Hi everyone. Just a quick update.  Although the first winners of the 2020 All-Genre Manuscript Contest have been announced, it’s not over yet. Between now and May 1st, Inkshares will be looking at the other entrants and may select additional  winners. They said they will rely heavily on the nomination feature to help in their determinations. If you haven’t nominated Tears of Venus yet, I would love your support. All you need to do is log into Inkshares and click the "nominate" button on my page. You’ll be asked a few questions such as what books TOV is similar to and why you think it should be published.

Here is the link to my page: https://www.inkshares.com/books/tears-of-venus

Thanks everyone!

Hello Everyone, 

I’ve got some news. The first winners of the 2020 All-Genre Manuscript Contest have been announced but it’s not over yet. Between now and May 1st, Inkshares will be looking at the other entrants and may select additional winners based on reader interaction and overall merit of the books content. One of the things that will help them narrow down the field is the new nomination feature. 

So if you like what you see with Beyond the Masquerade and want it to become a reality, let the people at Inkshares know with a nomination. 

Thank you all for your support

OK, folks, this is the news I have been waiting to share for … well, more pandemic-plagued months than I care to count: 

Bane of All Things will publish on Nov. 9, 2021!

That means you will finally have your copy, or copies, for Christmas (depending, of course, on the cooperation of the postal service, if that involves print copies).

Nov. 9 is months later than it might have otherwise been without COVID, but a month or two sooner than we thought it might be a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of Avalon Radys, Noah Broyles and the rest of the Inkshares team, the train has left the station.

You can already see the placeholder for BoAT with its ISBN numbers here on Amazon.ca (it should be showing up on Amazon.com at any time). You have no idea how much I have anticipated the day when I could point you to that!

Sometime soon, we will get into layout and cover design. The next big milestone will be the cover reveal. The current cover is of course just a placeholder whipped up by yours truly with an Adobe Stock image.

I’ve said it many times before but can never say it enough – thank you to each and every one of you. None of this would have been possible without your support and patience.

Stay safe and keep reading!

Cheers

Leo

Hello, lovely readers! I hope you’re all doing well, as much as possible - it’s cool and rainy here today, and it’s making me happy, in the way that hot coffee and the scent of rain can. I wanted to let you know that I’ve got a couple of exciting author events coming up, plus some Demon for Midwinter series news!

First, on the more academic side, my scholarly publisher McFarland (they specialize in pop culture studies) is having a Virtual Author Fair this Saturday, March 6, from 1pm to 5pm EST (that’s 10-2 in PST, where I am)!. We’ll have 18 authors (including me!) briefly (10-15 minutes each) talking about their books and scholarly projects, on topics including film, history, ethics in Terry Pratchett’s fantasy, gender and superheroes, the music of Bruce Springsteen, religion in horror films, memoir, motherhood, and more!

The full schedule and event link is available here at the Facebook event site (most info is under the Discussion tab) - I’ll be the second speaker, talking about ethics and Sir Terry Pratchett, and then popping in again for the roundtable at the end. It’s all free, so drop in and out as you like!

McFarland is also providing a discount code you can use on the books by participating authors - use code VVAF for 20% off, through March 14! So come join us on March 6 for some scholarly pop culture discussions!


Second, the second (heh) Rainbow Space Magic online LGBTQ+ science fiction and fantasy convention will be happening March 12-14! We’ll have a wonderful array of workshops, panels, and readings - you can find the full schedule here and registration (free) here!

The times for my events specifically are:
panel: Fandom & Fanfiction, Saturday PT 7:00pm / MT 8:00pm / CT 9:00pm / ET 10:00pm (come listen to us chat about interpretations, subversions, and transformations of narratives!)
reading: Sunday PT 8:00am / MT 9:00am / CT 10:00am / ET 11:00am (*assuming we stay in listed order, I’ll be the last one reading) (I’m thinking probably something from "Frost & Raine" because that’s recently published and I think - I hope? - sometimes decently funny...though maybe I’ll pull out something brand-new and currently in progress, like the opening of Magician, because I’m enjoying writing it so much! I mean, our titular magician likes tropical beaches and hot baths and honey in his tea, and does not enjoy being disturbed by a terribly earnest young prince On A Quest...)


Third, the Demon for Midwinter news! Two things are happening!

~First, there’ll be a tiny ~free~ bonus scene short story releasing March 20! It’s called "Bedknobs & Brimstone," and it’s very short - just under 2k words - and it’s essentially about...well...let’s go with, "oops, I have a lot of magic now and accidentally set our bed on fire while we were mid-foreplay, sorry?" Poor Justin. At least his husband’s an empath and can reassure him!

~Second, there’ll be a box set of the completed series coming - also in March, more or less! As soon as that final free bonus story comes out, the whole set will go into Kindle Select first for three months, and then wide everywhere! With a shiny new cover!


I think that’s all the exciting news! Maybe I’ll see you at some of the above events? I hope so!
Oh, and one more thing - I got my first Pfizer vaccine dose yesterday! And have the second dose scheduled in three weeks! *throws confetti and bakes a cake* Such a relief!

I hope you’re all staying safe, out there, and keeping warm, if it’s also rainy and chilly where you are! Happy reading!

Hello Everyone, 

Well, the 2020 All-Genre Manuscript Contest has come to a close and Beyond the Masquerade came in a 8th place. Pretty good considering there were more then 300 entries but, unfortunately, not good enough for the prize. 

I am still proud of the position it reached and I would like to thank all of you who decided to take a chance on my work and a special thanks to the Break the Bechdel Syndicate for selecting Beyond the Masquerade. It was a big help in getting as far as it did. 

The campaign is still up and running so, if you haven’t already, give it a follow and share it around. Every little bit helps. 

Thanks again for your support. 

Kelsey Rae Barthel