Dragons at 20books Vegas conference!

20books Vegas! Dragons at Large!

I’m currently in the USA! Yes, this is a big deal. Although I’ve been around the world many times, and even lived in Switzerland for years, most of my international travel was before I had kids. And man, did I have kids … lots of them.

So coming to the 20books Vegas indie author conference was amazing. I’m still overseas so my internet connection isn’t always brilliant, so I’m posting a few photos here and will put more up when I get home.

Meet me this week – Salt Lake City

By the way, if you’re in Salt Lake City, I’m meeting readers and writers tomorrow night, Tuesday 19 November, at Hatch’s cafe at 7pm, 376 East, 8th Avenue.

If you’re a friend, email me and I’ll let you know where I’m seeing friends tonight, Monday 18 November. That goes for anyone I’ve met in New Zealand or Switzerland over the years.

Okay, onto 20books Vegas!

Mal Cooper gets into channeling her inner dragon! Not the usual genre for a sci-fi author, but hey!

Mal Cooper who writes as M D Cooper and I had a great time as dragons. Although Mal does look particularly fierce here, she has a great sense of humor and is hilarious fun, as well as being a NY Times best-selling author with her sci-fi world Aeon 14. If you check out this book, you’ll see the ‘cat suit’ Mal is wearing on the front cover. We call them jump suits in NZ or latex paint-ons, but hey, I’m in the States right now, so cat suits they are!

Dragons don’t always have to be fierce…

20books Vegas
Dragons can be cutsie too!

20books Vegas

I met a fellow rainbow-haired dragon too, a Brit living in Aussie!  Tony Slater’s partner, Rue – or is it Roo after kangaroos? – and I had lots of fun while Tony captivated us with hilarious tales of his travels. Everything he writes is humorous, even his sci-fi and travel books, so hanging with them was fun.

20books Vegas
Eating Eric T Knight with Jeff Kohanek

I was surprised to find out that everything was about authors at 20books Vegas. Even the menu. But Jeff Kohanek and I tucked right in, in true dragon style, and ate Eric T Knight for dinner!

Jeff writes cool epic fantasy and Eric T Knight writes westerns and epic dragon fantasy! Yes, I found my tribe.

20books Vegas
Eileen, Jeff and Eric in their dragon tribe!

I have squagillions of photos yet to post, but I’m staying in Salt Lake City at a friend’s house, so I can’t work all day (like I have the last 3 days!). I’ll pop the photos up over the next couple pf weeks and keep you up with the antics of a thousands of authors in Vegas. And no, it was not about gambling – and all about books!

See you soon, with wings on and talons out!

GeyserCon Photo Tour!

GeyserCon 2019 in photos

GeyserCon, NZ’s 40th national SFF convention, came, and it went —  in a blur of sci-fi & fantasy discussion, events, education,  networking, crafting, hilarity and fun. I had a busy weekend. For me, there were many highlights, best shown in photos! Okay, the photos aren’t brilliant, but they’re all I have!

Kids’ Workshop – Super Heroes & Interactive Fiction

A.J. Ponder and I taught a large class of kids in the Young NZ Writers Big Day Out — jam-packed sessions on how to write superheroes and interactive fiction like Mystic Portal, Dragons’ Realm and Attack of the Giant Bugs!

It was lots of fun, with very cool kids who all shared enthusiasm for writing and reading.     

Artist Janet Keen judges the kids’ art contest.
A.J. Ponder with budding artists

NZ Youth Laureate Award Book Launch

Editor Lee Murray and judge Piper Mejia, both of Young New Zealand Writers, did a fabulous job coordinating the NZ Youth Laureate Award, reading the manuscripts and coaching the winning authors.

Representing Phantom Feather Press, A.J. Ponder and I  launched the NZ Youth Laureate books at GeyserCon with Young New Zealand Writers.

Winner:  Emma Uren, It’s A Small World.

Editor’s Choice: Xiaole Zhan, The Extinct.

Emma Uren and Xiaole Zhan
Emma & Family
Xialoe & Mum
Eileen, editor, Lee Murray, Emma, Xiaole & A.J. Ponder
Lee Murray with Guest of Honour Kaaron Warren (both award-winning dark fiction authors), who is awarding finalist Denika Mead her certificate.
Gorgeous covers! It’s a Small World by Australian artist David Schembri, and The Extinct, designed by A.J. Ponder.
Something Strange Happened in Rotorua – an anthology from Young New Zealand Writers included finalists from the NZ Youth Laureate Award
Readings from the youth anthology.

Click on a cover to order your copy!

6:30am in the Redwoods

Groan, not that early in the morning! Yes, it was worth it. Yes, we’re all bleary-eyed after little sleep the night before! The redwood forests in Rotorua were beautiful.

It was still dark outside… and cold. Brrr…
Yes, that’s geothermal steam in the background, not cloud! A sleeping dragon (taniwha) maybe?
Rotorua Redwoods are riddled with mountain-biking tracks

GeyserCon: Future of High Fantasy Panel

I had an interesting time moderating a panel discussion on the future of High Fantasy with fellow writers Laura VanArendonk-Baugh (Guest of Honour), David Hair, Mark Johnson and Dan Rabarts. This photo does not do the panel justice. Although the photographer only caught Mark Johnson laughing in this shot, we did have fun, and the audience did too. It was a stimulating discussion, first thing in the morning — a great start to the day.

Laura VanArendonk-Baugh (Guest of Honour), David Hair (thinking hard), Mark Johnson (laughing at David’s witty comment) and Dan Rabarts (listening)

GeyserCon: Marketing for Indie Authors

Yes, I did give a presentation and there is a photo somewhere on the internet on someone’s feed, but I don’t have it! Rumors said it was great though!

GeyserCon: Creating Fantasy Maps

Ava Fairhall teaches at Yoobee design school. I was lucky enough to meet her online in an international writers’ forum and find out she lived near me! Ava gave a fascinating presentation on creating fantasy maps. The huge coloured map on the left is Dragons’ Realm, the world of my Riders of Fire series.

GeyserCon: Masquerade

The fun kept going all weekend!

Make-up specialist AJ Josephs prepares a little dragon. He did an amazing session on cosplay make-up, where he made over half his face like Deadpool. Unfortunately, this is the only shot I got of him in action!

Ready to rock!  Watch out for the guy in the back! He’s trouble (Darian Smith is a great writer of epic fantasy).

Told you Darian Smith was trouble. Those dragon eyes kept sliding around! Creeeepy.
Fighting fit!
Dragon mid-flight
Who killed the dragon? Horror writer Paul Mannering, who came back to life as a zombie, when the dragon got him back 1 minute later!

Cosplay Guests of Honour

Lauara VanArendonk-Baugh & Alena VanArendonk, our international cosplay experts, entice Lee Murray into a costume. Well, a hat anyway.

Laura, Lee & Alena

You’d never believe that in real life Alena (right) has really long hair!

Craft Corner

Victoria Dreyer had a fun time with kids (young and old) in the craft corner (writers have multiple talents). No prizes for guessing which piece of dragon-themed jewellery I made!

World Con 2020 – ConZealand

There was lots of cool news about ConZealand, WorldCon 2020! You can get more info here and confirm the rumours that George R R Martin is toastmaster and that great authors like Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon will be here in NZ next year!

Sir Julius Vogel Awards

It wasn’t my turn for an award this year, however here is the talented line up.

The 2019 Sir Julius Vogel Awards list is here.

More fun

 

Mr Col Slaw, aka Col, became the vege of choice and the official mascot for GeyserCon, although he was shredded after the awards ceremony, leading to many tears.
Guest of honour Alan Baxter presents Denika Meade with a prize during the young adult workshop. I’m lucky to have Denika, an accomplished author in her own right, as one of my Riders of Fire teen beta readers. Please note, that as well as being an excellent dark fantasy author, Alan is a Kung Fu black belt and is known known as “the cabbage shredder”.

GeyserCon is over

I met new readers, networked with writers, fantasy fans and friends. We also swam in the geothermally-heated pool, chatted in the bar, and to top it all off, had a pizza party in my room!

But, one last question: when a dragon’s not eating tacos or pizzas, what does it eat?

Answer: Dragon fruit!

I look forward to ConZealand in 2020 and hope you join us for New Zealand’s first WorldCon!

GeyserCon – Come to Rotorua

GeyserCon

At the end of this week, I’m traveling to Rotorua  to GeyserCon, the 40th annual National science fiction & fantasy convention.

Sounds like fun, right?

Yeah, it WILL be fun, but it will also be a working holiday.

On Friday, A.J. Ponder and I are teaching a writing workshop for  9-10-year olds. We’ll have fun with impromptu stories and superheroes. Then we’re launching the Young New Zealand Writers Youth Laureate Award-winning books. It’s a Small World by Emma Uren won the award. Xiaole Zhan received an editor’s choice award for The Extinct.

I’ll be flat out over the weekend, doing a presentation, moderating a panel on high fantasy and editing people’s work,  as well as leaping in wherever help is needed, and having fun with my youngest, who is coming along.

You can find out more about GeyserCon:

GeyserCon
Rotorua’s Jebraun Clifford is looking forward to GeyserCon. Photo / Ben Fraser

If you see me there, say hi!

Ravenheart Cosplay – Lotte van Ginkel Strikes Again

Ravenheart Cosply - Giant white wings homemade flapping wings

Meet Ravenheart Cosplay!

Checkout These Homemade Wings!

I recently attended Armageddon in Wellington, a sci-fi fantasy extravaganza where cosplay folks come out in droves to strut their stuff.  I was lucky enough to meet Lucifer Morgenstar, a,k.a. Ravenheart Cosplay or Lotte van Ginkel, who told me about her journey into cosplay and why giant wings are such a hit.

In Ravenheart’s own words, here is her story:

 Ravenheart Cosplay – Behind the Scenes

 

My name is Lotte van Ginkel, although in the New Zealand cosplay community I’m known as Ravenheart cosplay: the girl who loves wings. I have been cosplaying since 2016 with all of my cosplays featuring wings or a related theme.

Before I started cosplaying I never thought it was something I would do. I grew up in a very science-oriented family, and that, combined with a passion for birds, soon led me to attending University in Palmerston North. From 2015 till 2017 I studied a Bachelor of Science with a major in Zoology and minors in Statistics and Environmental Sciences.

During my first year of University I found out about Armageddon Expo, and although I didn’t go that year, it inspired me to hear that there was a costume culture within New Zealand. I’d watched videos of cosplayers, but they were always overseas and seemed like something very foreign, but now I realized that it was here too.

I made it my goal to make a costume and wear it to Armageddon Expo the next year (2016), and for inspiration I watched the tutorial videos from someone called Axceleration Cosplay who made a Hawkgirl cosplay that had moving wings. That was the tipping point for me: I wanted to make wings.

Ravenheart Cosplay - Armageddon Wellington Wings

The movie Strange Magic is still one of my favourites today, and it features a strong female fairy as the lead who had giant purple butterfly wing. This was to be my first project, and by the next expo it was a reality. My mother helped me with the outfit while my father was happy to be my co-engineer for the wing mechanism (since I decided to make it 100x harder by making them move), and it was thanks to them I managed to finish it on time.

That year I got my first taste of the amazing world of conventions and cosplays, and let me tell you it was addictive. I’ve been making cosplays every year since.

For Armageddon Expo in 2017 I created Mercy from Overwatch which of course had moving wings again. This cosplay ended up changing my life forever. The first thing it did is launch me into the cosplay community after I entered and won the cosplay contest at Wellington Armageddon Expo that year. What it also did though is get me into a high end creative tertiary education institution.

Ravenheart Cosplay - Armageddon Wellington Wings Mercy - Overwatch

While walking around the convention as Mercy a man approached me and introduced himself as a tutor at the school Toi Whakaari (school of drama and dance) where a new course in set and prop making was set to start the next year, and gave me his card saying I should check it out. Initially I just threw it on the pile of cards and didn’t think about it, but I wasn’t happy with where my University degree was taking me career wise and eventually decided to check it out.

I finished my degree that year, and started attending Toi Whakaari the next.

In the summer between education providers I ended up building a new set of wings: white angel ones. They took around 140 hours to build and have over 1000 feathers sewn onto each wing. I wore these to Armageddon Expo in 2018 in a red dress as an original character design I called Lady Cardinal.

Ravenheart Cosplay - Armageddon Wellington Wings

For the most recent Armageddon Expo I ended up reusing the wings for a new cosplay as well as making a new costume. The new cosplay was the peacock themed super villain Mayura from a series called Miraculous Ladybug, while the one with the wings was Lucifer Morningstar from the Netflix series.

I am now finishing my last year of study at Toi Whakaari before further perusing my love for wings. I’d love to one day be able to build wings as commissions for others once I’ve refined a few more designs, and am already working on a new special set for my next convention.

Ravenheart Cosplay - Armageddon Wellington with Lucifer Morgenstar's Wings
Ravenheart as Lucifer Morgenstar, sporting those fabulous wings

Thanks Ravenheart for sharing your creativity and drive! That’s dedication and talent rolled into one dynamic go-get-it package! We hope you do well at drama school and enjoy making your next costume!

I can’t wait for Ravenheart to make dragon wings one day, and wish mine flapped as well as those magnificent white ones. And for those who are wondering? Yes, I made my wings myself… but that’s a different story.

And Ironman, in the photo at the top? He’s a high school student who made his suit as a metalwork project.  There are many talented individuals at Armageddon!!!

Dragon Time at Armageddon – Dragon Rift Launch

Armageddon was a blast!

Armageddon was a blast! Three days of wing flapping, crazy cosplay, weird storm troopers stalking me with menacing glares (Chewbacca was away in Christchurch, sadly) and keen readers popping by to say hi. Three days of talking non-stop (which wouldn’t surprise my friends — I love meeting new people). Three days of telling people about Riders of Fire and Quest, book 1 in the Sylvalla Chronicles. Three days of A.J. Ponder and I hanging out together!

Armageddon Wellington, Eileen Mueller and Riders of FireWe were so busy, I almost missed the email telling me Ezaara, Riders of Fire book 1, was a finalist in the 2019 Sir Julius Vogel Awards. Almost, but not quite. My friends and readers are way too savvy for that. As I was heading home late, with sore feet (after days of standing on concrete floors), my phone pinged! Yes, I’d been tagged. Thanks for nominating Ezaara, and then letting me know!

Armageddon – Dragon Rift Launch

Dragon Rift is the cover for book 3 in Eileen Mueller's Riders of Fire series, available on Amazon

Dragon Rift, book 3 in my Riders of Fire series,  launched at Armageddon. This time, there was no archery or sword fighting. Copies of the book slipped off the counter into happy readers’ bags as we chatted and enjoyed the variety of crazy characters parading past. Did I mention that I was wearing dragon wings? Oh, and that I had an extra set for people to try on?

Games of Thrones  at Armageddon

I didn’t actually sit on the throne. It doesn’t look that comfy!

Dragons Galore – Armageddon time!

Let the dragons roar! So glad he didn’t breathe fire, although his fangs look deadly.

Charles the mad hatter, Aria the grinning Cheshire Cat, and Odin the King of Hearts stopped by! Luckily, Odin wasn’t yelling, “Off with her head,” or I would’ve been a goner!

Keala is bananas about dragons! 

Watch out!!! You never know who’s behind the mask!

The impressive array of weapons hidden in this guy’s gauntlets, gives a whole new meaning to being heavily armed.

A.J. Ponder has a soft spot for Dr Who, so she loved this pint-sized Tardis.

I caught up with Akita, once I recognized her under that glorious red hair!

Pick a superhero!!! Really, I mean we have to keep them busy. So, grab one and save the world.

Ash, one of my cool teen beta readers, popped by. She loves Riders of Fire and helped me brainstorm some tricky parts of my free prequel novelette, Bronze Dragon! A valuable team member.

Deb, a kiwi reader, popped by to say hi! “You won’t know me,” she said, “But I subscribe to your Riders of Fire newsletter.”

Being a nerd, I replied, “Try me, what’s your email address?” Sure enough, I recognized it! “You subscribed in November, didn’t you?” I asked. Imagine how surprized she was.

That scoundrel, Darian Smith, just had to get in on the fun.

Ironman made his own costume as a school metalwork project! Wow, what dedication and talent! He then modified the costume he purchased for his friend. Um, yep, I am short!

Eat your heart out Captain Jack Sparrow. We can do suave and debonair too!

A knight of Gondor leaps into action to slay that dragon!

Rainbow-hair-and-wing twins!

A cute dragonet stopped by.

More mad hatters! And the cutest mousie!

Fiona (Shrek’s princess by day, ogre by night) came to teach us self-defense against all those mean knights!

More dragonets… I swear, they were everywhere!

A warrior was warding off enemies, but I don’t think he’d get far with Commander Zens’ evil tharuks. He’d need way more torso protection against their razor-sharp claws.

Mixed genres here, but they swear they’re friends!

Homemade dragon wings that flap!!! And an amazing mask! VERY COOL!

Look who swooped by to visit Zaarusha & Ezaara, Tomaaz & Maazini, and Roberto & Erob!

Candy floss anyone?

Yes, I’d give this guy the award for the best shirt slogan!

Codi and Calista having fun.

Freddy Mercury knows Spidergirl? Man, wait ’til that hits the headlines!

What’s an Armageddon without a darlek?

Or an anime unicorn, peace-loving cosplayer!

Winner – Armageddon Fantasy Prize Pack!

The winner of our fantasy prize pack was Andrew Hodgkin. Andrew, we hope you enjoy your books!

Phew, this blog post has taken awhile. And to make things worse, I accidentally deleted the version I put up a few days ago, so I had to do it all again! Yes, it’s 5 weeks since Armageddon, but better late than never!

Dragons & Fun with Kids at Midwinter Festival

Today I had fun at the Writers Plot & Readers Read Midwinter Book Festival. Writers Plot is a cool bookstore in Upper Hutt that only stocks books by kiwi authors They invited me to read some of my dragon books and bring along my dragon costume.

Fun with dragon costumes
Hannah and I had fun after the festival! Her twin sister Isobel was fun too, but those photos didn’t end up on my camera.

Well, if I’m going to bring  a dragon costume, why not wear it?

And if I’m going to wear a costume, why not do my hair too?! (Luckily, one of my best buddies is into creating wacky multi-colored dragon hair, so we gave it a whirl! Yes, I flinched whenever I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror for the first day!)

AND, if you’re going to wear one costume, why not stay up late the night before, making an extra costume for the kids, too? (I swear there was no cursing at the sewing machine, at all, when the foot dropped off and the fabric bunched because I’d forgotten that I needed a special microtex needle! And no mutterings of, “giving up in ten stupid minutes, if I can’t get this silly machine working!” But I did sigh in relief when after an hour’s struggle, the machine suddenly hummed. An hour or two later, the kid’s costume was born!)

Dragon costumes by Eileen Mueller, author of middle grade and YA dragon books
More fun for Mia and Renae, a.k.a. fighting dragons.

At the festival, we dived into the word of Dragons’ Realm —A You Say Which Way Adventure, where a dragonet sings off-tune, farts chocolate wrappers and pines for its mother! Of course that’s not the only story in Dragon’s Realm. In this book, You Say Which Way the story goes, so you can discover all sorts of adventures in one book —22 to be exact.

Of course, the kids got to choose at every decision point and my lovely assistant (dressed in the kid’s dragon costume) awarded them with blood stains or medals for their efforts. It was loads of fun, with kids joining in and even teenagers eye-rolling at all the manure jokes!  These kids chose a long and involved story with lots of action, adventure and opportunities to ride (you guessed it) dragons!

After the festival was over, we had the chance to snap a few photos and enjoy cos-playing dragon attacks! My books flew off the sales table! Everyone loves dragons — and adventure. With four dragon books to choose from, there was something to suit all types of reader — pulse-pounding adventure and plenty of laughs with Attack on Dragons’ Realm and Dragons’ Realm; fun and frolics with Dragon Tales; laughs with Fangtastic Dragon Jokes & Clawsome Limericks; and interactive fiction with Mystic Portal and Dragons’ Realm.

Ben Spies child author has a dragon fight with his brother
Ben Spies, a young author, has a dragon fight with his brother Daniel.

I was thrilled to meet Ben Spies, who wrote his first novel, Weirdo, at nine years old, and his next The Magic Pencil  at ten! Ben is now twelve and still writing up a storm. The kids in his workshop loved his book and enjoyed his insights. It’s inspiring for them to see someone so young and already published!

Ben spies, child author, with Eileen Mueller who writes for kids and YA

A big shout out to Writers Plot owners, Cat and Caro, for doing such a great job. It’s well worth a trip to Upper Hutt to see their great selection of kiwi books for kids, teens and adults. They also have an online store, so if you’d like one of my paperbacks, you can shop here, or contact me here.

Ben Spies, Eileen Mueller and a junior dragon.
Ben Spies, a young author, and his brother enjoyed being dragons for a change.

Big Book Bash – Carterton

At the Big Book Bash in Carterton, Eileen Mueller is teaching YSWW

The Big Book Bash is coming up!

The Big Book Bash is a book festival for kids and teens , featuring many Wellington and Wairarapa children’s and Young Adult (YA) authors. It’s all happening this weekend on December 2nd in Carterton.

There’s fabulous line-up of well-known NZ authors, music, workshops and a carnival atmosphere. Libraries, schools, newspapers & radio stations are talking about it, the local book community is excited, and it’s going to be fun.

In my workshop, You Say Which Way – Create a Sci-Fi or Fantasy Story, I’ll be taking youth on an adventure in the world of interactive fiction. We’ll journey through exciting worlds, making choices that shape the reader’s experience. They’ll start a science fiction or fantasy adventure of their own.

Come Along!

Register here via Carterton library (in the right side menu bar).

At the Big Book Bash in Carterton, Eileen Mueller is teaching YSWWI’m in good company with many famous NZ children and YA authors. The full programme is here, featuring:

  • Go behind the scenes of Annual 2 and enjoy Melting Moments with Kate De Goldi and Susan Paris
  • Traveling Zine Museum with Murtle Chickpea
  • Paper Bag Dogs with Fifi Colston and Anne Manchester
  • Ngāti Kahungunu stories with Rawiri Smith
  • Events with two young writers, Ben Spies (age 12) and Zed (age 15)
  • Writing workshop for teens & adults with Mandy Hager
  • Poems of Protest and the Environment with Tim Jones and Harvey Molloy
  • You Say Which way Sci-fi & Fantasy workshop with Eileen Mueller
  • Going to Antarctica with Philippa Werry
  • Ginomee hats and stories with Ali Foster
  • Rainbow storytelling with drag queens La Quisha St Redfern and Pamela Hancock
  • Drawing with Rhondda Greig
  • Readings and arts and crafts with Alan Bagnell, Paul Beavis, Gillian Candler, Mary McCallum, Michelle O’Connell and Christine Parker
  • A storytelling finale with Marama Fox.

The big Book bash is also on EventFinda and has it’s own Facebook page 

2017 Sir Julius Vogel Award – Best New Talent

Sir Julius Vogel Best New Talent 2017I was absolutely thrilled – and more than a little speechless – to receive a 2017 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent at Lexicon, the New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy National convention. The full 2017 SJV awards list is here.

SJV Taupo Lexicon (1)With the deep blue backdrop of Lake Taupo, and snow-tipped ranges across the water, the setting for Lexicon was magical. Ninety teenage writers attended workshops on Friday and boggled us with their talent. A weekend full of interesting panels, discussions, impromptu meetups with writers and fun social activities kept me on my toes. Not to mention the last-minute accommodation booking I made without realizing my bed was situated above a nightclub. It was actually above a nightclub AND three bars, the only nightlife in Taupo!! Yes, I was dancing all night – even in my asleep.Sir Julus Vogel Award Eileen Mueller Grace Bridges

Even though I was on the shortlist, it was still a nerve-wracking process waiting through the ballot and having that envelope opened on stage in front of my eyes. Then there was that long moment: sitting, stunned, while people nudged me to get to my feet!

Sir Julius Vogel Award Lee Murray Eileen MuellerThank you to my wonderful readers for nominating me. And thank you to everyone who has supported my writing – by beta reading, believing in me, critiquing my work and brainstorming plot fixes. Thanks to my publishers, The Fairytale Factory and Phantom Feather Press, they’re great! I’d also like to thank the New Zealand speculative fiction community, Romance Writers New Zealand and Holly Lisle’s online writing community.

My critique groups deserve a proper mention. I’m lucky, I have two. Monkey Lab: Alicia Ponder, Charlotte Kieft, Michelle Child and Peter Friend; & Clarke’s Critters: Lee Murray, Simon Fogarty and Alicia Ponder. Everyone needs a tribe, so thanks for being mine. You’re all more than critique partners, you’re wonderful friends.

Sir Julius Vogel 2017 Winners
2017 Sir Julius Vogel Award Winners

Kids love Dragon Books!

I’m taking my Pet Dragons to Au Contraire!

Yes, my babies have flown home to roost, but not for long. I’m taking my wee fosterlings to Au Contraire to find them new homes. If you fancy a wee dragon for your little one, or a majestic beast for your growing kids, I have just the pets for you! They’d love new owners! I’ll be at the New Zealand National Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention (Au Contraire 2016) in Wellington this weekend. Hopefully my wee babies won’t follow me home…

… after all I’d love to have more dragonets come to visit soon and there won’t be space if this lot don’t find happy readers to love them.

Dragon Books by Eileen ueller
Putting the dragons among the dragonflies!

It’s going to be a busy weekend. I’m in a team, teaching a young writers all day on Friday, then we’ll be at the floating market fostering my babies (sniff sniff), workshop-ing with Anna MacKenzie on Saturday, listening to Juliet Marillier on Saturday, discussing forensics with police, community with fans and writers, and interviewing panelists about independent publishing until 10pm at night.

It’s going to be fun. Come along if you’re keen and you just may get to take a dragon home! If you can’t get there, but would love a dragon anyway, contact me and I can send you one. (I’ll answer when I get back!)

Au Contraire is a not-for-profit event which supports New Zealand Sci-fi and Fantasy. All proceeds go to charity. The timetable is here.

At The Edge

Story accepted for At the Edge

I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that I’ve had a story accepted for At The Edge, a dark speculative fiction anthology being released in the middle of 2016.

At The Edge anthologyMy story Call of the Sea explores some dark themes, indeed – abandonment, rejection, grief and insanity, but  be warned, I like happy endings.

There were a truckload of submissions. The award-winning editors, Lee Murray and Dan Rabarts, said they had enough quality stories to make two great collections, but are only making one at this stage. The anthology will be published by Paper Road Press and launched at Au Contraire, the NZ science fiction fantasy convention, in Wellington this June.

Here is the table of contents for At the Edge, alphabetically by author surname:

Joanne Anderton, “Street Furniture”At the Edge_front cover
Richard Barnes, “The Great and True Journey”
Carlington Black, “The Urge”
A.C. Buchanan, “And Still the Forests Grow though We are Gone”
Octavia Cade, “Responsibility”
Shell Child, “Narco”
Jodi Cleghorn , “The Leaves No Longer Fall”
Debbie Cowens, “Hood of Bone”
Tom Dullemond, “One Life, No Respawns”
A.J. Fitzwater, “Splintr”
Jan Goldie, “Little Thunder”
J.C. Hart, “Hope Lies North”
Martin Livings, “Boxing Day”
Phillip Mann, “The Architect”
Paul Mannering, “The Island at the End of the World”
Keira McKenzie, “In Sacrifice We Hope”
Eileen Mueller, “Call of the Sea”
Anthony Panegyres, “Crossing”
A.J. Ponder, “BlindSight”
David Stevens, “Crop Rotation”
David Versace, “Seven Excerpts from Season One”
Summer Wigmore, “Back when the River had No Name”
E.G. Wilson, “12-36”

The cover artist for At the Edge is Kapiti-based Emma Weakley. It should be a great volume. I’ll keep you posted.