All posts by kathymacmillan

Playing Catch-up

Sword and Verse, Upcoming events, Young Adult Fantasy

How has it been over a month since I last posted here?  There’s been a lot going on.

In late May, I got to geek out at Balticon.  Sword and Verse was a finalist for the 2017 Compton Crook Award, presented at Balticon, so it was exciting to connect with readers!  I spoke on 2 panels: “SFF Resistance” and “Women in the Business”, and got to hang out with Meg Eden, author of Post-High School Reality Quest.

 

 

I spent most of May and June working furiously to finish revising the sequel to Sword and Verse.  (I swear I’ll be able to announce the title soon!)  It’s now turned into my editor, and it’s a big, scary, exciting book that I am truly proud of.

In mid-May, I attended Awesome Con in Washington, D.C. – it’s a great big ball of fun!  I spoke on a panel about worldbuilding in fantasy and sci-fi with Meg Eden, Tobie Easton, Lisa Maxwell, and Nik Korpon.  What a huge, fantastically engaged crowd!

The crowd at the Awesome Con worldbuilding panel. Wow!

 

More exciting stuff that happened this month:

The cover of the Spanish translation of Sword and Verse was revealed.  Isn’t it a beauty?

The Spanish title, Tinta y Fuego translates to “Ink and Fire”.

I also got to see the draft cover of the first book in my “Little Hands Signing” baby board book series, Nita’s First Signs, and it is wonderful.  The series comes out from Familius Press in 2018, and I can’t wait to share it with families!

 

And coming up:

On Tuesday, June 27 at 1 PM, I’ll be doing a reading and Q&A at the Towson Library in Baltimore County, MD.  Hope to see you there!

The following week I’m headed to Los Angeles for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators national conference.

And hopefully I’ll put in lots of words on my next work in progress!  Isn’t summer supposed to be relaxing or something?

 

 

 

 

Read This!: FENWAY AND HATTIE AND THE EVIL BUNNY GANG by Victoria J. Coe

Read This, Reviews

Fenway and Hattie and the Evil Bunny Gang (Fenway and Hattie, #2)Fenway and Hattie and the Evil Bunny Gang by Victoria J. Coe

Summary: When evil bunnies invade the Dog Park, Fenway’s hot on their trail. Hattie seems understandably alarmed, though she clearly doesn’t appreciate his efforts. She shoos him out of the garden and fills in holes as fast as he can dig them! Fenway wonders if his beloved Hattie could be working against him, until she brings home a cage with a bunny inside. He can hardly control his excitement – she captured one of the intruders! But when Fenway realizes Hattie actually likes the bunny, he’s crushed. Is his heart big enough to accept that Hattie can love another pet, too? In this sequel to Fenway and Hattie, these two best buddies learn that making the right choice can be tough, but being a real friend is the greatest choice of all.

Fenway is back, and this time he’s battling an evil bunny who’s trying to steal his beloved short human’s affections. The dramatic irony of Fenway’s dog’s-eye point of view of his Dog Park (backyard), Eating Place (dining room) and people like Food Lady and Fetch Man are just as endearing and hilarious as in the first book, but it’s Fenway’s undying devotion to Hattie that will keep readers cheering for him, even when he messes up. Through Fenway’s eyes, the reader sees Hattie contend with challenges in her friendships and the responsibilities of pet sitting a neighbor’s rabbit, and will understand the nuances even as Fenway himself remains blissfully clueless.

FENWAY AND HATTIE AND THE EVIL BUNNY GANG is out now.

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SWORD AND VERSE is a finalist for the 2017 Compton Crook Award

News, Sword and Verse

I’m so excited to share that SWORD AND VERSE has been chosen as one of 6 finalists for the Compton Crook Award, awarded by the members of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, Inc. (BSFS) to honor the best first novel of the year written by an individual author in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror genre.  The Award was named in memory of Towson State College Professor of Natural Sciences Compton Crook, who wrote under the name Stephen Tall, and who died in 1981. Professor Crook was active for many years in the Baltimore Science Fiction Society and was a staunch champion of new works in the fields eligible for the award.

2017 Compton Crook Award Finalists

 

Read This!: SUFFER LOVE by Ashley Herring Blake

Read This, Reviews,

Suffer LoveSuffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake

Summary: “Just let it go.” That’s what everyone keeps telling Hadley St. Clair after she learns that her father cheated on her mother. But Hadley doesn’t want to let it go. She wants to be angry and she wants everyone in her life—her dad most of all—to leave her alone. Sam Bennett and his family have had their share of drama too. Still reeling from a move to a new town and his parents’ recent divorce, Sam is hoping that he can coast through senior year and then move on to hassle-free, parent-free life in college. He isn’t looking for a relationship…that is, until he sees Hadley for the first time. Hadley and Sam’s connection is undeniable, but Sam has a secret that could ruin everything. Should he follow his heart or tell the truth?

When I first started reading this book, I didn’t think I would like the two main characters very much. But less than twenty pages in, as I got to know them better, I started to fall in love with both of them. (And don’t even get me started on Sam’s friend Ajay. I burn, I pine, I perish for an Ajay-centric novel.) That experience is the whole point of this sensitive, deeply involving story: it’s easy to judge the choices other people make, but there’s always more behind them. Sam and Hadley’s relationship, by any sane standard, should be impossible. But it’s real and lovely and deliciously steamy. Ashley Herring Blake writes some of the best makeout scenes I have ever read. Filled with characters who are both deeply flawed and deeply likable, this is a book that will suck you in.

SUFFER LOVE is out now.

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