Philippa Ballantine - Author

Award-winning Author of fantasy, science fiction, and steampunk

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Tick Tock…Tick Tock

Waiting for a book to hit the shelves is a curious thing.

You’ve spent a long time with it, through edits, covers, conferences, more edits, worrying about it, and yet more edits. At times it seems it never will come out.

Then one day the Advanced Reader copies come out and you think perhaps this isn’t all a dream. Then the box of finished books arrives…and then you start to worry.

Unlike my co-author on Phoenix Rising, I saved all my panic for the final month. It’s a crazy moment, but it is here.

Phoenix Rising; A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences

Yes, Phoenix Rising hit the shelves yesterday, so please go in to a local bookstore if you have one, and pick it up. Or if you prefer ebooks, then it should be available in all your favourite formats.

Writers lend a hand

In the first few months of 2011 many parts of the world were struck by devastation; my home country New Zealand, and then Japan. Both of these places are hotspots of seismic activity, and both nations have sent support to the other.

The images on the news have tapered off, but there are still thousands of people dealing with the after-effects of the devastation. Often such huge events can leave us, scattered all over the world, feeling helpless. But if we all did just a few small things it would make a huge difference.

In the community of writers there are people who have decided to step up and do something.

First of all is the Tales for Canterbury. An anthology of short stories by national and international authors. The complete list is available here and is a veritable embarrassment of riches. There will even be a short story by me in there. This is a never before seen story, and the only non genre short I have ever written. It’s called the Straw Garden and is a bit like Weather Child, intensely personal.

Pre-orders are available now, with ebook and paper versions available.

The second effort is Genre for Japan. There are some ridiculously cool offerings on the site. My contribution is not up yet, but I’ll let you know when it is. Here’s a sample of what you can bid on right now, for all those George RR Martin fans out there…

Don’t forget to check the complete list, there are offerings for both writers and readers to bid on.

Remember it feels good to do good and together we can do incredible things.

Upcoming appearances

The convention season is heating up, and here are the places you can find me in the next couple of months.

RavenCon April 8-10, Richmond, Virginia

Reading at 4pm, and signing to follow at 5pm.

Panels: Writing sex in science fiction and fantasy 11pm Friday, Introduction to “social media” 10pm Saturday, the Problem with Genre Labels 11am Sunday, Genuine Steampunk 1pm Sunday

Borderlands Books, April 30, San Francisco, California

Signing and reading

Bookworks, May 7, Staunton, Virginia

Signing and reading, followed by a steampunk photoshoot (weather permitting). So bring your best gear and see you there!

Steampunk Worlds Fair, May 20-22, Somerset, New Jersey

Signings, panels and book launch (to be finalised)

Balticon May 27-30, Hunt Valley, Maryland

Signings, panels, tea part and readings (to be finalised)

 

Hope to see some at you at some of these conventions and bookstores. My co-author Tee Morris will be with me, so you get two for the price of once. There will be more confirmed places to find both me (and Tee too) but these are the soonest ones.

Once more into the breach dear friends…

 

This week the final chapter of Digital Magic will drop, and while I am excited about that, I barely have time to breathe before plunging into another podcast frenzy.

Yes, the very first Tales from the Archives has dropped. The story read and written by me is called The Evil That Befell Sampson. It is the story of how Agent Eliza D Braun ended up exiled from New Zealand and working in the London Head Office of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences. There are suffragists, clockwork and nefarious goings on.

Listen here and/or subscribe

All these stories are about the Agents of the Ministry- including some tales about Eliza and Wellington that predate events in Phoenix Rising.

A new story will appear every two weeks, and you can look forward to stories from the like of OM Grey, Nathan Lowell, Starla Hutchon, PC Haring, and naturally Tee Morris.

In other news from the Ministry, Phoenix Rising will be included in the Science Fiction Bookclub so for those of you who are members, please check it out when it comes.

Take me with you…

..well at least take some of my words with you.

I am happy to announce that Chasing the Bard and Digital Magic are both available on a variety of ebook formats.

You can find it on the Nook, on the Sony e-reader, for the Kobo, on Diesel, on the Kindle (Chasing the Bard and Digital Magic) and on the ibook store for the iphone and ipad.

Or if you prefer your book DRM free, then buy the Smashwords versions

These books are slightly different from previous editions. I gave them another polish, and new shiny covers by Alex White. In Chasing the Bard you will also find a new Chapter Thirteen- one that was only previously podcast.

I am working on putting together an ebook version of my stories from Erotica a la Carte- so look for that in the coming month.

Thoughts of home

I was sitting in the back of Tee Morris’ Social Media class at the San Francisco Writers Conference, waiting for him to finish up so we could fly back to Virginia. I was writing blogposts, catching up on email and keeping one eye on Twitter.

What I was not expecting was to see the word ‘earthquake’ pop up again in relation to Christchurch. In September last year I was in WorldCon in Melbourne when the last quake hit there. And strangely my first thought was, ‘I can’t leave New Zealand’- irrational as it was.

The difference became immediately apparent. As Twitter spilled the news as it happened, and other internet outlets began to report, it was obvious that unlike last year, there would be significant damage and loss of life.

First off I wanted to make sure that friends and family were alright. Wellington, which is also a earthquake hot spot, was not affected at all- so they are all fine. However New Zealand is a small place, with only four million people, we will all know someone hit by this disaster.

Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand, was (and will be again) a beautiful city. I spent a bit of time there, going to conferences, visiting friends, going to weddings. I remember the river Avon, the soaring loveliness of the Cathedral, and riding the tram around the city centre. Seeing the devestation there still really hasn’t sunk in.

Part of me wanted to go home straight away- but as Tee said ‘what would you do?’ So, I will do what I can from here. I have learned social media is a powerful thing, and can raise money in extraordinary ways. I’m working on a few things behind the scenes, but here is my plea to my readers and listeners.

If I have ever given you a moment of enjoyment, then please donate to the Red Cross for the quake victims. Even if it is only a couple of dollars, every little bit helps and adds up. Christchurch has a lot of great people on the ground, but right now what the best thing to give is money.

If you want to see what it is like there right now, have a read here.

My thoughts, love and prayers go to Christchurch. These are strong people, and they are doing all they can to recover. It will however be a long process. Let’s help where we can.