A Different Kind of News & Other Things

Hey there! First off, I'm trying something new to save time -- yes, it's the old copy/paste ploy. I'm not really sure how it's going to translate to the Blog from the Hook Me Up! newsletter, but if it's not heinous, wow, does it save me a ton of time. So, if you love it or hate it (or don't care either way LOL), I'd appreciate you letting me know in comments so I know whether this is good for all y'all or not. Now...I have some news. News that is not the normal news that I normally share. Some of you are going to hate this news, some are going to love this news, some are not going to care about this news. (What a build up, huh?) Due to the fact that the hubs works, as I used to, for Corporate America, and due to the fact that this means that Corporate America has a lot of control over our lives, it seems that though we are both lifelong and happy Southwesterners, we're about to discover what it's like to be...Southeasterners. We are being moved to Atlanta, GA. When we're going is somewhat up in the air, but by the start of January the hubs will be walking into an office in Atlanta that is not in our home (for the first time in over 15 years) and we will be fully moved by first quarter 2018, if not before. So, what does this mean?  Well, not too much for 2017, at least for all y'all. Deacon's Ark releases next week, The Deacon of Desert Springs is coming in the next month or two, the audiobook of The Legend of Belladonna Part 1: Natural Born Outlaws will be out by, they tell me, the end of summer, Aliens Abroad will be coming out in December, and all the anthologies I'm in are headed for publication in the next few months as well, plus hopefully more things as I can get them done. (We will NOT discuss my current track record for the whereabouts of Night Music or the next installment of the Martian Alliance, no we will not. They're coming. I swear. Just as Alexander Outland: Space Avenger is. Soon, they will be here. Cross my heart and hope to write like the wind.) But the move means that 2018 will only see one Alien Series release -- Book 17, Aliens Like Us -- and it's likely coming out in August 2018. I plan to have my short story collection, The Alien Collection -- which will have all the Alien Series shorts that are in print, out of print, and not yet printed in it -- release in May 2018. (Yes, I said it was coming this year. I've chosen to ensure that there's a May Alien release of SOME kind in 2018, plus I really need to take the time to, you know, move.) And I plan to have other releases coming out during the rest of this year and next year as well. For those of you who saw me all the time in the Southwest, or who have planned to see me but just haven't gotten around to it yet, your last easy chances for the foreseeable future are Westercon, San Diego Comic-Con, the High Desert Book Fair (and related signing events in Victorville, CA), and my December book tour (still being set up, but it will be the usual suspects and probably nothing extra). For those of you who live in the Southeast, or within a reasonable distance from Atlanta, when I get my bearings, I do plan on being active in that region as I was in the one I've called home for all of my life, and I'm looking forward to all the new experiences and, hopefully, getting to see a lot of you in person for the very first time. (If it's a second time or more, I can't wait to see you again and now it will be easier!) And, you know, for those of you who are too far away, um, well, you're probably still too far away. But, hey, hope likes to spring eternal, right? So, start looking at things like DragonCon (yes, I am hoping to be there in 2018) and other Atlanta-adjacent things. But, speaking of seeing the me...

CHECK OUT ALL THE WAYS TO SEE THE ME THIS SUMMER!

July 1-4 I'm the Local Author Guest of Honor at Westercon70 Tempe Mission Palms Hotel Tempe, AZ If you can only make it to one con this year, make this the one! Find me at my tables in the Dealers Room and all over the con! Click HERE for my Panel Schedule AND DON'T MISS THE LAST EVENING EROTICA EVENT OF THE YEAR! Haven't been to an Evening Erotica event and aren't sure what you're missing? Then check out The Two Gay Geeks' podcast from the event at Phoenix Comicon! Trust me, it's even funnier and more fun in person, and if you're there, you get to be the one winning the prizes! July 19-23 San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Convention Center San Diego, CA Full Schedule to Come    Don't miss seeing me this Summer -  make your plans today! Fall and Winter Dates are coming, so stay tuned!

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Need Things to Keep You Occupied Until Aliens Abroad Releases?   We've got you covered.

Deacon's Ark, Book 2 of the New West (by moi writing as A.E. Stanton) is available for pre-order right now from Amazon or Smashwords. It goes on sale everywhere June 27 (and yes, you can get it from me directly at Westercon). Head over to the Premieres page to check out the cover! And don't forget to pre-order!

Speaking of The New West series, have you gotten Book 1, When Josie Comes Home (by moi writing as A.E. Stanton) yet? If not, why not? Head over to Amazon, B&N.com, Smashwords, orCreateSpace to order. Mysterious Galaxy has signed copies, and The Poisoned Pen can get personalized copies to you, too! And you can always get copies directly from me at Westercon, too!

Check out the Q&A I did over at Unbound Worlds about Alien Education and a whole lot more, and read about the biggest WTH moment (so far) of my book signing career! Then, did you miss out on the Livestream event for Alien Education's book signing at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore? While I can't say that it had the same "zip" as the event described in the interview, it was still pretty darned fun. So, rectify and check it out!

Don't forget, the mass market re-release of Alexander Outland: Space Pirate (by moi writing as G.J. Koch) is available NOW, so get your copy from your favorite bookstore (Mysterious Galaxy and Barnes & Noble Victorville both have signed copies available, and you can get personalized copies via MG or The Poisoned Pen as well) or online retailer (such as Amazon or B&N.com). And you can always get copies directly from me at Westercon, too!

And now for some science! Per SyFy Wire, a pair of black holes sent ripples of time to Earth. I think we all know that probably indicated when Algar came to town, so to speak. Then, per HuffPost, an Aerospace executive is convinced that aliens are living on Earth. I think he's about to lose his security clearance and spend some time hanging out in the Dulce Science Center chatting with Christopher and Chuckie about why being a blabbermouth is a bad idea. Per Yahoo News, cold spot discoveries could mean there are parallel universes out there. Which Kitty finds hilarious and all y'all already know about, but it's nice to see everyone else catching up. And last but not least, per AIRS, NASA has discovered that we've created an artificial barrier around the Earth that protects it. ACE says hi and that ACE might be ready for ACE's closeup, but that ACE would prefer that Kitty do all the real talking.

And now, a little more about the whole moving thing. The hubs and I grew up in Southern California, and we loved it. All our friends and family were there and we never planned to live anywhere else. But then I got that job with Corporate America and the first thing they said was, "You're moving to Phoenix." So we did. We moved to Phoenix 22 years ago, and though I was leaving the home I loved with all my heart, I was excited, because Phoenix was also a place I loved. I had no idea that it would, essentially, give me my second career and show me the way to my "one thing" that I would do no matter what, which is writing. We made friends that became family, found our tribe, got a home we love, and created a new life in the Valley of the Sun. I love everything about Phoenix and Arizona, including the heat. (And yes, that's being tested this week. LOL)  But now we're going to leave that. And, just as we did when we left Los Angeles, we're looking at Atlanta in the same way as we did with Phoenix -- we have no idea what this city will bring to us, but we know that wherever we go, we will find new friends, new family, and a new home we'll love. We're choosing to live by the Girl Scout Motto -- make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver, and the other gold. So, soon I'll be saying "goodbye my love" to Hell's Orientation Area and "hel-looo sailor!" to Hotlanta. I won't say that it's not bittersweet to do this, but I also won't say that it's not a cool adventure awaiting us. And, after all, cool adventures are my business. Well, that's it for today but, as always, more's on the way. Enjoy the rest of your weeks, stay as cool as you can, and regardless of where you are, let's be readers out there! Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side! Love, Gini

Whole Lotta Lotta Goin' On

Happy Friday! Hope everyone had a wonderful week! I've been hugely busy -- how the heck IS it Friday already, anyway -- and, as you'll soon see, we have an absolute tonnage going on, so let's get to it already!

First up, the Yap is large and in charge over at KickAss Chicks. Then, check out what Heroes and Heartbreakers has to say about Comedic Sci-Fi Romance. Um, yeah, they may have mentioned Touched by an Alien.

Next, I have some good news and some bad news. Bad news first. It's now March and, as I'm sure all y'all are aware, Night Music is not in your hot little hands. All I can say is that concussions are not a writer's friend, and that I am still beavering away on it, and many other things that are also due (and, sadly, also late), and you shall have it soon, VERY soon, I swears it! *sobs* Victoria's chomping at the hambone to take you on her next wild adventure, so never fear, it'll be here as fast as I can manage. (Hey, you've been waiting a long time for it already, what's another month, right? Right? *runs*)

Now, for the good news.  What I do have coming this month is a collection of paranormal stories I've written as Jemma Chase to give you a paranormal fix until Night Music is ready -- The Disciple and Other Stories of the Paranormal. That's right, Strange Protection, Hotter Than Hell, Waiting, Amazing, and The Disciple are all together in one volume! And you can pre-order that puppy right now, too, over at Amazon. The book will be available on Friday, March 20th, and will be up at all the other retailers at that point. And yes, for those of you who only want physical books, it will be available in physical format as well. I got ya covered!

Speaking of which, according to an article at the Huffington Post, there are 9 reasons why print books are better than ebooks. I'm all for however you want to read the bookie wookies, but I found the article interesting all the same.

Speaking of found things, alert Member of the Alien Collective in Very Good Standing Bibliognome has spotted that, for the first time ever, one of my books is up at NetGalley. Yes indeedy dee, if you're a reviewer, you can get to read Alien Separation ages before everyone else!

And speaking of pre-orders (we were, trust me, we were), you can pre-order Alien Separation from your favorite bookstore or Amazon or any other online retailer. Pre-orders help more than you realize, so do your girl a solid and pre-order Book 11 (and beyond, if they let you, LOL) because the publishers CARE about pre-order numbers. And so do I.

AND you can also pre-order the X-Files anthology my story, "Sewers" will be in, X-Files: Trust No One, at good ol' Amazon as well. Pre-orders for everyone!

Now for some reviews. See why Night Owl Reviews made Universal Alien a top pick!

And, while I'm still waiting to give you that news I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, in the meantime, see what the San Francisco Book Review said about the Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets anthology, which has my story, "All the Single Ladies" in it.

Then see what boeklogboek had to say about my humor collection, Random Musings from the Funny Girl.

Speaking of funny, check out SB Nation's take on Reviewing the Terrifying Dogs in Westminster's "Working Group". It's a hilarious look at the various breeds. The Big Fella was a Komondor, and quite frankly, this article got him right.

And now for some science! Frankly, lots and lots and LOTS of science. Hey, it's been a busy week for science (and it's damn fine butt), what can I say?

First off, the Red Velvet Oreos Member of the Alien Collective in Very Good Standing Michael Shelton sent to me were AWESOME. So, if you like red velvet anything, these are a total winner in Oreos' growing bid to literally be put into every marketing textbook ever written under the heading "company most dedicated to brand extension in the history of the world".

Next up, things are looking up for Pluto, at least according Discover. Then Space.com has an awesomely cool series going about what it would be like to live on the other celestial bodies in our solar system.

Then we have just a tonnage of articles doing their best to prove that I'm actually an investigative reporter writing non-fiction pieces. Check out Higher Perspective's article about the possibility of aliens having "seeded" the Earth; possible water (or life forms signalling us with mirrors) on Ceres over at Mashable; NASA's findings about black hole families (Algar says hi); and, according to Yahoo Finance -- yes, you read that right, this was in the Finance section, go figure -- apparently we have a "second moon" and it orbits in a *cough* kind of figure-8 patter or similar.

A big reminder for my upcoming in-person schedule of events, because most of them are happening NEXT WEEK!

Monday, March 9, 5-6pm PST/8-9 EST - I and the rest of the Paranormal Romance Dream Team will be be participating in another Night Owl Reviews live chat. Last time we gave out lots of prezzies, and I'm sure this time will be no different. The chat will run from 5-6 pm PST/8-9 EST. Don't miss out, it's sure to be a blast and a half! 

Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15 - I'll be at the Tucson Festival of Books. It's the fourth largest Book Fair in the country, so you don't want to miss out. When I'm not doing panels or signings, you can find me at The Dreams Booth, Booth #106.  

My current TFoB schedule: 
--Saturday, March 14, 4-5pm - Making Magic Real: Suspending Reader Disbelief, Integrated Learning Center Room 130; signing immediately after Sales and Signing Area - Integrated Learning Center  
--Sunday, March 15, 11:30am-12:30 pm - I Got Nuthin' – Battling Writer's Block, Integrated Learning Center Room 141; signing immediately after Sales and Signing Area - Integrated Learning Center  
--Sunday, March 15, 2:30-3:30pm - Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, and Sci-Fi, Koffler Room 216; signing immediately after Sales and Signing Area - Koffler Patio 

Saturday, March 28, 12-4 pm - mass author signing at the Book Vault, 2055 S. Power Road, Entrance #3 in Mesa AZ, featuring moi along with awesome authors Alan Black, Kris Tualla, Deena Remiel, and Melanie Tighe.  

Speaking of the Tucson Festival of Books, if you missed the interview they did with me, check out their Festival Blog where you'll find my interview and a ton more. Also speaking of TFoB and the University of Arizona, I may miss seeing the wonderful Eric Penner Haury (grandson of The Real Most Interesting Man in the World, nephew of The Silver Fox, aka Ted Danson, and a wonderful author in his own right) at the Festival. Why? Because he's going to be in Tucson the week before, for a ceremony for his step-grandmother, Agnese Nelms Haury who's donated a tremendous amount to various institutions and bequeathed some wonderful things to UofA. She was an amazing woman, and her legacy will live on, which is fantastic.

New Sightings in the Wild are up at the website. Have pics to send in? Send 'em to our SuperSightingsGirl, Kelsey, at kelsey@ginikoch.com. She LIVES to get your pics, yes she does!

Last but in no way least, the Spectrum 22 award nominations are in, and many congrats to my fantabulous cover artist, Dan Dos Santos, and Dave Palumbo (who worked with Dan on the Alien Diplomacy cover), since they're both nominated! Check out the artwork from the nominees -- it's gorgeous. I don't envy whoever has to choose the winners (though, OBVIOUSLY Dan should win) (not that I'm biased) (maybe a little), because each piece is amazing.

Well, don't faint, but that's it for today. But never fear, as always, more's on the way. So, enjoy your weekends, chat with some of you on Monday, see some of you next weekend, and all of you let's be science-loving, art-enjoying, book pre-ordering, coolest of the cool readers out there. Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

Super Team Gini Go!

Happy Friday! Hope everyone had a fantastic end of January, enjoyed Super Bowl parties (how about those commercials and dancing sharks, huh?), and that February's going great for one and all. As always, of course, there's a lot going on in Gini Land, so let's get to it, shall we? We shall!

Had a wonderful time at Mysterious Galaxy signing with the ever awesome Erin Quinn. For more pics, check out the photo gallery over at Demotix taken by Stephen Prendergast.

The San Diego State University Writer's Conference was awesome as well. In addition to getting to do a panel with The Awesome Editor and workshops with Marsheila Rockwell, I got to hang out with the wonderful Jonathan Maberry, which was excellent icing on an already delicious cake.

I have an announcement I'm dying to tell all y'all, but I can't do it just yet. But there's another announcement I CAN do right now, but that'll come a little bit later.

Before then, head over to Bull Spec and check out which anthologies The Exploding Spaceship thought were the best of 2014, which includes Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets, that has my short story, "All the Single Ladies" in it.

Then see what Night Owl Reviews thought of Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets, too.

After that, head over to Larissa's Bookish Life and see who she picked for her Top 5 Favorite Heroes from Books, Movies, and TV. Then see who she chose as her Top 5 Favorite Villains from Books, Movies, and TV, too. Also, Larissa's mom has been ill, so any good thoughts and such that the rest of the Alien Collective could send to her would be really great.

And, let us once again gaze upon the wonder that is the Alien Tango cover over at Fantasy Art Village, just because we can.

Speaking of announcements, The Night Beat was off the market other than in the Sensational Six boxed set. While the boxed set is still around for a very limited time, in honor of Night Music showing up soon, the second edition of The Night Beat is now available at all the usual suspects (Amazon, B&N.com, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, Mysterious Galaxy, The Poisoned Pen, anywhere I am, and so on).

Next up, it's time for some science! Check out the hugely exciting Super Saturn over at Science Alert. Then go to IFL Science and read about an asteroid so big it has its own moon -- and they both flew past Earth. Lastly, head over to Truth Code and find out about the second Earth some scientists have found.

Hugo Nominations are open, and great author and wonderful editor Joshua Palmatier has some suggestions for nominations. If you're eligible to nominate, please remember that many of your favorite authors, like moi, have plenty of books and shorts we'd love to get recognition. And if you're nominating, let me encourage you to nominate Sheila Gilbert from DAW Books for Best Editor, Long Form. Because she is.

Now it's time for the announcement I can actually make right now. Team Gini is expanding! This is a great thing in that it's going to give me more writing time, meaning I will have more output (at least, that is the sincere hope) to keep all y'all in reading matter. So more of the team are taking Front Line Duties.

First off, Team Gini now has an official email address: TeamGini @ ginikoch .com. You can reach any and all the team using this email. Team Gini also has a Twitter account: TeamGini @RealTeamGini. Again, you can reach everyone via this Twitter handle. We're continuing to use the Facebook Fan Page, Gini Koch: Hairspray & Rock 'n' Roll (https://www.facebook.com/GiniKochAuthor), as the main coordination area on Facebook.

Now, for the Team itself:
--Joseph Gaxiola, my Personal Assistant. Joseph's going to be taking over some of my social media (though all y'all will still be able to reach me any time of the day or night just like always, LOL), and all personal appearance on-site coordination should run through him (joseph @ ginikoch .com).
--Colette Chmiel, my Distance Assistant. Interview requests, guest post requests, and appearance requests should be sent to Colette (colette @ ginikoch .com), with a cc to Joseph (joseph @ ginikoch .com). Have a con or an event you'd love to have me at? Send Colette the information and she'll make the inquiries.
--Kelsey Rowe, aka The Sightings Girl. Yes! Sightings in the Wild is actually being updated on a regular basis now! So, any pics you've taken of me, with me, or of the bookie wookies or swag in the wild should be sent to Kelsey. If you include your name and location of the pic, she'll add that on, too, and get them up onto the site in a timely manner (kelsey @ ginikoch .com).
--Glenard Malcom, aka our Newest Techno Mage. Glen is handling all things website other than the Sightings updates, so if there's a problem you spot on the website, Glen's your mage (glenard @ ginikoch . com).
--Edward Pulley, aka the Poof Factory. All Poof (and other Depot) orders will still run through the website, but I just wanted to be sure Edward got his Poofy Making due. And yes, while we make no promises, we are considering some of the Specialty Poof Requests some of you have made.
--Lisa Dovichi remains the Head of Team Gini, and she still won't tell you what's coming in all the books, but she's also still really open to being bribed. Just sayin'... (lisa @ ginikoch .com).

Please welcome the new Team Gini members (via their own special emails, not mine, please and thank you, from them AND me, LOL) and enjoy fantastic reading weekends. Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

Belated Stuffs and Happy Everythings

Here's all I want for Christmas...

Happy Monday Before Christmas! And happy only Monday of Hanukkah. And Day After Winter Solstice. And whatever it is for every other holiday going on, just over, or coming up. (I like covering the bases, me.)

I know, I know, long time no hear from me. But hey, I was on a super book tour for Universal Alien, seeing wonderful Members of the Alien Collective in Very Good Standing all over the place. Plus I'm *cough* still working on getting Alien Separation done and to the Awesome Editor, so, I've been kind of busy.

Speaking of the book tour -- we sold out of Universal Alien at Mysterious Galaxy. However, San Diego Area Peeps, don't despair if you didn't get a signed copy. Because I'll be back in January for the San Diego State University Writer's Conference on January 23-25, where I'll be teaching several workshops.

But I'm also going to be back at Mysterious Galaxy on Thursday, January 22nd, signing Universal Alien along with awesome author Erin Quinn, who will be signing her new release, too. So, double the authors, double the fun! Come see us, and if you saw me already, come see me again, 'cause you know it'll be fun! (And I've heard a rumor there could be chocolate. And wine.)

And speaking of busy, there's lots that's been going on in the 'verse. And before we go to radio silence (yeah, yeah, again LOL), there's just a tonnage of things to catch all y'all up on. So let's get to all the rest of it, shall we? We shall!

First up, some totally cool news over at Tor.com. Barnes and Noble selected Universal Alien as one of their Top 10 Picks for December! And they're not alone. Check out some of the latest awesome reviews of Universal Alien over at Under the Covers, Alternative Worlds II, and Fresh Fiction. Then see what other December DAW releases, including UA, are out there at DAW Books Review.

Then see what Lu's Buchgefluster had to say about Alien in the House and Alien Research. Yes, still in German, but Google Translate remains your friend!


Then see what Alternative Worlds II thought of Alien Collective. And then see what Bookshelf Bombshells thought of Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets.

After all that review reading, head over to the Paranormal Cravings Shifters, Weres, and Supes event and find out some stats about Kitty. Then hit That's What I'm Talking About for their Mistletoe Madness Event, and find out what Kitty's New Year's Resolutions are. There's also a contest that's open internationally, so get entered to win!


I've made the decision that my story in the Temporally Out of Order anthology is going to definitely be an Alien Series short -- and it'll be connected to the events Alien Separation. But if you didn't get in on the Kickstarter, what can you do? Well, you can still act like you got in! You can still get in on the Kickstarter by pre-ordering the three basic reward levels (ebook, paperback, and ebook/paperback duo) at the Zombies Need Brains online store. 
The Kickstarter backers (including those who get it at the online store) will get the anthology early, in addition to helping support the small press and some of the other extras (like a bookmark, etc) that will come with the Kickstarter edition. Such a deal! And, trust me, you want in on it.

Up next we have a really cool thing -- Indie Bookstore Dog-Eared Pages has announced their top 15 indie authors for 2014...and I made the cut! If you're looking for new authors and more reading material, I can heartily recommend everyone on the list, especially Sharon Skinner, Kris Tualla, and Alan Black (but you can't go wrong with any of them).

Feeling the need for an auditory experience? Check out the Two Gay Geeks podcast where they talk about many things, my latest bookie wookie among them.

It's the last couple of days where you can get the Sensational Six boxed set for $0.99. So if you haven't gotten your copy yet, don't wait! Check out an excerpt from my part of the set, The Night Beat, over at fellow boxed set author Sasha White's blog.

And here are the buy links that get you six great stories AND a large (and the only) excerpt of Book 2 in my Necropolis Enforcement Files series, Night Music:
Kobo
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia
iTunes
Barnes and Noble

And now for some science! Check out what some folks at NASA are trying to create in Venus' solar space over at io9 -- Cloud City! (I dunno if it'll work. I see their idea and all I can think of is the Hindenburg, but...) Then check out the lengthy, but very interesting, Dark Matter discussion over at Space.com.

Oh my, is that (finally) it for today? I think that it is. Well...almost. I just want to take a moment to once again thank you for being the best fans in the world. I hope for all of you the merriest and most wonderful of holidays, whatever holidays you celebrate. And if you don't celebrate a holiday at this time, celebrate the wonderfulness that is you. May your days be merry and bright, and may 2015 be as wonderful a year as you are and bring you not just what you want but what you need.

So, until next year (barring something major happening :-D), let's be happy, healthy, and hopeful readers out there. Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the 2015 flip side!

Love,
Gini