Heading to an Old City (for a New Con)

So I'm gearing up this week to head down to Florida for a great new paranormal romance and urban fantasy convention. I'm excited about this one, because I get to hang with some writer friends (always fun) and will get to  meet some folks I've chatted with online (also always fun). This is one of the best parts about being a writer--getting out and meeting other writers and book lovers! (And ghost tours. Did I mention there will be ghost tours?)


It's also a reader-focused event, which is different from a writer-focused event. Reader events are all about favorite books, series, characters, etc. Everywhere you go, there are groups of people talking about a series they adore. Writer events are more about craft and the technical aspects of writing, and the easiest way to open up a conversation is with, "So, what do you write?" Both are a blast, but they each have their own vibe.

Dude, Is That Typing I Hear?

So now that the holidays are over, I've dived head first back into my writing. The break was nice (and needed), and I've had several solid weeks of good work. The first draft of a new book will be completed at the end of next week. Still a LOT of work to do after that (nothing is ever right on the first draft), but that's where most of the fun is anyway. Taking a story and making it better.

What am I working on, you ask?

Something different from my usual fantasy fair. A caper, set in the real world. Okay, a real-ish world. I made up a place, but it's supposed to be a real place off the coast of Florida.

It's fun to write in the real world, because I get to use words like dude. Fantasy characters can't say that, even though sometimes you really want them to.

NYA: I think we should do something crazy that might just get us killed.

AYLIN: Dude, you are out of your mind.

NYA: Who's Dude?

Yeah, Aylin would totally say dude all the time.

Booksigning: Meet Me in Athens, Georgia

Me and Delilah on the road

If you happen to be in the Athens Georgia area this coming Saturday, come on by Avid Bookshop and meet me, plus six other fantasy-esque authors (a mix of fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and science fiction).

We'll have readings, a time for Q&A, and an opportunity for book signings. This is a mix of teen and adult novels, so there's fantasy for the whole family!

When: Saturday, January 12, 2013 from 6:00 to 7:30pm
Where: Avid Bookshop
493 Prince Avenue,Athens, Georgia 30601

The line up includes me (The Healing Wars middle grade fantasy series from HarperCollins), plus:

Saying Goodbye to the Groundhogs

Photo by Erin Silversmith, Wikimedia

So last year I discovered a family of groundhogs living in the Kudzu vines at the end of a street near my house. Almost every time I stop at that particular stop sign, I see a fuzzy, brown head poking up to say hello. They're so cute and they make my day whenever I see them.

Winter is fast approaching, and I'm seeing the groundhogs less and less. I don't know much about hibernation, but I imagine they're getting ready for their long sleep until Groundhog Day. Pretty soon I won't see them at all.

And that makes me sad.

I've Discovered My Cat's Deep, Dark Secret

So my cat Nikita (Nikki for short) is a bit of an enigma. She's a basketball with legs, nearly twenty pounds, a total love sponge, and has secret superpowers that allow her to move silently and weightlessly as needed. One moment I'm sitting there with my lap cat-free, the next minute she's fast asleep and my lap is cat-full.

And I never saw her get in there.

There's no rational explanation for this. She runs across the floor and it trembles. She thumps her way up and down the stairs. She walks on my chest first thing in the morning and the breath is pushed out of my lungs. But she has the uncanny ability to magically appear on or next to me without me ever feeling or seeing her move.

It's freakish.

She even has the ability to supplant objects already in my lap. For example, my oldest cat, Darwin, was curled up in my lap while I wrote. I reached down, scratched his ears, he purred happily. I typed a few more pages, reached down again and...

It's a Book Signing Extravaganza!

Saturday is a busy author day for me and a few of my fellow author friends. I've got two, count 'em, two signings that day. One in Norcross, GA and one in Canton, GA. So if you're in the area and want to say hi (or get some cool books from lots of cool authors), come on down. There's a variety of book genres and ages, so there's fun to be had for all.

Here are the details:

Meet Our Local Authors Signing
Saturday, October 20
1:00 - 4:00pm
Barnes & Noble at the Forum
5141 Peachtree Parkway
Norcross, Georgia 30092

Book Signing with James R. Tuck, Delilah S. Dawson, and Alex Hughes 
 Saturday, October 20
7:00 - 9:00pm
Books-a-Million #232
1810 Cumming Highway
Canton, GA 30114

How I Spent My Summer

Me at the RWA Literary Signing

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

What a crazy summer it was. I usually don't travel that much, but this summer I was all over the place. I started off with FandomFest in Kentucky at the end of June (I already mentioned the horror story about the trip home on that one), then off to the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Conference in California the end of July, back out to Denver, Colorado to celebrate my agent's 10th Anniversary, had a few family trips in there to Florida as well.

And during all of that running around, I also finished the new book (yay!) and sent it off to my agent. This one's another YA fantasy set in a brand new world with new characters. (It involves an undercover spy!) It took a lot of rewriting because I kept changing things, but I love how it turned out. Fingers crossed my agent and editor love it too.

Let's just say I'm beat.

Luckily, no more travel until the holidays roll around. But I did have a great time while I was away. Here's a quick recap!