Indie Author Speed-Dating

The Capricon Project continues

On Friday of Capricon 40 I participated in the Indie Author Speed-Dating event. The idea was that we'd bring handouts and freebies, have books on hand to sell or show, and be prepared to deliver our "elevator speech" to tell people what our books are all about. The next morning I followed a similar process when I made myself available for autographing (more on that later).

Here's Jan at her autographing table, with books and SWAG from Weird Sisters Publishing. (Photo by Ty Gephardt.)

Timed during the dinner hour, the Indie Author Speed-Dating event didn't enjoy the best of turnouts. Some folks came in, and some of us actually sold books. A few of us circulated to "speed-date" other authors so we could get to know each other better. It would have been more fun if we'd had more people in the "audience," but it was a nice opportunity for those who did come to talk one-on-one with authors.

There were some interesting books and authors at this event. I thought perhaps you'd like a "Virtual Indie Author Speed-Dating" glimpse! Where possible, I've used authors' online statements and/or book descriptions in lieu of their "elevator speeches."

Rook Creek Books

Blake Hausladen and Deanna Sjolander are the authors of Rook Creek Books. Deanna moderated the event. She and Blake did a lot of circulating at the beginning, to kind of get things going.

Eighteen Books by Blake Hausladen. Montage courtesy of Rook Creek Books.

Blake's Vesteal Series is 15 books long. "The completed series has been published into three omnibus collection, The Ghosts in the Yew, Native Silver, and The Vastness." NOTE: Rock Creek Books also presented a showing of their stop-motion movie production of Beyond the Edge at Capricon 40.

Deanna's latest published editing project is Eileen Flaherty's The Perilous Step. Her own first novel, Sophie and the G-Man, is set to publish later this month (Feb. 2020).

Rebecca Ciardullo, a.k.a. R. L. Frencl

Rebecca brought the three books of her fantasy Star Circle Trilogy, which was published last year. Here's a brief description from the trilogy's page on Amazon:

"The Darkness that lives behind the stars rises, spinning plots and lies to entrap humanity and bring down the civilizations of mankind. The Star Bearers are called by the Lights to represent the best of mankind and drive the Darkness back behind the stars.

"Aerin and Robyn have been down this road before. Both have stood at a point of the Circle, giving all to the fight. They were two of the few who walked away from the last convergence. The Stars align once more, calling them to represent a world that doesn't know it's in danger."

The Star Circle Trilogy by R. L Frencl includes The Shattered Prism, Walking with Shadows, and Dark Rainbow's End. (photo courtesy of Amazon.)

She is the author of at least one other series, including some books available in the UK, as well as in the USA. I didn't get a chance to talk much with Rebecca, but she and author Jen Haeger let me take their picture.

Rebecca Ciardullo/R. L. Frencl and Jen Haeger chat at the Indie Author Speed-Dating event at Capricon 40 (Photo by Jan S. Gephardt)

Jen Haeger

As I mentioned in an earlier post on this blog, Jen and I collaborated long-distance on a blog post back in 2017. Neither of us was able to come to Capricon 37. Without meaning to, we "orphaned" the panel Writing about Forensics, so we tried to make up for it by blogging the panel discussion.

At that time she'd only just published her first novel, a paranormal romance titled Moonlight Medicine: Onset. According to her website, however, "My werewolf paranormal romance trilogy, Moonlight Medicine: Onset, Moonlight Medicine: Epidemic, and Moonlight Medicine: Inoculation, previously published by Crowded Quarantine Publications, is not currently available except at the Barnes and Noble in Brighton, MI."

The WHISPS Series-to-date consists of Whispers of a Killer, Whispers of Terror, and Whispers of Conspiracy. (Image courtesy of Amazon.)

Meanwhile she's been busy with the WHISPS Series (currently up to three books), and a novel titled Miles from Manistique. 

Chris Gerrib

Chris goes to a lot of the same sf conventions I do. I featured him in a post last year about three authors I'd encountered at Capricon 39. His series about Martian pirates continues to be the extent of his science fiction explorations. He tells me he's been writing mysteries more recently.

Chris Gerrib's Martian Pirates Trilogy consists of The Mars Run, Pirates of Mars, and The Night Watch. (Image courtesy of Amazon.)

Chris shared a table with me at the Indie Author Speed Dating event. He and L.A. Kirchheimer posed for a photo beside my and Chris's displays.

Chris Gerrib and L. A. Kirchheimer show me their books at Capricon 40's Indie Author Speed-Dating event. (Photo by Jan S. Gephardt)

L. A. Kirchheimer

L. A. Kirchheimer seems like an interesting person, though I barely got to talk with her. To date she's written two books, Secrets in Mystic Woods, and Journey Through Darkness.

Both center around the paranormal adventures of thirteen-year-old Charity Graves, who starts the first book seeking to learn more about a teacher with whom she's come into conflict, but whose concerns quickly escalate to much larger and more terrifying threats.

L. A. Kirchheimer's books, Secrets in Mystic Woods and Journey Through Darkness recount the adventures of 13-year-old Charity Graves. At right, Kirchheimer participates in a panel at Capricon 40. (Cover images courtesy of Amazon. Kirchheimer at Capricon 40 courtesy of her Facebook Author Page). 

We've only gotten partway through the list of authors at the Indie Author Speed-Dating event. In the next post we'll meet some more. I hope you learned about someone new whose books you'd like to explore! Please leave a comment if you did!

IMAGE CREDITS:
The photo of Jan S. Gephardt with books from Weird Sisters Publishing is by Tyrell Gephardt, and is used with his permission.
Many thanks to Rook Creek Books for the Vesteal Series composite (and description), featuring books by Blake Hausladen with covers by Elizabeth Leggett. 
Many thanks to Amazon for the photo of R. L. Frencl's The Star Circle Trilogy, Jen Haeger's WHISPS Series, Chris Gerrib's Martian Pirates Trilogy, and the cover art for L. A. Kirchheimer's two books. The photo of Kirchheimer at the Capricon 40 panel is courtesy of the author's Facebook Page.
The photos of Jen Haeger with Rebecca Ciardullo (R. L. Frencl),  and of Chris Gerrib with L. A. Kirchheimer, are both by Jan S. Gephardt, taken with their consent at the Indie Author Speed-Dating event at Capricon 40. Re-post or reblog if you wish, but please include an attribution to Jan as the photographer and a link back to this post, if possible.