Sara Reyes | Why A Reader Attends a Science Fiction Fantasy Literary Convention (or "Con")

Some Con Books you should get!:

"Why are you going to xxxCon?" Something I get asked each time I tell my book club I'm going to a con soon. And I've been going to these "things" for over 10 years. Before that I went to the media ones with my husband and son who loved the Creature cons with guest stars from all their favorite movies and television shows. I've been to Barbie Expos too. That's where collectors of Barbie dolls get together and show off the dolls (some headless the way Gwen kept hers in the early days) and accessories. It's always amazing to me what to one person is a collectable and to another is trash.

The answer used to be simple, I'd go because I wanted to find people who liked the same books I did. Not necessarily to talk to them in depth about the books but to find ones I may have been missing. I'm always afraid there is an author out there and gasp, I've missed them! They are probably fantastic and will change my life for EVER and because I didn't know their titles or name I'm missing out. Don't other readers feel that way sometime? Or am I all alone?

So, I would go to a Con by myself and sit quietly in sessions, some that would bore me beyond tears, some would make me sit up and take notes. And I always found someone or series of books I would have missed. Over the years I've learned to figure out which cons were best for a "reader" versus a "writer" and I'd always attend.

Recently there is an upsurge in paranormal romance and urban fantasy at the cons. A welcome, may I say in all honesty, change. I was getting weary of the women-hating fantasy ones. *grin* So if you're an urban fantasy or paranormal romance reader, get yourself to a local con. Almost all cities, large and small have at least one per year. They're not expensive either. Don't be shy you'll be surprised by the fellow readers you'll meet and you'll come home with books to read, suggestions in your notebook and some new friends! Besides, they always have FREE parties at night in rooms and you can practice your social skills. It's a blast!

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Jeff Abbott | THE FIVE THINGS THEY NEVER TELL YOU WHEN YOUR BOOK IS ON THE SHELF

I’ve written eleven novels, and each one has been both joy and challenge. My latest thriller, Trust Me, was no different in that regard. I have found, though, that many readers and new or aspiring authors don’t know about the Five Things that happen once the book is done and on the shelves. These are the time-tested elements that you must brace yourself (and possibly your loved ones and your readers for) when you reach out and pluck down the finished book off the shelf:

You will remember some tiny bit of obscure research that you forgot to include. Oh, the hours you spent tracking down the correct serial numbers for a Belgian sniper rifle, or Ivan the Terrible’s underwear size, or the exact farm-to- market road your heroine would drive to reach Blooming Grove, Texas. And scanning over your scene, you realize that the tidbit is NOT THERE. How could this be? It must be the copyeditor struck it out and you didn’t notice. Or maybe you realized you didn’t need said tidbit because it slowed down the story and so like a reasonable person you took it out. But you don’t remember making that edit. Don’t worry. You can bore people with the obscure research for years to come. Look out, cocktail parties!

To find out the rest of the FIVE THINGS THEY NEVER TELL YOU click here

TARA JANZEN | EIGHT GREAT THINGS ABOUT BEING A ROMANCE WRITER

I was going to blog about sex in cars. In my CRAZY and LOOSE books there is a lot of sex in cars. I remember reading an online comment one time where a reader complained about “Geez, her characters are having sex in another car, always with the sex in the cars!” and at the time, I thought it was a topic that needed addressing. But when it came time to blog over here at Fresh Fiction, I thought, well, inevitably, when you get to the end of your blog, the obvious question to spark some comments will be “Have you ever had sex in a car? And what kind of car was it?”

It occurred to me at that point that possibly I should change my topic, just in case people were a little shy about sharing those automotive rendezvous with the entire online world. Sooooo, here we go with topic number two – Eight Great Things About Being a Romance Writer.

Want to know what the EIGHT GREAT THINGS ABOUT BEING A ROMANCE WRITER ARE? To not only find out, but to also enter Tara's one day contest click here

SIMON BECKETT | THE PERFECT PUBLICITY PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

Well, it's been an interesting week. Work on my new David Hunter novel was temporarily suspended for a sudden flurry of publicity. Which makes a welcome break, to be honest, and gets me away from my desk. But I've discovered that one of the side effects of writing about a forensic anthropologist - someone who spends much of his working life with the not-so recently dead - is that you do get some unusual requests. Which was how I came to be in an abandoned cemetery at dusk one evening, posing for photographs in the pouring rain for a German newspaper.

Want to know more about Simon Beckett's photo experiences click here

Lisa Jackson | It Takes A Village

I never intended to write a series of connected books. I was always a stand alone girl. Well, okay, there were a few books in my old series romance novels days that were connected, but for the most part I started each book with new characters and a new setting. Fresh start--fresh mind and all that.

Then, about ten or twelve years ago all that changed. I wrote HOT BLOODED with the idea of a companion book, COLD BLOODED in the back of my mind. My editor liked the detectives of the New Orleans Police Department in the first book so well he suggested we go for the second. Okay, no problem. I remembered most of book one and had enough notes to make certain the second novel made sense, that each character looked the same, was true to him/herself, lived in the same house, d rove the same car and so on and so forth. You get the idea.

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Julie Ann Long | SINCE THE SURRENDER... AN EXCERPT

Captain Chase Eversea and Rosalind March employ a street urchin, Liam Plum, to help with their search for Lucy, Rosalind’s missing sister—but when the boy’s sister and only surviving relative disappears, too, the mystery thickens, sizzling attraction deepens, and they’re forced to admit how much the boy matters to them. Chase is recruited to give the filthy boy a bath (with lavender soap, no less), and this scene starts after Chase carries a sleeping Liam to bed and Chase and Rosalind are tantalizingly alone again...

"He weighs nothing at all." He said it nearly tonelessly.

They sat in silence. Knowing they’d both just irretrievably given up the safety of ambivalence toward the boy. They’d allowed him to mean something. Neither of them were pleased about it, but neither would they give him up for the world now.

The fire popped loudly. Rosalind jumped.

For more in Julie Anne Long's exciting excerpt click here

Sandi Shilhanek | TAKING A RIDE ON THE READING ROLLERCOASTER

I’m sure we’ve all had weeks full of ups and downs, because after all isn’t that part of life? This week has been full of them for me, both in my family life, and in my reading life.

I was fortunately enough to read The Perfect Couple and The Perfect Liar by Brenda Novak . I totally enjoyed both books in the series, and was truly satisfied when I had turned the last page. The new trilogy is an extension of last year’s trilogy featuring The Last Stand.

Do not however despair if you have not read last year’s books. This year’s
books are in my opinion totally independent not only of those, but of each
other as well. Previous characters do have cameo appearances, but each story
is written as to truly stand alone quite nicely.

So as you see the books I was able to read were a definite up for me. So, you may ask what did you read or hear that caused a downturn in the reading side of your life. I discovered that two authors I have read and enjoyed will no longer be under contract.

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