tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58120614146462642362024-03-13T19:58:44.956-07:00Ninja KeyboardThe blog of Kim May, writer. You never know what she May write next.Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.comBlogger145125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-67417338793016378722022-12-19T21:49:00.000-08:002022-12-19T21:49:52.323-08:00Fancasting Stray Kids: Behind the Music<p> If you've travelled here from TikTok, yes, this is the droid you're looking for. If you're one of my readers or you've wandered here from the Google and have no idea what's going on, I've been fancasting the members of Stray Kids in musicals for kicks and giggles. You can find the posts on my cosplay/fan account: @kimiko971. They're all labeled so you shouldn't have any trouble finding them. I've referenced a lot of obscure musicals and specific performances/performers so here's YouTube links so you can hear what I'm talking about.</p><p><br /></p><p>Elizabeth: The Musical:</p><p>This one comes up a lot in my fancasting because I love this show so much. There is a Korean version of this show but I'm most familiar (and in love with) the 2004 Vienna revival production; which is in German. This cast features Mate Kamaras as Der Tod (Death/Grim Reaper) and Serkan Kaya as Luchini (The Italian assassin/anarchist that murdered Elizabeth) who I feel are the best actors to ever be in these roles (and I've watched a fair number of them). </p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/Lr8z-yyGqF8">Act 1 (with English subtitles)</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/AsBMeHKTNc8">Act 2 (with English subtitles)</a><br /></p><p>If two hours is more time than you're willing to commit to reading subtitles (which is fair) here's the main songs that you should be acquainted with to understand why I cast the guys the way I did.</p><p>For the roles of Der Tod and Rudolph:</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/ihwHC8xCTnc">Die Schatten Werden Langer (The Shadows Grow Longer)</a><br /></p><p>Der Tod:</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/3Q0SzE-Sp74">Der Letzte Tanz (The Last Dance)</a></p><p>For the role of Luchini:</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/FvdYhZibf9M">Act 1 prologue</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/U1FhWrnDIhw">Kitsch</a><br /></p><p>I briefly mention that there's a Korean version, and if my manifesting works and the guys do get cast someday, this is the version they'd be doing. Here's a brief taste of that production. I actually like the lyrics for the Korean version of The Shadows Grow Longer. They're more poetic than in the German version. I just haven't seen an actor or idol cast in the roles in question that could compare to the 2004 Vienna cast. However, I do have to give the Korean productions a lot of credit for having better minions for Tod. In the German productions the single wing on the costumes are only present for maybe two numbers. In the Korean production they're used more and they're part of the choreography. It's really cool visually.</p><p>In the clip below, Kim Junsu is playing Tod and while he's a fantastic performer and a great actor his voice doesn't have the darker tones that Mate's does. He's definitely the best Tod I've seen in a Korean production.</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/RAJ0cohiXOQ">The Last Dance</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/PJ1nQcvFiWg">The Shadows Grow Longer</a><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Chess:</p><p>This isn't so much obscure as it is passed over. It is a bit dated because it was written in and is set during the Cold War. However, I feel that it's still relevant and overall a beautiful musical. It's operatic at times, very pop in others, and yet it never feels like a variety show. Each song is perfect for that moment. The most surprising thing is that the entire show was composed by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, A.K.A. the guys from ABBA.</p><p>As I mentioned in the Lee Know episode the British version of the show, in my opinion, is superior to the American version of the show. In particular the original London cast is my favorite. Elaine Paige played Florence, one of my bucket list roles, Murry Head as the American, and Tommy Korberg as the Russian.</p><p>The Russian:</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/88TsOS89fGc">Anthem</a></p><p>The American:</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/YIOHSoaKPTk">one Night in Bankok</a></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/2BkrfBILKlw">Pity the Child</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Tanz der Vampire:</p><p>This musical is based on one of the cheesiest B vampire movies of all time: Roman Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers. The musical doesn't spare the cheese. There's an entire song where scared villagers sing about garlic. I'm not kidding. They're just sitting in a pub, singing about how much they love garlic. Despite the overabundance of cheese, I love this show. The score was written by Jim Steinman--the genius behind most of Meatloaf's hits, the man who satisfied emo cravings for sad romantic angst before the word emo existed. Believe it or not, Total Eclipse of the Heart sounds better in German. The role that I talked about in my TikTok was Herbert Von Krolock, who only gets one song. I wish he got more solos but this one is very memorable. Also, the actor portraying Herbert in this clip presents the character the way that I believe Hyunjin could.</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/03KZUtvqnFc">Wenn Liebe in Dir Ist</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Scarlet Pimpernell:</p><p>I've adored this show since I first heard the soundtrack. It's funny, it's moving, it's sassy...it has a bit of everything while still being true to the source material. This is one of my bucket list shows (that I will probably never get to be in because most companies aren't interested in doing a revival.) The role of Chauvelin was originated by Terrence Mann (Broadway royalty and one of my favorite actors) and Percy was originated by Douglas Sills. Fun fact, rumor is that Douglas come out during intermission and, in character, read the audience for filth.</p><p>Percy:</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/JNxtANJKtfE">Prayer</a></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/4HWg1oz7mYQ">When I Look at You (Reprise)</a></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/PcFn7BbCuNo">She Was There</a></p><p>Chauvelin:</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/EVA01Ku1oog">Where's the Girl</a></p><p>Both:</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/s0YR0G5qFIE">The Riddle</a></p><p><br /></p><p>We Will Rock You:</p><p>As the title suggests, this musical is a post-apocalyptic tour de force featuring the best of Queen's hits. The plot is fun and the original London cast is amazing. If you're a fan of The Voice you might remember Tony Vincent. Before he auditioned for the The Voice he was on the West End, originating the lead role of this show and he was fantastic! Even if you think the plot is a cheesy vehicle for Queen's discography you can't deny that hearing these songs with these harmonies and the theatrical stylings that only musical theater can deliver, is incredibly satisfying.</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/S0bRe0tXv7U">Under Pressure</a></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/v_27q7Ywg3E">Who Wants to Live Forever</a></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/WGgiRUSwyCo">Bohemian Rhapsody</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Mozart: L'Opera Rock:</p><p>I think it's safe to say that this is the most obscure musical in this series (and in my collection.) Imagine if the life of Mozart was given the Bridgerton treatment but with an Ateez flavored soundtrack. Clearly it was ahead of its time. The show opened in 2009 and only ran for two years. Sadly, it never left Western Europe but I feel that if it got a revival with the right cast (hint hint) it would be a global sensation.</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/OfdnnheqQcw">Full show (with English subtitles)</a><br /></p><p>Amadeus and Salieri:</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/Y8qESpkzwFU">Vivre a en crever</a><br /></p><p>Amadeus:</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/KtTlVYG9o8Y">Tatoue-moi</a><br /></p><p>Salieri:</p><p>(<b>WARNING: THIS IS THE RED LIGHTS OF THE MUSICAL. 18+!!!)</b></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/zvSupIEOfHg">Le bien qui fait mal (The Good Thing That Hurts)</a><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Those are my obscure pics. Hopefully that made it a lot easier to hear what I've got in my head and what influenced my casting. If nothing else at least I got you to watch some of the best of global musical theater. *grin* I love sharing my obsessions.</p><p><br /></p>Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-43370599741544555892022-09-29T13:52:00.000-07:002022-09-29T13:52:25.154-07:00New releases and other updates<p>I have a new short story out! It's in Predator: Eyes of the Demon and it's available everywhere, in print, ebook, and audio. It's gotten great reader reviews and I'm so happy that fans are enjoying these stories.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzA7wkOlJ-kvT0jita6HRcXgOdCnDgZQobbSw4nGP2Xj-Dp2CV1kV7lLmZNck9fgAc-u9e2GZ6nUq4TIk2sgXQq90NMGtqRVTgg-zB6Ae4Buz3NBfPUIcVCXEuRF4ulk3D-yzhd_ICqkjkxA7YfpKgaqjFZ83Un3wo2Po2c8Byc75Ss2UamIFUvpIqA/s2400/81g09CMChgL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1538" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzA7wkOlJ-kvT0jita6HRcXgOdCnDgZQobbSw4nGP2Xj-Dp2CV1kV7lLmZNck9fgAc-u9e2GZ6nUq4TIk2sgXQq90NMGtqRVTgg-zB6Ae4Buz3NBfPUIcVCXEuRF4ulk3D-yzhd_ICqkjkxA7YfpKgaqjFZ83Un3wo2Po2c8Byc75Ss2UamIFUvpIqA/s320/81g09CMChgL.jpg" width="205" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I'm thrilled to share a table of contents with so many amazing authors. This was quite possibly the largest fandom I've written a story for. It was a little nerve-wracking so the positive feedback from fans was a great relief. I take no small amount of pleasure in the fact that I wrote a very violent story for a Disney owned IP.</p><p><br /></p><p>In other news I was at Salt Lake FanX last week where I ran into a familiar face. This cosplayer had every detail perfect! It's by far the best Predator cosplay I've ever seen!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztjw1xB-H5--62gxX5aIxxdC-_S1utZ7GSQd3sFt6XhsJ22dVgULnP3Nsq7_mgMLXpG6lCP25PsHg3Xn1JEQVKQkVAf12pVO9ypFARsAys44fjuMAyag68LsX-sg638KjD_ekuUQgO2vXSthZDwMgy8QtKPN6F0EliZ8HtvaZyB1UfUjiHDXwYra2mQ/s4032/20220924_110917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztjw1xB-H5--62gxX5aIxxdC-_S1utZ7GSQd3sFt6XhsJ22dVgULnP3Nsq7_mgMLXpG6lCP25PsHg3Xn1JEQVKQkVAf12pVO9ypFARsAys44fjuMAyag68LsX-sg638KjD_ekuUQgO2vXSthZDwMgy8QtKPN6F0EliZ8HtvaZyB1UfUjiHDXwYra2mQ/s320/20220924_110917.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>I was at Bard's Tower selling my books. Thank you to all the fans who stopped by and said hi. Since Larry Correia was at the booth I got to meet a lot of people who loved my story in the Monster Hunter Files. I got to connect with a lot of new readers. Friday I went to the con in my Aizawa cosplay and needed out at the My Hero Academia voice actor panel.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In other news, I've moved to Utah. I desperately needed a fresh start and so far I'm really liking it here. I'm settled into my new place and writing again. Right now I'm working on a short story for an anthology that a friend is putting together. That story is due on Halloween. As soon as it's turned in I'll get back to work on a historical novel that's a bit of a passion project. It's about 30% done. For that novel I'll have to publish it traditionally (through one of the big New York publishers) which is why I set aside the next Oneiroi War book. As soon as the historical novel is done and making the rounds to agents and editors I'll get started on book three of the Oneiroi war. I have the last three books in that series partially outlined already. I know how the series is going to end so don't worry. I will finish the series. My plan for the rest of the series is to write the final three books back to back so I can release them in quick succession. I don't want to keep anyone waiting longer than I absolutely have to. I feel bad making fans wait this long but it was unavoidable since my life went sideways last year, causing a bit of a mental health crisis. I'm much better now and back to writing daily. It feels really good to be making progress on these projects again.</div><div><p><br /></p></div>Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-79868037652457541672021-09-06T12:28:00.000-07:002021-09-06T12:28:10.266-07:00Shang Chi and the Legend of Asian American Representation<p>I've thought long and hard about whether I wanted to write this or not. I loved Shang Chi. I've seen it twice already and if a friend asked me to go with them I'd go see it a third time without hesitation. It's an excellent film. I don't want to rag on it. I would rather talk about all the things that I loved about it like how they used different martial arts sales as an expression of each character's personality or how Michelle Yeoh stole every scene (as she should). I was about to forget all about my one big criticism when I saw this <a href="https://gizmodo.com/shang-chis-director-on-making-a-marvel-movie-with-asian-1847583515">Gizmodo</a> article. After reading that article I can't let it slide.</p><p>The article didn't make me angry. What it did was reinforce what disappointed me about Shang Chi. I went to the theater hoping that I would have a "Black Panther moment". I wanted to be as inspired and moved as African Americans were after that film premiered. I wanted to feel seen.</p><p>I wasn't.</p><p>It also wasn't entirely the film's fault.</p><p>A large part of it was mine.</p><p>I bought into the idea that this film would be a bastion of Asian American representation. I thought I'd see myself and my odd dual-culture experience reflected in these characters. Unfortunately in doing that I did the one thing that I've privately criticized others (and Hollywood in general) for doing. I forgot that Asia and the Asian diaspora is really big and really diverse. I saw the word Asian and glomped onto it without stopping to find out what kind of Asian they really meant.</p><p>Shang Chi was clearly focused on Chinese and Chinese-American culture -- which is where the focus needed to be. Was Shang Chi a good representation of Chinese and Chinese-American culture? I don't know. You'll have to ask someone who is Chinese or Chinese-American. I can tell you that when Jon Jon says that he speaks ABC it completely went over my head. I had no idea that he was switching to a diaspora dialect. That phrase isn't a part of my lexicon and that's okay because the reference wasn't intended for me.</p><p>I'm Japanese-American but I'm also from a very...secluded part of the Japanese-American community. I'm the child of a half-blood who was adopted. I've never met my Japanese relatives, I've never been to Japan, and I speak very little Japanese. 95% of my family is white as was the community I grew up in. I'm one of the few Japanese people who identify as a Weeb because literally everything I know about Japanese culture came from anime or manga. I was an idiot to think for a moment that anything resembling me or my culture would be in a Chinese superhero movie. I can't even find it in Japanese films. No one is going to be making films any time soon about my tiny little corner of the diaspora.</p><p>I do lay a little blame on Marvel and the director. As he said in the Gizmodo article, he was trying to make this authentic to "Asian American culture". It's a phrase that pops up every now and then and it triggers me every time. Why? Because there isn't a universal Asian-American culture or community. We have some similar shared experiences such as being called a slur for a nationality that we don't belong to. But the things that a Chinese-American household does is going to be different from those in a Desi household or of any other Asian diaspora household. It's impossible to represent every Asian culture in one film and it's inappropriate to assume that one culture is the official representative of 1/3 of the globe. The vast differences in the diaspora makes it even more complicated. Yet despite all that the term Asian American representation keeps appearing in a strange code switch type of context.</p><p>I don't know whether to call this a Hollywood assumption or an overgeneralized code so they can say they're being inclusive. Whatever it is it's something that is a part of the default mindset of a lot of Americans -- and sadly it's a mindset that Asian-Americans sometimes default to without meaning to. It's a pervasive American thing and it's going to take a lot of time and work to reset that default. Even being aware of it isn't going to reset it. I defaulted to it without realizing it. That's why I was so disappointed. I forgot myself. I was more disappointed with myself than I was with the film and I've had to come to terms with the fact that seeing a movie highlighted that fault in myself.</p><p>In spite of all of this I do really like the film. When a friend asked my thoughts on it after we saw it, specifically what did they get right about Asian culture, I didn't know how to answer. I left the theater feeling the same way I did when I saw Hero and House of Flying Daggers. I saw a great martial arts film and had fun. But can I call Shang Chi my hero? Sadly, no. There are more characters I can say that about in My Hero Academia than I can in any Marvel or Disney property. But I couldn't in the moment find the words to express that without putting down what was a great film, one of the few with an almost entirely Asian cast. I ended up telling my friend about some of the things I liked in general, which satisfied him. I kept my disappointment to myself (which is a very Japanese thing to do) only to voice it later on the internet (which is a very American thing to do).</p><p>I'm glad the director and the studio made an effort to make this a faithful representation of Chinese and Chinese-American culture. I'm glad that they hired Asian actors to play Asian characters and that they weren't afraid to have Chinese dialogue with English subtitles. Hopefully this film will continue to be successful. I can still hope that it will encourage more studios to make more films with diverse casts and themes. Maybe someday before I die I can have that "Black Panther moment".</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-15583511984290819182020-05-22T15:17:00.003-07:002020-05-22T15:17:44.149-07:00New releases!In case you missed it Book 2 in The Oneiroi War series is out! I'm really happy it's finally out in the world! You can get it <a href="https://books2read.com/u/3yvY1l" target="_blank">here</a>. It features another fabulous cover by Lee Moyer!<br />
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Here's a taste of what you'll find in this book: </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A girl without hope</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A vengeful god</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">An emerging power </span><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Sachiko “Koko” Nakamura’s life was turned upside down when she lost one of her dads to cancer. When a stranger gives her an unusual pendant it opens to her a world of possibilities. It also puts her in the crosshairs of a vengeful god.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">When Sair locked Morpheus out of the Demos he thought that would be the end of the constant danger but it was only the beginning of their troubles. The Demos is dying.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Morpheus is in the real world and in a new body. If he can get his hands on the Moonflower no one, not even the gods, would be able to stop him…and he knows who has it.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Alliances shift and secrets are revealed in this exciting continuation of The Oneiroi War.</span><br />
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I also have a short story out in the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Straight-Outta-Dodge-City-David-ebook/dp/B082YFXM2Q/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2D2O8CW597VKB&dchild=1&keywords=straight+outta+dodge+city&qid=1590182317&s=books&sprefix=straight+outta%2Cstripbooks%2C221&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Straight Outta Dodge City</a> anthology edited by my good friend David Boop. It's out now! Oh, did I mention that my name is on the cover of this one? There's a lot of exciting tales by greats in the industry as well as lesser known authors. My tale is a thrilling adventure about a transcontinental airship service that has a run in with a Native American deity.<br />
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I have another short story coming out June 1st in Blaze Ward Presents #3: Nuns With Guns. You can find it <a href="https://blazewardpresents.com/?mbdb_book=nuns-with-guns" target="_blank">here</a>. I'm really excited to be in this anthology! This story was so much fun to write. It's heavily inspired by anime and it's set in the same universe as The Void Around the Sword's Edge. If you're not familiar with the story you can find it in <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fiction-river-pulse-pounders" target="_blank">Fiction River: Pulse Pounders Special Kobo Edition</a>. You can also find a video of me reading it <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kim.mainord/videos/vb.100001050334738/3199685763409737/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Finally I have yet another short story coming out in late June in A Procession of Faeries #5: The Wild Hunt edited by Jamie Ferguson. This tale is dark fantasy and it was inspired by a local theme park: The Enchanted Forest. I wrote this story backstage during Avenue Q -- my last production with Albany Civic Theater. I don't have a cover image or pre-order details yet but I'll share them when I have them!<br />
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With all of these stories coming out you'd think I'd take a break, but no. I'm hard at work outlining a novel. Sadly it's not the next Oneiroi War. It's a standalone historical novel set in postwar Japan and it's a story that is near and dear to my heart. Once I've finished that then my plan is to go back to Oneiroi War and write the last three books back to back. That should keep me busy for the next two years.<br />
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I hope all is well with you! Happy reading!<br />
<br />Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-79264492786469663612020-01-06T19:03:00.000-08:002020-01-06T19:03:27.168-08:00Music from The Closed GameDance plays a major role in this book and it's hard to dance without music. I didn't name any particular songs in the book but there were specific songs that I had Koko dancing to during those scenes. If you want to listen to those songs while reading the scenes I've listed them below along with YouTube links. If you're reading this post because you're a dancer or a choreographer who wants loves the idea of the routine and wants to perform a full version, be my guest. Just make sure you record it and tag me on Twitter (@KimMay_ninja) so I can watch it!<br />
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Here they are!<br />
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Chapter 2: Harajuku Fosse<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5KP46B3Qpk" target="_blank">But</a> by Koda Kumi<br />
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Chapter 14: Bitch Play My Song<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPaGE24vpio" target="_blank">Nothing Else Matters</a> by Apocalyptica<br />
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Chapter 20: Pinch Me<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGTNHCz0CxA" target="_blank">My Beautiful Woman</a> by The Backstreet Boys<br />
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Chapter 28: Turn It Out<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJOle1kiKxI" target="_blank">Oceano</a> by Josh Groban<br />
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It've also put it together on a <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27CVKQBxnAb0asJKOrel00?si=gsw-KTFKTemqFAcG-x-J7g" target="_blank">Spotify</a> play list. (For some reason Spotify keeps adding songs to the playlist that I didn't intend to be there. I keep hiding them and for some strange reason they keep coming back. Sorry.)<br />
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Thanks for reading my book!<br />
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<br />Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-43277883279778282392019-11-12T23:38:00.000-08:002019-11-12T23:38:54.432-08:002020 release scheduleI've got some great news! I have another short story coming out February 4th! My story, Stealing Thunder From the Gods, will be in Straight Outta Dodge City, edited by David Boop!<br />
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It's available for pre-order on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Straight-Outta-Dodge-City-David/dp/1982124369/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3NR4B5PLCX1C&keywords=straight+outta+dodge+city&qid=1573628983&s=books&sprefix=straight+out%2Caps%2C218&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.</div>
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I love this story and I'm thrilled to be in another Baen anthology! I'm also ecstatic that my name is on the cover! This is the first time my name has made it on the cover! Oh, and do you see the huge names that I get to share a table of contents with? I'd be honored to be in an anthology with any one of them but to be with all of them is amazing! It's hard to contain the squee!</div>
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I also have news about Oneiroi War 2. The official title will be The Closed Game and right now it's on track for a January 7th release. I don't have the cover art yet but I'll share it when I do. I've almost finished the final edit -- just seven chapters left! I don't foresee any delays so fingers crossed that nothing happens to postpone it. I'm eager to finally see the next installment out in the world! I know many fans of The Moonflower are eager to read it.</div>
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In other news I'll be attending <a href="https://superstarswriting.com/" target="_blank">Superstars Writing Seminar</a> in February. I've been asked to give my presentation on how to make the most of book signings. There's still space available if you want to come hear it. You can also check out the list of instructors at the link above. It's going to be an informative seminar and I'm looking forward to it! That's all I have planned for next year so far. As always once plans solidify for anything else I'll post the details here.</div>
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Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-47394662962394983142019-05-20T16:02:00.002-07:002019-05-20T16:14:39.343-07:00The Baker and Taylor situationRecently Baker and Taylor, one of the largest book distributors in the US, announced that it was shutting down its retail branch. A lot of the authors I know reacted to the news with a "meh" or "okay, whatever" type of reaction while others who know more about the retail side of the business were uttering long strings of expletives. Both reactions are valid for different reasons but I wanted to go into more depth of what exactly this change means and how it affects authors as well as bookstores because I suspect that there are many who don't understand the situation.<br />
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Not only was Baker and Taylor one of the largest book distributors left it's also one of the last. There are still a few small regional distributors on the east coast but B&T and Ingram are the big boys. If a store didn't want to order directly from every publishing company whose books they sell (and few do because that's a huge headache) or if they're like some store who can't order directly because the big publishers are terrible at processing new account information in a timely manner then they have to order through a distributor. B&T gave a slightly better discount than Ingram and had some other great perks so out of the two they were the preferable company to deal with.<br />
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I do want to emphasize that B&T isn't going out of business. Their library sales and distribution division is still business as usual. It's only the book store side that they're shutting down slowly over the next two months. The reason why is a little hazy. Their public press release said one thing while their press release to their retail clients (the bookstores) said another. It could very well be both reasons but without further information it's impossible to know for sure. As far as I can tell it was a corporate/executive decision and most of the folks at B&T had no clue it was coming. Their staff are as sad about the announcement as the stores are and this definitely wasn't done on a whim. The execs put a lot of thought and study into other options before pulling the plug.<br />
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On the book store side the announcement has caused a lot of panic because now it limits options for ordering new stock and whether or not they can discount titles to stay competitive. It also may affect what stores choose to stock because the slightly less favorable terms mean that it's harder to financially justify taking a chance on a new author or a book on an esoteric subject matter. (More on that later.) Pretty much every bookselling association in the country has been emailing Ingram since the announcement to find out what their plans are to facilitate the extra demand they're going to recieve. The only information that's come out of Ingram so far is that they're committed to helping stores that don't already have accounts with them get set up and that they intend to increase their stock. The first point it great and a relief to hear. The second point has me worried. Why? Ingram hasn't revealed how they're going to increase stock and what they're increasing stock on.<br />
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There are three options that I can see for how they can increase stock.<br />
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Option 1: If they have unused warehouse space then they already have the ability to increase stock. Ingram has multiple warehouses across the country so it's possible they can put up more shelving to accommodate the extra stock. I don't believe it's probable but it is possible.<br />
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Option 2: They can decrease their stock of slower selling authors and/or subject matters and sidelines to create room for the more popular items. This is an option I think is far more likely since it's something that they're already practicing. They like to keep a pretty fast turn around so they have as little stock sitting around as possible. It's not unusual for them to have almost completely phased out of stock a title that's only been out two or three months -- and once they've phased it out that's it. They're not ever going to restock it.<br />
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Option 3: Purchase more warehouses and hire the necessary staff to run them. This would be the smartest move for them, especially since their business is going to increase, and the best option for the book business and publishing as a whole. Will they actually fork out the money to do this? I don't know. My fingers are crossed.<br />
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There is a pretty unlikely but not too far out of the realm of possibility option 4; which is to convince the big publishers to do more print on demand trade paperbacks. Some large publishers like Macmillan already do this and Ingram has a POD division that can facilitate it. The downside is that they're often outrageously priced which makes it highly unlikely that the public will like it if it does happen.<br />
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Whatever option Ingram chooses it's going to be rough the first few months as they figure out exactly how much their demand has changed and publishers figure out how much more of a print run they have to set aside for the Ingram order. Publishers are already kind of slow to fulfill Ingram orders (it's not unusual for it to take 2-4 weeks for stock to reach the Ingram warehouses) so part of the solution will depend on how publishers react and adapt as well. Hopefully they adapt quickly so stores don't lose too much in the transition. It's hard to ask customers to wait a few weeks for the warehouse to restock when they can go online and have it on their doorstep the next day. Those lost sales hurt and since brick and mortar stores are on the rebound it would be a shame to see any store have to close because they lost too much money waiting for backordered stock to arrive.<br />
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How does all of this affect authors? If you're traditionally published it's going to affect you the most. I'm willing to bet that most of Ingram's increased stock is going to be bestsellers and new releases that have received a lot of positive pre-release buzz. For new authors and mid-list authors it's going to be a lot harder to stay in the game. It won't be impossible but it's going to be harder to have the blockbuster first week sales to get another book deal because the necessary stock level for those kind of sales numbers isn't likely to be in the Ingram warehouse. I'd love to be proven wrong on that but honestly, I don't foresee it happening. For NYT bestsellers the worst I foresee happening to them is that they have to carry large stacks of book plates to sign when they're on tour so the people who couldn't get their hands on a copy because of warehouse shortages can still get a signature.<br />
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For indie authors this can be a great opportunity -- especially if you distribute through Ingram Sparks. If you don't distribute through Ingram Sparks now would be a good time to start. Ingram Sparks titles won't be effected by warehouse space shortages at all because those come from separate facilities. The big key is to make sure your books are available at the industry standard discount (that's 70-75% on the back end so it's the standard 40-45% on the store's end). These coming weeks as stores transition over would be a great time to visit local indie stores or mail them a one page sell sheet about your books and highlight the information about them being available POD at Ingram at the standard discount. I believe that information will become a bigger selling point then it was before since orders for POD titles can fulfilled without any additional hassle. In these early transition months your titles will be easier for a store to restock than a lot of traditionally published titles.<br />
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If I hear more concrete information in the coming months I'll add it to this post but this is all I know right now. I hope the situation and the ramifications are more clear to you than it was before. I'm still hoping that the transition will be more smooth than I expect it to be but I'm not holding my breath either. As they say, only time will tell.<br />
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<br />Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-52642228877198189502018-07-30T18:32:00.000-07:002018-07-30T18:32:52.313-07:00What I've been up to latelyYeah, I know. It's been a shamefully long time since I updated this page. The past 10 months I've been busy because of a family emergency of sorts. Everyone is fine, you needn't worry. But my family needed my help and that took me away form writing for a while. The same can be said for the ongoing construction/remodeling at home. Last summer it reached a stage where I had to pack up a lot of things and get them out of the way. I did manage to squeeze in some writing time and I've made good progress on book 2 of The Oneiroi War. It was at the halfway mark when I had to put it aside in March to work on three contracted short stories that were due back to back. I've finished those up recently. In fact, not only are all three written, two have already gone through edits. So that's a huge relief -- and I need some relief. I've pushed myself too hard these past few months to make up for lost time and to make these deadlines. My arthritic hands are hurting and I'm really fatigued. So rather than jump right back into book 2 I'm going to take a short break. I know a lot of people are eagerly waiting for that next book and I definitely want to get back to it but I really need two weeks off so my hands can recover. I feel terrible delaying it a bit longer but I have to be smart and put my health first.<br />
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Never fear though. I do have something new to tide you over while I rest. One of the three stories I worked on over the spring is coming out August 1st! It's part of <a href="https://www.uncollectedanthology.com/" target="_blank">Uncollected Anthology</a>. Uncollected Anthology is an urban fantasy anthology series. Every volume has a different theme -- this time the theme is fairy tales -- and all of the stories are by really talented authors! What makes Uncollected Anthology really unique is that you can buy all of the stories seperately! You can still buy the whole volume, but I love that the option to only but two or three is available. I'm the guest author for this particular volume and I'm thrilled!<br />
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Here is what my story, <i>The Twelve Dancing Sisters</i>, is about: <span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Private Investigator, Chloe Martinez, has had some strange cases but this is the first one that has scared her to death. Twelve sorority sisters disappear every Friday night and no one knows where they go. All of the clues lead to the secretive world that Chloe narrowly managed to escape years ago. If she doesn’t take case these girls might not survive another night. But if she does take the case, Chloe might not be able to escape that world a second time.</i></span><br />
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You'll find the buy links for <i>The Twelve Dancing Sisters</i> and all of the other stories in the anthology <a href="https://www.uncollectedanthology.com/anthology-titles/year-four/fairy-tales/" target="_blank">here</a>, at the bottom of the page.<br />
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When I have details on the release of the the other two stories I wrote over the spring I'll share them and I'll definitely keep you updated on how book two is coming along. Till then I'll commence my break!<br />
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<br />Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-36087263563771235582017-09-20T16:13:00.002-07:002017-09-20T16:13:33.054-07:00Three StoryBundles!<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">That's right. I have stories in three different StoryBundles right now. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">First off the Epic Fantasy Bundle, which contains my debut novel, The Moonflower, is about to end. There's a little over a day left to get this great selection of DRM-free e-books. 15 books for $15.00 is an amazing deal! Hell, I've been known to pay that much for a Sanderson alone! You don't want to miss out on this one. Trust me! You can get the Epic Fantasy Bundle <a href="https://storybundle.com/epic" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Next up is the Light in the Dark YA bundle. This young adult bundle contains the Sparks volume of Fiction River which contains my short story, Moonshine. This is my historical YA story about two orphans during the Great Depression who turn to running Moonshine in order to survive. You get the Sparks anthology at the $5.00 level. There's 15 days to get this bundle. </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">You can get this bundle </span><a href="https://storybundle.com/ya" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Finally, the Aliens Among Us bundle just launched today. It's available for another 22 days. At the $5.00 level you get the No Humans Allowed volume of Fiction River, which contains my short story, When A Good Fox Goes To War. This is my historical fantasy story about a kitsune who gets caught up in a war between two feuding Samurai. You can get the Aliens Among Us bundle </span></span><a href="https://storybundle.com/aliens" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">This is the cheapest all of these books have ever been! I highly recommend you snatch up these bargains!</span></span>Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-51025698343802423992017-09-04T23:21:00.001-07:002017-09-04T23:21:16.356-07:00The Epic Fantasy StoryBundle!My novel, The Moonflower is part of the new Epic Fantasy StoryBundle that Kevin J. Anderson put together! Squee!!! There are some amazing authors in this bundle like R.A. Salvatore, Michael Stackpole, Brandon Sanderson as well as a lot of great indie authors!<br />
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You can get the bundle here: <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fstorybundle.com%2Fepic&h=ATMRCd1mRQPeRJLAA6N-M3_rcsWlm2mThh1tB8Kw_XYcbJPUFJpxGWPX2goXzdLOJeFveW0sNMvU-ecSxz52lJWkzAvWd-Q1EPkeDThsmRXRKDZh-iLmVpTR_f7ElxgInQ0ApQajc08PCmjcgfW2a3mj3qVdKO5gXQo2Ivv_lKzRVKDMN61K2UO88Kbn6IGJ9hYE-aO_2qT2AznLEBFsuTOmxYtQP-892khegQXjiWiSYiHonFAG">http://storybundle.com/epic</a><br />
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If you're not familiar with StoryBundle, it works like this:<br />
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The DRM-free e-book versions of each of these books are available for download and you get to decide what you pay for them. If you pay at least $5.00 you get:<br />
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<i>Knight of Flame</i> by Scott Eder<br />
<i>A Hero Born -- Realms of Chaos book 1</i> by Michael A. Stackpole<br />
<i>Joanna Crusader</i> by Hilary Benford<br />
<i>The Fallen -- The Greatest Sin Book 1</i> by Lee French and Erik Kort<br />
T<i>he Education of Brother Thaddius and Other Tales of DemonWars</i> by R.A. Salvatore<br />
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Yeah, that's not a typo. You get a Salvatore, a Stackpole and two more great books for only $5.00! But here's the real kicker...if you pay at least $15.00 you get TEN MORE BOOKS! You get these great books in addition to the titles above:<br />
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<i>Obstacles</i> by Ryan English<br />
<i>Blood of Akhilles</i> by R.M. Meluch<br />
<i>Blood Curse</i> by Quincy J. Allen<br />
<i>Warrior of Light</i> by William Heinzen<br />
<i>The Moonflower</i> by Kim May (Yay!)<br />
<i>Shadowguard</i> by Gama Ray Martinez<br />
<i>Sixth of the Dusk</i> by Brandon Sanderson<br />
<i>Spearwielder's Tale -- The Woods Out Back</i> by R.A. Salvatore<br />
<i>The Sword of Bedwyr</i> <i>-- The Crimson Shadow</i> by R.A. Salvatore<br />
<i>Unwilling Souls</i> by Gregory D. Little<br />
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As I mentioned earlier all of these ebooks are DRM-free. If you're not familiar with some of these books or some of these authors, that's okay. If you click on the book's picture on the site you can pull up a description of book as well as some reviews to help you decide. You get both the epub and mobi files so you can read them on any device. Plus, when you buy the bundle you also have the opportunity to donate a portion of the proceeds to The Challenger Center For Space Education. You can find out more about the Challenger Center <a href="https://www.challenger.org/who-we-are/" target="_blank">here</a>. Their work is so important so please consider donating to them.<br />
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This bundle is only available until September 20th so don't wait. Get it now!<br />
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<br />Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-1629854846724534702017-06-28T16:38:00.001-07:002017-06-29T20:03:02.390-07:00My Debut Novel!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The last time I posted an update I teased that I have a new book coming and would soon release the cover. Well, soon thereafter I was so swamped in copy edits, and other pre-release business that I completely forgot to do that. I am sorry for that but I have some news that might make up for that. My debut novel, The Moonflower, is now out!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's the publisher's description: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Getting into a Parisian art school was a dream come true for Ariana, but night terrors are disrupting her sleep, making it nearly impossible to complete her coursework, and now she faces expulsion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When a mysterious woman gives her a pendant, promising it will solve her problems, Ariana is desperate enough to try it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">Instead of sweet dreams, it transports her to the Demos Oneiroi - the dream world of the ancient Greek gods - and thrusts her amidst a war between the gods.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now Ariana must choose to let the gods fight amongst themselves, or risk everything to keep their feud from spilling into the real world</span><span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: small;">"</span></span></span></span></div>
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And here's the cover I mercilessly teased about:</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cxlzkojiwgg/WUsDXLOmfbI/AAAAAAAADuw/Oe_drMgX7Xo3z55uFvU5Z2Sig3-l2RvWgCLcBGAs/s1600/TheMoonflowerB.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1204" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cxlzkojiwgg/WUsDXLOmfbI/AAAAAAAADuw/Oe_drMgX7Xo3z55uFvU5Z2Sig3-l2RvWgCLcBGAs/s320/TheMoonflowerB.tif" width="240" /></a> </div>
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The gorgeous cover art is by <a href="http://www.leemoyer.com/" target="_blank">Lee Moyer</a> and I couldn't be happier with it! It's so amazing to finally see these characters on a cover and hold the book in my hands. This book is the first of five books in the Oneiroi War series. And because I know that someone will ask, yes, it will only be five books. I am not going to pull a GRRM or a Jordan on you by suddenly expanding the series and spending the next twenty years working on it. Right now the plan is to write and release a book a year in this series. I've already written about a third of book two and I'm loving it! It's so good!</div>
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It's available in ebook on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moonflower-Oneiroi-War-Book-ebook/dp/B071ZZYXZQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496766106&sr=8-1&keywords=the+moonflower+may" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-moonflower/id1244903319?ls=1&mt=11" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-moonflower-kim-may/1126619252?ean=2940158960833" target="_blank">Nook</a>, and <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-moonflower-1" target="_blank">Kobo</a>.</div>
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There's also a paperback edition available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moonflower-Oneiroi-War-1/dp/0999074717/ref=sr_1_3_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1498577623&sr=1-3&keywords=Kim+May" target="_blank">Amazon</a>. The paperback will also be available at Reader's Guide and Powell's bookstores in Oregon but give it a few weeks before you rush in and buy it. Their warehouses haven't received their shipments yet but I've been assured that they will arrive.</div>
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Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-49016682862590604002017-04-28T23:52:00.000-07:002017-04-28T23:52:01.316-07:00New Releases!There is so much happening at once that it's a bit overwhelming -- but entirely in a good way.<br />
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<b><u>Book signing</u></b><br />
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Tomorrow is Independent Bookstore Day and I'll be signing books with a bunch of other authors at Reader's Guide Bookstore in Salem, OR from 11-4. If you're in the area I'd love to see you! You can find the full details on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1005483662916611/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>. It's going to be a really fun day!<br />
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If you don't live in the area but want to participate in the Indie love then at least go to your local independent bookstore. Independent Bookstore Day is a national celebration and you can find a map of participating stores <a href="http://indiemap.bookweb.org/" target="_blank">here</a>. If there isn't an indie bookstore near you then you, first off I feel very sorry for you, but second, you can still get my newest story.<br />
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<b><u>New Short Story</u></b><br />
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I have a new short story out! It's in <i>Fiction River: No Humans Allowed</i>. As the title suggests, all of the stories are about non-human entities. My story, <i>When A Good Fox Goes To War, </i>is set in 16th century Japan and is about a kitsune that gets caught between two feuding Samurai. I adore this story and I hope you do too! Click on this <a href="https://books2read.com/u/bzpMej" target="_blank">link</a> to buy the ebook. The print edition will be available on Amazon soon and Reader's Guide has it in stock for tomorrow's book signing.<br />
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<b><u>Debut novel!!!</u></b><br />
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Yes, you read that right. My first novel, <i>The Moonflower</i> is coming out soon! The final touches are being put on it and it should be out in early June. Earlier today I saw the cover art that Lee Moyer created for it and it's Gorgeous!!! I'll post an official announcement with all the awesome details when I have them worked out. I know. It's cruel of me to share news like that without so much as pre-order link. That's because the the production schedule has been escalated a bit and now I'm scrambling to finish the line edits in time. But because I'm not a complete monster, here's the description:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;">"Getting into a Parisian art school was a dream come true for Ariana, but night terrors are disrupting her sleep, making it nearly impossible to complete her coursework, and now she faces expulsion.</span><br id="yiv5648801536yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492922364865_387710" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; color: #1d2129; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;" /><br id="yiv5648801536yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492922364865_387711" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; color: #1d2129; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;">When a mysterious woman gives her a pendant, promising it will solve her problems, Ariana is desperate enough to try it.</span><br id="yiv5648801536yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492922364865_387712" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; color: #1d2129; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;" /><br id="yiv5648801536yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492922364865_387713" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; color: #1d2129; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;">Instead of sweet dreams, it transports her to the Demos Oneiroi - the dream world of the ancient Greek gods - and thrusts her amidst a war between the gods.</span><br id="yiv5648801536yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492922364865_387714" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; color: #1d2129; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;" /><br id="yiv5648801536yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492922364865_387715" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; color: #1d2129; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;">Now Ariana must choose to let the gods fight amongst themselves, or risk everything to keep their feud from spilling into the real world."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Cambria;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Moonflower is the first book in The Oneiroi War series and I can't wait for everyone to be able to read it!</span></span><br />
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<br />Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-83340075553026701492017-02-02T22:52:00.000-08:002017-02-02T22:52:58.761-08:00<br />
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Fiction River: Tavern Tales is out now! My short story, Schrodinger's Bar, is in this volume. I'm very proud of this story. It was a lot of fun to work with Kerrie again! Schrodinger's is a dive bar on a space station where not all is as it seems. It's got a really neat twist at the end, and no, it's not a twist of lime.<br />
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You can buy it in print and ebook here:<br />
<a href="http://www.wmgpublishinginc.com/project/fiction-river-tavern-tales/">http://www.wmgpublishinginc.com/project/fiction-river-tavern-tales/</a>Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-87428762357339176132017-01-24T22:16:00.000-08:002017-01-24T22:16:48.357-08:002017 Award Eligibility PostIt's that wonderful time of the year when authors feel like egotistical jerks for reminding readers of all the award eligible things they did last year. You can almost smell the anxiety. But it has to be done because memories are short and regrets are forever.<br />
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So...on to business!<br />
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This is my last year of eligibility for the Campbell Award. My short story, The Fukuda Cube, which appeared in the Eclipse Phase anthology is eligible for the best short story Hugo award.<br />
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This concludes the portion about me. Here's a list of everything I read and loved last year (that was also published last year):<br />
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Novels:<br />
<b>The Fireman, by Joe Hill</b><br />
This book is really brilliant! It's really not horror either. If I had to re-classify it I'd call it dark contemporary fantasy. And you know what? I'm going to come right out and say it. I think this book establishes him as a better writer than his father.<br />
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<b>Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson</b><br />
<b> </b>Another brilliant book. The previous book in this series left me heartbroken for the characters and this book was the perfect followup. Plus there's major Cosemere crossover stuff if you pay close attention to those kind of things.<br />
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<b>Arcanum Unbounded, by Brandon Sanderson</b><br />
Yes, there's two of his on the list but I would be amiss not to put this fantastic collection of his shortish fiction on the list. It's gorgeous and there's so many excellent stories!<br />
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<b>Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge, by John Ringo and Larry Correia</b><br />
I normally don't like reflective first person viewpoints but this one is so good! Granted it helps that I love the Monster Hunter books anyway, but even if I didn't I still would have loved this book. It's that well done...until you get to the giant spiders at the end. I did skip that part. Oh, come on. Wouldn't you? They're <i>giant spiders</i>! Eek!<br />
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<b>Ghost Talkers, by Mary Robinette Kowal</b><br />
This historical fantasy has all of the charm beautiful language we've come to expect from Mary in addition to being a really compelling thriller. It made me laugh and it made me cry.<br />
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<b>Extreme Makeover, by Dan Wells</b><br />
When Dan said that this is the best book he's ever written, he wasn't kidding! It's brilliant! The concept is original and terrifying and there's just enough humor to keep me from having nightmares.<br />
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Graphic Novel:<br />
<b>Monstress vol. 1, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda</b><br />
The art is gorgeous, the story is fascinating and original, and the Asian influence makes me feel right at home. I can't wait for the second collection to come out!<br />
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<b><br /></b>Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-35804343095365703132016-12-29T08:50:00.001-08:002016-12-29T08:50:15.011-08:00One Less Rogue in Rogue One PleaseBeware! This post is chock full of spoilers and contains some unpopular opinions. If you haven't seen it yet or don't want your love diminished, stop reading now.<br />
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This is your last chance to change your mind.<br />
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Alright, first off I want to say that I did like the film. I didn't love it. I <i>wanted</i> to love it. When I saw Wil Wheaton's tweet that the last time he loved a Star Wars movie that much, it was 1977 I was really excited. While there were parts and characters I loved, it wasn't enough to compensate for the film's many flaws.<br />
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First off, the parts I loved.<br />
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Like everyone, I loved Chirrut and K-2SO. Few things would make me happier than an origin film for Chirrut and Baze, and a ringtone of K-2 saying "you have a phone call. The captain said I had to tell you." Chirrut, while still being the stereotypical sage-like blind monk that kicks ass, has a lot of heart thanks to Donnie Yen's brilliant performance. It's hard (both mentally as well as requiring a lot of skill) to take a role that's clearly a stereotype and turn it into something genuine. Some day I hope I get to talk to him one on one when there aren't any cameras or PR people around so I can ask him about his process for that character.<br />
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K-2SO has some of the best one-liners in the film. To be honest it was hard at times to believe that this was a robot. How can a robot understand humor? But then he'd say something funny or snarky and I'd be amused enough to forget that question until the next lull in the plot. This should have bothered me more than it did. But I have to admit that the jokes were really well timed and it does take skill to place them just so...even if the placement is to distract from the proverbial man behind the curtain. I wasn't really surprised when K-2 died. I mean, of course he did. All of Alan Tudyk's best characters die at the end of the film. It's his curse.<br />
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Jyn Erso is a character I wish we'd spent more time with. While it was fascinating seeing her as a child and then jumping to her as an adult, I wanted to know more about her journey. How did she deal with the trauma of witnessing her mother's murder? How many times did she have to run from agents of the Empire who were hunting her? How did she become the crafty bad ass that we see for most of the film? Why was she okay with not having any agency in the events that transpired? Most importantly, was she really that bad of a character that she needed to be redeemed? More on that in a bit.<br />
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The little geeky inside jokes were awesome. "Pig Nose" and "Scott" from the cantina? I loved seeing them together, as usual, and grumpy, as usual. The storm troopers talking about the T-15 being marked obsolete? That made me laugh. Seeing Vader's bachelor pad/temple on Mustafar? It was like watching an episode of Lifestyles of the Sith and Famous.<br />
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The last part I loved was the last five minutes when everyone is doing a relay race with the transmitted plans. That was the only part of the film where I was on the edge of my seat, squeezing my mother's arm, squealing because what it WAS SO COOL!!!!! That was some quality plotting. It lived up to my expectations of the film. 👏👏👏<br />
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Now the parts that I had serious problems with:<br />
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(Cue Imperial March)<br />
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The opening. Where's the fanfare and the scrolling prologue?! Seriously, Disney should have done their research. Starting a Star Wars movie with anything other than fanfare and scrolling prologue is the kiss of death. Why? Three reasons: The Ewok movies and Life Day. I don't care if this was a between-the-episodes film. I want to feel the goosebumps on my arms when the brass section plays that first note. That moment alone is worth the ticket price! Don't steal that moment from me!<br />
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The writers need to apologize to Forrest Whitaker for the awful job they did on Saw Gerrera. We were shown so many conflicting accounts of his character that it was impossible to know what kind of person he was. Was he the monster the torture of the defector led us to believe? Was he the extremist that Mon Mothma labeled him as? Was he the kind surrogate father that Rey claimed him to be? There are too many conflicting accounts that I have no idea which to believe. So when he accepts his fate during the destruction of Jedda City I have no idea if it's true to his character or a redeeming moment. Instead it just felt like a wasted moment for a wasted character. On that note...<br />
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I feel that the subtitle to this movie shouldn't have been "A Star Wars Story" it should have been "Redeem all the peoples!!!" Who thought it was a good idea to try to redeem the entire cast in a single film? It's ludicrous! I found it hard to believe that a bunch of misfits would all suddenly decide to do the right thing. Especially Jyn. She had no reason to take matters into her own hands. The rebellion treated her as badly as the Empire had. Why not enact vengeance on the organizations that were each responsible for the death of her parents? Why save the rebellion from themselves? Then there's Cassian. Why couldn't he continue being the rebellion's morally ambiguous agent of chaos? None of it made sense and they didn't bother to take the time to explain it. They just plowed on with the action hoping that we'd be so distracted we wouldn't notice. Well I noticed.<br />
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While I do want a Baze and Chirrut origin film, it's not for the reason you think. Well, okay. Yes, I want to see more Chirrut. Babe however I want to see more of in order to get to know what kind of character he was. On screen he wasn't anything more than a jar head with a big gun. Yes, it was a really cool gun but it may as well have been held by an ambulatory cactus. We know absolutely nothing about him except that Chirrut is his buddy and because of that I want to know more. I'm really sad that they didn't give him more of an identity. If they had his death would have had the impact they were going for. Instead it was just meh.<br />
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The Death Star design flaw is something that has bothered me for thirty years. How is it that no one noticed this glaring error? Why did no one just put a steel plate over the exterior port? With that many people involved in the project and with Krennic breathing down their necks, how were any of them, Galen most of all, able to hide that? It made no sense then and it makes less sense now.<br />
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So...my overall feeling? It was an okay movie. I liked it but mostly because of the good jokes, the digitally inserted found footage from episode 4, and the stellar ending. Was it up to par with the good Star Wars films? No. Was it better than the prequels? Yes, but that's not saying much. The visuals were great and the ending AMAZING but the rest was an entertaining hot mess.<br />
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Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-90824638710298960062016-09-05T18:14:00.000-07:002016-09-05T18:20:35.001-07:00Updates!Hello all!<br />
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A few things that were in the works have settled enough that I can announce them. I have two more short stories coming in issues of Fiction River! I don't know the exact release dates yet but one will be released in the winter of 2017 and one in the spring. They're doing a really cool subscription drive right now. Check it out <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/403649867/fiction-river-the-second-subscription-drive?ref=project_link" target="_blank">here</a>. There's two weeks left. They've already unlocked the second stretch goal! Trust me, you want to be a subscriber. The coming issues have amazing stories in them!<br />
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Another piece of good news is that the table of contents for the Monster Hunter Anthology, edited by Larry Correia and Bryan Thomas Schmidt, was announced:<br />
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Larry Correia, Jim Butcher, Mike Kupari, Jessica Day George, John C. Wright, Maurice Broaddus, Brad Torgersen, Faith Hunter, Jody Lynn Nye, Quincy J Allen, Alex Shvartsman, Kim May, Steve Diamond, John Ringo, Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Julie Frost, Sarah A. Hoyt, and Jonathan Maberry.<br />
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Yep. That's me in there! I'm really excited about this one! I don't know the release date for this one either but fall of 2017 is what they're estimating right now.<br />
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There will probably be more releases from me next year in addition to these. There are two other things that are still in the works that I'm not ready to announce yet. When I know more about all of these I'll announce it here.Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-14785400225369173242016-05-11T23:06:00.000-07:002016-05-11T23:06:05.083-07:00A World Turned Upside DownAt the suggestion of a friend, I've adopted a diet that is sans tomatoes and alliums (onions, garlic, leeks, etc). It's helped reduce my pain and inflammation which is great! Two months ago I was taking 8-11 pills a day to manage my pain. Now I can get by on 6. The drawback is that I have to spend a lot of my day preparing meals since everything has to be made from scratch. If I want a turkey sandwich I have to cook the turkey myself because everything at the deli is seasoned with onion and garlic.<br />
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All of this does cut down my writing time but I'm hoping it's only temporary. Right now I'm finishing a sic-fi short story that I had to set aside last year in order to write the Eclipse Phase story. After I finish it I'm going to switch to dictation. I've already purchased a headset and Dragon Naturally Speaking. My hope is that once I've trained my dragon and re-trained my brain to write this way my productivity will return to what it was before the arthritis manifested. I'll keep everyone updated on how the integration goes.Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-59732698588134536002016-03-31T23:38:00.002-07:002016-04-24T20:16:26.914-07:00Sparks is out and Eclipse Phase to be in print soon!Back in January I mentioned that I have a story in the Eclipse Phase: After the Fall anthology, edited by Jaym Gates. Well that e-book is finally being put into print and it's available for pre-order. You can order your copy <a href="http://posthumanstudios.com/releases/eclipse-phase-after-fall" target="_blank">here</a>. My bookstore will have it as well. I'll make an announcement when they have it in stock.<br />
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I'm pretty proud of this story. I feel I really grew as an author with this one. It's the first time I've written tie-in fiction. It was also my first time writing from a gender neutral point of view. The research and process taught me a lot.<br />
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The other piece of exciting news is that Fiction River: Sparks, edited by Rebecca Moesta, is finally out! My story, Moonshine, is in this volume and it's near and dear to my heart because I wrote it in honor of my favorite Grandmother. She ran moonshine during the depression in order to feed her family. The newly orphaned teens in this story have to do the same in order to keep the family together.<br />
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You can get the e-book on Kobo: <a href="https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/fiction-river-sparks">https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/fiction-river-sparks</a><br />
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Amazon has it in ebook:<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fiction-River-Original-Anthology-Magazine-ebook/dp/B01DNJ1KAS/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459435803&sr=1-3&keywords=fiction+river+sparks">http://www.amazon.com/Fiction-River-Original-…/…/ref=sr_1_3…</a><br />
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and in print: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fiction-River-Sparks-17/dp/1561467553/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459435803&sr=1-2&keywords=fiction+river+sparks">http://www.amazon.com/Fiction-Rive…/…/1561467553/ref=sr_1_2…</a><br />
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And of course my store will have it as well. The shipment is still in transit but we expect it to arrive soon.<br />
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Happy reading!Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-61453074579207339882016-03-04T07:58:00.004-08:002016-03-04T08:00:10.420-08:00The Up and Coming anthologyI'm at a writing workshop right now so I'm going to keep this short. Bad Menagerie released an anthology of works by the 2016 Campbell award eligible authors -- including me! I have two stories in it. <u>The Void Around the Sword's Edge</u> is a fast paced sci-fi story about a woman who is the only person who can stop a band of genocidal monks from killing every human on the space station. B<u>lood Moon Carnival</u> is the moving story of a phoenix who is imprisoned by an evil alchemist and forced to perform in a carnival menagerie. Both of these stories are also eligible for the best short story Hugo award.<br />
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It's available for download <a href="http://www.badmenagerie.com/up-and-coming-stories-from-the-2016-campbell-eligible-writers/" target="_blank">here</a> and it's <b>free</b> through the end of March.<br />
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Happy reading!Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-91210027385960274522016-02-29T22:24:00.000-08:002016-02-29T22:44:15.726-08:00Booksellers Are a Vanishing BreedAs I've mentioned in previous posts I work at Reader's Guide, one of the oldest bookstores in Salem, Oregon. When I was hired in '98, we were one of nine bookstores in town. A year ago there were five still operating. Now my store is one of the three remaining. In addition to that one of the stores still in operation closed their secondary location.<br />
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For the past two years I've read articles online about how the book business is rebounding from the economic slump. Some say that more stores are opening then ever and the future of independent bookstores has never been brighter. I'm not going to say they're wrong. However, I'm witnessing store after store go out of business which seems to refute their statements. Is this merely a localized problem? I don't believe so. I think it's something else.<br />
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Yes, a lot of bookstores have closed because the rent rose too much, or they couldn't survive the economic slump, or Amazon stole too many customers, or minimum wage increases bankrupted them. But most of the stores I've seen close in the last two years haven't been for any of those reasons. They've closed because the owners were well into their sixties and seventies and wanted to retire but couldn't find anyone interested in taking over their successful business. As for stores opening, most of the stores I know of that have opened in the last five years are either part of a national chain (or corporation in the case of Amazon's store in Seattle). Not all of them are and I'll get to that part shortly.<br />
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There isn't a shortage of book lovers who dream of owning their own store, just as there isn't a shortage of book lovers who love shopping at independent bookstores. We have a lot of regular customers who have said and are professing their desire to own their own bookstore. If that's the case then why aren't they taking advantage of these great opportunities? They could have purchased an existing store with a proven sales record and established customer base. That's as close to a sure thing as there is in retail. Yet they didn't. I can understand the desire to create a store that reflects them -- their personality, tastes, and expertise -- but the start-up money it takes to do that, advertise, and operate while establishing a customer base doesn't put the odds in their favor. The numbers I listed at the beginning of this post didn't reflect the two stores that have opened during my tenure. Both closed within five years. It's that difficult.<br />
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That still leaves us with the mystery as to why no one is taking on successful businesses.<br />
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I've thought about this a lot and I've come to the conclusion that there is indeed something that journalists, economists, and other book business insiders may have missed -- or perhaps are not willing to talk about. For the lack of a better term I'm calling it the Millennial Effect.<br />
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Before you start screaming at me let me explain. I'm not blaming them. If anything they've helped the industry take advantage of new technologies and sales avenues by proving that e-books aren't a passing fad and that the Internet is a viable marketplace. However, I believe that this had an unforeseen side effect. Online stores are far cheaper to maintain than a brick and mortar store. Plus it doesn't involve the repetitive labors such as alphabetizing or require the vast knowledge base that hand selling requires. Because it's so much easier to sell books online I believe that while there are those who are still in love with the romance of the idea of owning a bookstore, few want to put in the work and financial investment. I think that there are more and more people who, when they speak of opening a store of their own, mean an online store.<br />
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Fortunately there are still people who want to invest in brick and mortar stores...but instead of readers being at the forefront, I'm seeing more authors stepping into that role.<br />
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Remember earlier when I said that there are other stores I've seen open that weren't part of a chain or conglomerate? That's right. They're owned (or co-owned) by authors. After Borders closed their doors Ann Patchett and a friend of hers opened Parnassus Books in Nashville so there would be a local store where her fans could buy her books and get them signed. Similarly, Nora Roberts' husband owns Turn the Page bookstore (which happens to be across the street from her B&B) in Boonsboro. Gulf Coast Bookstore in Florida is owned by a pair of independent authors and their store sells only independently published books. Now in most of these the authors don't spend a great deal of time at their store. They still spend the majority of their time at home, writing their next masterpiece -- which is as it should be. But I'll admit that the possibility that they might pop in while you're browsing has a considerable amount of pull.<br />
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I've only seen a handful of stores like this open and most of them are too new for me to say whether or not this is a passing trend or the new face of independent bookstores. But being an author, and an independent bookseller, I think it may be the new normal. Only time can tell for sure.<br />
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<br />Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-43191949048848303032016-02-08T11:37:00.000-08:002016-02-08T11:42:31.824-08:00Yes, you can nominate my stories!Since I'm a newly published writer my name doesn't immediately pop into people's minds when considering what and whom to nominate for awards like the Nebula and Hugo. That's why I'm going to come right out and say it. Yes, I have eligible works and yes, you can put them on your ballot if you think they're worthy.<br />
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My eligible works are:<br />
Short Stories:<br />
<i>"</i>The Void Around the Sword's Edge" -- <i>Fiction River: Pulse Pounders, Kobo Special Edition</i><br />
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<i>"</i>Blood Moon Carnival" -- <i>Fiction River: Alchemy and Steam</i><br />
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Related Work:<br />
The Complete Newbie's Guide to Book Signings Parts 1 and 2 -- Ninja Keyboard Blog<br />
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And even though I don't have a snowball's chance of winning, I am eligible for the Campbell Award (not a Hugo).<br />
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If you haven't read any of these I highly recommend that you do so before putting any of these on your ballot(s). I don't want anyone to put me on their ballot(s) if they don't believe that I belong there. <br />
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Since we're talking about nomination worthy works, here's some other things that I read last year that I loved and are eligible.<br />
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Novels (and a short story collection):<br />
<i>The Grace of Kings</i> by Ken Liu<br />
<i>Shadows of Self</i> by Brandon Sanderson<br />
<i>Blue Yonders, Grateful Pies and Other Fanciful Feasts</i> by Ken Scholes<br />
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Short Stories:<br />
"Pennies for Portent" by Diana Benedict -- <i>Fiction River: Alchemy and Steam</i><br />
"Rites of Zosimos" by Angela Penrose -- <i>Fiction River: Alchemy and Steam</i><br />
<i><br /></i>Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-44167202341199208122016-01-05T23:29:00.001-08:002016-01-05T23:29:16.251-08:00After the Fall is out!The e-book of Eclipse Phase: After the Fall is available now!<br />
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If you want to read my story, The Fukuda Cube, click on the link below to purchase the book.<br />
<a href="http://eclipsephase.com/after-the-fall-release">http://eclipsephase.com/after-the-fall-release</a>Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-46902178206470601292015-12-28T07:29:00.000-08:002015-12-28T07:29:25.742-08:00Eclipse Phase table of contentsPosthuman Studious released the table of contents for the Eclipse Phase: After the Fall anthology! There's a short synopsis of each story, including mine! Go check it out!<br />
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<a href="http://eclipsephase.com/after-the-fall-table-of-contents">http://eclipsephase.com/after-the-fall-table-of-contents</a>Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-30182729529738443032015-12-22T00:00:00.000-08:002015-12-22T00:00:00.819-08:00I made a sale!First off I just posted my last Fictorians blog for the year. This one is about the most important lesson I learned this year.<br />
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<a href="http://www.fictorians.com/2015/12/21/promotion-at-the-drop-of-a-hat/">http://www.fictorians.com/2015/12/21/promotion-at-the-drop-of-a-hat/</a><br />
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I also have a story in another issue of Fiction River. It's in Sparks which was edited by Rebecca Moesta. The stories in Fiction River: Sparks are YA but adults will enjoy them too. It comes out next month which is appropriate since Last January her husband, Kevin J. Anderson published my first story in the Kobo edition of Fiction River: Pulse Pounders. There's some beautiful symmetry in that.<br />
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And now for the big announcement! I have a story in the upcoming Eclipse Phase anthology, After the Fall, edited by Jaym Gates! You can read the official announcement <a href="http://eclipsephase.com/after-fall-new-science-fiction-anthology-posthuman-studios" target="_blank">here</a>. I'm really proud of this story! Eclipse Phase is a fascinating post-apocalyptic trans-humanist sci-fi role playing game (Try saying that three times fast!) where humanity isn't bound to flesh or even to Earth. This universe really pushed me as an author. I've written sci-fi before but not any that was avant-garde as this. I loved working with Jaym and the EP team on this and I'm so stoked to share a table of contents with so many incredible writers!Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812061414646264236.post-90924819036423002502015-09-10T23:32:00.002-07:002015-09-10T23:32:55.088-07:00The Road Was Already PavedI entered WorldCon expecting to give the same explanation over and over and defending my decision to forgo handshakes until I went hoarse. That didn't happen. I did have to point the sign out to a few gentlemen who chose not to read my sign because they didn't want to offend me by staring at my chest. Really the only hard part about all of this was when a friend asked "how long until your hands recover?" When I told him "This is osteoarthritis. There is no recovery." from the look on his face you'd have thought that I'd told him that I had six months to live. (To be honest it does feel like that at times. Especially when I think about how quickly my hands are deteriorating.) But other than that it was a relieving, informative, and wonderfully supportive experience!<br />
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I felt like such a dolt! Here I was expecting to be this intrepid trailblazer and instead the road was silently paved by many others that for one reason or another made the same decision as I. One man told me that he doesn't do it in order to avoid catching Concrud. Another person told me that they were well accustomed to the policy because a friend of theirs has an aversion to touch.<br />
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It never occurred to me that there would be so many other reasons for a no handshake policy and I'm so grateful to them. It takes a surprising amount of courage to say "Sorry, I don't shake hands." We're socially programmed to greet people with a handshake and not participating in that formality sometimes makes the conversation stumble. I'm enough of an extrovert that I can get the conversation going again but not everyone has that advantage. I really feel sorry for introverts that have to go through this.<br />
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One of the bright sides to all of this was that a friend helped me figure out a small (future) problem. Eventually my condition will reach a point where I won't be able to type my manuscripts anymore. I'll have to dictate. Dragon software is great but from what I've heard it works better if you compose in long stretches. I tend to work in short bursts so that's not feasible at this point in time. If they have a new version that can do short bursts, great. If not then my only option will be to do a voice recording and have it transcribed like Kevin J. Anderson does. Unfortunately holding a device to do that is something that I can't comfortably do now (tablets = ouch!) so I definitely won't be able to _____ years down the road. My friend reminded me of that a bluetooth headset would take care of that. I love technology.<br />
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By the way, scientists need to make this a reality. I would be first in line for the upgrade! I could finally write at Sanderson speed!</div>
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Another plus is that one of my local friends mentioned my homemade badge to the folks at the pronoun ribbon table and they thought it was a great idea! So if you see ribbons that say "no handshakes please" at a future convention, you know where the idea came from. I do hope these become available. It would be so helpful!Kim Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028748893681954172noreply@blogger.com0