Hey Y’all! I won an award!

Hey Y’all! I won an award!

I just wanted to toot my own horn here for a minute and thank Deirdra over at A Storybook World for giving this little corner of the interwebs a Brilliant Writer Award. It even comes with a cool badge thingy, see?

I really appreciate the kudos from Deirdra. It’s nice to get these little attaboys from out of the blue, it helps remind me that I’m not completely screaming into the void when I post here.

I also want to take a quick second to thank everyone who retweeted, posted on Facebook or otherwise helped spread the word about my free books to vets and active military promo for Memorial Day Weekend. I gave away over 50 ebooks to veterans and active-duty servicemen and servicewomen, and it made me feel good to do something for the people who do so much for me.

I’m getting geared up for ConCarolinas this weekend! I’m looking forward to seeing some old friends, making some new friends, and probably being an opinionated jackass on at least a couple of panels. I doubt I’ll get a new episode of Literate Liquors up before the con, but I’m going to try to get several episodes in the can during the con, so we’ll have plenty of content for the summer. I enjoy doing the show, it gives me another excuse to drink! And there will be a live version of the show taking place at Fandom Fest in Louisville at the end of the month. I’m doing a panel with Jackie Gamber, who I stole this whole idea from. She does tea pairings with book selections, so we’re going to do tea pairings, then liquor pairings of the same books, then we’re going to end up getting drunk. If you’re planning to be at Fandom Fest, definitely check that panel out!

 

Alright, kids, I’m gonna go do some more work on the new Bubba story, which I hope to have out early in June (no spoilers, but there’s a lot of shooting in this one!). And the Bubba origin story is coming, but I’m not sure yet how to craft it. I haven’t decided if it works better as a series of stories, or as a novel. I know that the current storyline will remain a series of shorts, but I’m not sure yet about the origin. I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out!

More than Barbeque

UPDATE – OFFER NOW EXTENDED THROUGH WEDNESDAY! Go ahead, get free books if you’re active military, former military or family of military!

 

This weekend is about more than just barbeque, a long weekend and the opening of summer movie season. This weekend is a time to remember the men and women who laid down their lives to defend our country and our way of life. It’s also another good opportunity to say thanks to those who serve in our country’s military, and to those who have served. I never joined any branch of the military, but I have the utmost respect for those who did, and I understand that without men and women willing to stand on that wall, my way of life would be very different.

So thank you. If you’ve served our country, or are currently serving our country, thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you have lost a family member in any of current or recent conflicts, I am sorry for your loss and grateful for your sacrifice. I sincerely hope that someday we will live in a world where people don’t try to take away the rights and freedoms of other people, but until that time I’m glad we have people who are willing to defend our country, with their lives if necessary.

Here’s my gift to our men and women of the Armed Forces. From now until Midnight Monday (12AM Tuesday) – you can have free ebooks. Anything I’ve written, you can have it. You want one book? It’s yours. You want a copy of all my books? They’re yours. All you have to do is email me and ask. I’ll email you copies of any book I’ve written.

Here are the details –

1) This offer is open to any current or past member of any branch of the US Armed Forces. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard. If you’re a vet, currently serving, or retired – you qualify.

2) This offer is open to the wives, husbands, parents and children of any member of the US Armed Forces that has died in the line of duty. Vietnam, Desert Storm, training accident, Afghanistan – if someone in your immediate family gave their life in service to our country, you qualify.

3) To get your free ebook(s), it’s a really complicated process (I’m lying). Email me – johnhartness AT gmail DOT com – and tell me which books you would like. Tell me if you need a Kindle format (for the kindle) or an ePub format (for everything else). I’ll email you the file. You might have to figure out how to put the books on your e-reader, but in most cases it’s really easy and there are directions available on the Google machine.

4) Please pass the word to other servicemen, servicewomen, veterans and families.

This offer does end at the end of Memorial Day. I’m serious – I don’t care how many books you want. If you want a free copy of every book I’ve ever written, it’s yours. Please don’t be shy about asking.

The Books – Since I should probably let everyone know what I’m giving away.Seriously, you can have any or all of them for free, just tell me what format, and I’ll email them along. Thanks for your service.

The Black Knight Chronicles – A humorous urban fantasy series set in Charlotte, NC where the good guys are vampires. Perfect for fans of Jim Butcher or Joss Whedon.

Book 1 – Hard Day’s Knight

Book 2 – Back in Black

Book 3 – Knight Moves

Collected Shorts – Knight (un)Life

 

Bubba the Monster Hunter stories – Cross Larry the Cable Guy with the Dresden Files in this hilarious comic horror series. All the stories are available in two collections.

Monsters Beware – Collects Bubba 1-4 (Voodoo Children, Ballet of Blood, Ho-Ho-Homicide, Tassels of Terror)

Monsters Mashed – Collects Bubba 5-8 (Cat Scratch Fever, Love Stinks, Hall & Goats, Footloose)

 

Genesis – X-Men:First Class meets Mad Max in this apocalyptic teen superhero novel.

Headshot – Meet Cindy O’Shea. She’s a black belt, she’s a sniper, she’s a sophomore. Teenage assassin in New York. What could go wrong?

The Chosen – What do you get when you mix the father of all mankind with a snotty archangel, the Father of Lies, a couple of snarky waitresses from Texas and a tattooed street preacher from Tennessee? A cross-country trip to save the world, of course!

The Christmas Lights – A short sampler of my literary fiction, plus introductory stories for both of my genre fiction series.

Returning the Favor – A collection of poems, essays and short stories by an overeducated redneck. Drinking, comic conventions, breakups, family gatherings, bluegrass and did I mention drinking? No subject is off-limits.

Red Dirt Boy – I write poetry, too. Poetry for people who’d rather listen to Johnny Cash than read Robert Frost.

Literate Liquors Episode 1 now live!

Literate Liquors is my new video show where I do book and booze pairings. If you’ve ever wondered what’s the best drink to go with Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicles, this is the show for you! We talk about books and booze, two of my favorite things.

Incredibly important post

Incredibly important post

Because it’s been a while since I posted any pictures of my cats. And the internet is all about cats. Someday I’ll write a thrilling blog post about plotting and theatre stuff, but not today. Today the internet is for cat pictures.

Chained to my desk

At least, that’s where I need to be for the next week and a half. ConCarolinas is coming up fast, and with it a pretty healthy panel schedule, plus hopefully scads of people clamoring for print editions of my books. But before I’m cut loose upon the unsuspecting hordes at the Hilton University Place in Charlotte, I’ve got revisions to work on. I’ve handed the revisions for Hard Day’s Knight off to the line editor, but while I’m waiting on those notes to come in, it’s time to tackle Back in Black. I’ll admit that there are some plotting issues with this book that I’ve noticed since publication, so it’s a good idea to go back and lay hands on it one last time. I did a quick pass this morning and got through the first nine chapters, so hopefully I can get through the first pass this week, then run through it again next week before it’s ConCarolinas time.

So here’s my current schedule for ConCarolinas –

Friday – I got nothing scheduled, so I’ll be at my table or crashing interesting panels that my friends are on.
Saturday – 9AM (I’m new, I get the primo slots) – The Next Step – So you’ve finished your book, what now? With David B. Coe, Gray Rinehart, Edmund Schubert and some folks I don’t know but am looking forward to meeting.

Saturday – noon – Kidnapping Your Muse – What to do when your words won’t flow well – With Stuart Jaffe, Rachel Aaron, Nicole Givens Kurtz and even more folks I haven’t met yet, so more new folks!

Saturday – 2PM – Bringing Life to Your Characters – another one with David Coe, adding James Maxey and A.J. Hartley to the mix, plus others.

Sunday – 1PM – Agents and how to find one – I suppose I’m on this panel for the “I don’t need one” perspective, but I dunno. Me, Rachel, Gray, Edmund, Gail Z. Martin and Angie Smibert.

I’m a little under-untilized at this one, but that’s normal for my first year guesting at a con. I’ll likely crash a couple of other panels, especially some of the ebook and self-pub panels on Sunday, and maybe some of the horror panels on Friday. Depends on how I feel and what the panel looks like, If it’s understaffed and I’m friends with the moderator, I might hop on. Otherwise I’ll probably behave myself. But you can find me in the author’s alley outside the panel rooms hawking my wares and hoping that the new Bubba print collection sells as well as I anticipate.

See you there!