve now gotten to the point where my grief over Hazel is far enough in the rearview mirror that I can actually look at dog videos without bursting into tears. So yay me! Anyone with dog advice is more than welcome to chime in or drop me an email. I’m hoping we’ll be a dog family again by the Autumn.

Anyhow, back to the writing den. I’ve got a newsletter to get out and some final edits to go over.

Thanks for your patience, everyone. See you on the other side.

xo shawnee

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Posted on March 17, 2017 by - news

Ahhh. The day when the whole world becomes Irish. And invariably hungover.

That aside, it’s Friday, which is blog day. Sometimes I rant. Sometimes I just have news and updates. Today’s post is more of the latter and less of the former. Luckily, I’ve been too busy with book stuff to really notice what’s going on with the world, but I did see that Donald Trump is trying to intellectually hamstring the American people by defunding public arts and humanities aka Sesame Street and everything else that PBS and NPR has to offer. 

WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS? WHY WOULD YOU TAKE AWAY SESAME STREET?

If you want to save Big Bird, I’d suggest you sign the petition here.

And if you’re feeling really generous, go give NPR some money love because god knows they are going to need all the help they can get. Try this link.

Okay so let’s resume normal broadcasting . . .

What else is going on so you ask? What is looming on the horizon?

Hang out with me tomorrow night, Saturday, March 18th from 5-6PM EST

Yep, that’s right. I will be one of several authors taking part in the Book Nymph PR’s March Round up party. I’ll be online to talk about all things the Shining Ones, my upcoming paranormal romance novella in the Sultry & Sinful anthology, and also doing a reading from my new project, code name “Felix and Rose”. There might be some games and there will definitely be prizes now that new Shining Ones t-shirts have arrived hurrah! So maybe I’ll see you there.

Shining Ones t-shirts have arrived. WOO HOO.

Technically, you’re not winning a t-shirt. It’s the only image I had. Sorry!

If you didn’t see my post on Facebook, I’ve got brand new Shining Ones t-shirts. Technically, they are meant to be for events and shows BUT if you really REALLY want one, I will ship them to you if you can’t make it to one of my events or shows. The cost is $16 and that includes shipping & PP fees. You will need to paypal me – shawnee@shawneesmall.com and don’t forget to tell me which Unisex S, M, L, X-LG size you’re after and your postal address. 

There’s going to be a release party for Sultry & Sinful: The Femmes of Paranormal.

Yep. Us authors love to party. It’s online, of course, but you should come join us, it’s going to be awesome sauce. Tuesday, April 18th starting at noon. I’ll be on from 1-2PM EST so sneak a peak while the boss isn’t looking. Be forewarned – this is a saucy lot. There may be NSFW content. Just sayin’. In addition, there are going to be some amazing giveaways including a grand prize for one lucky winner that includes a Kindle, books and a $50 Amazon gift card.

If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy of Sultry & Sinful, why not? It’s only $.99 during pre-order. Support your indie authors, and we’ll keep writing awesome stories (again these are scorching hot – just so you know).

Okay, that’s it for me. Have a festive St. Paddy’s and remember to drink plenty of water, folks.

xo shawnee