Happy Valentine's Day from The Dawnflier of author @KimHeadlee #MFRWOrg #ASMSG

Valentine's Day Marriage Proposal,
(c)2011 by Subbotina, Depositphotos ID 10605111.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I selected this photo because my then-boyfriend proposed to me on Valentine's Day more than three decades ago. Since I wanted a June wedding, we set a date for the following year, and we have been together ever since. For better and for worse, it has been quite the ride. :)


Book news:

• The audiobook edition of Liberty is coming along nicely at a rate of at least one chapter finished per week. I can scarcely wait to share it with you!
• The passing of my dad 11 months ago threw me into an emotional tailspin, as you might imagine, complicated by the fact that I am his only heir and so all of the estate settlement duties fell on my shoulders, creating a cross-country probate process. Even so, I’m continuing to make progress on Angusel’s story in  Raging Sea, and I am scheduled to deliver the completed manuscript to my editor by the 1st of May. Part 1 (Raging Sea: Reckonings) and part 2 (Raging Sea: Enemies and Allies) are now on sale.
• There have been so many changes to the publishing industry that I have totally overhauled my Business of Writing nonfiction book. To celebrate, I have scheduled a Goodreads Giveaway for this great resource. Scroll down a bit to enter!

Upcoming:

• I will be signing and selling my books all weekend at Farpoint (Delta Hotels Baltimore Hunt Valley, MD; aka. Hunt Valley Inn), February 9–11. This is a new venue and weekend for this convention, but the dealers still will be set up in a public area, so you do not have to register for the convention to visit my table. In addition, I will be participating in the Book Fair (10:00 p.m. Fri.) and the following panel discussions: Star Trek: Deep Space 9 at 25 (11:00 a.m. Sat.), Shifting Landscape of Publishing (2:00 p.m. Sat.), Gender Bending (7:00 p.m. Sat.).
• I am slated as an author-guest at MystiCon (Roanoke, VA), February 23–25, where I will be presenting my Business of Writing lecture; other program participation TBA.

Keep calm and throw on another blanket!

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I'm running a giveaway for an e-copy of my sword-and-sorcery novella, Kings!

To enter, click HERE.

MailChimp subscribers to The Dawnflier receive exclusive giveaway opportunities.
Subscribe today so you don't miss out!

***

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Business of Writing

by Kim Iverson Headlee

Giveaway ends February 28, 2018.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Good luck!

The Next Business of Writing Workshop: @FarpointCon SFF Con, Timonium, MD Feb 13!

Farpoint 23: "Baltimore Fandom's Family Reunion"
February 12-14, 2016, Radisson Hotel North Baltimore, Timonium, MD.

The Business of Writing workshop is going back on the road, this time to Farpoint, affectionately known as Baltimore Fandom's Family Reunion. 

And that's no exaggeration: there's an intimate, so-glad-to-see-you-again-my-friend ambiance to this con that cannot be duplicated at the larger fan cons and comic-cons. 

My Business of Writing workshop presentation is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13. All my panels and appearances:

Friday, Feb. 12

• 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. (except where noted below) Manning my table in the Dealers Room—which is open to the public at this con. My fantastic husband has volunteered to hold down my little fort this weekend whenever I'm occupied elsewhere. <3
• 4:00 p.m. Writing the Other (creating characters different from you in terms of gender, culture, sexuality, etc.), with Rigel Ailur, Jennifer Povey, and Jay Smith
• 7:00 p.m. Publishing on a Budget: Spending Your Money Wisely, with Danielle Ackley-McPhail, T.J. Perkins, and Richard C. White

Saturday, Feb. 13

• 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (except where noted below) My table in the Dealers Room (open to the public)
• 5:00 p.m. Dramatic reading from King Arthur's Sister in Washington's Court. I plan to donate my final ARC copy to Farpoint's charity auction.
• 6:00 p.m. The Business of Writing Workshop
• 7:00 p.m. Enter the Hobbit (creating realistic sword fighting scenes in your novel), with Mike McPhail, and Richard C. White
• 9:00 p.m. Building an Audience (social media marketing techniques), with Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jay Smith, and Michael Ventrella

Sunday, Feb. 14

• 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. (except where noted below) My table in the Dealers Room (open to the public)
• 1:00 p.m. A Charlie Brown Farpoint: Celebrating 65 years of Charles Schulz and the Peanuts Gang, with Allyn Gibson and Howard Weinstein

I hope to reunite with you this weekend! :)

***

All this month, you are invited to...
— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow
... and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. Please enter often, and good luck!

Meet the sweet young reason I'll be alone this #ValentinesDay and at #FarpointCon2015

Her dark, languid eyes say, "I love you." Her soft brown hair with lovely black streaks shimmers in the sun. She has a tease in her step and a fetching voice. She loves to cuddle. Her name is Aurora.

And, oh yeah, Aurora is a baby goat. <3

Aurora at a few hours old
02/06/2015

Aurora is one of three kids born on our farm since Groundhog Day. A sibling and two half siblings didn't make it. And life goes on.

Aurora's mom Idriel, who declined to pose for this picture, is recovering from a case of e-coli mastitis that almost killed her, so we are feeding Aurora formula supplements every few hours. Idriel is still on antibiotics, we have to "strip" (i.e., milk) out the infected fluid as often as she will let us, and we're applying salve to the lone affected teat at least once a day. Grand-goat Luna, Idriel's mom, is a riot as she tries to "help" us and acts as Aurora's main protector while Idriel rebuilds her strength.

The other twin kids, white-blond Groundhog Day babies Punx and Tawny, and their mom Phoebe are all doing great; no extra help required for them.

I handle Aurora's feedings solo while my husband Chris is at school. He's been coming home earlier than usual these days, though, because he enjoys the process as much as I do. But he will have to manage this and other chores while I'm appearing as a guest author at this year's Farpoint Convention in Hunt Valley, MD outside Baltimore.

Ever since our daughter started volunteering at the con several years ago, Chris & I have treated the weekend as a lovely little midwinter break, whether we actually attend the con or not. Most years I schedule a spa day! This is the first year that I've been invited as a guest, we had lined up the neighbors to feed the animals, including Aurora, and we were looking forward to another great weekend away together... until Mother Nature decided that she had other ideas.

With forecast temperatures in the single digits and 30-50 mph winds, there was no way Chris was going to leave Aurora, Punx, Tawny, their moms, and the rest of the herd to risk those fierce conditions without someone being around 24x7 to look after them and their Great Pyrenees guardian dogs. So he's still going to be taking his planned day off on Friday, but he'll be using it to stack hay bales as wind breaks outside the barn... and, of course, feed Aurora and hang out with her half sisters.

Weather, traffic, and other forces willing, I will arrive at the con in plenty of time to rest up for my first appearance, Friday night at 10:00 p.m. at the Farpoint Book Fair.

Here's a fun idea: if you've read this far and are attending the con, find me at the book fair, mention Aurora's name, and I'll give you a free copy of one of my books! That's at least a $15 value, in case you're wondering. In fact, I'll extend the offer to any of my appearances throughout the weekend, which are:

• Friday 10:00 Farpoint Book Fair, Dulaney 1 & 2
• Saturday 9:00 Biblically-Inspired Paranormal Shows, Chesapeake 2
• Saturday 10:00 Fairy Tales Come to Life, Dulaney 2
• Saturday 11:00 Autographs, Dulaney 1 (with Peter David, Phil Giunta, and Richard White)
• Saturday 12:00 Author Readings, Dulaney 1 (with Joseph F. Berenato, TJ Perkins, and David Mack)

I've blocked off Saturday afternoon as my spa day, and I plan to devote Sunday to working on my WIP Raging Sea, to keep ahead of my weekly #SundaySnippets here on The Maze, before heading home Monday -- just before Mother Nature is scheduled to dump several inches of snow on our farm.

Please wish me -- and Chris -- luck!

All this month, you are invited to...
— Follow me on Twitter
— Add me to Google+
— Subscribe to my YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on my blog, especially if you have done the Twitter and/or YouTube follow
...and each action this month is good for one chance to win an e-book copy of Liberty. Please enter often, and good luck!