Reader Favorite Characters, Pet Trade, and Whimsy Con (Podcast)
Reader Favorite Characters, Pet Trade, and Whimsy Con
Carol Van Natta's Video Podcast #3
This is my author podcast number 3, about reader favorite characters, Pet Trade, and Whimsy Con. Authoring may seem serious, but I'm mostly silly, at least on video.
Astute readers will note the number above and deduce there are two previous videos: Podcast #1 and Podcast #2. {Note to self: Come up with a better system for organizing these.}
This time, I talked about reader's favorite characters, because I'm still thrilled when readers write to me, and that's usually what they write about. Plus other stuff, like works in progress, conventions, and corsets.
This podcast is a recorded Facebook Live session from Friday, 23 February 2018.
For those who won't watch a 12-minute of video of anyone who isn't Brendan Fraser or Lupita Nyong'o (not that I blame you), here's the TL;DW (too long; didn't watch) synopsis.
Reader Favorite Characters
Nearly every week, I get email from readers, which both astonishes and delights me. I know people buy my books, because I get sales reports from the booksellers, but it's always a pleasant surprise when someone is interested enough in my stories to write and tell me they liked them, or ask questions, or request future stories. Perhaps someday, in the distant future, I'll think of it as just another business task, but right now, every email from a reader is still a thrill.
I have 6 books out so far in the Central Galactic Concordance space opera series: Last Ship Off Polaris-G, Overload Flux, Minder Rising, Zero Flux, Pico's Crush, and Jumper's Hope. Each book has at least one reader-favorite character. Mairwen Morganthur, in Overload Flux and Zero Flux, because she's so very lethal, and so very clueless about things the other characters take for granted. In Minder Rising, Rayle Leviso, a supporting character, gets the most comments. He's a dancer, an exhibitionist, and a catalyst.
Readers of my books seem to be fond of romances, because I get requests for the stories of various secondary characters. Because I like my readers, and I like romances, too, I answered that request and made Jerzi Adams, a supporting character from Overload Flux, a lead character in Pico's Crush. From that book, I've also had multiple requests for the story of how Pico (Jerzi's new adult daughter) met her love interest, Sojaire. I definitely plan to write that story. One reader wrote and requested for a romance for Seshulla Zheer, the security company president from Overload Flux, because he found her so intriguing, and thought she deserved happiness. I might write it after the big damn story arc finishes (9 or so books), because she knows a ton of secrets, and I don't want to give them away too soon.
My favorite reader email of all time came from my only paranormal romance so far: In Graves Below (a Magic, New Mexico story, written at the invitation of S.E. Smith for Kindle Worlds). The hero is a Native American shaman, charged with protecting the graves of his ancestors. However, he's also disabled U.S. veteran who's missing part of a leg, and has massive burn scarring on one side of his body. He meets a magical woman who sees past the surface and falls in love with who he is inside. The reader who wrote to me said he's an amputee, too, and thanked me for giving him hope that he can find love, too. Talk to any romance reader, and I'll bet they tell you that it's really the hope and optimism in romances that brings them back to the genre again and again. That's why they're such voracious readers, because they love that feeling. {Sometimes, the hope and optimism in romances is what gets them through tough times in their own lives.}
What I'm Working On Now
Because I'm a cray-cray author person, I'm working on three (yes, three!) secret projects, all at once. I believe I mentioned I'm a crazy author? I can talk more about at least one of them next month.
My next release will be Pet Trade, a novella that first appeared in last year's USA TODAY bestselling Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2. That anthology has left the galaxy forever, so I'm publishing Pet Trade in March. I expect it to be available for preorder on 5 March (the vagaries of booksellers notwithstanding), and it'll release on 20 March 2018. Non-subtle hint: If you don't want to miss new release announcements like this, you could sign up for my newsletter.
Pet Trade is set in my Central Galactic Concordance universe, but it's not a part of the events that are unfolding in the big damn story arc for that series. So even if you haven't read the rest of my books, Pet Trade might be the right story for you when you only have enough time to read a novella.
Author Escapes Black Hole in Search of Steampunk and Karaoke
I do occasionally achieve escape velocity from the black hole under my house, a.k.a., my basement office. From 2-4 March 2018, I'll be at Whimsy Con in Denver. It's a steampunk and costuming convention—that's close to space opera, right? Actually, they have a number of authors from a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, comic books, etc. I'll be on a few panels, reading from my books, and teaching a session on self-publishing. You might even find me in the karaoke bar (all conventions have karaoke bars, don't they?) and get me to sing, after application of alcohol. {I actually can sing, though my repertoire is mostly show tunes, with a smattering of art songs, and big-band ballads.}
I'll try a Facebook Live session from the con, if the technology gods are smiling on me.
Moar Podcasts
I like doing these podcasts, because they're fun, and as you've probably figured out by now, I Haz Opinionz. Look for me on Facebook on an upcoming Friday afternoon (or evening, or next day, depending on your time zone).
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P.S. My YouTube channel also has this video, if that's easier for you to watch: https://www.youtube.com/c/CarolVanNatta.
