2nd Chances

Second Step

 I’ve thought long and hard about this and it’s time to close this blog off, for the most part and start up the big author blog on my website.( If I can figure out how to do it.) I have a wordpress website and it seems to me it shouldn’t be a big deal to just add a page…right?

I’m shooting to do this in the next week. And to make a big deal out of it. I’ll still be writing about chances and how they play into what I write and what I do with my life. And hope to spur some discussions on how we make chances by not only being open to them, but looking for them and actively seeking them out.

My new blog will be themed toward the genre I’m taking a chance on. I mean, starting a genre is a big deal. I don’t expect to set the world on fire, but having a nice sized bit of flame going would satisfy me.

Yes, I mean PiratePunk. Not enough steam to slide into the steampunk slot… Not enough historical pirate to be historical. (I’m way too rebellious to let the limitations of actual historical accuracy slow me down.) It’s fantasy, but no dragons or fairies. It’s got elements of modern life, but urban fantasy doesn’t really work either. It is steamy. (Not in the hydraulics fashion.)

I’ve thought about how to define PiratePunk in a quick phrase. The elevator pitch, as it may. I’ve come up with this…

Fiction with piratittude.

I could tag this with Magical fiction with piratittude. Or romantic fiction with piratittude.

Pirattitude really is the keyword here. Penned by Captain Slappy and Old Chumbucket in the book “Pirattitude!: So You Wanna Be a Pirate?” in 2005. These are the same lads who invented the International Talk Like A Pirate Day. It isn’t all about the ARRRRR. Or the rum drinking, or the accessories of pirates. Though all of that is really neat.

I see piratittude as a way of viewing the world and the making the most of everything the comes my way. With a belief that I must make the most of where the wind blows me. There is adventure no matter where I land or how old I am.

And that is what I write. There won’t always be actual pirates in my books. But there will always be pirattitude. Whether I set my characters on an alien planet, a couple looking for some zing for their life, or set a group of scrappy mercenaries fighting to survive on a world changed by a swift speeding up of time…there will be pirattitude. Adventure is an attitude.

Pirattitude is more than a simple bit of wearing a tricorn or teaching a parrot to recite Edgar Allen Poe, I like to think my new genre embraces the idea that pirattitude is the technique to not only survive adversity, but to thrive amidst it. And rise above the villains of life.

I’ll start this new blog off with a month long contest, via Facebook and the blogs I am a regular part of. I’m going to give away a Sony Pocket reader, a kraken parasol and assorted other goodies. As well as books, buttons, etc. I’m looking to boost my blog followers and my Facebook followers. There will be a bit of an adventure and a lot of fun… As I ask people to ponder…

Where did the kraken go?

You’ll understand when you visit the new site! ;-)

I’ll post links to it next week…if I get it going! With luck it will be part of my website, listed under simply Maureen O. Betita.

 

Seizing It All

 

So, I spent a week in Los Angeles, pushing like some energizer pirate…never really getting out of character, though I do feel my pirate/writer/just me personas are blending nicely to an authenticity I can easily maintain. Because they are me.

I came home exhausted, exhilarated and a few days after I got home I was heading to Mom’s to tell her all about it and visit with her as she continues to fight her medical woes.

Life is like that. You go from running madly every direction there is, to sitting still and chatting with Mom.

 

Oddly enough, much of what I blathered about in LA was very similar to chatting with Mom. I shared my excitement and the silly things that happened, showing her pictures of me sitting at that table, surrounded by writers, books stacked in front of me. And photos of friends in costume… (Yes, I grabbed pics from Facebook pages to share with her. Sorry, I couldn’t be everywhere! Or take pictures of myself.)

I was barely feeling as if I could breathe after RT, when I headed north three hours to check up on Mom. I was there two nights and saw her several times, took her a few meals I knew she’d enjoy. I wrote about the convention on the Revenge last Friday and realized…I couldn’t actually say where I was or what I was doing on a day by day basis.

Oh, some things, yes. I knew my schedule, but so much I missed out on. I made it to only one panel! Dang it. Yet, I was busy! And I don’t feel like any of my time was wasted. I took a chance and I seized every opportunity I could to promote myself, to talk about my books, to hand out pins.

I still have hundreds of pins left, but I have several more conventions to attend before the end of the year. I’ll find a home for them!

I gave one as I checked into the hotel to a woman behind me in line, preparing to check out. I gave them to people I shared the elevator with, to merchants in Club RT, to other authors… I took the advice of one of the other Decadent authors and gave out my buttons.

Instead of my business cards. Why? I had the wrong area code on them. ;-)

I’m all about making it work when mistakes are made!

Next month, I’ll be holding a contest and giving away a Sony pocket edition e-reader. Yup, making lemonade out of a lemon. A big lemon. I’ll tell you all about it in the next few weeks.

Just remember, things happen that you don’t plan. Don’t worry! Make them yours and seize them!

RT!

Oh, the chances I took! Showing a complete and total willingness to play pirate, I strode about the hotel wearing black pirate hat with many, many feathers, purple pirate hat...much spangly jewelry... Here, check me out!

 

That was a great party!

Yup, I'm back. I conqured RT. Signed books, threw a fabulous "He's A Pirate!" panel with Katharine Ashe and Cherry Adair...gave away two wonderful gift baskets, signed lots of things... Met with my agent, the wondrous Saritza Hernandez, met my fabulous editors Kate and Val, and the officers of Decadent Publishing.

 

I tell you...I'm exhausted. Next week, a full report!

Meanwhile, remember that it is always worth putting yourself out and taking the chance! All of them!

RT!

Yes, I'm here. Mom is doing okay, under doctor's care.

And I had my first review of The Kraken's Mirror at Paperback Dolls and it's wonderful!

I'll try to post more later this week as the convention takes off and I meet my public - I hope! - for the first time!