Trolls Official Release Event!

Trolls is finally released! Emily and her friends have been waiting to share their adventure with you for a very long time and on December 2^nd they will finally get the chance!

The official release event:

Brick Cave Book Browse

Lo-Fi Café

105 West Main Street, Mesa

December 2^nd, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Event Cost: FREE

I will have copies of Blackstrap’s Ecstasy, Fresh Blood, bint Hazine, and most important, Trolls! All titles will be $10.00 each! I will have tons of swag and merchandise for some of the books! There may even be a few pirates from The DREAD Fleet and possibly a few trolls wandering about!

Thank you Brick Cave books, Sarah Price, and Arizona Publishing Services!

Hot Ace Comics and Storms!

A huge thank you to Hot Ace Comics for hosting Patti Hultstrand, Todd VanHooser and I, on Saturday, July 14^th. It was definitely eventful!

I had a great time chatting with Patti and Todd, and with store proprietors, Anna and Joe, but I must say the best was hanging with Spiderman! Thank you to everyone who braved the storm to come out to say hi. I am really sorry to those who missed us and I hope to see you next week at the Book Rack also in Mesa.

I cannot talk about this day without mentioning the amazing storm! Good gods of air and water that was crazy! I love wild weather though! I almost hope next Saturday’s signing is just as stormy. It will be like living it up on the ocean! 

In with mentioning upcoming events, rumor has it The DREAD Fleet and the dancers of bint Hazine will be dropping in to Hot Ace Comics for a full day of pirate shenanigans, No date yet, but keep a weather eye on The DREAD Fleet page and Facebook for more information!

See you Saturday at the Book Rack! 

Hot Ace Comics

10839 East Apache Trail #131

Mesa 85120

(480) 582-6642

www.hotacecomics.com

Patti Hultstrand

www.pjhultstrand.com

Todd Van Hooser

www.toddvanhooser.com

Mesa Art Walk: Books on the Beach!

Look how good I am. Another blog in a timely manner about a current event! I am getting better I swear.

So, the Mesa Art Walk:

This was the second time in attendance. I hate the drive, especially from Glendale, during rush hour traffic, in the Arizona summer heat, in my 1972 GMC Sprint with no air conditioning. *Sigh* But, it is well worth it in the end. I love the atmosphere of Main Street Mesa. The people are friendly and comfortably unique. It is welcoming to have some steady acquaintances even after so short a time. This is where I offer a little shout out to Queen’s Pizzeria on Main Street and to Kevin who works there and likes to talk about zombies and killer plants. 

The theme for June was Books on the Beach and while there were tons of local authors and books all the way down the sidewalk I didn’t really see too much more to promote that theme. Maybe I was just too involved with the Arizona Publishing section and the Photo Booth for Connotations News Zine, but really from all the hype on the morning news, I expected much more. Even the wandering patrons didn’t really seem all that into the theme. I saw a few wandering zombies in bikinis for the contest and one or two Hawaiian shirts. I think my pirate ‘bikini’ might have been a bit much, but no one seemed offended enough to tell me personally to put more clothes on. I am going with ‘normal’ attire next time, fear not good people of Main Street. Overall, it was tame compared to Steampunk Street in May.

So, I sold a few more books, met several more interesting and wonderful people, booked a few more gigs and got the chance to talk shop with Don Jacques. I did not sell any DREAD Mud Wrestling tickets (July 28^th, Revolver Records)  nor did I talk enough about Talk Like a Pirate Day at Westgate (September 22^nd), but I hope The DREAD Fleet will forgive since I am pretty sure I snagged us another gig in the far East.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by the table, including Ryan Lunt, even though he said he expected me to be much taller from my pictures. I hope to see more friendly faces again at the Second Friday Mesa Art Walk in July!

Comic Con, Payson, Mesa, Pirates, Dancers, Where Does It End?

Finally recovering from Phoenix Comic Con weekend; mostly because I never really stopped until today. No complaints, but a break is stunning. I fully admit to spending the day offering quality time with my laptop and watching Ancient Aliens on Netflix, while devouring Mountain Dew cupcakes. Yes. This is my life. 

On the flip side, I am thrilled to have a publisher that thinks so highly of me and my work that she never allows be to be bored. Thank you so much Arizona Publishing for keeping me hopping! From an interview at Phoenix Comic Con, to live PODcasts, a trip to Payson with a great group of authors and a pretty steady seat on Mesa’s Second Friday art walk; I had no idea it could be this good! Thank you!

June is shaping up to be just as busy as May, so please come find me. I love seeing friends and familiar faces when I am doing the book thing, and when I am dancing with bint Hazine.

On the note of dance, my gods do I have to get back into it. Writing and directing the Check, Mate! Show for Phoenix Comic Con was a thrill a minute but I purposely took myself off the stage as much as possible. A wise man once told me “it takes a rare beast to write, direct and star in a show”. I can fully admit that I cannot be that beast, at least not just yet.

I will be dancing again with bint Hazine for the Pirate Mud Wrestling event (July 28^th at Revolver Records, Phoenix). Hells, I may even get muddy again! I am also eager to be a part of another very unique dance project, but that is a mystery for now.

I cannot write of all these events, performances and projects without offering huge thanks to everyone involved in them. So, I close this entry with a list of some of the key players that rarely receive enough praise.

Shaun “Blaze”

Eli “Steele”

JD “Sanji”

Jess “Sumomo”

Max

Adam Tuerff – Mischief Makers / Thunder Stump

Jenn “Buz” – Ok, Millie

Dellene – GD Frippery

Char

Patti – AZ Publishing / Connotations

Stacy “Maggie Pye”

And so many others who create a secondary family and a safety net for me to fall into when things get a little nutty. Thank you!

Adventures at the Arizona Renaissance Faire

I am starting with the “thank you”s. Thank you to Ann Chamberlain of The Arizona Renaissance Festival Book Shop! You made me feel so very welcome my first year selling books at the faire that I was giddy to return this year and made it my goal to do so! Thank you to Char and her mom for welcoming me into their home and feeding me for the weekend of the faire. I am honored to be to lucky to stay in such a lovely home with open minded, creative, wonderful people, who by the way make a mean chicken casserole! Thank you to Max! I would not sell half the books that made it into the hands of the public without your faith and sales skills.

So, yes, another year, another Pirate Weekend at the Arizona Renaissance Faire. I am so grateful for the unseemly lovely weather Arizona has this year. Captain Blackstrap did not get the chance to wear her captain’s coat for very long, but people seem to dig the belts more anyway. It was great to see at least a few familiar faces on Saturday when it was only Max and me. The best was running into one of my Teen Creative Writing students from Rio Vista! I am excited and as always a bit nervous about seeing some of the pictures taken by all of the roving photographers, but by all means tag them on the social media and send a few my way. Max always looks stunning with all his pirate style. And, it was a pleasant surprise to be visited by my GD Frippery friends and Top Hat the Pirate.

I am always sort of relieved when the stash of books sells out. This is especially true at the faire. It is impossible for me to sit at the book table so imagine how chained I feel just having to hang out there for hours as the world passes by. I was happy to visit Moon Mermaid at the Twig the Fairy house and to run into some of my favorite drummers there too. I do wish I had more time to sit to watch Ghazal Beledi dance, but what I did see was astounding as usual.

On Sunday, with the rest of the crew present, we really took the faire by storm. We raided Enchanted Images for a group photo and to visit with some of the members of Delirium. Casey (Captain Red Cap) even managed to escape her tower for a short while to visit and take a photo with us!

The tournament was a bit of a disappointment this year as the pretty, pretty prince won the day. It is pirate weekend folks, isn’t the bad guy supposed to win? Shameful. Commodore Max made it worth while though by taking second place in the pirate contest. Proud and maybe a little jealous, but can you really think of anyone more deserving?

All in all, a great weekend and hopefully many more impressed fans and followers of Captain Blackstrap. Now, to get my fingers clacking at put Max’s story to paper. Faire winds to those still entertaining at the faire and to those who have not yet been, I will see the lot of you at the next DREAD Fleet event, if not before!

Pirates! What is your profession?

ARR! ARR! ARR!

NaNo & Son

NaNoWriMo is less than two weeks away! I am excited this year even more than usual. I typically rope one or more of my friends into the challenge and have a blast comparing notes with them and trying to arrange writing time together. This year, my thirteen-year-old son signed on! I am proud to bursting!

His profile on YWP is Grantfer, word goal set at 12,000. The working title of his first novel, a fantasy adventure, is The Shadow of Israphel. He is already such a chatterbox about the story concept! I love it! He is even trying to rope in some friends and planning to help turn the studio into a writing haven now and again through November! Have I said how proud I am yet?

We wrote our daily word count numbers - 400 for JD and 1667 for me - across our knuckles last night, to mark our commitment to the challenge. November can't come fast enough now!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/easalle

Writing is not all I do!

Since August I do not feel like I have had a chance to slow down for a moment, but I am always excited to announce all the exciting events that are happening in Phoenix! It is especially exciting now that the weather is beginning to cool down.

BUCCANEERS PIRATE SHOW
October 15th, 6PM - 2AM
Sail Inn
(Tempe, AZ)
+21
Check out azcorsair.ning.com for more information!

PIRATE FEAST
*ONLY ONE MORE WEEK TO PURCHASE TICKETS*
October 16th, 5PM - 10PM
The Everhart's
(Chandler, AZ)
All Ages Welcome
$20 Meal + Entertainment + Bar (Only 75 Available)
$15 Meal + Entertainment
$10 Entertainment + Non-Alcoholic Beverages + Tournament Entry
$5 Entertainment + Non-Alcoholic Beverages
$5 Tournament Only
*All Ticket Sales are Presale Online Only*
http://piratefeast.info

BOO AT THE ZOO
October 28th - 29th, 6:00PM - 11:00PM
Phoenix Zoo
( )
All Ages
http://www.phoenixzoo.org/events/Howl-O-Ween/

DANCERS OF DENILE W/ BINT HAZINE
November 5th, 11AM
Arizona State Fairgrounds
(Phoenix)
All Ages

LIVING CHESS MATCH
November 19th - 20th
Phoenix Faerie Festival
( )
All Ages
http://www.westerngatesfaerierealms.com/PhoenixFaerieFestival.htm

Fighters and performers needed for the Living Chess Match! This is essentially a battle between the magically enhanced, deadly ship Delirium and the confused but confident ship Ecstasy, with Max and Dirk as the kings on the board!

Also, keep up on all the adventures by following these pages on Ning.com and Facebook!

http://azcorsair.ning.com/
http://www.facebook.com/bint.hazine
http://www.facebook.com/czep.blackstrapbook
http://www.facebook.com/jjmczep
http://www.facebook.com/BlackstrapGennie
http://www.facebook.com/czeps.just.write
http://www.facebook.com/tlapdaz