Updates & News

1 April, 2014

“Under the Waves” Anthology Announcement

fs-under-the-waves4 I’m happy to announce that my short story LEVIATHAN RISES was accepted for Fox Spirit’s “Under the Waves” pocket anthology.

LEVIATHAN RISES is the short story of a homeless girl who makes friends with a homicidal seamonster. It’s a little bit bloody and a lot of fun.

A few of my friends were accepted too: Steven Poore with his story “That Sinking Feeling”, K.C. Shaw with “The Pukk-Pool”, and J.B. Rockwell with “Petra and the World Turtle”. These guys rock, and I can’t wait to read their stuff.

The Fox Pockets books are a series of short stories selected to give an example of the kind of work Fox Spirit represent as a publisher. I recently read their Piracy collection (£2 on Amazon as an eBook, £4.15 as a paperback) and it had some absolutely fantastic work, so I’m looking forward to being a part of this one.

The “Under the Waves” Fox Pockets anthology will be out later this year.

15 June, 2013

And I’m Back!

Hello there! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Like, over a week, maybe? Or maybe ETERNITY? It felt like eternity.

I know I assured you I was back and alive in my last post, and then I disappeared. I’m sorry about that! But it wasn’t my fault! Some script kiddies from Scandinavia decided to take my site down, which was an inconvenience, but a good reminder that I needed to clean up around here and put up some new security measures.

The chain link fencing is now in place, we’ve adopted a few guard dogs, and we’re now fully back in ~~black~~ business. Back in business.

Next week will be a busy one as I catch up on everything I’ve missed!

Until then, I leave you with this picture of BatEmma and BatDog, defenders of the night.

When my website is down, we fight crime.

25 June, 2010

Art Update

Just added two new pics to the Saint gallery – just some rough color pieces. There’s an unfinished upper body shot of Tyler with his wings – probably not going to be finishing it anytime soon, so might as well put it online. Also, a toonier (and grumpier) portrait shot of Tyler, which was fun to work on even if the style doesn’t look right at all.

I’m really quite excited about how this story is going, despite my moments of self-doubt. I just need to get out of my habit of reading editor blogs and query information and then panicking. Just got to concentrate on the task at hand first!

How are all you lovely lot? Let me know by leaving a comment or visiting the forum. How’s your week been, and what are your weekend plans?

21 March, 2010

New Domain!

stormtroopereaste — Picture from Balncra Arts

Hello everyone,

The new domain, emmamaree.com, is just about finalized – still got a few tweaks to do before we redirect everything over, but from here on out all links to the used-goods.net/forbidden_knowledge/ blog redirect to the relevant posts on emmamaree.com. If you link to the blog at all, please change the address.

I hope everyone likes the new site design. The blog posts are now on the main page for all to see, and the design now integrates a bit more closely with the forum and the new store.

Some picture-laden stories from Edinburgh will follow shortly. We were hoping to go to Inverness’ rock night Alternative X this weekend, but unfortunately (at no fault of the organisers) the Ironworks won’t take Citizencards for ID so my fiance got refused entrance.

I could rant for a while on the messy situation regarding IDs where in most places you need a passport (which is unwise to carry about with you) or a full driver’s license (which I have no chance of affording at present). Government PASS-marked cards like Citizencard should be accepted in most places, according to their site, but it barely ever works so they’re a bit of a waste of money. A few people have suggested provisional driving licenses, but it seems a bit hit-and-miss who accepts those? Comments are welcome there.

Never mind, though – Hi-Ex next weekend! Quite excited about my first visit to the Highlands’ Comic Expo – it should be great seeing some of the more indie publications advertising there, and the artists themselves. Also, Stormtroopers! <3

Update: Alex has pointed out that the provisional driving license should be accepted in most places. However, Ironworks remains an exception to the rule.

23 November, 2009

Nairn Blogs

Oh my! I’m just back from my usual check of the Gurn From Nairn to see if anything exciting has happened in the town, like a new shop of a stray sofa, and I find a link to this blog on the sidebar. :O

Being a bit of a fangirl of the Gurn, with it’s psychic predictions of Nairn goings-on, reminders to go to events that I still forget to go to, and shadowy network of ‘unreliable sources’, it adds a bit of excitement to the seaside town.

For newcomers, this blog is part of the main site of myself, author and amateur artist Emma Maree Urquhart. I caused a bit of a stir in ‘ness after having a fantasy novel (and later, a sequel) published at the age of 13. It sold well, though I never made any money from it due to the less than reputable publishers who took a lot of money from budding writers in the Highlands and further out.

I moved to Nairn with my fiancé chiefly for the cheaper house prices, though I think it’s beautiful as well. =) I now work in IT and continue work on my next novel, when I’m not being a crotchety hermit getting angry at Nairn youths for sitting on the bin.

This blog is for cryptic updates on my writing, reviews of anything and everything, sketches and artwork, and guilty fan admissions of the likes of ‘Ohmygod I’m in love with David Tennant’.

In the spirit of local news, I should say that the heater is broken in the certain Nairn IT consultancy firm where I work. I’ve been surviving on tea and porridge and looking enviously towards the areas covered by the portable heaters they bussed in from Inverness. Arguments have erupted over which is a better warming drink, coffee or tea. You can leave a comment with your pick, but if you don’t say tea I will reach out of your computer screen and slap you.

Hopefully, it’ll be fixed when I get in tomorrow. Then I can shift my focus to solving the mystery of the dissappearing Ian Rankin books, which were ordered from the book club but failed to show up with the rest of the order! Egads.

Now, before I wrap up this blog post – there’s a movement among Nairn blogs right now to get the word out about local blogs, so here are my picks:

The Gurn From Nairn – The Alpha Male of the Nairn blogosphere (did I just use that word?), it knows all.
My Nairn – MyNairn offers some very well-written posts about goings on in Nairn, from rising prices to rising tides.
Where Mountains Meet The Sea – I’ve only just discovered this blog. It’s very beautifull and artistically presented, with stunning photos.

Do you have a blog I haven’t mentioned? Local, personal or otherwise, feel free to link to it in the comments. :D I haven’t seen any Inverness blogs out there, so I’m curious if some will make an appearance.

E.Maree
xoxo

6 July, 2009

Little Bit of Optimism

Hey all,

Sorry for the lack of posts – life has been busy, and fantastic.

The Blog has a new theme, it’s a temp one until I can redo the site to something more lightweight.

It used to be I would post about anything important – and, as things go, the important things would often be the worst. Unfortunately, when I post negative or awful things, having to go back over them later just makes me regret ever writing it…

So today, have a post about the good things.

– I got to work with my fiance, and the transition between lovers and mates is a flawless as its ever been. Treating him as a colleague just works and it’s so nice to have such a close friend.

– On IM he made some lame joke and posted ‘It was worth it, it made you smile”. Long after the joke was forgotten, seeing it still made me smile.

– My friends caught wind of some issues we were having with a tenant and we talked (well, ranted, in part) about it over e-mail. Seeing them there for me when I’m stressed or low never stops being unbelievable.

– They helped me get a present for someone very special to me! (Hint: It’s not Dave. This time.)

– Dave and my friends conspired together to bring home a tub of Ben&Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream. I’m undersleeping and overstressing so thinking of me like that makes me squee.

– Just e-mailed my agent and stated something I’ve only just realised: I am happy with my writing right now. Sure, I edit and re-edit and angst about my style and prose; I never get enough writing done to satisfy me… but I’m very confident in the direction my work is going, and the way this series is going to turn out.

To summarize: Everything is awesome.

Hope you can say the same.

Love,

E.Maree
xoxo