Nov 3, 2014

Cosplay, Interview, Guest Blog, Giveaway & Release Party Galore!

Hi, hello, how are ya?

I am busy as all get out!

I always think I have more time, but there's never enough time in the world for everything I want to do.

But before I get into all that, how was your Halloween? Did you dress up? I love dressing up. It's one of my favorite things to do, though I rarely have the opportunity or time to do it. I used to always dress up for Halloween. It's my favorite holiday -- so much so that I even got married on Halloween! But as one gets older there seems to be a lot less opportunities to dress up for it. That's why I love Comikaze. It's near where I live, so it's easy to get to, and I get to dress up and check out new indie comic books and buy some collectibles.

Last year I went as Slave Leia, which was a big hit. Tons of people asked for photos with me. I had no idea of the kind of attention I'd get! This year I was feeling a little more shy, so I went with some less revealing costumes (plus it was chillier this year).

I was torn between a few different ideas, but I ultimately decided on an Anarchy Cheerleader from the Smells Like Teen Spirit video (my 20 year old self was so proud)...


And Goth Trek...


I also got to pose with my favorite monster...

Toxie!
And what would a comic book convention be without comic books?

Comikaze Comic Book Haul Day 1
Comikaze Comic Book Haul Day 2
My goals for the weekend were to discover some new indie comic books and find some back issues of older ones that I recently discovered. I had recently read Black Science 1, Lazarus 1, and Fatale 1 and was dying to read more so those were top priority. I met one of the creators of Metalocalypse, so I had to get a couple of his comic books signed. I also stumbled onto a Neil Gaiman coined comic book, as well as a couple Blade Runner ones, so those were must haves. The rest were new discoveries. One new one that I enjoyed was Menhit: the Mighty, about a shy girl who discovers she's the reincarnation of an ancient, powerful goddess. That one was fun! Another fun one was Time Mason, which features Albert Einstein as a time traveling hero sent out to right wrongs and fight time crimes. Most of the rest I have yet to read.

I also got a couple of collectibles, including Jon Snow and Ghost Funko vinyl figures (not pictured), as well as the super awesome Galaxy Quest ship (pictured above), which now makes me want to collect ALL the major scifi ships, damn it! I will own Serenity one day, I will...

Speaking of collectibles... (smooth segue, eh?)

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Scarlett and I are currently running a contest for our new book, SAURIMONDE II. You should totally enter to win -- right here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As you can see we have lots of cool prizes. I'm pretty excited to start making the Saurimonde themed necklaces. I'm still getting the parts in the mail but here's a glimpse of what I have so far so you can get an idea of what they will look like when completed.

Inside the pendant will be a Saurimonde themed image with glass covering.


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Scarlett and I have been wicked busy promoting our new book with all sorts of Facebook Parties, interviews, and guest blog posts. Here's a snippet from a lengthy author interview we did for Rising Shadow:

What is the target audience of Saurimonde and Saurimonde II?

Scarlett: I think people who loves dark fantasy and are interested in supernatural mythology and in magic will enjoy this book. There are strong elements of sex and violence but the action is fairly tightly written so it is a bit of a page turner. The first book contains quite a bit of death magic and the metaphor of 'day and night are not what they seem' is also a metaphor for the psychological aspects of what needs to be destroyed in oneself to come back to the essential authentic wild soul. I also think that anyone who has every been bullied or been forced to live in the shadow of someone more powerful than themselves and has found the courage to rise up and find their own voice and personal power will enjoy these books.

Melissa: I would add anyone who is fascinated by otherworldliness, things unseen but felt, and the thin veil between the normal and the paranormal, like shapeshifters, and those who want to escape to another world for a while.



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And, just today, our guest blog post for The Qwillery was posted. You should totally check that out here: http://qwillery.blogspot.com/2014/11/guest-blog-by-scarlett-amaris-melissa.html

It's about the Inspirations for the Conjuring of Saurimonde. Fun, esoteric legends for the fantasy-minded.


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What else, what else? Oh! Geesh, how could I forget?

We're also having our big SAURIMONDE II release party on November 11 at 8PM EDT over on Facebook. You should come join us in celebrating the launch of our new book. There will be prizes, guest authors, and, of course, us. Come, hang out, ask us anything! 

Here's the link for that: https://www.facebook.com/events/1565803353643070/.

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Well, I think that about covers it. I know it was a lot of stuff to read, so thank you if you made it this far!! I really need to get more on the ball with timely blog posts but I seem to blink and weeks whiz by. It's mostly due to the fact that I'm working on my next book, Xodus. It's a massive scifi epic that involves teenage twin girls, their younger brother, missing parents, spaceships, aliens, special powers, a dying earth, and travelling across the universe. Phew! I've been having a blast both writing it and researching for it. I am endlessly fascinated by sites like Space.com and looking up various ideas on how to build a spaceship that could actually travel in deep space, as well as all the conspiracy theories on UFOs and alien abductions. At some point I've really got to post a blog about my trip to Joshua Tree for Contact in the Desert. A fabulous mix of bonkers and believable! But I'll save that for another blog post...

Until next time...

"Never give up, never surrender!"