Say hi to Sami at the ICFA!

Celebrate the Fantasy Genre!
Art (cc) by David Revoy

Our very own Troublemaker Samantha Holloway will be attending the 34th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts!  The conference is March 20-24th in Orlando, Florida.

The conference is held by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts and is a great place to meet writers and publishers. Coincidentally, IAFA is a great place to meet Sami.

Have a blast at the conference, dear, and if you readers would like to know more, check out the IAFA website. Neil Gaiman is guest of honor, ooh la la!

Sami will also be posting about the conference on her blog, Herding the Dragon. Stay tuned!

Shaking up Colossalcon!

Image (c) Colossalcon/Nostalgia Conventions. Source: FB 

Hey, hey! Good news for anime fans, gaming geeks, and pop culture enthusiasts! If you ever wanted to take a stab at popular fiction, Troublemaker Kristina Elyse Butke is going to be holding two writing panels exclusive to Colossalcon 12!

The schedule's still being put together as Colossalcon  is working through panel submissions, so we'll keep you posted on the specific event dates and times...but here's a little preview of each topic, as they'll appear listed in the Colossalcon program:


Give Good Spec! Sci fi. Fantasy. Horror. This triad of awesome is known as speculative fiction,  and it's everywhere--books, games, movies, comics--you name it. But a genre that's this popular can still be problematic for writers and artists (hello, clichés and tropes!).   So how do we give good spec? We get to the heart of storytelling!

Fanfic into Fiction Want your fanfic to rise above all the rest? Do you want to go beyond fan fiction and start your writing career? We'll break all the myths and misconceptions of fanfic so you can stake your claim in the world of publishing!


Colossalcon will be held June 6-9th at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Sandusky, Ohio. You can purchase admission here and read more about the convention at the official site and on the forums. We hope to see you there!

Get Lost in the news for "Intelligence"

Everything he touches turns to sexy.
Actor Josh Holloway is confirmed lead
for the CBS pilot of Intelligence...
none of this would exist without
JOHN DIXON'S MARVELOUS BRAIN!
Image Source

(Ha ha. See what I did there, with the title?) 

We've got great and exciting news for Troublemaker John Dixon! His novel Dissident caught the eye of CBS, who picked up the rights to it as the new series Intelligence. Now it's been booked for a pilot episode, with Lost alum Josh Holloway starring as the lead.

This is such big news and a great publicity boost for John. Just google any of the following terms--Intelligence--Josh Holloway--John Dixon--and you'll see the internet explode with articles. You can of course, read the awesome news from the author himself...

...I personally learned about it first through Buzzfeed and Uproxx and all of those fun pop culture websites. Which means it's on the internet, it's out there, and it's ready to be devoured by the masses.

In the meantime, I'd like to give everyone a pleasant reminder that although the news articles say Dissident is unpublished, it won't be for long. You'll see it in print January 2014 from Simon and Schuster.

CONGRATULATIONS, JOHN! 

Troublemakers Shake it Up!

Yesss! We will take over the publishing world!
Anchorman gif via Funny or Die

It's been quite a while since our last post, but I'm happy to share with you all the good news about our fabulous Troublemakers!!

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CONGRATULATIONS to 

Joe Campbell||Jo Crosier||Jennifer Della'Zanna|| William Fay||Priscilla Kissinger||and||Chris Von Halle for completing their Masters of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University! 

GO FORTH AND SET THE WORLD ON FIRE! -Ignatius Loyola

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CONGRATULATIONS to 

Joe Campbell

on the release of his book, Thanksgiving at Auntee-Mama's House, available at Amazon.com!

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CONGRATULATIONS to 

Jo Crosier, aka Rachell Nichole

on the release of her book, Spicy with a side of Cranberry Sauce, available at Loose Id, Amazon, B&N

as well as Queen of Hearts, available at Amazon and B&N!!!

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CONGRATULATIONS to

JOHN DIXON

whose book Dissident was acquired by Simon & Schuster for a January 2014 release! If you missed it, the book was also purchased by CBS as the upcoming TV series Intelligence! Click the pic for more!

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Great things are sure to keep on coming for this awesome group of writers. Stick around and we'll update you on every success and adventure we have along the way! Thanks for your support!!!

John Dixon--stirring up some trouble!

Some awesome news re: one of our own, author John Dixon: 

Click the screencap for the official announcement from Deadline Hollywood.

CONGRATULATIONS, JOHN!!

For more of the fabulous John Dixon, head over to The Dark Flibbertigibbet.

Release! Scheherazade and the Library of Pergamum

For most of last year, I wrote and edited for Black Chicken Studios on a game called 1931: Scheherazade and the Library of Pergamum. And now it's out!

We're really proud of it, and everyone in the world should play it. You can read more about it on my main blog here, or you can go to www.ScheherazadeGame.com!

And tell us what you think!

What kind of reader are you?

This article discovered via Flipboard, an awesome app for Ipad

First and foremost, writers are readers. This fun little guide from The Atlantic Wire breaks down reading habits and offers tongue-in-cheek book recommendations. Although it doesn't dive into the correlation between reading and writing, I bet you'll find a way to see how your reading style influences your writing habits if you think through it.

I'm a Delayed Onset Reader #1. Read the definition here. This probably indicates my perfectionism when it comes to my own writing as well as my issues with time management. Reverence is a form of procrastination! :)

What type of reader are you? How does your reading style impact your writing style?  Be sure to post your answers in the comments.