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!

Baby Goat Update and other news from The Dawnflier March 2015 #Arthurverse

Aurora (foreground) in front of her mom Idriel.
Punx (head up) and Tawny in background.
(c) 02/17/2015 by Kim Headlee

I am pleased to report that in spite of having been born in the middle of the worst cold streak in recent memory, our baby goats are doing great! 

My husband Chris handled the feedings and treatments while I attended Farpoint -- the drive back was a real lulu for me as I headed into what would become the storm system that caused the governor of Virginia to declare a statewide emergency, but I managed without incident -- and it was wonderful to see how much Aurora and her half sisters had grown in the three days I was away! We are still treating Idriel's e-coli mastitis, but she is now producing enough milk that Aurora has stopped taking supplemental feedings. But she still loves to cuddle and now will crawl up into our laps!

Idriel and her mom Luna make sure Aurora is safe with Chris.
(c) 02/17/2015 by Kim Headlee

In book news...

I am appearing as a guest author at MystiCon 2015 in Roanoke, VA Friday, Feb. 27th until Sunday, March 1st; in fact, the programming committee graciously accepted my panel topic suggestion, "Sequels to 19th Century (and earlier) Fiction," which is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. I will be moderating this panel too!

Other panels I've been scheduled for include "Fire the Canon!" (Friday evening, 2/27 alongside Writer Guest of Honor Peter David, about whether or not to rely upon a series' canon when crafting sequels), "Exposition in SF and Fantasy" (noon Saturday), and "Women in Space" (Sunday morning). I will have author signings following "Fire the Canon!" and "Exposition in SF and Fantasy," and an author reading session following "Women in Space."

MystiCon has been sold out for several weeks now, but if you have purchased a membership and happen to see me at the con, mention this blog post and I'll give you a copy of one of my novels!

If you are planning to attend the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, VA later in March, please do make time in your schedule to stop by my Book Fair booth at the Omni Hotel on 21 March. Same offer applies: mention of this blog post is good for a free copy of one of my novels.

My new weekly blog feature, #SundaySnippets, features serial excerpts from my work-in-progress, Raging Sea. It's up to Chapter 1, Scene 4, but no worries if you have missed reading earlier installments; each excerpt contains links to the previous ones.

March 2nd - April 4th, Dawnflight will be on tour. Stay tuned for an announcement of the tour schedule! Its sequel Morning's Journey goes on tour in April, and Liberty follows in May. I will post the Morning's Journey tour signup link as soon as I receive it, but if you're interested in signing up for the Liberty tour (and I'm most grateful if you do), that signup form is here.

If you're a blogger, you're connected on Triberr, and you blog about the Arthurian Legends, even if it's only occasionally, take a peek at my new Triberr tribe, the Arthurverse (#Arthurverse)! I've found that Triberr is a great way to boost blog post views, and I'm happy to welcome new members who share my love for the Arthurian legends.

And I'm always on the lookout for more members to join my Street Team! All missions (mainly of the online variety, at present) are optional, but team members earn points toward special prizes such as free e-books, autographed print books, audiobooks, artwork, exclusive sneak peeks, and special mention in my next book! I invite you to join the Facebook group "Kim's All-Stars" and thanks!


During the Dawnflight tour, you are invited to...
— Follow me on Twitter
— Add me to Google+
— Subscribe to my YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on this 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 Dawnflight. 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!