Texas Renaissance Festival

Alright, here we go!  Pictures from this past weekend at Texas Renaissance Festival.  The theme for the weekend was All Hallow’s Eve, so my friend and fellow author, James William Peercy, invited me down to sell a few ghost stories.  I am so grateful to him and his beautiful wife, Claudette for taking me under their wings.  They are just the most amazing, wonderful, selfless people you could ever hope to meet and James’ books, The Wall Outside series, are just so beautiful and magical.  If you enjoy fantasy, I highly recommend you check out his work.

http://jameswilliampeercy.com

Although I can do things all by myself, I always prefer not to.  Besides, weekend excursions to Renaissance festivals are always so much more fun with friends.  So I took my trusty house elves, Kat and Rachel (Rat) to help me out.

Before we reached the festival, we made a quick stop at this cool, old, haunted town called Anderson.

After we arrived at the Festival (OMG it was so muddy), we unloaded all the books from the car and then set out to explore the grounds.  Naturally, we first found ourselves in the Enchanted Forest.

The rest of the grounds were equally beautiful.

And the arts and crafts were absolutely breathtaking.

Oh, and there were books too.

I also had to get my picture taken with my Great-Great-Great-Great several times over Grandfather, Robert the Bruce.

But I think my favorite new friends that I made were Pip and Owlbus Dumbledore.

 

How did you spend your Halloween?

Octobering

The past few days have been filled with a lot of joy and a lot of preparation for one of my very favorite days of the year, Halloween!  The days to come will hold just as much if not more of the same.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The fun began Friday with another outdoor excursion into the woods.  The weather was so lovely, it almost felt like a real autumn as opposed to a Texas autumn.

The next day, I joined my friend and fellow author Paula for Royse City’s annual Fun Fest, where we sold books and ate corn dogs and just had an old fashioned good time.  I even ended up running into some old friends!

I also got to explore the city a bit.

Yesterday was more low-key.  I lit a fall candle, curled up with a blanket, and read my very first RL Stine book.  I know, I know.  I’m a disgrace to my childhood and to my genre.  I love spooky things.  I don’t know how I went my entire kid life without reading one of his books.  But better late than never.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Books like his remind me of why I began writing in the first place.  Books are just pure exhilaration.  They’re limitless.  And I love them.

Speaking of which, if you’re a book blogger/reviewer and interested in receiving Review Copies of any of my books, please check out my new Review Copy Requests and Policies.

Later, Gators.

Authorfest 2015

This weekend was incredible.  I was thrilled to be able to participate in the second annual Authorfest in one of my favorite small towns, Denison, Texas.  As a writer, I believe that words are all powerful, but as a photographer, I believe that pictures are worth at least a thousand words.  So here they are.

First, some scenic shots of Downtown Denison.

Preparing for dinner and a reading at Devoli’s!  It also happens to be part of my favorite winery, Homestead.

Photograph courtesy of Tim Malek Photography. http://www.TimMalek.com

Photograph courtesy of Tim Malek Photography. http://www.TimMalek.com

Usually, I prefer red wine, but this Orange Muscat may have converted me.

That night, there was another raffle drawing.  I swear to y’all, I have the BEST luck at these things.

And, of course, there were plenty of books to go around.

I also got to meet the cutest puppy ever.

And I spent all the money I earned on wine and new old books including a lot of vintage Stephen King and an old copy of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

Thank you to everyone who made this weekend such and amazing experience.  Thank you especially to James and Claudette Peercy, who organized and made the entire event possible!

You can find James and his wonderful books here: http://www.jameswilliampeercy.com

North Texas Book Festival

This past weekend, I attended the North Texas Book Festival for the first time.  I had an amazing time.  The location was incredible, the speakers phenomenal, and I met so many wonderful new friends and authors.  That’s my favorite part of these events, meeting new people and finding new books to read!

To get there on time, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning.  For those who know me, that’s about the time I normally go to sleep.  I actually had my alarm set for about 5:15, but I was too excited to go back to sleep, so before sunrise, my books and I were in the car and ready to go.

I was also incredibly excited for Boy Band to make it’s pre-release debut!

The other displays were incredible.

Perhaps best of all, the festival kept us incredibly well-fed: bagels, Cinnabon, fruit, cake, pizza, Schlotzsky’s… I don’t think I’ve ever been fed that much in my life!

Thank you for everything, North Texas Book Festival!  I can’t wait until next year!

Oh, and because I know you were all wondering… MY SISTER AND I TOTALLY HAVE FLOOR TICKETS TO ED SHEERAN!!!!!!!!!!

Busy, Busy

Hi, friends!  After a fun-filled spring break with my sister, it is time to start focusing on upcoming events and impending publications!

I’m speaking at a writer’s club meeting at a library next Saturday, which I’m really looking forward to.  Since I’ve been on a bit of a graphic design kick lately, I decided to make some new bookmarks to give away.

I’m also busy trying to redesign Boy Band’s book cover and get the whole thing edited and revised so that it’s ready for it’s pre-release at the North Texas Book Festival.  I’m so excited!  It’s going to be amazing.

I’m also finally able to give a bit more information about Lurking in the Deep, the new anthology that my short story, The Water’s Edge, will be featured in.  The anthology is being published by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing on May 7!  A lot of the authors being featured have been designing promo pictures.  I took a shot, but I’m not sure mine are as good as theirs.

Along with promotion, there will also be a bit of editing there too.

*Note* It also turns out I need to edit these pictures I made!  The anthology is coming out on May 7, not May 5!

I also have a few ideas for blog posts and pictures for Cemetery Tours that I need to start working on.  I guess the whole point of this is that if I complain about being bored at any point in the next two months, feel free to assume I’m lying.  There is always something that can be done.

I hope you all have a great weekend!