Mask by Jan Irving in the Rainbow Awards finals

I had a nice surprise from Elisa's awards. First, The Janitor received an honorable mention in debut fiction for the popular vote, which was nice, especially given the lovely company. But then you could have knocked me over with a feather because my second book Mask was chosen by a judge to be in the finals for futuristic fiction! Wow, that is such a nice surprise. You can see it here.

The Summer Gardener by Jan Irving out Nov 4th!

See it here.

The Janitor by Jan Irving makes Elisa's list

My first book, The Janitor, made Elisa's list for new writers here.

My wiki page

I redid my Wiki page recently. Really like how it's looking so take a look here.

Nice review of Mask by Jan Irving

Jen from Dark Diva Reviews says:

Mask by Jan Irving is a book with a very unique twist to storytelling. I have never read a book that utilized instant messaging as a technique to get into the personalities of the characters. I have to admit, it was a little odd at first, but I really grew to love it. The quick banter was fascinating and revealing as to Nick and Kain’s personalities. The way in which Jan Irving allowed the characters to have a security in the instant messaging that they didn’t have face to face really came through for me. Not only did this lead to interesting character dimensionality, it also allowed the reader to feel Nick and Kain’s insecurities in a way that I really didn’t think would be possible without this technique.

More of this review here.

Tea ceremony

So we went to the beautiful Nitobe Garden yesterday for the tea ceremony. Here is a view of the garden from the island.




This is the tea house and inside you can see the server mixing formally the macha version of tea we were served. It was actually very good tea, made from a powder and because these are tea enthusiasts, they chose a very expensive tea from Kyoto to share with us as their gift. Each tea bowl was chosen to reflect the season, going into fall. The black teabowl you see there is the one she used to make my tea, which I had after a sweet wafer made of ginkgo.



If you click on the first picture you can see the chicadees who came to drink from this small out of the way fountain in a part of the garden normally off limits. The lantern here has a prehistoric feel, one of my favorite of the many in the garden.



This is the stream rushing by into the small lake and grandfather lantern.


So next I want to translate this experience into Mastering Toby for an important scene after my men have been at painful odds.

I have sold The Pleasure Slave!

Lucius Metellus Carbo, once a legate on the rise in the Roman army, is now crippled, a recluse in disgrace. When he rescues a whore from abuse, he can't help but be drawn to the beautiful young Gaul. Varick shows up at his house in Pompeii, and the two men slowly form an odd friendship. Eventually, Lucius buys Varick but he doesn't want Varick's sexual compliance out of duty. Can he believe his slave truly desires him?

I already have a cover for this but can't share it until I have the final, but I really like it. This is a story I found wonderfully absorbing to work on. It is slated for a January 2010 release date. I put up a short excerpt from the novella here.

Now I just have to get back on track with what I'm working on now. Mastering Toby has been shuffled aside a lot so I got a little stalled. I'm eager to get it recharged and get back to work on it. It is just under 40,000 words now.

Tomorrow we will be attending the Japanese tea ceremony at Nitobe Gardens. I'm really looking forward to that and hope to take pictures.