Join author A. L. Kaplan for a teen-oriented workshop and learn how to create an environment that will grab your audience.
A purple cow flying over DC might get by in a fantasy or science fiction story, but is likely to yank your readers out of anything else. Every great story needs more than plot and characters. If the world your people inhabit isn’t believable, it won’t hold your readers attention.
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
8:00pm – 9:00pm Eastern Time
Looking for something fun to do this weekend?
Come to Awesome Con
I’ll be on the Other Realities: An Introduction to World Building panel with Joab Stieglitz and Jennifer Povey.
The panel begins at 5:45 PM on Saturday, August 21, 2021
Mask up and come on by.
Awesome Con
August 20-23, 2021
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
801 Mt Vernon Pl NW
Washington, DC 20001
Sometimes it’s hard to be who you are meant to be.
Especially when your powers can get you killed.
Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population.
Her power to heal may be overshadowed by more destructive abilities. Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble.
Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends…and herself.
Plagued by memories not her own, a young hummingbird struggles to decipher the visions and powers that set her apart from her fellow birds. But the road to awareness is fraught with danger that could doom her to repeat history. One step toward understanding. One stride toward survival. One leap toward flying free from the past.
A Hidden Past – A Deadly Secret
Gifted with the ability to wolf-talk, Kara has lived with the wolves since she lost her memories eight years ago. Now at sixteen, snippets of her past send her searching for answers.
But the warm welcome she receives in the human village hides more danger than life with the pack.
The first time I heard about Girl Scouts was from an older Brownie in grade school. My sister, several years my senior, had never joined. I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to don one of those cool brown dresses and put on my beanie. Each week we brought our dues, kept safe through the school day in a small leather belt-pouch with the Brownie logo on it. That simple act of bringing dues helped establish a sense of responsibility.
I’d always been a shy and awkward child, so being part of a group felt wonderful. We did many activities and projects, like paperclip necklaces wrapped with contact paper and cast resin paperweights. Knife skills and safety circles were also part of the program. I still check my safety circle when using a tool. The handbook had great illustrations and instructions, including how to make a bandana hat by tying it over your knee. It’s a shame those aren’t in the new handbook. Even the Brownie story has changed through the years. At least the investiture ceremony hasn’t.
“Twist me and turn me and show me an elf. I looked in the water and saw myself.”
From that time forward, the girl scout promise became part of me.
I loved being a Brownie and was very excited to fly up to Junior Girl Scouts, but missed the ceremony due to illness. The uniform of the day was green slacks with a green belt, a white button-down shirt with a trefoil pattern, and a snap on tie. I would have loved my girls to wear my uniform, but I must have been a total toothpick. Neither of them fit the uniform, not even my youngest who was always petite.
My first camping trip was either in Brownies or Juniors. I honestly can’t remember which. There’s nothing like staring at a campfire and the smell of burning wood. Unfortunately, I was afraid of bugs and the dark. The platform tents we stayed in had a lovely collection of creepy crawlies. Most of the night was spent scouring the walls with my flashlight to make sure nothing would crawl on me. Despite the nighttime fears, I had a great time.
Although I left Scouts because of a time conflict with religious school and meetings, the GS promise and law had become ingrained in my personality. It wasn’t until HS that a friend reintroduced me to Girl Scouts. I rejoined as a Senior scout and instantly fell in love with camping, wild foods, and lots of fun. Have you ever picked fiddle heads, or made acorn bread on a campfire stove? I did that and more.
A few activities stick out in my mind. The Yukon sled pull, was one of the first council events I participated in. Cadette troops pulled sleds around the lake, while Senior troops tested their knowledge at various stations. Having missed part of Juniors and all of Cadettes, I needed a crash course in safe handling of all the tools my troop was in charge of. It was the first time I’d ever handled an axe. I learned so much that day and had a blast at the same time. Another exciting weekend was a backpacking trip along the Appalachian trail. We hiked from High Point State Park to Sawmill Lake.
One of my fondest memories was the survival skills weekend. Our troop had spent all winter studying, and this was our chance to teach the Cadettes. We covered all the basics, and even did a search and rescue exercise. A friend of mine and I were “rescued” by a group trying to duck the exercise. After a few moments of scrambling to remember first aid, (I feigned a hurt ankle.) they managed to get us back to base camp safely. All in all, they did a great job, although I’d prefer not to be carried in a sleeping bag stretcher again. The exercise was called the next day. Storms had rolled in overnight, flooding several tents. Even with the downpour, three teams got their breakfast fires lit, one without matches, before we called it quits and went to the lodge.
Earning awards wasn’t my focus when I joined scouts. I was most interested in the social aspects. But after my first year back, I set myself an ambitious goal. The silver and gold awards were new and didn’t have the scout level restrictions they do now. It took a lot of hard work, but I proudly wore my senior uniform as I received the silver award. By the way, that was my least favorite uniform. The pea green skirt wasn’t too bad, but a green, yellow, and blue plaid shirt was too much to bear.
I’ve always loved the outdoors, whether it be gardening or exploring the woods. GS gave me the chance to expand my knowledge and experience. The wild foods skills came in handy when I moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where I harvested the edibles from my backyard garden and froze them for the winter. Even now, my family occasionally accuses me of feeding them weeds.
As an author, I often dip into what I learned in scouts. Tatiana, the main character in my novel, Star Touched, has a knack with wild foods and herbs. Kara, from Wolf Dawn, lived in the wild with a wolf pack for eight years. Even Maya, from Mark of the Goddess, knows which plants can help and which can kill. Their ideals mirror my own, and many reflect what I discovered in Girl Scouts.
By the way, I’ve held onto more than the Girl Scout promise and law. I still have my Brownie dues pouch, my junior uniform, and a few pieces of my Senior uniform. When my children were old enough, I became a troop leader. Both earned the Silver award and my Eldest, the gold. I’m super proud of the women they have become and am thrilled they were able to experience Girl Scouts like I did. We are all life time scouts. When they have kids, I hope they discover the joys of scouting as well.
Sometimes it’s hard to be who you are meant to be.
Especially when your powers can get you killed.
Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population.
Her power to heal may be overshadowed by more destructive abilities. Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble.
Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends…and herself.
A Hidden Past – A Deadly Secret
Gifted with the ability to wolf-talk, Kara has lived with the wolves since she lost her memories eight years ago. Now at sixteen, snippets of her past send her searching for answers.
But the warm welcome she receives in the human village hides more danger than life with the pack.
LIVESTREAMS
5-6PM – WORKSHOP WITH LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
Five-Point Plotting for Pantsers
with Linda Rondeau
VIEW THIS LIVESTREAM HERE: https://www.facebook.com/lindarondeau
7PM – WORKSHOP WITH ARIELE SEILING — Building A Marketing Strategy For Authors
VIEW THIS ZOOM WILL BE HERE: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85346264597?pwd=RUV6MkVpWVQ5TFNvazV3ZmxXNG4xQT09
A PASSCODE WILL BE REQUIRED – VISIT ARIELE’S AUTHOR PAGE FOR UPDATES
WORKSHOP WITH CHERYL W. BROOKS
Researching Biographies, Tips & Tricks with Cheryl W. Brooks
VIEW THIS RECORDING HERE: https://www.cherylwbrooksauthor.com/
WORKSHOP
How to Self-Publish a Children’s Book
With Author Sarah Petrosky & Illustrator Christie Sheridan
VIEW THESE RECORDINGS HERE: https://www.facebook.com/thewritewomenbookfest/
WORKSHOP WITH MARY E. JUNG
Women’s Fiction & Toxic Masculinity with Mary E. Jung
VIEW THIS RECORDING HERE: https://www.facebook.com/ROAMEJ/
EMPOWERMENT WITH KAMARI TALLEY
Building Season
Stay focused, meet your goals, and embrace who you are!
With Motivational Speaker Kamari Talley gives us you a short and powerful inspirational boost!
VIEW THIS RECORDING HERE: https://www.facebook.com/thewritewomenbookfest/
WORKSHOP WITH ARIELE SIELING
Creativity In Times of Stress with Ariele Sieling
VIEW THIS RECORDING HERE: https://youtu.be/JahZd6ASxGI
TALK WRITE WITH CARDYN BROOKS
VIEW THIS RECORDING HERE: https://youtu.be/sLkrxrqqw04
Query Experiences with Cardyn Brooks
Join me on FACEBOOK
If you haven’t had a chance yet, pick up a copy of Star Touched and Wolf Dawn.
Sometimes it’s hard to be who you are meant to be.
Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population.
Her power to heal may be overshadowed by more destructive abilities. Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble.
Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends…and herself.
A Hidden Past – A Deadly Secret
Gifted with the ability to wolf-talk, Kara has lived with the wolves since she lost her memories eight years ago. Now at sixteen, snippets of her past send her searching for answers.
But the warm welcome she receives in the human village hides more danger than life with the pack.
4-5PM AUTHOR READING WITH LINDA RONDEAU
VIEW THIS LIVESTREAM HERE: https://www.facebook.com/lindarondeau
Second Helpings with author Linda Rondeau
9-10PM – A FEW OF MY FAVORITE BOOKISH THINGS WITH MEGAN A. C. ELLIS
VIEW THIS LIVESTREAM HERE: https://www.instagram.com/meganacellis_author/
Writer Megan A. C. Ellis will discuss some of her favorite historical fiction authors and how she got started in bookstagramming as well as where she hopes to take it over the next several years.
WORKSHOP WITH HEATHER ELIZABETH KING
VIEW THIS RECORDING HERE: https://www.facebook.com/heatherelizabethkingauthor/
5-6PM – FAN TALK WITH KAREN JANOWSKY
VIEW THIS LIVESTREAM HERE: https://meet.google.com/mwg-skmd-ygr
Up, Up, and Away! Superheroes in Adult Fiction
with author Karen Janowsky
READING
Author Kara Pleasants will be reading from her Austunesque novel Disnenchanted
VIEW THIS READING HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bPB9oGW8to&feature=youtu.be
Join me on FACEBOOK
If you haven’t had a chance yet, pick up a copy of Star Touched and Wolf Dawn.
Sometimes it’s hard to be who you are meant to be.
Especially when your powers can get you killed.
Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population.
Her power to heal may be overshadowed by more destructive abilities. Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble.
Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends…and herself.
A Hidden Past – A Deadly Secret
Gifted with the ability to wolf-talk, Kara has lived with the wolves since she lost her memories eight years ago. Now at sixteen, snippets of her past send her searching for answers.
But the warm welcome she receives in the human village hides more danger than life with the pack.
I’ll be attending my first Arisia this January. Here is my preliminary schedule. I’ll let you know of any changes.
Gordon Linzner, James Hailer, A. L. Kaplan, Alex Feinman, Kristin Janz
The easy answer to starting a story is beginning the moment the conflict is introduced, but how do you know when that is? Answering this question and whether or not to prologue, panelists will explore the unique challenge of starting a story in settings with thousands of different worlds, millennia of history, and dozens of characters.
A. L. Kaplan, Timothy Goyette, Ian Randal Strock, Laurence Raphael Brothers
Could Flash fiction (stories shorter than 1000 words) be one of the literary forms best adapted for the Tweeting, FOMO, Entertainment-on-Demand moment we are living in? What are writers doing with the ultra short story? How can 1000 or less words really be enough to tell a complete (or mostly complete) story. Panelists will bring examples of flash fiction (which in some cases could be read entire) and techniques for boiling fiction to its most basic elements.
January 17-20, 2020: Arisia
Westin Boston Waterfront
425 Summer Street
Boston, MA 02210
“New England’s Largest, Most Diverse Sci-Fi & Fantasy Convention”
Don’t forget to pick up your copy of
Located at Marietta House Museum in Glenn Dale, MD
Saturday September 21st, 10 AM to 4 AM
The Glenn Dale Farmer’s Market will also be running until 2 AM, with some vendors staying on until 4 AM.
Rare Bird Books and California Coldblood Books are proud to bring you the remarkable debut novel from social media maven and marketing expert Drew Minh, Neon Empire.
About Drew:
Drew Minh is a digital advertising executive in Los Angeles, with firsthand knowledge of our current social media revolution. He’s lived in Barcelona and Paris, where he worked as a freelance writer, ghostwriter, and digital consultant. He’s had fiction published in 3AM magazine, Word Riot, Litro Magazine, and other publications. He also wrote a fictional crime column for weekly newspapers in Spain.
In a state-of-the-art city where social media drives every aspect of the economy, a has-been Hollywood director and an investigative journalist race to uncover the relationship between a rising tide of violence and corporate corruption.
Bold, colorful, and dangerously seductive, Eutopia is a new breed of hi-tech city. Rising out of the American desert, it’s a real-world manifestation of a social media network where fame-hungry desperados compete for likes and followers. But in Eutopia, the bloodier and more daring posts pay off the most. As crime rises, no one stands to gain more than Eutopia’s architects―and, of course, the shareholders who make the place possible.
This multiple-POV novel follows three characters as they navigate the city’s underworld. Cedric Travers, a has-been Hollywood director, comes to Eutopia looking for clues into his estranged wife’s disappearance. What he finds instead is a new career directing―not movies, but experiences. The star of the show: A’rore, the city’s icon and lead social media influencer. She’s panicking as her popularity wanes, and she’ll do anything do avoid obscurity. Sacha Villanova, a tech and culture reporter, is on assignment to profile A’rore―but as she digs into Eutopia’s inner workings, she unearths a tangle of corporate corruption that threatens to sacrifice Cedric, A’rore, and even the city itself on the altar of stockholder greed.
The Blog tour is just getting started. Check out these other sites.
| September 1 | Booklover Book Reviews Q&A and Giveaway |
| September 2 | Bookshine and Readbows Review |
| September 5 | AL Kaplan blog |
| September 6 | Books, Life and Everything Blog |
| September 7 | Tehben Review |
| September 8 | Books of All Shades |
| September 9 | The Bookwormery |
| September 10 (release day!) | Suanne Schafer interview |
| September 14 | Don Jimmy Reviews |
| September 19 | Suanne Schafer review |
Sometimes it’s hard to be who you are meant to be.
Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population.
Her power to heal may be overshadowed by more destructive abilities. Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble. Will Tatiana flee or stay and fight for the new life she has built? Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends…and herself.
A Hidden Past – A Deadly Secret
Gifted with the ability to wolf-talk, Kara has lived with the wolves since she lost her memories eight years ago. Now at sixteen, snippets of her past send her searching for answers.
Having a great story isn’t enough. If the world your characters live in isn’t believable, it won’t hold your readers. Learn how to create an environment that will grab your readers.
Join me at the Maryland Writers’ Association Baltimore Chapter meeting for a hands-on workshop. Don’t forget to bring writing materials.
August 29, 2019
7:00 – 8:30 PM – Cockeysville Recreation Center (across from the Cockeysville Library)
9836 Greenside Drive
Cockeysville, MD 21030
Welcome to WOLF NOTES, where interview questions stray from the rest of the pack. It’s nice to know the usual stuff like where an author gets their inspiration and why they write, but sometimes we need a little fun in our lives.
This week on Wolf Notes, we have Harrison Demchick.
Raised in Baltimore, Maryland on a steady diet of magical realism, literary fiction, science-fiction, and Spider-Man comics, Harrison Demchick spent most of his formative years inside his own head, working out strange thoughts and ideas that would eventually make their way into stories, screenplays, and songs.
He went to Oberlin College to attain one of modern day’s most notoriously useless degrees, a BA in English with a creative writing concentration, but then actually used it, working for over a decade as a developmental editor of fiction and memoir. Harrison is also an optioned screenwriter, winner of the 2011 Baltimore Screenwriters Competition, and an inaugural fellow of the Johns Hopkins University/Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund. His first film, Ape Canyon, is currently in production.
The Listeners, his first novel, was published by Bancroft Press in 2012. Short stories “Magicland” and “The Bead” were published in 2019. Otherguy, his debut EP, launched in 2018. He currently lives in Washington, D.C. with his girlfriend and their two cats with a combined seven legs. He’s working on a series of short stories, a couple screenplays, a pair of musicals, a concept album, and whatever else keeps him distracted from the dark void that will one day consume us all.
Wolf: I beat your BA in English with a Masters in Sculpture. If you had to pick a weapon, what would it be and why?
Harrison: Yo-yo. Because no one ever picks the yo-yo, and I don’t want it to feel left out.
What are we picking this for again?
Wolf: Just curious. Yo-yos are fun – and dangerous. What is the meanest thing you’ve ever done to your characters?
Harrison: Well, I’m a horror author. So.
In my genres (tossing in magical realism and dark fantasy), it’s fair to say that some very bad things are going to happen in some very weird ways. But one thing that scares me more than anything is the notion of losing yourself—of forgetting the basics of who you are, and knowing that you have. Even if your life before was terrible. That happens in a yet-unpublished novelette called Rugaru, Montana, and my protagonists are more or less faced with the choice of letting themselves forget everything or embracing the lives they were desperate to escape. That may be the meanest thing I’ve done to my characters.
Though I also do some pretty mean things to Daniel, the protagonist of my novel The Listeners.
Wolf: Forgetting who you are is mean. I’ve done that to my characters as well. What is the nicest thing you’ve ever done to your characters?
Harrison: I co-wrote a musical with a friend of mine. It was a zombie musical, so terrible things still happened, but at least they got to sing some fun songs beforehand.
Wolf: Too funny. Do you consider yourself a cat person, or a dog person?
Harrison: I’m a cat person. Actually, honestly, I have a major phobia of dogs. But in my defense, this is only because all dogs secretly want to eat you and eventually overthrow humanity. My cats will also eat me, but only after I’m dead, which when you come down to it is more thoughtful than spiteful.
Wolf: Interesting way of looking at things. I hope you don’t mind being interviewed by a wolf. While walking in the woods you come across…
Harrison: Bigfoot. It has to be Bigfoot. I did a school project on Bigfoot when I was in fourth grade. I taught cryptozoology as a college class. I wrote a screenplay about searching for Bigfoot, and now Ape Canyon is my first film. I’ve earned Bigfoot.
Wolf: You have indeed. There is a door at the end of a dark, damp corridor. You hear rumbling. What do you do?
Harrison: Well, hold on. There are a lot of variables in that scenario. First off, from which side of the door is the rumbling coming? And what sort of rumbling is it? Is it the rumbling of a train over tracks? An earthquake? The growling stomach of some unseen monster?
These latter questions will not be answered because I will be heading briskly in the opposite direction. The door is irrelevant. My characters go through these things so I don’t have to.
Wolf: Great answer. What five items would you want to have in a post-cataclysmic world?
Harrison: Oh, I wrote about one of these! The first and most important thing I would want is the most important thing Daniel in The Listeners suffers without: a friend. I happen to have a friend who owns a sword. I think a friend with a sword is a good bet in a post-cataclysmic world.
My second item would be a second friend, which is good to have in case the first friend dies or goes full-on zombie. Or if I do.
Actually, at least four of the five items would be friends. In all seriousness, there are all kinds of basic necessities you need to survive in a post-cataclysmic world, but it’s not worth surviving if you don’t have a reason to live. Friends will give you that. Friends will make the end of the world okay. One of them would be my fiancée, because she makes everything okay.
The fifth item is a guitar. I don’t know how to play the guitar, but if the world has ended I’d have plenty of time to learn.
I shouldn’t have evoked the concept of having time enough at last in a post-cataclysmic context. Now something terrible and ironic will happen.
Wolf: You want to live, not just survive. Friends are important for that. Which of your characters is your favorite?
Harrison: I’ve been writing a lot of shorter fiction the last couple years, and the nature of short fiction is such that you don’t live with an individual character for all that long. So it stands to reason that I become more attached to the ones with whom I spend the most time. There’s a special place in my heart for Cal Piker, the protagonist of Ape Canyon. Though I may identify most with Mindy, the protagonist of my screenplay Time-Traveling Idea Bandits. She’s a wildly enthusiastic aspiring writer struggling with serious self-doubt. That describes too many of my friends for me not to love her.
Wolf: What story are you working on now?
Harrison: I’ve just wrapped up a short story called “Sophie Anne” about a mother, her young daughter, and the Honey Tree Baby (think Cabbage Patch Doll) the mother gives her for her birthday. That sounds like the setup for a creepy possessed doll story. It’s not. Or not in the way you expect at least. It’s actually become one of the saddest things I’ve ever written. I’m very hopeful about it once I start submitting it to literary magazines and anthologies.
Wolf: Hope it does well. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Harrison: Wait—there are other things—?
Wolf: Perhaps not. Thanks for visiting. You can catch up with Harrison at these links:
http://www.harisondemchick.com
www.facebook.com/HarrisonDemchick
https://www.facebook.com/ApeCanyon/
https://twitter.com/HDemchick
