Publishing Monday: Congrats all around!

A quick round up of recent publications by three of my favorite colleagues:

1. My cousin Vicky Alvear Shecter’s book CLEOPATRA’S MOON was just published by Arthur Levine Books. CLEOPATRA’S MOON is a young adult historical fiction novel about the only surviving child of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. Based on real events and individuals in history, it tells the story of a young woman determined to carve her own future after the tragic loss of everything she’s ever known and everyone she’s ever loved. It’s garnering some much-deserved rave reviews:

“This novel has romance, drama, heartbreak, and adventure…Shecter writes about the world of ancient Egypt and Rome with wonderful detail, making it come alive…A fantastic read with some valuable history.” — School Library Journal

“Fascinating historical novel…Cleopatra Selene proves a stalwart heroine, and the novel’s atmospheric setting and romantic intrigue are highly memorable.”—
Publishers Weekly

“The historical context and characters are well drawn…makes for intriguing storytelling…a romantic and exciting story.” —
Kirkus

2. The trade edition of Joanna Powell Colbert’s long-awaited Gaian Tarot is finally available from Llewellyn Worldwide. Joanna created the Gaian Tarot to speak directly to the hearts of those who practice an earth-centered spirituality. Though the deck has been available as a collector’s limited edition, I’m pleased that the Gaian will now be available to the world at large. I know how many years Joanna has worked on this project—a real labor of love.

3. Finally, Susanne Dunlap, author of IN THE SHADOW OF THE LAMP, THE MUSICIAN’S DAUGHTER and other wonderful historical fiction novels, has branched into iPhone development with several colleagues. Their WordWit app from Ballpoint, Inc. pairs misused words with their evil twins, explains them clearly, and provides entertaining examples from literature and the media. It’s also beautifully designed. A delicious mixture of reference app and game app, WordWit will get people interacting with words in a whole new way. I was fortunate to try the app in beta format—fun and totally addictive. Download WordWit from the App Store.

Congratulations to everyone! But wait, there’s more: In September, I’ll be interviewing Vicky and Joanna about their newest publications. I’m really looking forward to learning more about their creative processes. Plus there will be giveaways of CLEOPATRA’S MOON and the GAIAN TAROT courtesy of Scholastic Books and Llewellyn Worldwide.

• Filed under art and words, friends and colleagues, giveaways and raffles, iPhone apps, publishing, retail therapy, reviews + press, tarot and oracles | 6 Responses

It’s here: Goddess Tarot for Android app!

After months of work, here it is at last!

As you can see, we’ve kept the design of the Goddess Tarot android app as close as possible to the iPhone version but with one important upgrade: the Android app has been designed for both phone and tablet screens. So it’s two-for-one, so to speak. It’s also on sale at a special launch price of $1.99 at Android Market. (Eventually it will be available from Amazon’s App Store too.)

I hope you’ll go forth and download. Here are a few additional screen captures of it.

• Filed under goddesses, iPhone apps, new projects, tarot and oracles | No Comments

Publishing Monday: Ack, it’s August!*

As you can see in the above photograph, the Wall of Projects has been quite full this season. That’s the only excuse I can give for allowing this blog to go dormant for a full month. I don’t think I’ve gone this long between updates since, well, I don’t know when. My semi-lame excuse: I’ve been overwhelmed with trying to finalize several major projects before going on summer break.

Did I accomplish everything I wanted to? No. But I got quite close.** A quick recap to bring you up to speed on some of what’s going on in my studio:

1. THE LILY MAID. Goal: To finish revising and workshopping Part 1 and Part 2 (about 75k words) of my novel. Accomplished: Revised all but one chapter of Part 1; Part 2 semi-revised. Once I finish this, I’ve just the last third to edit. On the plus side, I’m very pleased with the feedback I’ve gotten so far on my revised chapters. My readers have been so supportive that I’m feeling so much more confident about my writing these days. And I’ve gained several astonishingly good critique partners and beta readers through the HNS conference and my novel-writing workshop at Sackett Street Writers.

Here’s a post-revision excerpt from the first page of THE LILY MAID, which I’m quite happy with:

A painting undermined my father. And, as you will see by the end of my story, a painting nearly destroyed me. Art is dangerous like that, an unruly thing. I used to consider it as superfluous as those who dedicated their lives to creating it. But I no longer do—I’ve learned this lesson, along with so many others, over the past months. During this period my life has become as foreign to me as another land.

When a life is about to be turned upside-down, there should be some sort of sign so you can prepare yourself. In my case, I received it about a year ago as a communication from beyond the grave. The message was so obvious that I ignored it. I couldn’t believe that fate would be so inelegant.

It was on the first anniversary of my father’s unexpected death in the July of 1888 that my maternal great-aunt Georgiana decided to contact him in a séance. The truth was that my father, while a respected scholar, was not the most practical of men. While Aunt Georgiana was better off than we were thanks to an advantageous marriage, she was reluctant to financially help us from a fear of making us dependent. Instead she claimed my father’s spirit would guide us to some undisclosed funds. His family had been wealthy in Italy, but less so once they’d fled to England for political reasons. Having little experience with the frisson of the darkened room, Aunt Georgiana decided that the Bloomsbury Proper-gandists of Spiritualism would be the vehicle for my family’s liberation. She knew nothing about this group beyond the claims of their London Times advertisement—Novel and Marvelous Manifestations in Full Light. Daily at 3 and 8. The address listed was near the Strand just off Fleet Street.”

2. GODDESS TAROT ANDROID APP. Goal: On the market by the end of July. Accomplished: Almost finished—one last round of revisions and it should be ready for submission to Android Market. The good news is that the app has been designed to work on Android phones and tablets. It’s exactly the same as the Goddess Tarot iPhone app with a few very minor modifications for the Android platform. (On a related note, I’m hoping to put the Goddess Tarot iPad app into production this fall.)

3. SACRED WORLD ORACLE. Goal: Finished and to the published. Accomplished: Three cards left; the booklet text underway. This project is definitely a case of “so very close”—I’ve been trying to finalize it since the end of 2010. Sometimes my time in the studio seems like a giant game of Whack a Mole.

——————-

On top of all this, my website needs a major overhaul, I’ve several design jobs underway—I’m helping the lovely and amazing Sandra Gulland launch her new e-book imprint!—and the new gallery show needs to be hung. I’ve decided this time ’round to present a selection of my books and art—something I haven’t done in some time.

We’re also moving forward with scheduling new events for this fall. Our first event will be a feng shui workshop with author Tisha Morris on September 17th. Spaces are limited; registration is required. Learn more here.

And how was your summer so far? Feel free to post about it in the comment section. In the meantime, I’ll be catching my breath before diving in again.

*So much for my HNS recap “coming soon.” Sigh.

** In tarot, the Nine of Staves traditionally represents a brief break for rest before jumping back into the fray. Completion is so close, yet feels so far!

• Filed under The Novel, art and words, publications, publishing, tarot and oracles, the world around me | 2 Responses

Publishing Monday: HNS update coming soon….

I haven’t forgotten about posting about my experiences at the Historical Novel Society conference in San Diego. I’m just totally snowed under with work and responsibilities and solo parenting.

In the meantime, here are a few recaps from the following participants:

Elizabeth Kerri Mahon – author of SCANDALOUS WOMEN

Teralyn Rose Pilgrim – she has a series of posts about HNS.

Susan Spann – ditto as Teralyn.

C. W. Gortner – author of THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI and THE TUDOR SECRET.

Christy English – author of TO BE QUEEN.

I know there are lots of other HNS updates out there—send me your links if you have one. And my update coming soon!

• Filed under The Novel, the world around me, travels | No Comments

Creativity Friday: HNS conference, new projects, and graduations

I’m back from the Historical Novel Society conference in San Diego—a whirlwind of an experience. The short version: I flew out Thursday, spent four exhilarating days with 300 historical fiction authors, agents, editors, and readers, and then flew out on the red eye to make it back to Brooklyn in time for my daughter Thea’s kindergarten graduation Tuesday morning.

Yup, that kind of weekend.

I have a long post brewing about the HNS conference for my next Publishing Monday feature. There was a lot to take in that I’m still processing. The sessions were thought-provoking and entertaining. Unlike most of the authors there, I wasn’t pitching or promoting a book (though I did participate in the group book signing for DOOMED QUEENS). My main goal was to build community so I’d feel less isolated as I continue with my Victorian-set novel, THE LILY MAID.

On that note, I was extremely fortunate to have the opening pages of THE LILY MAID critiqued by the esteemed and established authors Laurel Corona (THE FOUR SEASONS, FINDING EMILIE), Christy English (TO BE QUEEN), and Michelle Cameron (THE FRUIT OF HER HANDS). All three were extremely encouraging and helpful. They also surprised me by telling me how literary my writing was. Strange as it may sound, in some ways I’m so new to this fiction writing thing that I have no idea where my novel fits. Is it upmarket commercial? Women’s fiction? Historical fiction? Or some combination of genres? I’ve been describing THE LILY MAID as GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING meets the early tightly-plotted novels of Sarah Waters with a soupçon of JANE EYRE. (If you can figure what genre this is, let me know.)

Frankly, I’m usually a loner when it comes to groups and organizations. What creatively-inclined introvert isn’t? However, by the time I left San Diego, I felt very much part of a vital, passionate publishing community. I can’t even begin to name all of the wonderful people I met who inspired me with their love of the historical fiction genre who I now consider friends. I’m also much clearer about the place my novel will have within the market and as literature. This alone seems a graduation as tangible in some ways as Thea’s little Pomp and Circumstance march in her classroom.

And now, I’m back at work. As usual, there are a gazillion projects underway as well as the usual household and childcare responsibilities. Foremost on my project list: finalizing the graphics for the Goddess Tarot android app and finishing up the Sacred World Oracle for U. S. Games Systems. On top of that, I’m workshopping fifty pages of THE LILY MAID at the Sackett Street Writers Workshop—a wonderful experience. The six other writers in my group are all so talented and insightful. Sackett Street specializes in small intensives with gifted writers, many who have MFAs or go on to get MFAs. (I was astonished my application was accepted since I don’t consider myself a dyed-in-the-wool literary writer. But after my critiques at HNS and at Backspace, I’m definitely rethinking this.) My first two chapters were workshopped last week, another graduation of sorts.

On a semi-related note, we’ve moved onto summer hours at the gallery through September. This is to allow me time to focus on my publishing deadlines. For more information, visit our events page.

• Filed under The Novel, art and words, creativity, studio and gallery, travels | 2 Responses