Collectively Catching Up

Hey there! Hope everyone had a wonderful past couple of weekends and past week, and I hope all the moms of all kinds out there had perfect Mother's Days. I had a fantastic time at both Mysterious Galaxy bookstores and all over the rest of SoCal! It was great seeing so many of the Alien Collective these past days. But, I'm back home and much went on while I was gone, so let's get all caught up, shall we? We shall!
First up, and speaking of the Alien Collective, the last stop on the Alien Collective Blog Tour is large and in charge. Head over to Word of the Nerd for your last chance to enter to win your choice of one of the first 8 books in the series (Touched through Research), signed and personalized. Open internationally.

And don't forget about the other stops that have come before! Most have interviews and/or reviews and all have chances to win. And all are open internationally. So if you've missed a stop that's still open, rectify!

Remaining open contests:
-- Pearls Cast Before a McPig, ends May 25
-- Gizmo's Reviews

Speaking of rectification, here's a special prize available, at every stop on the Tour but it's for my Hook Me Up! Subscribers only. Not on? Perhaps now's the time to rectify that mistake. Send an email to gini@ginikoch.com with "Hook Me Up!" in the subject line and you'll be in and sent the special instructions!

Once you've entered to win, see what Word of the Nerd though of Alien Collective. Then see what Bitten by Books, A Buckeye Girl Reads, and Bring on the Books thought of it as well!

Then see who Larissa's Bookish Life chose as her favorite fictional mothers. And check out T.L. Smith's article at Slice of SciFi where she asks 5 friends what they'd take to colonize a new world -- and since those friends include moi, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Weston Ochse, Bruce Davis, and Ben Bova, you know you want to check it out!

Phoenix Comicon is just around the corner, and you NEED to make plans to be there. Why? In addition to seeing the me and other amazing authors, there are some seriously cool media folks that will be there as well, including Nathan Fillion, Stephen Amell, Cary Elwes, Bruce Campbell, Stan Lee, and Danny Glover...and TONS more! Be here June 5-8, 2014 and have the time of your pop cultural life!

Remember that the Brenda Novak auction is still going on through the rest of the month Check out my fantastic Alien Pack -- and bid early and often!

I've also been announced as an Author Guest at CopperCon Fantasm, August 22-24, 2014, at the Hilton Garden Inn, Avondale, AZ. Make your plans to come to a fun, intimate con with a ton of great authors and fans!

That's it for today, but as always, more's on the way. So let's be winning, con-going readers out there. Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

Kaijuing Up the Catch Up

I know, I know...I've been back from WorldCon for a week and yet you haven't heard from me. WorldCon was made of awesome, by the way. But I'll catch you up on that later. (And I can HEAR you all going, "Oh yeah? Like you've caught us up on Phoenix Comicon and San Diego Comic-Con and CopperCon? Just like that, Gini?" And I say, "Yeah! Just like that! Only WITH information. Coming soon. I swear!" But I digress...) And there's been so much going on! Well, um, that's part of why you haven't heard from me. LOL Well, that and the combo of jet lag and con lag that have had me moving in molasses. But, enough whining -- let's get to the stuff!

First up, I'm in a new Kickstarter anthology, writing as J.C. Koch, and this one's about monsters! Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters to be exact! There are a ton of cool levels and even more cool horror authors involved, so head on over and fund it today!


After that, head over to The Nameless Zine, where there's an interview with awesome SF/F author L.E. Modesitt, Jr. as well as a review of The Happy Acres Haunted Hotel for Active Seniors in The Book Nook section. Then see what SF Reader has to say about Alien Proliferation.

Then hit Gizmo's Reviews and see who she thinks are the Top Ten Most Memorable Secondary Characters. Speaking of reviews, check out what I thought of "Riddick" over at Slice of SciFi. 

And now, for the upcoming events! First off, for those of you in the Central and Northern Arizona areas, I'll be up at the NARWA meeting on Saturday, September 21, doing not one but TWO presentations -- Writing from the Hindbrain at 11am, and Archetypes, Stereotypes & Cliches at 1pm. Join us if you're able, at the Prescott Golf & Country Club, 1030 Prescott Country Club Blvd., Dewey, AZ 86327.

Next up, I'll be doing a live chat with the other members of the Paranormal Dream Team -- Erin Quinn, Erin Kellison, and Caris Roane (like us on Facebook!) -- over at the Literal Addiction Paranormal Book Club, on Thursday, October 10, from 7:00-8:30pm EST. And yes, there WILL be prizes, so don't miss out!

Then, on Saturday, November 9th, it's the 8th Annual FREE Fall Writer's Workshop, where I'll be presenting Finding Your Voice, and will also be on a panel of successful published authors to tell you What Does It Take to be Happily Published Today? The Workshop runs from 9:30am-4:30pm, Scottsdale Civic Center Library, 3839 Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ 85251. We could charge a lot for this event...but we don't, so be sure you take advantage of all the great education being offered!

That's it for today, but as always, more's on the way. So enjoy the rest of the week and let's be readers out there!

Love,
Gini

Clockwork WorldCon

Happy Hump Day! I'm home! I'm home! For, um, a whole two weeks! But more on that a little bit later. Hope everyone had a great week and weekend and that this week's treating you well, too.

As you know, I was the Last Minute Local Guest of Honor at CopperCon Revolution, and the con was really fun. Got to spend much time with authors Marsheila Rockwell, T.L. Smith, Sharon Skinner, T.M. Williams, Michelle Welch, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, and, most thrillingly, our Author Guest of Honor, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., who is brilliant, witty, charming, and just plain nice, as well as being an amazing writer.

Also got to see lots of cool Members of the Alien Collective in Very Good Standing, including (but not limited to) Wyked, Hal, Dee, Travel Poof & Poofsy, Adrian, and Linda. So a good time was had by all.

Speaking of good times and having them -- do you live in Texas, near or nearish to San Antonio? Are you going to World Science Fiction Con over Labor Day Weekend? If you answered 'yes' or are thinking of attending, I'm going to be there (officially confirmed and 100% booked yesterday). So, come see the me at my first ever WorldCon! I'll be on panels, doing signings, and being a part of one of the walking tours, so lots of chances to hang out!

Speaking of chances, you're running out of time to get in on the Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens anthology that will feature my first ever Alien series short story. In addition to every backer now receiving lots of stretch goal goodies, including a free ecopy of A Cup of Joe by Anita Ensal (yes, that's moi), if we hit $15K, every backer will ALSO receive a free ecopy of Bradley P. Beaulieu's The Winds of Khalakovo, the first book in his The Lays of Anuskaya trilogy. So, if you haven't funded this Kickstarter yet, now's the time -- there's less than 40 HOURS left to go!

After trotting over and becoming a part of the Clockwork Universe, head over to Between Dreams and Reality and see what they thought of Touched by an Alien. And, if you read French, you can see what they thought in their native tongue. Then see what Autograph Hound's Blah Blah Blog thought of meeting me at SDCC.

That's it for today, but as always, more's on the way. So enjoy the downward slide towards the weekend and let's be readers out there. Peace out my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

WFC Roundup

The fun of World Fantasy Con is that it's a professional business con. There are fans there, sure, but most of the attendees skew to authors, agents, editors and publishers. It's got more of a relaxed attitude, therefore, though everyone's wheeling and dealing, catching up with old friends and making new ones, and generally having a good time. It gives off a feeling of a reunion, with all of the positives and almost none of the negatives.

My panel on EC Comics went really well. It helped that Scott Edelman and Andy Duncan were on it with me, since they're both fun guys, great speakers, and loaded with information. If you're into comics, Mad Magazine, horror, any combination thereof, or any related subjects, check them out! (Note: Despite the "zombie self portrait" on his splash page, Scott's really a sweet, charming, fount of knowledge. And I had to say that or he said he'd eat my brains.)

I got to hang with awesome authors Celina Summers, David Boop, and Marcus Pelligrimas, as well as party with authors Adam Niswander and Jerry Gordon.

And the DAW dinner was loaded with great authors (deep breath, yes there were LOTS of us): Bob Krammes, Benjamin Tate, Saladin Ahmed, Kari Sperring, Josh Palmatiere, Jim C. Hines, Michelle West aka Michelle Sagara, Steven Leigh, S. Andrew Swann, R.M. Meluch, and Laura Resnick. Yes, this was a total who's who, but that's WFC in a nutshell. BTW, if you haven't checked these amazing authors out yet, do so immediately.

Of course, there were plenty of publishers in attendance. In addition to my own beloved DAW Books, Tor/Forge was in attendance (they also threw an awesome party), and Baen Books was there, too. There were also some smaller publishers who really had an impressive array of titles and covers. EDGE/Tesseract -- who were celebrating their 10 year anniversary (and yes, their party was awesome), Elder Signs Press, Titan Books, and ChiZine Publications were there (yes, ChiZine threw a great party, too), all showing off their wares and let me tell you, they have some great books.

By the way, if it sounds like all we did was go to parties and hang out in the bar um...well...yeah. I mean, hey, panels! There were panels and readings! And, um, err, dinners! Yeah, only they were more like parties. Um, the mass book signing was wicked cool! So, see? I did some work. (Actually, considering that my agent is like the Energizer Bunny at these things, I did a LOT of work, but that's a tale for another time.)

Personal highlights:
-- running into Eric Flint, author of, among many other things, Baen's 1632 series, in the elevator, telling him that I'd seen him at Fiesta Con and really loved what he'd had to say. He left the elevator at my floor and chatted with me for a good 15 minutes. He's not only a great author, he's a really charming man who graciously took the time to "talk shop" with a younger author.
-- getting to see L.E. Modesitt, Jr.'s ever-beautiful array of vests. The man can and does totally pull off the look, and he never makes a fashion miscue. He's a dashing, dapper gentleman, and a great writer, too, by the way.
-- being charmed by Englishman Brian Lumly who's not only an amazing author but one of those charasmatic people you just want to be around.
-- getting to meet two of the Alien Collective in person (waves madly to Darlene and Heidi). The book signing was really great, but getting to meet up with Alien Collective members is always the best part for me.
-- getting to impress the hubs that Joe Haldeman was in the audience for my panel, that I got to meet Guy Gavriel Kay, and that I saw Gene Wolfe (albeit from a distance).
-- having a reviewer bring his ARC of Touched by an Alien to have me sign (waves madly to Michael) and then getting to hang out with him in the bar, discussing the pros and cons of the Star Wars movies.
-- lunch with just my wonderful editor and agent and me. It's always nice to get to just hang out with them and yak about anything and everything, without having to share their time.
-- discovering that the people of Columbus, all of them, are really and truly nice. I especially appreciated how nice they were when I, with my usual "flair" for travel, tried to go through the security metal detector with earmuffs and a metal hairclip on, accompanied by a bottle of water and a can of Dr Pepper. What could have been a nightmare ended up pretty much a fun, laugh-filled stop along the way to my gate. I'd honestly like to go back to Columbus and get to see more of the town than I managed (very little of German Town, very little around the hotel, a salt mine from a distance, and absolutely nothing else).
-- the DAW dinner. Not only was it author-filled, but the food was delicious and I had a total blast with Mary Krammes (Bob's wife and my new soul sister).
-- talking comics and pseudonyms with Titan editor Steve Saffel.
-- bonding over earmuffs and other things with Anita Hades (yet another new soul sister) from EDGE publishing.
-- having someone come up to me after the panel to ask me about writing and get tips (waves madly to Craig). It was doubly exciting since Scott and Andy have been doing this a lot longer than I have.

Next year's World Fantasy Con is in San Diego, CA. Yes, I'll be there, with bells on. Honestly, I can't wait. Hope to see some of you there, too, and to have an even longer roundup note for you after, as well. I'm sure that'll mean I have to hang and party with even more cool writerly types, but hey, I'm willing to take one for our team, 'cause that's the kind of girl I am.

Love,
Gini

I Met...I Met...Everybody!

Well, perhaps not quite 'everybody', but it was darned close.

As you know, I attended the 2009 World Fantasy Con in San Jose this past weekend. And what a great weekend it was. I had a fab time -- getting to meet my most awesome editor in person, getting to attend the DAW authors' dinner, getting to hang with my wickedly cool agent...and more!

I got to meet authors. So very many authors. So very many famous authors.

In no particular order (since they all rock beyond measure), here's just a sampling of who I got to meet, shake paws with, and undoubtedly fawn over to the point of being a groupie: Tim Powers, Tad Williams, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Robert Silverberg, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Gordon Van Gelder, Sherwood Smith, and David Drake. And there were more, so many more. (I didn't want to wash my hands, after all the meetings, but I figured the other authors would appreciate it, so I did. That's me, Ms. Self-Sacrifice.)

I also shamelessly showed off my fantastic cover and shared that "Touched by an Alien" is available right now for pre-order from Amazon.com and Borders.com. Because, you never know -- maybe they'd all like to read a fast and funny science fiction novel loaded with action, adventure and romance. I mean, why not, right?

Of course right.

Love,
Gini