I’ve never actually considered my stories my babies (I only have one of those and her name is Danica) but I do want people to like them, so it makes me happy when they do. There’s another review of Shades of Green available for anyone who’d like to check it out. Aubrie, of Book Reviews by Aubrie, had this to say:

Shades of Green is a unique and unsettling tale of life after an apocalypse. The descriptions are exotic and fun to read, and I felt for Z’thandra’s plight throughout. Amongst all of the prejudice and hatred she is able to forgive, and that is truly heroic. The ending is unexpected and left me with much to think about. This is no fluffy fantasy tale, but a powerful and emotional journey with a profound message at the end.

Needless to say, that put a big smile on my face You can read the full review here.

There are also two interviews of yours truly that went live today. Firstly at Amber Stults’ website I answer questions about Shades of Green as well as what I’m currently working on. You can read that here. Some of Amber’s questions really made me think, like when she asked if I’d intentionally make the Reptars less alien than I might have.

Then over at Aubrie’s blog I answered questions about my writing process, being the editor of Niteblade and, of course, a bit about Shades of Green. You can read that one here.

I always stress about interviews because I’m never sure that my tone of…erm…voice(?) comes through in them. I did ask Jo to read these ones and tell me if I sounded like a moron. He responded with ‘You sound like yourself’ which didn’t really answer my question, but I’ll take it

Back in May I read and reviewed Troll’s Eye View which is a great YA/MG anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. It looks at fairy tales and re-tells them from the villain’s point of view (Review is here). When I was done I passed the book on to Danica, who enjoyed it very much. I was going to ask Ellen and Terri for an interview for Niteblade but then I got thinking. Danica is more the target audience for this book than I am, so why not have her conduct the interview?

Ellen and Terri consented to the interview and I put it up on Niteblade yesterday. Please check it out and leave a comment. I think Dani did a great job at coming up with questions and Ellen and Terri are made of awesome too.

Interview with Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Remember that interview with Conrad Williams that I said was upcoming at the Niteblade blog? It’s there now –> Check it Out <–

I just got home from the World Horror Convention in Winnipeg. It had the lowest attendance of any World Horror Con (61 paid memberships with about 30 of those people actually attending), but it was a blast. We really got a chance to just hang out and talk and I got to know some really amazing people. Truly.

While I was in Winnipeg I was also being featured on Amber Stults‘ blog. I meant to post about it here as it was happening, but um…I forgot. *looks sheepish* Sorry.

Firstly, Amber interviewed me. You can check that out here. She asked me a lot of questions that I’ve never been asked before, and I had a lot of fun answering them. The interview also includes my Rhysling-nominated haiku, Lovers, in case you’re curious and want to check it out.

That same day, Amber posted a review of Sister Margaret (here). In it, she says:

“The only thing lacking in “Sister Margaret” is that it’s not enough!  I know Rhonda has written more stories and a novel with some of these characters.  I’ve been purposefully staying away as a beta reader so I can be surprised like everyone else when they get published.”

<3

Lastly, she invited me to write a guest blog post, so I wrote about falling in love with secondary characters. Secondary Characters = <3.

I would like to thank everyone who stopped by and commented and congratulate Joyce for winning a copy of Sister Margaret just for commenting.

Now I need to get my nose to the grindstone. I have a new layout for this blog I really want to install and show off!

I have loads of news today. I like it when that happens.

Firstly, Sister Margaret is now available from Fictionwise. That means you can pick it up for less than two bucks. This makes me very happy. >> Sister Margaret on Fictionwise <<

Also, I finally sent out the newsletter for April. It’s late but I’ve often heard ‘better late than never’, so I’m not putting this in the loss column

I’m guest blogging over at The World Can Wait about motivation today.

There is also a new review of Sister Margaret over at Imperfect Clarity today that says, in part:

Rhonda shows her ability as a true wordsmith in this story.  As a fledgling writer myself, while reading this piece, it was as though each word was carefully measured and painstakingly chosen because it was the exact word needed to make the story flow.

The choice of details and description within the story truly bring out the richness that she has wrought.

I think she’s being far too nice, LoL but how could I not adore being called a wordsmith? I do, I love it. I admit it. Even if I’m not sure it’s deserved LOL

Included with the review is a guest blog I wrote about inspiration. Mostly about the inspiration for Sister Margaret, but not exclusively.

I think that’s it for today.

Pretty exciting to be me this Tuesday, lemme tell you