“Mask of the Ferret” by Ken Pick and Alan Loewen has been selected by the Washington Science Fiction Association as a finalist for the 2008 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction!

The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year. An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.

The winner is chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association (www.wsfa.org) and will be presented at their annual convention, Capclave (www.capclave.org), held this year on October 17-19 in Rockville, Maryland.

You can read an excerpt at http://www.isigsf.com/maskofferret.html.

Coming in this issue:

I'll be holding a book signing for Infinite Space, Infinite God at Main Street Books. In addition to signing books, I'll be talking a little about religion and science fiction, and reading from the book. I'll may have ADVANCE COPIES of Firestorm of Dragons as well, and I'll be pre-promoting Leaps of faith, the Christian sci-fi anthology coming this summer from The Writers' Cafe Press. It should be a fun time, and I'd love to see you there.

Where: Main Street Books, 106 S. Main, Minot ND
When: May 10, 2 PM-3PM or whenever

Come join the fun!

I've won honorable mention in the TRI Studio/Author's Coalition's 2008 Out of the Box Promotion Contest for Writers. My idea (a writing contest in which readers can re-write the scene of an upcoming novel and have it published with the novel) appears in an e-book withe the other winning ideas.

Best of all: the e-book is FREE to anyone who wants it. I've added it to my For Writer's Section. So if you're looking for some new marketing ideas, download it with our compliments and see if something appeals.

Click "More Info" for media release.

My flash fiction story, "Innocents," tied for first place in the Muse Marquee Flash Fiction Contest and will appear in their May issue. You can check it out at http://themusemarquee.tripod.com.

I'm pretty stoked, because I usually don't enjoy or write flash (stories under 500 words), but the opening line for the contest inspired me. My thanks to Lea Schizas for pointing the contest out to me and the Catholic Writers' Guild who critiqued it before I sent it out.

Got the first review of Firestorm of Dragons. Melissa had this to say about my story:

A good example of both comic relief and a story that keeps the reader on their toes is Karina Fabian's Dragon Eye, P.I. I look forward to meeting Vern again as Karina expands his repertoire of adventures and maybe even gives him his own novel.

Vern is keeping company with a variety of other dragon types in this anthology including those who are hunted for the value of their blood and meat as well as dragons who become the object of thrill seekers' newest pastime (Dragon Scaling). BTW the word Scaling in this title has duplicate meanings read the story to find out what they are. There are many more and such a wide variety I can't begin to describe them all here but check out this anthology especially if you're into Dragons and Fantasy - these editors have managed to snag themselves quite a pile of delightful stories by talented authors.

You can read the entire review here.

Happy Dancing!

Firestorm of Dragons comes out May 15 from Dragon Moon Press.

I just signed the contract with Double-Edged Publishing to include "Amateurs: From the Case Files of DragonEye, PI" in the anthology Distant Passages. I'm not sure when the book comes out; stay tuned.

In "Amateurs," dragon detective Vern and his partner, the mage Sister Grace, take on Sehkmet, Egyptian Goddess of death, while pixies gangs plan a turf battle in the Mundane world. Can they stop the war before it destroys Los Lagos?

For more about Vern, Grace and DragonEye, check out www.dragoneyepi.net

Well, it's kind of old news, but Hope Clark mentioned me in her article about virtual book tours. [url= http://www.writersweekly.com/this_weeks_article/004486_01232008.html ] http://www.writersweekly.com/this_weeks_article/004486_01232008.html [/url]

I think virtual book tours are a terrific way to get some buzz going about your book. There are businesses now that can schedule a tour, but if you're broke or just interested in Do-It-Yourself, check out my Blog Tour Class.

Check out my latest YouTube: the Saga of King Kluck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X26x9Rl4ja4

I'm surprised and thrilled to have been selected the 2008 Muse Peer Awards Most Valuable Member this year. It was a three-way tie with Marilyn Peake and Michael Kechula. I'm in great company!

View all the awards here.