Things I Learned at Whimsy Con Whimsy Con in Denver was a delight. It’s the second year for the convention, which is an inheritor of the equally delightful but no-longer extant Anomaly Con. These are some things I learned at Whimsy Con. It’s All About the Corset It’s billed as a steampunk and costuming convention,…
2019 Themes for the Year My author friend S.J. Pajonas, who writes excellent Japanese-themed science fiction romance and cozy mysteries, asserts that new-year themes are better than resolutions. I agree. I find resolutions easy to make and hard to keep. For one, I lose the list. For another, I have a contrary streak, and “for…
First Annual Reader Survey Why you should take my first annual reader survey: I think you’re fascinating. No, really, and that’s more than a cheezy pickup line. I think we have some things in common (we like to read space opera, for one), and I’d like to know more about you. So, I’ve come up…
The Year of Having a Plan This will be my year of having a plan. I’m more of a look-forward kind of person, so I’ll recap 2017 briefly and tell you about my author-related plans for 2018. I’m a look-forward kind of person. (Good thing I write science fiction, eh?) I’m lamentably bad about remembering…
Reading Recommendations for the Holidays (2017) — Books I Love, and Hope You Will, Too I love to read. Books are my boon companions and the chance to visit worlds that aren’t my own. However, I tank at writing reviews, because I know exactly how much work goes into writing a book, so I can’t…
Cosplay for My Cat, or, Authors Are Daft To promote Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, I decided to come up with a cosplay for my cat. This is a cautionary tale for those of you planning similar endeavors. In my novella, “Pet Trade,” one of the twelve stories in the Pets in Space…
A Dire Wolf at the Door in Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 Cross-posted at author Cara Bristol’s blog on 18 October 2017 I’ve always been fascinated by paleontology, and love seeing artist’s depictions of what long-extinct creatures might have looked like based on the sometimes sparse fossil record we’ve discovered. We know some…
What the Heck is an Author Street Team? Back in the days of yore, before the internet, savvy advertisers wanting to go beyond mass media in a particular market hired people to promote the product, service, or brand. The benefit for the “street team” was being the first to know something, or get free samples…
Authors in the Wild Admit it: “Authors in the wild” sounds more thrilling that “authors at a convention,” which is what really happened. Science fiction and fantasy romance author Melisse Aires and I attended the 2016 Fort Collins Comic Convention. More below. But first… Weekend 99¢ Sale It’s a long weekend for folks in the…
Fort Collins Comic Con Science fiction and fantasy romance authors Carol Van Natta* and Melisse Aires** will be appearing as authors at the Fort Collins Comic Con, 27-28 August 2016, at the Northside Aztlan Center in Fort Collins. There will be photos. 😉 Schedule Saturday, 27 August – VENDOR ROOM (Northside Aztlan Center) 2:00 -4:00…
What would a screenplay adaptation of Overload Flux, the first book in my space opera series, look like? Glad you asked. Screenplay Adaptation of Books Books get made into movies all the time, even science fiction books (just ask Andy Weir about The Martian). Even series get made into films, such as Harry Potter and…
Writing Cross Genre, or How I Got Hit by the Cross-Genre Bus My flagship series is the Central Galactic Concordance series, a sprawling space opera with a big damn story arc that I figure will take at least nine books to do it justice. My muse’s home planet is science fiction, probably because I was…
Fan Fiction Rocks Hi, my name is Carol, and even though I’m a professional science fiction and fantasy author, I’m a big fan of fan fiction. There; I’ve said it. Fan fiction is, according to Wikipedia, “fiction about characters or settings from an original work of fiction, created by fans of that work rather than…
I’m working on a Super-Sekrit Writing Project. For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you may have read that it’s a paranormal romance. Why is it secret? Contracts, primarily, but also timing. You see, I’m not the only one working on this project. Other authors are playing in the same sand box, too,…
NCW Podcast #40 Stars Me! OK, and Others Interested in self-publishing? Tune in to the recent NCW Podcast to hear three shy (cough) and unopinionated (cough) women talk about going the self-publishing route and the choices available. Hosted by Rich Keller of Northern Colorado Writers, the podcast is available from Podomatic, and on iTunes and…
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