Naughty Dreadful, Awesome Updates and Linkies!

Naughty Dreadful

We just got finished with the latest photo shoot for the Naughty Dreadful Issue #3, and I have to say these are the best photos yet! The models were awesome, the photographer absolutely knocked these out of the park. Of course I can only give you the teaser right now but I'm sure I'll be sharing more soon. I can tell you that the newest Naughty Dreadful will have a western theme as you can tell from the pic. 

Steamposium

Barring that something else pop up, (which it very well might) our next conference will be the Steamposium in Downtown Seattle. Last year was an absolute blast and this year looks to be ten times as big. We will be there vending yet again and this time we will have at least four issues of the dreadfuls.

Me and Sean Maher (yes, Simon from Firefly!) at last year's steamposium. 

Dreadfuls

Speaking of the Dreadfuls, check out the website and pick up your single copies or yearly subscriptions today! http://www.thedreadfuls.com/

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Linkies

The late great Jay Lake used to do a thing on his blog called, Link Salad, where he would give useful and relevant links to the community. In honor of his awesomeness, I want to start doing the same thing to help spread the word on things great, fun, rewarding, etc. Here we go!

The Steampunk, Circuspunk, neo Victorican, everything band, This Way to Egress got robbed while on tour. Lame right? You can check out their story and help them recover with a small donation here. http://www.gofundme.com/wzcsb4

Tales From The Goth Librarian II is OUT NOW by the amazing Kimberly Richardson. Published by Dark Oak Press. If you like awesome dark shorts, and finely written poetry, check this out: http://www.darkoakpress.com/goth2.html

Steampunk'd - GSN is having a new show this summer on steampunk costuming and creation! The magnificent Kato will be on it as well. Check out the press release here. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/06/15/gsn-to-launch-new-steampunkd-competition-series-this-summer-hosted-by-jeannie-mai/417668/

Mega prolific writer, insanely talented guy and probably the coolest dude you will ever meet, Stephen Zimmer has a new book out called Heart of  A Lion on Seventh Star Press. You must check this out: http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Lion-Stephen-Zimmer/dp/1941706215

One of my favorite Doom Metal bands, Loss is going on tour this fall!!! If you are on the west coast you must give them a listen. Killer. http://lossdoom.blogspot.com/

Like Mystery Books? Who doesn't? My amazing friend, Teresa Burrell has another book out in her long running Advocate series, The Advocate's Geocache! Check her page out: http://teresaburrell.com/

Radio Interview and Norwescon

This week is a crazy one. Tomorrow night (Wednesday April 16) Liz and I will be guests on the Star Chamber Radio Show with shockingly amazing hosts, Michael West and Stephen Zimmer. It starts at 9PM Eastern (so that 6PM Pacific time), Tune in at the link below and listen for free online. We'll be talking about books, Harsh Reality's new steampuk role playing game, and Norwescon! Click this link to get to the show.

Speaking of Norwescon, Liz and I will be there signing books! I believe our table is just outside the dealer's room so if you're in or around the Seattle/Bellevue area, stop by, say hi and enjoy a great con. We should have both Thomas Riley's, Her Majesty's Mysterious Conveyance, Dreams of Steam 1 and 2 as well as other fun goodies for sale. Click here for more info on Norwescon

Progress: I've been working hard on the Steampunk Role Playing game story book for Harsh Realities. I'm really excited about this project and there are literally hundreds of characters, places and situations that are going into the story book that I had to make a map! So I'm hand drawing a large map of the capital city really just for my reference (it helps me keep things in order). I'll post a terrible pic of the progress so far for your nerdy enjoyment.

We will also be heading to Dallas in May for the Dallas Comic Con. We're extra excited about this as almost the entire cast of Firefly will be there as well!

Stephen Zimmer's Spirit of Fire

It's out now! Spirit of Fire. The third instalment in the Fires in Eden series from the talented, amazing and wonderful Stephen Zimmer. Mr. Zimmer is giving epic fantasy a new gold standard with his richly detailed novels. He's a road warrior and hits a ton of cons and book signings so if you get the chance, you should really go hear him read. I went to his Nashville signing for the second book in the series and it was a blast. (Sometimes he gives away bad ass prizes too.)

Published on Seventh Star Press, Stephen pulls the reader into a huge world of conflict that rivals all epic fantasy you've ever read. I'm telling you, don;t miss out on Spirit of Fire or any of the books in the Fires in Eden series! And may I say that you'll not meet a cooler guy than Stephen, seriously.

Check out the Amazon blurb below then go buy the story in print or on your kindle with the links.

"A maelstrom of war engulfs the lands resisting the designs of the Unifier to bring about a new order, of a kind that has never existed within Ave. Battered by a massive invasion force from Gallea, the tribal people of the Five Realms and their Midragardan allies are being driven eastward, towards the sea, while the Saxan lines are wearing down ever thinner on the Plains of Athelney. Time is running out quickly, as an ancient creature of legend soars through the skies with a brave young Saxan. They carry the desperate hopes of two realms sorely beset by a voracious enemy. Diabolic entities conduct a great hunt, as a malignant darkness deepens across all of Ave. The exiles from another world must gain refuge, or find themselves ensnared by the long reach of the Unifier. The very nature of creation itself stands in the balance. It is a time when the honor and fortitude of many are put to the test, and terrible prices are paid for resisting great evils. It is also a time of awakening for many, old and young alike, some of whom may yet discover the spirit of fire that lies within. The third installment in the Fires in Eden series, Spirit of Fire is richly imagined epic fantasy with a diverse ensemble of characters that offers a new world to explore for the readers who enjoy large-scale tales along the likes of George R.R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson, Steven Erikson, and J.R.R. Tolkien."

Buy the print book here!

Buy the digital version here!

NOLA Book Fair & Kentucky Book Fair

New Orleans...
one of my favorite cities ever. Everything about it fits me nicely. It's decadent, rich in history, and home to people a lot like myself. Did I mention it gets bonus points for being a Southern Mecca of insanity where otherwise there is none? There's little that disappoints me about this place. Sure the alcohol prices are through the roof but it's just the price you pay for good times.

Once again, I didn't get many pictures. I really need to get better at this. I know, I know, I've been saying that all year. As the book fair went, there were tons of vendors down Frenchman Street. The problem was that many of the vendors (including myself) were in music venues where a lot of people really didn't wander. Still, it's New Orleans right? Yep, and this place rules. Even low attendance can't ruin NOLA. Bourbon St., the blacksmith Bar... I could go on and on. I'm looking for a possible victorious return to NOLA possibly in January... I'll keep you posted. Here's a blurry, yet realistic picture of Bourbon Street:


ZOMBIELAND
and The Kentucky Book Fair
The Kentucky book fair is held annually in Frankfort Kentucky. Now, if you've never been to Frankfort (and I had not) then the first thing you'll see is that its REALLY small. That's not a bad thing, trust me, I've been to really small places. We named the city Zombieland because at night the streets are pretty much abandoned with the exception of a few staggering people holding babies at midnight... I'm not making that up either.

The first night there, we were invited to a reception at The Buffalo Trace distillery... Ok this was awesome. Good finger food, free Buffalo Trace drinks all night and good company with at least 120 authors in attendance. There's nothing quite like getting alcohol of any kind straight from the source.

The next day was the fair. Held in the downtown convention center, there were a ton of really awesome authors and vendors working the massive crowd. I have to give big props to the people at the Kentucky book fair. This event is run very well, complete with massive volunteers, free lunch and a super helpful staff. Honestly, everyone was amazing.

After the fair we went to dinner with Filmmaker, Author, and man of so many talents, Stephen Zimmer where we had a nice Kentucky-centric dinner complete with Kentucky Hot Browns and good beer. It's always awesome to see Stephen. If you don't know him, check out his awesomeness here.

Dinosaur World
And how could I not mention Dinosaur world? Ok, so this place has a giant orange dinosaur just hanging out by the highway becoming people to stop and see the "over 100" scale dinosaurs. So, how could we resist? Awesomeness was around every corner. If you're ever around Cave City Kentucky, give this wondrous world of fake dinosaurs a whirl.



Next Up
The amazing, wonderful, magical Steamcon! (Seattle, WA) One of the premier steampunk events of the year, Steamcon promises to blow the doors off of 2010 in a grand style, with authors, bands, dances, costuming to the max and panels that will inspire steampunkers for the next 365 days. If you're in the Seattle area, come see us!

Other News
I'm was interviewed by Drakk Media in Toronto and the video is up now. Here ya go:
Steampunk Canada

Gencon

Gencon was honestly a last minute thing. I'd heard of it for a while now but I never grasped how big it really was. Thirty thousand gamers and pop culture fanatics descend on Indianapolis for not only "the best four days in gaming" but also the largest four days in gaming in the world. While attending Origins with the Frenzy Universe we were told over and over again that we simply have to attend Gencon.


At the last moment there we were, off to Gencon.

First off this con is much like a mini San Diego Comic Con but with a much heavier focus on gaming. Seriously, if you're into games especially table top and RPG, this is the place for you. Most of the time, the isles are packed with people where moving is difficult. If you have agoraphobia or Enochlophobia well, you might want to stay home. I arrived on Wednesday night and by 9AM the next day we were off and running at the booth. Once again the amazing ladies at Frenzy Universe had me at their booth. They're kindness and help means so much to me. I could say thank you a million times to them and it wouldn't be close to enough. The coolest part is that you'll never have a bad experience with Frenzy Universe. They're bent on providing the best shopping experience and best products out there. If you don't know already, I highly recommend them. In fact my favorite outfit came from them! Sorry if I talk about them all the time but they're seriously that awesome.

So what can I say? Even for an author, Gencon was amazing!I debuted the brand new Dreams of Steam Anthology from Kerlak Publishing which my story, Engine 316 is included. All my copies sold out by mid day on Saturday. I was 6 copies away from selling out of Thomas Riley as well. Super good con and wonderful people as usual.


In addition to the Frenzy Gals, I got to spend time with wonderful romantic steampunk author Elizabeth Darvill, Fantasy author Stephen Zimmer and Horror author Michael West.


Four day cons are a tough gig but they're also fun as can be. Gencon this year came with another bonus as I was interviewed for Dragon Talk Radio by Jon Klement on the first night of the con. Take a listen to the hour long radio show HERE


Ok, ready for fun pictures?

Here's an awesome working dog that allowed them to put goggles on him. He really would have sat there all day. Awesome dog!


Wil Wheaton loves a good hug.


So this guy walks by the table and starts freaking out. I wasn't sure why until he informed me that his name was Thomas Riley. Too Fun!



Felicia Day


This group always finds me at cons and I love them for it. Especially since they dress up differently each time.


Weird but awesome. On my way home I passed this. Who wouldn't want a pirate ship as a playhouse?


Next Up:
I'll be in Memphis TN this Saturday signing Thomas Riley at Hastings at 2PM, then I'll be signing at Books-A-Million in Souithaven MS on Sunday at 2PM. If you come and mention this, I'll give you a high five.

MidSouthCon

Ok, I'm a week behind on my posts so you'll get MidSouthCon right now and I'll post about Virginia in a few days.

MidSouthCon took place in Memphis TN or technically Olive Branch MS, which is right outside of Memphis. We showed up on Friday, set up the table and met the neighbors. Good people. Reconnected with long ago friend Stephen Zimmer, which was a great treat.

You all know I love a good Con and basically I haven't been to a bad one yet. Even the small more family like Cons are wonderful. MidSouthCon was the largest regional one (Besides D*C of course) that I've attended in a while. First off it's packed and I mean packed with panels. There are seriously like 7 panels going every hour in one hotel. That's a lot for a mid sized hotel. The Con Suite was great (Free Beer). May I pause in thanks for this free beer thing that South Eastern Cons have going on. I mean that never happens right?

Saturday I had two panels Steampunk "What puts the punk in steampumk?" It was a great panel with Kimberly Richardson, Sid Reese, and Angelia Sparrow. The moderator didn't show up and the room was pretty full so we just winged it and I have to say that it created a great open forum where everyone, even the crowd was able to speak.

Later, I was on the "To Market To Market... finding one that fits your work panel." This was another great little panel aimed toward the writers part of the convention. It was a thrill being on a panel with Julie Kagawa, Elizabeth Donald and Kathryn Sullivan. Great people with some really good views on writing.

Sunday I was on a panel that I really wasn't suited for called Coloring Inside the Lines which dealt with contract writing for other people's creations. After about 5 minutes I discovered that I really didn't belong there and I think I said one thing the entire hour. Oh this is fun too, I got to sign my first Young Alchemists e-short CD.


Anyway, MidSouthCon is great! Lots to do and a wide variety of subject matter. I have to tell you that a lot of people made the weekend wonderful but I have to mention this mother and daughter that took a Thomas Riley Wanted Poster off the wall so I could sign it... pretty amazing feeling.


Also there was Anna. Anna bought the book on Friday and stayed up all night reading it until she was done. Then to make it even better she wrote a poem about Thomas Riley. It's really quite mind blowing to have some write a poem about your book. It's under her picture. Sorry this is a bit blurry.


Thomas Riley
By: A. M. Paulson
In West Canvia there lives an inventor
Who is more gifted than any other.
His name is Thomas Riley,
And his gifts are in machinery and alchemy.
Deep in his lab he works
Both night and day.
His young assistant,
And his greatest asset,
Is the young and beautiful Miss Cynthia Bassett.
Together they make chemical marvels
And technological wonders
The likes of which have never before been seen.
Can their combined ingenuity
Along with their boundless creativity
Be enough to defeat Lemuria,
Thus win the war for West Canvia?
We will have to wait and see.
Cause there are still two more books in this trilogy.

Next up
This weekend I'll be in Clarksville, IN (Just North of Louisville) for the Almost Famous Book Faire, then on Sunday I'll be at Barnes & Noble in Louisville KY. Come say hi!

As always:
Get signed copies of Thomas Riley Here.
Buy through Amazon Here.
Enlist as a Sky Pirate Here.

www.sirthomasriley.com