Rhonda Parrish

It’s that time of year again; the Preditors and Editors poll is open for nominations and votes This is another great way you can support Niteblade (and me!) without spending a penny or breaking a sweat Plus, you will earn my eternal gratitude. Well, perhaps not eternal, but long-lasting! Last year we did quite well for a fledgling publication and I would really love to see that trend continue.

Please pop over to the P&E poll and nominate and vote for your favorites in each category Niteblade is nominated in several categories already.

Thank you, again, for your support. You have no idea how much it means to me.

Anthology Category: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/antho.shtml
Magazine/Ezine Editor: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/zineeditor.shtml
Fiction Ezine: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/fictionzine.shtml
Poetry Ezine: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/poetryzine.shtml
Magazine Cover Art: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/zineart.shtml

How’s the weather where you’re at? Here it’s freaking freezing. It’s been about -30 (before wind chill) here for a few days now. That’s celcius, but I think celcius and farenheit meet up around -40 and it’s been that cold once you factor in wind chill. Brrr. I am not a fan of the cold. Especially when it seeps in around windows and makes it so I have to work with a blanket over my lap. My house is a bit old (not ancient, it was built in 1945) and it has lots of drafts. Brr I say again.

Back on the topic of writing, however, things are heating up. It’s the 15th today and thus is the day I was going to release my first newsletter, I’ve decided to put it off for one more day though because I’m making a couple ‘appearances’ (makes me sound all important when I say it like that doesn’t it? LOL) today and if anyone signs up for the newsletter after I’ve sent it, they have to wait a whole other month.

My first ‘appearance’ today is at Beth Wylde’s Yahoogroup. I will be hanging out there all day chatting about myself, Niteblade and my own writing and giving away some prizes. A couple Niteblade authors may also be popping in to say hello. I think it will be lots of fun. I’m ‘heading over there’ as soon as I post this entry.

I’m also guest-blogging at E-Read Indeed today. As I write this my post hasn’t gone up but I’ve sent it off to the proper authorities so I’m sure it will appear very shortly. I blog about holiday shopping and e-books over there

If you’re new to my site and coming from one of those places (or even coming from elsewhere), hello Welcome to my world. I hope you will take a look around, join the mailing list and drop me a note to say hi. And if your part of the world is as chilly as my part is today, I also hope you stay warm.

At the World Fantasy Convention I became a fan of several people even before reading anything they’d ever written, I also added people to the (very small) list of authors whose books I will never buy, again without reading a word they’d written. I can’t be the only person who buys books (or doesn’t) based on how the author conducts themselves, thus reinforcing the need to always be professional and polite.

Anyway, this isn’t meant to devolve into a lecture or an essay. Quite the contrary.

One of the men who impressed the hell out of me at WFC and made me buy his work even though it’s in a genre I don’t usually read, is David Drake. I emailed him to tell him that, and to thank him for a very powerful panel he was on and we began ‘talking’. One thing that came out of that emailed conversation was that he agreed to do an interview with me for Niteblade.

I’m planning to do a series of author interviews on Niteblade, this is only the first, but I hope you’ll check it out and tell me what you think.

Interview with David Drake.

Please leave a comment so I know you were there. I’d bribe you with prizes if I could, but alas, I’ve nothing to offer at the moment, except karma and gratitude.

The new issue of Niteblade is out and it’s full of awesome.

The cover story this month, appropriately enough, is “Oh, Christmas Tree” by S. Alan Fox. It’s an awesome bit of flash that I guarantee you will not regret reading. In fact, it should be required reading for all flash lovers.

There are, obviously, other great stories and poems in this issue. For example, we’ve another poem by N.C. Whitehead, a poet I’ve become a great fan of, and another by Greg Schwartz whose work I also adore. There are less than thirteen poems in this issue, alas. Not because I wanted to include less, but because poetry submissions are down. If you’re a poet, yes, that was a hint.

The fiction is strong in this issue as well. I’m going to resist the urge to share some of my personal favorites because if I did that I’d feel like I should blurb them…and I can’t write good blurbs for my own work, let alone anyone else’s LoL. Take my word for it though, there are some great stories here that span a vast number of subjects. We’ve got werewolves, zombies, fanatics, body swappers, sadistic children, psychics and more. Really, this issue is full of awesome

Best of all, perhaps, if you blog, I’m giving away free copies of the magazine. You should check out the Niteblade News blog for details.

Do you ever feel like you’re racing death? I do! I don’t know when it started really, but I am very well aware of the fact there aren’t enough years in the human lifespan to do everything I want to. Not even close. With that in the back of my mind, I am driven to get as many things on my ‘Lifetime To-Do’ list as I can before the grim reaper cuts me down. I am, in essence, racing death.

That is how my blog entry today over at Ginger Simpson’s blog starts. If you’d like to see what I say after that and read the short poem I share, please click here and head over. As always I value your comments, here or there.

Well, we finished up Lost Innocence and released it for sale yesterday — a day early! How’s that for awesomeness? The book is brilliant, even if I do say so myself. It’s filled with thirteen stories and thirteen poems that will knock your socks off.

Lost Innocence

It’s available now by clicking the cover image above. Check it out, you can see the first ten pages completely free and I’d love to hear what you think about the layout which is slightly different than what we use for the magazine.

I’m obsessively checking the page for sales and reviews as well (we’ve had some of the former, none of the latter yet) and the only rating so far is my own LOL Not that I’m biased or anything, but I gave it a six out of five

Last year I “attended” The Muse Online Writers Conference and I had a lot of fun, and this year I’m attending again, as a participant and presenter both! Eeek!

My “workshop” is actually going to mostly be a Q&A session in a forum regarding Niteblade, but still I’m nervous. What if no one comes? That would suck LoL I noticed last year there were a couple forums that had no one posting in them and I don’t want to be one of those places.

So please, if you’re attending, and you totally should if you’re a writer, pop by the ‘Meet Rhonda Parrish of Niteblade Magazine’ forum a couple times during the week to keep me company, okay?

Based on my expiriences last year, I also highly reccomend anything run/taught by TC McMullen and Karina Fabian’s world building workshop was also very good.

Go here now to sign up if you haven’t already. All you do is join the mailing list and then in September Lea will send you all the information you need to official register and pick what workshops and such you’re going to attend.

The newest issue of Niteblade is out. Issue #4: The Gnome’s Spectacles is going live right now…early. How’s that for a bit of awesomeness? And when it comes to awesomeness, let me tell you, this issue is chock-full of it.

I think the poetry is especially strong in this issue. In addition to the killer poem that was granted the cover this period there are pieces about the Wicked Witch of the West, death, space, aliens and an amazing prose poem. I know, I’ve really had issues with prose poetry in this past, so the fact I found one so good I agreed to publish it has to say something good about the piece, doesn’t it? The poems run the spectrum from funny to depressing and touch in on a load of other adjectives too.

Don’t think poetry is all this issue has going for it though. No way. There are some pretty amazing stories too. Sentient zombies, an incredibly evocative Asian fantasy story, psychological horror, an undead pig and the end of the world are just a few of the things we’ve got in this issue’s 13 stories. There is even one about a hockey player…let the Canadian editor jokes begin!

Really, this issue is definitely one worth checking out — and perhaps best of all, it’s free.

http://www.niteblade.com

I figured it was time for a change on this blog because, after all, when you have deadlines looming and scads of work that needs to be done, the thing all responsible writers and editors do is decide to change the look of their blogs…right? Right?

Well anyway, that’s what I did

The image is one I licensed from i-stockphoto. It’s a vector image by -M-I-S-H-A-, an artist whose work I often drool over. In this case I only had to make a few minor changes to make it work, which is good, because as I’ve said before, I am not a graphic designer LOL The layout is courtesy of Area  381.

I like the new layout, but it’s going to take some getting used to, I think. I’d be interested in hearing what you think, too In the meantime, I’m going to iron out the bumps and then get back to work on Niteblade — the new issue comes out very soon.

The Dark Phantom Review is a great little blog that does book reviews, author interviews and editor reviews. In addition, they also have articles and short fiction. It’s run by Mayra Calvani, who is a talented writer. Recently I was honored to be interviewed by The Dark Phantom Review, and the interview is live now.

Interview with Rhonda Parrish, Editor/Founder of Niteblade Magazine

Please check it out. I’d love to hear what you think, either here or on The Dark Phantom Review’s blog. Personally I think I need to work on my skills as an interviewee LoL It’s just one more thing to add to the list of skills this magazine has inspired/required me to develop