Laurel Anne Hill

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Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading at the World Science Fiction Con on September 1, 2013

 

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading at the World Science Fiction Con (LoneStarCon) on September 1, 2013

Going to LoneStarCon in San Antonio?  Be sure to attend the Broad Universe RFR.  The readers will include Rachael Acks, Carol Berg, Folly Blaine, Valerie Estelle Frankel, Elektra Hammond, Laurel Anne Hill, Alexis Glynn Latner, Katherine Mankiller, Tracy S. Morris, Roberta Rogow, Kathryn Sullivan, and Barbara Ann Wright.

Broad Universe is an international organization with the primary goal of promoting science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women.

 

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Author Laurel Anne Hill at “Steam U”

Read Moon-Flame Woman by Laurel Anne Hill
Nominated for an Aurora Award in Canada!

 

Your assignment, if you care to accept it, is to head for the blog of Melanie Karsak: Steam U!  There, my character Cho Ting-Lam (the Moon-Flame Woman in SHANGHAI STEAM) provides tips for unpublished characters.  If you’re a writer, be sure your characters visit the Steam U page, as well.  Besides, Melanie has done a beautiful job of presenting my Steampunk Beyond England writing tutorial.

Go to:  http://melaniekarsak.blogspot.com/2013/08/steamu-author-laurel-anne-hill.html

 

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of “Heroes Arise”)

 

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Laurel Anne Hill: Proud Caretaker of a Morsel of Anne Rice’s Past

David & Kevin load the skeleton into our SUV in Los Angeles
Time to add the drawers
This one won't fit.

 

I inched the chest of seven drawers through my kitchen.  Actually, the seven drawers still sat in my garage.  No way could I have moved this sucker without some disassembly.  Even after an ibuprofen fix.   Pull forward and toward the left.  Shimmy right.  Don’t mar the Solarium floor.  At this rate, I’d never reach the back bedroom before dinner.  And the current time was only three hours before noon.

My husband, David, had gone to pick up our dogs at the local kennel.  We’d left the pooches at doggie camp in order to drive to Los Angeles and retrieve this piece of mahogany-finish furniture.  Our daughter didn’t have room for it right now.  Yet the chest had once lived in the home of author Anne Rice in New Orleans.  After Mr. Rice’s passing, my daughter—then attending Tulane University—had purchased the piece at his estate sale.  For twenty years, I’d written science fiction, fantasy, horror and steampunk.  Getting rid of this chest of drawers was not an option.

I reached the threshold between my kitchen and the hallway.  One room down.  More to go.  Then I spied a section of free wallspace in our living room-dining room area.  Might the chest-of-drawers fit there?  And how weird would that be, having bedroom furniture next to our dining room buffet?

Regroup.  I was the proud caretaker of a morsel of Anne Rice’s past.  What an honor.  How neat it would be, displaying in full view a beautiful piece of furniture once used by Mr. Stan Rice.  Plus I wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the morning playing inch worm.

I maneuvered the chest into place before my husband returned home, then installed the drawers, soon lined with the lavender-scented paper I’d saved for a special occasion.  My daughter’s twenty-five-year-old Madame Alexander doll provided a perfect topping.

Would Mr. Rice would have approved of the perfumed liners or the doll?  Would Anne Rice have done a writing cliche:  rolled her eyes?

I had no idea, but my ingenuity delighted my husband.  Now he didn’t have to help me squeeze the furniture into one of the back bedrooms, and dinner would stay on schedule.  No ibuprofen needed.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of “Heroes Arise”)

Welcome to your new home!

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Fault Zone Anthology Short Story Contest: Deadline is August 31, 2013.

FAULT ZONE ANTHOLOGY, 2012

Enter your short story in the FAULT ZONE contest.  DEADLINE IS AUGUST 31, 2013.  This contest is for non-members of the SF/Peninsula Branch of California Writers Club.

Fault Zone: Shift, the fourth in the anthology series edited by the SF/Peninsula Branch of California Writers, will be published by Sand Hill Review Press later in 2013. Non-members of SF/Peninsula Writers are eligible to enter the Fault Zone short story contest.

Fault Zone isn’t only about earthquakes. It’s about personal faults, shortcomings, and the foibles of being human. In a way, we all live on a fault zone. Write from the heart. Be edgy. Be wild. But make sure your story has an arc. Stories involving California are always appreciated.

First Prize is $250 and publication in our next Fault Zone anthology. 
Second Prize is $100. 
Third Prize is $50. 

Contest deadline has been extended for Non-Members to August 31, 2013 

Reading fee is $15. 

Previously published work will be considered; let us know where it has appeared. Judging should be completed by end of September. The prelaunch book party will be in early December and the book will be available on Amazon by January, 2014. The San Francisco/Peninsula Writers will be the contest judges. Your piece should relate to the anthology’s theme in some way. We can’t wait to see it! 

How to Enter
To enter the contest, mail two (2) copies of your submission plus $15 to the address below. Please put the name of the story and page number on each page. Use Times New Roman or similar font, 12 point, double spaced. Maximum word count is 2,500. Must be postmarked by August 31, 2013. Please use a cover sheet and give us your contact information with your email, address and phone number. Even if you win, there may still be edits and we will need to contact you right away.

Mail your two copies plus entry fee to: 

SF/Peninsula CWC
P.O. Box 853
Belmont, CA 94002

Note: Do NOT send your entry Registered Mail as we have to stand in line and it makes us cranky. Just mail it. Really. It will get to us. If you’re dying to know if it arrived, enclose a postcard, we’ll sign it and drop the card in the mail.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of the award-winning novel: HEROES ARISE)

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GO FOR SNOW IN JULY: Or, Will the Real Laurel Anne Hill Please Step Forward?

Some of Laurel Anne Hill's Long-Time Fans

Hello to friends, family, fans, various acquaintances, and passers-by out for a cyber stroll.  As high temperatures bake my home town, I’m here to recommend Snow.  Yes, Snow in July.  At sea level.  Rebecca Snow, an author, podcaster, and fellow member Wicked Women Writers, interviewed me in June and has now posted the printed results on her blog.

Rebecca’s interview questions delighted me, such as “How did you get that scar?” and “What song would precede your entrance into a room if we all had personal soundtracks?”  Lots of fun.  To learn more about the real me, please visit Rebecca’s blog at http://cemeteryflowerblog.wordpress.com/isolation-tank/laurel-anne-hill/.  And be sure to browse around her interesting site.  Enjoy the Snow!

Happy reading,

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of HEROES ARISE)
http://www.laurelannehill.com

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Let’s Talk Steampunk! (Award-Winning Author Laurel Anne Hill at the San Mateo County Fair on June 15)

Laurel Anne Hill

 
Come to Expo Hall (Fine Arts Galleria Stage) at the San Mateo County Fair, June 15, 2-6 pm. Award-winning science fiction/fantasy author Laurel Anne Hill will participate in the “Author Day Book Signings” (2-4 pm) and the Podcast & Book Trailer Panel (4-5 pm). Then, 5-6 pm, Laurel will discuss steampunk and how to write it. Attendees are welcome to wear goggles and other steampunk costume items. (NO weapons or look-alikes are permitted at the fair!) Read Laurel’s steampunk short stories in the anthologies How Beer Saved the World and Shanghai Steam. Shanghai Steam was recently nominated for an Aurora Award.  Visit Laurel’s website at http://www.laurelannehill.com.

  

Read "Beware the Nine" by Laurel Anne Hill in "How Beer Saved the World"
Read "Moon-Flame Woman" by Laurel Anne Hill in "Shanghai Steam"