Evolve 2

I have great news! My story has been accepted by Nancy Kilpatrick for the *NEW* Evolve anthology coming out.

*and the crowd goes wild*

My experience with the first Evolve anthology has been an incredible one. Launch parties, book tours, working with Nancy and sitting next to one of my favourite authors, Kelley Armstrong at a signing to name a few. I'm very excited for this new anthology to come out, as I know several of my friends have also been accepted. The entire table of contents is still a mystery, soon to be revealed. Nancy had said she'd already asked some authors from around the world to contribute (which left fewer spots open for the rest of us!!) so I'm feeling the tingle of anticipation about who else I will be sharing a table of contents with.

If you don't have YOUR copy of Evolve yet, you better get it so you'll be ready for the next generation!! You can visit the webiste here: Vampires-evolve.com or find it in your local bookstore!

Stay tuned for updates.... ;)

Bitten By Books

The authors from Evolve are going to be on the website Bitten By Books tomorrow, Oct 13th from noon (central time) to midnight. It's going to be an awesome event, with multiple authors appearing thorughout the time. I'll be there, chatting and answering any questions. BBB is a great site, I'm excited to be able to take part in one of their events. Please stop by if you can and ask me a question or just say hello!! I'd love to see you there. :)

VCON 2010

Last weekend I attended VCON, Vancouver's local fantasy, sci fi and gaming convention for the third year in a row. The first year, I'd barely started writing and followed the two author guests of honour, Kelley Armstrong and Patrick Rothfuss around to every panel about writing and publishing. Then I started taking my writing seriously. The second year at VCON, I had my story accepted for Evolve and went to the Book Launch as an author to help promote it, even though the book wasn't out yet. This year, Evolve is out and I signed copies at the Book launch. I also did a reading and sat on four panels, two of which were with the amazing author guest of honour this year, Cherie Priest. It's been a great couple of years.

I can't say enough in support of VCON, local conventions and of course the bigger ones if you're interested in writing or becoming a writer. You can learn so much from other authors, publishers, editors and agents. When I first started competing in fitness, it was so new, there were no coaches, no one to tell me what to do. I had to learn by trial and error for YEARS. Once I made it to the top 5 at the National level, I began passing on what I'd learned by training others. I constantly joke with my clients that I wish there'd been a "me" when I first started competing. Now I'm making the leap into the writing world, I'm taking full advantage of learning from those who've been down the many roads to publication, using their experiences to seek out my own path.

Next up is the World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, Ohio and I can't wait. :)

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures at VCON. I'm hoping the official photographer for the event got at least one of me sitting on a panel, so I can prove I really did it. ;)

I did get a shot of some of us hanging in my room having drinks on the Saturday night, and on the last day I got a picture with this lady, I don't know her name, but she sat in some of the writing sessions when I was on the panel and she was just so darn cute I wanted to get a pic.

Get Published

I'm a little behind on posting this, but the episode of Get Published where Michael Plested interviews me is now AVAILABLE!! It's Get Published Episode 35 - How Sandra Wickham's Career has Evolved. (get it, Evolved, I'm in the Evolve anthology..*cough*)

I'm really happy with the way it turned out, I was honestly a little afraid I was going to come across as a total dork...but it's really good! I hope you get a chance to listen and I'd love to hear your feedback. You can listen here:

http://www.michellplested.com/getpublished/get-published-episode-35-how-sandra-wickhams-career-has-evolved/

First Interview

I did my first podcast interview with Michell Plested of "Get Published" last night via Skype...and I think I was a total dork! LOL.

It was very exciting to be interviewed, we talked about my short story in Evolve, how that came about, what my plans are for the future and much more. I even dished out some writing advice, going back to what I've learned in my career as a professional fitness competitor and relating that to writing.

When it airs on the podcast I'll let you know and you can decide whether I was dorky or not. ;)

Vampires Evolve..and they're AWESOME!

I'm still recovering from the World Horror Convention-did I mention how incredible it was? Oh yes, I think I have, many times.

I did take a lot of pictures, and the pictures that friends took are also rolling in. I thought I'd split up blogging the photos and focus on one fabulous experience at a time.

The Evolve reading which was held on Thursday from 3:00-5:00 went great. All the other authors were very enthusiastic and after hearing their stories, I can't wait to dive in and read all of them in full! The reading room for this convention was set up as a "lounge", with comfortable chairs around tables, rather than theatre style seating. So it was very intimate and created a great atmosphere. We had a full room and everyone was very excited about the anthology by the end!

The launch for Evolve was on Saturday. This is the event I dressed up for. Why? Because I could! LOL. I had a blast putting the outfit together, and it was fun to see people's reactions. One of my fellow authors, Jerome Stueart was so freaked out by my contact lenses, he couldn't look at me! (what better reaction could I ask for?!)Nancy Kilpatrick put on a fantastic event, there were prizes, including your own bag of blood, bottles of vampire wine and one of the special edition copies of Evolve that comes in a coffin!! As contributing authors, we helped out by handing out drink tickets, draw tickets, and little vampire themed goodie bags. Then all 10 authors sat down and people came through the line and had their books signed. I even got to sit beside the Lordess of the Otherworld herself, Kelley Armstrong. She has been a great inspiration to me in my writing, so to sit beside her to sign books was incredible.

Stay tuned for more chilling reports from the World Horror Con. ;)

My vamp costume:



Sitting beside Kelley Armstrong during the reading:



With Nancy Kilpatrick on the very last day in the lobby:

Short Story Review

Our Evolve anthology has been reviewed by Doug Knipe at Scifiguy.ca, including my short story Mama's Boy. I'm so excited, not just because it's a good review, but because this is my first review-ever! (very cool...)

Here's what Doug had to say:

Mamma’s Boy by Sandra Wickham

"This is a delicious and very short story about karma. Ruthie is about to give birth to her first child after a few years of marriage. Only she now learns her husband is vampire that in his transformed state is monstrous and that her child will be too. And she will be the babies first meal. But a mother's love knows no bounds and turnabout is fair play. I found this disturbingly funny (am I warped?)."

Now, don't you want to read it??!! ;)

You can see the other reviews here, read the author bios here and find out about getting YOUR copy of Evolve here.

Evolve Website

A new website has just been launched for the Evolve Anthology that I'm in. (I guess the New Year in the time for new websites!!)

You can visit the site here: Vampires Evolve


They are doing three editions, only available through the site. It's astounding, you have to check this out. This is the link, Evolve-Purchase but I'll sum up for you here.

SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION HARDCOVER

This edition is 6" x 9", signed by all authors, the artist and the editor, limited to just 50 copies! The hardcover book is wrapped in silk and packaged in a sturdy pine coffin. How cool is that??!!

HARDCOVER

This edition is also 6" x 9", but is unsigned. Only 50 copies are available.

SIGNED TRADE PAPERBACK

This is a paperback edition, 5.5" x 8.5", signed by all 24 authors, limited to only 300 numbered copies. , l

It will also be available in stores after March 1, 2010, but only in an unsigned trade paperback format. 

Pretty darn cool, dontchya think?! Also, the launch party is at the World Horror Convention in Brighton, England..in case you happen to be attending, come by and see us! Launch info is also on the site.