Laurel Anne Hill

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Laurel Anne Hill’s Schedule at Loscon 37, Nov. 26-28, LAX Marriott

Laurel Anne Hill’s schedule at Loscon 37 (A Celebration of Urban Fantasy, Steampunk and SF Noir) at the LAX Marriott is as follows:

Friday, Nov. 26:
6 pm, Dallas, Recording your work: Podcasting (Laurel Anne Hill, Linda Reid, Emerian Rich, Leslie Ann Moore)

Saturday, Nov. 27:
10 am, Marquis 3, The New Monsters (Cody Goodfellow, Aaron Mason, Kirsten Imani Kasai, Laurel Anne Hill)

1 pm, Dealers Room, Autograph Session

5:30 pm, New Orleans, Beyond the First Draft (Tim Powers, Will Shetterly, Marv Wolfman, Laurel Anne Hill, Todd McCaffrey)

7 pm, Philadelphia, Metaphors for a Plague Age (Laurel Anne Hill, Daryl Frazetti, Allison Lonsdale, Aaron Mason)

I hope to see some of you there.

Warm wishes,
Laurel Anne Hill (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com

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“Heroes Arise” and a Total Surprise (by Laurel Anne Hill)

I love going to science fiction/fantasy cons. Friendly people, fun panels, awesome costumes, and imaginative artwork only begin to describe what cons have to offer. After OryCon 32 earlier this month, I added another item to my list of delights: surprises.

I received a totally unexpected surprise when I served on the “Writing Quality Work for Young Adults” panel with Sharyn November, S.D. Perry and Nina Kiriki Hoffman on November 12. As I introduced myself and showed off my published novel, “Heroes Arise,” Sharyn November (Editorial Director of Firebird) expressed interest in seeing my book, then purchased my copy from me in front of the audience.

“Do you have change for a ten?” she said as she rummaged through her purse. Then she claimed she never had done anything like this on a panel before. Nor had I.

Needless to say, I was pleased. Sharyn November is one of those intelligent, energetic and talented people one can’t help but admire. She breathes life into her surroundings.

November 12 was a very special day.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com

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Reflections on Vampires, Laughter and Loss (by Laurel Anne Hill)

Hide in a book when you can't face the world

Saturday my relatives scattered the ashes of a family member who shouldn’t have died.  Twenty-seven was far too young.  But then, Death respects neither youth nor age.

I awakened Sunday morning, needing to laugh, to feel alive.  Our daughter headed back to Los Angeles before noon.  I was glad my husband and I had tickets to the Lamplighters’ annual gala and fundraiser in San Francisco.   The Lamplighters, established in 1952, had titled their special musical comedy: “You can’t bite city hall, or, some of my best friends are vampires.”

“You can’t bite city hall,” was a spoof on “Twilight,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” San Francisco city politics, political correctness, and urban fantasy in general.  Characters included:

Buffy, the Vampire Lawyer,
Heidi, the Valley Ghoul,
Mary Anne Rice,
Mayor Navin Gruesome,
A Zombie Rapper,
and many more.

Two mummies joined the “LGBZ” Chorus (lycanthropes, ghouls, bloodsuckers and zombies), to sing hilarious new lyrics to familiar tunes–music taken from “Ruddygore,” “The Mikado,” “The Pirates of Penzance,” and other Gilbert and Sullivan light operas.

I laughed hard.  It felt so good to laugh.  Dealing with the undead was far easier than dealing with the real dead.

After the performance, I stepped from the theater into the damp San Francisco air.  The streets were dark and still wet from the early afternoon rain.  David and I made our way to the BART station to catch our train home.

Inside the BART station, a guitar accompanied a beautiful voice.  A thin young man, around six feet tall, played and sang a plaintive song.  Our gazes met.  We smiled.  I passed by, then returned and dropped some money into his guitar case.

The Lamplighters had lightened my heart.  This young man reminded me of why my heart had felt so heavy in the first place.

I prayed his relatives would enjoy his company for the next sixty years–or more.

Warm wishes to you and those you love,

Laurel Anne Hill
Author of “Heroes Arise”
http://www.laurelannehill.com

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“When Terror Takes Hold” (by Laurel Anne Hill) on Horror Addicts Website

Earlier this week, the Horror Addicts website posted my essay: “When Terror Takes Hold.”  To read about scary events in my life, go to http://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/when-terror-takes-hold-laurel-anne-hill/.

Warm wishes and chills down the spine,

Laurel Anne Hill
(Author of novel “Heroes Arise,” and “Thar Be Magic” in the “Rum and Runestones” anthology)
http://www.laurelannehill.com
http://twitter.com/#!/LaurelAnneHill