Diana Rowland — Writing, Life, and the Stuff in between

I’ll be heading off to San Diego next week for the San Diego Comic-Con. I’ve been attending science fiction/fantasy conventions since I was old enough to drive, but this will be my first Comic-Con and I’ve been told by many that SDCC is a completely different animal. I’m used to thinking of WorldCon as “large”, i.e. ~5,000 people or so. From what I understand, attendance at SDCC is somewhere around 125,000. (Holy shit!)

I’m getting in on Tuesday so that I stand a chance of actually getting to see some of the area before diving into convention stuff. But, if you’re looking for me at the convention, here’s what I currently have scheduled:

THURSDAY
PANEL 10:00-11:00 Escapist Fantasy— What are the pluses and perils of adding magic and monsters to our world? Panelists Juliet Blackwell (Second Hand Spirits), Marjorie Liu (Darkness Calls), Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge (co-authors, Black & White), Diana Rowland (Mark of the Demon), Sina Grace (Cedric Hollows In Dial “M” For Magic), Seanan McGuire (Rosemary & Rue), and Harry Connolly (Child of Fire) weigh in on the options. Moderator: Maryelizabeth Hart, Mysterious Galaxy. Room 10

SIGNING 11:00 am–12:00 pm (immediately after the panel)
Juliet Blackwell, Marjorie Liu, Jackie Kessler, Caitlin Kittredge, Diana Rowland, Sina Grace, Seanan McGuire, Harry Connolly
AA1

SATURDAY
SIGNING 4:00 – 4:30 p.m.
RandomHouse Booth #1128 Diana Rowland (Mark of the Demon) FREE BOOKS (while supplies last)

The rest of the time I expect to be either wandering around in a nerdgasmic daze, or recovering in a nearby bar.

Blood of the Demon is revised, complete, and on its way to the copyeditor!

And, the Editor Goddess sent me this!

::is happy!!::

Coffee… need..more…coffee!!!

Well, the past week has been pretty darn full (to put it incredibly mildly.) I spent last week in Florida with the husband, the Kid, the manuscript for Blood of the Demon, and the revision letter from my editor. Woo! Do I know how to vacation, or what?

Unfortunately, there really wasn’t a choice about working while down there. I have a bit of a tight deadline for the revisions, and I couldn’t afford to waste a week. But fortunately, the resort had some terrific kids programs, and the Kid had an absolute blast doing games/crafts/beach stuff while I parked myself at an empty table in the bar and worked.

We headed back on Friday, with the plan that we would stop at a number of bookstores on the way back so that I could sign stock copies of Mark of the Demon. It was a great plan, and we hit two of the bookstores on our list…

And then the car broke down just past Pensacola. There must have been a god or two smiling down upon us, because the temps were in the high nineties, we had a fully loaded car and a five-year-old, and we broke down after we’d exited to get gas. We were right by a muffler place, so Jack pulled in and the guy took a look at the car. But when he said, “Well, I think it’s your catalytic converter, and I got a buddy down the road who’ll fix it for just $4000,” we smiled, thanked him, and limped down the road to a Waffle House where Jack borrowed a phone book and starting making calls. Two hours (and several hundred dollars) later, the car was on a tow truck to return to Louisiana, and we were in the backseat of the tow truck driver’s wife’s pickup. (Okay, “pickup” is an incredibly paltry description for this vehicle. It was a gleaming white extended cab four door dual wheel truck with every possible bell and whistle.) Jack had managed to negotiate a price that included our own transportation along with the car, and since the driver and his wife had family near where we live, it worked out well for everyone. (Well, except for the fact that the car was still dead.)

So, I’ve been carless since we got back (which actually hasn’t been that big a deal since I’ve been hunkered down with revisions) but we’re crossing fingers that we’ll get it back today. (Oh, and for the record, it was NOT the catalytic converter. $4000 my ass.)

In book news, there’s not much new to report. Mark of the Demon has officially been on sale just over two weeks now. I don’t know how sales are going, but I’ve been getting some really wonderful emails and comments from people telling me how much they liked the book. I’m trying to respond to everyone, but I’ve fallen a bit behind because of the revisions, so please bear with me! I really appreciate all of the kind words, and it’s an absolute thrill every time I read that someone else has enjoyed the book.

About the only other news I have is that I’ll be in San Diego in two weeks for Comic Con. I already have a couple of events scheduled, and I’ll try to post the details tomorrow. I’ve never been to a ComicCon before, so I expect to be completely out of my depth. Fun stuff!

Okay, back to revisions!

Okay, yeah it’s a Sunday, and I was still awake at 5am. WTF?????

My signing yesterday was AMAZING!!!!!! Over 60 books sold, and many of those were to complete strangers who had no obligation to buy it! Seriously, huge thanks to everyone who showed up, and enormous thanks to AnnaMarie at Barnes & Noble who went way above and beyond to give my book and the signing some awesome push. I’ll try and post some pics later on as soon as I can come up to breathe a bit!

In other book-related news, I just received my revision letter for Blood of the Demon, so everything is chugging away nicely on that front as well. The release has been pushed back one month–it’s now February 23, 2010. Sorry about the delay, but it’s for some very cool reasons. (And yeah, I’m going to pull one of those, “It’s cool and I can’t talk about it!” things. [g])

Also, I was “Dame for a Day” at the Deadline Dames yesterday. But instead of deadlines, I talked about death, so stop on by and check it out! Plus, I’m giving away two copies of Mark of the Demon to random commenters! The giveaway ends at midnight tonight (Sunday, JUne 28th), so hutty on over!

In non-book-related news, in a few hours the family and I will be driving to Florida. The Spouse is attending a conference, and the Kid and I are tagging along to die in the blistering heat to enjoy the sun and the sand. Actually, since I have revisions to work on (and a tight deadline), the Kid will probably end up enjoying some of the childrens programs that the resort offers while I hunker down in a corner with manuscript and laptop. Ah, the glamour!

I’ll be signing copies of Mark of the Demon this afternoon at the Barnes & Noble in Mandeville, LA from 2-4pm.

So… wow. A book I wrote is being sold in most major bookstores in North America. How f**king cool is that?

This is the front window of my local Barnes & Noble:

I am full of happy!

Those readers of this blog who are local to this area, I’ll be signing copies of Mark of the Demon on Saturday, June 27th from 2-4p.m. at the Barnes & Noble in Mandeville, LA.

The e-book version of Mark of the Demon has been available for preorder at the Random House website for quite some time now, but now it’s available on the Kindle as well! Charge up those e-readers!

I went out earlier today to run errands, and when I came back home there was a box waiting for me.

Hurray! It was THE box!

However, Angel seems to be over his disdain, and is now reluctant to part with any of them.

Kid (who very recently turned 5): Mom, what’s rosemary?

Me: It’s an herb… a kind of plant.

Kid: What does it look like?

Me: Ummm, I’m not really sure.

Kid: You could look it up on the internet!

Me: Why, yes. You’re absolutely right. We should do that.

Kid: Mom. You need to type in PLANTS DOT COM and it will show you what it looks like. That’s how you find out!

Me: You’re terribly smart, dear. Thank you for telling me.