Before I get into the beginnings of my RoundCon update, I have BIG NEWS!

Back in Black is now available for purchase! If you’ve enjoyed the first volume of the Black Knight Chronicles, this one is sure to please. It’s even more ridiculous than the first adventure, with vampires, fairies, trolls and a dragon! Yes, a dragon! And for the first time ever, my vampires sparkle!

Don’t worry, they get over it.

So go to Amazon and get your copy now. If you don’t have a Kindle, go to Smashwords and get your copy for other formats. And if for some reason you haven’t picked up Hard Day’s Knight yet, get off your ass! It’s only a buck!

Now – RoundCon –

Back at the day job after a fun weekend at RoundCon 25 in Columbia, SC. It was nice to sit on panels all weekend with “real” writers and pretend to be one of them/us/whatever. I met some great folks, sold almost enough books to cover my food tab, and generally had a great time, so I’ll try to share my impressions of all that briefly here.

First – the people. Sean organized a very fun Con, even if there was a lot of competition for people on that particular weekend. He’s working on that for next year, though, and I think he and his team have a great event going. This was the first year they’d ever had a Creative Track, which consisted of half a dozen panels with myself and the other writers at the con. We had small audiences, but they were very appreciative and having the same couple of faces in all the panels throughout the day really did give us as writers the chance to bond with our readers a little, which was great. Listening to the other folks on the panel, they saw it as a welcome change to other cons they’d done, where the rooms were so packed they couldn’t really get a sense of the audience, and didn’t often have that chance to make a personal connection. For me, it was fun to be on a panel and not have to be the expert. Like I mentioned in one of our discussions, in my day job I’m one of a very small number of people in the world who do what I do. So if I’m on a panel, I’m an expert. It’s just how it goes. But here I was able to sit back and soak in a bunch of knowledge from the ladies I was on panels with.

Yeah, ladies. I was the only guy writer there, which I loved, because what’s better than being surrounded by a bunch of saucy, sexy writer chicks? And these girl are good at their craft, lemme tell you. I’ve already finished one of the books I bought this weekend, and I’ll be picking up the rest of the series as budget allows. Here’s a rundown on my co-panelists –

Faith Hunter – The official bio goes like this – Faith Hunter, fantasy writer, was born in Louisiana and raised all over the south. Her Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban fantasy series-Bloodring, Seraphs, and Host-feature Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage in a post-apocalyptic, alternate reality, urban fantasy world. These novels are the basis for the role playing game, ROGUE MAGE. The Skinwalker series, featuring Jane Yellowrock is taking off like a rocket with Skinwalker, Blood Cross, and Mercy Blade.

Under her pen name Gwen Hunter, she writes action adventure, mysteries, and thrillers, and is tweaking a screenplay with a co-writer. As Faith and Gwen, she has 21 books in print in 26 countries.

The unofficial bit would have something to say about how charming and funny this chica really is. I had a great time getting to know her and her Renaissance Man this weekend.And seriously, get your ass over to Amazon and get her book, Skinwalker. It rocks!

Misty Massey – Misty Massey is the author of Mad Kestrel, a rollicking adventure of magic on the high seas from Tor Books. She has short stories in the recent anthologies Rum and Runestones and Dragon’s Lure. When she’s not writing, Misty studies Middle Eastern dance and is a member of the Beledi Beat dance troupe. Kestrel’s Dance, the second volume of Kestrel’s exploits, is in production, and Misty is currently working on a Weird Western novel. Misty is one of the featured writers on the Magical Words blog (magicalwords.net).

Misty was probably born in the wrong time, because I could totally see her as a pirate wench packing her own saber and pillaging the high seas with a bottle of run in hand. Oh wait, I’ve already seen her with a bottle of rum in hand!

Kalayna Price – Kalayna Price is the author of the Alex Craft Novels, a new dark urban fantasy series from Roc, and the author of the Novels of Haven from Bell Bridge Books. She draws her ideas from the world around her, her studies into ancient mythologies, and her obsession with classic folklore. Her stories contain not only the mystical elements of fantasy, but also a dash of romance, a bit of gritty horror, some humor, and a large serving of mystery. She is a member of SFWA and RWA, and an avid hula-hoop dancer who has been known light her hoop on fire. To find out more, please visit her at www.kalayna.com.

I just got started on the first Alex Craft book this morning, and am loving it so far. Her heroine is so wonderfully fallible that you can’t help but fall in love with her from the very beginning of the book. And seriously kids, when was the last time you saw a writer that was really as cute as her pictures?

Elysabeth Williams – Elysabeth Williams is the author of the paranormal/historical romance, DEVIL IN A RED KILT and the steampunk historical adventure, THE ELECTRIFYING EXPLOITS OF THE ENGLISH THREE. A retired LARPer turned avid WoW addict, Elysabeth lives and plays in the suburbs of Atlanta with her husband and two kids and two birds and two, no three cats. When she’s not writing, playing or chasing small children, Elysabeth likes coffee. Lots of coffee…oh. and sweet tarts.

I knew I was going to like her when she said one of her books was a Steampunk Charlie’s Angels. I was right, she’s a doll. Haven’t started the book yet, but if I can judge by the cover, then YUM!

So give these fantastic writers a minute of your time, and check out what I learned at RoundCon!

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