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The first book in my brand new series, Ashes of Entecea is LIVE! I hope you love it, and if you do, please consider leaving an Amazon or Goodreads review!
I poured my heart and soul into this universe, and I’ve been waiting a long time to bring it to you. So go forth and enjoy, my friends!
Much love,
kc
The thing about AARs is that you inevitably leave something out. Heather Holo (aka H. P. Holo, aka Edie Skye) posted on her socials that she gives hugs at cons because she doesn’t do AARs, and I respect that choice. Because OMG, this weekend was a LOT.
A lot of amazingness.
A lot of people.
A lot of hugs.
A lot of fun.
A lot of nerdery.
A lot of connections.
A lot of networking.
A lot of ideas.
A lot of brainstorming.
A lot of plotting.
A lot of laughter.
A lot of attention.
A lot of work.
A lot of energy.
A lot of joy.
I could go on, but basically take the best convention experience you’ve ever had or could ever imagine, and then crank that beast up to eleven. Because from the moment we arrived in Chattanooga to the moment we got back on the plane, it was a full-blown EVENT.
Being the Mistress of Ceremonies added a new dimension to the experience as well. First and foremost, let me state for the record that LibertyCon absolutely *pampers* their Guests of Honor (of which the MC is like the junior member.) We were picked up from the airport by Her Galactic Majesty, Empress Brandy herself, and escorted straight to our room, which had been prepared with snacks and drinks and swag. At any point in the convention, if I or my family had a question or needed anything, a LibertyCon volunteer was there, ready to move mountains if necessary for us. If I try to name individual names, I know that I shall miss someone, and I don’t want to do that. So please let me say to the staff and volunteers as a whole: thank you SO MUCH for making my family’s experience so amazing, and thank you for enabling me to do the best job I could manage as your MC.
As much as I’d love to relive every amazing moment of the con, ain’t nobody got time for that, so I will just hit you with some of my personal highlights. In no particular order, these are:
There is more. Of course there is more. We had meals on and offsite with wonderful people. There were panels and readings and beautiful artwork (some of which came home with me!). Some of the people I love most in the world were there, and I got to spend far too little time with most of them. If I didn’t mention you, please know that it’s not because I didn’t love spending time with you. It’s simply because my brain is currently one big swirl of endorphins, exhaustion, and love. 😊
I said it in my speech, and it’s absolutely true. LibertyCon is a family, and we just had the best of reunions, from my perspective. I hope I was able to do it justice as Mistress of Ceremonies. I will be back next year, and as often as they have me. If you have an opportunity to attend LibertyCon, I highly recommend that you do. Come, join our family. 😊
Melissa Getting Ducked!
I’m so excited to announce that the third book in my epic space opera trilogy, The Conqueror’s Promise is available now!
This is the completion of the first trilogy in the Ashes of Entecea universe, but don’t worry! I intentionally created this universe to be vast and sweeping, and there are a LOT more stories to be told! More to come on that later. But for now, I hope you’ll enjoy the culmination of the first storyline in this series that is so very close to my heart.
Thank you!! Until next time, much love!
kc
I’m so excited to announce the release of THE KING’S DAUGHTER! Chris Kennedy and I collaborated on this adventure story of birthrights lost and families found, complete with swashbuckling space pirates and high interstellar politics! If you like epic space opera, I suspect you’ll LOVE this second installment in the Ashes of Entecea series…and I really hope you do! 🙂
Hey Friends! I’ll be in Durham, NC this weekend from 19-21 April 2024 at FantaSci. Here’s my schedule. If you’re in the area, come say hi!
Isn’t it amazing? Artist Sam Kennedy really outdid himself. I can’t wait for you to read this first book in the Ashes of Entecea series. Look for The Queen’s Fixer on March 22nd, 2024!
Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
I have been SO remiss. It’s been so long since I updated this blog and, dear friends, I have to be honest…
SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED! In fact, for ease of use, I think I’ll just go ahead and list it out, bullet-point style (Thanks USAF!) Some of this stuff you will have seen before, but I’m giving you the full list for your situational awareness.
And now you’re about caught up. 🙂 I have amazing cover art for the first book in the Ashes series, but I’ll give it it’s own post because art like that deserves to be the center of attention.
In any case, I hope you’ll forgive my long silence, and help me celebrate all these changes and milestones. 🙂 Remember, too, if you’d like more frequent updates, you can always sign up for my newsletter and get access to the private Discord where I hang out and work most days!
Before I dive into this post, you should all probably know that I have a special relationship with DragonCon. Dragon was my first and favorite con. I first attended in 2001 with my best friend from pilot training, Tammy. We had no idea what we were walking into. 🙂
As it turned out, back on Labor Day weekend of 2001, we walked into our “home planet”. See, Tammy was a sci-fi/fantasy geek like me, albeit a little less closeted at the time. I hadn’t yet learned that it was okay to let my geek flag fly, so I was shy about sharing my interests.
Walking into DragonCon was walking into a place where everyone shared those interests, and celebrated them, and that feeling of wonder and homecoming was one I’ve never forgotten.
Fast forward to 2023. DragonCon has grown by an order of magnitude, and spread over most of a week. It would take far too long to post a play by play of the whole week-long extravaganza here, but I’ll try to hit the high points for you.
We arrived on Wednesday and met up with friends right away. This year, we were back at the Westin Peachtree Plaza, which is my favorite of the con hotels. As always, the Westin staff were incredibly professional and kind and mostly very enthusiastic about the con. Shoutout to those who made our crazy fun weekend possible!
I didn’t have any programming on Thursday, so spent most of the day getting my badge and then giving blood. I try to participate in the DragonCon Blood Drive every year, and the folks at LifeSouth did an amazing job as always.
Friday and Saturday were my heavy programming days. I had panels for the MilSF Media Track, the SF Lit track, the Alternate History track, and for the first time, the Writers’ track. Oh, and one very silly, very sexy DragonCon After Dark panel for the Digital Media track. 🙂 (IYKYK).
I cannot say enough good things about the ARMY of volunteers who made all of this amazing programming happen. DragonCon is a volunteer-run organization, and none of it could happen without the dedicated service of those volunteers, so if that’s you, please accept my heartfelt thanks. Thanks for creating such an amazing experience for all of us. We truly owe you a debt that can’t be repaid.
Sunday and Monday, I didn’t have any panels, so I was able to spend some time in the MASSIVE Dealer/Exhibitor halls at the AmericasMart, toured the Art Show, did some networking and a tiny bit of shopping, and just hung out with my friends I rarely get to see in person.
Overall impressions that stood out for this year: This year, we at REALLY well. 🙂 Seriously, good food seemed to be the theme for this year. Between Atlanta Breakfast Club, Ray’s in the City, Atalia, and Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, I can’t remember a DragonCon where I ate so well. Thanks to everyone who shared a meal with me!
Thanks as well to all the DragonCon attendees who came to see me and my fellow geeks on panels, or who struck up conversations in line (or the elevator!). At the risk of sounding like a cheesy 1980s kid’s show, that’s really the magic of DragonCon: The friendships we make along the way. 🙂
See y’all next year!
You guys. I’m sooooooo excited to finally get back to LibertyCon after 3 years! The schedule came out last night, and it just really amped my excitement that much more. 🙂 So in order to have some kind of outlet for this energy, I’m going to share my schedule with you!
Sadly, however, LibertyCon is sold out for this year. But if you’re going to be there, please find me at one of these events and say Hi! 🙂
Hey Friends! This coming weekend, I’ll be a guest at MarsCon in Norfolk, Virginia! If you’ll be in the area, come hang out and see me hobnobbing with the likes of D.J. Butler, Mark Wandrey, Marisa Wolf, and Chris Kennedy!
It should be a fantastic time!
If you can’t make it, no worries. Watch this space for an AAR of some type, whether it be a convention Vlog or a more traditional blog-style after action report. I haven’t decided yet! 🙂
Hope to see you there!
Hey Friends! I started a YouTube Channel! Mostly because I wanted another way to reach out and continue building this awesome community of fans and friends. After doing some research, I realized that if I added YouTube to my existing newsletter and private Discord server, I could really up the interaction quotient and have a good shot and upleveling this community!
So here’s what you should do. First, make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter! Not only will you get 2 free short stories, but you’ll also get the magic link to the private Discord server where I interact with my fans on the daily. In that server, you’ll also find a channel where you can post questions I’ll answer during my weekly live chats.
Then, I would love it if you’d head over to my channel: Kacey Ezell Writer Life, and check out a few videos! Maybe gimme that Chuck Yeager Thumb’s Up (ie. hit the “like” button!) and see if you’d like to subscribe! I anticipate using this channel to document my transition from full time pilot to full time writer, and all the stops in between!
As always, my friends, I’m so happy you’re here. Thanks for being part of my community and supporting me as I work to make it something even bigger and more awesome than ever!
Much love,
kc
Hey Friends! What do you think? I decided it was time to change things up a bit and implement a sleeker, more modernized look! Big thanks to Rob McClellan at ModFarm Designs for doing the heavy lifting!
One of the advantages of this new design is that it’s easier than ever for me to make these blog posts. So let me know, is that something you’re interested in seeing? As a reminder, if you want weekly content from me, you are always welcome to join my newsletter! You’ll get my weekly update email, as well as two free downloadable short stories. Please check it out, We’d love to have you at the Cool Kids’ Table! 🙂
much love,
kc
PS. If you DO decide to join my newsletter, you’ll also get the link to my private Discord server. Come hang out with me and the super cool community of fans, writers, and other creative types there! We do writing sprints, ask journaling questions, and just generally talk about whatever is on our minds. I LOVE it, and I think you will too!
You'll receive weekly updates from me, two FREE downloadable short stories, and an exclusive invitation to join my private Discord Server!
