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Welcome, everyone, to another edition of Author's Corner. I recently attended BaltiCon over the Memorial Day weekend. I was impressed with the ambitious schedule of panels arranged by Greg Wright and the BaltiCon staff and the themes chosen for the panels. They did a wonderful job with the convention. I understand that the convention will be moving to Hunt Valley next year, just outside of Baltimore, which should make it even better. I met a lot of very nice people in the Dealers' Hall and at the panels. If any of you are reading this, thanks again for your hospitality.
I also went to Charlotte the following weekend (June 2-5) for ConCarolinas Convention. This was my first appearance at ConCarolinas and I had a great time. I had the pleasure of meeting some very exciting people at the convention. Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead, Babylon 5), Kane Hodder (Jason of Friday the 13th) and Jeff Breslauer (Swamp Thing) are two of the friendliest movie stars I ever met. Also, among our group were Tony Ruggierio and Tee Morris. I can't tell you how much fun it was participating in panels with these guys. I'm looking forward to working with them again at other conventions.
Hats off to Ron McClung, Janet Iannantuono and Brian Holloway for a great job. This is one Con I really want to be part of next year.
Things have slowed down on the Space Frontiers project. I think I mentioned last month that my publicist will be submitting a proposal for me to a major science fiction publisher in New York City. I'm giving this a chance because I'd really like to see the availability and pricing of the books improve. So, while I'm waiting for a response for The Eye of Icarus, I'm cruising along with book two of the new series, Dangerous Liaisons. I'm really excited about this new series because I'm not locked in to the Fractured Time theme, thus the action can vary in a lot of different ways. For those of you who read Dark Horizon, little Will Saris and Maya are the only carryover from the trilogy in Space Frontiers. If you enjoyed the Fractured Time Trilogy, I know you'll love the Space Frontiers Series.
As with the trilogy, I will work out a screenplay for The Eye of Icarus. I've already evaluated it and it would actually become two screenplays. One for the Eye of Icarus and the second entitled Leviathan. There is just too much to the grand scheme in The Eye of Icarus to lose any of it in a single screenplay.
I may be limiting the number of conventions I can attend for the remainder of the year. I need to keep some time available to continue my projects. After ConCarolinas, I'm looking at DragonCon, possibly CopperCon, AlbaCon and PhilCon. Early 2006 could be very busy with four conventions in the first four months alone. I'd love to attend them all but I have to focus on the writing as well.
This month's writers' tip is based on a topic form BaltiCon that I don't believe I've touched on in my articles - quality. Who is really responsible for the quality of the final product? Depending on the type of publisher, there could be a lot of people in the loop, but whose name is on the book? Whether you own the rights to the book or not, it's up to you to do everything possible to make that book the best that you can. Obviously with self-publishing, you expect to check everything, but even with a mainstream publisher, you need to check every little detail. Once it hits the shelves, it's there for everyone to see.
Being a writer is a skill that you should be proud of. You want to show your readers that you are a professional. If you can't present the book in a professional manner, this becomes a reflection on you more so than the publisher.
Thanks again for joining me. I'll see you next month.
- Michael D'Ambrosio
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