Signings, Readings, and Bookstock!

Most of the time, the job (and it is a job) of being a writer involves sitting in front of a keyboard while gritting one's teeth against the siren song of the Internet, but every once in a while we get asked to come out and meet the readers.

The author, his appearance noticeably enhanced by copious amounts of hair gel.

That hardly ever happens to me, because -- well, look my pictures. Frankly, unless there's an inexplicable need for a sweaty Hobbit, most venues quickly move on to more photogenic authors.

But even I get lucky sometimes, and this next week is proof of that. I have three, count them, three book events in a single seven-day period.

All take place in and around Memphis, Tennessee, so if you're in the area and you've never seen a Hobbit stop by.

First up, I have a signing and reading event at the Southwind Country Club in Collierville. This event is hosted by a book club, and I'll be appearing beside such luminaries as author Steve Bradshaw, of 'The Bell Trilogy' fame. This takes place Wednesday morning, April 15, from 10 until 2.

Saturday the 18th is Bookstock! I will be just one of the authors participating from 10:30am-3:30pm at the Benjamin L Hooks Central Library.

Here's a flyer for the event:

So if you're anywhere in Memphis Saturday, stop by and say hello!

Finally, next Wednesday, April 22, I'll be in Collierville at the Morton Museum as part of the Meet the Authors luncheon.

This event is hosted by Southern Writers Magazine, and promises to be a blast!

I'm still writing, of course. The new Mug and Meralda book is well underway. I'm writing as fast as I can!

Which reminds me, time to get back to work. Take care all! See you next week!

Bonus Wednesday Blog Entry -- Tax Tips for Writers!

Certain eldritch signs portend various significant turnings of the year. Birds fly south. Or maybe north. Frankly I don't spend much time outdoors with a compass charting the movements of indecisive waterfowl.

But even a dedicated indoorsman such as myself can observe the anguished human faces on the street, and hear the plaintive cries of agony borne on the night wind (and no, I don't know from which direction the bloody wind is blowing, let's leave that to the meteorologists, shall we?).

Even I can see the chalk outlines left by those poor unfortunates who at last cried 'No more, enough!' before shuffling off their mortal coils by way of extreme over-tanning or actually eating a truck-stop pickled egg.

Even I know what dread event these signs portend -- tax time.

That's right, gentle readers, if you are a citizen of the US, it's that time of year when Uncle Sam takes you fondly by your ankles and shakes you until every last cent you've seen in the last year falls out of your pockets, because let's face it, war ain't cheap.

Now, if you've made any money off your writing in the last year, I'm here to help. Because if there's anything the US government holds dear, it's the idea that every American is free to earn a profit by the sweat of her brow and the set of his jaw. Equally sacred to the American governing psyche is the idea that they've got dibs on the first and biggest slice of that sweet free enterprise pie.

The first thing writers need to know about filing their writing income is this -- FILE IT. That story you sold to Ominous Bathroom Squeaks and Eldritch Attic Squeals Monthly for 15 bucks? That pair of flash-fiction entries you pawned off on Public Transit Funnies, a Bus Station Free Magazine for three bucks and a coupon for $2.00 off any foot-long club at Subway?

Maybe you're thinking 'Hey, why bother reporting that, nobody knows about those!'

How wrong you are, Grasshopper.

They know. Maybe it's the Carnivore communication surveillance system. Maybe the CIA has an Obscure Small Press Reporting Division. Maybe that mean-eyed old lady down the street is on the phone with the IRS every day, after she goes through your mail and steams open all the envelopes -- it doesn't matter how, but believe me, they know.

So, the first thing?

Report it.

Now if you've made any serious coin you've been sent a 1099-MISC from the publisher(s). You should keep up with these things. I used to put them in a folder and then lose the folder and then move to Mississippi and assume a new identity as Frank Tuttle when I realized I'd lost them all, but then I got married and she keeps important papers in a brilliant thing called a drawer. I'll bet you have some of these drawers  in your place too. Open them up and put stuff in them, it's an amazing time-saver compared to identity theft.

At the end of the year, you take all these 1099 forms, wipe the tears from your face, and enter them in the boxes according to the helpful prompts on the TurboTax software. When the crying diminishes to a bearable level, proceed.

Next, let's consider deductions. The word deductions comes from the Latin dede, which means 'not for,' and uction, which means 'you.' In tax parlance, deductions are money amounts which everyone but you can subtract from the taxes they owe.

For instance, I write on a PC. I built this PC myself, from components I purchased separately, for the sole purpose of writing.  Now, if I were anyone else, I could deduct the total cost of the machine from my taxes owed, since it's a business expense -- but since I am demonstrably me, this deduction does not apply, and, notes TurboTax, 'ha ha ha.'

See how that works? It truly simplifies filing.

Let's look at some other deductions which you, as a writer, cannot claim:

•  Home Office Deductions. Oh, you have an office, in which you write? Well, let's have a look. It can't be attached to your house. It can't house a TV or other casual entertainment device. It can't possibly, under any circumstances, be even remotely suited for any purpose other than writing, and it can't be very good at that. So you have a detached office which contains nothing but a chair, a desk, and a PC running nothing but Word? But it has a roof?  'Ha ha ha,' intones TurboTax. 'Trying to pull a fast one, are you? DENIED.'
• Office Expense Deductions.  You're a writer, and even the IRS grudgingly concedes that the act of writing might in some way involve putting down words on some medium, be it electronic or paper. Okay, this looks promising. You bought a printer to print out manuscripts. You pay for internet service because 1950 was 65 years ago. These seem to be legitimate deductions, so let's investigate further BUZZ HA HA HA NOT SO FAST, TAXPAYER! Those deductions are only valid in years  where acceptable total solar eclipses occur in northern Peru (see Schedule 117863-E, 'Solar Interruptions, South American Totality Table 167-75E, lines 46 through 78), and guess what pal, this ain't it.
• Other Deductions. Mitt Romney has a 376 page embossed-leather-bound acid-free paper book with gold-gilt edges filled with 'Other Deductions.' Are you Mitt Romney? Didn't think so. Move along.

Sadly, that about covers it. You've toiled over every word, you've poured over ever sentence, you've labored long into that good night trying to illuminate a single tiny facet of the flawed jewel that is the human condition.

Or, in other words, you've earned slightly more than minimum wage. 

Bon appetite, my friends!

And for the love of all that is holy, don't miss the filing deadline. 

187.5

Something very strange is going on out there, in the dark void beyond our galaxy.

Image via New Scientist

Odds are, you haven't even heard of it. Mainly because the mainstream media is obsessed with celebrity divorces or the latest political nonsense. But also because the story involves a lot of technical jargon.

But this may  -- and I say 'may' -- be actual evidence of an artificial (i.e., non-natural) radio signal, one created by entities unknown for purposes we simply can't yet fathom.

But let's back up a bit, all the way to 2001.

In 2001, astronomers first discovered a phenomena they would label 'Fast Radio Bursts,' or FRBs. These FRBs were very brief, quite intense bursts of unique radio noise that seem to originate from the deep dark between galaxies.

At first, they were considered a natural oddity. Analysis of the initial data suggested the source would be a small body (probably no more than a few hundred kilometers across) that somehow managed to emit brief bursts of radio waves with an energy equivalent to a month of our Sun's total energetic output.

What could do that?

No one knew. Theories abounded.

By 2014, nine of these FRBs had been intercepted and recorded. The tenth FRB was caught live by an Australian radio telescope, and that's when the mystery got suddenly much deeper.

Analysis of this tenth signal revealed something utterly unique -- there is a clear pattern embedded in the signal itself. You can read the article I linked below for the particulars, but aspects of the signal appear to be arranged so that the delay between the first waves of the signal and the last ones occurs on precise intervals which are ALWAYS a multiple of the number 187.5.

Think about that for a moment. Yes, we've seen other celestial bodies which appear to emit cyclic radio emission. Pulsars, for instance. But the deal with pulsars is this -- they only appear to be cyclic because they're spinning. Say some kids leave a laser pointer on a merry go round, and you're at the far end of the park. You might see a flash of light every second or so, and think someone is turning the laser pointer on and off. Actually, you're only seeing the beam when it turns to point at you. It stays on all the time, and only the motion of the merry-go-round grants the beam the illusion of a cycle. There's no one on the switch in the middle of a pulsar, so to speak.

We know that now.

But the FRBs aren't spinning. Something may -- and I'm saying may again -- have designed the FRB sources so that this mathematical ratio is maintained within the signal, for anyone with the technology and brains to figure it out.

Which would a monumental discovery. We would, for the first time, know that something somewhere was shaping radio signals.

Is that the case here?

It's way too soon to tell. People thought the first pulsar might be an alien radio beacon too, until closer observation revealed a massive stream of radio energy spewed out of a rotating magnetic field around an exotic celestial body.

But we don't know of any body that might produce FRBs. Heck, we don't know of any physical model that might account for FRBs and their odd mathematical qualities.

But it's exciting, because it might represent the beginning of a fundamental change in the way we perceive the universe.

Who knows what else might be hidden in that brief burst of radio noise? Maybe 187.5 is just a 'Hey, look here' tag, and the real meat of the message is encoded in what might at first appear to be nothing but noise.

I would love that. And I'm glad people are digging into this, even now.

Read the New Scientist article here.

MidSouthCon 33 Roundup

MidSouthCon Images!

I didn't take as many pictures at MidSouthCon33 as I have at past cons. Being in costume myself meant I couldn't carry my camera around all the time -- but I still managed to snap off a few, and I'm posting them below. Thanks to everyone who stopped and posed!

The Darrell Award

My novel THE FIVE FACES was one of the finalists for the 2015 Darrell Award for Best Novel. Despite some serious competition, The Five Faces won, and the award is shown below.

If you attend MidSouthCon, you should also buy a ticket for the Darrell Awards ceremony and banquet. The food is excellent, and the company -- well, you might find yourself seated with a theoretical physicist on your right, and an award-winning artist on your left. 

Which is true of pretty much anywhere at the Con.

I'm thrilled to get another Darrell Award for a Markhat novel. Writing is a lonely business, and having a body readers say 'Hey, we like what you did there' makes it all worthwhile!

Live (more or less) From MidSouthCon 33!

MidSouthCon 33 is winding down as I type this. The dealer room is emptying, cart by weary cart. The art gallery, which was amazing, is also slowly dispersing.

Panels are still in progress. Con-goers are still in full costume.

The only remaining part of my own cosplay get-up is my top hat. It's a testament to the creativity of con folk that I can be dressed in street clothes and a top hat and no one bats an eye because the guy next to me is wearing a dragon head and sporting wings.

I was the Toastmaster for MidSouthCon 33, and I can honestly say I've never had a better time. Meeting everyone, especially the other Guests of Honor, was a blast. It's a three-day party, a 72 hour celebration of science fiction and fantasy, of books and art, of imagination and creativity.

In a few days, I'll post a longer, far more detailed accounts of my adventures as Toastmistress. I say Toastmistress because that's how I was billed on the Con tee shirt, which I found hilarious. As an author, I'm so accustomed to typos they don't bug me. It happens, and in this case it was a great place to make a joke. Which was, after all, my job this weekend.

I'm exhausted. My hair is tired. Hauling my steampunk ghostbuster backpack not only aggravated the sciatica in my right leg but left me with the same feelings in my left. But I haven't missed a Sunday blog in lo these many years and I'm not about to start now.

So, enjoy the pics below. More will be coming.

To the amazing volunteers and staff and security and Guests of Honor and everyone associated with MidSouthCon and the Darrell Awards jury and organizers, I extend to you my most heartfelt thanks!

Oh -- speaking of the Darrell Awards, my book The Five Faces won this years Darrell Award for Best Novel!

I'm am truly psyched about that. And glad people are still enjoying Markhat, because I have many more books to write in that world.

Look familiar? You probably know him as Julio from The Walking Dead, but this cat is an amazing dude who not only acts but writes and produces. He's also one of the most positive, generous, and all-around gracious dudes you could ever hope to meet. Was good hanging with you Santiago!

Amazing costumes abounded!

Another new friend, the amazing and incomparable magician Johnny Del La Rocko!

Her eyes actually look healthier than mine right now...

Okay, it's nearly time for the closing ceremonies. Time for me to dust off my top hat and take the stage one last time as Toastmistress.

It's been a blast!

Pre-MidSouthCon Cosplay Pics!

MidSouthCon 33 is now less than a week away!

As this year's Toastmaster, I'm hoping to perform my duties in style. Specifically, a style right out of 1869.

The pic below is most but not all of my cosplay outfit. Missing is the gold monocle, the obligatory mechanical pocket watch with gold chain, and my steampunk ghostbuster's proton pack. But there's enough here to give you a good idea.

All the clothes were obtained from the Gentleman's Emporium. And I have to say, these are some awesome, well-made duds.

I'm wearing the Red River rust vest, a black puff tie, an Edwardian club shirt, and black Victorian trousers, complete with suspenders (braces). My hair, which is under the John Bull top hat, is slicked down with Brylcream. The shoes were stolen from the corpse of -- well, enough about that.

I can't say enough good things about the folks at the Emporium. They have an equally impressive line of period-authentic clothes for the ladies, too! Click here to browse the pics.

The ghostbuster's pack is done. Picks of it and the thrower are below. I'm really happy with it, and when everything is lit it's pretty darned nice.

Another view.

Markhat in the News

The Five Faces, the latest Markhat adventure, was reviewed a little while ago by Big Al's Books and Pals.

The reviewer gave the book five out of five stars. Now, The Five Faces has been nominated as a potential Reader's Choice Award selection!

What determines the winner of the Reader's Choice Award?

Not what, but who, and the who is you. 

Readers vote for nominees, and the book with the most votes wins. Can you tell where this is heading?

That's right! A plea and a link. Please vote, if you liked the book. I'd really appreciate it. So would Markhat and Darla. Who can resist Darla's big brown eyes?

Voting is quick and easy. All you have to do is click the link below. Go to the bottom of the page, find the contest box, sign in, and you're set. The Five Faces is in the Fantasy category. 

Thanks! 

That's it for now. Next weekend expect live updates from MidSouthCon 33! If you're going to be there, look me up -- I won't be hard to spot. 

You can also check out my Con schedule my going to the Con website www.midsouthcon.org, selecting Programming, then Schedule, and then entering my name in the search box. I'm on several panels, so stop by!

Lunch With The Authors

Lunch With the Authors

Just a heads-up, gang -- on April the 22nd, I'll be taking part of a 'Lunch with the Authors' event at the Collierville Morton Museum in Collierville, Tennessee.

I'll be one of the seven authors reading from our books and discussing the mysterious ways of the publishing industry. We'll also be signing books and taking questions, so if you're anywhere near Collierville on the 22nd and have some free time between noon and 3 PM, drop by the Museum!

I'm excited about this event. The other authors are an amazing bunch, and frankly I can't wait to ask them a few questions myself. There's Steve Bradshaw, author of the Bell trilogy, Lisa Turner, author of A Little Death in Dixie, and a host of other great writers. 

I'm still deciding what I'll be reading from. Probably one of the Markhat books. Any suggestions are welcome!

MisSouthCon Update

MidSouthCon 33 is just a couple of weeks away! I'm really looking forward to meeting some of my online friends in person for the first time. Heck, I may even shave, and put on shoes.

The Guests of Honor list this year is truly impressive, despite my presence within it. Here's a brief rundown of the guests:

Cory Doctorow, Author Guest of Honor.

You don't need me to tell you who Cory Doctorow is. All I have to do is glance at my bookshelf to see his titles leaping out. Little Brother, Rapture of the Nerds, Homeland -- just being in the same room with Mr. Doctorow will probably give me a +5 boost on my Avoiding Adverbs roll. He's that good. Better than that good.

Melissa Gay, Artist Guest of Honor

Wow. Here's a link to Melissa's webpage, at which you can view some of her amazing art. Click www.melissagay.com to see what I mean. Her line art is maybe my favorite -- especially this one, which reminds me of Markhat sneaking down a dark Rannite alley.

Melissa is so cool one of her works was even featured on io9 last week. If you don't visit io9 regularly, you should -- it's a wonderfully entertaining and informative mishmash of media, art, and science news! Melissa's piece is her version of Red Sonja, and Melissa rightly put some clothes on the woman, because CLOTHES, people. Melissa's Red Sonja art.

Ethan Van Sciver, Comics Artist

Ethan's comic art includes work on The Green Lantern, Batman, and Superman, which means he can basically recite those names, drop the mic, and strut offstage to massive applause. Batman. Need I say more? No, I do not! 

Dragon Dronet, Costuming/Media Guest of Honor

You guys know I like making SF/fantasy props. But Dragon Dronet not only makes wildly inventive props for TV and films, he's also a stuntman and an action choreographer. He's worked on Star Trek, Babylon 5, and a slew of other titles you'd recognize instantly. I can't wait to see what he thinks about my steampunk ghostbuster backpack!

Elizabeth Donald, Editor Guest of Honor

Elizabeth Donald is a rare bird. She's a fiction writer, newspaper columnist, and now an editor. That's a lot of hats for the same head! She's also a fellow Darrell Award winner, and I'm looking forward to pestering her with the endless stream of questions that occur whenever a writer manages simultaneously get an editor in a room and block the room's only exit. 

Ethan Siegel, Science Guest of Honor

Ethan Siegel's Spartan cosplay is impressive, but not nearly as impressive as his academic resume. Ethan has a PhD in theoretical astrophysics, writes a monthly column for NASA, and maintains one of the best science blogs out there. Check it out at Starts with a BANG!

Santiago Cirilo, Special Guest of Honor

Special Guest Santiago Cirilo's achievements run the gamut from 101st Airborne Infantry to Special Forces translator to maker of personal guitars for Kid Rock and Keith Urban. Another polymath, Santiago is a skeptic, a voracious reader, and a pursuer of knowledge.

Frank Tuttle, Toastmaster

Doubtlessly added to the list as the result of a clerical error. Frank Tuttle is widely known as 'that guy over there, no wait, not him, the other one.' Frank's writing has appeared in various magazines, usually before they vanished forever without comment. Critical acclaim for Frank's novels would come as a surprise to everyone, including Frank himself. But it must be noted that Frank has procured a sweet hat for the Con. 

Latest Pics of the Steampunk BackPack

Below are the latest shots. Yes, my workbench gets messy when I'm working on a piece. Oddly enough, it stays neat between projects, but this view is the result of hours of work. I could have moved the pack and thrower to the rug for the pic, but Petey was taking a nap and also I am lazy.

That's it for today! Be safe out there people.