Thursday
Mar152012

New fiction “The Scarlet Cloak” appearing in The Crimson Pact 3

EDIT: Now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

I am extremely excited to announce “The Scarlet Cloak,” short fiction by me telling the demon version of Little Red Riding Hood, will appear in The Crimson Pact Volume 3 anthology edited by Paul Genesse.
"The Scarlet Cloak" by Karen Bovenmyer is inside The Crimson Pact Volume 3
Stories appearing in The Crimson Pact Volume 3 include:
You’ll be able to purchase your copy in late March onThe Crimson Pact website 
or via Amazon.com
or via iTunes
The Crimson Pact was created to stop the Demons of Rusted Vale from corrupting and destroying their world. Manipulated to allow evil to spread throughout the multiverse , the remaining men and women of the Pact continue to sacrifice their lives to corral these wicked creatures. These are their stories of triumph and defeat.
Contributors to The Crimson Pact anthology series include New York Times Bestselling author and Campbell award nominee, Larry Correia, and many familiar and up-and-coming urban fantasy, steampunk, sci-fi, horror, and fantasy writers.
Check out the other volumes:
Any time you battle demons, you win some, you lose some...
  • Daniel Alonso
  • Isaac Bell
  • Donald J. Bingle
  • Elaine Blose
  • Rebecca L. Brown
  • Richard Lee Byers
  • Larry Correia
  • Lucy Curtis
  • Steven Diamond
  • Valerie Dircks
  • Paul Genesse
  • Alex Haig
  • D. Robert Hamm
  • Sarah Hans
  • Jess Hartley
  • Adam Israel
  • Sarah Kanning
  • Chante McCoy
  • K.E. McGee
  • Nayad A. Monroe
  • Daniel Myers
  • Suzzanne Myers
  • Craig Nybo
  • Chris Pierson
  • Garrett Piglia
  • Lon Prater
  • T.S. Rhodes
  • Elizabeth Shack
  • Lester Smith
  • Kelly Swails
  • Justin Swapp
  • Patrick Tomlinson
  • Patrick M. Tracy
  • Kathy Watness
  • Barbara J. Webb
  • Gloria Weber
  • EA Younker
Wednesday
Aug172011

Connect with Karen on Facebook, Twitter, and LiveJournal

     


Wednesday
Aug172011

Writing Craft Tips for the SciFi and Fantasy Inclined

If you want to polish your craft, things I’m on the constant lookout for in my own writing:
• Avoid passive voice to reduce extra words and clarify action (limit my use of “was” and “had been”).
• Avoid –ing verbs so that actions are much more crisp and “in the now” (I often make the mistake of pairing these with passive voice).
• Avoid adverbs (slowly, quickly, etc) and instead make my verbs really descriptive, specific, and strong.
• Avoid inserting value judgments into my descriptions and summary—I have a bad habit of telling my reader how to feel about something (“impressive mustache”, instead of “well groomed” or “overlarge mustache”)
Because I read a lot of fantasy, I have a tendency to use phrases I’ve seen in what I’ve read, but these borrowed “artistic” phrases often just clog up what I’m trying to say.

Wednesday
Aug172011

Writing is a Gift: Reflections on Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott 

On page xxx of her forward to Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, author Anne Lamott quips: “Most of [my writer friends] go around with haunted, abused, surprised looks on their faces like lab dogs on whom very personal deodorant sprays have been tested.” Lamott writes a funny, honest account of the writer’s ups and downs in her guidebook, revealing through her example how we can write with authenticity, enjoyment, and deep engagement. I found three aspects of Lamott’s advice particularly resonated with me: surrendering control, cultivating good writing habits, and giving passionately through our writing. Through these techniques we discover true authenticity and the best possible ways to reach our audiences as we come to understand why the facial expressions she described above are actually those of a person in not only highest anguish, but also deepest ecstasy.

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Aug032011

Karen's GenCon Indy 2011 Writer's Symposium Schedule

Thursday
Pick Our Brains 8/4/11 8:00 AM 
Fantastic Females 8/4/11 9:00 AM 
Plot a Novel in an Hour 8/4/11 10:00 AM 
To Plot or Not 8/4/11 11:00 AM 
You Slay Me! 8/4/11 12:00 PM 
How Not to be Published 8/4/11 1:00 PM 
I've Finished a Novel, Now What ... 8/4/11 2:00 PM 
Writing RPG Short Stories and Novels 8/4/11 3:00 PM 
The Rules of Writing 8/4/11 4:00 PM 
21 Days to a Novel 8/4/11 5:00 PM 
Reading: Elizabeth Vaughan and Stephen D. Sullivan 8/4/11 6:00 PM 
On Writing: From RPGs to the Big Screen with George Strayton 8/4/11 7:00 PM 

Friday
The Name Game 8/5/11 8:00 AM 
Big on the Small Press 8/5/11 9:00 AM 
The "Novel" Approach to Editing 8/5/11 10:00 AM 
Villains as Heroes 8/5/11 11:00 AM 
The Structure of Scenes 8/5/11 1:00 PM 
Sharing Worlds and Work For Hire 8/5/11 2:00 PM 
Swords and Sorcery 8/5/11 3:00 PM 
Writing a Successful Series 8/5/11 4:00 PM 
Plotting 8/5/11 5:00 PM 

Saturday
Setting as Characterization 8/6/11 8:00 AM 
Thinking in Threes: Approaching the Trilogy 8/6/11 9:00 AM 
Category 4 Brainstorm 8/6/11 10:00 AM 
Confessions of a Slushie Machine 8/6/11 11:00 AM 
What's In A Word? 8/6/11 12:00 PM 
Tension and Conflict 8/6/11 1:00 PM 
Part-Time Writer in a Full-Time World 8/6/11 2:00 PM 
How I Met My Hero 8/6/11 3:00 PM 
Twenty Ways to Kill Your Novel 8/6/11 4:00 PM 
Characterization 8/6/11 5:00 PM 
Writing Success in the Post Paper Era 8/6/11 6:00 PM 
Eye of Argon hosted by Donald J. Bingle 8/6/11 7:00 PM 

Sunday
Care and Feeding of Your Editor 8/7/11 8:00 AM 
Business of Writing: The Basics 8/7/11 9:00 AM 
Business of Writing: Agents & Query Letters & Piches, Oh My! 8/7/11 10:00 AM 
Genres—What Are They and How Do You Mix ‘Em? 8/7/11 11:00 AM