THE LIAR’S CLUB

The writing life is always interesting but it isn’t always fun.  Most writers don’t make enough cash; reviewers can be savage; with the sagging economy book sales are down; and publishers mostly don’t spend much bread on promotion. 

To want to be a professional author you really need a lot of optimism, or you need to be just on the useful side of delusional.  Often both.  One of the key elements to making this wacky profession work is ‘networking’.  Two writers together can do more than two writers alone.  Not exactly a new concept, but it’s nice to discover that it still works.

 

Yesterday I met with three friends who are also professional authors and together we created a new organization: THE LIAR’S CLUB.  (Why that name?  Well…let’s face it, we’re authors, we make stuff up for a living.)  We started the group to network with each other authors, but over the course of a long and very funny lunch at the Irish Pub in Philly, we agreed that we could also do a lot of good for the writing and reading community.  So…were cooking up plans to do joint signings, workshops, panel discussions, speaking engagements, contests, mentoring and more. 

 

The one certain thing is that we’re going to have fun.  No doubt about it.  But I got a feeling that Liar’s Club is going to make itself heard.  Count on it.

 

Here are the founding members:

  L. A. Banks (www.leslieesdailebanks.com), author of the insanely popular Vampire Huntress series of novels. 

Gregory Frost  (www.gregoryfrost.com) author of, among other things, the recent Random House release SHADOWBRIDGE.

 

Jon McGoran  (www.jmcgoran.com), who writes forensics mysteries under the pen name of D. H. Dublin.  The third in that series, FREEZER BURN will be out in June.

 And my website is www.jonathanmaberry.com 

There are some other folks who will be joining us.  I’ll catch you up on those later

 

Right now, do yourself a favor and check out my co-conspirators in the Liar’s Club!

  

WRITERS AND READERS

WHEN WARPED MINDS MEET

 

One of the things I love best about the writing biz is the ‘author appearance’.  Whether it’s a book signing, a lecture, a panel discussion, or a reading, I love either being in the crowd to meet one of my favorite authors or being the author sitting there at the table.

 

This weekend I’m going to get a chance to do a little of both.

 

Tonight my good buddy Jon McGoran will be signing books at the Doylestown Bookshop (Doylestown Bookshop; www.doylestownbookshop.com; 16 S Main St; Doylestown, PA 18901; 215/230-7610 ).  Jon writes terrific forensics mysteries under the pen name of D. H. Dublin.  His first book, BLOOD POISON, introduced rookie forensic investigator Madison Cross and it was one of these debut books that make it clear to anyone that this guy is going to have a real career: long, varied and interesting.  His second book, BODY TRACE, just confirms what the rest of knew all along.  It’s just as good and maybe even a little bit better.  Come on up to Doylestown and meet this guy.

 

Then tomorrow I’ll be doing a reading and signing at Between Books; 2703 Philadelphia Pike; Claymont, DE 19703; www.betweenbooks.com; 302/798-3378.  This is one of the best genre bookstores in the country.  I always have a good time at the store.  Aside from a great place for an author to meet readers it’s always my favorite place to shop for horror and SF, though like all good independent stores it carries just about everything of all genres.

 

The real jazz in these events, whether I’m there as reader or author is that everyone there has a shared love of books.  Books of all kinds, and nowhere is that more clearly celebrated than at independent bookstores.  The staff KNOW books and the LOVE books.  You can talk books all day long.

 

Come on out and join us!