[An excerpt of Jackie's guest appearance on Evie's Bookish Blog follows: ~ed.]

First, I have discovered my own favorite books by word of mouth through my friends, through blogs just like this one, and by hearing even strangers share their likes and dislikes about a certain title (honestly, don’t even lousy reviews make you a little curious?). Second, I just love to talk about books! It’s so energizing to be joined in a discussion by other book lovers, and to breathe in the enthusiasm that lights the air. I imagine it similar to wine connoisseurs’ or chocolatiers’ conventions. When one shares a passion with another, it’s a buzz. Dare I say intoxicating?...

Read the entire post on Bookish!

The Leland Dragons website is live and running! I'm excited Seventh Star Press has picked up my dragon series, and will be updating both sites as information becomes available. In the meantime, stop by the site and drop me a line!

At an awards banquet during MidSouthCon 26, the 2008 Darrell Award winners were announced. Jackie had two stories listed as finalists in the short story category. "It was overwhelming to hear my name called out as winner, with friends and family there to cheer me on," said Jackie. The Darrell Awards are memorial awards given annually in the categories of short story, novella, and novel to promote literary science fiction and fantasy in the southeastern part of the U.S. A special thanks to the jury, the readers, and MidSouthCon for hosting the banquet. Check back here to see when her feet touch the ground again.

Jackie's short story, "Hidden: the Lost Works of Dernell Hall", appearing in Issue 263 of Bewildering Stories, has been selected as an Editors' Choice in their fourth quarterly review for 2007. From the Bewildering Stories website, "The editors’ choices are the result of an extensive but always enjoyable process. The review editors have long been distinguished in Internet publishing for their prompt and outstanding work in evaluating and proofreading submissions and in making the selections for the Quarterly Reviews. As always, the discussions have been lively and insightful."