The result will be an appreciable improvement in my writing so I can’t be accused of going to the convention just to have fun (and if you’re one of the many that I danced with while there, thanks!)

Fractured Horizon

I’m getting a renewed number of requests for the sequel. Can it be that I’m reaching the end of your patience? With Podioracket.com going on hiatus at the end of this week, I hope to have the time I need over the summer to finish the sequel.

A print version of Fractured Horizon isn’t really in the works any longer. I’d rather move on to more writing than further attempts to get this edited for print. It takes energy away from new projects. 

However, if you would like a digital copy to read you may email me and I will provide it with the caveat that it has only been edited by the author (I do a decent job, really, but things are bound to slip through when the author edits herself). Also specify if you want the original story, which matches the audio, or the ‘new and improved’ shorter version. I really do think the shorter version is better–Devon’s visions are more cohesive, they’re consistently third person, and extraneous material throughout has been stripped away along with 20,000 words and a few surprisingly disposable characters.

The publisher’s complaint was that I don’t get to the crux of Kay’s reasons for traveling forward through time soon enough, and the love story isn’t well developed enough. These are solid points and I’ll consider addressing them. . . in yet another version. But for now, I’m going to look forward instead of back.

How else will I get that sequel done?

Podioracket

As I mention above, Podioracket.com is going on haitus for the summer. It can’t come soon enough, quite honestly. After more than a year of interviews, tips, and news, Rhonda and I are still looking for ways to keep the show about Podiobooks.com authors interesting for the listener– and ourselves.

Podioracket Presents- Visionaries

The anthology is complete. The LIVE Blog Talk Radio show for PRP-V, where we’ve invited the final 8 authors, airs on June 9th at 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern at www.blogtalkradio.com/podioracket. We moved the show from its previously scheduled date due to conflict with Balticon. It should be a fun show. I hope you can join us. I’ll be there.

Short Story

A new short story will air on HorrorAddicts.net around June 20th.

I’m the ‘Most Wicked’ winner for 2009. Naturally, feeling the pressure that such a title entails, I took my assigned theme and then completely screwed around with it. It’s possible that my experiment fails utterly, but no one will accuse me of delivering the expected. My first story was the sci-fi piece, “Undergrowth” dedicated to the host of horroraddicts’ dislike (and allergies to) all things green and growing. The second was contemporary with suspenseful mysticism in “Graveyard Shift (& re-shift)” where I met the theme of ‘how to kill a husband’ with visions of graveyards, live burials, and twinkies.

The newest piece is fantasy horror on the theme of Death entitled “Great Asp & Little Death”. I anthropomorphize Death (who is neither Hades nor the Grim Reaper) as he stalks a woman-warrior of near mythic proportion fresh from battle and dealing with her husband’s death and her own imminent demise. Will she achieve hero status and be made immortal? Or will the wounds to her heart and body give her over to Death first?

Is that blurb intriguing? I never know what to say about these things. I have an upcoming interview for HorrorAddicts where I suppose I’ll figure out what to say.

Submitted

I submitted two new short stories to paying publishers. Now the waiting begins.

At the convention I attended one of the panelists had 59 stories in rotation going to and from potential markets. Evidently I need to write more.

That’s it for this update. If I didn’t touch on something, it is likely because there are no updates to give. But, as always, feel free to email me or leave comments.

Fractured Horizon- Is there more?

I have recently received some wonderful comments on my novel, Fractured Horizon. They mean a lot to me and I thank you for your comments, ratings, and questions.

A listener, Steve, made some great observations about the novel. He also asked me a very timely question:

“I always leave a story that I enjoy wanting more, whether in print, audio or film. And that is the way it should be. Then, as so often happens, ‘more’ is when you finally get it ‘less’. So I hesitate to ask … is there any more of Katherine Downs?”

I did not want to make any premature announcements. However, I know that I have been saying I’d have a text version available at the end of this year and planned to have an audio version of the sequel available at the start of 2010. The text version is delayed. In the course of searching for an editor, the partial of Fractured Horizon came before an editor who loved it. The full text is now being considered for publication by a small publishing house.

Naturally I am excited, but it would be premature to celebrate. I do have 40,000 words of the sequel but I have put it aside to work on another book. If Fractured Horizon is chosen to be published it will go through their editing process. It is also quite long, so I know there would be cuts. I think it best to hold off on the sequel until I know what changes are involved.

(and Steve, your other observations were great. I’ll address them in their own post in the near future)

Tales of the Children

My short story “Feverfew” was accepted by P.G. Holyfield, author of Murder at Avedon Hill, for his Tales of the Children anthology. He plans to do a live vidcast of himself reading the tortured fantasy tale on the evening of Wednesday, December 30th. Following the live reading, after editing, the story will be available  on his RSS feed. I’ll see if I can get a copy for us on this web site. At the very least I’ll post a link.

P.G. is fun, and at the live reading you have the opportunity to interact and ask questions. If you’re expecting my no-nonsense approach to podcasting, such as my Fh episodes or the 20-minute Podioracket.com interviews, then consider this fair warning. P.G. Holyfield moves at a much easier pace.

I’ll get you more details as P.G. makes them available.

The Killer with Eyes of Ice

Necropolis Studio Productions closed auditions for my sci-fi/horror audio drama “The Killer with Eyes of Ice” on December 13th and we’re eagerly waiting for cast announcements. I know that Alex White, talented author of The Gearheart, tried out for a role. If you haven’t listened to his work, you should.

Once the cast is announced they will begin recording. I do not know dates, but am hopeful we can hear the full production, with cast and special effects, some time in February. And if it lives up to my expectations it is going to be award-winning GOOD!

The Rest- Podioracket & Podcrafters

Podioracket.com remains on hiatus, though we’ve scheduled interviews and blogs during this time so you’ll hardly know that Rhonda R Carpenter and I are gone.

Podcasting in Second Life is about to get a boost from the new group Podcrafters. I expect that I’ll be announcing opportunities in the coming year. I believe that several members are having open office hours for anyone who wants to drop by, but I’m sticking sincerely to this hiatus so that I can get more writing done! No new projects for me until 2010.

I thought that after the initial enthusiasm, and as our process matured, the pace would slow down. However, things may not go though the slow period that I have been anticipating since we are once again expanding our reach. Evo Terra has invited Podioracket.com to share podcast episodes on Podiobooks.com’s own Podiobooker RSS feed. This will put us right where we want to be, in front of the Podiobooks.com listeners. We couldn’t be more pleased.

We have also begun putting our episodes on Blog Talk Radio to see if we can find an untapped audience who might like listening to audiobooks, and just not know it yet.

Since the inception of Podioracket.com I have done a little fiction writing. The flash fiction piece in my previous post, an excellent horror sci-fi story that will come out later this year in Horror Addicts, and a fairytale/horror story that is terrible and will likely never be seen anywhere. Hey, they aren’t all masterpieces.

I hope this answers any questions you may have had. As always, write me to share your thoughts. I’m quite friendly.