Date: 2010-02-06 18:18 Subject: Magic University Photo Tour Security: Public Tags: magic university, writing talk

A Tour of Veritas, the Magic University

So, my erotic fantasy romance series, Magic University, is being published by Ravenous Romance. The second of two books in a planned four book series was just published at the beginning of February, and I thought this might be a great time to share some photos of the “real” Veritas, the Harvard campus.

In the books, many scenes take place in real Harvard buildings, while others are in magical buildings that cameras and mundane eyes cannot see. As such, of course, these are photos of just the Harvard buildings, but many of the Veritas buildings resemble these very closely.

The full assortment of photos can be seen here: in my Picasa album, but I will put a few here with descriptions, under the cut…

Read the rest of this entry »

Mirrored from blog.ceciliatan.com.

Date: 2010-02-05 12:30 Subject: Another stop on the blog tour! Security: Public Tags: appearances, writing news

Today I’m guest blogging at Wicked Thorn & Roses!

You could win a copy of the Magic University 1 or 2 ebook by commenting on my guest entry there today.

The essay is on making characters suffer: http://bit.ly/doMhKh

Mirrored from blog.ceciliatan.com.

Date: 2010-02-04 13:30 Subject: Last Call for Panelists and Panel Ideas Security: Public

Please pass this info along to writers of kinky/sexy science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal who are in the Atlanta area or who might like to attend FROLICON, the annual BDSM & science fiction fandom convention this coming April.

http://frolicon.net/default.aspx

April 1-4, 2010
Sheraton Gateway, Atlanta

I'm coordinating the "Ink" Track of programming, that is to say all the writers and authors. I'll be accepting suggestions for panel ideas until February 15th -- anything that combines or intersects topics of sf/f with sexuality, either serious or silly, can be considered.

If you're interested in being on the panels, please send me a bio suitable for publication on the con website (3rd person, 200 words or less) and a little bit about yourself and what topics you'd like to expound on!

Thanks. Best address for this is "ctan.writer at gmail dot com."

Cecilia Tan

Date: 2010-02-04 01:06 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

Friends, romans, countrymen, you're slacking. Only 2 people have voted for me here?

http://www.livejournal.com/poll/?id=1519758

(Daron's Guitar Chronicles is me. Although I agree, lots of good stuff here to choose from!)

Date: 2010-02-04 00:44 Subject: On “Virtual” Tour! Security: Public Tags: appearances, blog tour, virtual tour, writing news

So, to promote the ebooks I’ve had come out in the past 5-6 weeks, I’m “on tour” virtually. This means I’ll be doing a bunch of online chats, some of them live, some of them in slo-mo via Yahoo loops and Livejournal communities, and guest blogging about eight different places. Writing a lot of guest blogs has meant teasing apart my writing process a lot, and it’s been fun. I’ll also be making some posts here with book excerpts, slide shows, etc… all that good stuff.

Here’s the schedule of where and when I’ll be “appearing.” Lots of these chats and guest blogs give commenters/participants a chance to win a free copy of my book(s), so it can be worth dropping by!

Cecilia’s fabulous “blog tour”

Read the rest of this entry »

Mirrored from blog.ceciliatan.com.

Date: 2010-01-30 01:52 Subject: News tidbits! Security: Public Tags: writing news

Jean Roberta reviewed Royal Treatment! You can read the full text of her review on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/86122867

She does go into the plot in detail, so if you like BDSM & science fiction, but not knowing in advance what’s coming, I suggest instead of the review, you just read the sample chapter up on the Torquere website: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2421

I’ll be guest blogging next Friday at Sia McKye’s “Thoughts Over Coffee” blog, so drop by http://siamckye.blogspot.com/ on Friday, Feb 5th and we’ll chat! My topic is “juggling” and I don’t mean the physical kind with balls and clubs, but juggling multiple writing projects at once.

And guess what? Magic University, Book Two: The Tower and the Tears is having its roll out! It’s already live at Ravenous Romance’s site (where it’s only $1.79 at the moment, though I think the $1.79 on all books sale ends January 30th!) and on All Romance eBooks. Amazon and Fictionwise are next and I’ll post an official launch and sample chapter, etc. as soon as those go live, too!

Mirrored from blog.ceciliatan.com.

Date: 2010-01-21 13:23 Subject: Back from doctor, loopy & about to take nap Security: Public

Okay, so, disclaimer, this post is being written under the influence of Xanax, which they gave me prior to my medical procedure this morning. Looking at the paperwork they gave me after, it also lists VIcodin. But I don't think I had that also.

I didn't actually feel it kick in until after the procedure was over, which probably meant I could have skipped the pill, but whatever.

I came home with two souvenirs of the experience, more hospital bootie-socks, and color photos of the inside of my uterus!

By far the niftiest part of the whole thing is watching on the monitor as the camera zooms in.

Now I ate something and although it tasted really good, maybe food and the Xanax trip don't mix? Dunno. Each time my stomach feels bleh, I eat a jelly bean. But I am just about out of jellybeans. Tea goes down good, too.

I'm loopy about similar level to if I downed a whole mixed drink cocktail all at once. ANd now I'm sleepy... so I think I'll sleep?

Oh, right, as for the polyp, it wasn't really a polyp after all, but they did a biopsy of my endometrium which itself might have taken out the sort of bump that had looked like a polyp on ultrasound. That's it.

Nap now? Think so.

Date: 2010-01-20 00:04 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

Recommended! Incredible high fantasy graphic novel in progress on the web: Dead Heaven http://ping.fm/EfaBJ

Date: 2010-01-14 19:09 Subject: Royal Treatment is out! Security: Public

I know I blogged about my writing process on Royal Treatment, but haven't yet done the OMG THE BOOK IS OUT! post yet, have I? OMG, THE BOOK IS OUT.

What's kind of neat is that Torquere Press always has one of their established authors review the book, so I have my first review already, technically. It's here: http://www.torquerepress.com/fiction/royaltreatment.html#review. Thanks to C.C. Bridges for her review, who said, "In 'Royal Treatment' Cecilia Tan has created an intriguing universe where power plays and politics are settled in the playroom. There is much to fascinate here..."

There's also a sample chapter up for your reading delight, if you just scroll down from the review.

If you're ready to buy, just click here for the Torquere catalog page.

I'm prepping another excerpt to hand out on a flyer at Arisia and perhaps read from. Yum. My reading will be midnight on Friday night of the con, in the William Dawes room! That tomorrow night!

Date: 2010-01-13 00:32 Subject: My bar is closing!! Security: Public

It is with a heavy heart I report that the Forest Cafe, my neighborhood bar and watering hole, is closing its doors forever.

There's an article online from our local newspaper about it: http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x985678695/Closing-down-the-only-option-for-Cambridges-Forest-Caf?popular=true

The gist of the article: the bad economy is forcing one of the last family-owned bars in Cambridge out of business.

corwin and I were in there tonight, the last night the kitchen would be open. In fact, corwin ordered the last meal ever served (tres marias, cheese). There were still some regulars hanging around when we left, and the bar will be open for drinks for a few more nights, but Brian Gaudet, who was our first, best bartender, called tonight the "last night."

We didn't used to go into bars because a) we didn't drink, b) we didn't smoke, and c) we didn't like sports. Then we got into baseball, the smoking ban was enacted, and voila! We started going into bars. And this led to the drinking...

The Forest was where we went to find out all the local gossip and politics. Among the regulars who could be seen knocking back many beers and shots of tequila a night, a former JFK speech writer, an astronomer, a composer of classical music, many Red Sox fans, an editor at Nature magazine, us. You know the cliche about a bar like "Cheers"? That was the Forest. I could always count on hearing how the Sox were doing, or the Patriots, and many times went there to watch sporting events. One night corwin and I went in there to watch a World Series game (I think it was White Sox/Astros?) and the game ran in extra innings so late and so long that Brian eventually turned off all the lights and closed the bar, but the three of us still stayed watching the TV in the dark.

Some of the regulars have put up a website so that we can hang out virtually now that the watering hole is closed: http://forestrefugees.com

John and Stefanie say they've checked out two alternate neighborhood spots: the Newtowne Grille and Spirit, both on the other side of Porter Square. The crowd may migrate one of those places, having already rejected the West Side Lounge (too snooty, the bartenders don't talk to you), Cambridge Common (too loud), Tavern on the Square (way too loud), and Christopher's (they cut you off after three beers...?!)

But it'll never be the same. So we raised our glasses one last time at the old watering hole, mine a shot of tequila, corwin a house margarita. We're really going to miss that place.

Date: 2010-01-11 17:11 Subject: Web serial novel: how the experiment is going Security: Public

So here's a little piece about publishing a novel online. This piece should not be taken as a "how to." Why? Because although this piece is about what I'm doing, as will become rapidly clear, I am making it up as I go along.

Several people have asked my why "a writer of [my] stature" is self-publishing online. The short version is that publishing in print is shrinking fast and in awful financial shape. Fewer and fewer chances to publish anything edgy, or even much fiction at all, exist, and it's going to get worse before it gets better. I have an adventurous spirit and have always been high tech. Rather than hide my head in a hole and hope that after Borders, Barnes & Noble, & the other mega-chains who killed off our thriving independent bookstore population die off like HMV & Tower Records did there is still a print publishing world out there at all, I'm embracing the new media. And why the hell not?

A brief background on this novel. ( Read more... )

I figured, why not put it on the web? My goals are pretty modest at this point. I figure rather than it sitting dormant it could:

1) at least be read and enjoyed by people
2) Could potentially earn some money rather than zero money
3) Maybe if it gets popular it will help bring readers to my other work, including actual books for sale
4) If it gets really popular, at the very least I could sell an ebook or POD version of it. (Maybe in multiple volumes, given the length.)

So, Goal #1. Get it read by people. I figured for that I need the following:
1) A website that looks nice and is easy to navigate
2) Incoming links
( And here's everything I've done with the site, incoming and outgoing ads, links, etc... )

Date: 2010-01-09 18:24 Subject: Sushi, cocktails, and my iPhone's camera Security: Public

So the one bad consequence of the fact that my iPhone went through the laundry a few months ago, other than voiding my warranty, is that the camera is blurry now. There's probably nothing I can do to fix it, but I figured I'd post and see if anyone had suggestions out there. Everything else about the phone works perfectly, and I don't use the camera that much, and the photos are not that bad most of the time. I've already tried cleaning the little "lens" with lens cleaner to no avail. It *looks* fine...

here's a comparison though where you can really see the difference. This was taken with my iPhone camera:

( photos lurking under the cut )
World of difference. By the way, for those curious, this was a few rolls made for us by Hiro-san at Fugakyu last night (on Beacon Street just before Coolidge Corner). The one with the jalapeno and wasabi tobiko on it was truly fabulous, a "spicy tuna" roll in a completely unique way. To the right, salmon skin roll with sweet sauce, and to the left, a more traditional spicy roll with tempura crumble in the mix.

The drink you see in the background is a "tyku mojito," made with shiso leaf instead of mint leaves and Ty Ku instead of cachaca.

Ty Ku, as it turns out, is a "fruity sake liqueur." It was sweet and light and refreshing, with a similar kick to cachaca (which is distilled sugar). Found this web page about it: http://cocktails.about.com/od/spiritreviews/fr/tyku_liqueur.htm

Date: 2010-01-09 12:42 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

OK writers. Question for you. Do you ever let your characters go clothes shopping? If yes, what happens? Or am I the only one who does this?

EDIT: To clarify, I don't mean shopping IN THEIR STORY or on the page. I mean real life shopping. For clothes that end up in your closet.

Date: 2010-01-07 13:44 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

Want to read my online rock-n-roll coming out novel? A major plot arc just ended. Start here: http://ping.fm/QBDFp

Date: 2010-01-02 10:38 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

Pinch hitter needed! I need a 3400 word article suitable for the Yankees Annual in hand by Jan 7th. Pays $275. Email ctan.writer@gmail.com

Date: 2009-12-28 02:03 Subject: The story of writing backwards. Security: Public

So, many of you know that probably my most "iconic" story -- and certainly the one that has been read by the most people over the past 18 years -- is "Telepaths Don't Need Safewords ."

One of the unusual things about the story and the characters of Arshan (the dom) and Mriah (the sub), is that the entire thing, title, characters, and backstory all leapt into my head more or less simultaneously. The characters sprang forth as fully realized people. Sometimes it takes me a while to learn the quirks of my characters, but not that time. The story of "Telepaths" takes place after they've already been in a relationship for at least ten years.

Most writers who get taken by storm by a character (or two) go on to write sequels about them.

In my case, I've done it backwards. I keep writing prequels.

The story of "Telepaths" actually tells maddeningly little about the background of the main characters. There's passing mention of the planet ( Read more... )

Date: 2009-12-21 14:19 Subject: Frolicon: call for panel ideas and panelists Security: Public

So I'm organizing the writers/writing Think Track at Frolicon this year.

Frolicon is a convention that is a lot of fun; it's a crossover between a science fiction convention and a BDSM convention. You can see why I'm an appropriate person to be putting together some programming for it, no?

So if you're a writer and can get yourself to Atlanta April 1-4 2010, please drop me a line if you are interested in speaking on panels and include any panel or workshop ideas you might have.

The con website: http://frolicon.net/
Livejournal comm: http://community.livejournal.com/frolicon/

Last year we had panels on:
How To Write Sex in SF & Fantasy
Erotica & Sci-Fi, A Perfect Match?
Ask The Writers (Q&A session)
Slash Fiction 201
(as well as a great panel/community roundtable on Race/Ethnicity and Cultural Appropriation -- which was a pretty heavy topic for Frolicon, but went amazingly well. The track I'm organizing is more on the writing/fantasy/BDSM intersections, though.)

Drop me a line in email at ctan.writer AT gmail DOT com with your suggestions for panel topics and your bio if you're interested in speaking at the con.

Panel suggestions from fans & readers are welcome, too! And feel free to point interested parties to this post.

Date: 2009-12-20 13:54 Subject: The christmas spirit... Security: Public

My Xmas vampire romance story on sale today $1.99 at Ravenous Romance: http://tinyurl.com/yb5zpxm

It's the seventh story in their "12 Days of Christmas" -- so it's the seven swans a-swimming.

( marketing blurb under the cut )

Date: 2009-12-19 14:39 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

I write about guilt, mangoes, and tea (and guilt over mango tea) here: http://ping.fm/4Ppnl

Date: 2009-12-03 20:36 Subject: Holidays, the Duck Day Menu and such Security: Public

First, if any of you are so inclined, please drop by this post on my baseball blog and leave your suggestions for baseball-related gifts this season:
http://www.whyilikebaseball.com/2009/12/baseball-gift-giving-your-suggestions/

And now, sorry for the delay, here is the Duck Day 2009 menu I've been meaning to post:

Amuse Bouche • Burrata with sea salt and a micro tomato basil salad
--sadly the burrata had gone bad! A very fine pecorino stood in for it nicely though.

Anti • Pasti
Anti:
Anchovies, salt cured and garnished with Parmesan & Lemon
Arancini of porcini mushroom
Artichoke hearts in wine and vinegar

Pasti:
Peppers, red, oven-roasted
Peppers, baby red and yellow, pickled in olive oil and spices
Prosciutto of Duck

Wine Pairing: Muri-Gries Alto Adige Lagrein Rosato 2008 (It’s a rosé)

Duck Italian Wedding Soup
duck meatballs with stellina pasta and mustard greens in duck broth

Frangelico Duck Italiano
seared duck breast, glazed with Frangelico liqueur
served on a pair of root vegetable schmears: paprika’d carrot & parsnip and celeriac root frangelico
Wine Pairing: Aglianico del Taburno Fidelis 2005
--this was the dish it took me 3 days to prep all the ingredients. It was worth it.

Duck Ravioli
handmade ravioli stuffed with braised duck, roasted garlic, and fennel and served with a marsala demi-glace
--I will post photos of corwin and Scliff making the ravioli.

Mixed Grill
Smoked duck breast, honey and orange glazed roast quail, sweet italian duck sausage with fennel, spicy italian duck sausage, and duck livers and other organs
Accompanied by white beans, and roasted kale
Wine Pairing: Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco 2006

Intermezzo
Tangerine Ice with Prosecco

Wood Fired Ducks served with roasted root vegetables, and broccoli in a lemon bath
--yesterday I threw the leftover wood-fired root veg (beets, turnips, leeks) into a pot with a leftover half bottle of red wine and two lamb shanks and it made the BEST LAMB STEW EVER.

Crimini Mushroom & Celery Salad with White Truffle
--yes, corwin finally got to serve a white truffle!

Dessert Course • Trio of Delights
Handmade milano cookies • Miniature flat cannoli • Homemade strawberry ice cream with balsamic vinegar and candied basil
Wine Pairing: Malvasia Sicilia
--unusually, I was the one who made all the desserts & their parts except the candied basil

Followed by Tea, Coffee, & Grappa

We sat down pretty much on time at 8pm and desert was served at about 2am. We used pretty much every dish in the china closet, many of them multiple times.

Photos are up on PhotoBucket!