Browsed by
Tag: Weird Sisters Publishing

This square photo is a selfie of Ty while shopping. He's a white man wearing a grey shirt, a backpack, over the ear headphones, and tan pants. He's got his brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. He's backdropped by shelves of popcorn in a grocery store.
Changes at Weird Sisters Publishing

Changes at Weird Sisters Publishing

We’re looking ahead to changes at Weird Sisters Publishing. In the wake of Gigi’s death, I quickly realized I cannot do everything that is needed for this publishing effort, into perpetuity, all by myself. There’s only ever been so much of me to go around, and we designed this publishing company to incorporate G. S. Norwood too. I was counting the days till Gigi retired and we could get moving on several initiatives, most notably audiobooks. I was hoping she’d…

Read More Read More

On a variegated green background, we see two 3D versions of the book “Bone of Contention.” One is an ebook with a black frame. The other is a fat trade paperback. On each, the words of the cover, from top to bottom, say: “’The XK9s prove irresistible’ – Kirkus Reviews, of “What’s Bred in the Bone.” Bone of Contention. Jan S. Gephardt.” In the upper left corner among the leaves and fruits of an orange tree, a round symbol shows the series “Leaping Star-Dog” logo, with the markings “3” and “XK9s.” The cover painting shows the odd perspective inside a toroid space station’s habitat wheel, with green, terraced hills and a winding river running through the center. In the foreground, under an orange tree, is the entrance to the Orangeboro Police Department, with a golden, 7-pointed star-badge emblem on the portico. Atop and behind the emblem crouches an odd, gray being. Below, XK9s Shady, a black sable, and Rex, pure black, leap down the mosaic-textured steps in their harnesses and panniers, ready to run. Behind them their human partners, wearing police uniforms follow them at a run. Charlie is a tall Black man. Pam is a petite Latina with long dark hair. Below the two books, it says, “Cover art ©2024 by Tom Kidd.
Any Day Now  

Any Day Now  

Any day now, I’ll have a pre-sale to announce! Bone of Contention, the third and final novel in the XK9 “Bones” Trilogy, will be available for pre-sale orders in advance of its September 24, 2024 publication date. My plan (check back in a few weeks to see how well it went 😳) is to offer ebooks through Amazon, paperbacks through the Weird Sisters Publishing website, and both (if possible) through IngramSpark’s new e-commerce portal. Amazon doesn’t allow tiny publishers like…

Read More Read More

This screen-capture from the SoonerCon 32 Facebook page shows a square design with a variegated blue, orange and purple background. At right is a green banner that says, “SCHEDULE IS NOW LIVE! SoonerCon 32 June 21-23, 2024, Norman, OK.” At left what looks like a Renaissance Festival poster shows a multi-storied half-timber building with flags flying, flowers in window boxes, and the SoonerCon logo on the front, above a banner that says, “Welcome New Members!” In the foreground stands the convention’s raccoon mascot, in a Robin Hood outfit with green doublet and hat. At far left a banner shares a QR code, under which the words say, “Full schedule online at soonercon.com/schedule.” At the bottom center of the image another banner shares social media handles for Facebook: /SoonerconOK, X: @Soonercon, Instagram @Soonercon, and TickTock: @Soonercon. Under that it says, “#Soonercon32.”
SoonerCon 32 Discovers that Change is Hard

SoonerCon 32 Discovers that Change is Hard

No two ways about it: change is hard. It’s inevitable, but that doesn’t make it any easier to manage. And when innovation butts heads with tradition, change is really hard. SoonerCon 32 offers a sometimes-painful, sometimes-cautiously hopeful, case in point. I remember decades ago when my husband and I witnessed another painful transition. We were assistant directors of a summer camp unit that had seen a complete change of staff from one summer to the next. The camp organization was…

Read More Read More

This square depiction is a detail of a photographically detailed illustration of a young woman with dark brown hair sitting at a white laptop computer in a white, artificially-lit room, surrounded by white humanoid robots. The robots also have white laptop computers, but they are not looking them. They are looking at the woman, as if awaiting prompts. Image courtesy of “My Office Apps.” See the Image Credits for a link to the article it was originally used to illustrate.
A Proper Balance of Politics and Business

A Proper Balance of Politics and Business

What’s the proper balance between political opinion, professional life, and writing? Every writer, every publisher, and indeed every individual person must decide how to delineate their own personal “proper balance.” Here at Weird Sisters Publishing, the eponymous sisters – G. S. Norwood and I – see many things the same way. But not all things. Recently I’ve come to realize that the expression of political views in the public-facing, professional sphere is one of those things. G. is more reticent…

Read More Read More

Brian and the cover of “Almost Perfect.”
Almost Perfect Except . . .

Almost Perfect Except . . .

By Brian Katcher Brian Katcher is a writer whom one of our usual bloggers, Jan S. Gephardt, met at the science fiction convention Archon 44 (He’s also spotlighted in Jan’s Authors of Archon 44 post). He told this story during a panel discussion in which they both participated. She asked him to share it with our audience, because it demonstrates an issue we also face. The Weird Blog and Artdog Adventures support diversity and representation. As a pair of older,…

Read More Read More

This is a photo of the complete painting, “Oak Park Halloween.” It shows several dozen children trick-or-treating in Halloween costumes.
Rejoicing in Our Differences:

Rejoicing in Our Differences:

Lucy A. Synk’s Oak Park Halloween By Jan S. Gephardt “Rejoicing in our Differences” is a new series of larger-scale paintings by my friend (and frequent XK9-painter) Lucy A. Synk. The theme also could be an unofficial motto for Weird Sisters Publishing. Yes, Lucy, G., and I are all white women of a certain age. You might not look at us and instantly think “diversity!” But all three of us are creative types who both value, and seek to nurture…

Read More Read More

If a story is in you it has to come out. – William Faulkner
Call me Irresponsible

Call me Irresponsible

By Jan S. Gephardt Call me irresponsible if you will, but I spent the day writing. Writing fiction, that is, not a blog post. Even though it was “Blog-or-Die Day.” Even though I had scheduled and set aside time to work on a blog post. Yes, even though I hate, hate, hate missing deadlines. The journalist/commercial graphic designer in me detests missing deadlines. But instead of blogging like I was supposed to, I spent this week’s designated blogging day writing…

Read More Read More

I’m so sorry to have to write this! Change of plans: I won’t go to FenCon after all.
One Schedule-Change

One Schedule-Change

By Jan S. Gephardt One schedule-change. That’s all it technically boils down to. One simple scratch-out on a calendar. I’d planned on going, but now I’m not. Except, it’s not a simple thing at all. Not simply one schedule-change. No, it’s actually a whole end-of-summer tipped upside-down in a cascade of if-this-then-that change, after change, after change. Deciding not to go to FenCon, it turned out (as I knew it would), led to way more than one schedule-change. I Love…

Read More Read More

The cover of the Advance Reader Copy edition of “A Bone to Pick,” by Jan S. Gephardt, shown as an ebook.
Making ARCs

Making ARCs

By Jan S. Gephardt I’ve been making ARCs recently. What does that mean? It means I’ve been assembling an assortment of documents into an early version of my latest book, to create Advance Reader Copies. It’s not exactly parallel to a dress rehearsal for a stage play, but for me it’s a necessary step in the publicity rollout for my science fiction mystery novel A Bone to Pick. I’ve been blogging a lot in this space recently, about A Bone…

Read More Read More

4 screen-grabs from Virtual ConQuesT 52’s Twitch feed.
Virtual ConQuesT 52

Virtual ConQuesT 52

By Jan S. Gephardt Compared to some authors I’m slow, but Virtual ConQuesT 52 was my first virtual sf convention using interactive video tools. Throughout the months since March 2020 I’ve periodically participated in Facebook-based Concellation. Last year I pre-recorded myself reading Chapter One of The Other Side of Fear for Virtual DemiCon 31. But this year I was in the final throes of preparing a finished draft of A Bone to Pick, and just didn’t have the psychic energy…

Read More Read More